Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Zone. You can burn a whole thing down. Y'all don't really care about a brother till we burn our whole thing down.
Speaker 0 00:00:10 Yeah, we about to go to work. Yeah, we about to let it burn. Like send Quill. Yeah, I bet you will try to skip a David lynching us and till and that's really freaking generous cuz honestly they have been killing us since we were property. No stopping me from saying how it is. Listen, ain't the whizz, ain't no easing down the road where we live that a bizz. We can't go out for a jog or a swim but a dog fall asleep in the car, fall asleep where we live. So we about to let it burn. Just like gusher say they be trying but do not care what gusher say. Put him back, screens up, make a few bucks. My life isn't marketing who you think you trying to play. Um, I like it better when like nerdy was all fun and stuff. This is really angry. Like don't you think you said enough? Well that's freaking tough cuz I'm being loud and the people are not playing with you now. Yeah, you can burn a whole thing down. Yes. Yeah. I don't care if you are uncomfortable, we can burn a whole thing down. You can burn a whole thing down. Couldn't care about another zone. You can burn a whole thing down. Burn it down. Y'all don't really care about a brother until we burn. Own thing down y'all. We about to go to work. Yeah, we about to let it burn. No,
Speaker 2 00:01:23 Come on the youngins what I'm focused on. I'm so old then. Golden. I ain't know you was talking about Pokemon, but I'm more like me and nerdy next to a burndown system with a candle of gas and a handful of matches and know we ain't miss some famous. Now my mission ladies be so watching all the leaders leading banking Nona Minions. But we taught you enough to take us and we give into survivors city liars making black people compliant. Coon Rapids. Who are you asking? I'm proof Survivor. Boomba trick bro. Ethics got me laughing at your message and in Black Lives Matter you would not get so defensive. We got cops and ths and robberies and gas light us. We are not the same. We on the scene we pass typing cuz y'all don't care about us and we ain't come to ask. We just mind up businessing and people be so stuck and mad. So pass the gun and mask and pass the athe. Nu Y'all can really kill us for anything. Y'all just bend the laws the same performance art, the same performative saving the racist header normative. You can
Speaker 0 00:02:21 Burn up whole thing down. Burn all. I don't care if y'all uncomfortable, we can burn all thing down. You can burn it, burn it, burn it down. Couldn't care about it. You can burn a whole down down. Y'all don't really care about brother until we burn our down
Speaker 1 00:02:41 Burn.
Speaker 0 00:02:42 Yeah, we to, yeah. We let it
Speaker 3 00:03:09 Ow. Views from the ground, views from the damn ground views from the ground views from the damn ground views from the ground views from the damn ground. And that's on that, on that, on that. Hey so, um, this is DJ your agender host. I use they them pronouns.
Speaker 4 00:03:28 My name is Brandon. I use he him pronouns.
Speaker 5 00:03:31 My name is Jay. I use they them or he him pronouns.
Speaker 0 00:03:34 And it's your boyk d I use he him pronouns.
Speaker 3 00:03:38 All right. So, um, our first segment we are going to, we're going to, um, go with Nerdy here. Yeah. With the spotlight. You know, you've been doing the recap all month Yes. Of what, you know, where we've been, who we've fed on the show. Um, and so yeah, just, just take it away.
Speaker 0 00:03:55 Yeah. Well first of all, allow me to sayari g to everybody listening. I don't know how many of you are out there <laugh>, celebrating a joyous Kwanza. I hope that you are enjoying yourselves lighting, lightening the candles, hanging out with the family. It's Ujima today. Collective working and responsibility. So, um, hopefully we are highlighting that in word indeed today. But you know, what's really cool about our community, um, this whole month we've been looking at like the people we've had on the show. I know we've talked about the people we've had on the show and I've just been doing some my own thoughts about artists and the musicians that we've had. And it's been a really dope year. Thank you again for letting me be a part of this.
Speaker 3 00:04:33 Of course. Thanks for being a part of this. Yeah,
Speaker 0 00:04:35 No, it's super cool. So we're gonna, like there are so many different artists that we had. Um, and obviously hiphop at the center because it's like the coolest art form that I know of. As of right now I'm a big hip hop fan. Shots
Speaker 3 00:04:47 Fired, shots
Speaker 0 00:04:47 Fired <laugh> to the pka people out there who listen and wait for their pka stuff to pop off. <laugh>. Um, it's only a matter of time. Black people are coming for pka. Two. Just wait, <laugh>,
Speaker 3 00:04:59 We
Speaker 0 00:04:59 Will eat. We'll take it. We're eating all of it. Um, but <laugh>, um,
Speaker 3 00:05:04 I can't wait for the black p you
Speaker 0 00:05:05 Know, black PS coming out. It's, it's only a matter of time. It what? Oh, snap. There it is. I I knew it.
Speaker 3 00:05:11 I already Uhoh. Is Jay about to put us on <laugh>? Jay's about to put us on. I'll
Speaker 0 00:05:15 Tell you later. The black poker movement has already started. I'm just behind the way <laugh> and that, that seems, that seems like my kind of, my kind of vibe. But anyway, so yeah, we've had a lot of amazing artists coming through, um, on the Artist's Spotlight and it is just been a blast. So one of the, the first purpose we have this year was Lieutenant Sunny. Uh, which is really great. And I've known Lieutenant Sunny for now for a really long time. Um, she is really pushing, working hard on all of her attributes. She's got all of her stuff hanging out. She's got new music, a new EP that's dropping soon. So I'm really excited to see, um, where she takes her artistry in the new year. Um, also, I, I'm pretty sure there's a show coming out too, obviously follow all of these people, um, on their various socials as we kind of like talk about them.
Speaker 0 00:06:04 Cuz that's super huge. That's super important. And I've seen a lot of people say, Hey, I was on the, I was on the radio for the first time ever because of this show, which I think is wild that we don't have as many opportunities for the artists that live here to find their way onto a radio station, a radio, uh, show. So I think it's really cool that we've been able to provide that because, you know, that's how it is. That's how people get noticed. That's how anybody gets noticed is literally by taking the time to highlight them. And so we've had some other amazing artists as well. Uh, just off the top of my head, uh, Kar Forge, she was fantastic. I know she's also got a new EP out dropping as well. We also have people like Tuva the word who came through my brother.
Speaker 0 00:06:48 Um, my little brother, but also like my big brother <laugh>. The dude has been killing the game and, uh, really excited about his new year as well. And then we've also had, you know, juice Lord, which was really cool to get Juice Lord on there and bio, uh, my friend Bioo who's do, who does amazing work and we gotta have had him on interview, which was really fun to do as well. And so to be able to continue to highlight these artists, I think are really important. So I want to, did you have a favorite, uh, of, did you have a favorite DJ of the, of the artist spotlights? Did you have a song or an artist that like really stuck out to you in a way,
Speaker 3 00:07:29 Huh?
Speaker 0 00:07:30 Yes. Think
Speaker 3 00:07:31 I have to really think you put me on the spot here. I
Speaker 0 00:07:34 Did. You didn't know I was gonna do this.
Speaker 3 00:07:36 I did not know you were gonna do this, but I did. I I did <laugh>. I did have a local, uh, artist as my number two song for the year. Ooh. Uh, but so who
Speaker 0 00:07:47 Is the local artist for the A Lumber two song of the year?
Speaker 3 00:07:49 Um, it was actually, um, my friend Kenny Gray.
Speaker 0 00:07:52 Ooh, shout out Kenny Gray.
Speaker 3 00:07:54 And he was on the show too. Um, that was the month that you took off to get, um, married.
Speaker 0 00:07:58 Yes. Yes. That was Kenny Gray. Shout out to Kenny Gray. Yeah, that's dope. I I believe they have, they made like a sign language in their music as well, which I think is really great asl. Uh, it is super cool. It was funny thinking about that, um, finding ways to make your shows more accessible. I think in 2023 is gonna be the move. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> I think for not only just for local artists, but just for artists in general. I think when I did my show at First Avenue Yeah, I was just about
Speaker 3 00:08:25 To say you did a real good job at that.
Speaker 0 00:08:26 I worked, uh, with health partners and some other organizations to be able to create, um, just like a sensory bag that had a sensory tools, stemming tools as well as non-verbal communication cards, earplugs, masks, all of extra things to make people feel comfortable in spaces. I think, uh, so often we think, well how do we make our shows bigger and louder and more meh, I don't know the word. There's no word. More, more shebang. <laugh>. Um, which is also great, which is awesome. And, you know, as technology becomes more accessible, as people be able to have more things, we can have bigger and branded shows, but at the same time, ac access to accessibility tools is becoming easier and easier. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> people want to come to shows. Like, I, what was was one of the first things I heard was like, I really want to come out to your show, but, you know, the, the lights, the crowds, the, it's too much and I just won't, you know what I mean?
Speaker 0 00:09:22 Not only, not only just people who are like neuro divergent who might need that stuff, just like they, they, they really can't function without it. But just other people who just also, just, that's not their vibe. And to be able to create a space for people to come enjoy your artistry, I think is super important. And so I like artists like Kenny Gray who go out of their way to make sure that that's available for the people who come and see them. And I hope that's a trend that can continue on into the new year because I think that'll make our music scene stand out if that becomes like a, I don't know, like a social requirement, if that makes any sense. Like if we start being like, Hey, yo, you know, you didn't have an interpreter on your show, bro. Like, what's going on?
Speaker 0 00:10:03 You know what I mean? <laugh> like, I'm trying to find, like, that's something I'm trying to work on too. That's one of my goals from the new year is to find a consistent assl interpreter for every one of my shows so that I'll be able to have the little bit of that extra accessibility because um, yeah. Uh, when I remember when I was in college, uh, I had a professor cuz when I said I wanted to learn Assl as my language, they said, you're a music major. That doesn't make any sense. And I was just like, oh, okay. <laugh>. Like, it was such a bummer. Like I've never like just been like fully told no, but like, but something like that. Like, it was just like, no, you can't, that's dumb. And I was like, oh, okay. I guess you're a professor. I guess I will just won't do this really awesome thing that like, could really benefit a lot of people.
Speaker 0 00:10:47 And that was one of my biggest regrets, uh, grew like that. I did not just stick to my guns on that one and pursue it. So hopefully, um, more artists will take the time. And speaking of more things that I'm hoping to see in the new year in 2023 as we've been spotlighting artists all year, is I like to see more representation across the board on Bills, especially hip hop bills here at Minnesota. Um, it's like, you know, it, it's one of those things where it's, it's always kind of been a boys' club if that, you know what I mean? And that's everywhere. Hip hop everywhere. But like, I feel as if we, we have so many talented artists here, um, that are not men. Like, you know what I mean, that aren't just, or that aren't just men. And I feel like we can work to make that more of a thing that's a more of a, that's something that I am trying to hold myself more accountable to as I go into the new year when I start booking shows and I start doing things.
Speaker 0 00:11:45 But also, um, in general, just like across the board. I think that'd be really cool. Cuz we had really awesome artists here, uh, this year. And I'm hoping to get even more as we continue, um, that aren't just Cismen every time, you know mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And so it'll be cool. And there's a lot, you get a lot more artistry that way because you get to see a lot of different perspectives, um, which I think is what makes the mu the mosaic of music more interesting overall. So that's really excited. I'm excited for the new artists that we're gonna be having in the new year in 2023. It's gonna be super dope. Um, I'm trying to think of some more. I want to, I, there's so many people, so many amazing artists that we've had that I want to kind of like talk a little bit more about the music that actually came out.
Speaker 0 00:12:30 Um, because we had music that was just about like hanging and chilling. We had music about transformative, like yourself, your, your community, which I, I don't know as, as, as, uh, someone who is in activist spaces. I think music actually really holds a powerful part of that tool. Like, I don't, I don't, I know we have a lot of people who can I absolutely agree with you out on, out on a thing. And there's something about, I do have a bias though. I am one of the chanters <laugh>. I have a chance. So, yeah. But, but you know, there's something about when the music is played, when music is played that kind of chases away some of the, I don't know, the butterflies for people who might have not done this a whole lot. You know what I mean? The new newer people who come out on the street for the first time, they hear a song that reminds them of why they're fighting for what they're fighting for.
Speaker 0 00:13:20 And it allows them to stay a little longer than I think silence would. Um, there, there's a, there's a very particular thing I think about, um, when it comes to musicianship and activism work as, as, um, we know it. And that was on 4 94 or uh, 94 and the largest, uh, the largest arrests in the history of Minnesota. Yeah. And, um, there was a moment where everyone's out on the street, uh, on the street and I remem the, the police officers, the, the cops, the, the small army of people that was out on the street. There was a moment where they were like, we are gonna intimidate you. We have so many people. We have so many bodies. We have weapons, we have like horses, cars, horses, <laugh>. We're like, it, it looks like the scene from Selma. Like we just, we have everybody. And, and for a brief moment I saw people looking around like, oh my gosh, what are we gonna do?
Speaker 0 00:14:19 And then, I don't know if it was you, but it was, somebody was just like, we're gonna turn this music up. They started playing the electric slide. It was mod mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Oh my goodness. They throw up the electric slide and no, granted, we didn't get the writer of the electric slide here on the show, but like <laugh> unfortunately, maybe next year, but, but like the electric slide came on and then everyone just started dancing. And then from that point on, no matter what they did, it was like you weren't breaking anybody's spirit. Everyone was in on it, the music was playing. People were just like, you're gonna do what you're gonna do and we are gonna do what we need to do.
Speaker 3 00:15:00 Yeah. That, that was, that was wild. We're doing the Cupid Shuffle <laugh>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, yep. I, I remember, uh, I went up there and I asked the DJ to play a, uh, electric Avenue. Cause that was the one that got on the news. And then I was walking away and I was like, electric Avenue. I thought I said Electric Slide. I was like, no, I did say Electric Avenue. I was like, I, I did mess up. But, oh God. But everybody really enjoyed so the
Speaker 0 00:15:24 Happy accident, it was, it was, it was really great. And so, again, like to have, that's why I think it's so important that we have a segment like this highlighting the music from here for here so that people can kind of see the energy that kind of beats within the heart of our community. And so I'm hoping to be able to do that more in the new year of, obviously there's so many artists out there and a lot of people are like, Hey, can I get on, you know, the dig da da, and I, and I wanna, and I wanna say yes to everybody, so please send me stuff, make sure it's clean radio edits so that we could play, uh, because that's, that's the, that's
Speaker 3 00:16:00 The biggest one for me,
Speaker 0 00:16:01 <laugh>. Um, but outside of that, like, it is an honor to be able to do this every, all these Wednesdays coming through and be like, here we go. Here's another, here's another artist. How awesome. And not just o Day or one day of the week, but this whole month is your month. You're gonna be highlighted all month. You're gonna get your flowers this entire month, and we're gonna play your music. You can tell your friends to tune in. Um, which is rare. I've been on a lot of radio stations and it's not something that they do. It's usually, you know, bang, bing, bing, next person, next person, whoever's the hottest right now. Which isn't always like the most ethical way of doing things, but like, I don't know. I think it's really cool that we're doing what we're doing Yeah. Here at Views from the ground
Speaker 3 00:16:42 And views from the damn ground. Yeah. <laugh>. And, and I just, just, I just think it's so cool because we have such an amazing scene. Yeah. Um, here and there's so much good music. I mean, like, there's always, uh, you know, the top forties and the top mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, 50 music in the, in uh, the listen to. But like, yeah, we have such high quality music here locally that like, we really just need to show people that. And I mean, I feel like a lot of the modern day music industry, a lot of it is like them selling a persona, right? Correct. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, like, it's like, it's like a lot of people can sing, A lot of people are talented and make good music, but like the people who really make it are the people who could sell this persona and stuff like that. Correct? Yes. And I'm here for the music. I'm not here for mm-hmm. <affirmative> the personas. And so like, I just,
Speaker 0 00:17:28 Selling a, selling a character is so much easier I think a lot of times because, um, then you're just going off of tropes and, and stereotypes and, and it doesn't, it doesn't question anybody's worldview. You're already what everyone expects you to be. You know what I mean? So it makes it really easy. And then if your music is also, you know, if it's great, awesome, that's a bonus. But if it's not, it doesn't really change a whole lot. Um, and <laugh>, which is I think is a detriment to a lot of artists out there, because then they shave away the parts of themselves that make them inter like, more interesting to be more commercially accessible. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And, uh, and I tried this in this show to make sure that I'm picking artists that I believe aren't doing that purposefully, like are being themselves on like, every day in their music, because that's kind of what we want.
Speaker 0 00:18:20 That's the, that's the <affirmative>, that's the wave that I think that we should all be on. Really. You can tune, you can tune on to anything and listen to the same, you know, five songs about the same five subjects if you really, really wanted to. But like, when you come onto this show, when you come here, like, I'm gonna try to show you somebody who has something interesting to say or have something to say in an interesting way, or someone you might not have heard of already. Uh, because that's, that's what this show is about, is about opening your own mind for different things that you might not have thought of before. Um, which I think is important as a community. That's how we grow overall. And as musicians, it's important that we remember our community. That's what we are here to do, is to inspire and to uplift, you know, or to shed light.
Speaker 0 00:19:10 Uh, that's our idea. You can make all the money you want, that's fine. But like, if you're not doing something with your artistry, that's going to help somebody. I feel like, you know, ultimately it gets a little hollow after the end of the day. So like, that's really it. That's getting a little deep for just for like my segment, which is like music. Yay. But like, at the same time, I, I just, it's really important to me as a musician, as someone who takes it pretty seriously. So, yeah. No, it's been cool though. I've been having a lot of fun. Everybody rocking out. I, I, I want, um, also shout out to like Minneapolis Drew, who I didn't mention before, who was a really awesome
Speaker 3 00:19:44 Yeah. Shout out to Minneapolis. Drew. Yeah. He just did a concert with my brother.
Speaker 0 00:19:47 Oh really? Yeah. Look at that. See, look at that. We're doing
Speaker 3 00:19:51 Shout out
Speaker 0 00:19:52 Family affair out here on who This on the ground. Everybody's covered through brig, everybody. And we're gonna do the electric slide in places where they don't want us to <laugh> <laugh>. That's the vibe. That's the vibe. Do you have, uh, are there any genres that you would like to see come to Views on the Ground? I've been focusing mostly on hip hop, just because that's just the venue I'm at. But like, is there any genres that you would like me to, to look into for next year that we could kind of like, highlight on the show?
Speaker 3 00:20:25 I, you know, I'm open-minded to whatever you're, you know, I listen to everything. Uhhuh, <affirmative>, listen, the opera. I listen to country. I've been listening to a lot of West African Cora pop music. Okay. Um, recently, so, oh man. Um,
Speaker 0 00:20:40 I gotta get on. I gotta get like you, I don't even know what that is.
Speaker 3 00:20:43 I know. I just dis I just discovered what the Cora was. It's like this 21 stringed instrument. It's like a sacred thing in the, in like West African culture. I've been listening to this artist that like is from The Gambia and she travels around. And then I've also been listening to another famous chord player from Molly. But like, I, I listened to him just like I listened to everything.
Speaker 0 00:21:03 Okay.
Speaker 3 00:21:04 You know, so
Speaker 4 00:21:06 Shoot, there's a couple local Afro beats musicians and stuff. That'll be super dope to bring 'em to the show. Yeah. I, I don't know. We gotta find someone who got that funk. That's what I'm looking for. We need somebody who got that funk in them. Something like that. You know what I'm saying? Bring a little, bring
Speaker 0 00:21:20 Little. I miss, I want more. I want some more funk. I hope. I hope that in the future, in, as we come in, I want more funk and not like, you know, just rock and roll, but like funk, like big old top hat that's like 18 feet mm-hmm. <affirmative> and it curves down and there's like, this is this girl's holding the base and she's just like, boom, Don, right
Speaker 4 00:21:39 There. That's,
Speaker 0 00:21:42 It's like she's single. Yeah. Yeah. No <laugh>.
Speaker 4 00:21:45 Where is she? Bring to the show. Bring her to the show. <laugh>.
Speaker 0 00:21:49 That's what I want. That's, we gotta, we gotta get more funk. That's, that is so if you're a funk artist out here in, um, in, in our community and you've been really pushing, please like hit hit Me up anytime, uh, it'd be super cool to have you on the show. Hear your music, hear what you're doing. I think speaking of Funk, to be honest, it's really funny. Like a couple years ago there was this, uh, website called Reverb Nation. I don't know if that even is still around, but there was, you could put whatever genre you wanted to be in and so be it by bear, we put funk just for fun. And we ended up being the number one funk artist in Minnesota because there wasn't any funk art,
Speaker 4 00:22:26 Nobody was doing funk. There we go.
Speaker 0 00:22:28 So just letting you know there is a lane for you, <laugh>, if you wanna do funk, it exists. It is there for you. Um, and we will be happy to support you and your funk endeavors. No, at least that I would, cuz that mm-hmm. <affirmative>, we need, we want the funk as they say. <laugh>.
Speaker 4 00:22:44 Hey <laugh>,
Speaker 0 00:22:45 It has been said.
Speaker 3 00:22:47 Gotta have that funk,
Speaker 0 00:22:48 Gotta have it. Gotta got to have it <laugh>. Oh my goodness. But this has been great. I'm really excited for 2023 and all the amazing artists that we're gonna be having on the show.
Speaker 4 00:22:59 All right.
Speaker 3 00:23:00 Yes. Well, thank you so much, uh, once again, we really appreciate, um, everything, all the people that you bring onto this show and how much love you put into, um, of views from the ground, views from
Speaker 0 00:23:13 Doing Girl.
Speaker 3 00:23:14 Um, and so yeah. And you're, you know, you're doing amazing stuff with your career. Thank you. And I, I love a lot of your music too. And so I just also want to give you your flowers. Well, thank
Speaker 0 00:23:25 You very much. I appreciate you used my song as the beginning of the thing and it always makes me feel really special. So thank you very much.
Speaker 3 00:23:31 I love that song.
Speaker 0 00:23:32 Psalm one also, by the way, an amazing artist. She is fantastic. Uh, super fantastic and well the one half of uh, makes that song great. Is Psalm one really coming, inflaming me on my own song,
Speaker 6 00:23:45 <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:23:47 Well, with that, um, we are going to move on to the words from, uh, words of freedom segment here. So I'm gonna go ahead and take it away. Brandon.
Speaker 6 00:24:00 Hello
Speaker 4 00:24:01 <laugh>. How's everyone doing tonight? Um, words of Freedom, we back with our recap month. Uh, we've had plenty of artists come on the show all year long. Uh, we've listened to some of their work, um, throughout the month of December. And to continue on, um, we're gonna go to ab Dearman Mosam, um, a local, uh, poet here who works a lot with um, addiction and recovery, stuff like that. So we're gonna listen to his peace titled A Cry for Help.
Speaker 7 00:24:33 You can skip 13, 10 seconds.
Speaker 6 00:24:40 Death is inevitable. You can't run from it. Death is respectable. At least you know what's coming. Death is commendable. We go back to our creator, but death ain't consensual. Are we ready to meet our maker? Lord, I'm tired of my bad habits. It's destroying me from within. Lord. I'm scared of what's happening. Am I being consumed by all my sins? I'm learning to do better, but is it enough to say that I'm trying? Sometimes I feel so hopeless. Lord is living easier than dying. Lord, I'm trying to write my wrongs. How to you? Do I get closer? Lord, I'm trying to write my wrongs, but I feel like my life is cutting shorter. Lord, how do I write my wrongs? Cuz I feel like I'm at the border. Lord, I want to write my wrongs, but in which way do I go in order?
Speaker 6 00:25:34 I'm stuck inside a cycle. It feels like an endless loop. Lord, I'm stuck inside a cycle hoping away from me to you. Lord. It's easier to quit trying. Yeah, it's easier to pop one or two Lord, it's harder to stop buying and the withdrawals hurting me too outside. They call me a junkie at home they think I'm bumming. My friends think I'm a crack head. Yeah, they try to keep away from me. I don't know where I belong. Sometimes I feel all alone. And when I feel hurt the most to popping pills, yes I'm pro. It makes me forget sometimes I just regret. Why did I get into it in the first place? How did I end up with this mindset? But help me. I wanna change. I'm stuck inside my ways. I really wanna change my Lord. I need to be safe. This path I wish to pave.
Speaker 6 00:26:25 Lord I ask and seek your aid. So help me find a way, Lord. Let today be the day they laugh at me and say, you'll never change your ways. Once an addict, always an addict. And you'll end up there somehow, some way. Please help me find a way. Lord, please help me find a way. I know I sound so helpless, but without your help I'm stuck as straight. I know I sound so hopeless, but my Lord, they made me feel this way. So prove me otherwise Lord. Because without your guidance, everything else is in disarray.
Speaker 6 00:27:13 I know how you feel. I know how it hurt. I know what they say. How they think that you're cursed. I know how it feels. Yeah, I know it's the worst, but trust me, you're here. You will break this curse. I know how it sounds. It sounds like an act. It sounds like a story. Yeah, I know you feel trapped, but trust me, there's light at the end of your road. It may not be in sight, but trust me it's close. Keep trying. Believe I know you'll succeed. Trust me you'll see. I know you'll achieve. I know what they say. How they say your ravine. They say that you're hopeless. I know they can't see, they don't see the light, they can't see the hope. They don't know what it's like. So yet they tug on your rope. Some want you to hang, some just want to see the downfall of you.
Speaker 6 00:28:05 You down on your knees. I know once you fall it's hard to get up. But if you stand down, yeah it's harder to stand up. Get up and stand tall back against the wall. I know all the odds they want you to fall. I was once trapped like you pushed away just like you feel with hate. Just like you. Yeah. The war wasn't kind to me too. I know how you think that no one understands, they can't feel the pain. You had a sweat on your hands. The eggs T through your back, the breeze down your neck, the unwillingness to eat or why it's like that. They don't know how it hurt. Yeah, I know it's the worst, but there's a way out, a way to break this curse. Please reach out to me. I know it's hard to see, but if you look at me you'll see possibly that I was an addict and it was so tragic till God made it habit. He saved me from the madness. Please trust me. And call, don't say that it's hard cuz change don't come easy. Easy won't go far. But once you start trying your fault, don't deny it. But if you keep trying, you'll learn. Perfect timing. God works through subtleties. So if you hear this suddenly just know that he sees and one day you'll be free.
Speaker 4 00:29:30 And next up, we are going to listen to F Your apple pie by rose Marie Ale.
Speaker 10 00:29:39 F Your apple pie by rosemary. A teale. In 2006, a Minnesota wind greeted me along with immigration services and how old the Star Spangled Banner. For years the howling was a frequency in my young ears. Cannot not understand. I heard silence, complacency, but it's still how old it went. Something like, oh, can you see what so proud as the greatest country on earth? Oh say, can you see the rockets red glare of bodies trailing from sea to shining sea? Can you see the perilous fight for freedom for liberty, for the right to bear arms heavy with shameful history? Can you see giving annual thanks to murderers? Can you see generations birth to work? Can't you see? I heard nothing silence, complacency. And every day I, along with my second grade class, would stand up and pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the stolen land on which it stands, one nation built on the back of my enslaved ancestors, divisible as hell with liberty and justice for none.
Speaker 10 00:31:23 And one day finally I heard it. I heard it howling finally. And the ringing in my ear caused me to go mad. So this angry black woman began howling. You want me to thank my lucky stars? That the flag still stands for genocide and subjugation for succession, for insurrection. That this flag still waves a green light for racism, for homophobia, for sexism, for xenophobia, for the right, for human beings to dehumanize other human beings. Huh? But God bless the United States of armed forces located in 70 different countries. They trample across the earth, bald ego, leading them screeching this land is my land. This resource is my resource turning to his troops and they chant back. This land was made for you and me from BFA so to the Philippines. This land was made for you and me and the bombs bursting in air. Give continuous proof to the world that colonialism is alive and doing very freaking well. Oh, am I ruining your apple pie interfering with your manifest destiny? Oh, I'm manifesting destiny. All right, I'm manifesting universal healthcare. I'm manifesting the burning of red line white picket fences. I'm manifesting affordable education. I'm manifesting senators and representatives who do more than tweet. I'm manifesting abolition. I'm manifesting reparations because y'all, Louisiana purchased Mother Africa's children and stole their identities. I'm manifesting waking up one morning and having a reason to say I'm proud to be an American.
Speaker 4 00:33:17 And lastly, we will have Farra Habad and his peace to the spirit.
Speaker 12 00:33:23 Ma treated all of her grandchildren and like we were her garden. My grandma, a farmer in Nega spent her best years nurturing life as it grew. My granny put so much more into this earth than she took, which is a lot more than I can say for myself. My grandma always tells me to be present. Tells me that if I give something all of my time and all of my attention, I might find a bit of nourishment in it. At least I think that's what she's saying. My Somali's been a admittedly a bit rusty these days. I still struggle with patience. I still can't sit still for long periods of time. I still stare off into space for even longer periods of time as if I'm looking for something. When people ask me, I tell them, I tell 'em I'm looking for a garden and I'm looking for a place to find some nourishment, a way to ask the plants how they grow, how it feels to get enough sunlight. I mean, I still always look for answers in places that don't God. 'em, I still till so many other fields and I still wonder why my field won't grow. And I guess this is the part of the poem where I, uh, where I talk about redemption,
Speaker 12 00:35:03 Where I offer porous platitudes intertwined with some immaculate farming metaphors. But I've never really made anything grow before. Now all I know is that the smell of my HOAs Sambos acts as a beacon carrying me home to a place where an individual always comes second to the village where each member of the village stands as a pillar holding the whole structure together, trying to be more like her.
Speaker 12 00:35:35 My mama came to a strange land at a young age, and maybe that's where I get this from, this wandering spirit, this spine of iron, this tongue of roses and happy thoughts. But most days this tongue is just thorns. And I did not get them from her. I picked them up in various places along the way. And in the sweltering heat of Mississippi summers in the bite of Minnesota cold and all of my unfulfilled potential, she left me these words. <unk>. So I learned to stop holding onto things that are not of my hands. This is a refugee poem with a happy ending. Our smiles acts, access acts of civil disobedience. We come from mamas who make miracles and teac cups and fill holes made by a scorched earth. And they sing us songs of hope to the melodies of the waves crashing against the rocks in bed better.
Speaker 12 00:36:43 And it's beautiful, so beautiful cuz today no one had to praise your naza. No one had to make any tear for phone calls. No. Today we spoke to each other in the poetry tongue. Today I wrote this poem the same way I used my stories so that they may fill my belly and talk loud. So the universe never forgets that we hear. And we know that as long as we hold fast to the rope of God, the whole world going to open up here. But in those low times, I can still almost smell the sense of cbe singing to me, wasting through the windows, calling me home to a place where a village of pillars might pluck. The thorns might remind me of where I come from. Might remind me that my name is not a word, but a responsibility to make good on a life cut short and it'll remind me of uncertainties, calm and how that calm brought a young lady to a strange land once and how she made it and how I will too.
Speaker 4 00:37:58 So yeah, that was, uh, uh, words of freedom recap. Um, all year long we've had on some dope, dope artists and showed some of their most amazing work. And you know, for many of those artists, obviously I think that they are amazing and their recorded work is amazing, but I think even more so. You wanna see them live. You wanna see the way that they perform. You wanna see the way that they are on stage. You wanna see the way that they, they they speak with their whole bodies, with their whole selves. Um, and that's kind of what, uh, one of the beauties of poetry is. Yes. And can be written. Yes, it can be read, but when it is performed, it's kind of nothing like it. And that's, you know, performance is kind of where I fell in love with, um, the poetry. And um, yeah.
Speaker 4 00:38:46 So shout out to all my homies, all my friends, all my fellow artists who have, um, been spotlighted highlighted on the words of segment words of freedom segment. And, um, there's more dope people out there and I'm going to continue to spotlight their work. And I'm looking forward to 2023. Yeah, 2023, which is crazy. Um, this is the last show of 2022. And hopefully in a perfect world, you know, we just continue to keep doing better and bigger and, and you know, more helpful and, and just making a better world through art, through community, through radio, through through radical joy, radical love and, and and everything. So yeah, it's been a pleasure this year and until next year, how <laugh> this has been words of freedom.
Speaker 3 00:39:35 With that, um, we will take a break.
Speaker 13 00:39:43 Winter in Minnesota, the air punctures you in the face like an icy fist. Oh, the snow has its own version of lather. Rinse, repeat
Speaker 14 00:39:52 Honey, I'm going out to shovel again.
Speaker 13 00:39:58 And icy roads play Simon says with your car, whoa, whoa, whoa. But k f a I has your back. Cafe's, music from around the world will help keep you warm, comfortable and relaxed even if you wind up in the ditch.
Speaker 14 00:40:14 Can I get a tow truck?
Speaker 13 00:40:16 Kfa I where community and hopes for early spring growing
Speaker 14 00:40:23 Support comes from two Betty's providing green cleaning services to twin cities, homes, and businesses since 2006. Tub bet's. Fact number 40, use a credit card to clean for scraping off residue that's baked on, burnt on or dried on. Nothing beats plastic tub bet's. Cleaners make a first pass with a plastic card and finish the job with eco-friendly cleansers and a damp microfiber cloth. Tubbes takes charge of cleaning for you. Learn more. Tubbes clean.com. That's tubbes clean.com.
Speaker 3 00:40:56 All right, welcome back to Views from the Ground, views
Speaker 5 00:40:59 From the Dam Ground.
Speaker 3 00:41:01 Um, yeah and uh, um, go ahead and take it away Jay with our next segment.
Speaker 5 00:41:07 Hello, my name is Jay. Um, I am going to be hosting the historical current segment once a month. Um, historical currents is going to be about, um, examining current events through historical lens, um, looking at historical factors that have kind of like brought us to where we are today. Um, and today, um, I'm going to be talking about, um, encampment evictions, uh, by way of, um, kind of vagrancy laws, um, and giving a broad overview of how we got here by analyzing vagrancy laws and the precedent they set for regulating our behavior in public space. As the city of Minneapolis continues to prosecute accrual one-sided war against the unhoused in the middle of winter, um, we should be thinking about what history can teach us about public and private space, um, as defined by the state and what social forces are at work in creating these distinctions.
Speaker 5 00:41:58 Any decent thinking and feeling human being can understand why evicting the most vulnerable people in society from public space is wrong looking directly at you, Jacob Fry. But I think that a lot of casual discussions of loitering laws in the US start with Jim Crow. Um, which is not to say that that's not an important aspect here, of course, but I think starting there kind of limits the discussion, um, of who can and cannot access public space and what public space, um, even is. Um, both of which are much older questions. Um, and conceptualizing this issue on a historical continuum can help us get at what the root, the root conflicts in public space are and what we can do about it. Obviously I have like 10 minutes to discuss this very long and historically complex issue and I can't give everything equal attention. So I'm focusing on aspects people don't discuss as often that I think are as important.
Speaker 5 00:42:46 So first I want to briefly pose a question. How do we define public versus pub? Ver public versus private space? In ancient Greece, public space was the realm of democracy where any citizen, regardless of status, was supposed to be able to weigh in on issues that affected the lives of everyone. The private space was for matters of the family and was meant to be largely free from governing influences from outside the home. This was supposed to ensure that all people had an equal amount of freedom in both spheres. Obviously this didn't actually play out in ancient Greece or really anywhere that humans have lived in groups together, if we're honest with ourselves. For example, if you were a Greek man who owned property, this held up for you pretty well. Even common men could participate in form discussions about the law and ethics and then go home and have his wife make him and their eight children a huge plate of domas, after which she has to complete all the other household chores alone.
Speaker 5 00:43:36 But his wife couldn't govern in either space, let alone voice her opinion on public affairs. But the important takeaway is that public and private are fixed concepts. In this instance, the home is private, everywhere else is public. As human societies progress, the distinctions between public and private have gotten increasingly more complex, especially as land ownership has changed. For example, say you're a cattle rancher in 17th century England, you have a small plot where your cattle graze. And since you know there's a finite amount of grass, it's in your best interest to carefully limit your cattle's consumption of the resource so it can continue to benefit you. Now your considerably less wealthy cattle rancher friends can't afford land, so they have to use a common plot. They have little to no control over how many cattle use the plot to graze and aren't really incentivized to regulate consumption because they immediately benefit from their cattle's unfettered access to delicious free grass by having more cattle and more money.
Speaker 5 00:44:26 As a result, after a few years though the plot dries up the cattle and subsequently the farmers all starved death and the land is rendered unusable for future grazing because of soil nutrient depletion. To make matters worse, a company with more money than you, the first cattle rancher will never see in your entire life, has just bought your private plot, meaning everyone in your community now either has to sell their labor to the company or also die of starvation. This bleak hypothetical scenario was first observed by English writer William Forster Lloyd in 1833 to describe the relationship between people and the publicly available resources like land, water, and air they need to survive. These are referred to collectively as the commons. Later in 1968, Garrett Harden wrote a deeply problematic essay on the supposed dangers of overpopulation using this concept entitled it The Tragedy of the Commons, which is probably where most of us have heard the term.
Speaker 5 00:45:20 His central argument was that under conditions of overpopulation, freedom in an unmanaged commons brings ruin to all referencing the real destruction of public lands in Britain and Europe. That Lloyd based his hypothetical example off of, there are several problems with this thesis, but the main problem is that the real reason why the Commons was largely eradicated and said countries had very little to do with commoners who use them and everything to do with land appropriation by rich people. But what does this have to do with vagrancy law? I'll use a more modern example with a couple brief detours. So bear with me. In 1976, the city of Jacksonville, Florida had a vagrancy law, which was common in pretty much every city in the us. They were based on the poor laws in England, which had several iterations through British history. Yes, that's literally what they're called.
Speaker 5 00:46:05 And yes, they are literally what they sound like a way to control not just what people did in public, but who was allowed to be in public in what circumstances. The original poor laws were a response to itinerant workers and other poor people who were roaming the streets of England in increasingly, um, high numbers due to the economic depression at the time. As they increased, so did the crime rate instead, instead of thinking, Hey, maybe we should like house and feed these people so they don't have to commit crimes to live English lawmakers made loitering or aimlessly existing in public space a crime under the old poor law, which extended from the medieval through roughly Elizabethan periods convicted loiters were sentenced to three days in the stocks, followed by being unceremoniously run out of town. Some were relegated to privately owned alms houses while others were sentenced to hard labor, but most were simply pushed out to make their way somewhere else or die on the road.
Speaker 5 00:46:56 In the us the poor laws formed the basis for urban planning and regulation post-revolution. I won't get too into the weeds as these laws took many forms at different times, but let's look at the wording of the city of Jacksonville ordinance I mentioned earlier, rogues, vag, bonds or dissolute persons who go about begging common gamblers. Persons who use juggling or unlawful games or plays common drunkards, common night work, walkers, thieves, pilfer or pick pockets, traders and stolen property, lewd, wanton and lascivious persons, keepers of gambling places, common railers and brawlers per persons wandering or strolling around from place to place without any lawful purposes object, habitual loafers, disorderly persons, persons neglecting all lawful business and habitually spending their time by frequently frequenting houses of ill fame. Gaming houses or places where alcoholic beverages are sold or served. Persons able to work but habitually living upon the earnings of their wives or minor children shall be deemed vagrants and upon conviction in the municipal court shall be punished as provided by Class D offenses.
Speaker 5 00:47:56 Class D offenses at the time of these arrests and convictions were punishable by 90 days imprisonment, a $500 fine or both end quote. So notice how the behavior is, and people described in this ordinance are literally so broad, is to be effectively useless. Like how could anyone possibly define what legally content constitutes wantonness? But what I find more striking is that this ordinance doesn't actually punish you for a crime you've already committed. It punishes people on the basis of crimes they might commit based on their behavior in the public space. It's basically phenology but worse because it happens during a split second interaction with a person while they're merely existing in public. And the person who makes that snap decision based on over broad behaviors is generally a cop. Hopefully everyone listening to this program is already a cop hater, so I won't go into depth on why cops suck.
Speaker 5 00:48:45 Suffice it to say that from their origins, a slave catchers to their ti uh, their ties to the Pinkertons cops are probably the biggest scourge on society ever conceived after capitalism itself because they exist solely to protect property and capital. In the Papa Creto versus Jacksonville ruling the racist overtones of US vagrancy law, obvious and perfectly illustrate why cops and city officials love the vague wording of said laws. The facts of the case summarized from court documents are as follows. Four of the eight defendants, Margaret Papa Christo, Betty Calloway, Eugene Eddie Melton, and Leonard Johnson were charged with prowling by Otto in quote, under the Jacksonville vagrancy ordinance. Papa Christo and Calloway were white women, Milton and Johnson, black men. At the time of their arrest, which was early on a Sunday morning, they were driving in Calloway's car in Jacksonville. The arresting officers denied that the racial makeup of the car's passengers was a factor in the arrest.
Speaker 5 00:49:39 Rather, the officers claimed that they arrested the defendants because they had stopped near a used car lot that had been broken into several times the morning they were arrested. However, there had been no evidence of breaking and entering. Shortly after the defendant's arrest, someone from the police department had called Papa Christo's parents and told them that she had been out with a negro, a fifth defendant Jimmy Lee Smith was charged with being a quote unquote vagabond under the vagrancy ordinance. He and a companion had been waiting for a friend to lend them a car when he was arrested. It was before 10:00 AM on a weekday, it was cold. Um, so Smith and his companion had walked into a dry cleaning store to wait. The dry cleaning store owners asked Smith and his companion to leave and they did. Smith and his companion then walked back and forth a few times over a two block stretch looking for their friend.
Speaker 5 00:50:29 The dry cleaning store owners became suspicious and contacted the police who searched the two men. The police found no weapon but proceeded to arrest them. The arresting officers said they arrested Smith and his companion because they didn't have identification and because they didn't believe their story that they were waiting for. A friend Smith was also a quote unquote part-time organizer for a negro political group quote. At the time he was arrested, Henry Edward Heath was arrested for being a common thief under the OR ordinance. He had driven up to his girlfriend's home where police officers were already in the process of arresting another man. When he started to back out of the driveway, the officers told him to stop and get out of his car. He did so and officer searched him and his car. The officer found nothing but arrested him, charged him with being a common thief because that was allegedly his reputation.
Speaker 5 00:51:17 Heath's co-defendant, who is not one of the eight defendants in the Papa Christo co case, had been charged with loitering for standing in the driveway. The officers conceded that he was only doing so at their command and Thomas Owen Campbell was also charged with being a quote unquote common thief. He was arrested because he was going home early one morning. Officers claimed to have stopped him because he was driving quickly, but they did not charge him with speeding. And finally, Hugh Brown was charged with disorderly loitering on the street and dis disorderly conduct resisting arrest with violence. He was arrested when a police officer saw him leave a hotel. The officer summoned brown to his police cruiser and began to search him. A police witness later testified he had a reputation for being a thief, narcotics pusher, and generally appropriate character. As the officer was searching brown, he touched a pocket where Brown was storing heroin and Brown began to resist.
Speaker 5 00:52:10 Brown was charged under the Jacksonville vagrancy ordinance. The reason that I put all of these examples in here is because none of those are actual crimes. For the most part, they're suppositions that the subject who was being arrested was going to commit a crime based on their behavior in public, which is not a good reason to arrest people for crimes that they haven't committed yet. Um, and the Supreme Court ruled correctly in my opinion, that the ordinance was as worded, was over broad and vague, and that it gave too much power to the police who could basically arrest anyone who they thought was being shady in public. Unfortunately, this this did not get rid of vagrancy laws, but created vagrancy plus laws. Most of these laws require one or more of the following quote, that the individual lack an apparent or sufficient purpose for loitering.
Speaker 5 00:52:59 That the individual fails to give a, a satisfactory explanation for loitering or that the individual fails to obey a police order to disperse, or that the individual obstructs others from passing, or that the individual constitutes a threat to public safety. This is still over broad. As famously jumpy, police officers can define anything from a counterfeit bill to a cell phone as a threat to public safety as evidenced by their conduct in the past several decades. What this means for the unhoused is that there's virtually no activity they can gauge in on public land that won't be immediately criminalized because they have zero access to private space. They have no choice but to be under constant scrutiny. For example, many unhoused people end up with public indecency convictions because they're forced to change sleep and relieve themselves in public despite being barred from doing those activities in places like businesses which are neither public nor private.
Speaker 5 00:53:49 I don't have time to get into the personification of business interests under capitalism, but the main point is that by allowing an over broad definition of vagrancy, giving police virtually unlimited reasons to criminalize existence in public under the guise of public safety and allowing businesses to deny access to people for any reason, the city puts the unhoused in an impossible situation. Essentially, the unhoused are being criminalized for accessing the commons. Because the commons have been privatized by city governments, they're able to argue that unhoused people existing in public land like parks, prohibits other citizens from utilizing, utilizing said public resource because their literal existence is a threat to public safety somehow. It's an example of what the tragedy of the commons really is. The commoner being denied access to a resource he needs based on the whims of the wealthy. This is why the question of what is public space and who controls it is so critical and why many are organizing to put control of the comments back into the hands of the commoner. So long as we lack the self determinative power to control public space ourselves, we don't really have meaningful access to public space at all.
Speaker 3 00:54:56 Yeah, well, yeah, and it's just exactly, I I I completely agree. It's, it's this thing where they're, where they're trying to tell people that public land is not public. Absolutely. And, and that's just like really messed up the to do that. And like you're saying that they don't actually have access to mm-hmm. <affirmative> private land, and then they're making it legal for them to be on public land. So it's like the, then the only solution that they're offering is them to not exist. Right,
Speaker 5 00:55:29 Exactly. And you know, I think that one of the things that's really frustrating about like advocating for housing rights is that people, people simply can't, can't imagine. Unless they've actually been in that situation, they can't imagine that they are much closer at any given moment to being homeless than they are to being a billionaire. Like obviously everybody intellectually knows that, but I think that in America especially, we don't, we don't think of, of the consequences to everyone when the unhoused are not allowed to exist in public space because you are more likely to experience homelessness than you are to be, for example, the person who's making the laws about who's allowed to be in the park after 9:00 PM
Speaker 3 00:56:17 Oh, well, you know, I'm not broke, I'm just soon to be rich. You know? Right.
Speaker 5 00:56:21 Um, temporarily embarrassed billionaires or whatever.
Speaker 3 00:56:25 Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, um, they love saying that type of stuff. And yeah, we just see this happening in a lot of the encampment evictions that have been, um, persistent through the winter. Um, some of them are happening in subzero temperatures, um, like last week they mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, did, uh, uh, two evictions during
Speaker 5 00:56:44 The winter storm, during
Speaker 3 00:56:46 The winter storm. Um, and, uh, they now, they were trying to get rid of the Corey. Um, so we saw that happening. Uh, they put a encampment eviction on them last week that they were gonna do it today on Wednesday. So, uh, a lot of community members showed up to, um, you know, help, um, protect their, their neighbors, their unhoused neighbors. Yeah. Uh, and you know, it was a beautiful sight to see this morning seeing, you know, uh, around a hundred to 150 people like out there at six o'clock in the morning, um, you know, figuring out what they could do to help protect their community, so mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, yeah, so they, the, the cops apparently, um, and Mayor Fry apparently decided that they didn't evade the Corey today. So, uh, it shows that, you know, um, you know, shows that organizing, you know, actually actually works. Yeah. And we can, um, protect our neighbors and we can get legislation passed and things change. So you got anything to add on that?
Speaker 5 00:57:49 Um, just that, like, I think that, that like, community control is like a concept that's like really central to this issue, because part of the issue is that a regular citizen has no control over, like how public space is defined and like how that's enforced, if at all. And so, like, really I think that we, we have to be trying to, to take some of that power back for ourselves because without self-determination, like people who aren't affected by this issue are making the determination about the issue. Um, so yeah, I think that like organizing to stop encampment, evictions and organizing to get more, um, more like municipal control for like regular people is, is a huge part of ending homelessness.
Speaker 3 00:58:38 Yes. Uh, with that being said, I want to thank you, um, for your segments. Um, I also want to thank, um, Brandon and Nerdy, um, for bringing in amazing artists and poets throughout this year, um, on views from the ground,
Speaker 5 00:58:54 Views from the damn ground.
Speaker 3 00:58:56 And, and yeah. Uh, we have so much more to do next year, and I'm so excited, um, for, um, what we have in store for the show. Uh, this has been your host dj, um, and we are out of here. Um, with that being said,
Speaker 16 00:59:25 Yes, we have to organize, organize, organize, do away with all the lies. All the lies. All the lies they call me with the, and the black and the 45 in between the protests we protest and yes, we have to organize, organize, do away with all the lights. All the lights. All the lights they come with the ass. And Glock in the 45 in between the protests, we protest every your lives. Bring your realize that we have already been here before protests in the streets. Cause we see, and we all at war burning police cars and we shooting loo in these stores. You may not agree.
