The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Lockdown Continues in the U.K. & Florida Bans Race Studies | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Episode Date: June 15, 2021World leaders welcome President Biden to the G7 summit with open arms, Ronny Chieng dissects America's addiction to outrage, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar discusses "Fight the Power." Donate at dailyshow....com/TrevorProject to support The Trevor Project in providing suicide prevention, crisis intervention, and education, research and advocacy programs for LGBTQ youth. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it.
This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.
Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives.
You're rolling. But that's all about to change.
Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible.
I'm Seth Done of CBS News.
Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look
on Apple podcasts starting September 17th.
Hey, what's going on, everybody?
I'm Trevor Noah,
and this is the daily social distancing show.
Today is Monday, June 14th.
And everyone is talking about an interview that's gone viral online, where the creators
of the Harley-Quinn cartoon said that DC Comics didn't let them have a scene where Batman goes
down on Catwoman, because, quote, heroes don't do that. And guys, that is the dumbest thing
I have ever heard of. Of course Batman goes down. Why do you think his mask ends here? Huh? Superhero's tell you what they into with their their their their their their their their their their their their their cartoon. their their cartoon. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. their their their their their their thi thi. thi. C. C. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. said, thi. said, thi. said, thi. th. th. th. th. th. their. their. their their their their their their their their their the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. their, their, their, their their their the. the. the. the. th dumbest thing I have ever heard of. Of course, Batman goes down. Why do you think his mask ends here?
Superhero's tell you what they into with their outfits, okay?
Spider-Man isn't trying to catch anything, that's why he's all wrapped up.
Superman's into some kinky stuff, that's why his underwear's o'cene.
But Batman, he's ready.
It's literally the only part that he's that he's that he's that he's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that his rubber pants? No! Right here is go time.
Plus, how do you think he got that voice?
The dude is hoarse from spending all day down in the Bat Cave?
That's right.
So, people are upset about this, but the good news is,
for anyone who wishes that they could have seen Batman going down on Catwoman,
allow me to introduce you to something called the Internet. You're welcome.
Anyway, coming up on tonight's show, Joe Biden gets the worst gift of all time.
Ronnie Chang gets addicted to anger, and good news, racism no longer exists in Florida.
So, let's do this, people. Welcome to the Daily Social Distancing Show.
From Trevor's couch in New York City to your couch somewhere in the world.
This is the Daily Social Distancing Show with Trevor Noah.
Ears Edition.
All right, let's kick things off in the ocean.
It's where God got the idea for Jake Jilin Hall's eyes.
For people who work the seas, life is filled with countless dangers.
There's drowning, getting impaled by a fishing hook, or getting tricked out of
your voice by an octopus lady. But now, one Massachusetts fisherman has discovered a
whole new safety hazard. This morning a Cabecon lobster man is telling the ultimate whale.
A man says he was nearly eaten by a whale but then he lives to
tell the story and here's how it goes. This is lobster diver Michael Packard
says he was briefly swallowed by a humpback whale near Cape Cod. Packard
estimates he was inside the whale's mouth for about 30 seconds before it
spit him out. I was thrown from his mouth. He was shaking his head
trying to eject me out of his mouth.
Some are dismissing the story as a fish tale, but experts are explaining how it's very much
possible.
Oh, boring!
A whale swallowed you and spit you out, big deal.
If you want to impress me, you come out the other end.
And you know, I'm sure this guy is glad that he's alive. But on some level, he's got to feel bad. You th. You to to to to to thi to to thi thi thi thi thi the thi the thi the thi. the thi. I thi thi thi the thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi their their their their their their their their their their their their thi thi. But, thi. But, thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. But, thi. But, their thi. their thi. their their thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the the to the theeeeeeateeeateeeeeateeeeeeateeeeeeeateeeeeeeeeeeee. But the. But th, I'm sure this guy is glad that he's alive, but on some level, he's got to feel bad, you know. I mean, because whales eat anything
and it still spit you out. That's got to bruise your ego a little bit, you know, to know
that you're the human equivalent of black liquorish. And a lot of people are
questioning whether this story actually happened. People are saying it couldn't have happened, people are saying his injuries are fake, people,
look, no one really knows.
You know, maybe whales swish humans around and spit them out, like people do it a wine
tasting.
Mm-hmm, I'm getting hints of Boston.
But if you ask me, there's a decent chance that this dude is just trying to cover up the fact that he was having an affair with a whale. Yeah, you know he came home
smelling like whale one night and shit went down. No honey it's not what you
think a whale tried to eat me. Oh really then what about this voicemail on your phone?
The best night of her life? Explain that, Jerry!
Let's move on now to the coronavirus pandemic.
It's that guest at a house party who just won't leave.
We're now entering month 18 of the pandemic.
And once again, there is good news and better news.
This morning, a new vaccine is showing promising results.
NovaVax, releasing data from phase three clinical trials, saying its COVID vaccines overall
efficacy reached 90 percent and is 100 percent effective in preventing moderate and severe
disease.
The vaccine approval news comes as a troubling variant first discovered in India is
spreading rapidly around the world. Experts believe it is the most infectious yet
and may be associated with an increase in severity.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to push back plans to lift lockdown restrictions in his country due to the spread of the highly contagious
Delta COVID-19 variant. Lockdown restrictions were originally to end in the UK on June 21st,
but the opening up could be delayed for up to four weeks.
Ah, damn it, coronavirus, just stay down. Why damn it coronavirus just stayed down why would you just stay down?
Oh this virus has had more reboots than Godzilla and this variant sounds like it
might be the worst of them all which is why I'm surprised that they named a Delta
and not Spirit. Seriously though people they really need to work on the names of these
new COVID strains.
Because the Delta variant doesn't sound serious.
Sounds like a straight-to-Dvdvd.
A DVD action film starring Steven Seagal.
It's what Netflix suggests you watch because they don't have any of the Jason Bourne movies.
On the plus side, though, and this new MRN because it doesn't use the new MRNA technology
that some people don't trust,
which is great, because now anti-vaxxas will have to come up
with a whole new bullshit excuse not to get it.
Ah, hashtag winning.
And finally, the American school system.
It's where kids learn how to read, write, duck and cover.
One of the biggest education debates right toeeee. to read, write, duck, and cover.
One of the biggest education debates right now is over the best way to teach about
America's history with racism.
And now, Florida has come up with an interesting solution.
Just don't.
Critical race theory movement in the headlines as Florida becomes the latest state to
ban schools from teaching about systemic racism.
Legal scholars argued individual intentions can't be proven, but as a framework,
racism is baked into our social systems and psychology.
On Thursday, the Florida Board of Education banned critical race theory in its schools.
I think it'll cause people to think of themselves more as a member of a particular race or based on skin color
rather than based on the content of their character.
There's no national mandate saying this curriculum needs to be taught in public schools.
But at least five Republican-led states have now officially banned the theory from public education.
Wow! This is crazy.
Florida isn't just banning teaching about systemic racism.
They're doing it while quoting Martin Luther King Jr.
I don't know if you guys know this, but systemic racism was kind of MLK's whole thing.
If you want to talk about MLK without teaching about systemic racism,
then you're just quoting some guy who like to take long walks for no reason.
Also, I love that the governor of Florida said that he's doing this so that people will think of themselves based on the content of their character.
You sure you want people in Florida doing that?
Don't judge me because I'm white.
You judge me because I'm a registered sex offender who runs an underground octopus fighting
ring out of my minivan.
Technically it's my mom's minivan, but those are just semantics.
But you know what?
After a little bit of introspection, I actually realize, guys, that wrong de Sanctus is right.
We need to find a way to teach American history that isn't so divisive.
Yeah, because every time we talk about history, there's racism and then we can't talk about
the history. And, you know what, I've decided to help be part of the solution by making a video for Florida to show in
their classrooms.
Hey, boy, you better get to work picking that cotton.
But why only me?
Is it because I'm black?
Now, now, it's not about that.
It's about an economic system that may not be perfect,
but is based on universal principles stated,
and the Declaration of Independence.
I know you keep saying that.
It just seems strange that there's no white people picking cotton.
Wow, again with the race.
You need to stop reducing people to their skin color, my friend. You the real race is here, nigger, n, n, n, n, n, n, n, n, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, but is, but is, but is, but, but is, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th race. You need to stop reducing people to their skin color, my friend.
You're the real races here, nigger.
You're right, Massa.
I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable.
I forgive you, boy. We all make mistakes.
But let's move on now to our top story.
For the past few years, America's former president didn't get along well with America's allies. But let's move on now to our top story.
For the past few years, America's former president didn't get along well with America's
allies.
He was rude, he was ignorant, and there's only so many times you can propose a wife swap
as a joke before they realize, oh, he's not joking.
But now that Joe Biden is in charge, he's trying to repair those relationships, which is the focus of his trip to Europe this week.
And we'll be bringing you all the latest developments in our brand new segment, Grandpa's Day
Out.
So, President Biden kicked off his trip to Europe with a visit to America's oldest and palest
ally, Great Britain.
And it's a tradition for heads of state to Europe with a visit to America's oldest and palest ally,
Great Britain.
And it's a tradition for heads of state to exchange gifts when they see each other.
But when Biden and Boris Johnson swapped presents, it seemed like one side may have put just
a little more thought into theirs.
President Biden took a piece of Philadelphia with him on the trip to the United Kingdom. He gave this bike to British Prime Minister Minister. to. to Boris. to. to. to B. their. to. their, B. to. their, B. to, B. their, B. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. their, their, thi, thi. to, thi, their, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the United Kingdom. He gave this bike to British Prime Minister Borse Johnson.
The bike is custom made by Belinkey Cycle Works and Olney. It features both the British
and American flags and as you can see there's also a matching helmet.
President Biden gave Prime Minister Johnson a $6,000 bicycle, and his way of saying,
thanks for coming, Johnson gifted Biden a framed photo of Frederick Douglas
that the Times of London reports Johnson's staffers printed out after first finding it on
Wikipedia. Uh, okay, okay, that is a huge disparity in gift giving. I mean, Biden comes in with a
$6,000 personalized bike and Boris shows up with a photo of a guy Biden went to high school with?
And look, I know people are giving Boris a hard time
for his shitty gift, but if you ask me,
he has the right idea here.
You know, America and Britain have been friends for 200 years.
You don't need to worry about impressing each other anymore.
Meal of them should be putting any thought into their gifts. The next time th th th th th th th th th th th thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi to to to to to be to be to be to be to be to bea to bea to bea, to bea, to bea, to bea, to bea. to bea. to bea. to bea, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, too. too. too, too. too. too. too, too. too, too, th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thr. thr. thr. thr. throwne. thoom-s. thooooooooom-s. thea. thea. thea. thea. next time they meet, Biden should just bring Johnson a book from the airport bookstore.
And Johnson should bring a tobler on from the minibar
and call it a day.
And look, Joe Biden can't and shouldn't take this personally.
I mean, Boris Johnson is a guy
who rolls out of bed 20 seconds before every public appearance.
You can't knows how to
welcome visitors in style. Biden is now the 13th sitting president to meet with Queen Elizabeth, the world's longest
raining monarch celebrating her 95th birthday this weekend, insisting on using this ceremonial
sword to cut the cake.
There is a knife in my friend.
I know there is.
This is something that's more unusual.
Hold up, my lady.
You're going to use a sword because it's more unusual?
Oh, you can tell that the queen is bored, man.
She'll do anything to shake things up.
Your majesty, would you like a knife to carve the turkey?
No, let's try throwing it into the washing machine.
Get the people going.
And look, man, in many ways, I feel for the queen. I mean, I 95 years old, and she's starting to realize that they're not going to let her
behead anyone ever again.
The real problem is, she couldn't do it.
How are you going to show everyone on worldwide television that the Queen of England doesn't
know how to use a sword?
I mean, now they know the whole country is basically undefended. You you you you you you the their their their their their their their their their their their the whole country is basically undefended. You know there's Vikings watching that right now, like, this is our chance.
Invade!
But the main business of Biden's trip to the UK
was the G7 conference,
Earth's cool kid table.
And the meeting of the world's most powerful liberal democracies
had a lot on their plate this year, like combating climate change, trying to figure out the w the w the w the the w the w the the world the world their their their their their their their their their their their their their trying to figure out how to stop corporations from evading tax,
and countering China's growing economic and political influence around the world.
They also had to make time to take a group photo where they all look like the white side
of the chessboard.
And with so many pressing issues to deal with, it seemed like Europe was just happy
to have an American president who gave a shit again. Tonight on the second day of the G7,
U.S. allies praising President Joe Biden's leadership on the world stage.
And I think it's great to have the U.S. president part of the club and very willing to cooperate.
Today the president met one-on-one with French President Emmanuel Macron.
The United States have said before, we're back, the US is back.
And it seems other leaders agree.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling Biden a breath of fresh air.
And German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying the president stands for a commitment to
partnership that was, quote, missing in recent years.
Yo, guys, Donald Trump rocked Europe so hard.
You realize these leaders are so traumatized.
They won't even say his name.
Like they're worried they'll summon him or something.
It's so nice to not deal with President Trump.
I didn't mean to say it.
He's behind me, isn't he?
He's behind me right now. But let's be honest though. Like, to say it, shit. I didn't mean to say it. He's behind me, isn't he? He's behind me right now.
But let's be honest, though, like, the bar is incredibly low.
You know, people like, Biden is so much better,
but I mean, anyone is so much better.
America could have sent over a dog in glasses,
and Macron would have been like,
you know, the glasses, they make which is, let's say, different than before.
And yes, the dog did make a pupoo on the floor, but that is not much of a change.
So, like, see, like that.
Now, today, Biden had some more good times meeting with NATO.
But, paling around with your European allies is just the easy part of the trip.
The real challenge for Biden will be on Wednesday
when the president meets one-on-one with Vladimir Putin, president of Russia and world's most
dangerous Kibler elf. And in some ways, Putin is even more of a threat to the G7 than China,
because China isn't a fight to rule the world. So it cares about the world. But Putin, he's like the world's joker. He's just here to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch to watch the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. the. the. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. the. the. the. thi. thi. So it cares about the world. But Putin, he's like the world's joker.
He's just here to watch it all burn.
He doesn't give a shit.
And if you don't believe me,
just check out this interview he gave this week
when a reporter asked him about Biden calling him a killer.
When President Biden was asked whether he believes you are a killer.
He said, I do.
Mr. President, are you a killer?
Listen to me. Over my tenure, I've gotten used to attacks from all kinds of angles and from
all kinds of areas under all kinds of pretext and reasons and of different caliber and
fierceness and none of it surprises me. Oh, you see? Only killers laugh at, are you a killer?
Because normal people are like, what did you call me?
But Putin is like,
Ha ha ha ha, I get called this all the time, no surprise.
Why isn't it a surprise?
I mean, it would surprise me, because I'm not a killer.
And look, maybe Putin was trying to psych out Biden with that reaction,
but what he didn't realize is that Biden is too weird to psych out.
In a weekend interview Vladimir Putin laughed at the suggestion that you had called him
a killer.
Is that still your belief, sir, that he is a killer?
I'm laughing too.
Ah, well played, Joe Biden.
See, as the old proverb says, in order to defeat a laugher, one must become the
lafer. You know, honestly, after seeing this, I'm a little less worried about this meeting,
because I thought it was going to be tense. America versus Russia, Biden versus Putin, but
now, it seems like it's just going to be the two of them laughing together. We're laughing together. We're ha ha ha ha ha ha.
We are friends now.
So, that's Biden's trip to Europe so far.
And we'll find out how effective Biden's chuckle diplomacy
turns out to be in the next edition of,
Grandpars Day Out.
All right, when we come back, Ronnie Chang teaches you
how to stop rage tweeting.
And the legend, Karim Abdul Jabbar,
is joining us on the show.
So stick around.
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Welcome back to the Daily Social Distancing Show.
It's been almost six months since Trump was kicked out of the White House and Twitter.
And yet Americans are still full of partisan anger.
The question is, why can't the country move on?
While Ronnie Chang tried to find out.
Oh wow, Americans are really angry.
Even this warm glass of milk at bedtime hasn't helped.
It's almost like we're addicted to anger.
At least that's what's going on, according to Jimmy Kimmel.
Wait, wrong Jimmy Kimmel.
This guy is a conflict researcher at Yale,
but he's as close as I'm going to get to network TV, so let's go with it.
We now know from neuroscience studies that people
can actually become addicted to a grievance revenge cycle. Okay so political
outrage is literally addictive, like cocaine or the peloton or porn hub. Yeah, when you
experience what you perceive to be mistreatment or unfairness. This triggers the reward circuitry in the brain,
which creates a craving in the mind for retaliation.
But Dr. Jimmy Kimmel, what is the problem with being angry
at someone doing something shitty to you?
And maybe you just go on Twitter and troll them endlessly forever?
Well, how does that make you feel when you do that?
It makes you feel good.
For how long, though?
For, I don't know, maybe like a minute.
So when you retaliate against somebody, you also experience the pain that you inflict.
And we're seeing that in our society that is being tempted further and further
into a civil war type of state.
America's favorite late night host just got very dark. According to Jimmy Kimmel,
our former president helps supercharge America's rage climate and many of his imitators are still
at it. You create grievances for your followers, then retaliate for them,
which enrages the other side, who also retaliate,
restarting the cycle.
It's like a perpetual motion machine powered by petulant bullshit.
One of the people who's been running on this grievance hamster wheel for the last four
years is resistance warrior Jeffrey Gooderman.
I developed a lifestyle over these last four years of
replying to Trump.
I was often the very first to reply whenever he tweeted.
Right, so you're kind of like the first responder of internet trolling.
I was one of them.
Jeffrey would get his fix with a range of tweets,
but there is a dark side to life as a first responder.
Some of Jeffrey's tweets had unpleasant consequences.
I did once reply to him with a tweet, you should be executed.
That led to my second visit with the Secret Service.
Just so I'm clear, you are a mental health counselor, right?
Correct. I'm also human, Ronnie.
I would get annoyed at the Trump supporters who replied to me with the most vile things,
death threats, things about my family.
The negativity that I experienced was just a lot for me to handle.
Jeffrey was a perfect example of the terrible toll of being trapped in a cycle of retaliation.
So does Dr. Jimmy Kimmel have a cure for America's rage addiction?
The ultimate solution for all forms of revenge seeking is forgiveness.
So we've been working on a method where you get to put somebody who wrongs you through
an imaginary criminal trial and during
this trial you become the victim, the defendant, the judge and even the judge
of yourself at the final judgment. Wow, a courtroom roleplay in which you become
all the characters to help you come to terms of the person who wronged you. I know
someone that might help and who better to guide him through a process than a guy who just found out about it two minutes ago?
If you could close your eyes for a second and just imagine you're in a courtroom setting.
There's tons of white people. It's very comfortable.
I'm comfortable with black people, you know, Asian people, all types.
How many Asian friends do you have?
Okay, let's just, it's fine. Now you're the victim in the courtroom.
Tell us what Trump did to.
Trump attacked human rights.
Can I open my eyes now?
No, no, keep them close, please.
How did that make you feel?
Disturbed, anxious, nervous, fearful for our country.
Okay, now you're still in the courtroom, pretend that you're Trump.
What do you have to say for yourself?
You're obviously misguided.
You're part of a democratic party.
Now you're the judge in this courtroom.
You just heard both sides.
What's your verdict?
I would say, based on the evidence, Trump is guilty.
Okay? Are you ready to let go of all the pain that Trump inflicted on you?
You know, I don't forgive him. Can I open my eyes?
No.
This was a dark time in our history, and we should never forget.
So I'm not, I'm not ready to forgive.
Okay, I'm sorry, something went wrong,
and I think we came out of it angrier than we went in.
Jimmy Kimmel's cure was an absolute failure.
And until we can't find a way for Americans to overcome their rage addiction, I know two things for sure.
One, outrage is a hell of a drug.
And two, this guy's never opening his eyes again.
All right, when we come back, the one and only Kareem Abdul Jabbar is joining me on the show, so don't go away.
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Welcome back to the Daily Social Distancing Show.
My guest tonight is best-selling author,
social justice advocate and NBA legend Karim Abdul Jabbar.
He's here to talk about his new documentary
that explores the history of protest in America.
Karim Abdul Jabbaah, welcome to the Daily Social Distancing Show.
Nice to talk to you.
You are one of the greatest legends known across sports,
but for many people, your legendary status as a social justice activist
is almost eclipsing that of you as an NBA player.
I'd love to know, before we even get into this conversation about this amazing documentary
that you're executive producing and the journey that you've been on, why put all that effort in?
I mean, surely retirement is more appealing than still fighting for everything that's going
wrong in the world.
Well, you know, you can't feel good about being retired.
I achieved enough to retire comfortably, but when you see other people struggling for
no good reason, all the things that are happening now were things that happened since I've
been a child.
You know, you realize that the struggle continues and we have to keep our commitment to always, we're always trying to upgrade our commitment because, you know, what it says
the price of liberty is eternal vigilance and we can't go to sleep.
Yeah, you've been someone who's always been outspoken, you know, whether it's writing op-eds,
whether it's getting involved in actual movements on the ground.
You hear today to talk about a new documentary that's going to be on the History Channel, Fight the Power premiering next, June, June, June, June, June, June, June, June, June, June, June, June, June, June, June, June, June, June, June, June, June, June, the 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19, the 19, the 19, the 19, the 19, the 19, the 19, the the the the the th-19 19 19 19, the th, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the new documentary that's going to be on the History Channel.
Fight the Power, premiering next Saturday.
June 19th, aka Juneteen.
It's a really evocative title that talks about many different people's fights for equality in America.
So tell me how you came to the project and why you decided to lend not just your name, all of us to understand that when any one marginalized
group is oppressed, we are all oppressed.
It might not be my particular group this month, but, you know, pretty soon you'll get around
in my month, and then I'll be out there alone.
We can't do that.
We have to understand that the basis for all of these protest movements is the lack of equal and fair treatment. And that's what's what it it it it it is th i it's th i it's th i it's that's what it's what it's what it's what it's what it's what it's what it's what it's what it's what it's what it's what it's what it's what it's what it's th is to understand that the basis for all of these protest movements is the lack of
equal and fair treatment.
And that's what it's all about.
And that crosses, you know, that crosses every line that you can imagine and puts it right
where it should be.
One of the parts of the stories that makes it really interesting is that you not only narrate,
but you share your personal experiences.
For instance, with Martin Luther King Jr. and how you were opposed to the non-violent
movement and he changed your perspective, your interactions with him shaped how you then
saw the world. Tell me about that experience and maybe why it's been so important
to acknowledge the people who have shaped how you've seen the world and how we've all seen the world. Well you know seeing
your own people brutalized and denied justice it makes you angry and you want
to retaliate and I felt that very strongly you know I was teenager you
but I realized you know after comparing what Malcolm X had to say,
and he dealt with it very intelligently and succinctly, and what Martin Luther King had to say,
they basically were coming from the same, from the same viewpoint, just a little bit more militantly
stated by Malcolm X.
But we can't go out in the streets and, you know, violently take what we want.
That would never ever succeed.
So he understood what Mr. Gandhi understood that when you expose the bully and show him to be a blowhard and a coward, it denies
him any legitimacy.
And that's what worked for India.
So Dr. King saw that it could work for black Americans.
It wasn't easy though. I mean, it wasn't easy for yourself, personally.
You know, you you boycotted the Olympic Games with the national team
because you felt you couldn't represent a country that wouldn't represent you.
You were in a position where you were criticized by the press, by many people who loved the sport.
Well, Trevor, you know, for me it was an easy choice when it was time for me to go to the Olympics.
At that time, the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman the chairman, the At that time, the chairman of the American Olympic Committee was a person who, during the
1936 Olympics, told the Jewish athletes on the American Olympic team that they couldn't
compete because it was going to anger Mr. Hitler. His name was Avery Brundage. And he was still the
chairman of the Olympic Committee 1968 and there was no way that I was going
to be doing anything with Mr. Brundage. You know, except paying him a wide
birth and staying away from the Olympics because you know people like that
can't have your own best interest at heart. What makes sports interesting is,
there are people who love you,
who may not agree with your points of view.
But because of sport, you might be able to connect with them
in a way that nobody else could from a differing point of view.
So how have you found the ability and the moment to connect with people
and to try maybe, when you understand through the
great equalizer, sports that makes us all humble human beings, and when the
people that we might not feel that good about can beat us in the 200 meters, well, you know,
all of a sudden it kind of affects your ideas about equality and all those things.
But these are good things,
and at these moments, bridges can be built.
So that's the whole idea.
Have the ability to communicate instead of making and be about anger.
That's what I learned from the people that, you know, inspired me.
Jackie Robinson, Phil Russell, Muhammad Ali.
You can't go out here and, you know, change people's minds because you're angry.
And your anger might be justified, but you have to take the time and respect to people that you're,
whose minds you want to change. It takes patience, and it to people that you, whose minds you want to change.
It takes patience and it takes determination.
And, you know, that's what we have to have.
There's this constant argument in society where people say,
America is the way it always was, and there are others who say,
no, it's much better and those days are over.
So as Kareem Abdul-Jabah, how do you see this life that you've lived lived in in in in Well, we can't eliminate the presence of setbacks and backsliding.
That's part of the journey.
So, you know, we have made progress, but we still have a long way to go.
And I'm hopeful, geez, last summer, you know, after Mr. Floyd was murdered,
a whole lot of Americans all of sudden understood what black Americans had been talking about for a
long time. I think it was a moment where bridges were built and an understanding was reached.
And hopefully, you know, we could have the political follow-through to make a difference.
So, you know, we have to fight for these moments and take advantage of them when we can.
And we don't always get there, but we have to fight the fight.
You gotta fight the power, and there are many American heroes who've done just that,
you being one of them, sir. Thank you so much for taking the time time time time time time time time time time time the time the the the to the to the to to the to the the to the the to the to to the to the time time time time time time time to to to to to to to to to to to to fight the power and there are many American heroes who've done just that. You being one of them, sir.
Thank you so much for taking the time to join us on the show.
Congratulations on yet another success, and I hope as many people watch it as possible.
Oh, thank you so much, Sheper. All the best of you.
Fight the Power. The movements that changed America will air June 19th on the History Channel. All right, we're going to take a quick break, but we'll be right back after this.
Well, that's our show for tonight. But before we go, June is Pride Month. So please consider supporting an organization called The Trevor Project.
It's the world's largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization
for LGBTQ plus young people. And your support would help them offer
LGBT plus youth
free, confidential, and 24-7 lifeline chat
and text crisis services.
So if you're able to help in any way,
then please go to the link below.
Until tomorrow, stay safe out there.
Get your vaccine.
And remember, when you're cutting a cake,
the person with the sword gets the first piece otherwise you'll be the second piece.
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