Nicole Austin-Hillery joins Tavis Smiley

0:00This is Dave Roberts. If you're heading into summer without a medical emergency kit, you're taking a risk most people don't think about until it's too late. Summer colds linger and can turn into sinus infections at last for weeks. Getting sick right before vacation can derail everything and we are traveling, finding a doctor and pharmacy is stressful. That's why I ordered medical emergency kit. It's like having an emergency care and a pharmacy right at home. It includes essential prescriptions like a moxasillin and generic z-pack to treat a wide range of common and serious illnesses. So if you wake up sick at home or on the road, you already have what you need. No waiting for your doctor, no hours at urgent care, no pharmacy lines, no co-pays, just match your symptoms to the right prescription in your guidebook or call their telemedicine doctor standing by. Start on your med sooner and feel better faster. Every home needs at least one medical emergency kit. 40 years online in minutes and it's shipped to your door and say $45 with promo code blue at urgentcairedkit.com slash blue. Shop vans and Albertsons for fresh savings every time you shop. This week

1:04at vans and Albertsons get fresh, boneless, skinless chicken breast for $199 per pound limit 10 pounds and locally grown grape-ary cotton candy grapes are $299 per pound with digital coupon. Plus 24 packs of Canada dry or 7-up 12-ounce cans are $499 limit one with digital coupon. Enjoy fresh and delicious savings for every meal. Hurry in, these deals won't last. Visit vans or Albertsons.com for more deals and ways to save. This is Dave Roberts. If you're heading into summer without a medical emergency kit, you're taking a risk most people don't think about until it's too late. Summer colds linger and can turn into sinus infections at last for weeks. Getting sick right before vacation can derail everything and we are traveling, finding a doctor and pharmacy is stressful. That's why I ordered medical emergency kit. It's like having an emergency care and a pharmacy right at home. It includes essential prescriptions like a moxasillin and generic z-pack to treat a wide range of common and serious illnesses. So if you wake up sick at home or on the road, you already have what you need. No waiting for your doctor, no hours at urgent

2:06care, no pharmacy lines, no copays, just match your symptoms to the right prescription in your guidebook or call their telemedicine doctor standing by. Start on your med sooner and feel better faster. Every home needs at least one medical emergency kit. 40 years online in minutes and it's shipped to your door and say $45 with promo code blue at urgent care kit.com slash blue. That's promo code blue at urgent care kit.com slash blue. That's Cheryl Lynn. I'm Tabby Smodig. Glad to be with you. This is third and final hour of today's program. In this hour, two conversations as promised on the B-Sci will talk with the elegance Bratton director of the new film by any means, which tells the story of a morally ambiguous partnership between a black FBI agent and a white mobster in 1960s Mississippi. Look for the welcoming Mr. Bratton in studio in our on the back. I should say of of this hour. We start this hour though in dialogue with Nicole Austin Hillary, president CEO of the CBC Foundation, congressional black caucus foundation,

3:07which is celebrating its 50th anniversary and the 55th anniversary of its annual legislative caucus, which kicks off this year on September 16th, as always in the nation's capital. Nicole, good to have you on the program. How are you today? I'm doing well, Tabby. Thank you for having me on to talk about our work in this momentous year. It is a momentous year. Let's talk about it. 50 years of the foundation 55 years of these legislative conferences. Put it in context for me. So, Tabby's when we were founded 50 years ago, it is because those original members of the congressional black caucus realized that there were some things missing in Washington. They said when they looked around and they saw young people who were preparing to be future leaders, they weren't seeing young people who looked like me and you, Tavis. They weren't seeing young people who looked like those who lived in their districts. And they said we need to level the playing field. And that was the genesis for the foundation so that we could provide opportunities for young people to be prepared for future leadership. We now 50 years later, Tavis put more black interns on Capitol Hill than any

4:10other organization in the country, but we do even more than that. We put interns into sea suites. We put interns into philanthropy and labor organizations. We are literally preparing the next generation of leaders. And in addition to that, those members also realized that we needed a black think tank. We needed a place where we could go to learn about our issues and get research and analysis. And so we have a Center for Policy Analysis and Research. And then finally, they realized that we needed to use the power of convening to bring our communities together, to strategize and be collectively focused on how we move our issues forward. And that's what we do. Those are our three pillars, Tavis. And they're all focused on how we empower the global black community. And that's what we've been doing for 50 years. And that's what we're focused on doing for the next 50. I love the frame. Let me work inside of it with those three points you just made. I'll start with the first one in terms. Now, I am a big supporter, a big believer in internships. Why? Because that's how I got to where I am. I was an intern for Tom Bradley, the late-rate first African-American

5:15mayor of the city. That's how my career started working for Tom Bradley as an intern. I was an intern before Tom Bradley. I was an intern for the mayor in Bloomington, Indiana, where I attended Indiana University. So my whole life, my career starts because I took advantage of some pretty amazing internships in every iteration of my business for 35 years. Now, I've had an internship program I believe in interns in this regard, though, on the CBC front. Tell me why these interns and all these various spaces you mentioned. Why do these interns matter? Nicole, did I lose you? You did. There you go. You're back. You're back. Yeah, I'm back. I'm back. You heard my question. Why are these interns mad at GoFour? Yeah, so you know to have us, they matter because if you don't have opportunities to prepare yourself for leadership and to move into certain professional circles, you won't ever get in the door. We know that if you have

6:15the opportunity to train, to be exposed to people who are doing the kind of work what you are doing, we also know that you have to see it to believe it. That's how you prepare and if you never get those opportunities, you will never have the chance to show that you have the creativity and the ability. And look, those original members realized that the young people who work getting those opportunities in Washington were once you had parents who maybe had friends in Congress or maybe your mom or dad were a doctor and a lawyer and they could afford to pay your bills while you were in Washington. And if you didn't have those opportunities, you were not getting that training and that training as you know, Tab is from your own experience. It allows you to build on top of the next opportunity and the next opportunity. And so that's why these are so vitally important. And it's also important that we level the playing field so that regardless of economic income background, whether your mom or dad were was a doctor, a lawyer or a bus driver, you have the same opportunities. If you have the same

7:15skills and same desire and zealousness to be successful. There is the intern question. We'll talk about black think tanks. I don't think there are enough of them. We'll talk about that. We'll talk about the convening. This convening this year happens on September the 16th. So we'll talk about convenings. We'll talk about the future of the CBC. I find it fastening. I thought about this last night. Nicole Nolz-Rongorn. Here we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the CBC foundation. 55 years of the CBC. It's annual legislative conference in Washington. So these major anniversaries, these major celebrations this year at A. Ton when there are questions about the very future of the CBC. We talked about that with Connie Rice. In our very first hour, we'll come back to it in this third hour. You're listening to Nicole Austin Hilary on Tab is smiling. Nicole Austin Hilary, president CEO of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation now celebrating 50 years of existence. And they're on the eve of their 55th annual legislative conference kicking off September 16th. Of course, in DC as they do every September, Nicole a moment ago to frame these anniversaries for

8:20me. She said there are three things that we do. She talked about the intern programs that they do that are very impactful on the heel and beyond in the nation's capital. She mentioned Black think tanks and she mentioned convenings. Let me go to the second issue, Black think tanks. I said a moment ago Nicole Tamama is not and has never been enough Black think tanks in Washington. If you go to DC as I used to live there and been there many times of course, there's like a conservative think tank on every other corner in DC where you look you see conservative think tanks not enough that do the kind of work that matters to us. Why is that number one? And more to the point what is the what is the what's the impact of these think tanks? Well, you're absolutely right, Tavis that there are not enough and back in 1976 when the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation was founded, there were none. And that's exactly why the members said we need to change this. We now know we have the joint center for political and economic studies, which is the nation's premier Black think tank, but and we partnered with them, but there are not enough of us. And so we

9:22realized that we had to do some of that work. And why it's important to have us as this think tanks allow us to have power. You get power from having information and data think tanks do the research on the issues that matter to our communities. They provide you with numbers and the data analysis that's analysis that you need to understand what is going on in the policy world. And they also help to give you tools and recommendations for ways that you can make changes in your own communities. That is about empowerment. If we do not have information, if we do not have data, if we do not have research, we can't understand the issues that are impacting us. So then we can have intelligent conversations to have us about health disparities, about closing the Black wealth gap, about scholarships, about what we need to do, about bringing down the cost of living, all of those things that are inextricably linked and help our communities to move forward. That's why we need them. And that's why we do this work and why we know it is so critically important. And it's about

10:23empowering our communities to be the change they want to see in their own neighborhoods, in their own states and jurisdictions. Let's talk about the convenings. I've had the opportunity, you likely know many times of the course of my career to not just attend the legislative conference, but to speak and to broadcast live from this annual event. So I've had my connection over the years. Of course, to this annual legislative conference kicking off this year, September 16th. But for those who see this convening or these kinds of convenings as just parties, to them, you say what? I say this. Understand that this is the nation's largest Black public policy conference. It is the umbrella under which everything sits. You bring scholars, experts, academic admissions, community organizers, grassroots organizers, media folks who bring voice to our issues. Everyone is collectively coming together in Washington. And it is so that we can be about the business of our community.

11:25This is the only place where you will be in rooms with the lawmakers who are making the decisions that impact our lives. And if you want to be a part of that strategy, if you want to be a part of connecting with lawmakers and with other change makers, you need to be in this room. We cannot work in silos, Tavis. And because you are doing work in California, you're doing work in Illinois, and someone else is doing work in Pennsylvania. All of that is great. We need that. But we also need those times when we are coming together for collective collaboration. And that is what the annual legislative conference provides. But let me also say this, Tavis. Yes, we do have social events. And that is because joy is a part of our culture. And we have to remember that it is the joy in our culture and historically for our people and other underserved communities that has allowed us to move forward that has sustained us even in those moments of great strife. And we are in one of those moments now. So we do need those joyful cultural moments like our annual gospel fest that we will have,

12:31like our day of healing and prayer breakfast that as you know, Tavis, we had every Saturday morning the week of the conference. So let's not be mistaken. The joy and the work is a part of how we, as a people get things done and move forward. They are inextricably linked. And we need them both. I want to talk in a moment here about the historic number of members in the CBC, the numbers higher now than it's ever been. We're talking about that part in advance of a conversation about the future of the commercial black caucus. I promise I'm ahead in there in the next 10 minutes that I have left with Nicole Austin Hillary, who's president CEO of the CBC foundation. Before I do that, though, I want to come to this point. You made a moment ago about the strife that we find ourselves in right now. This in so many ways is our experiencing the dark side, the night side of America, politically, economically, socially and in some ways culturally. And so I want to just ask point blank, what you see, and obviously this won't surprise you. I'm talking to your members all the time. They're always coming through this program to talk to me about various issues. I'm grateful to have them.

13:36But what's just give me your sense, how would you frame the role of the CBC in a moment of strife like this in Trump 2.0? Talk to me about the proper role of the commercial black caucus. The congressional black caucus, which of course, Tavis, as you know, is a separate entity. We are a nonprofit foundation, but of course our work relates to and helps to support and undergird the work of our legislators. And the role that those legislators have right now is they are the leadership. They are the highest elected black officials in the country right now. And so they are the ones that we are looking to to help define the agenda for black America. And the work that we're doing on our Center for Policy Analysis and Research helps to undergird their roles, Tavis. We are making sure that we are identifying those issues that are most salient to the black community right now, issues around attacks on voting rights, issues around AI, and what that will

14:39mean for our communities, what that will mean for surveillance and privacy. We are working on issues around health disparities and education. And those are the issues that we are feeding to the members so that they understand here's what black America is concerned about. Here's what underserved communities are concerned about. And it is their role to then carry the baton and make sure that they are giving voice to the issues and concerns that are so critically needed in this moment from black America and from other underserved communities. And that's the role that they're playing. And that's why again, Tavis, it is so vitally important for people to be in space with us in this moment because they need to hear from you. Again, if you are at our conference and you know this, Tavis, you can be walking down the halls of the Washington Convention Center and you can run into one of the members who is the ranking member of a key legislator of a key congressional committee. This is your opportunity and moment to speak and to be heard. And it is their job to hear you and listen and then to take back what they are learning and understanding and put those recommendations

15:45and put the needs that they're hearing about into motion with respect to policy. And that's their role right now and that's what we're looking for them to do. Shop vans and Albertsons for fresh savings every time you shop. This week at vans and Albertsons get fresh boneless, skinless chicken breasts for 199 per pound limit 10 pounds and locally grown grape re cotton candy grapes are 299 per pound with digital coupon. Plus 24 packs of canada dry or 7 up 12 ounce cans are 499 limit one with digital coupon. Enjoy fresh and delicious savings for every meal. Hurry in, these deals won't last. Visit vans or Albertsons.com for more deals and ways to save. You can't predict the future but you can prepare for it. Arizona State University is building degrees for what's ahead. Programs designed around emerging fields taught by faculty whose research is shaping our future. Not just teaching about it. It's why we've been ranked number one in innovation for more than a decade. Your future is worth preparing for and you don't have to prepare

16:46for a loan. Become future ready. Explore more than 400 programs at ASUOnline.asu.edu. That's a degree better. It's Paul in America. Make it count at the Ram Drive-In-To-Fall Sales event. Make it powerful with our strongest Ram 1500 ever. Make it move with the Ram Heavy Duty with an available Cummins diesel and make it go the distance with a 10 year or 100,000 mile powertrain limited warranty. Hurry in now for great deals during the Ram Drive-In-To-Fall Sales event. Excludes fully electric vehicles applied to 2026 model year vehicles non-transferable. Visit MoPart.com for complete details and a copy of the powertrain limited warranty. Cummins is a registered trademark of Cummins Inc. Ram and Hemi are registered trademarks of FCA US LLC. This is to my mind Nicole the ultimate of ironies and let me just unpack it here and then I'll let you let you wrestle with it. I mentioned a moment ago that we are in a moment where we see historic numbers in terms of the membership of the Congressional Black Caucus. I've been tracking this for 35 years of my career and these numbers have risen steadily, slowly but

17:47steadily and so now we have this record number of members of the CBC there even some Black Conservatives of course in Congress at the moment. So the number is higher now than it's ever been on the one hand on the other hand because of the gutting of the Voting Rights Act as you well know we expect the theory is going to be a decrease into the coming years in the number of members in the Congressional Black Caucus so it's just fascinating to be celebrating this huge number of members comparatively speaking celebrating 50 years of the CBC foundation celebrating 55 years of this annual legislative conference and yet if we're being honest we look down the road and it's hard to imagine that we don't see the number shrinking in the years to come. How do I juxtapose? How do I square those two those two things to go? Here's how you square it Tavis. One I remind everyone that we must learn and understand history. History shows us that in moments where

18:52Black communities and other underserved communities have great progress those moments of great progress are often followed by moments of great backlash but then what happens during those moments of great backlash Tavis is that communities like ours are then strategizing and looking to how to rebuild and then again history shows us that in the next cycle of rebuilding and when we are following up on the rebuilding we reach moments of even greater achievements than we had ever here to for even been able had been able to imagine that's the moment that we are in and folks need to understand that and that's why it's important to recognize cycles of history. This is the moment for rebuilding and strategizing. This is also the moment Tavis for everyone to realize that we have to look beyond the leadership of elected officials. We have to look at the individual leadership opportunities that exist within each one of us and and within our communities.

19:54I like to remind people as you said Tavis the Voting Rights Act has been under attack. We go back to June 25th of 2013 and the Shelby County Decision Shelby versus Holder and we come all the way to spring of 2026 and the Calais decision. It is factually true. It is now harder to vote. It is more difficult to vote. It is harder in every state and every jurisdiction. We just saw recently in Fort Worth, Texas that they have taken away 100 polling places but folks can't be deterred by that Tavis. What they need to understand is that this is the moment when we all have to step up individually because the power of the vote, the power that we have if each of us individually exercises our political power exercises our right to vote that can counteract what we have been experiencing in terms of the backlash from the courts and the backlash from some of these state legislatures. So that's what this moment is about Tavis. I don't want people to be deterred. I want them to understand that right now it is about all of us playing a role. It's not a moment where we're

20:58looking for one leader or two leaders. It is about what we each have to do in our own communities and again Tavis that goes back to the research and the data understanding the information, understanding the resources and understanding how we utilize them because I guarantee you Tavis as a student of history as a lawyer who has worked on voting rights for decades as a president of this nonprofit organization where we are steeped in research. If we can do that as a community, if we can come together we will again see what history has shown us that our resilience will take us to an even greater height where we will again see record breaking numbers and changes in in terms of our political empowerment. Speaking of data and resilience, a new national study, I've seen a few of these actually suggest that this attack on voting rights Nicole is producing in fact as you mentioned the the exact opposite of the intended effect is actually motivating more black Americans to become politically active. I think what I'm saying is black voters are being mobilized by this attack on

21:59voting rights. Yes, and that's exactly Tavis where the power lies. In fact, after the Calais decision came down, we actually had a virtual discussion that the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation held at our Center for Policy Analysis and Research oversaw and that is exactly when we had the experts around the table and we had representatives Terry Sol and representative Troy Carter on that panel. That's exactly what we talked to the listeners about. This is your moment to step up. Don't sit back and wait. This is your moment to step up and if you mobilize and you get your communities motivated, you can have an impact. And again, I like to remind folks Tavis, we are a non-partisan organization. I'm not talking to you about who you vote for. I'm talking to you about amassing your power and having a voice because in this democracy, your voice is your vote. Yep, we got to tight 45 seconds for you to brag about the conference coming up starting September 16th. Go for it. Our conference theme Tavis is rooted, ready and rising. And I think folks can tell from the

23:01conversation I've been having with you why that's our theme. We are rooted in our history. We are readying ourselves for this moment and for all of the work that we have to root ourselves in our history and we ready ourselves. We are going to rise to even greater heights. That's what I want everyone to know. That's why it's important for all of us to come together to be in the place here in Washington. We make it available for everyone and again Tavis. This is the opportunity for us to see the to be the change makers that we want to see. We are not deterred by this moment. We are excited about 50 years and we are ready to move forward. Rooted, ready and rising is the 55th annual legislative conference in DC of the CBC Foundation. Kicks off September 16th runs through the 20th as always at the Wall to E Washington Convention Center. Nicole, thank you for your work and your witness. Thank you for this conversation. Nicole Austin Hillary is the president CEO of the CBC Foundation. Nicole, all the best to you and again.

24:05Thanks for your time today. Thank you Tavis. My pleasure. More of Tavis, my name is Ali. We come forward.