The actor and activist turned politician shares his vision for Michigan, his commitment to fighting for marginalized communities, and why economic injustice, healthcare, and environmental crisis are at the core of this Senate race.
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00:00I'm literally running to stop the collusion,
00:02to stop the corporate government collusion that
00:05is punching people in the face.
00:07And we have to stand up.
00:08If we don't stand up now to this,
00:11when I say it's a matter of life or death,
00:13I mean that without exaggeration.
00:15People are literally dying because they're not
00:18being looked after or covered.
00:20And so I'm running to cover for it.
00:22So many of us know you for your acting.
00:27We know you on the small screen.
00:28We know you on the big screen.
00:29We know your books.
00:30What was it that made you decide to jump into politics,
00:34particularly the Senate race in Michigan?
00:37And why is the time right now?
00:39Sure.
00:41I've lived in Michigan eight years.
00:42I moved here to raise my son, who is not coincidentally
00:46eight years old.
00:47And I just got him out of second grade,
00:51so I'm very proud because he doesn't like to sit still.
00:54So that was an achievement in and of itself.
00:56But all joking aside, I'm running for this office
00:59because so many people are hurting.
01:02We have communities that are literally being choked out.
01:07And I say that without exaggeration and without hyperbole.
01:11And literally people feel that there is no one
01:15in the federal government who is actually looking out
01:18for them, and in many ways they're right.
01:21I was just on the East side of Detroit about a month ago
01:24where I walked into an apartment building
01:27on a street called Kaju where a young lady had four kids
01:31and they were living with black mold covering the walls.
01:36Walked into the kitchen and her burner was still on.
01:38And I said, ma'am, you can't just leave your burner
01:40on like this.
01:41She said, baby, if I shut it off, it'll never come back on.
01:43And I went to get the water.
01:45There was no water.
01:46I said, ma'am, how long have you had no water?
01:48And she said, like two weeks.
01:49I was like, how do you go to the bathroom?
01:50She's like, you don't even wanna know.
01:52It's disgusting.
01:53And I said, listen, who is looking out for these people?
01:57Just three weeks later, two young people were shot
02:01and killed two blocks from there.
02:0319 others injured through gun violence.
02:06The number one cause of death
02:07of children today is gun violence.
02:10In many of our places across the state of Michigan,
02:1490% of the kids are three to four grades levels below
02:17in reading, writing, and math.
02:19Young entrepreneurs cannot find funding to start businesses.
02:23Unions are being choked out and choked away.
02:26I mean, there's so many issues
02:28that so many people are dealing with.
02:29Look at inflation and the cost of living.
02:31You go to the grocery store today
02:32and you can't walk out of there without spending $100.
02:34I mean, and you're not getting much in your basket.
02:37Yeah, you're like, literally, what did I buy?
02:39What did I buy?
02:40What did I buy for $100?
02:42And think about the same at the gas pump and the same.
02:44And so people know that there's something going on,
02:47that there's a fix in,
02:49and they know that there's a big money grab happening.
02:51And they also feel that there's no one protecting them.
02:54And so I'm literally running to stop the collusion,
02:57to stop the corporate government collusion
03:00that is punching people in the face.
03:02And we have to stand up.
03:03If we don't stand up now to this,
03:06when I say it's a matter of life or death,
03:07I mean that without exaggeration.
03:09People are literally dying
03:11because they're not being looked after or covered.
03:15And so I'm running to cover folks.
03:17And on that note right there,
03:18that brings us right into the next question.
03:20You said you are running to cover folks.
03:22Let's speak specifically to the fact
03:24that you're running for Senate and not some other office.
03:27Of course, right now,
03:28all eyes are on the presidential election,
03:30but let's talk about why it's so important,
03:32particularly state to state, in the Senate.
03:37Why run for Senate and why is that so key,
03:40especially for our audience, really key into?
03:42Sure, and this is important for everyone to understand.
03:44When I was at Harvard Law School,
03:45my constitutional law professor
03:47would hammer home continuously
03:50that the U.S. Senate is the most powerful,
03:51deliberative body in all of politics in all of the world.
03:54And basically, a lot of folks listening
03:57may be too young to remember,
03:57but on Saturday mornings,
03:58there used to be this thing,
03:59I'm just a bill, yes, I'm only a bill.
04:01It's getting up on Capitol Hill.
04:03It was called Schoolhouse Rock.
04:05So just for a refresher for folks,
04:08the Senate is the most powerful body.
04:10And a U.S. Senator is the second highest elected office,
04:14second only to the United States president
04:16in the federal government.
04:18And so what does that mean?
04:19It means the Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality
04:21of what the U.S. Senate passes.
04:22The executive branch of the president
04:24signs into law or vetoes what the U.S. Senate passes.
04:27The House of Representatives
04:28or all those 400 plus Congress people,
04:31they send a bill to the Senate.
04:32Senate's 100 people, two people from each state.
04:35Those 100 people can amend that bill, send it back,
04:38they can change it, they can add things to it.
04:39Ultimately, the U.S. Senators are the most powerful body
04:43and they decide two of the most important things.
04:45Number one, they confirm lifetime appointments
04:47with federal judges, which impacts our lives every day.
04:50But even more importantly, 100 people in this country
04:52control the distribution of $7.2 trillion annually.
05:00That is your money.
05:01It's anybody who's listening money.
05:03If you pay taxes, it's your money.
05:06And yet only 100 people in this country
05:08just control how it's distributed.
05:10You have to ask yourself a question.
05:12Would you want your money spent on endless foreign wars,
05:18and the death and destruction of communities
05:20and innocent civilians?
05:22Or would you want to spend on healthcare here at home?
05:24Do you want your money spent on giving big oil
05:27and big pharma tax breaks and pay government paybacks?
05:31Or would you want to spend on public education?
05:34Or would you want to spend on loans, low interest loans
05:36to young entrepreneurs and communities?
05:38These are just questions that senators deal with.
05:43So if you want a senator who's going to advocate
05:47for healthcare here at home,
05:48advocate for better public schools,
05:50advocate for young entrepreneurs getting funding
05:52and advocate against big pharma,
05:55Department of Defense contractors, big oil,
05:57and spending our dollars overseas in foreign violence,
06:00then I'm the choice.
06:01Now, we so happen, it seems,
06:04that we keep choosing senators that want
06:07the first thing that I said down the line.
06:10They keep sending money overseas for foreign violence.
06:12They keep giving big oil and big pharma tax breaks
06:15in the people's money.
06:16They keep giving the big banks bailouts,
06:19but not giving young entrepreneurs any financing.
06:22So we have to start electing new people
06:26because the 100 senators control the money.
06:29And I was talking to a young man who never voted.
06:31He said, man, I'm finally gonna vote
06:33because you just explained to me.
06:34And I said, what did you hear?
06:35He said, man, I'm sending you to go get the bag.
06:38And I said, exactly, you're sending me to go get the bag.
06:41And it's a big bag.
06:42In fact, it's the biggest bag in the world.
06:46It's the largest federal bag, $7.2 trillion annually.
06:54And that money does not come to us.
06:56It doesn't get to our communities
06:57because we're not represented.
06:59We're not represented.
07:01And when I'm just talking about this,
07:02I'm not just talking about race.
07:04Let me be clear.
07:05I'm talking about communities
07:06that have been historically underserved,
07:09poor white communities, poor black Latino communities,
07:12immigrant communities,
07:13communities that just have not
07:17and don't have corporate PACs,
07:19don't have super PACs, don't have lobbyists,
07:22and don't have special interest PACs.
07:26I said to push their interests, right?
07:27So they don't have that backing behind them.
07:29And to your point there,
07:31I wanna go right into the next question here.
07:33Thank you so much for that.
07:35Just to keep that going, right?
07:36You're talking a bit about what your platform
07:39and what you would do in the Senate if elected.
07:44We, each year, Essence partners
07:46with the Black Women's Roundtable.
07:48And we do a survey of black women
07:50about key issues that are important to them.
07:53And now this year, as we've done for the last several,
07:56in polling black women voters in particular,
07:59they said that a couple things
08:00were of ideal importance to them.
08:03One being, of course, reproductive rights,
08:06and the other being the economy.
08:08Now, I know that two main pillars of your campaign
08:11deal with economics, the economy,
08:14and economic dignity in particular,
08:16and universal healthcare,
08:17and under that, within that, reproductive rights.
08:21Talk to our audience a little bit about
08:24what specifically in your platform and in your campaign
08:27can people expect, can voters in Michigan expect
08:31for what you would do as Senator,
08:33representing them as we just talked about?
08:35Sure, so first of all,
08:39healthcare is the number one issue right now,
08:42and always, because it's the number one cause
08:44of personal bankruptcies.
08:46It is a regressive tax,
08:47meaning poor people end up paying way more than they should
08:51for any type of healthcare services.
08:53And Big Pharma spent over $375 million
08:56on elections in 2022.
08:58They're on track to spend over 400 million
09:00this 2024 election cycle.
09:03And folks are having to decide
09:04between paying for prescription medicine
09:06and paying their rent.
09:08If you go to Canada,
09:09you're paying 13X less for a vial of insulin.
09:12We have a for-profit private equity model in healthcare.
09:16So what it really is, it's not a healthcare system,
09:18it's a sick care system.
09:20And who gets hit the worst?
09:21Think about this, black women, as you mentioned,
09:23we have a black maternal health crisis going on
09:26where the rate of black infant mortality
09:30and black maternal health or lack thereof
09:33is at epic proportions rivaling some countries
09:35that people call quote unquote third world countries.
09:38And these women, these communities,
09:40they're not being taken care of.
09:42The prenatal healthcare is non-existent
09:44in a way that's meaningful.
09:46The education is non-existent in a way that's meaningful.
09:48And even post-birth education and health, et cetera,
09:53access to healthy food for the baby,
09:55access to healthy food for the mother who may be nursing,
09:57all of these things are catastrophic.
09:59And so we talk about universal healthcare,
10:02Medicare for all.
10:03We talk about a system that includes mental health,
10:06includes vision, includes dental for me.
10:08And I wanna fight for that for everybody.
10:11If you get sick, you deserve to see a doctor
10:13without having to go to the emergency room
10:15and then having to worry about what type of bills
10:17are you gonna get hit with,
10:18what type of incredible deductibles
10:20you're gonna get hit with.
10:21We can do this and we have to solve this problem.
10:23We have to take the profit out of people being sick
10:26or their so-called healthcare.
10:29And part of that is women's reproductive freedom,
10:33women's reproductive rights.
10:34I do not believe the federal government or state governments
10:37or any government for that matter
10:39should be in the conversation between a woman,
10:44her own body and her licensed healthcare professional.
10:48So many of these folks on the other side of the aisle
10:50talk about governmental restraint.
10:52If there is one place we should have governmental restraint
10:55and that is between a private healthcare decision
10:59that you're making with regards to your own body.
11:02And that goes for everybody
11:03in their relationship with their doctor.
11:05Both of my parents are doctors.
11:06My mother was one of the first black female
11:08anesthesiologist in the country.
11:10Healthcare is big, big, big for me.
11:12And now move to economic development,
11:14which is actually related.
11:16When we talk about healthcare,
11:19one third of all GoFundMes are medical related, right?
11:22GoFundMe is not a health plan, right?
11:24GoFundMe should be an economic tool to help people.
11:27And so what we have to do is we have to deal
11:32with the root causes of poverty.
11:34We have to deal with the root causes of systemic injustice.
11:37And we have to deal with the economics in communities
11:41that have very little access to capital to actually change.
11:44There's too many communities that I drive by here in Detroit
11:47or in Pontiac, Michigan, or up in Flint,
11:49or if I go out to Benton Harbor, Muskegon Heights,
11:51you name it, we can go to Kalamazoo and go to Battle Creek
11:54and go all over the state of Michigan.
11:55And we'll find pockets in communities and neighborhoods
11:58where the buildings have been boarded up for 30, 40 years.
12:01It's not that there's a lack of people
12:03that want to create businesses there.
12:05It's the fact that folks who live there
12:08cannot get access to capital.
12:11You know, the money that's available to them
12:13is way too expensive,
12:14and there's no way they can open up a business
12:16that could last having to pay 10% interest
12:19and come up with the collateral for a down payment
12:22and come up with how we're rehabbing the building
12:24that's been empty for 30 or 40 years.
12:26It's impossible.
12:27And so rather than, like I said earlier,
12:29bailing out the big banks,
12:31we should be spending that money on zero interest loans
12:34for young entrepreneurs that can create jobs
12:36in these communities.
12:37Deal with the food desert issue
12:39because there's need and demand, yet too few places have it.
12:42I mean, you can throw a stone in many neighborhoods
12:45and hit a liquor store where the only thing you can buy
12:47are Funyuns, Faygo, Verner, or Hennessy
12:49through three inches of Plexiglas,
12:51but you can't get a fresh piece of produce there.
12:54And you're not getting anything that's actually healthy
12:56for the mom, the baby, or the family.
12:58Why is that?
13:00The people exist to create these businesses.
13:03They just don't have access to capital to create them.
13:05And I wanna solve that.
13:06Thank you so much for that.
13:08And just moving right along here,
13:09kind of continuing on with some of the pillars
13:13of your campaign, one being climate change.
13:17The way you made those connections
13:18and spoke directly to what, you know,
13:20the power that the Senate holds.
13:22Key in for us right here in terms of climate change
13:25and how it's affecting black and brown communities
13:27every day.
13:28When we talk about climate issues,
13:30a lot of times people think it's really far away from them,
13:32but it is impacting, you know, local communities day by day.
13:36So talk to us a little bit about the justice platform
13:40that you have for this campaign.
13:42Yeah, when we think about environmental justice,
13:45communities that get hit the hardest by far
13:48by environmental harm are communities that, you know,
13:53tend to have all the other lack factors
13:58that we've already talked about.
13:59The education system doesn't seem to be there.
14:02The access to healthy food isn't there.
14:06The access to local jobs and mobility, not there.
14:10And fundamentally, everyone deserves health,
14:16access to healthy food and healthy water
14:19and healthy air to breathe.
14:22You know, these are foundational, fundamental things.
14:24And, you know, in many ways,
14:26Michigan has been the epicenter
14:30for seeing a lot of harm in water.
14:33Obviously the Flint crisis existed.
14:36I just published an op-ed recently
14:38about the Flint water crisis and that we're 10 years in,
14:40and these folks still haven't gotten any compensation.
14:43It is outrageous.
14:44It's deafening for a lot of people when you,
14:47I want to take a moment there, right?
14:48Because 10 years, sometimes when you,
14:52when we bring it up to people or you talk about it,
14:55people say, wait, that wasn't fixed yet?
14:58No, it hasn't been fixed yet.
15:00And it's something I think that's really jarring
15:02for a lot of people because they're thinking,
15:04okay, that was a problem at this time.
15:06It would have been fixed right now, right?
15:08And wrong.
15:11Listen, I think a lot of people understand
15:14if you come from communities that are poor,
15:17like I said earlier, they don't have super PACs,
15:20they don't have massive voting blocks,
15:22they don't have big donor blocks
15:26or special interests fighting for them.
15:28They're not represented.
15:30I mean, and there's no other way to say it.
15:31And this is why, you know, it goes back full circle
15:34to what we were saying about why I'm running for office.
15:37Unless we can get people to start understanding
15:42that the power they have is actually in their vote,
15:46we're not gonna be able to change these things
15:50because we're gonna keep electing the same type
15:52of people to office that continue to do the same thing.
15:55My father was a psychiatrist who worked in the prison system
15:58and used to tell me all the time
15:59that the definition of insanity
16:01was continue doing the same thing over and over again,
16:03expecting a different result.
16:04And we're seeing it play out in Flint.
16:07I mean, we keep electing the same type of people to office
16:10who come and say they're gonna solve something,
16:12but never do.
16:13And I promise you, if these folks and the folks in Flint
16:18and the folks across Michigan
16:20get me into the United States Senate,
16:22then Flint will get their money.
16:24They will get their money.
16:26It's gonna, whether it's coming in federal dollars
16:28or I'm gonna make the state,
16:30they're gonna get their money
16:31because they've been mistreated so badly.
16:33And the amount of money that's been allocated
16:36to go to the community is so low
16:38compared to the degree of harm
16:41that none of these people cause.
16:44And it's a shame.
16:46It's yet another example
16:48where people with the least amount of agency,
16:50the people with the least amount of voice,
16:51and the people with the least amount of political power
16:54are getting, I don't even wanna call it
16:56the short end of the stick.
16:57I'm talking about they're getting
16:59the negative end of the stick.
17:01These people have had to buy tens of thousands of dollars
17:04in bottled water.
17:05They're probably, their bodies are riddled with microplastics
17:09because they have not been able to drink
17:11any of the water that comes out of their tap.
17:14And so, I just wanna make a follow-up there.
17:17So, of course, we know you are a Democratic candidate
17:20for Senate in the state of Michigan.
17:22The only primary debate that was supposed to take place
17:26between you and Representative Alyssa Slotkin
17:29was supposed to take place last week,
17:32but that did not happen.
17:34And the television station, WHPR-TV,
17:38they cast blame on the cancellation of that debate on you.
17:44Isn't that, it's amazing to me.
17:45The sheer audacity that this person who's pulled out,
17:52my opponent, has pulled out of multiple, multiple,
17:55multiple debates, and then they create a sham debate
18:00at a television station, and they say it won't be televised
18:03in the middle of the day or during a weekday at 10 a.m.
18:08And then black women had been excluded from participating
18:12because the assumption was
18:13there'd be journalists there or something, and no.
18:16And so, there was a group of black women that said,
18:18listen, this Senate seat,
18:21this is the first truly open Senate seat in Michigan
18:22in nearly 30 years.
18:23It's the most important seat we've had
18:26in almost 30 years to vote on.
18:28Black women should be included
18:29since we're such a big part of the Democratic electorate.
18:33And the response was to cancel debate
18:38claiming I was making that demand.
18:40You know, I never pulled out of the debate.
18:42I never, but at the end of the day, that was an excuse.
18:45And it's so disrespectful.
18:47Just think about this.
18:48It's disrespectful to black women saying,
18:51because black women said,
18:53and they gave a list of great black female journalists
18:55that should be included or invited.
18:58As soon as that, there was no response from my opponent,
19:01no response, but the station said,
19:03oh, the demands are outrageous.
19:07What?
19:08Including black female professionals in a debate?
19:12The only one that looks like it's gonna happen?
19:14The level of disrespect to our community by my opponent
19:19and the level of disrespect to black women,
19:23it boggles my mind that the media,
19:27you know, the wider media hasn't called her to task on it.
19:32But I guess it doesn't because it shows you
19:34the inside game that's going on
19:36to disenfranchise us and our voices.
19:39And that's why, like I said all the time,
19:42the only way we ever get respect is to win these offices.
19:46You know?
19:47So just so I can clarify there.
19:48So are you saying that the demands that were made
19:52did not come from you or?
19:53No, they didn't come from me.
19:56They came from a group of black women
19:59who demanded they be included.
20:02And the black women suggested that I pull out of the debate
20:06if the demands were not met.
20:09But I never pulled out.
20:11They canceled the debate.
20:12They canceled it.
20:14And so rather than the media telling the truth
20:18about, okay, this is how this happened,
20:20there was clearly an inside deal going on
20:24to make it seem like I pulled out
20:25because clearly she didn't wanna debate, right?
20:28She doesn't wanna debate.
20:29She doesn't want the voters to know her record.
20:32I'm running against somebody who didn't co-sponsor
20:34the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act.
20:37She didn't co-sponsor the Cannabis and Expungement Act.
20:39She didn't co-sponsor literacy grants.
20:41She voted against a college students with disability grant.
20:44She voted against student loan debt relief in 2020.
20:51Her record is horrendous,
20:53particularly when it comes to people of color
20:55and immigrant communities.
20:56And so she didn't wanna debate,
21:00but she's the Democratic Party establishment candidate.
21:04And so they're trying to tell the Democratic Party voters
21:10that that's who they should vote for,
21:12yet she refused to debate.
21:14You can't, it's like with my son,
21:16you can't reward such horrendous behavior.
21:19And I hope Michiganders will not reward her
21:22with their vote based off her behavior.
21:25And thank you for that clarity there.
21:27So the last few questions that I have for you,
21:32just turning to the national presidential election
21:36that's coming up.
21:37We saw such a huge turn in this election season,
21:41but you had a prediction about 15 years ago
21:45about Kamala Harris and her rise
21:48to what we're seeing take place now.
21:50Tell us a little bit about that.
21:51You posted on social media about this prediction
21:54you made all that time ago.
21:56Yeah, so I met then prosecutor Harris in late 2007.
22:07Barack Obama asked me and also asked her
22:10to go crisscross Iowa and stump for him down in Iowa
22:14leading into the Iowa caucus
22:17and the whole presidential run,
22:20feeling that if he couldn't win Iowa,
22:22there would be no way to win the nomination in the primary.
22:27And so she then, after we became friends,
22:29she asked me to contribute to her book, which I did.
22:31And then I hosted her for her first fundraiser
22:35down in Southern California
22:36when she was running for attorney general.
22:38I was shooting the show CSI New York at the time.
22:43And she also asked me to host a black professionals thing
22:46down there for her as well.
22:48And that's when I spoke at that event.
22:51And I made a prediction that one day
22:53she would be president of the United States
22:56and very proud that that prediction
23:00has an opportunity to come true.
23:03There's no question that when we think about Michigan,
23:06where I am right now as a battleground state
23:09and necessary for her victory,
23:11that I truly wanna win this Senate seat
23:13so I can be in a position to help her win in November.
23:17And all the indications suggest that my campaign
23:20in winning this primary would help her in November.
23:24So I'm excited about that
23:25and excited to be in position to do that.
23:28Thank you so much.
23:29And as we know, the primary in Michigan takes place
23:32on Tuesday, August the 6th.
23:35So we definitely wanna make sure
23:37that we are following up with you as that is concerned.
23:40And just also, you have had a really interesting way
23:43of reaching voters and using social media, of course,
23:47and your skills and entertainment to do so.
23:50Talk to us a little bit about the new song
23:55that you put out that is really about mobilizing voters,
23:58especially those who may just feel disenfranchised
24:01or apathetic toward voting right now,
24:04and why you felt like doing it through a song
24:06was the way to go.
24:08Well, music reaches and touches people
24:11in a completely different level and way
24:14than any other medium.
24:15So that's number one in general.
24:17Number two, since I've been campaigning,
24:20I've realized that many people,
24:23we don't own our power anymore.
24:25We don't understand owning our power.
24:27It's kind of what we were talking about at the beginning
24:29about our vote is truly our power
24:32if we galvanize communities and do it together.
24:36It's not about one-offs,
24:37because people can pick off one,
24:39but if we start saying, you know what?
24:40I'm gonna take all my family members
24:41and we're gonna go vote,
24:43and we're gonna go vote this way.
24:44We're gonna vote for Hill Harper, vote this,
24:46Kamala Harris, vote for this way.
24:48And the mass mobilization of our power,
24:51and I wanted to get people to own it again, own their power.
24:54And one way to do that is to get people saying a song
24:56in their heads, because music can stick with you.
24:59And I'm big into mantras.
25:01I'm big into a positive self-talk.
25:04Yes, I know that from your books, of course.
25:06Exactly.
25:07So if I can get people saying, you know, I'm gonna own it,
25:09I'm gonna own my power, I'm gonna own my business,
25:11I'm gonna own my vote, I'm gonna own this, I'm gonna own it.
25:14If you're owning something automatically
25:17makes you a responsible.
25:20I believe it makes you attentive
25:21and it also makes you say, you know what?
25:24I'm gonna show up.
25:25And so that's why it's called Own Your Vote.
25:28And it's a song and Helluva,
25:29who is one of Detroit's number one producers,
25:33did the beat and a young producer named Vito Lays helped.
25:36And so it's just a great thing.
25:38And that's part of it because listen,
25:40even to this minute, up until this primary,
25:44I'm realizing so many people don't even know
25:46what a primary is because they keep coming up to me saying,
25:48hey man, I'm gonna vote for you in November.
25:49And I'm like, well, if you don't vote for me
25:51in the primary, August 6th, you're not.
25:52And part of that, we have to raise money to get on the radio
25:56and if the song can get on the radio, that's one way.
25:59But also if we can raise money
26:01through doing interviews like this,
26:04you know, $2 makes a difference.
26:06We can use that money to get our song placed on the radio
26:09or get our ad placed on the radio
26:11because at the end of the day,
26:13voter turnout is critical to win this.
26:16And if folks don't know that they should be voting,
26:18you know, early voting is going on right now.
26:21And so if the song can get played,
26:22if someone gets it shared to them, like, dang, okay.
26:24Oh, I can go vote now.
26:25I'm gonna go vote.
26:26I'm gonna own my vote.
26:27And so just, we need to meet people where they are,
26:30however we can.
26:31And that's where that song is.
26:33Yeah, thank you.
26:34And so last question here, of course,
26:36as I mentioned at the top of the interview,
26:37we know you from the big screen,
26:39the small screen and from your books.
26:41So you're new to the political realm.
26:43Why should Michiganders put their, you know,
26:46trust in you and elect you to the U.S. Senate?
26:51You know, I think Michiganders should elect me
26:53to the U.S. Senate because I won't be bought.
26:54I won't be bossed.
26:55I won't be bullied.
26:56I will represent them.
26:59And no one else in the Senate race can say that.
27:03Everybody else running has been bought.
27:06And that's simply put.
27:07And so if you want someone
27:09that's gonna represent people first,
27:12the first three words of the Michigan Constitution
27:13and the first three words of the U.S. Constitution
27:15are exactly the same.
27:16We the people.
27:17Doesn't say we the super PAC.
27:18Doesn't say we the special interest.
27:20Doesn't say we the political party.
27:21Doesn't say we the politician.
27:22It says we the people.
27:24And that's what I'm doing.
27:25And if we can start a new wave
27:27of people-centered candidates winning major seats
27:31like this U.S. Senate,
27:32we can actually change our democracy.
27:34We can change our government.
27:35We can change the way it represents people.
27:37And if I'm the first person to do that and represent that,
27:40and we can lead in and usher in others, then so be it.
27:42That's what happened
27:43when I wrote my book, Letters to a Young Brother.
27:45There were no motivational books for our young men.
27:47And now that book blew open the door
27:50and now there's tons of them.
27:51And we can do the same thing politically.
27:53Hill Harper, thank you so, so much.
27:56Of course, the primary is on Tuesday, August 6th
27:59in the state of Michigan.
28:01Democratic Senate candidate.
28:02And of course, we've known you before this as an actor
28:05and author.
28:07Thank you so much for joining us.