← The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club
INTERVIEW: Brandon Scott & Erricka Bridgeford Talk The Body Politic Documentary, Baltimore Peace Movement + More
00:48:59
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- [00:00]
DJ Envy
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- [01:03]
Just Hilarious
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- [01:33]
DJ Envy
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- [01:52]
Charlamagne Tha God
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- [02:08]
Brandon Scott
Taking control of your career is empowering. Just don't tell my boss I Said that building a career, is it just about a job. It's about creating a path that impacts our community and future generations. Whether you're starting out or making big moves, State Farm is here to support you with resources to help protect what you're working hard to achieve. They've got your back every step of the way. Because like a good neighbor State forum is there. Find out more@stateforum.com wake that ass up.
- [02:38]
Erica Bridgeford
Early in the morning.
- [02:39]
The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club.
- [02:41]
DJ Envy
Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy. Just hilarious. Charlamagne tha guy. We are the Breakfast Club. We got some special guests in the building. We have the mayor of Baltimore, Brandon Scott. Welcome. And also we have Erica Bridgeford, who is from the Baltimore Peace Movement.
- [02:56]
The Breakfast Club
Welcome.
- [02:57]
DJ Envy
Now I do have to ask a question. Before you start, I have to make sure that you guys are really from Baltimore. So I want you to read this. Can you read that?
- [03:05]
The Breakfast Club
I'mma do it. I'm fine. Earned. Earned an iron earned.
- [03:09]
Unknown Guest
Yes.
- [03:10]
The Breakfast Club
There you go.
- [03:10]
Unknown Guest
That's exactly how you.
- [03:11]
DJ Envy
I don't know what that sound like.
- [03:12]
The Breakfast Club
It's Aaron.
- [03:13]
DJ Envy
Earned an iron Earned. I don't know what he said.
- [03:15]
Unknown Guest
I hate that it's not even a real name in a real sense. Who was earned. Why did he have to earn an iron?
- [03:20]
The Breakfast Club
Earn.
- [03:20]
Unknown Guest
I don't understand.
- [03:21]
DJ Envy
That's the same word you just had four times. No, it's not.
- [03:23]
Just Hilarious
Right?
- [03:23]
DJ Envy
All right, so they all from Baltimore? I heard the accent. Yes, they are.
- [03:25]
The Breakfast Club
She just asked us to greet.
- [03:27]
Unknown Guest
Yes.
- [03:27]
The Breakfast Club
We been like, what you guys are doing?
- [03:31]
Unknown Guest
Wow, we going to start right out like that.
- [03:34]
DJ Envy
That's right, that's right, that's right. Well, welcome guys. How you guys feeling? First.
- [03:39]
Unknown Guest
Congrats on your second term, sir.
- [03:41]
The Breakfast Club
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Long time coming, Jess. You know the last time we had a two term mayor in Baltimore, I was a sophomore in college 20 years ago. It's been 20 years since we had it. So it's a big deal and an honor for me to have the have the city say like, no, we want to keep moving in this direction, especially from someone that grew up there, when we grew up there. Understand everything that has been happening.
- [04:07]
DJ Envy
So what made you want to become a mayor of Baltimore?
- [04:09]
The Breakfast Club
So this is a real easy thing, man. So I grew up in Park Heights, right. It's a place in Northwest Baltimore. It's the best neighborhood. Sorry, Jess.
- [04:16]
Unknown Guest
Oh my God, please don't even start that. Emerson Avenue.
- [04:20]
That's what I'm trying to say. It's over west. I don't know what you Talking about, where's that again? But we gonna let you finish.
- [04:25]
The Breakfast Club
So imagine envy living in a neighborhood. Literally. So the horse race Preakness is in my neighborhood. Imagine living in a neighborhood that's the center of the world. Every third Saturday in May and then every other day of the year, you're not treated as human. Where we wouldn't even go outside on Friday night before Preakness because they would do what we call Preakness sweeps. If he was outside looked like us, you could be gone. But the next day, somebody who don't look like us could be peeing in the middle of the street. And no one blinks. But before I was even seven years old, I saw someone get shot outside playing basketball. And no one cared. And literally, I just started pestering my parents, my uncles, my grandparents. Why no one care? And one day my mom just said, look, if you wanted to change, you gotta change yourself. No one's coming to save us. And having my family be involved in the community, my uncle dragging me with him to political fundraisers when people were trying to get my family's business to donate, I had the understanding of what people should have been doing and who wasn't doing it. So I said then that that's what.
- [05:27]
Unknown Guest
I wanted to be at a very young age. You already knew.
- [05:30]
The Breakfast Club
Already knew.
- [05:30]
Unknown Guest
Because I was about to ask you, what made you not go the other way? You know what I'm saying? Because while I'm going to give credit to your hood, while Park Heights is one of the best hoods in West Baltimore City, it is still also one of the most dangerous. What made you not go?
- [05:46]
The Breakfast Club
It's a little different now. I tell the youngest, I'm like, y'all have no idea. Y'all don't know the old Park Heights. But for me, it's about. It's a couple of things. It's my family, right? So I am a first generation Baltimore. And my mom's family is from rural Virginia, right outside Richmond. My grandparents moved to Baltimore. Ironically, people don't know this, they gonna know now to East Baltimore with $300 to their name. Where them, my great grandmother, my great aunts, all my older cousins lived in this one house right behind North Avenue, the school headquarters. And then my dad's family, my dad followed my uncles and my older cousins who moved here from rural North Carolina, where my grandparents ran a pig farm until they died, right? Which is why I don't eat pork, because I used to feed them myself. But when you come from things like that, you have a Different setting. I was set in a world where, like, you don't have to accept things as they are. You can work harder, you can be greater, and you have a responsibility to us and those who put you in this position to take us all and your community in a further place. But I also had the community itself growing up running track as an athlete and playing sports. Ironically, it was also the people that were deciding who lived or died or who the beef was in the neighborhood who said, like, you have to be better than us. We want you to be better. Do not let us hear about you getting into any trouble or things like that. And if even some of my family members who work for them were putting me in danger, they would check them. Right. It was just a different time. So I would say I had the entirety of the city that really pushed me to make sure that I became a better version of myself and working to be the best version.
- [07:31]
DJ Envy
Now, what can a mayor actually really do? Right? We look at, you know, the reason I ask is, you know, people will say, the vice president is the vice president, but what can she do? You know, the president can do certain things, but she has to get things signed off on. So what can a mayor actually do?
- [07:46]
Just Hilarious
Yeah.
- [07:46]
DJ Envy
Do you control funding? Do you control.
- [07:48]
The Breakfast Club
I do. So as the mayor of Baltimore.
- [07:52]
Unknown Guest
It's funny. My bad.
- [07:53]
Yo.
- [07:53]
Go ahead.
- [07:56]
The Breakfast Club
So I do. And I think what people have to understand is the mayor is an executive of a city. Essentially, every mayor, especially if they're in a strong mayor form of government like Baltimore is, actually Baltimore is the strongest former mayor of government in the country. So technically, I'm the strongest mayor in the country. We do get to direct that funding. Right. And it's about. And no disrespect, I love my vice president to death. I love my president to death. But the president would tell you that mayors have the toughest job in America because people can see us and touch us every day, and decisions that we make every day are going to impact people, and they're going to hold you accountable even for stuff that you're not responsible for. But when you think about the basic things that people need, essentially, I'm the CEO of a $3 billion, $4 billion entity known as the City of Baltimore. Right. Everything that people do, when they turn that water on in the morning and they want it to be hot and clean, it's my responsibility. When they want their trash picked up, it's my responsibility. When they want their rec center open up, it's my responsibility. When they call 911 and have to have a fire truck come. It's my responsibility to make sure that that stuff happens. But at a deeper level, it also is important to make sure that when it's someone like me who has that lived experience that Jess, Erica and I have, that we bring that to that job and understanding that things we're talking about. Our city literally is the birthplace of racial redlining in Baltimore, and everything that we all grew up through is a result of that. So when you think about things that I've just been able to do in my first term and what's really been like the focal point of this documentary, the Body Politic, it's about reimagining what public safety means, because for all of our life, they just said reducing crime is the sole responsibility to the police. But I want people to understand how that was never true. Right. And you take Baltimore, a city that's roughly 600,000 people at its height, our police department had 3,000 cops. 3,000 people can't keep 600,000 people safe, especially when they all don't work at the same time. Right. So we have to do the investments in changing that, and we can do that. The mayor sets the tone for how the city works. So I came in and said, no longer we're going to just say, hey, it's all the police's responsibility. Every part of city government has to be a part of this. We passed a law that we have to have a comprehensive approach that's led by our health commissioner, and then direct the funding to go to other places. So when you look at the fact that we're now of funding our community violence intervention work at the highest level that we've ever had, people that used to be in the streets, whether it's safe streets or the brothers that we are, us and all these other folks who go out and intercede in violence, and we're investing in them and allow them to do that, deciding that we weren't going to just continue down this path of just like, oh, if they black and outside, we just going to lock them up for anything? No, we're going to stand up what we call our Group Violence Reduction Strategy, which is the epicenter, really, of the movie, and say, we know who the people are who will most likely be the victim or perpetrator of violence. It's much like any other disease, right. Since my granddad had prostate cancer, when I go to the doctor, what did he test me for? So we identified those people, and we're going to give them a chance. First, they Actually get a letter directly from me that says, look, in Baltimore terms, Jess, yo, I know who you are. I know what you're doing. This is your chance. I know where you live. I know everything about what you do. I'm telling you, this is your chance to change your life. If you need housing, if you need to finish school, if you need, you know, mental health, whatever you need, we'll give it to you. But don't try to call my bluff. Because if you call my bluff, then them boys coming and you won't be able to say, no one tried to help me. And it's working. And we've been able to. Last year, we had the largest reduction in homicides that Baltimore's ever had in 20%. And we're beating that this year with 24 mayors. Make the difference on the ground when you think about what we're investing in. I decided that we were going to put historic amounts of money into our rec centers. When we were growing up, they were closing them left and right. Right. So imagine me going into the doors of Tawanda rec Center in 1989 when I was in Pre K and then becoming mayor in 2020 and going there early 2021. And it literally was the same building. Nothing had changed. The same weight, equipment, and the building was closed. Right. And then being able to reopen that. Right. Renovated, and now we had five more that we're building across the city. And that's only because the mayor decided that's the focus. Right. And that's what we have to do in every city, is have people in those positions that will do what's, as I always say, the right thing, not the popular one. Because there are a lot of things that I did that people were like, I can't believe you didn't do that. For example, they said I should join on to the state's lawsuit around opioids. The state was suing all these drug companies. I said, no, we're going to do our own because we were impacted. More people called me everything but my name. And then, lo and behold, now we're like receiving 400 plus million dollars from these companies from doing it our way. Leadership doesn't mean being like. It means doing what's the best thing for the people.
- [12:56]
DJ Envy
And when you wrote that letter. We'll get to you in a second, Erica.
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Unknown Guest
It's fine.
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DJ Envy
When you wrote that letter, where did you get that idea? From writing a letter?
- [13:03]
The Breakfast Club
So, yeah, so this is. This is about knowing the work, right? So gbrs Group Violence Reduction Strategy, or Focus Return is a model that's been around for a long time, and it works in cities. It worked in Oakland and all these places. They tried it twice in Baltimore before. And me, so this. I'm 40 now. I came to city hall when I was 23. So I literally grew up there. And seeing the last attempt fail and why I knew that I wanted to go deeper into the work. But also that the number one reason why great ideas and programs and things that fail in cities is because they don't have the executive leadership and buy in. Because if it comes from me, if this is the mayor's strategy, everybody else that works for city government knows that they got to do it or they actually got to get another job, right? That's the reality, and that's why. And we have to do the notifications, because if not, it's no different than us just showing up and we use what we call credible messengers to go and deliver that message and say, look, yo, they want to give you a chance. And people change their life. And I think so who are you giving chances to?
- [14:10]
DJ Envy
Is it shooters?
- [14:11]
The Breakfast Club
Is it everybody? Everybody.
- [14:13]
DJ Envy
So you don't look at you like, look, you did this. Turn your life around.
- [14:17]
The Breakfast Club
And we can look, you doing this stuff right now, we know that you're involved in activities that might end up having you lose your life or take someone else's life. This your chance. Like your group of people that you're with, chances are y'all ain't gonna be here or you gonna be locked up. That's the reality. We gotta tell people the real deal. And if they don't, like, take that heed, there are people that took it, right? There was a young man. It almost brought me to tears. We just had a little graduation for some folks through YAP on Saturday. And you can see a lot of this work in the Bali Politic, which is airing next Monday night.
- [14:53]
DJ Envy
We gonna get into it, y'all.
- [14:54]
The Breakfast Club
Pbs.
- [14:55]
Unknown Guest
We gonna get into it.
- [14:56]
The Breakfast Club
You can see what happens, right? This young man literally said that he and one young man had been out and on the street since he was 12, and no one ever asked him what he wanted to do or how he can do things different until our folks showed up. Now he works for the convention center. Saturday, a young man had told us he had been out of school since elementary school, and out there doing what folks do. Right now, we got him on the right track. People are working for the city. People are starting their own businesses and being able to reconnect with their families or just simply having A house, right? Like, that stuff changes people's lives. And then there are some folk who just tell me, as we would say, just kick rocks. And then I'm like, okay. And then that's when they gotta deal with the boys. And you can't say that we didn't try to tell you that there's. Or show that there's another way. There are people out there delivering that message every day. Like, yo, we can do something different. Because we also have to understand, like, look, we all know our people don't own boats, right? We don't own gun companies. We have to understand what's really happening in that cycle that we're allowing ourselves to be put in. And we try to pull people out of that as much as possible, but we can't just have people shooting and killing people. Grandmothers and babies and kids and wives and all the other craziness. We just simply can't have that.
- [16:14]
DJ Envy
Absolutely.
- [16:14]
Unknown Guest
Erica, what. How did you get involved with the Baltimore Peace movement?
- [16:18]
Well, it used to be called Baltimore Ceasefire because there was this guy named Ogun. So first there was a 300 Men March movement. That's how Brandon and I met.
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Okay.
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Brandon and Munir Baha were leaders in that movement. And I got very much involved because my son got involved in the very first march. They did a march from east, from west to East Hilton, all the way to.
- [16:39]
The Breakfast Club
All the way across North Avenue, all.
- [16:40]
Unknown Guest
The way across North Avenue. And my son did that much and got very much involved. And I'm. I got so involved that Muniz said, oh, you should be a spokesperson. And so I became on the leadership team. So during that movement, somebody named, ooh, Derek Jones in Baltimore, he was a big leader, educator. He passed away suddenly. So a lot of the men in his life and women got involved in 300. And in November of 2015, after Freddie Gray was killed, there were over 300 people. Got like, we hit 300 murders in November that year. And so the 300 Men March movement called a state of emergency for the city, a community meeting. And a lot of people showed up there. And one of them was this guy named Ogun who had this idea about calling a ceasefire. Because he just, you know, he watching the news and he sees what's happening in Israel occupied Palestine and keeps hearing the word ceasefire. And he's like, that's the only thing that made him pay attention to the news is because he heard that word. So he wanted Baltimore to have that same kind of, like, introspection, but also eyes on it from the outside. So he had this idea that they would just be one day where everybody agreed in Baltimore, it's going to be a ceasefire. He took the idea to different men who was like, yo, that shit dumb. It's not going to work. Not me, not him, right? Was like, I say that, right? And so he brought it to me at that meeting. He was like, I heard a lot about you. I see how you move. I feel like you the person I should be talking to. This about two years later, in 2017, the city had more murders than it had ever had in its history. Which pissed me off because I had been out doing work all day long. The mediation center, you know, I've been doing that work forever. And so I'm mad like, how the fuck is this? What's happening when we doing this much work? And they like pointing the people who say they got connection to the gangs. Why don't they tell niggas to stop shooting? Because if they say it, it's going to happen. The next day, when I woke up still that mad about it, I realized that I was they I'm mad about what people not doing. And I hadn't followed through on this man's idea from two years ago. So I called him up and was like, what you say you wanted to do? Because God put on my heart, it shouldn't just be one day, it should be three days. And violence is a language. So if we taking violence, we got to replace it with something. Let's tell people, yo do stuff to celebrate life. Because. Because if nobody deserves to celebrate life, Baltimore does. So just create events that's fun. That's celebrating life. Friday through Sunday, Brandon was one of the first people I called to say, this is what we think about doing. Are you going to. Before I could finish this sentence, he was like, oh, yeah, we doing it. What you need? So at first, we were just calling it A Life Over Death Weekend. And to Brandon's point, about the last program, that was the gvrs, it had been called a ceasefire, and all the streets knew it to be was the police come and lock you up. So when we held this community meeting to ask, what do we name this life Over Death Weekend? People were like, well, if you call it Baltimore Ceasefire, people know what that means. And we put a sister component of the peace challenge, because there's going to be a lot of people being like, I wasn't going to shoot nobody this weekend anyway, so they not talking to me. Damn right. But that's how people.
- [20:00]
Next weekend, I might got a couple.
- [20:02]
Niggas but this weekend I was chilling anyway. I was, you know, and so we wanted people to know the fact that you saying that shit is violent. Like, yeah, like violence is not just about shooters. It's about who you being petty with in your own family, who you dragging on social media, like, can you be peaceful for three days as a challenge to yourself? But we were worried that because it would be called Ceasefire, it would get confused with the previous city program that people. And so we were like, but Baltimore is smart. If somebody say, oh, that's that shit where the police. We were like, no, that was that. This is this, and people gonna understand. And they did. And it. So at the time the ceasefire started In May of 2017, people were being killed every 19 hours in Baltimore. So we had that first weekend in August of 2017. The city went 41 hours that weekend without anybody getting killed. And although people be like, well, that ain't nothing. You say that shit till you get the phone call.
- [20:57]
The Breakfast Club
Yeah. You tell somebody, you know, right?
- [20:59]
Unknown Guest
So when we hit 24 hours, we was like, wait a minute, bitch. We might have did something right, you know, 41 hours. But also when the first person got killed, we went, showed up at the space we blessed the space where the murder happened. We found his family. His family got money and resources and a Kingdom Life church, showed up and gave his mother the funeral. And she literally said, if her son was going to be killed, she was glad it happened during the ceasefire weekend. And that's some wild shit to say, but that's really what she meant. Cause she was like, if he got killed last weekend or next weekend, nobody would have cared about my son.
- [21:32]
Like, publicized, right?
- [21:34]
So everybody that was like, well, it's stupid. It's not gonna work. We was like, okay, we gonna do it every. Every three. Every three months, though.
- [21:41]
DJ Envy
Yeah.
- [21:41]
Unknown Guest
So we started doing it every three months. We started blessing murder spaces all year round. In 2022, it occurred to me that the way creation actually works is whatever you focus on your attention on with intense emotion, that's where you're gonna manifest physically. So we're calling it Ceasefire. And we're paying so much attention to what we're against. We're not putting that energy on what we're for.
- [22:07]
That's right.
- [22:07]
Because when you redirect your focus to what you're for, you don't give a fuck about what you against. You like this about what I'm for, what I'm standing on. So we said, we asked Baltimore, what do you know already exists here? What are you for? What do you want for yourself? And from different places, the ideas came. It should be Baltimore Peace Movement. So we changed the name, the focus more on what we want, what we are for, what we know we can uplift in the city. And this work is important to me because since I'm 52 years old, that's when y'all go, girl, you like, Jeannie, let me know.
- [22:43]
She like, bitch, I got you.
- [22:45]
Just Hilarious
I got you.
- [22:46]
Unknown Guest
You do look good.
- [22:47]
Thank you very much. So I started seeing people get killed when I was 12 years old. My brother was. One of my brothers was killed in 2007. My cousins have, like, just countless people. And that kind of pain and trauma is either going to swallow you up whole, or it's going to push you forward into your purpose so that other people don't have to experience what you experience. And so the pain of my life and understanding that they are now ancestors fighting with me on the other side, whispering moving pieces for me on the other side. Like, when I did not follow my calling, I was suicidal and tried to kill myself. And so I'm aware, like, I gotta do what my soul tells me to do, or else I'm gonna end up back on the psych ward, and I'm not gonna make it because I shouldn't have made it this far. And survivor's remorse can become a real thing, right? When I've heard bullets flying past my ear, I've. I shouldn't be here for a lot of reasons, but my parents had me on purpose. You know, they said, oh, let's have a boy who's going to change the world. So I came out a girl, kind of acting like a boy. Hey, yeah.
- [24:00]
Hey, yeah. I was going to say this one of these girls and boys.
- [24:03]
So I kind of get to do. I get to.
- [24:06]
I ain't going here with you.
- [24:08]
They knew, so they were going to name me Malcolm Patrice. Had I been born a boy. But they named me Erica, after Erica Huggins. And my middle name is Angela, after Angela Davis. So it's not.
- [24:18]
DJ Envy
She has two R's in her name.
- [24:19]
The Breakfast Club
Two R's.
- [24:20]
Unknown Guest
My father fucking misspelled my name, yo. Erica Huggins only has one R in her name. He thought it was two. So I was reading the autobiography of Angela Davis in my 20s, and she mentions Erica Huggins. I'm like, they spelled Erica's name wrong.
- [24:33]
And then I'm like, no, you're telling.
- [24:35]
The Breakfast Club
Them how I call my father.
- [24:37]
Unknown Guest
Like, yo, you spelled my name wrong. He said, oh, well. And you was Born with. With less fingers and more letters. You special, cuz I was born like this also.
- [24:44]
You was born like this.
- [24:45]
I was born like this.
- [24:46]
The Breakfast Club
Yeah.
- [24:46]
Unknown Guest
And so I thought it was cuz.
- [24:47]
DJ Envy
You from Bal, that's why.
- [24:50]
The Breakfast Club
Look, that's twice.
- [24:51]
Unknown Guest
It's a Ms. B.
- [24:54]
The Breakfast Club
Doing well.
- [24:54]
Erica Bridgeford
Your Ravens are doing well.
- [24:55]
The Breakfast Club
Ain't no football happening up here. That's we we.
- [24:58]
DJ Envy
Nothing happened on either side. Tell us. I want you to tell us about the Body Politic documentary, too. Why it's so important, why people should go check it out.
- [25:06]
Unknown Guest
Which hold up. Which I actually did watch, and I love it because, you know, he, of course, Brandon sent it to me. I love it because it speaks to people in Baltimore of all ages, like my son. That's something that I can watch with my son. And even how it comes on is like, we have the most. I always say we got the most authentic mayor. And I've met a lot of mayors in traveling and certain, you know, I've been honored by certain mayors and different cities and stuff. But we have Baltimore. We have, like, one of the most authentic mayors. The way he speaks, the way he talks, the way he loves his city and how he actually went through shit. And it's not just a polish, because you think of a mayor, it's not polished. It's a polished person. It's like, oh, this person is perfect. And this person, like, nah, Brandon is literally the most perfect.
- [25:51]
Don't let his temple pop out.
- [25:52]
You know what I'm saying?
- [25:54]
His whole staff be like, brandon, absolutely, yes. I don't think you can say that.
- [25:58]
When I looked over and seen this nigga at my section in my birthday party, I'm like, hold up, y'all, hold up. Why you got your own section? I don't know. You in my section and shit. And you like, no, they told me.
- [26:07]
The Breakfast Club
It'S your birthday party, and I had to come. I was like, all right, Jess, party. I'm there.
- [26:11]
Unknown Guest
But he is.
- [26:11]
The Breakfast Club
It wasn't my fault. The Ed wasn't on. That wasn't me.
- [26:13]
Unknown Guest
First of all, you ain't have to let nobody know what no air.
- [26:16]
My bringing in the building.
- [26:19]
The Breakfast Club
It was the building. It was the building.
- [26:21]
Unknown Guest
Sweating in the building.
- [26:22]
The Breakfast Club
It was hot as hell in the building. It was the building.
- [26:24]
DJ Envy
It was hot in her building.
- [26:26]
Unknown Guest
That's Dave fault. That's Dave Kelsey's fault. Wasn't no air in that goddamn.
- [26:29]
The Breakfast Club
They looking at me like, can you call it? I'm like, what the hell, Amma do.
- [26:33]
Unknown Guest
They blame the mayor like this. The mayor for Jeff's party ain't had no air. I'm like, in a private building.
- [26:39]
The Breakfast Club
I'm like, what the hell I gotta do with this? Come on, yo.
- [26:41]
Unknown Guest
But like I was saying, yo, he's actually somebody that actually can touch the people, can actually say, I've walked that walk. And I know why things are like this and things are like. And making the city a better place. But I love that the dock is something that my whole family can watch. Because, you know, when you think about, like, oh, shit, the mayor just dropped the documentary.
- [27:03]
The Breakfast Club
You.
- [27:04]
Unknown Guest
You looking to not understand it, because I'm a person that's not really into politics.
- [27:08]
The Breakfast Club
Me either.
- [27:09]
Unknown Guest
You know what I'm saying? But the fact that I understood the whole thing, you know, me, my son, my man, we watched it, you know, my mom, I sent. Of course I sent it to her as well. And it is amazing. And it's not out yet.
- [27:20]
The Breakfast Club
It is.
- [27:20]
Unknown Guest
It is going to be out, but it actually shows you things. It comes out Monday, right? Yes, but it actually. It actually shows you things that you don't even know about your city. Like, I didn't even know that. 20. What was it? 2019 was our worst year. 27, what was it?
- [27:36]
2017.
- [27:36]
2017 was our worst year. You know, so I. Certain things like that. Like, you know, so it's definitely informative, it's informational. And if you. Even if you're not from. There is definitely an inspiration to have a mayor like you to come out, to drop a doc about your city like this.
- [27:53]
The Breakfast Club
Well, I think for me, I think it's important for me for multiple reasons. One, like, I think it's important. This is something that, yes, it's about Baltimore, but really, this is also about, like, inner city America, right? I think. Cause you could replace me with whatever mayor across, like Mayor Woodfriend in Birmingham and all these other folks that are doing this great work in their cities. Mayor Jones, my favorite mayor in St. Louis. Right. Who are from those cities and doing this work. But I think what happens is, like you said, Jess. And look, you know, we love you, we're very proud of. You gotta say that every time. But people look at their elected officials and they don't really see them as human, right? Like, they see us as these robots that have to do this stuff over and over and over, right? I always say, like, people. ERICA LAUGHS When I say this, people think that, like, my job can be described by my Instagram feed. They have no idea, right? The stuff that has to happen. And I think for me, the reason why. And this is the second documentary that I've done. I was in another one called Charm City when I was a council person, but I did this because I wanted people to see raw and uncut what is really like. Because people have no idea what it's like to be the person that has to call someone and tell them that they love when they were coming home, yo. Or be the person that someone's calling and saying my baby's not going to walk again or have to make that decision that you know the holidays are.
- [29:22]
DJ Envy
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- [31:10]
Erica Bridgeford
The holidays are here and it's that time of year to think about, yes, gifts, but not only gifts. It's the guests, the party planning and the true meaning of the season. Spending time with f family and friends. We know it's a lot, but we're here to ease your mind and share some tips so we'll make it through together. With the season getting underway, now is the time to shop early for amazing holiday deals at Amazon. Amazon has a wide selection for all your holiday needs. The reason I love this so much is because it is the holidays and there's things that I've had family members and friends ask me for throughout the year that I simply would not give them the money to get. But I will get them the actual items. So whether it's laptops, hair steamers, dining sets, makeup, better wigs for Lauren La Rosa, whatever it is they need, Amazon got it. And please remember Amazon Cyber Monday deals are here with deals up to 40% off. Shop cyber Monday Deals now on Amazon and visit Amazon.comblackffect podcast for my favorite picks.
- [32:10]
Just Hilarious
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- [32:39]
DJ Envy
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- [33:20]
Charlamagne Tha God
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- [33:37]
The Breakfast Club
It's going to impact people and in a way that people aren't going to be happy about. And what you see in this movie also is this, that Baltimore obeys sprinkle grit that we have. And that despite all the stuff that we hear and all these TV shows, there are so many people that love our city. When you see Erica and when you see all of the folks, Dante, and everyone out there doing that work, right, you see something that you won't get to see, because most people aren't going to be out there with violence intervention workers, safe streets workers, and saying, like, hey, yo, you got to do. You don't need to do this, right? Most people are not going to be out there blessing a space after someone gets murdered, right? And most people aren't going to be sitting there getting those phone calls like I did, or having to fight to even start this program, right? Like, it's like you say, envy. I couldn't just do this on my own because agencies from the state, right, and we had a different governor. We didn't have Westmore when this movie was being filmed. Like, I had to convince our former governor to agree to do this. I had to convince our federal partners at the congressional level to agree to help us do this. People don't get to see that. And they also don't get to see, like, my raw emotion, like, when things happen. And this is one that's captured in the film that you don't see from my standpoint as much as you do from Erica's. But our brother, Tater Barksdale, was murdered during the filming of this movie. And people will see me that day on the news talking, but they don't know, like, most people don't know how close Tati and I are. They're gonna know now in this video, in this movie, when they see me and him walking around these neighborhoods together. They don't know that. Like, it took a lot for me to even go out and talk to the press that day, because I had to. Not in that moment, I couldn't grieve. I couldn't do any of the stuff that you do when someone that close to you is murdered. Because now I gotta go and show a strong, strong standpoint for the city, and people will be able to see that and also see that there's a different approach to dealing with violence that's working, and we have to spread it across. I think the thing that I've been most proud of with the Film is that two months ago, President Biden and Vice President Harris had a executive order signing at the White House. And after that mayors from around the country stayed to watch the film. Never in my wildest dream that I think little Brandon from Park is and Cold Spring would be at the White House first. Right. I've been there more times than I ever thought I could imagine in the last four years. But two that they would be watching a movie about me and about Baltimore and it be something positive. But that's what this story is about. It's about hope, determination and what is possible when people work together. Yeah.
- [36:27]
Unknown Guest
And I think it's really important. I was really excited to come here specifically because PBS is not a place where our people gonna go and know what the fuck is on PBS on Monday at 9, 10 o'clock.
- [36:41]
Right?
- [36:42]
And I was like so the viewership, the audience of the Breakfast Club, these are our people impacted by violence, living this and. And even the people doing the work around violence though, that's the people that watch that, that follow this. And I was like and we gotta wait till just come back from maternity Baltimore in the building.
- [37:04]
DJ Envy
Three years old right now.
- [37:11]
The Breakfast Club
Happy three months. The sleep come better in the first universe.
- [37:15]
DJ Envy
Second birthday, third birthday, baby talking now shout out.
- [37:18]
Unknown Guest
So to me it's just. It's important for people to feel seen in their pain like those of us who do the work boots on the ground. There are people like us all over this country because America is a place that believes in power over instead of power with. It is a. It teaches that violence is the way you get power. And so all cities like Baltimore are dealing with the same problem. And they have people like us doing healing work, doing intervention work, doing mediation work. But they. People still look at us and say what we should be doing and how come you are not doing. Because they don't really see on the. They only see us on TV or happen to maybe see us in the street, but they don't Even if what my pain and grief was public around Tater different from what Brandon did. I was all over the national news crying about it. But people still will circle back and go well then y'all should be doing this, that and the third. But you not really doing nothing except being whatever you which in the comments.
- [38:20]
The Breakfast Club
That's it in the comments.
- [38:21]
Unknown Guest
That's the job be in the comments. Some people just cheerleaders, some people just haters to remind me who I want to be. That's fine too. But people. It's important for people to see what it is like what you actually as a human go through when you decide I'm going to have an intimate relationship with violence and murder because I'm working to heal it in the world. And people need to be seen about that work and about their trauma and about how they lost people. And it's not just them that's going through it and that people really love them and people really want Baltimore to win. That's something I have learned. We've traveled around the world with this film. It premiered in London last year.
- [39:01]
The Breakfast Club
I was at work early to travel.
- [39:02]
Unknown Guest
Around the world because, you know, they go see this and be like, oh.
- [39:05]
That'S why we have what Brandon make it to London. That's a whole different conversation. But the news lied about what he was doing and why he didn't make it. But that's a different conversation. But we've been to the Netherlands. We've been like, this film has literally been seen around the world in Africa. Like, it's been seen everywhere. And just like you're saying that things that people in Baltimore are gonna watch and go, yo, I didn't even know that about us. Beautiful things. People around the world got to say that about us. And which made me say to them, that means it's neighborhoods right here where you live that you judging the fuck out of and you saying there's something wrong with them instead of asking what happened to them and how do you benefit off of the systems that's doing whatever it's doing to them. So, yes, support our work in Baltimore, absolutely. But it's probably stuff happening right here where you live that you need to be looking at differently and you need to be supporting the work getting done right here where you live.
- [39:59]
DJ Envy
Check it out on YouTube. Yeah, I'm about to say it, but I want to remind people, check it out Monday on PBS. What time Monday?
- [40:06]
The Breakfast Club
It's coming on 10pm on Monday, but you can stream it on PBS, right. Right during and forever. And then it'll come to some streaming.
- [40:15]
Unknown Guest
Service November 25th and people should check their local listings because, you know, pbs.
- [40:21]
Yeah.
- [40:21]
The Breakfast Club
You can just find it on the film. Have the Instagram is at the Body Politic film.
- [40:26]
DJ Envy
Yes. So definitely go check that. I just got one last question. You know, you were talking about, you said that, you know, you were meeting with Biden and Kamala Harris, you and those. So now that Trump will be in office in January, I'm gonna just move.
- [40:39]
Unknown Guest
Back from the mic.
- [40:41]
DJ Envy
Have you had conversations with his administration as of yet or even spoken to him yet. And how do you plan on, you know, focusing on that? Because, I mean, I don't think Trump is really gonna care about the inner cities too much. You know, areas like Baltimore, Detroit, Baltimore.
- [40:55]
Unknown Guest
He's made it. He's made it known he hate Baltimore.
- [40:57]
DJ Envy
It's gonna be a lot more difficult to get funding and to make sure that you got the budget you need to make that your city is clean and clear and good. So how do you.
- [41:06]
The Breakfast Club
Yeah, we. We buckling down. Right. And I think that this is the reality and this was the message that I was delivering all over the country to folks. Right. Because we. I was in that first meeting, Envy, with the president and vice president, where we talked to them before opera hit the street about we need to be able to use this stuff to help community violence and intervention and focusing on gun violence as a public health issue. We didn't think in our wildest dreams that the president would go out and say it right then and there, but he did and then allowed us to do that work. We put $50 million of our opera money into community violence intervention. Now, we don't know, none of us know what a Trump administration is going to look like for our cities, but if they are going to carry out the things that they said, we know it doesn't look good for us. So we have already been working because we know that offering these other stuff we're going to end to. How do we now institutionalize these things within city government, working with our state government. We're blessed in Maryland to have Governor Westmore. We're now blessed. We going to continue to have the best congressional delegation now with the addition of Senator Angela also Brooks. So if folks, black people in particular, are living in a city or a state and they feel like their rights are being infringed, come to Maryland, AKA come to Death Row Records. If you don't want your governor telling you what books you can't read, if you don't want to. You want to live in a state where women's bodies can be protected, come to Maryland. If you want to come to a place where black people will be respected, come to Maryland. But that aside, I think that what we're going to do is we're going to knuckle down. We're going to be working with our philanthropic partners. And that's the key on how we set this up. It wasn't just the city funding it. It wasn't just the Fed's funding it wasn't just the state funding it. We had our philanthropic Partners, all of us together. And now we just have to wait and see. My hope is that the new administration sees like, oh, this city has been having tremendous reductions in violence, Right. Why would they come and disrupt that? We hope that that can continue. We hope that our congressional delegation is still like they are today, being able to make choices about what things they get funded in their local districts. And if not, we just going to have to work around it and do it ourselves. Right? That's what we have to do. Because this work has to continue not just in Baltimore, but In Newark, in St. Louis, in Chicago, everywhere else in the country, because we know that violence is going down in our inner city. So we just have to do that work and buckle down.
- [43:38]
Unknown Guest
I got one more thing to say. So after the election, Brandon, you said this country does not deserve black women.
- [43:45]
The Breakfast Club
It doesn't.
- [43:45]
Unknown Guest
Okay, I want you to. What do you think that we need? I want you to expound on that.
- [43:52]
The Breakfast Club
Like, yeah, well, we can be here all day. I think. I think when I said that and people like, oh, that's a great speech. I'm like, well, my staff would tell you that they had no idea without what I was going to say when I went out there. It was just the response. But I think there's a couple of things right? When we think about. And people can say what they want, right? When we think about the election that we just went through, we went through election where the most qualified person to ever run for this position was the most disrespected candidate ever ran. The best campaign that I've ever seen. And I've been around a lot of campaigns, right? And yes, with a little time to.
- [44:29]
Unknown Guest
Share with a little bit of time.
- [44:30]
The Breakfast Club
And yes, that includes President Obama's and we love him forever. You know, I love you, President, but this, when you look at that and you look at the focus and the things that people focused on, it's very clear that this country still has a big problem with black people and with women. And unfortunately, my vice president, your vice president, it was both of them, because this wasn't for many people about policy, Right? Folks voted against their best interest, which is insane, but it happens all the time. We have to have real and honest conversations about what it means to allow people to be treated the way they should be treated and not be disrespected the way they should be disrespected. And I always say this up to people like me in my position, like I said that day, to call things as they are, right? And people like oh, you're putting yourself at risk. You're making yourself a target. Like, I'm already a target. I'm already at risk. And what are they going to do to me that they didn't do to my ancestors? The reality is too many people that look like me fought and died for me to be even able to sniff a position like this, for me to sit by and allow someone who was as qualified as talked about, but also who personally did so much for me in my city to just be treated like that and not say it right? I think that I owe that to her as a black man, as a son and grandson of black women, but as the. As the husband to a Belaysian wife, just like she's a Blasian American as well. I owe that to them, but I also owe that to my ancestors. And for me to continue to stand on what we know is right and call it out. And we know that, right? We can. If you just look at what they say about her every time she opens her mouth, and then other folks can just say stuff, you can be like, really? Really? I mean, look, y'all, Linda McMahon is about to lead the Department of Education, right? And we talking about she wasn't qualified for the job.
- [46:40]
Unknown Guest
That's crazy, right?
- [46:42]
The Breakfast Club
Come on, yo. Like, we know what. We know what it is, and folks have to call it out and stop being scared to do so, because that's how these folks get so comfortable in continuing these things. Because people like, oh, yo, they gonna take away my money. They gonna. Yeah, money is fine. Your position is fine. That is fine. But, like, what principles do you have? What kind of world do you want to live in where you can literally see that happen to this woman? And also, look, let's be honest, the data doesn't align, right? We have to remember, and this is, in particular, I take this personally, too, because I also came into office during the middle of the pandemic, right? When they came into office, no one knew what the next week was going to look like, let alone the next four years. And when you think about it, in particular to black folks and folks that listen and watch the Breakfast Club, you've never seen more investment in the HBCUs. You've never seen more small black business created. You've never seen a lower level of black unemployment in this country. What else do you want? Like, this stuff takes time. She's not going to just be there in four years during the height of a pandemic, and then, like, oh, all these things that have existed in this country since they brought the first one of us over here, it's going to go away. We have to stop holding ourselves to this extreme high regard and taking Joe whatever the rag man from other folks.
- [48:05]
Unknown Guest
Love that.
- [48:06]
DJ Envy
Definitely. Check out the documentary this Monday, 10:00pm Check your local listing on PBS.
- [48:11]
The Breakfast Club
And we appreciate you for joining us anytime.
- [48:13]
Unknown Guest
I wanted to ask you, who was the guy next to you? He was a wise man, in my opinion. Who said it takes a village to raise a child?
- [48:22]
Oh, that's Uncle.
- [48:23]
The village is retarded.
- [48:25]
The Breakfast Club
Uncle T. Shout out to Uncle T. Got me in trouble, my man.
- [48:29]
Unknown Guest
I don't know what you thought he was going to say. I'm like, you gave Uncle T the mic.
- [48:35]
What do you think? N. When he said that Brandon knew he, like, he said, envy. This was a whole press conference, yo. And the stand next to the man said, it takes the village to raise a child. But what if the village is Brandon?
- [48:53]
The Breakfast Club
I knew what he meant. Just know what he meant. Erica knew what he meant.
- [48:55]
Unknown Guest
That's not the point.
- [48:56]
Even with the mask on, you can see Brandon.
- [49:00]
The Breakfast Club
I'm like, damn. No.
- [49:02]
Unknown Guest
Yes.
- [49:03]
The Breakfast Club
So we had another event a couple weeks ago, and Uncle T's about to ask. I said, uncle T, before you asked this question? He did, man. He had talking points. I said, before you ask the question. The last time you asked me a damn question, you got me a live trophy. And everybody just bust out laughing. That's my man. I love Uncle. She did a lot of work. Saves a lot of young people in East Baltimore. We love him very much.
- [49:26]
DJ Envy
Uncle TZ, he's 40 plus 45, you.
- [49:29]
The Breakfast Club
Know, look, them old black people, they gonna say what they gonna say, what.
- [49:32]
DJ Envy
They mean what they say, not give me.
- [49:34]
Unknown Guest
And he got a right to. Cause he whipped the young people over east every single day helping this.
- [49:38]
The Breakfast Club
But I'll tell you something about Uncle T, though. This is. This is how you know when. And you. You'll remember this. Remember this summer we had this incident where this young lady was shot and killed inside of her house, right? Uncle T called me before the police commissioner called me and him in the community. When I got there, they were like, brandon, this who it is. So I delivered the message to our folks. And then if you watch the interview and everyone was online like, yo, Brandon's sending a message. And others don't know what he's saying. I literally go out there and say, the entire city is looking for you. Your best bet is to turn yourself in. He knew they knew what I was saying. But that's the kind of person. And that's really what's happening with these communities. Because people ain't just gonna let somebody go in a house and kill a little baby. And you think you just gonna, like, go off about your business like, nah, yo. Like, people gonna be looking for you. And they were able to say, I'm like, look, y'all chill. We'll find him. Tell us who it. They told us. And we was able to get him and put him where he belonged. But I think that shows you the character of people who know, like, no, we gotta set a code that, like, no, whatever you got going on ain't got nothing to do with this little baby. And that's the kind of thing that we have to have and stop allowing. Like, the thing that pisses me off the most is if I go on the Internet and see somebody done shot somebody, mother or daughter or somebody, and they be like, free him. What?
- [51:08]
Unknown Guest
Free song?
- [51:09]
The Breakfast Club
Are you crazy? Like, yo, he killed somebody's child, right? Like, ain't had nothing to do with their little city silly, petty beef. Cause I think envy. One of the things in jest that people don't realize is that this ain't the 90s. People dying over regular beef. They ain't dying over whole amounts of money. Like, yeah, yo, disrespecting me or every other day, like, yeah, I did say that one time, dumb shit on tv, I did. Thanks, Jess, for reminding me. Yo, sent my. Yo sent my girl a message on Instagram. Like, did she respond? Yeah. Then it ain't your girl, bro.
- [51:42]
Unknown Guest
Yeah, right.
- [51:43]
The Breakfast Club
What she. Both of y'all girl. Like, that's just how it go, right? Like, and we gotta get. Our folk gotta understand that we gotta be better with each other and understanding how to resolve conflict. Because we gon have conflict. That's the human way, bro.
- [51:57]
DJ Envy
I think the biggest thing is. I know we gotta go, but I think the biggest thing is social media. And I'm gonna tell you why, right? Because before, if that was a situation, you send my girl a note. It's just between me, you, and my girl. Everybody knows embarrassment is not there. I can just walk away. Now I'm embarrassed because now everybody feel like, I need my licks back.
- [52:16]
The Breakfast Club
It's my ego.
- [52:17]
DJ Envy
The same thing as if you. If we get into a fist fight, right?
- [52:19]
The Breakfast Club
Yep.
- [52:20]
DJ Envy
You beat me up spot on. And, you know, it's a couple of people that see it. I go home, it's gone.
- [52:24]
The Breakfast Club
The people at the next block don't know they filming it. And I know I can't beat you. So next time I gotta bring the blick.
- [52:30]
Erica Bridgeford
Correct.
- [52:30]
The Breakfast Club
That's what happened.
- [52:31]
DJ Envy
So now it's all in the comments.
- [52:32]
The Breakfast Club
That's what happened.
- [52:33]
DJ Envy
So if you did you, like, skin you this. So now I gotta prove myself.
- [52:36]
The Breakfast Club
Tams, you from New York, I understand.
- [52:38]
DJ Envy
That's right. You got new balances on your sweatpants. You know.
- [52:43]
Unknown Guest
I just want to say, because you brought up, like, conflict in general, right? It really is a trap to make us. It is think that we. There's no other choices. Like the thing I have to do now. Because people don't understand, right? They don't understand the brain science of it is it's just a moment in your brain telling your body, run, fight, freeze. You chose fight. But if you take that pause and calm down, it's a lot of other options to you. But you are being socialized to think these are the only options because your humanity ain't worth shit. So these. You gotta act like an animal. Cause you are an animal. And this is all you can do. When really you got all of these other options. And we don't get taught conflict management skills. Like conflict management doesn't get addressed like the coronavirus, I think also because we.
- [53:30]
DJ Envy
Just learning as it's going on.
- [53:31]
Unknown Guest
Yeah, right. You see what I'm saying?
- [53:32]
DJ Envy
Like, you know, because. And anybody will be a liar if they say it doesn't affect them. The first time you read a negative comment about yourself, it could have been 100 positive comments. That one negative comment stuck with you.
- [53:44]
Unknown Guest
Or that two.
- [53:45]
DJ Envy
Those two negative comments stuck with you. And it's hard to be like, I'm gonna let it go if it takes the time to learn.
- [53:50]
Unknown Guest
And that's why we just had that.
- [53:51]
The Breakfast Club
Conversation in the car. I told her. I was like, I just don't look at it.
- [53:54]
Unknown Guest
And there are all over this country organizations that teach conflict management skills. We do that at the Community Mediation center in Baltimore that teach mediation. So there's a safe space to take, all right, Me and you say that shit to my face in a confidential space. So we can really work it out, right? And there are organizations doing that work all over, but they have to be uplifted. As much as to keep that same energy shit, is to recognize that it is intentionally trying to make our demise just a real thing.
- [54:25]
The Breakfast Club
And the last thing I'll say, I say this to the kids all the time too, right? And we have to understand, like, who's programming. That's right. I got asked this by a kid in a school last year. He's like, like Mr. Man, every time I go on Instagram or Tick Tock is trying to show me fight videos. I don't watch fight videos. I said, yeah, but people in your class, other people do. And they think that people like algorithm, of course, or algorithms are a real thing. Perfect example. This is a true story. A young lady that works for me wanted to set up a Tick Tock account. I was like, I'm not downloading Tick Tock. You can do what you want. But she was like, well, we want the algorithm to be right. So you sit here while I, I picked the thing. She's like, what are you interested in? Like sports, babies, politics, weather, nature. Right. Cities. Soon as she goes in there, because it puts in my age, right? And all my information and where I live. All they wanted to show me was ass videos.
- [55:16]
Unknown Guest
Nothing. I'm a black man.
- [55:19]
The Breakfast Club
That's it. She's looking at like, what? And we have to understand that and really figure out ways to unplug ourselves from that. But thank you all for having me.
- [55:30]
Unknown Guest
Thank you.
- [55:31]
DJ Envy
Brandon, Scott, Erica, make sure you check out the documentary this Monday, 10:00 on PBS. Thank you guys so much.
- [55:39]
The Breakfast Club
Thank you.
- [55:39]
Unknown Guest
Thank you so much.
- [55:41]
DJ Envy
It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning.
- [55:43]
Erica Bridgeford
Wake that ass up early in the morning.
- [55:45]
The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club.
- [55:50]
Just Hilarious
You could sit there and listen to ads or you could take a moment to have a Diet Coke break. First, grab a chilled Diet Coke because if you want it to be perfect, it needs to be crispy. Next, get a big cup of ice because everyone knows Diet Coke is best served swimming in ice. Then sip it slowly, feel that burn and enjoy your break for as long as possible. When you need a break, don't forget to grab an ice cold Diet Coke and take a Diet Coke break.
- [56:20]
Erica Bridgeford
The holidays are here. It's that time of year to think about, yes, gifts, but not only gifts. It's the guests, the party planning and the true meaning of the season. Spending time with family and friends. We know it's a lot, but we're here to ease your mind and share some tips so we'll make it through together. With the season getting underway, now is the time to shop early for amazing holiday deals at Amazon. Amazon has a wide selection for all your holiday needs. I don't care if you want to get your people's laptops, gaming screens, whatever it is they need, Amazon got it. And please remember, Amazon's Cyber Monday deals are here. With deals up to 40% off. Shop cyber Monday deals now on Amazon and visit Amazon.com black effect podcast for my favorite picks what's it like to.
- [57:01]
DJ Envy
Get the new iPhone 16 Pro with AT and T next up Anytime? It's like when you first light up the grill and think of all the mouth watering possibilities. Learn how to get the new iPhone 16 Pro with Apple Intelligence on AT&T and the latest iPhone everywhere with AT&T's next up anytime. ATT connecting changes everything. Apple Intelligence coming fall 2024 which Siri and device language to set us English. Some features and languages will be coming over the next year. $0 offer may be not available on future iPhones Next up Anytime feature may be discontinued at any time, subject to change additional fees. Terms and restrictions apply. Catt.com iPhone for details.
- [57:32]
Unknown Guest
How do you feel when you switch to Geico and save on your car insurance? It's like going to work on one Thursday morning and thinking to yourself, just one more day until Friday. But then somebody in the elevator says Happy Fri. Yay. Then you check your phone quickly and discover today is actually Friday. So yes, Happy Friday, random stranger in the elevator. Happy Friyay indeed. Yep, switching and saving with Geico feels just like that. Get more with Geico it's hard to.
- [58:02]
Read the news these days without asking yourself, how did we get here? Fiasco is a history podcast from the co creators of Slow Burn. In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics. The 2000 election, which resulted in a high stakes stalemate, ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history. So if you're trying to make sense of the present moment, check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.