- Just ahead on Black Issues Forum.

As the race for the White House ramps up, vice President Kamala Harris has announced her candidacy for president.

What does this mean for the Democratic Party and the nation as a whole?

Well, we'll talk about that.

But on the other side, former President Donald Trump continues to lead the Republican polls.

But can he maintain his momentum?

We're breaking it all down.

The critical factors that will influence this election and why your voice matters more than ever.

Coming up next, stay with us.

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[upbeat music] ♪ [upbeat music continues] ♪ - Welcome to Black Issues Forum.

I'm your host, Kenia Thompson.

So much to talk about today with the 2024 presidential race shaping up to be one for the history books.

Vice President Kamala Harris has announced her bid for presidency, potentially becoming the first female president in US history.

Meanwhile, former president Donald Trump continues to dominate the Republican race, But question is, can he overcome the challenges that might lie ahead?

And Durham's very own mayor, Leonardo Williams, represented the Tar Heel state at the most recent DNC.

We're breaking it all down here with our guests.

So let's get right into it.

I wanna welcome to the show our regulars, La'Meshia Whittington, executive Director at the Green Majority and North Carolina State University professor, and our good friend, political analyst, Steve Row.

Welcome to the show.

- Pleasure to be here.

- So I wanna start off, DNC seemed like the Party of the Year, and North Carolina made it to the stage and to the podium.

I want you to take a look at this clip of Durham's Mayor, Leonardo Williams at the DNC.

- Hailing from the Tar Heel State.

Home of Duke University and North Carolina Central University.

I am mayor Leonardo Williams from Durham, North Carolina.

You know, several years ago, my wife Zweli and I started cooking for our community.

We drove to schools, doctor's offices, just to give out a few samples, and eventually our friends asked, "Where's the restaurant, y'all?"

[chuckles] But you know, it takes capital.

It takes capital to chase a dream.

And during the Trump administration, they did not make it easy.

Not for folks like us.

So what I thought was, "I guess not everybody can have a multimillion dollar loan from their father."

So I'll tell you what we did.

We emptied our savings, and in 2008 we launched Zweli's Kitchen.

America's first Zimbabwean restaurant.

And the Biden-Harris administration helped make that a reality.

They helped make that dream come true for entrepreneurs like us.

Now, thanks to small business grants and all of the help that we received from them, we now have three locations and we employ nearly 30 employees with a living wage.

But we are not alone.

Under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, more than a half million business applications have been filed in North Carolina.

- So that was a great, great experience for Durham and for mayor Leonardo Williams.

He mentioned small business owner.

500,000 applications have been filed for grants in North Carolina.

By the way, if you haven't been to Zweli's, go to Zweli's, it tastes delicious.

They didn't pay me to say that.

But let's talk about that impact, right?

That the Biden Harris campaign has made.

His story alone is one of many in the state where they've been able to benefit.

La'Meshia, what are your thoughts around that and what are small business owners really looking for during this time?

- Right.

So, you know, mayor Williams is just, and his wife, Mrs. Williams, are, you know, a testimony and a shining light for North Carolina.

So I first wanna say that.

And next, in 2020, you know, black entrepreneurship skyrocketed.

- [Kenia] Yeah.

- And you know, black businesses increased well over 37%, creation of tens of thousands of jobs.

And actually during that time, in the wake of stay at home orders, right, we created $1.7 billion, with a B, in revenue for the US economy.

So when we talk about the impact of entrepreneurism, the impact of small businesses, there was a resurgence and it hasn't slowed down.

And so that, you know, that resiliency in the midst of a global pandemic paired with federal dollars, that was a vision of Biden-Harris campaign that was passed by Congress, right?

Our congressional members are very important when we talk about the American Rescue Plan Act dollars.

Those funds were used to stimulate and support small businesses.

And so we saw those dollars trickle into North Carolina, we saw that increase.

Governor Cooper expanded support through the Department of Commerce.

So if we really wanna see those dollars, we really need to inspect the movement that happened through the Department of Commerce, through the tourism that was increased.

We're you know, the top five in the nation in terms of states that are the most visited and most received by tourists, and so that increase of folks visiting us, NASCAR, what we saw was local booms happening in rural communities like Wilkesboro.

And so because of that, tourism, you know, increases lodging, increases food, so, you know, folks going by Durham, and so this is a cohesive effort that has been federal, but it can't be without the grit, the determination of the people.

- Before you answer that, I want you to take this question into consideration in your addition to her response.

How would the landscape for business owners look different under both administrations?

- Well, I think first of all, ditto in everything she said.

But first of all, I think it's about where it looks different in elections that have consequences, is Vice President Harris has talked about an opportunity economy.

And the difference is that President Trump, former President Trump, his economic policies, it's more of a Wall Street versus Main Street.

So, you know, when I say Main Street, Leo Williams is a testament to that, a small business owner who needs capital, right?

And Biden/Harris, how did they help small businesses?

Well, let's look at capital, right?

I mean, where it looks different, if Harris becomes the president, you'll see a continuation of these policies.

Over $35 billion of loans given to small businesses and minority businesses under President Biden went up by 13% of getting those loans.

Venture capital, the Vice President was here in Durham.

I was there.

She announced $32 billion of venture capital to our startups, to our entrepreneurs with venture capitals.

You know, many of them were minority-owned venture capital firms, exciting.

Emergency economic injury disaster loans, PPP loans, which I spoke to Mayor Williams, who I, by the way, is a close friend.

Great guy, loves Wellies.

I'm getting hungry already.

He talked about the PPP loans, making it easier.

You know, when Trump was president, only 3% of black owned businesses got those PPP loans.

So an opportunity economy means an economy that works for everybody, right?

Small businesses, you know, and in North Carolina, we have 900,000 small businesses that employ 1.7 million people.

For every company we create, that's five jobs.

Think about how many new, even if you talk to Secretary of State, Elaine Marshall, she says that she's been incorporating a lot of businesses.

Allen Thomas, who's the SBAs, Southeastern director, former mayor of Greenville, he talks all the time to me about the amount of money coming in.

So that's the answer to your question.

This administration under President Harris, a President Harris, in my opinion, would put more money into the Main street economy.

An opportunity economy that works for everyone.

And Mayor Williams is a testament to that.

- That's what everyone needs, - Right.

- I mean, we need to feel like we have some sort of say within our own small business ventures.

And I think there have been times where that's not always been the case.

Let's take a step back a little bit.

Mayor Williams' section was representing small businesses, but let's just take a look at the DNC as a whole, right?

If you were on TikTok or Instagram or Facebook at any point that night, people were like, this is a party, right, we wish we were here.

But there was a duality, I think, in the comments, in the conversation was that some people didn't feel like it was taken as seriously as it perhaps should have been given the climate that we're in.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions on that starting with you.

- Sure, sure.

You know, I'm always a student of history, as y'all well know.

And you know, when we look at both national conventions as both for the Democratic Party and the Republican party.

You know, these conventions began in the 1800's and they always served as pep rallies of sorts.

And those pep rallies over the years that would happen every four years, they came to more of a national notoriety due to press that increase during the World Wars in the 1940s.

And so because of that, it began to create unique opportunities for folks to show their personal flare.

The delegates who, you know, lead from our states, each state has delegates that are affiliated with the party.

And so those delegates are our local mayors, our local city council folks, local leaders who are active within the party.

And so they're identified as being leaders that then go and they choose to cast ballot to nominate whoever will be the presidential candidate in the ticket.

And so, even though Vice President Kamala Harris was a supporting endorsed by President Biden that didn't actually secure her the nomination.

And so the convention is that opportunity for these delegates to have already spoken to the people that are a part of their party in their state.

And then they carry that baton almost like an Olympic run to the actual convention to light that fire.

And historically, that fire was used to galvanize patriotism.

And so if we understand the history, there used to be, even during President Kennedy's run, there was the Kennedy Cuties that was an interracial group of women that had matching dresses.

And they would literally stroll and it was white women and black women.

And so what we see though is, you know, there are two things.

One, it is a variance in the audience of the attendees.

It used to be more traditionally white majority.

Now, if you look at the convention, it was actually reflective of the United States and who we are as a whole.

And the culture then reflected the culture of the time.

So then we have to realize, it may not be Frank Sinatra, it might be Little John.

Because it's the reflective of the pep rally of.

You know, and then the second thing, I'll land this plane and Steve, you know, pass that baton.

He was already talking about Olympics.

We also have to understand something you said, Kenya.

It's a dystopia though that's happening, even though that's still a pep rally, even though it's supposed to galvanize us, everyone isn't always feeling patriotic.

Uncle Sam days will speak frank.

There is a mass global awareness, there are wars going on across the seas, and we have been made, or more acutely aware due to internet being connected, we have real issues, and so us looking at a pep rally we don't have much pep in our step.

- Yeah, absolutely.

Well, you know, I love sports analogies.

I'm a metaphor kind of guy, but it's football season and, you know, it's like Trump was, you know, Biden was the nominee.

I wanna thank President Biden for his service to the country, and I think what he did was very patriotic.

He gave up his power for what was best for the country.

Only happened once in American history, and so we wish them well.

But I will say, if my football analogy is Trump had the ball and he was moving that ball down the field, and then we've intercepted it and now we're taking the ball, the Democrats are taking the ball down the field.

And when I say that, what I mean is that the energy is different, this dynamic of this election.

But when I look at the DNC, it really demonstrated the success of Vice President Harris of unifying a very diverse party.

On the stage you had Bernie Sanders, AOC, you had Oprah Winfrey, you had Republicans, the Republican mayor of Meas, Arizona, two former presidents, Obama and Clinton, you had two former first ladies, Michelle Obama and Secretary Clinton, who had run for the presidency.

All of them coming together and she accepted the nomination telling her story that this is a story of the American people.

I got emotional because I'm the son of immigrants from India, but Vice President Harris's mother came from the same city in India that my father came from so it is really amazing.

It reflects a different America, I think a great story, but that's my take.

I think it was a success.

She's achieved the first objective of unifying the party and changing the dynamic.

It's like Rocky Balboa going southpaw in the last round when he beat Apollo Creed.

You're too going to remember "Rocky" movies, but now Trump doesn't- - She remembers "Rocky" movies.

- But Trump doesn't know what to expect now so it's changed the dynamic of the race with 60 days left to go.

- So let's talk about platforms.

What is the message that both candidates are putting out here?

We'll go to you Steve, then La Miesha.

- Well, I think this election would be really focused on three major, major issues.

I think, you know, the economy is an important one.

An opportunity economy.

So I think the vice president has to clearly show a bipartisan approach.

She's mentioned she's gonna have a Republican in her cabinet to bring a different perspective, but I think she needs to focus on the, you know, the $250 billion of clean energy projects that went to all 50 states.

45 billion have come in North Carolina from VinFast, Ken Power, Ford's Battery, the Chips Act, manufacturing jobs have come back.

Our governor, Roy Cooper, has worked successfully with the administration to create a lot of those jobs.

We've got just tremendous, tremendous move in the economy.

Unemployment about three and a half percent, ticked up a little bit.

Inflation has come down.

What Trump's gonna say is that, hey, inflation is because of all the spending, but that spending actually created jobs, and I think really prevented us from going into recession with all of the infrastructure that we're having.

I think immigration will be big.

She's a little weaker on that issue, but she I think addressed it well saying that she's gonna have a bipartisan immigration reform bill, which he rejected.

Affordable housing, I think she said, you know, $25,000 of down payment assistance.

So healthcare, lowering cost, healthcare costs, I mean, I could go on and on, but at the end of the day, that's the message.

And reproductive rights, and I think that's really a big one, which I think this is gonna be won in the swing states.

So I think Vice President Harris, and then we're gonna talk about Tim Walz in a minute, but I think taking the message out to independent working women in rural areas who wanna have the right to have an abortion, don't wanna have it illegal, I think these are the things that are gonna define this election.

It's gonna come down these issues and these undecided voters.

- Yeah, and we'll talk about that.

We'll talk about that, but let's talk about the Black communities and what some of these issues that Steve talked about are gonna impact our Black communities specifically.

- That's right.

I mean, and we're already hearing kind of the impact on the ground.

You know, some folks who are, you know, feeling very still hopeless.

Apathetic voters, folks that don't really feel seen or represented in certain rural communities, and that's part of I was mentioning the baton.

You know, after the pep rally, after the convention, it is now the labor and the work of the campaign.

Not just the Harris-Walz ticket, but also our congressional members.

We have to understand that they're up for reelection.

Our local tickets, and it is now the role and the responsibility of those campaigns to speak to the fact that there is criminalization of poverty that is happening.

There are folks that are dealing with mass homelessness across the nation, not just in North Carolina, and laws that we're seeing even happening in the US South that are criminalizing folks for sleeping in their cars, for, you know, having to sleep on park benches.

And we've always seen homelessness, but this uptick when we say the impact of, you know, inflation and decrease, and we've also seen from pandemic and when folks had to stay at home, this mass economic impact, that was the whole point of the investment from the IRA, the Investment Reduction Act and these federal bills that was supposed to help revitalize the economy.

Well, in that meantime, how many folks lost out?

How many folks are still struggling without healthcare?

How many folks are still I look at the price of cereal.

When you say years ago we could, you know, get a $2 $3 box of cereal, and now I see the same size, $8, sometimes $14.

For folks, okay, we have to be very clear, the increase of groceries is going over 20%.

The increase of eating out - Yeah.

- over 25%.

Since COVID-19 - Yeah.

- began to stay at home, the 2020.

- I'll just add this real quick.

There was a social experiment, how we have our list of groceries in an Instacart, well, someone took that same list from 2020, I think it was, or 2019, ordered that same list and it was three times higher today.

- I think I saw that.

- Yeah.

And we have to look at the pricing.

She was in Raleigh last week talking about pricing and price gouging and doing things.

- Uh-huh.

- And then I think that's gonna be the economy as well.

We dip into a recession.

It could affect the Democrats and the swing states if we don't, you know, if interest rates come down.

So, I think some of these things are out of the control, but I think definitely, and Trump is saying, "I'm gonna make America great again."

But really, I think the economy's done pretty well under the Biden-Harris administration.

And I think with a little bit more time.

And as the president, hopefully, she can take that to the American people, but we'll see.

- Yeah.

Let's touch locally a little bit.

We saw that Governor Roy Cooper was one of Vice President Kamala Harris' potential running mate candidates.

- Yes.

- He decided not to take the ticket.

We have Walz.

Let's talk about his decision not to take that.

I know you wanna speak on it badly.

I see it, Steve.

Go for it.

- No, no, the governor, - No, go for it.

- well, the gov, as I call him, and I have a theory, that I think that the reason - Mm-hmm.

- that he did not pick the vice presidency is that Roy Cooper's a very smart man.

We often forget that our governor's a Morehead-Cain's scholar, - Uh-huh.

- never lost an election.

And if I were a betting man in politics, I would really look closely at what this guy says.

But I think he sees a win in North Carolina.

- Yeah.

- I've been watching him closely talk around the country.

A lot of energy in North Carolina.

When they win North Carolina, they win the presidency.

And so, why is that?

Well, you've got 12,000 volunteers, 9,500 have already done their first shift.

You've got a lot of excitement at the top of the ballot.

Black Americans, first Asian American to run, 180,000 voters in that block here.

But then, down pallet, you have really conservative candidates at the bottom that are gonna pull out, like Mark Robinson, Michele Morrow, Dan Bishop.

So, when you add it all together, I think Governor Cooper sees at North Carolina victory like 2008.

- Yeah.

- And that's why he's staying here to bring it home for Stein.

- Mm.

- And that's just my theory.

But I think he's got a bright future ahead of him.

- Yeah.

And I don't disagree at all.

I have to plus one and I don't think this will be the last time we see Governor Cooper on a national ticket.

- I don't think so either.

- I think that's also a- - I think he has a bigger agenda.

- I think that's right.

Exactly.

- Mm-hmm.

- So, that's you...

I think so.

- Yeah.

- So, in general?

- Hey, and I- - Might be a little bigger.

- Yeah.

I think there's a clear pathway.

- I think so.

- And I also identify that Governor Cooper believe in the history of our state has appointed the most Black people, Black professionals, experts, and women to state council.

We have the first ever Black woman appointed to the state council seat right now that is up for reelection, Jessica Holmes.

- Yes.

- And so, and we look at Machelle Sanders, Secretary of Department of Commerce.

- She's asking.

- Okay.

And we saw the influx of tourism dollars under her leadership.

Okay.

So, we do see this decision, in my opinion, there is a pathway forward and the ground has already been laid that you win when you choose qualified candidates.

- Mm-hmm.

- And you win when you choose diverse qualified candidates.

- Yeah.

- We see this over and over again.

And this is how we were able to pull out of a COVID deficit, - Uh-huh.

- understand that this is only several years into what is a global pandemic.

And we are increasing in Black entrepreneurship, we're increasing in Brown entrepreneurship, we're increasing tourism dollars.

We do have...

But the reality is we have to put that in bite-size conversations for local folks to see the impact.

It's difficult to say, okay, if I can't pay my bills every day, how does that translate to me right now?

- Yeah.

- And that's what has to be, a better job has to be done, in my opinion, by the party.

I'm just gonna call out for what it is.

And so, I think they do a phenomenal job, but we have to keep continuity.

- Mm-hmm.

- The selling point, one of them is the dream and the hope of pulling the party together under Vice President Harris, a presidential candidate.

But we have to keep that consistency to ensure that the Black candidates and the Brown candidates have the same support locally.

And I'm not, we're seeing that.

- So, let's talk about that.

We were talking in the green room about some challenges that local Black candidates have been facing.

We lost a major giant in the political landscape in Conen Morgan, who was a political manager, campaign manager, genius for all points and purposes.

And he was a true, honest, tireless advocate for Black candidates in North Carolina.

As a result of the loss of his life, those people have lost that kind of support.

Talk about the impact that that has had across the state.

- Oh my goodness.

For folks that are not familiar with Conen Morgan, please look up Conen Morgan.

- Yeah.

- You must be familiar with a young man, by the way, that for many years, - Mm-hmm.

- was the data strategist that has been the brain and the child behind of almost every single Black, Brown, and progressive candidate in North Carolina, and help strategize other campaigns across the nation.

But you can really credit most of our elected officials on the progressive ticket to Conen Morgan.

- Yeah.

- And so, you know, and I have to even say, I have to credit, he interviewed and hired me for a major role that defined a part of my political career, and was a mentor.

We had conversations up until a month of his passing.

So, when I say the impact of having a data strategy.

Just an impact of understanding the nuances of North Carolina.

North Carolina's not the same from the coast, to the mountains, to the central.

And I understand there's a great emphasis sometimes, oftentimes, within our urban metropolitan hubs and the business that we can bring, because it's hard for corporations to be attracted to high incline and mountains.

And I saw the party respond to that with that rural initiative that I would say Anderson Clayton, the youngest leader of our party here, Democratic Party, but with Conen Morgan, he was able to lead that frontier, before we had that leadership with the elder leadership that came before Anderson Clayton, he was able to design that.

And we are now having to still grapple just one election out from his passing.

We really don't know the impact.

But we do see it in media when we see qualified candidates being attacked for racial politic, and that is happening, we can't ignore that.

- I think so, and I mean, I think the data, he was a friend of mine and he was a data guy.

Data's the fuel of the new economy.

He was young, he was very entrepreneurial, and could think very quickly.

And so when the ground is moving fast, these elections change, it's not won in boardrooms, it's not won in fundraisers, it's won on the ground.

And President Nixon often used the words, "Silent majority," right?

And it's these undecided voters.

They may be moderate Democrats.

We often forget, Trump won because of those undecideds in the swing states.

Come down to Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, these states.

But Conen Morgan knew how to message to get to those voters.

- Those undecided.

- So that's where this thing will be won.

It's gonna be a close race.

The electoral college wins it.

Not the popular vote.

- That's right.

- Because he was a data guy, he got it.

- He was a data guy.

- A couple minutes left in the show, let's talk about those undecided voters.

Why are they undecided?

I know that's a lot to talk about in two minutes and less, but what's the impact of not voting?

- Oh, the impact not voting.

I mean, let's be clear.

The last administration under President Trump gutted the Environmental Protection Agency.

It gutted it in a way that we are still catching up to the impacts, even though this current EPA administration has been phenomenal.

When I say that, when corporations have been allowed historically to dump filth into our water, our cancer rates in disadvantaged communities have been high for many years.

We think Flint, Michigan.

Okay, there are Flint, Michigans in North Carolina in the sense that we have high lead contamination, high PFAS contamination.

This is what's at stake is our actual health and being, and being able to afford that healthcare that many of us cannot afford.

- Yeah, my final comment is that elections have consequences and not voting is worse than, you've gotta vote.

I mean, you've got really important races from governor between Stein and Robinson, the chief executive of the eighth-largest state in the union, someone that's been mentored by a current governor, endorsed by the most popular governor in the country, supports judicial courts, supreme court, the environment, jobs, the economy.

And if you don't vote and things don't happen the way you want, you can't wake up the next day and say, "Whatever."

So I would encourage everyone to get out to vote.

And this is a very important election.

And regardless of where you stand on the issues, this is a democracy and you have the ability to make it happen.

It's your right.

- And on that note, I wanna share our graphic, our election day graphic with viewers.

As election day approaches, PBS North Carolina wants to ensure that our viewers are prepared to vote.

You can find information about election day, voter registration deadlines, early voting voter ID, and so much more.

Make sure you visit pbsnc.org/vote for additional details, or scan that QR code on your screen.

La'Meshia Steve Rao, as always, a wealth of information.

We got our history, we got our current.

[Steve laughing] I mean, we're always covered with you two.

So thank you.

- You're great, thank you so much.

Have a wonderful weekend.

- Of course.

And of course, I thank you for watching.

If you want more episodes and content like this, we invite you to engage with us on Instagram using the hashtag, BlackIssuesForum.

You can also find our full episodes on pbsnc.org/blackissuesforum and on the PBS video app.

I'm Kenia Thompson, I'll see ya next time.

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