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00:00Welcome to Our Vote Counts, a very special edition of S.S. Live.
00:13I'm your host, Dana Blair.
00:14In a stunning upset, Donald Trump has been named the next president of the United States.
00:19Although most polls gave Hillary Clinton an easy victory,
00:22Trump scored with 289 electoral votes, sweeping key swing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.
00:27And if you're still in shock about that news, you're definitely not alone.
00:31At Asted WH tweeted, I like facts, so here's some.
00:35If you're non-white, Jewish, or a woman who doesn't like to be grabbed by her genitals, you might be screwed.
00:41Rapper Talib Kweli said, I was wrong.
00:43I thought America couldn't possibly disappoint me more than it already had, but I was wrong.
00:47R.I.P. America.
00:49At Rashad Drakeford tweeted, eight years ago, people cried tears of joy at the election of the first black president.
00:55Today, more than half our nation voted for a man endorsed by the KKK.
00:59Some pretty profound words there.
01:01Right now, I'd like to welcome to the show conservative strategist Dr. Christopher Metzler.
01:06And, hello, an activist and, excuse me, activist strategist and co-founder of Higher Heights, Kimberly Allen Peeler.
01:13And former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner, who joins us via Skype.
01:16Hello, everyone.
01:18Thank you so much for joining us.
01:19As I just read, a lot of people woke up today disheartened and frustrated at the thought of a Trump presidency.
01:24What would you all say to them?
01:26Dr. Metzler, I'll start with you.
01:28Well, I would say, let's not be as disappointed.
01:36And I don't, I think a lot of the despair is actually misplaced.
01:41Because in this, from this day forward, I think what you're going to see is a Trump who has to heal a highly divided nation.
01:52So now he has, like, a lot on his hands, if you will.
01:54Yeah, he does.
01:55He does.
01:56Kimberly, your thoughts?
01:57I think this is a clear case in point of politics and civic participation does not begin and end on Election Day.
02:05It is now incumbent on us, the people, to, you know, hold our elected officials accountable.
02:11The ones that endorsed, whether you agree with them or not, if you supported Mr. Trump, make sure that he, you know, goes through with what you want him to.
02:20If you didn't support him, hold his feet to the fire and say, you represent us as well.
02:26So it is now incumbent on the people to really, you know, make sure that the government works for them.
02:31Now it's our time to really stand up.
02:34Nina, I'm going to bring you into this conversation.
02:36Trump won in your home state of Ohio and many other swing states like Florida, Iowa, and North Carolina.
02:41What do you think were the deciding factors for his victories in those states?
02:45Well, mainly the Rust Belt states like my state, like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, where people have been crying out for a very long time because of the loss of jobs.
02:53I mean, Mr. Trump had a very populous message that really resonated in states like mine.
03:00And you saw that bear itself out last night.
03:03There does have to be a coming together because we really do have to come to grips as a nation that we nominated collectively nominated two of the most unfavorable candidates in the history of this country.
03:15And so no matter what the outcome was going to be, the nation does have to come together and start to heal and think about what kind of nation we want to be.
03:24And I do agree with Kimberly and with what the doctor said.
03:27There's going to have to be a lot of healing.
03:29Definitely.
03:30And Dr. Metzler, I introduced you as a conservative strategist, but you're not a Trump supporter.
03:35So what do you feel this means for Republicans?
03:37Well, I think for Republicans, this is the opportunity for the party to come together.
03:42I think this is the opportunity for Republicans to actually show what we can do to the nation as a whole.
03:52I also think it's the opportunity for Republicans to really look internally and to understand that when you have all three branches of government,
04:02what that means is you have the ability and the obligation to govern accordingly.
04:08But many folks feel that the Republican Party, they're not even connected to what's happening to black and brown folks or parts of our community that do not look like them,
04:19parts of our society that do not look like them.
04:21How do you, do you have a recommendation on how we can actually connect?
04:24So everybody feels like they're being heard now that they have all of the control.
04:27Yeah.
04:28Well, I think there are a number of ways to connect to the folks who feel like they're not being heard.
04:35Number one, I think it is actively being involved because, as you indicated, election day is not the time and the election aftermath is not the time.
04:46It's a little late.
04:47It's a little too late to talk about really being involved and civic participation.
04:53Because I think what you saw last night was a repudiation of the entire democratic agenda.
05:01And I think unless you have that kind of capacity building, you're done.
05:07You're done.
05:08And because what you heard people say loud and clear last night was, we want change.
05:15Right.
05:15And we want all of you all out of here.
05:18And that's exactly what occurred.
05:20Nina, you initially supported Hillary and then switched over to Bernie Sanders.
05:25Do you think if Sanders was the Democratic nominee, the outcome of the election would be the same?
05:31No, I think Senator Bernie Sanders would have won this race.
05:34It was very clear that this was a disruption election.
05:37This was an election environment, both on the left and the right, for outsiders.
05:41Senator Bernie Sanders certainly being the longest serving independent, you know, Democratic, you know, and Democratic Socialists by extension.
05:48He was certainly the outsider candidate, did not have the establishment on his side whatsoever.
05:53And then by contrast, on the right, we have President-elect Trump now, who was certainly the outsider, who did not have the establishment on his side either.
06:01So this was an election year where I think both of the establishment sides failed to hear the cries of the people.
06:09And that led to the rise, if you will, of of Mr. Donald Trump, who's now president-elect.
06:16I believe that my party has an opportunity to see some promise in this problem.
06:20But we cannot maintain majorities if we don't deal with the new American electorate.
06:25And that is progressive whites and people of color are the majority of the voters in this country.
06:31But we have to come together and we cannot leave out our blue-collar white sisters and brothers.
06:37And they have felt very left behind by my party, which is very unfortunate.
06:42And Kimberly, so the whole time, you know, through the primaries and, of course, throughout the debates, we hear, we're going to build a wall.
06:50We're going to deport Muslims.
06:51We're going to do X, Y, and Z and make America great again with the strategy that not many people know what that exactly means.
06:57What are your thoughts on that, that now that Trump's in office, these might become, these ideas might become real?
07:04Well, I think one of the things that gives me some hope and something that I can deal with or stomach is the fact that we do have three branches of government.
07:15And though the Republican Party could potentially hold all three with the, you know, the expected appointments to the Supreme Court,
07:25as we have seen in past Congresses when the Democrats have had all three branches, not, you know, not everything got moved forward because there are factions within the parties.
07:36And, you know, the Senate split is still very tight.
07:40And so there we have checks and balances for a reason.
07:43So not everything will happen.
07:46We'll see what, what does get through.
07:49But, you know, I have faith in the democracy that our founding fathers set up that, you know, ultimately we'll, we will get through this.
07:59Ooh, we got a long four years ahead of us.
08:01I want to hear from each and every one of you, starting with you, Dr. Metzler, electoral college.
08:05Is it working or not?
08:06Because Hillary was winning in the popular vote but lost at the electoral college.
08:09Yeah, I think the electoral college is, in fact, working.
08:13So here's, here's the thing that I think we're missing.
08:16What Trump was able to do was to hear and act upon the anger that there is.
08:24This anger started with the Tea Party.
08:26And he was able to listen to that, to articulate that, and to move that into action.
08:33So that, that's the reason.
08:36I mean, he essentially blew up the college and said, no, no, no, I'm not going with that.
08:42I'm going to make my own college.
08:44He put together this coalition.
08:46And I think I, I heard what Nina said earlier about the, the, the whole idea of the coalitions.
08:55Here's the problem.
08:56The coalitions don't work together.
08:58Right.
08:59The coalitions are all out for their own interests.
09:02So until that stops, we will have divide and conquer.
09:07Thank you all so much.
09:08I apologize.
09:09We're running out of time on this segment, segment.
09:10I can speak with you forever.
09:12Thank you for your time and for coming here to Essence Live.
09:14Dr. Metzler.
09:15My pleasure.
09:15Ms. Peeler Allen.
09:17I got it right.
09:18As well as Ms. Turner out there in Skype.
09:20Don't go anywhere.
09:21Coming up, we'll speak with one of the leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement.
09:24But first, if you're feeling down today, remember, we still have two months left of the Obama.
09:28So here's Essence staffers reminiscing on where they were when they first heard the words President Obama.
09:40The energy was so electric.
09:42We were just pinching ourselves left and right.
09:44I can remember that night when the votes were finally tallied and the announcement was made, crying with my mom in our living room.
09:51His campaign at the time was change.
09:53And for me, that was something really, really big.
09:55Just to be in that atmosphere and to be watching history.
09:58When President Obama was elected for the first time, I was actually working in Washington, D.C.
10:06And I lived just outside of D.C.
10:08I was in D.C. for the campaign.
10:11So I watched it with a lot of other campaign members.
10:14I was at home in the living room with my family.
10:17And when the decision finally came down, we just jumped up and hugged each other.
10:22And it was the first time for me that I really felt like I belonged in this country.
10:27It was the first time that I had voted for a president.
10:30And I got to vote for the first black president of the United States, which is nuts.
10:36To see my father move to tears, my mother move to tears, I knew what a special moment it was.
10:42I called my grandmother, who was at the time in her 70s.
10:47As a young child, she picked cotton.
10:49I don't think that they ever thought in their lives they would ever see a black president and a black family in the White House.
10:56So it was really special for me to share that particular moment with them.
11:00It was just a really amazing experience just to see how far we've come.
11:04It meant that black people mattered.
11:07I felt really empowered.
11:08You know, this was definitely a monumental moment for a lot of us.
11:12Just to see a black president in office meant a lot.
11:15For me, it meant that my vote really counted and it stood for something.
11:19And it was just a really, a really proud moment to be a black person in general.
11:23Can he stay for one more term, please?
11:26I'm going to miss him so much and Michelle and the babies and all of them.
11:31But I'm so proud that I was able to live through an incredible eight-year run.
11:49You're watching Essence Live's Our Vote Counts.
11:52I'm your host, Dana Blair.
11:53Donald Trump, a man whose real estate company was founded by the Justice Department to have discriminated against black people
12:00and who still hasn't walked back his comments against the Central Park Five
12:03and was hesitant to disavow endorsements he received from white nationalists,
12:08is now the president of the United States.
12:09So what do we as black people do now?
12:12Keep leaving your comments using hashtag Essence Live and we'll shout you out on the show.
12:16But right now, we welcome via Skype a woman at the forefront of the Black Lives Matter movement,
12:21Ms. Janetta Elsie.
12:22Hello, how are you?
12:23Good, how are you doing?
12:25I'm well.
12:25Thank you so much for joining us again here at Essence Live.
12:28I just want to go ahead and jump right into it.
12:30How does a Trump presidency affect what you do?
12:35I think I am using today to figure out exactly what the answer to that question is.
12:42It's been lots of questions today, lots of time to process what this even means.
12:49I think it makes the work even more important and also a little more dangerous.
12:55So I'm trying to come to grips with that.
12:58Do you think that the Democratic Party took for granted the black vote as well as the female vote?
13:03I absolutely do.
13:04I think that there were plenty of opportunities where young black millennials specifically told the Democratic Party,
13:13this is what we need, this is what we want.
13:15These are our issues and those things were ignored or put on the back burner.
13:20And I think that's one part of why we're here where we are today.
13:23So it's the morning after and we now have a new 45th president that's been declared.
13:30And the Black Lives Matter movement has faced criticism for not having clear demands from government.
13:35What do you say to that and what do you now want Trump to do?
13:41It's unbelievable.
13:42I honestly have no set thing for President Trump right now because he literally is a candidate that has not engaged young black voters, movement, protesters, none of us.
14:00Literally not one thing, not one piece of policy.
14:04The only thing that Trump offers for black people is, you know, he assumes we all live in the inner cities.
14:10Right.
14:10So it's it's truly a ground zero.
14:14Like there is I don't even know where to start.
14:17If Trump were to reach out to you and ask for advice, would you work with him?
14:22No, you would not work with him.
14:24So if you wouldn't work with him, then how do we expect things to get moving?
14:26Because we have to work with some of the powers that be or is what is the plan B if we don't work with with him?
14:33So me saying personally that I would not work with Donald Trump is me speaking for me.
14:40The movement is not a monolith.
14:43There are thousands of individuals in this movement and there might be some young black people who are in places of leadership who would work with Donald Trump.
14:51Me, myself personally, I will not.
14:53So then how do we move the ball forward?
14:56It's the morning after.
14:58What are our next steps?
14:58How do we move the ball forward?
15:00And what specific legislation would we do?
15:02We want to see now in place now that he's in office.
15:08I honestly, I do not have like a coherent answer.
15:13I just I feel like I'm just in a state of shock, really, that America did this to itself, that this happened the way that a lot of my friends believe that this would happen.
15:27So, again, I really don't even have an answer.
15:30Do you have any advice for the for young millennials out there who are now feeling maybe a little defeated and who are in shock, just like some of the rest of us, on how they can affect change in their cities and districts?
15:42I do believe that local elections matter.
15:44I voted yesterday specifically because I was concerned about certain propositions and amendments that were on the ballot in St. Louis locally.
15:54So I suggest that we all get really into our local elections, be familiar with local officials, be familiar with politicians and where they stand on issues that affect black communities.
16:08That's really my only advice is to just get into the local politics.
16:15And so in addition to getting involved with the local politics, how can we get involved with the Black Lives Matter movement and support?
16:22What support do you now need from the community to really rally behind the movement?
16:27I think based on conversations I've been having today and based on the text and the phone calls I've gotten today, I think people are very much ready to be activated and are just waiting on instruction or almost trying to find where they fit in.
16:49And so I think that that is one of the things that the movement will have to figure out is how to bridge that gap and connect the people who want to do the work with the people who are actually already doing the work.
17:00Doing the work.
17:01Yes. Thank you very, very much for your time, Janetta, and for joining us here on Essence Live.
17:06All of you out there, keep those comments and questions coming to our Facebook page now or by using the hashtag Essence Live.
17:12Speaking of the Black Lives Matter movement, raise your hand if you've ever heard someone say all lives matter.
17:16Whenever you say Black Lives Matter, well, Mark Lamont Hill has the perfect clap back.
17:21Take a look.
17:24The question isn't whether or not all lives matter.
17:26It's whether or not we have to say all lives matter in the midst of a Black Lives Matter movement.
17:31If when people were getting lynched in the 19th century, people said, no, no, take the Negroes off the trees.
17:35All lives matter.
17:36We wouldn't be mad.
17:37If, you know, when Rodney King is getting beaten and they said, no, no, we can't beat these people.
17:41All lives matter.
17:41If they said empty out these prisons because people are being mass incarcerated for drug crimes that their white counterparts aren't,
17:46we'd say, you know what, all lives matter.
17:48Let them out.
17:49Nobody will be tripping.
17:50But it's the fact that all lives matter was only said at the moment that we publicly asserted that Black Lives Matter,
17:55that it feels like a response.
17:56It feels like a challenge to the idea that Black Lives Matter.
17:58It feels like a way of undermining the idea that Black Lives Matter.
18:01So, yes, we all concede that all life has value and all lives matter.
18:05But white lives have never been called into question.
18:07White lives have never been said to not matter.
18:09So that's why it's important, necessary even, that we say Black Lives Matter.
18:12People talk about Black-on-Black crime like it's this unique problem.
18:19Most races are killed by people of the same race.
18:21It's because people tend to be killed by people who live close to them.
18:24And in this society, people tend to live near people who look like them, are of the same race, ethnicity, religion, etc.
18:30That's just a problem of residential segregation.
18:32That's a problem of poverty.
18:33It's not a problem of Black people being uniquely inclined to kill one another.
18:37Nobody seems to like the candidates running.
18:54So if you could pick anybody to run for president, anybody, outside of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, who would it be?
18:59Beyonce.
19:00Jesus.
19:02Darth Vader.
19:04I think he'd be a serious candidate.
19:06He would be firm about the issues, and he don't play.
19:09Don't make me destroy you.
19:11What do you think Beyonce would do as a president?
19:13Like, what do you want to see from the new president?
19:16I want to see her wearing sparkles all the time.
19:19And glitter body suits.
19:20Why not?
19:21So if you could pick anybody outside of Clinton and Trump to run for president, who would it be?
19:26Michelle Obama.
19:27Michelle Obama.
19:28I would pick probably Mayor Bloomberg.
19:31I just felt like he was very inclusive as a mayor.
19:34And he got that money, huh?
19:37Yeah, that too.
19:39It would be Bernie Sanders.
19:40Bernie Sanders.
19:41Bernie.
19:42He has the experience.
19:44He was really passionate about the issues.
19:45He wasn't just saying whatever he needed to say to get the vote.
19:50And he wasn't just being as demeaning as possible.
19:52I'll take Kanye.
19:53Okay, why Kanye?
19:55I like his style.
19:56He's creative.
19:56I like his fashion sense.
19:58And he loves the people.
19:59You ain't got the answers, Swate.
20:01So speaking of Kanye, if you could pick a song to describe the election, what song would you pick?
20:08Oh, man.
20:08I would make up my own song, and I would say it's a mess.
20:13Give it to that trying.
20:14Work by Rihanna.
20:15My achy, breaky heart.
20:17There's a song by Eminem called Puke, and it goes, you make me sick to my stomach.
20:22Yeah, I like that song.
20:24That would be described as Donald Trump.
20:26Yeah, that's the song.
20:27I like that one.
20:58Thank you for coming in.
21:01We have a lot to talk about.
21:02Okay, so you're in politics.
21:04What was the biggest head-scratching moment for you?
21:07You know what?
21:08We had a lot of those.
21:09We did a lot of content around the craziest moments of the election, and they run the gamut from Donald Trump saying he was going to grab people's vaginas to Hillary Clinton's email scandal and Comey coming down with that investigation right before the election.
21:22Right.
21:22But really the thing that is so surprising to me is that we're sitting here today under a Donald, we're going to, our president-elect is Donald Trump.
21:30That's the most WTF moment of this entire election.
21:34I'm kind of still shaking because we were up all last night, and we came in to work this morning, and it's just a big, big shock, which is crazy because at the end of the day, when you look at the numbers and when you look at the racial climate of this country, it shouldn't seem like it's that surprising, but it is.
21:52I'm shocked.
21:53I honestly, quite honestly, as a girl from the deep south, I wasn't that surprised, but we'll get to that a little bit later on.
21:59There were several moments when many people thought Donald Trump was done.
22:01He mocked the disabled, Latinos, black people.
22:04What do you think made so many overlook that and elect him anyway, Whitney?
22:08I think that people really did find some sort of connection in his sort of blatant language, and I think that sitting in the sphere of media, we sort of lose that a little bit.
22:22How people talk and what people are talking about and sort of what people say at the kitchen table, you know, and we missed that, but he didn't, and so he connected with people in that way, and that's why everyone thought that they liked him because they called him, like, they said that he was relatable, so I think that's really what it was.
22:44But you know what else is there, too?
22:45I'm sorry, but I think it's the fact that white people who are responsible for voting him into office, and let's just be really clear about that, it's not minority, it's not the third-party voters, it's not people who set out the election.
22:57Black people still galvanized and rallied around this election.
23:01It's the fact that white people were not ready to confront their own right privilege, and so, especially for women who voted overwhelmingly for Trump and not Hillary Clinton.
23:13Which was a big shocker considering all of his comments and feedback, but I apologize, we have run out of time.
23:18We're going to continue to have this conversation online.
23:21Thank you to all of you out there who have joined us in Essence Live World and all of our guests who have joined me today.
23:25And, of course, continue to give us your comments using the hashtag Essence Live.
23:29Now, we have a very special announcement starting next week.
23:31Essence Live will air on Tuesdays at 3 p.m. Eastern on Facebook and Essence.com.
23:35That's starting Tuesday, November 15th at 3 p.m. Eastern.
23:38So, go ahead and put us in your phones, calendars, and reminders so you don't miss a thing.
23:43If you've missed any of today's show and there's a lot to continue to discuss, you can catch the replay immediately after this on Essence.com.
23:49We're going to close out with a look back at all the folks from this election cycle that we hope to never hear from again.
23:55I'm Dana Blair, and I'll see you Tuesday, November 15th at 3 p.m. Eastern.
24:08You say Black Lives Matter.
24:10That's inherently racist.
24:12Before Obama came along, we didn't have any successful radical Islamic terrorist attack in the United States.
24:19A lot of people who go into prison, go into prison straight, and when they come out, they're gay.
24:29So, did something happen while they were in there?
24:32What do you think you took away from today?
24:34My luggage.
24:37Hold on.
24:37Okay.
24:38First of all, there is no police brutality in America.
24:45We ended that back in the 60s.
24:47We need to delegitimize this Black Lives Matter movement.
24:50We've had enough of their nonsense.
24:55See, the media has the problem with Donald Trump and race, not Donald Trump.
25:00You tweeted about how Obama's father was from Africa.
25:02You said, are there any pure breeds left?
25:05Do you regret that?
25:06Would you like to retract that?
25:08No, not at all.
25:09Look, these tweets, I'm an activist.
25:11I myself am a half-breed.
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