Out of Our Control

Welcome to today's conversation... Celeb crazed fans out of control! Howard the coward bans athletes kneeling! Blackish MAGA is growing! !  Worthy Women Entrepreneurial Instruction -- 6 Steps to Mess Management.  Unita Blackwell Honored. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Latia in the Lead Podcast, a podcast where we lead meaningful conversations that intersect the block and the boardroom. From pop culture to politics through ethical entrepreneurship. We are laying the groundwork for unity in our community. We're glad you're here. Enjoy the conversation. Good evening. Welcome to Latia in the Lee Podcast. My name is Latia and I'm your host. Thank you so much for joining me for another episode, guys. We are moving right along, and I am so happy I couldn't be more excited about how this process is unfolding. Thank you all for joining me. I hope you are okay. I hope you are isolating yourself from the BS. I hope you all are not allowing everything that's going on to steal your peace and your joy because we can only control what we can control. However, we're going to talk about it. So without further ado, let's go. We are talking current events. Now, if y'all remember, in the last episode, I pointed out some things that was happening domestically that show that this administration had some cracks in its foundation. Well, I mean, that sentiment is now being casted abroad. Internationally, other countries are like, no, you are going too far. We are taking a look at this thing in its totality, and the problem is the United States of America because Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK, the Arab nations, Russia, China, and the Gulf states have all said, get somebody else to do it. Now, Donald Trump has commanded that the Allied countries load their ships and they go to the Straits of Hamuz and they blast everyone away. Not to mention, Joseph Kent, who is the head of U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, just resigned. In his letter to the president, he explicitly stated he's resigning because of the war in Iran. He said Iran posed no imminent danger to the United States of America. This president got pie all over his face. It's just all over his face. You look dumb. You got moonwalked into a war that you have no way out of. We don't even know the level of destruction that's going on in Israel, although there is, but we're not seeing that on corporate media. They're not showing us how Israel is being hit, they're not showing that part. But it's all out in the open, and the United States of America is getting its ass handed to them. I'm an American, but the facts are the facts. So we're praying for all of those soldiers who are eventually going to end up on the grounds in Iran, and we pray for all of you to get back and to get back safely and in one piece. As a society, we are batshit crazy over celebrities. And I am so glad that this is not my ministry. Like I've never cried over a celebrity, I've never feinted, I've never done any of that. I appreciate people for who they are and what they do. I can appreciate your craft and confirm that you are good at what you do and edify you. It is not that deep, but it's deep for a lot of people. And unfortunately, Rihanna has gotten the backlash of that because a 35-year-old Florida woman, Ivana Lizette Ortiz, shot up Rihanna's house with an AR-15 style weapon. While Rihanna, her children, and her mom, I don't know if ASAP was there, I don't remember reading that, but while her and her kids were there, shut up this woman's house. As a society, we are deranged when you start obsessing over celebrities. Honestly, when they said a Florida woman, I was not surprised. I'm sorry. Florida is one of the craziest states in this country. The people there are just loose. And this woman actually got up one morning, got dressed, found herself in California, took an AR-style gun, and actually shot up someone's home. Lock her up, lock her under, get her some help. Yeah, while she's way, way, way down under the jail. Because the level of insanity that she has to have, the level of mental instability that she has to have to commit a crime in this way, we don't need her on the street. I am so happy that Rihanna and the kids are okay, from my understanding. They got out of California ASAP. No pun intended. Um, I'm just happy that they're okay. That is the crazy part of celebrity. And I've always said if I reach a level of notoriety, I don't want to be that famous where people lock in and fixate on me and fixate on what and who they think I am, to where as though I'm being stalked, people are at my house, people are just accosting me in the street. I don't want that, and I don't think that I know you can't pick and choose the part of celebrity you take and you leave, but I can imagine that that is a big concession when you are that big of a known figure. And I wish Rihanna all the best. I'm so happy that they are safe, and I hope this woman gets the time and the help that she deserves. Howard University, a private university, the only R1 status HBCU in this country has banned their athletes from taking a knee. Howard University was founded by a general by the name of Oliver Otis Howard. He was a general who was a rare finding that time. General Howard believed in egalitarianism, and he believed that black people had the right to be educated. And at the time, it really put him at odds with the South, who thought that we should be in those fields. So Howard University has a very specific reputation. However, I think the thing that we miss when we're talking about HBCUs is why they exist in the first place. HBCUs, in my opinion, are often propped up to be the institutions where the best and the brightest are essentially pulled from to go work in federal government mostly or run these big corporations that ultimately maintains the status quo and capitalistic system of this country. You very rarely find the top graduates of those institutions going back to their hoods and starting nonprofits. That's not really a thing. It's a reason why it's in Washington. And it's in Washington so that they can intern at the White House, so that they can they can get introduced to the White House so that they can ultimately come out and serve this capitalistic country in some way, shape, or form. And it's designed that way because money talks. Just like HBCU banning their athletes from taking a knee as a black university, as a predominantly black university, they have to go where the money is. And the money is coming from the federal government. So a lot of times, and Howard specifically, these institutions get a significant amount of their budget from where? The federal government. So let's look at the money. Because whenever you want to find out what's what, you always have to follow the money. Howard University received $176 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies Republican. Howard University also received $300 million from the federal government. If your institution is being funded by the right, then your politics are being funded by the right. So, no, you're not going to allow your students to take a knee because that goes against the agenda of this administration. And that's who's feeding you. So no surprise there. I know we think that HBCUs are supposed to be the Mecca of radical politics. I know that's what one would think, but that is not the case. They gave them two options. They can't kneel, they can either stand up or stay in a locker room. My advice to young people: I suggest you all stay in a locker room. And as a college student, I am taking a double look at a university that is in any way, shape, or form trying to limit my freedom of speech, especially as a black person in this country. A lot of the movements of radical progression start on college campuses. And when we start muting those voices, we are really in trouble. Don't get me wrong, we're in trouble now. But when we start muting the young people who are often willing to put themselves on the line, and because they are in institutions of education, they are understanding things at a pace that is more progressive than the general population. I think that it's a shame. And again, we are not as a country living up to our ideals, which goes back to why now countries, other countries in the world are saying, hey, the United States of America, y'all talk a good game. But what y'all are doing, how y'all are acting, how you've always behaved, is not you living up to your ideals. And they're backing away. And that's why we're not that girl anymore on the world stage. And under this administration, we will never be again. So boo to Howard. Boo to Howard. And for all the money that y'all spend to go there, an institution that will not back you up when you are taking a stand on racial injustice. I don't know if it's worth the tuition. My advice to young people, considering Howard or any other institution that doesn't allow your freedom of expression, go somewhere else. Go somewhere else. So Senate Democrats voted down a bill to fund ICE without additional oversight. What? What about without them following the constitution? What about without them having a warrant before they enter someone's home? What about without them killing people? What about without probable cause? There's a lot of things to be defunding ICE about. So ICE has been quiet for now. But in that bill is also payment for TSA workers who are not being paid right now. And the airports are chaotic. And if I'm a TSA worker, I'm calling out sick. I'm sorry. How do you expect people to go to work without being paid? Like, what is the TSA worker supposed to tell the landlord? Nobody wants to hear that. Everybody has their own problems. And the way that they keep holding up federal employees' paychecks, I think is despicable. Meanwhile, everybody in Congress is getting paid. No matter what happens, those people get paid. So I mean, they need to figure something out. No funding iCE should not be a priority. We need to be defunding ICE. Not only that, ICE, who the hell is ICE? In my opinion, I think ICE is a bunch of losers who y'all put out a $50,000 signing bonus and all these things who you attracted, a bunch of niggas who couldn't get no pee, you know, a bunch of niggas who wasn't invited to the cookout, wasn't invited to the to the to the games, they wasn't the athletes, they wasn't popular, it's a bunch of losers. So there should be a lot of constraints around ice going around terrorizing every goddamn body. Uh moving right along. So Tim Cook is lying to y'all. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, was on the news this morning, lying his face off.

SPEAKER_02 14:24

We were at the inauguration last year, this feet from the president. We gave him a nice gift uh at the White House. You were at the screen of Milani in the documentary for uh First Lady. There's so many people say you're really close to the administration, um, and you being criticized for that. How do you separate the two, or are you able to?

SPEAKER_01 14:45

Well, what I do is I interact with policy, not politics. I'm not a political person on either side. I'm not political. And so I'm kind of straight down the middle, and I focus on policy. And so uh I'm I'm very uh pleased that the president and the administration is accessible to talk about policy.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

Talk about Apple is an American company and we're so proud, and we're going to put the next technology in classrooms. Yeah, they want to put the next technology in classrooms, y'all, because they don't want our kids to learn. And furthermore, again, following the money, they want the government contracts. If we were using exclusive Apple products in all of the schools, how many schools do we have in this country? You know how big that contract would be while our kids get dumber and slower and dumber and slower, they can't read, they're coming out of high school, can't read, don't know how to formulate a sentence, can't even remember a telephone number. The the dumbing down of our kids is tragic. So the high tech in a classroom where kids can't now can't spell, they think all words start with three letters, all words start and end with three letters. They're using emotion, emojis to emote. This is not a good thing. This is big tech making big bang. And it's a reason why Donald Trump had all of these people lined up behind him at his inauguration. They want to be able to bombard us with tech unregulated at a rate and speed by which it's humanly impossible to keep up with. So that eventually society, as we know it, collapses and we become a society that is dependent upon technology. That's not what we want, y'all. And we definitely don't want that in our classrooms. So Tim Cooker, stop lying. He totally strikes me as one of those people who he probably doesn't even allow his grandkids to use the phones. Or if they're allowed to use it, it's at a certain time for a certain period. He's not allowing his grandkids to sit on the phone and scroll all day. That deteriorates the mind. So we shouldn't be happy about big tech taking over our classrooms. Because in a minute, you know what's going to happen? They're going to say the teacher is obsolete. And as someone who was guided by some of the best teachers, I ended up in college because of my history teacher, Mr. Johnson. I saw a different life outside of my own environment because of my sixth-grade teacher, Miss Cullen. Teachers are important. And so while you're thinking you're getting tech, it's coming at a big cost. So if you have kids in, especially in the public school system, you want to be at those school board meetings. You want to have a say as to how your child is educated in the United States of America. Well, that's that on that. Now, y'all, can we get to my favorite part of the show? We are talking culture. So, first up, President Obama. President Obama is set to open the Obama Presidential Center on June 19th, that is Juneteenth in Chicago. I feel two ways about President Obama. I feel one, I love him for who he is and how he was able to maneuver and how he has educated himself, come through the ranks to achieve all that he has against all odds in this country. And he won the presidency, he conducted himself in a manner that was unmatched. He went through eight years of presidency without a scandal, an upstanding person, as far as I can tell, without personally knowing him. However, I do think in his presidency, he fell short a lot, y'all. Obama, in his term, he did a lot, y'all. And I know when one of us makes it, we we don't want to focus on the things that are negative about how we made it, but we have to, we have to be true to it. We have to call a thing a thing. There was a lot of things that Obama could have done to kind of assure that we wouldn't be where we are had he been radical, had he gone really to the left and implemented some things that were codified and coded and couldn't be changed. But you know, he left us out to dry in a lot of ways. He did, y'all. He did. But I love him. I love him for who he is and what he was able to do, and I'm proud of him. Being the first black president, he had a very hard job. And I what I the way in which I choose to extend him grace is that I try to keep in mind that he was the president of the United States of America. This country has baked in it what the president is going to be to this country. It's already baked into the fabric of this country. So he wasn't going to get up in there and be this radical black pioneer. He didn't have the latitude to do that. However, his presidential center is opening, and I think you should be a part of it if you care to. Speaking of the Obamas, I do love me some Michelle. Because I think that Michelle has gotten to a point where she's ready to call a thing a thing. But I think out of respect for her position, she obviously is not at will to do that. But I do believe how she shows up. I do believe in her authenticity. I do believe she is exactly who we feel like she is. So for Chili. Who is, in my opinion, the least talented of TLC, pioneer pop group, icon, pop group, TLC, has stepped all the way out there and shown us exactly who she is. Now, granted, I have never once looked at Chili and thought, black girl magic, girls, girl, proud black woman. I've she's she's never given me that. I'm sorry. She's never ever given me that that was her vibe. So for her to jump out on social media and say that Michelle Obama was born a man tells me everything I need to know about her. And it tells me also who I thought she was, she is. Because that is a right-wing talking point. So that tells me your politics, it tells me how you see yourself as a black person in this country or of some kind of black heritage. You're black in something, but it tells me how you feel about yourself, and it tells me also that you don't like yourself. Because for you to deny that part of yourself and go so far as to disrespect the former first lady of the United States of America who is a sister, you are out of line for someone again who was the least talented in the TLC group. You went on to do what after TLC? What exactly? I mean, did I miss it? I think that some people should, if you're not going to say anything positive or you're going to be ill-informed, or you don't have the wherewithal to speak from your own mind and your own thoughts and your own perspective. I think you should just shut the fuck up. For most people. And chili, you're one of those people. So Pastor Jamal Bryant got his ass handed to him this week. He jumped out here and said that the Target boycott is over. Mission accomplished, we're done with that. Yes, he did. Held a whole press conference, and black women handed him his ass. How you gonna stop something you didn't start? Now, with respect to the Target boycott, there was confusion in the community. There were a lot of different organizations boycotting Target. Pastor Jamal Bryant and his church was one, he called for a 40-day fast of Target. However, prior to him actually starting the Target fast, Nikema Levy Armstrong, who was a civil rights attorney and located in Minneapolis, where the Target headquarters is, actually had already launched a boycott of Target. So when Pastor Jamal Bryant came out and called the Target boycott over, she was hot. She was hot. The truth of the matter is, Pastor Jamal Bryant did kind of hijack the Target boycott because he was the one really doing the interviews, he was the one booking the shows, and he was doing a lot of the front-facing work when the movement was actually led by Nikema Levy Armstrong and other organizations because other organizations did eventually join the boycott. Just to be clear, the Target boycott is not over because we as a people are not going to be willingly funding our own oppression. Nobody asked Target to do away with DEI. At the time, Trump hadn't even called for that yet. Target jumped out there on their own, without prompting, without anything. And they retracted their commitment to DEI. They did that all on their own. Nobody asked them to. Which says to many of us, to hopefully all of us, that you never was committed in the first place. So, no, the Target boycott is not over. I haven't been in Target in over a year. I find another way to shop and somewhere else to go. And Target is not the only corporation out here that we need to back away from. But right now, they are the bullseye. No, the Target boycott is not over, y'all. Do not go back in Target. I know Pastor Jamal Bryant says some of the things that he was calling for in his boycott, that Target met those obligations, but Target has not come out and made a public apology to the black community. They have, I haven't seen that. Whatever they did do, it was behind closed doors. We have seen no national media, no national press conference, no national anything saying that, oh, we're going to recommit to this $1 billion that we committed to the black community. We're going to redo that. I haven't seen any of that. So as far as I'm concerned, it's still up for Target. And Pastor Jamore Bryant, sit down. Black woman got this. Black women got this. We're on it. And when we're on it at the end, we're going to get something from it. And that is going to include a public apology. Just like Target was out in the open and loud and proud about doing away with DEI. We need to see them out in the open, loud and proud about the apology to the black community. Hard stop. Period. So do not go in Target. It's still up for Target. So did y'all watch the Oscars? I watched the Oscars. I was flipping back and forth between the Knicks game and the Oscars. As an artist, I love how they reenacted the Sinners juke joint dance scene. As an artist, I so appreciate the reenactment of the juke joint dance scene at the Oscars, where they that scene was just so soulful, and it was a musical, spiritual, just visual. Oh, I love that scene. I'm so happy that they did that. It was beautifully choreographed. Misty Copeland graced us for her ballet. Oh my god, it was everything. Um, so I really enjoyed myself. I didn't see all of the Oscars, I saw what I needed to see. But I did see Ryan Coogler win for Best Original Screenplay, and I did see Michael B. Jordan win for best leading male actors. And congratulations to those brothers. I'm so proud of them. So proud of both of them. We watched Michael B. Jordan literally grow up. I remember him in Fruitvale Station. Like we watched him grow up, and because he is from Norfolk, New Jersey, and oh man, the inspiration he gives young people in urban areas to see him doing his thing and the way in which he is doing it. I my hat is off to you, brother. Please continue to do your thing. I loved what he said, I loved his speech. I love that he was the only person that I saw accepting award that actually, thank God, that's how you know he was raised and not dragged up. He had his mom there, he had his dad there and his sister there. They went to In N Out Burger when it was all said and done on some regular shit. I love that for him. And brother, I hope you I hope we haven't seen the heights of your career and your trajectory. Congratulations to you too, Ryan Coogler. I love what you're doing. I love how you are using your art and your platform to educate, and not for nothing, but Ryan Coogler, I think you should have also gotten best director because one battle after another is was some gross white man's fetish movie, and I thought it was disgusting. No shade to Tiana, she did what her role called for her to do, but I mean the movie itself. Come on, please. What radical revolutionary is leaving her baby and going to chase after a white man? Come on, stop, y'all. But anyway, congratulations, Ryan Coogla. Congratulations, Michael B. Jordan. I'm proud of y'all. Good job, and I'm looking forward to seeing y'all next project. Last but not least, Kiki Shepard. Y'all, Kiki Shepard of the Apollo. You know, Kiki, she held her hand over the talent, and that's how we clapped and we voted who was getting sandmanned off the stage. Well, Kiki Shepherd passed away at 74 years old. So we want to say R-I-P to Kiki Shepherd. Thank you for all of those addresses, darling. Thank you for the iconic role in which you've played at the Apollo. Thank you, sister rest well. All right, y'all. We are moving right along because guess what? We're now talking ethical entrepreneurship and anti-capitalism. Let's go. So in the entrepreneurial segment today, I want to talk about something that's really important. Someone sent me a question, and it was with regards to her pursuing her passion or staying at her job, which she said she didn't like. Whenever we're talking about entrepreneurship, we're talking about more than our products and services. When we're talking about entrepreneurship, you want to remember that as an entrepreneur, you are your mess, your message, and the messenger. And all of these things, in one way or another, will play a part in the overall growth and development of your business. So, how do you combat that? How do you combat the personal parts of yourself that you are still evolving in in terms of how it relates to who you are as a business person? In my worthy women seminar series, I teach what's called mess management 101. Mess management 101 is a process by which you use to manage your own personal struggles before, after, enduring your life as an entrepreneur because those worlds do collide. And the first step of managing your mess 101 is to accept what comes with you. A lot of us get into business and become entrepreneurs thinking that we're going to be able to separate our personal self from our business self. And a lot of times that's just not true. Specifically for new entrepreneurs who a lot of times start their entrepreneurial process from home. What does this mean if you're starting your entrepreneurial process from home? Well, it means that your home life and your work life are going to collide. How that shows up is, for example, kids and husbands or boyfriends or partners or whoever they are not respecting your boundaries in terms of when you're working and when you're at home, even though you're within the constructs of the home itself. That comes with structure. So accepting that your personal life and your home life is going to sometimes come together, sometimes clash, is step one in managing your mess. And what is what does this look like? It looks like if you're an entrepreneur at home, you identifying clear, a clear routine that looks like and is consistent with working from home. This way you establish visually a process that your family can see. That is a way to manage your mess. That is a way for your business, your newfound business life, not to collide with your family life. And your family don't end up hating your business because it appears like your business is taking over. So that's step number one. Step number two in this process is make no apologies for the things that you can't control. As an entrepreneur, when you're entering into this process, you're not going to have all the things. You're not going to have all the bells and whistles. However, that does not minimize a well-thought-out, well-planned, well-articulated vision for your business. So work with what you have. Control what you can control. Don't go out and spend every last dollar trying to collect all the things that you think is required for a startup. It's okay to start small. It's okay to build up. That is the way to longevity. That is how you get beyond that critical five-year point. That is how you start your business with a solid foundation. So control the things that you can control. The things that you have control of is the way you think. The things that you have control of is that the way that you articulate your vision. The things that you have control of is the vision you have for your business. Those are the things that you can control. Control that. One of my first questions that I ask entrepreneurs when I talk to them is how did you get to this business? What part of your life, what part of your struggle, what part of your journey brought you to this business? Because if it is a place that you're really supposed to be, if it is on purpose, then some part, some aspect of your mess has to be connected to your mission. So for you as a new entrepreneur, figure out how your mess matches your mission. And use those things, use the connective tissue in those things to help broaden your work, help broaden your vision, help broaden your target market. Use your mess in your mission because you are the messenger with the message. That's it, that's all. We are now moving to black facts. In today's segment of Black Facts, we're honoring Unita Blackwell, mayor of Mayorsville, Mississippi. Unita Blackwell was born on this day in 1933 in Lula, Mississippi. In 1776, this honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, became the first black woman ever elected mayor of a city in Mississippi. She was elected mayor of Mayorsville, Mississippi. A champion of civil rights, she focused primarily on voter registration. This leadership role was often at the expense of being attacked by the Ku Klux Klan. Blackwell's life was filled with sleepless nights, threats, crosses being burned in her yard, and arrests. Nonetheless, she continued and persevered with courage and determination. A champion of political rights as well as civil rights, in 1964, she, along with Fannie Lou Hamer, was a key organizer of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, MFDP. The MFDP challenged the seeding of all white delegations from Mississippi to the Democratic National Convention. A 1983 graduate of the University of Massachusetts with a master's degree in regional planning, Blackwell served as second vice president of the National Conference of Black Mayors and chair of the Black Women Mayors Caucus. With every reason in the world to be afraid, Blackwell sums up her courage in these words. We don't have nothing, so we ain't losing nothing. And our life don't mean nothing if we continue this way with no freedom. On May 13th, 2019, Miss Blackwell left a legacy that means something. Our Black Facts are brought to you by the Black Heritage app. Black Heritage App is a free app that provides Black Facts for every day of the year. While this is not an ad, I encourage you to support and download the app. Well, that is it, y'all. That is all. That is today's show. I am happy that we had this time to share together. So last but not least, T's takeaway. My takeaway is this, y'all. Control the things that you can control. Everything else, pray over it. That's it. I love y'all. Thank y'all for being in fellowship with me. Thank you for joining me. Thank you for downloading, subbing, listening, commenting. Thank you for your emails. Thank you for your messages. I appreciate y'all being in community with me. I look forward to our next time together. Until then, be good to yourself. Be good to one another. Show your sisters and brothers some grace and keep your head on a swivel. That's it, y'all. Good night.