Episode 166 Scott Adams: Hawk Newsome on the Agape March for Love, Food equality and More
Date: 2018-08-04 | Duration: 39:21
Topics
Black on Black crime isn’t the top killer of Black people Chemical tests being used to increase addiction to garbage food Good nutrition reduces medical costs resulting from consuming garbage Rejuve-a-nation movement Building a bridge between communities Seeking productive conversations
Transcript
[0:13] Everybody, come on in. Gather around. We’re gonna be talking live to Hawk Newsome. He was actually marching even right now as part of the Agape March. We’re good. As soon as I get to a thousand—I’m almost there—we’re gonna start talking. Hey, come on in, everybody.
Let’s start up. So I’m here with Hawk Newsome, and they’re live marching right now as part of the Agape March. It’s hashtag Agape. What exactly is this march? Hawk, tell the listeners what that’s all about.
Agape love is something that Dr. King preached on a lot. It was one of his core tenets, and it was talking about the sacrificial laws—that it’s this extreme dedication to your fellow man and woman. So what we’re trying to do with this march is we’re trying to resonate that in people: this feeling of love that will allow them to stand up and say, “Hey, you know what? I’m against racism.” A lot of people have asked me for solutions in the past, so this march is about presenting solutions right now.
[1:18] This march is not associated with Black Lives Matter, is that correct?
No. Even though I remain the president of Black Lives Matter in New York, and there’s other members of Black Lives Matter who are here with me right now on this march, this march doesn’t necessarily all in line with their core tenets.
[2:19] Now, would you say that this march is sort of an attempted antidote to the divisive atmosphere in the country right now? Yeah, this march is multi-ethnic. You’ve got everybody, and the point of it is to reduce the divisive feeling, is that correct?
Yeah, but you and I talked at length about finding common ground. So what we’re introducing on this march are places where American citizens can say, “Hey, these are some ways to overcome systemic racism.” And as a country, we could agree on the imbalances that we’re pointing out.
[3:20] Tell me a few of the top things, like the food equality. If people haven’t heard that term before, could you describe that?
There’s this phenomenon that goes on across the country in Black and brown and even white communities that don’t have a lot of resources or have a lot of money, and they’re called food deserts. In these food deserts, it’s hard to find access to healthy food. I’m sure that we can all agree that obesity is a problem. A lot of people say, “Hey, Hawk, what about Black on Black crime?” I just want people to know that Black on Black crime isn’t the number one killer of Black people. What’s really doing the most damage to us is preventable diseases: diseases like diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease, things of that nature. If you really want to look at the source, then you can look to the fast food and the beverage companies who promote poison.
[4:22] They promote their highly unhealthy foods in poor neighborhoods, and that’s what folks have access to. There’s been studies that shown—we were working with doctors on this, and when I talk about this being a diverse coalition, the number one doctor we have on this topic is Dr. Mark Hyman. He’s a Jewish guy who’s like the Deepak Chopra of food. What he pointed out to me was that they run chemical tests on how to get people addicted to food. I repeat: they run chemical tests to see how they can get people addicted to food. How much sodium, how much sugar to put in these foods, and they’re just terrible. These foods are on every corner in the ghetto. These foods are in all of our schools. So what we’re saying right now is let’s support…
[5:23] …let’s find funding through the public or through the government that will teach people how to eat properly, that will also teach them how to shop for and prepare healthy food. People say, “Well, why would we want to spend more government money?” I get it. However, if you spend the money now on these programs and get people healthy, you don’t have to pay medical bills later. You don’t have to pay to treat people having heart attacks or people who are having amputations because of diabetes. You don’t have to pay for their hospital visits because they’re getting healthy. This march, these solutions, are about empowering people—empowering people to take care of themselves. So that’s what we mean when we talk about food equality. We’re on the highway now, I’ll show you.
[6:23] I’m totally with you on the food equality thing. The other thing that people don’t talk about as much is that if you don’t get your health and your fitness right in general, then how can you work? How can you get hired? How can you have the energy to do the stuff you need? Some people might have to work two jobs or go to school and work to take themselves to the next rung. If you don’t get your health right, you don’t have a chance.
That’s a really good point because what happens when people are unable to work? They go on Social Security and they get welfare. This is a serious problem that we can resolve if we get into the neighborhoods and do it properly. Right now, this march, what I’ve created after about nine months of thinking about it…
[7:25] …is an organization called Rejuve-a-nation. Hold on, three words: Rejuve, A, Nation. I might lose you if you put on headphones. I can hear you fine. We’ve got a good sound on our side. So it’s Rejuve, space, A, space, Nation. And the hashtag is just one word, it’s Rejuve-a-nation: R-E-J-U-V-E-A-N-A-T-I-O-N.
[8:28] One of the things I’ve always liked about your activism is that you’re looking for ways to come together, not ways to make things worse. That’s always been your trademark. I like that you’re taking this Dr. Martin Luther King kind of vibe, taking it to the street. Now, the Agape March, that’s a multi-city thing, and you’re culminating in Washington, New York, New Jersey—but New Jersey is like, you know…
[9:30] …but we’re boycotting football so I haven’t been. I’m trying to fight it—I’m sorry, I’m trading the word “fight” for the word “mission” right now. We’re on a mission to heal not only our country but to heal our communities. Rejuve-a-nation is launching in the projects of the South Bronx. When we talk about health and food deserts, the Bronx is the unhealthiest county in New York State, and it’s been that way for 10, 15 years. Politicians haven’t been able to figure it out, so we’re going to figure it out ourselves.
How much of it do you think is education in terms of the people themselves? Do they need to know how to eat better, or is it really a case of providing the food…
[10:31] …because they wouldn’t have any options even if they knew what to eat?
It’s both education and development. I’m glad that you started talking about education because part of Rejuve-a-nation, part of these solutions we are marching with, is that we are holding financial literacy classes in poor communities. You have to understand: homeowners, professional people, people who own businesses—they know money. They have a working knowledge of money, and they know a little bit more than the average poor person; that’s why they may be doing better. But the conversations at a lot of people’s dinner table, they’re not about money and the way to think in a…
[11:34] …healthy way. Our conversations about money is stressing over it. There’s stress with little money, but we’re really stressing over the money and we need to start teaching people how to make money. We need to start talking about trades. I know a lot of people say, “Hey, this robot revolution is malarkey.” Actually, it’s not. So what I want to teach people in our community are trades. When these things do happen, when robots are taking over their jobs, they’ll know what directions to go into. Entrepreneurship classes, having business people come in and teach people how to create businesses, how to run businesses, teaching them management skills. Right now, what we’re asking for is government funding, but in addition to that, we want to give people a safe way…
[12:35] …to help out. We’re organizing—we’ve been working on this for a long time—people are not networked, and we’re really out here excited to help people get on their feet. Rejuve-a-nation: think about the principle of the word, we’re trying to bring light back to the deflated people.
Did you have a chance to look at—there’s some kind of new legislation about teaching trades? The administration just passed some kind of bill. I haven’t really looked into it yet. Have you looked into that at all?
I don’t know if the new legislation is enough or the right kind, but I believe it was designed for this very thing. So I’m gonna educate myself on that a little bit.
[13:49] Well, that looks very healthy, at least you’re getting your fitness there. So if people wanted to contribute, where would they go? A way to do that?
I just want to show you this—this is Mario. Mario is a teacher, and we started a school in the South Bronx based on the principles we teach. So what we have here is some fruits and nuts and a…
[14:55] …lot of protein, and what we’re doing is we are giving these to homeless people on the march.
Wow, that’s great. So if people go to AgapeMarch.com, there’ll be a link there where they can donate? There’ll be a link on your website?
Yeah, it’ll say donate. We take donations through PayPal. You’ve got to understand that this thing came about in the last eight days. The reason why we’re going to DC is because Jason Kessler and the KKK and those white supremacists who actually killed someone in Charlottesville last year, they have a permit to hold a rally that’s based in hate in front of the White House and…
[15:58] …what we want to do is hold a rally in Washington, DC, on August 12th, in front of the Martin Luther King Monument. Because what we want to say is our love is stronger than their hate. We’re asking anyone and everyone who has love in their hearts to turn that love into action and come out there that day and hear these solutions and show their support. To take a stand against a terrorist organization who has been operating on US soil for over 200 years.
You’re talking about the KKK in particular today? Yes. I think everybody watching this is going to agree with you on that. I’m going to cue you up to say something that would be very popular…
[16:59] …with the listeners here. Can you hear me? So I want to cue you up to ask you for a clarification that I know the people watching this are gonna ask for. When you say an end to racism, you really mean racism against anybody from any source, right? You’re not limiting it?
Last year I saw signs that said “Kill Muslims,” “Kill Jews.” People with us were called lovers, and they killed a white woman last year. Last year it was a white woman that was killed. These people really have hate in their heart. We’re talking about neo-Nazis as well—these people who really take groups—and they were walking around Charlottesville last year and let me tell you, they had Trump signs.
[18:01] So right now, a large portion of the public believe—and this is the God’s honest truth—believe that Trump supporters support these groups wholeheartedly. Now, let me stop you right there. What do you believe? Do you believe Trump supporters support the tiki torch people?
No, some of them do, and it’s a line in the sand. I have people that I went to law school with that were pretty liberal that voted for Donald Trump, and to be perfectly honest, they were shocking to me. But they gave me their perspectives, and it is what it is. But the bottom line is I consider myself enlightened. The majority of folks who see what’s…
[19:01] …happening in this country believe that a high majority of Donald Trump supporters are racists. They don’t like Blacks, they don’t like immigrants, they don’t like Jews. I think the ones that don’t feel that way need to come together and work on solutions. One of the reasons why there’s three of us marching the whole way committed to this whole entire journey is because we saw hate firsthand. We were in Charlottesville last year on the front lines: rocks, wine bottles, there are guns out, there was tear gas, pepper spray. We saw that, and we understand that open confrontation and hand-to-hand combat is…
[20:01] …not what’s going to fix racism in this country. Now, I won’t tell you that I’m completely non-violent because if someone shakes a hornet’s nest, they’ll get stomped. But when we’re talking about solutions to these problems, it has to be done from a place of love, from a place of unselfishness, like thinking, “My relatives may never be choked to death by a police officer, but I know that’s wrong and here’s how we can fix it.” One of the solutions that we’re marching with is something that you and I have discussed previously, and that would be to prosecute and jail police officers that falsify reports where there is a valid claim. Hold on, Hawk, I’m watching the comments.
[21:03] I’m watching the comments coming in and they’re asking for a clarification because I think some people think that you believe a majority of Trump supporters are racists, and that’s exactly not what you said.
Right now, there’s a large number that are racists. There are a large number that are racists that have expressed racist views, and this is a reality that a lot of us know. Now is not the time for sensitivity; now is the time for realism. Let’s be real about this. There are people out there who feel that way. Let’s not act like it’s a secret. However, if you want to help, if you want to get involved and personally put some skin in the game in ending racism, then get active.
[22:06] Let me give you some persuasion advice. It would be great, it would be very useful, if you could note that there are people in both parties who are racists—and way too many of them.
Here’s the thing. I’m gonna tell you something that I learned because I played basketball in school in Texas. There are two different types of racism: there’s Northern racism and Southern racism. Here’s why I appreciate the Southern racism: because in Louisiana and Texas, they’ll call you to your face. In New York City, they’ll smile and be your friend and then go home and call you behind your back. I appreciate people who say, “You know what? I am a racist.” Let me know where you stand. Don’t hide it from me. When you look at—I’m stepping out on thin ice right there—there are a lot of Republican policies that if you get inside…
[23:07] …these are the facts. However, you have the Democrats who run around like, “Hey, I’m your friend.” They show up to the concert, they dance with us, they act like they love us; however, they’re not helping us. I’d rather an enemy that I know is an enemy than someone who’s pretending to be my friend and is not helping me. That’s just the reality of it. So my actions are bipartisan. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the people against the government. I think the government is controlled by special interests and I think both parties cater to them and I…
[24:10] …think we as a people need to take back control of America and make it what we want it to be.
I had a realization recently—you said earlier that the government’s policies are racist—and I had a realization that every policy that affects a lot of people is racist one way or the other. There’s no way not to do that simply because the ethnicities occupy different parts and in terms of the average, anything you do, whether it’s a tax change, it’s gonna affect people differently.
[25:15] They’re biased in both directions, wouldn’t you say? Well, keep in mind, Hawk, that I personally lost two jobs because I was white. When I worked for a bank, the bank got caught for not having enough diversity in management, and my boss actually called me in—it was a woman—and said that she apologized, but management said that I could never get promoted because I was a white male. So I quit the bank. By the way, they were very honest. They said, “We’re gonna tell it to you straight: I can’t promote a white male.” So I left and went to work for the phone company, and I got in the tracking for the top…
[26:15] …and one day my boss called me in and said, “We got caught not having any diversity in the senior management, so until further notice, we can’t promote you.” They said it in straight language, no equivocation. That’s when I decided to become a cartoonist. When I became a cartoonist, things went really well. But then I started a Dilbert TV show. It was on the UPN network that doesn’t exist, and we got canceled in the second season because the network decided to change their programming to be primarily an African American channel. Now, that didn’t work out for them, but I’ve had three careers that were explicitly ended because of my ethnicity.
[27:18] It’s also true that I have the advantages of being white in other ways and advantages of being male, and I tried to take advantage of those as much as I could. But when it comes to racism, I say everyone who discriminates—and I don’t care which direction it’s coming from—because I get it. Because I’ve been on the receiving side and it sucks more than just about anything. I’m not going to say my situation compares to someone in an urban situation and there’s a lot of other problems going on, but it is a fact nonetheless that there are plenty of people in my situation who have experienced it, usually from the Fortune 500. It doesn’t really come from small business. But the Fortune 500 sure is very biased against white males. I’ve also been in the room when we were making hiring decisions and we would explicitly say, “Let’s not hire a white male.”
[28:25] I think it’s terrible that those experiences made you stronger, but the way that I see this: when companies talk about diversification, they’re talking about allowing Blacks, browns, and women into these spaces so they can occupy these positions. In no way are they saying, “Let’s make them a majority.” If you look at high-level management, these CEOs of…
[29:27] …these companies, these corporations, you look at the executives, the numbers are so disproportionate to the population of the country. So when I’m just speaking from my heart, they’re saying, “Hey, there’s too many white people here, let’s make some space for Black people, let’s give them some access.” I really don’t talk about equality like, “Oh, I want equality, I want everything to be equal in America.” No, it’s just some people have more access than others. Let’s talk about that for a moment. I think that what you and I are doing right now is incredibly productive.
[30:30] One of the things that you can do that other African American men can do is that you have access to me, and I have access to other people. So in terms of networking, you’re way ahead of the game because you’ve made the smart choice to open up your network to anybody who’s anybody. I’ve often thought some kind of a mentoring connection network would be a huge step in the right direction because it’s a country where who you know seems to make the most difference. If you’re in the small group that doesn’t talk to the big group, you can never get the advantages that the big group has unless you explicitly make that a connection. Then those people can say, “Oh, I know somebody for this job, I know him personally.”
[31:31] There was a study that came out a few years back when I was at a huge insurance defense law firm, and what they talked about was the amount of Black associates that go to dinners and share meals with the partners. It was some ridiculous number, like they don’t go out, they don’t eat with each other, they don’t spend time with each other. That was problematic. I think there are a large number of African American men who have these relationships, but what I’m focused on is building a bridge between my community, communities like the South Bronx, and impoverished communities in my network. So if you and I were to say let’s build…
[32:33] …this bridge, let’s say kids from the Bronx with executive mentors from different socioeconomic backgrounds, and we could create this exchange. There are a lot of programs out there like that, but there’s always room for more. I’ve made it my purpose to bring all of my connections back to the struggle, to helping people. We really need to understand that the day that we stop arresting Blacks at disproportionate rates—this is something that the current administration is addressing, mass incarceration—this is real, this isn’t the boogeyman anymore. The day we start helping Black and brown people become more…
[33:35] …productive is the day America goes to a whole new level. At the moment, the economy is just screaming. The administration has said explicitly: if we don’t put Black and brown people, and women—it’s less a problem for women, I think—but if we don’t put everybody to work, including people who’ve been incarcerated, we just can’t get the work done. So it’s a good place to be right now. Let’s wrap this up. What else would you like to say that increases…
[34:37] …the hate crimes because of this divide, because of the political climate? What I’m asking y’all to do is to help me heal America. Help me put an end to systemic racism. You address what systemic racism is—and I’ll give it to you in a really simple way: it’s unfairness. It’s unfair toward Black people. We’ve come up with some solutions we’re working to implement. I’d say get on board and try and find your way down to DC on August 12 so that we can show these white supremacists what America really is—not what they’re trying to make it, not what it used to be.
I’ll tell you, Hawk, for what it’s worth: I don’t know anybody, Republican or anybody else, who doesn’t think the white supremacists are just a joke.
[35:39] For what it’s worth, the vast, vast majority of Trump supporters, I can pretty much guarantee you, would like those guys just to go away. We’re losing you out here a little bit. Can you still hear me? So the website is AgapeMarch.com. Anybody wants to jump in and help to heal the racial divide: keep in mind you don’t need to agree with everything. We’re looking for the places that we do agree and try to work from there. So don’t get lost in “I don’t agree with every point.” Think about productive conversation and then we’ll see where we can get from there. Would you like to make a closing statement?
[36:42] Yes. Please follow us on Twitter, and if you believe in the message, promote it. Like Scott said, you won’t agree with everything I’m saying; nobody agrees with everything anyone is saying, not even Black people. But if you believe in certain elements, that’s where we can work together. I think that it’s time that America really stood up and said it’s time to end racism. It’s been 500 years. I understand that some of you feel like it’s gotten better; a large number of us don’t feel that way. So listen with an empathetic ear. People tell me that this won’t work. People tell me, “Hawk, you need to be like Malcolm X.” And I say that I am like Malcolm X after he came back from Mecca, when he started talking…
[37:43] …about inclusion and aligning people so they fight alongside them, from whatever colors, whatever background. It was about inclusion and uniting to end racism. You look at Dr. King, you think about that March on Washington and you look at the people behind them: some of those people had on kufis, some of them had on yarmulkes, and it was a variation of skin hues. Let’s stand together and say that there’s no place in America for hate.
That’s a perfect way to close this out. Thanks for joining, and I’ll be talking more about this as you march. I’ll catch up with you later. Bye-bye.
[38:47] It’s just me. I was monitoring the comments as we went there. Lots of pushback, which is good, because remember the point of this is constructive conversation. I’m not asking you to agree with everything. You don’t need to agree with him, you don’t need to agree with me, but let’s see if we can move the conversation to a better place. I’m trying to help out. I hope I could make some small difference and we’ll see if we can go from there. I’ll talk to you later.