What's the movie with Wesley Snipes and um, um, um, it was about the crack epidemic. New Jack City. New Jack City, new Jack City. Remember? So when he, when they wanted to take over the apartment building, he said, look, yeah, either they'll, either they'll be you taking the car. We, we gonna take the Carter. And they said either they'll be, uh, uh, excellent customers or they'll be lived-in hostages. What? Alright. Right. And not where people here in United States now becoming live-in hostages. You are live-in hostages. 'cause they, they've been overwhelmed. Yeah. Okay. In terms of. All these things that's happening, that's still happening and they don't know what to do. We'll discuss race and how it plays a factor and how we didn't even talk about this topic 'cause we were afraid

A Black Executive Perspective.

We're coming to you live from our new BEP studio for another thought provoking episode of A Black Executive Perspective podcast, A safe space where we discuss all matters regarding race. Culture and those uncomfortable topics people tend to avoid. I'm your host Tony Tidbit. So before we get started on a fantastic episode, I wanna remind everyone to definitely check out our partners at Code M Magazine, whose mission is to save the black family by first saving the black man. So check them out@codemmagazine.com. That is code m magazine.com and speaking of code m magazine.com today, I. Brad Bowling, the president of Code M Magazine, joins us for a powerful conversation on how disaster capitalism and political chaos. This unfortunately affect marginalized communities from the ripple effects of pol. Decisions to the responsibility of media will explore how men of color can rise, respond, and reclaim agency in a world built. To keep them reactive instead of proactive. I know Brad has been on before, but lemme tell you a little bit about my partner, uh, Brad Bowling. Brad Bowling is a nationally recognized thought leader, dynamic speaker, and respected voice on the intersection of race, media, and empowerment. As president of Code M Magazine, he brings a powerful vision to life. One rooted in transformation, truth telling, and elevating the lived experience of men of color. Brad is a sought after panelist, host and presenter who leads bold conversations that challenge perceptions and ignite progress at CODE M Magazine. As I talked about earlier, their mission is clear to empower men of color by showcasing their strength, resilience, and potential through compelling storytelling and positive re representation. The magazine shines as a light on the diverse realities of black and brown men balancing the weight of responsibility. I. With the pursuit of legacy, family, and self-determination. Brad Bowling, my brother. Welcome back to Code M. Excuse me. Welcome back to A Black Executive Perspective podcast, my man. I'm just forgetting that we're intertwined. Welcome back to Code M Magazine. Man.

We took over your company. Yeah. No, you said it right. You said it right. I, I see right. I'm, I'm

subliminally. I'm calling you Code M and calling me Blanc. He said so. We'll, we'll figure it out. But regardless, my brother. I'm glad you came back to talk about a very important, important topic. So before we dive deep, man, give us a little bit about what you've been doing over the last few months since the last time we saw you.

Man, you know, got through winter spring is coming. Uh, excited to get some warmer weather, but you know, we've had three incredible issues of Code M our January, February, March. Issues were impactful and, uh, you know, with the change in the administration, we've been able to kind of cover. Not from a political perspective, but from a human perspective, what is going on around the country, how people's anxiety, uh, is different. And then just the ripple effect of what is going on around the country and how people are kind of like thinking, surviving, talking about some of the changes that are coming so quickly, um, that are impacting people at a visceral level.

I know, buddy, I've read a lot of, uh, the, your articles that have come out and you guys are hitting a home run, and we're gonna talk about one of them, the Shock doctrine. But, you know, we're so glad that we have you and other publications across the country that's actually doing and really trying to educate and more importantly, go on to the offensive. In terms of what's happening from an administrative standpoint. So we're definitely gonna dive in. You ready to talk about it? My brother?

Man, let's go.

Alright bro, let's talk about it. So a few minutes ago you talked about the ripple effect, right? And you talk about, you know, since January 20th, 2025, there's been a lot of different changes, a lot of things that's been going on and going on very quickly. To a point where, you know, by the time you says, I can't believe, and next thing you know, you're like, I can't believe. Right? And then next thing you know, you kidding me, this too. Right, right. So it's coming. It's a bullet. It's a rapid fire situation. And so this is nothing new though. Right. And you wrote about this in the article called The Shock Doctrine. So talk a little bit first, what is the shock doctrine?

The Shock Doctrine is a process that governments use to create crisis with the public to introduce new platforms, laws, rules, uh, changes in policy, right? So they keep you off kilter and then they numb you to the point to where you can't keep up and you're so shocked by what's going on. They sneak in. They enact laws and policies that you're not prepared for because you're in a state of shock. So what the, what the Trump administration is doing is not new. It's actually, there is a book written about it and we just use the book as a form of expression to, to let people know, listen what you're experiencing. This is not an accident. Right. And so a lot of times governments will play around with people's emotions. You know, we have false flags. Uh, that governments enact, and that's a whole different conversation. But the, Shock Doctrine is a part B to kind of having a false flag where they introduce chaos, uh, where you feel like you can't keep up and you don't understand what's going on, and they're actually going off of a playbook that kind of tells them what to do first. Let's, let's create a, a controversy or a, you know, a, a cascading effect of laws, policies that keep you off kilter. So you can't keep up to plan A before plan B comes out. And by the time Plan C comes out, you're just now digesting plan A. And you, you, you don't know what to do. Uh, and so the Trump administration is playing by up a certain playbook. They're winning using this playbook because right now America doesn't know what to do.

Absolutely, ma'am. I'm gonna read this outta your, um, uh, excerpt, outta your article that, uh, you wrote the, so the Shock Doctrine. Yeah. And so here I quote, it says, the Shock Doctrine. The Rise of Disaster Capitalism is a two, 2007 book by the Canadian author and social activist, knowing, knowing Na, knowing Naomi Klein, Naomi. Yep. In this book, Klein argues that neoliberalism economic policies promoted by Milton Freeman and the Chicago School of Economics have risen to a global prominence because of the deliberate strategy she calls disaster capitalism. And here she says, and it kind of speaks to what you said in this strategy. Political actors exploit the chaos of national disasters, wars, and other crisis to push through on popular policies such as deregulation and privatization. The eco economic shock therapy favors corporate interests while disadvantaging and disenfranchising citizens when they are too distracted and overwhelmed to respond to effective resistance. So buddy. Talk a little bit about, give us some examples of how that's happening today.

Well, if you take a look at the real estate market, right? Um, if you took, if you take a look at BlackRock and some of the other large corporations, when they're saying, well, people shouldn't own anything, we should have a society where everybody are renters. Look at what's going on with the cost of living right now. You can't afford, I, I mean, just in four years, the cost of a home, which used to be two 50, is now 500. That house was, which was 500, is now seven 50. So my kids who are 26, 24, 21 20, can they afford a home going forward? Can they live in the neighborhood that they were raised in? I don't know. And so if you take a look at what's going on, that's one example of the shock doctrine where people even working two jobs, even being married, a husband and a wife's income may not guarantee you a piece of the American pie anymore.

So, and I definitely get that part right. Yeah. And, and, and to be fair though, to be fair, you know, those things have been rising, uh, before Trump became president. Right? True. But, but if you add on some of the other things, like, well, let's be clear, right? The immigration policies, okay? Then you have Doge, where now you're cutting people and, uh, you have a, a, a, a foreigner, uh, the, the, the richest man in the world. Going through the government with a, with a chainsaw. All right. And slashing jobs. Okay. And sending emails, telling them that the people at the federal government, that they have to tell him by tomorrow, what's the five things that they got going on this week? What can do today? Yeah. And if they don't do that, they get fired. Okay. Then you have the tariffs, which is now, uh, uh, uh, a wrecking havoc in our, our financial, uh, uh, institutions. Correct. Uh, it was six and a half trillion dollars lost in two days. Right. Okay. And then he changes policy and says, we gonna, we gonna pause these tariffs for 90 days. And the stock market comes up. And then you have the, the eradication of DEI. Where now you're seeing people, uh, lose their jobs. And here's the kicker. Okay, here's the kicker. I. There's, you know, when, you know, unfortunately they painted the word DEI as meaning black or people of color, right? Right. But the people that's losing their jobs ain't black, ain't people of color, right? Yeah. Right. So, so now you have chaos, everything that you talk about, and this is not women. Let's be fair, uh, the, the date of this recording of this episode is April, uh, uh, 10th. Right. The dude's been in office 70 days, I mean, 80 days. Okay. Right, right. So, so all these things are happening at the same time. And to your point, all the other things that we've been dealing with, the cost of living and two parents and all those things. But then you have a president coming in and just tearing up the, the, the mindset and just throwing all these things where people can't respond and then they become, um, what's that? Remember? You ever saw the movie? You ever saw the movie? Uh, um. Um, uh, what's the movie with Wesley Snipes and, um, um, um, about the crack epidemic? New Jack City. New Jack City, new Jack City. Remember? So when he, when they wanted to take over the apartment building, he said, look, yeah, either they'll, either they'll be taking the car, we gonna take the Carter, and they said either they'll be. Uh, uh, excellent customers or they'll be lived in hostages. Right. Alright. And that's where people here in United States now becoming lived-in hostages. You are lived-in hostages. They, they've been overwhelmed. Yeah. Okay. In terms of all these things that's happening, that's still happening and they don't know what to do. Let me hear your thoughts on that.

Yeah. Listen, no one is safe, okay? You come from the grocery store, you're overpaying for eggs. You get in your car, you're paying too much for gas. You go to your house where your variable interest rate just doubled, then you got laid off from your job. You're not in the hood, you're in the, this is happening to the people in the suburbs right now. Washington, DC is upside down. They don't know what to do out there. Uh, prince George's County where we dominate, uh, in terms of race and income, they don't know what to do out there.

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more importantly, across America. All the departments of government are being impacted. And Tony, it's not just that nonprofits are being impacted. I have a cousin who was personally impacted because she had a scholarship, uh, that one of the programs that the federal government was sponsoring was canceled. And now she's scrambling trying to figure out, okay, and coming up in the fall, how am I gonna go to the same institution paying, where am I getting this money to pay? When I had a full ride scholarship, uh, that was gonna put her. And an incredible career that is gone now. So people, at every income level, every level of education, every community is being impacted by this. You have, uh, organizations that would disseminate money to lower organizations that now can't do it. And so you have food banks across the country now being impacted. Every facet of life is being impacted. Your 401k as you're, as you know, you're a retired school teacher, your school district had money in the market. That's, it's lost half its value. Your 401k is now worth half of what it used to be in two months.

It's insane, man. But backing up, speaking on in terms of, it's, it's affecting everyone, right? Yeah. Um, and we just got finished talk. I just got finished stating that it was certain voters. 'cause let's be fair though, too. This, a lot of this, it's not a surprise. He ran on these things in terms of what he was going to do, um, in the campaign. All right? In terms of getting rid of DEI, uh, terrorists, deportation, shrinking the deportation, shrinking the government, all these things right now. He didn't go into the details in terms of that you're gonna lose $8 trillion in a couple of days. Yeah. Right. Or yeah, or people who are not, uh, uh, illegal aliens getting, you know, caught up by ice and being deported, uh, uh, deported. And they can't get, they don't have no recourse or no legal, you know, ramifications to get, say this is wrong. So he didn't get into all that. But my question is. There was a base of voters that did vote for him. So are you seeing their perspectives change based on what's been happening and how they're getting caught up in the wash?

Well, I think the responses across the board, right? So you have some people who have buyer's remorse. They voted for him, but they did not know that his actions would impact them. They were naive to it, I guess. I don't know. Uh, a lot of the American rule. Uh, a rural America voted for him, but guess what's happening to farmers? He took all of their employees away, right? And then if you come into the cities, you, I think you have some people saying, well, let's give them time. Let's see if the tariffs work. I don't know. And then when they lose half their income or their retirement through stock options, or, you know, they saw Tesla go from whatever it was down to half, right? Uh, now they're in shock to saying, wow, I don't know what's going on. So, you know, unfortunately. We all are kind of victims right now. We're all handcuffed. Just kind of we're at the mercy of Donald Trump, bro.

Buddy, I just told you. Hey, I told you New Jack City,

right? The only people, Tony, the only people impacted right now are the poor and broke. They didn't have anything to lose anyway. Right. Exactly. That's why you see 'em line dancing with the, with the, with the fans. 1, 2, 3,

Nino Brown. He was like, either they'll be, they'll be great customers or they'll be living in hostages and that's why they are. Yeah. Well, let me ask you this though, ma'am. So, and, and let's back up and talk about the DEI 'cause a lot of this, to be fair, you know, Trump, let's be fair, he used race to divide people. Okay? Right. To get them to vote a certain way. Okay. And, and, uh, and, and, and not everybody, but some of his, some of those people thought that these things would only happen to people they thought. Was getting stuff for free, or they got these policies to help them out, which we know is not true. Right. Okay. So there was a, a divide to be fair, right now, people don't even say it, but there was a, a, you can see the, the races, you know, becoming more uh, uh, uh, widen. All right. Do you think now, based on everybody's not dealing with this, there's a reality check. That this wasn't just about, uh, people I thought was getting more advantages than me. Now everybody's dealing with, so do you see this as a possibility for more cross-racial coalitions? Alright. In terms of people coming together and saying, you know what, we're on the same boat. We shouldn't have listened to this person, or whatever the case may be. We should come together and all of us collectively fight back.

Yeah, well, you know, it was starting to happen even under the Biden administration when you saw the San Franciscos and the Oaklands of the world where, you know, crime was so rampant, it was impacting you at the ATM machine. You know, uh, vacationers are getting their cars broken in and luggage stolen, and so crime was starting to permeate into the suburbs and the white communities and at the bank where you couldn't even walk out the bank depositing or getting some money for, you know, a new barbecue grill before you're getting cracked on the head. Or followed home and getting robbed. So we were already starting to see, you know, crime change right now under the Trump administration, where his decisions are impacting everybody. It will be interesting to see over the next four years how Americans react to this.

So, yeah, and go ahead, finish your thought

there. There's a contraction in some of the rules, right? So, you know, the black way of life is being attacked, where you know, the right to vote is under attack right now, where they're making it harder to vote. Um, you're seeing people kind of be stripped of their heritage where, you know, DEI wasn't real. I mean, listen, in theory it was, it was for blacks, but we always knew the truth. Now what they thought was DEI it we're, we're now starting to understand who it's impacting. So we'll see. That's my point. What looks like over the next four years Exactly. So I think everybody is waking up to the idea that no one is safe, and we have more in common than ever before. Tony. The changes that he's making because it's impacting everybody at their pocketbook.

Exactly. And I love what you said. We have more, we've always had more in common.

We do. Okay.

To be fair, they don't think we have

more in common, but we do.

Yeah. And but they, they did that on the, the powers to be, do that on purpose, to get us fighting against once, uh, amongst each other so they can stay in control. Right. Let's divide and conquer. Correct. Let me ask you this. What made you write this article? Okay, and let's be fair, you guys, this ain't the first time that you, that's one thing I love about your magazine. You always are educating people and trying to get them to see things that they may, may not be privy to. But what was the reason for you to write this article?

Well, I wanted to write the article because we noticed during the pandemic that everybody had different levels of anxiety and people were falling apart. By what was going on with the pandemic. The same thing was happening with the Trump administration. So when he won the night that he won, I think I had three, four people tell me they were leaving the country. Okay. That's how bad it was. And then as he took office, you started to see even more people say, listen, man, I, I got heart palpitations. I don't know what's going on. I have trepidation, I'm fearful, I'm scared. I don't know what the future looks like. You know, what are we gonna do? And I'm like, what? Wait a minute. You do realize this is all by design.

Correct? It.

I think a lot of people thought that what was going on was abnormal and they didn't understand it. So we wrote the shock doctrine to educate people, this is what is going on. This is how you need to be prepared. Stop looking at the distraction and stay focused. Right? Stay focused America, because if you take your eye off the ball. You are going to suffer even more. So people who weren't prepared for this. And again, right now the bottom rung of America is probably the most protected 'cause they had nothing to lose anyway. If you didn't have a 401k, you're okay. If you working two jobs and Ubering, or you're doing DoorDash, you're still okay. It's the top. It's the middle income and upper middle class right now that's being impacted by everything that's going on. And so they needed to kind of see, look, this is by design. He's doing this on purpose.

Flat out.

You need to know. You need to know that. Stay focused.

Flat out. Flat out straight strategy. And, and you, and you, and, and, well, I don't wanna say it like that, but if you stay involved in these things, you knew it was a strategy, right? The dude was already president before. All right. Right. He knew exactly what, what handcuffed him before. Yeah. So this time he was gonna be prepared. Oh, and then he was gonna overwhelm you so nobody could try to impeach or try to push back. First, let me set up my, again, Nino Brown, let me get my team. These people loyal to me, so I ain't gotta worry about somebody saying, Hey. You can't do that, Mr. President or Nino. You can't. No, no, no, no. I'm gonna make, I'm gonna get rid of anybody who ain't loyal to me right now. I can do what the hell I want to do now I'm gonna overwhelm them and I'm gonna come at it so hard. They don't know what to think. So it is a strategy. Speaking of that though, what do you say to those people? That feel helpless or too exhausted to engage because I chatted with somebody today, I had lunch, and she was like, you know, Tony, I just turned the tv. I can't take it no more. Right. It's just horrible. And, and you know, I just don't, I just wanna talk about happy thoughts and, and I get all that right. But at the end of the day, this, the, the country is, is, is being ripped apart in my opinion, right under your nose. So you need to do something. So what do you say to those people?

Man, it's tough because depending on where you are, income level, depending on what you, what you have in the market, depending on, you know, what kind of, uh, equity you're losing, right? Depending on, uh, the layoff that you just suffered from, it's very difficult to tell people what to do when they feel so much anxiety about their future. When you used to have a job, right? They used to say, go to college, get you a good government job, and you'll be okay. Well, that's not the case anymore. So when people are knocked off their foundation, you know, we'd love to be able to sit here and say, Hey man, just do A, B, and C and you'll be okay. But now they don't know how they're paying their mortgage the next month, that bill, that bill is coming whether you have a job or not. And if you live in a community where 80% of everybody around you are federal employees, who you selling your house to? Where are you moving to? What private job you know? Are you going to with the resume you haven't prepared in 20 years? You don't even know what AI is, man.

Right. So,

you know what I mean. So you have people out there, um, who have high anxiety, who do not have a plan B 'cause they didn't need one, right? They were comfortable for 18, 20 years in government. You know, 3% raises, you might've made less than the national average, but you were okay. Now you don't know what to do. And he's going after every department, every way of life. And nobody is safe. So there's nowhere to hide. There's nowhere to protect your money. There's nowhere to protect your sanctity. So I think right now you better hold on. Love those around you. You know, treat people like you want to be treated. I think, I think we all need to do some soul searching and figure out what country would want to be going forward. Right? Because now you have everybody looking at us, China, because did you see the, the meme of the people. Uh, the big people working in the, in, you know, doing a fabric. Did you see that meme?

I have not, no.

Oh my God. Okay. I I,

I'll check it out though. I have to hear right. Check it

out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because, you know, now everybody is looking at America because he did the ripple effect, which is the cover of our April, uh, issue, the cascading injury that we're all suffering from this. Who knows what the end result will be after the four years, when he gets done, if he doesn't find a way to circumvent the Constitution to get a third term.

Yeah. So let me, let me throw this at you, man. And again, I I'm, I'm gonna use Nino Brown again. Okay.

You like him, huh?

I, I, because I think it, it, it, it, it parallels what, what's happening today, right? And it goes to my question, right? And again, let's go back, right. Nino, either they're gonna be happy customers as he taking over the, the apartment building, or they're gonna be lived in hostages. Okay? Okay. Now, based on what's happening. And I just asked you the question, what, what, what do you say for those people who feel hopeless and too exhausted, you just came back with saying, Hey, I don't know what to do. So they, they, they're lived in hostages, right? They're lived in, and I don't think, I don't think they wanna be lived in ho so there should be something that we can do as a collective. Right. And here's the thing, because yes, it's, it's, it's, it reminds me of World War ii. When Germany, the reason they were able to take over Europe because they used the same strategy, but they did it from a military standpoint. It was called Blitz Creek, okay. Where they would just come in immediately in the Poland and just take over everything before they had even chance to get the Army together. All right? And next thing you know, they surrender. And then they did the same thing, the Netherlands and, and so they overwhelmed them before they can even get a defense up. And then by the time they were already at the rolling at the Capitol where everybody gave up, and then eventually they owned that country. Okay. And so at the end of the day, I get it, that. These things are happening and there is a strategy to overwhelm you. Where this way a person can put in all the different policies that they want. Mm-hmm. To try to shape America, not just now, 10, 15, 20 years from now. That's really the key too, here. So based on that, I. You can't just be like, I give up. Alright, there's gotta be something for people to do. So what do you think they could do? Uh, in terms of pushing back or getting more confidence or, yeah, I got a mortgage to pay, but I gotta do something Because at the end of the day, if they don't, then going back to Nino Brown, they are lived in hostages.

Well, if you take a look at the fifth, right? You saw protest all over the world. In our major cities, you saw thousands and thousands of people. And I would, you know, sarcastically say, you know, what good is that doing? But I think it starts with, you know, an emotion. Uh, then it starts with the organization. And then I think we have to then start to coalesce and, and, and wrap our minds around who we are electing as a, as officials. And I, I think we play games with that where, you know, sometimes we come out to vote, sometimes we don't. I don't think we can afford to miss vote. I think we have to do a better job paying attention to who we vote for at the local level first. And then our local level, uh, seeps up to who we vote for on a, on a congressional level and regional level. And so I think that that matters. Right? Right now the only balance we have are the regional judges, uh, who mostly are Republican at this point, who are saving us. Uh, from the wrath of the, the, the changes in the executive orders that he's making, and he still circumvent knows. Yeah, I heard you say that. Uh, we can't deport these kinds of people, but we're still gonna do it. You don't have authority over us. Right. So he's still fighting even court decisions. Right. So, you know, look, this is the, this is the hand that we've dealt, laid out for ourselves. Tony, I don't know if there's any recourse. He's in office for four years. Um, he's a felon. They still voted for him, right? Uh, I don't know what the recourse is. I, I think we have to, unfortunately right now, man, and I hate to say this 'cause I just don't have a good answer for you, bro. You gotta hold on and you have to pray that his decisions don't impact you directly, like they're impacting everybody else. And I, I, I don't have an answer for you at the moment.

Right, right. Well, here's the thing, Deborah. I think so some of the things that seem, um, that they, you know, seems passive, that it reminds me again, what was the flick I saw where, um, oh, I think it was Black Panther.

Okay.

Where they went out and protested and they got arrested and they were in the jail and, um. I forget the brother who founded the Black Panthers, I forget his name. And he was all upset. He would be Newton Huey Newton. Huey Newton, yeah. Yeah. And he was all upset. And the pastor says, look man, he said, we gotta go out and fight. He said, look man, we gotta pray. And he was like, I don't wanna pray, pray it ain't gonna do nothing for us, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Right? But here, here, but here's, here's the thing though, bro. Here's the thing. Prayer worked, protests worked because if they didn't work, we wouldn't be sitting here with the rights that we have today. Right? So at the end of the day, it may seem that these things don't matter or they're not strong enough, but at the end of the day, as an individual of the United States of America. That is the one of the most powerful things that we can do. Regardless if you've got a lot of money or you got no money, regardless if you got two houses or you about to go into foreclosure, regardless if you just, you are holding on to your job or you just lost your job. If people come together and those protests and everybody starts doing them right, and, and, and then staying engaged. Okay. 'cause that's the other thing, you know when, when, when Hitler took over Poland. They, they, they were asleep at the switch. They knew the dude was building an army. Okay. And the next thing you know, he takes over. Alright. Right. So, and that's what happens to, to your point, part of the shock doctrine is to overwhelm you. Yes. Where you mentally surrender. Correct. Okay. And at the end of the day when you do that, then we are again, I hate keep saying, lived in hostages. We are lived in hostages, live in hostages, and we don't wanna be a lived in hostage because we have more power to come in. So let me ask you this, you know, how do you interpret the idea when you don't stand up for everyone, you eventually suffer too.

Correct? If you don't stand up for everyone. You stand up for no one. Right. And so, man, it's so poignant that you bring up that point because I take a look at how African Americans have been treated, are treated, uh, and continue to be treated right. So, you know, we can sit here and, and Tony, I'm just as mad at the Democrats as I am at the Republicans. Yeah. It doesn't even matter. Yeah. Yeah. I don't like none of it.

Exactly.

Exactly. Exactly. So, you know, when you take a look at the, when we were under Democratic rule, we still were being police profiled, killed at a high rate. Incarcerated at high levels, and then here you got the Republicans in office and they're going, oh, we're gonna take away your DEI, you know, affirmative action. Our DI, yeah,

our DEI. Right, right. Right. Now our DI get outta it, but go ahead buddy. It

never, it was never our DEI. Correct? Correct. And just to kind of bring that up, me and the media, when you take a look at D-E-I-D-E, I only worked depending on who you, uh, reported to. If you reported to the CEO and you could impact policy. Then you had power, you had influence. But you, if you reported to the director of sales or marketing, you know, you didn't have any power. And that's a lot of times where DEI report, he'd be like, how did the thing tree you end up way over here under sanitation. You know what I'm saying? So, right. Um, you know, but, but to answer your question, if you don't, if you don't have policy for everybody and you don't have the rule of law for everybody. You don't have the rule of law for anyone.

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And I think what you're starting to see is that how blacks are treated is not how everybody is treated. If you take a look at what's going on in America, the rule of law applies to no one, right? Trump is above the law. This stupid 9 87. You can't prosecute uh uh people unless they steal over a thousand dollars of stuff. So you got guys in cv, s and Walgreens. Just not, it's insane. Insane. It's insane, bro. It's insane. The criminals have all the power

by flat

out, they have all the power. So I hope what we, what we begin to see is Americans take our country back, right? Originally government was supposed to be for the people. By the people of the people. We need to take the country back kicking and screaming. We need term limits for Congress and the Senate. And I don't mean term limits, meaning well, they get to run again. No term limits. You got eight years. Get the. Uh, can I cuss on here?

Yeah. You get the hell out. Oh, you, you got four years. You got four years. Okay, go four years. That's it. Right,

right. You get, you get one term, two terms, and you gotta go. Right. Right.

And you refresh the plot.

Right. Americans need to take the Constitution back into our own hands. We need to demand the kind of laws that we want in the books. Half of me, I don't, I can't be super mad at Doge because I've always wanted the, the government to function like my business. Right. I can't operate at a deficit. I can't live at a deficit. Why should the government live at a deficit? I can't, I don't have waste in my budget. How can the government have waste in its budget? So half focus are kind of like, man, I'm kind of, you know, I don't mind with Doge is doing because it needed to have peel back the onion and let's see where the, the know the bodies are buried. Right? How does a guy make 200 grand a year as a congressman? But then they went worth 240 million in 20 years. Right. Aren't you a little curious as to how Nancy Pelosi is worth all of this money? So, I, I kind of don't mind some of it. And I'm gonna tell you another thing, Tony. I never used to believe that an American president can move the needle in four years, but Donald Trump is the first president that I've seen to come in and move the needle at a global level in 90 days of being in office. I've never seen this before. Half of me has respect for him because he does what he says he's going to do. Now we can debate if it's good for us all day, but I gotta give him his props because he, he's literally living the playbook. He set out, he said, tariffs, deportation. I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do this. And he's doing it. He's literally doing what he said he was going to do. Yeah. So can we really be surprised? Can we really be surprised? Did you think he was gonna come in doing all of this?

Yeah. Okay. Alright. So yeah, because that was part of the strategy and stuff, right? Right. Here's the thing though, bro. So here's the thing, and I hear you and I respect what you're saying and, and you know, I, I, I look at it like this. So was there, is there waste in government? Absolutely. Okay. I've worked at billion dollar companies and there's waste. Right. Okay. They they have more resources than they don't even know about. Correct. Okay. See, here's, this is why I'm saying the hypocrisy. Okay. Because I've been at places, I, I, I'm just being honest with you. Right, right. And so I'm all about, I don't think there, see, here's the thing. I don't think nobody was sitting back saying, uh, there's no waste. Of course it is, it's the government. Okay. But it's how you go about to do it. Okay? And then framing everybody that works for the government as lazy or framing everybody that's uh, uh, uh, uh, from Mexico or, or, or else as criminals. Okay? And see, these are the things that, that going back to getting people to start believing. So you can do your Daly deed. Okay. So Bill Clinton cut the government by 12% back in 96. Okay. He didn't, so he was able to shrink it. Did you, do you remember that? No, most people don't because he didn't do it this way. Right. And so at the end of, and then here's the other thing, man. It's, it's park gangster. I hate to say it because the bottom line is ain't problem, huh? Yeah, because here's the thing. You know, somebody taught me this a long time ago, right? And I never forgot it. And they said, look, always you, if you put a little truth to anything, you can do what the fuck you wanna do. Excuse me. And I'm cussing, okay, go ahead. You know,

keep going.

So my point is, my point is, if, if I wanna take over, if I want to, uh, I don't wanna say destroy, but if I wanna make things my way, I'll go in. With a sledgehammer, and then I'll show you the little, uh, uh, the, the, the, the waste and say, see, I told you. Right? But hold on. But that's just to, to placate you to say, I told you there's a lot of waste, and then I start doing other things to take care. So let's stop a second. I gave prime example. Who's got Elon Musk? He's got government contracts. Yes, he does. All right. Is he cutting his own stuff? No, he's still getting $6 trillion a day. Yeah. So this is my point here. See, that's, that's what I'm saying about the hypocrisy. But he's on TV saying, look, there's this school teacher making 300 grand, or This person got Tim, but what about your stuff? See, that's. The point I'm trying to make here, so if I can throw you, it's, it's called the, what was it, three card Molly game. Remember the day? Yeah. Or the shell game. Yeah. So I can come out and say, Hey, look at this. And then you start saying, see, I told you. But I'm the one that also has, uh, contracts and, and nobody's. Nobody's doing a doge on me. You seem like pointy. So that's what, that's the part. So that's the game. Okay. So you throw a little truth into something and then people believe it and you can do what you wanna do. Right? Because now they're thinking that you are doing the, you are basically, um, doing everything that's right. And you're not, alright. So look, did he come in and, and, and, and, and do everything he said he did? Absolutely right. Number two. Um, but I don't look. Time will tell, history will tell, okay? But what we need to do is what we need to do today. And at the end of the day, and that's the question I want to ask you buddy. So all these things are not just affecting people of color, but they're affecting everybody, right? But let's, let's just go right to the people. Let's go to our people, let's go to people of color. What do we need? And let's talk specifically about men. Okay? Let's, let's go there. What do men need to do? While all this turmoil and all these things are going on, I'm talking, and when I say men, I'm talking real men head of household that's running their family. And I don't care if they're a brick layer, I don't care if they're a CEO. The job title really doesn't matter. Right. But I wanna hear from you, what does, in this situation where everybody's being effective, how can men make a difference?

The first thing that I would do, or the first piece of advice that I would give, uh, to men. Is to go join an an organization. Okay? When we take a look at the 1940s, fifties, and sixties, and the Civil Rights Movement, black people belong to the A CLU Urban League naacp, all three of them today. We don't belong to any of them. Okay? And so I would say go find an organization to join. It doesn't have to be one of those. It can be 100 black men. It can be your local church. It can be a social group, it can be big brothers, big sisters. It can be anything, but we have to, we have to go back to becoming servants, right? If you take a look at the integrity of America, it, the Fabric of America is gone. I think we have to restore the fabric of America from the bottom down, from grassroots down, and then expect integrity going up. So when you take a look at it, because we let so much get away with it. Well, let me look away when I see the black man getting profiled. Let me, let me look the other way. Hey, I like black. This is what they say. I like black people. But did you do anything when you saw the police pull him over, when you saw the police stop the guy for no reason, when he walked out of Starbucks with a coffee and you're questioning him saying he fit the description, did you do anything when the brother got killed in the apartment building in his own house? Because he just answered the door and a cop decided to, did you, dude, did you do anything? Right. If you didn't do anything, then why would I care about your 401k being half now? So we have to go back to taking care and caring about everybody,

right?

That's the first step, right? So you have to go join an organization and become a servant to society again. That's where I would start. And then once you start that at the head of the household, you demand it throughout the household. Honey, what are you doing to give back kids? Go join something. We're gonna go to church as a family. We're gonna go over here and paint this house. We're gonna take the, the neighbor who's 87 lives by herself. We're gonna knock on her door and see does she need food? Is that wall wet because the house is damp or are we gonna go and make sure that her house is not imploding from inside out? Right. Um, so those are the first things that I would recommend that we do as a society is become servants of society again. A lot of us take, but we don't give.

Buddy. That is some excellent number one. Thanks for sharing that. Because you're a hundred percent right and those things are in our control. Okay? Correct. And they, and here's the thing. They matter and they may not be on the evening news. Okay. Yeah. But those little things that everybody can do together, I love start being a servant. Start the community, come together. Start with your own family. Right? Yeah. This is time to buckle down and let's become, let's, let's, let's. Let our family stand for something. Right? Right. Let us all get together and really, you know, focus on not only loving one another, but also loving the community and helping them. Because when you do that across all different lines, it's hard for people not to come back and love you. Okay. And what happens is, and, and this. Is the thing, my brother, you hit it right on the head, so thank you for that. Mm-hmm. And we've gotten away from that. So now when you've gotten away, it's every man, you know, what's that old saying? Three, you know, every day for 24 hours, seven days a week. Every individual thinks about three individuals all day long. And those three individuals are mean, myself and I. Okay. And that's just a fact. That's a fact. Right? Right. And so when you start be thinking about me, myself, and I, and then you are not looking out, or to your point when you see the brother get pulled over and just walk over and say, Hey officer, is everything okay? What's going on here? Right? Right. Or you see the old lady who needs a seat on the train and everybody's standing and she's standing up and everybody's sitting down, why don't, excuse me, miss, why don't you come over here and take this seat? Take my seat. Right? Correct. All these little things matter because what happens is when we don't do them. Then it's easy for people to put narratives out and say, this group is getting more than you. These people are trying to take advantage of you. And because that community is not together and people are not experiencing that, they start saying, yeah, you right. Yeah, you, and then we get to where we are today. Right, right. So I love what you said, my brother, I love. Let me ask you this. How can BEP help. Code Magazine continue to move forward in 2025?

You know, man, I, I, I think we continue to have conversations like this and I say, you know, maybe, I don't know if we start some type of online movement where after these, you know, we have some kind of form fill. If people want advice or if they want communication, if they have anxiety, if they need support, if they want to have a conversation. You know, I think maybe we set up the platforms to have some of these conversations, because you and I are not the only ones. Uh, having this compensation, if we're having it, a hundred thousand people are thinking about it,

right? There's no question, buddy.

And, and so we have to find new and better ways to support each other's, uh, passions. Our anxiety, uh, our fears, um, and I think we have to have a greater sense of community because I'm gonna tell you there's two, three guys that we know right now who are not saying anything to us. And we don't know where they are mentally, right? We don't know what their financial situation is. We don't know what their anxiety level is, and we don't know what their next steps are 'cause they're not telling us and right. And so, you know, suicide, uh, thoughts of suicide, this is real. This is real. So we have to pay attention to each other. We just have to do a better job of taking care of, uh, of each other. Tony And the, and the one thing that I wanna say to you is when we hold ourselves accountable. And then we start to hold each other accountable. We will start to hold them accountable. And then that's where you're gonna start to see change. Right? But because we're not accountable, we don't hold anybody else accountable. And I think that's where it starts.

Brad Bowling, president CODE M Magazine. Thanks for coming on my brother and sharing your perspective.

I appreciate it, man. Thank you so much. You're doing a fantastic job. Congratulations on your award, uh, that you received just recently. I know your second year I'm watching you. Has kicked off to a strong start, man. So continued success and I can't wait to be back on.

Uh, buddy, we're gonna have you come back to dive into a couple more articles, so stay there. Love you a lot problem. Really appreciate it. So I wanna thank Brad Bowling, president Col magazine for coming on and sharing his perspective about this shock doctrine. So now I think it's time for Tony's tidbit. Okay, and the tidbit today, disaster capitalism feels like confusion. It counts on people being too distracted, too divided, or too overwhelmed to respond. But clarity is a weapon. When you understand the game, you stop being a pawn in it. Or like we were talking about, a lived in hostage. All right? Purpose gives you direction and direction gives you power in times of crisis. Knowing who you are and why you fight is the beginning of liberation. And you heard a lot of that from my brother, uh, Brad Bowling at Code Air Magazine. So don't want everybody to forget to check out this Thursday. Need to know by Dr. Nsenga Burton on A Black Executive Perspective podcast. Dr. Burton ties into the timely, crucial topics that shape our community and world. You ain't got time to know everything, but you should have time to check out, need to know with Dr. Nsenga Burton because she's gonna educate you so you don't wanna miss it. And don't forget to check out coming out next week. Next episode of Pull Up, speak up our round table where they dive into bold, unfiltered, uh, uh, topics, the most provocative issues, sharp perspectives, real talk, and the call to action. I'm telling you, this is not just, uh, an episode. This is a revolution. So check out. Pull up, speak up. So now, as everyone knows, and this is your first time listening or watching to A Black Executive Perspective podcast, our goal is to eliminate all forms of discrimination. And we've come up with a call to action, an acronym, which we call less LESS, and I'm gonna kick it off. L stands for learn. You wanna educate yourself on racial and cultural nuances. 'cause the more that you learn about other people, the better. And then once you learn, you have the letter. E, which stands for empathy. Right now, since you've learned, you should have more, you should be more empathetic to what your friends and brothers and colleagues are going through because you can put yourself in their shoes, and then the first S stands for share. You now. As Brad was talking about, you wanna go out and share what you've learned to other people that don't know your friends. And Colin, lemme tell you about this, lemme tell you about that so that you can help enlighten them. And then the final S stands for Stop. You wanna actively stop discrimination as it walks in your path. As Brad talked about. You see the guy get pulled over, walk over there, say something right? Because if everybody can actually, uh, if you see Aunt Jenny or Uncle Joe. This is simple as this and the Sunday dinner table and they say something that's inappropriate. You say, I'm Jenny Uncle Joe. We don't believe that. We don't say that. And you stop it right there. So everyone can incorporate less LESS. We'll build a more fair, more understanding world. And we'll see the change we wanna see because less will become more. You can follow A Black Executive Perspective of listen to watch our episodes on YouTube, apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. And you can follow us on our social channels of LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok at a black exec for our fabulous guest president of Cold Air Magazine, Brad Bowling. I'm Tony Tidbit. We talked about it, we laughed about it, we learned about it. We're still gonna strive about it and we're gonna thrive about it. We love you. And guess what? We're out

A Black Executive Perspective.