Stacey Thomas Show
Stacey speaks with Dr Cassandra Stroud Conover
It's better over here. Now at T-Mobile, get four 5G phones on us and four lines for $25 a line per month when you switch with eligible traders, all on America's largest 5G network. Minimum of four lines for $25 per line per month without a paid discount using debit or bank account, $5 more per line without auto pay, plus taxes and fees and $10 device connection charge. Phones would be at 24 monthly bill credits for well qualified customers, contact us before canceling entire accounts to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on a required finance agreement too. Bill credits and if you pay up devices early, see T-Mobile.com. At Sprouts Farmers Market, you'll always find fresh at the center of the store. Come in to discover a huge selection of the season's best produce, bursting with flavor in every bite. Explore thousands of better-for-you products for every dietary lifestyle, from plant-based and organic to gluten-free and keto-friendly. Scoop up your favorite bulk nuts, roots, sweets and more, perfect for baking or snacking. Visit your neighborhood Sprouts today to explore healthy products down every aisle. - I get film producer and talk show host. I'm here to motivate, educate and entertain. Join me on YouTube every Wednesday at 7 p.m. Stacey Thomas talk show, where we have powerful discussions centered around health, relationship, careers and everyday conversation. Follow me on Facebook. I am Stacey Thomas on Instagram, Stacey Thomas talk show. And don't forget, I can promote you too. Email me at IamStaceyThomas@gmail.com. Now, it's time for the show. - Hello, hello, hello. I'm your host Stacey Thomas and thank you for watching. And once again, once again, my platform is being blessed, right? She's been on here before and she never gets boring. It's never a dull moment when I speak to her. And now I'm just gonna welcome Dr. Cassandra Conover back on the show because she's very knowledgeable and real. And she's gonna give us some food for thought. How about that? Hello. - Hello, hello. - How are you? - I am great Stacey. How are you? - I'm fine. You know, it's been a couple of years, but sister, you're like, why I'm getting better with time, huh? - I have a wonderful man, what can I say? I love it. - Love will do that, a woman can be great by herself, but what a powerful thing when the man is just as great. - Oh yeah, well, Sam, I was his missing ribs. So now we're all complete. So we're really strong as crazy. He talks more than I do. - He talks more to you? - Talks more than I do. That sounds like what I got going on in this house with lover. And I never, you know, I never thought I'd meet somebody that talked more than me. And I tell him some time when he said, I talk a lot, I said, you are talking, man. And you know what, excuse me, that never happens until I do the show. My girlfriend said, my girlfriend said, you go from one extreme to the other, right? Divorce to lover after being separated for 21 years and trying to meet another girl. And I guess you gotta be careful sometimes with your acts in God for. I want somebody that talks to me. I want somebody that goes places with me. And now talks all the time, he wants to go everywhere. (laughs) - You got what you asked for, Sam. - So that you get what you asked for? - Oh yeah. - Wow. - Yeah, I'll talk to him. - Wow, I love it. Wow, I love that. I love that. You know, you've been doing a lot from since the last time you were on my show, we were talking about you were tying as Commonwealth of County of Petersburg City, Virginia. And then I look up, relocate it. And you couldn't get to it. I said, maybe you were rotating because you were resting, you were just gonna relax, enjoy your retirement. And then I look up. - I know, right? - And now you have a party chair. - I know, right? - Of Nash County, Democratic Party. - I know. - I know, right? - Where does this fight come from you? - I think it, well, no question. Everything comes from God. Let's say that, lead that. So we understand that God is the foundation for everything I do. 'Cause you know, if it was left up to me, am I human strength? I'd be sitting down in my chair right now with a glass of wine. But, you know, we came here knowing absolutely nobody. Let me say that. Nobody, oh, you didn't go because of the family. Nope. Nope. Girl, we still use GPS. Don't get me wrong, but we came here. January 31st, 2020, knowing nobody, we just happened to like the house on Zillow. - Wait a minute, you weren't even searching for Nash County? No. I didn't know anything about anything down here. Nothing. All I knew was what all our kids, that they could drive, that they came to see us maybe about two hours. So we looked within a two-hour radius. But I don't know. I'm telling you, nobody, nobody. So when we got here, January 31st, 2020, in February, I saw this advertisement for precinct organization. Now me, okay. I had said I wasn't gonna do anything. I had said that. But a little birdie inside of me said, "Well, I've been on the ballot eight times as a candidate. What is it like to work with the party behind the scenes?" And we don't have precincts in Virginia. So I'm like, "Oh, what's a precinct?" Okay, let's go find out. What's the source? Whole different structure. 'Cause in North Carolina, cities are within... Where in Virginia, cities and counties are independent. Right, right. Okay. So I go to the precinct meeting and I meet the person, the chair, my precinct, who happens to live around a corner from me. Okay. And she's like, "Well, I need a secretary. This is where we have new offices." I'm like, "I'm new like in two weeks." I mean, what do you want me to do? Well, you're a lawyer. You know how to write and take minutes, but we really don't have many things for you right now. It's okay. Well, I'll be a secretary. Well, then I started walking and talking with her and she's like, "You know, I think that you could be this, that other." I'm like, "Come on, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. See what?" You're the second person. You're the first person I've met here. Then I met my neighbors down the street. Next thing I knew, long story short, within a year and a half, when they had elections, they wanted me to be chair. And what were you thinking? I was thinking, "This is crazy." But then I'm thinking, "Well, I don't have to do much 'cause they had just had a presidential election in 2020." And I was observing, they were like, "Oh, it's gonna be real quiet. You don't have to do anything." I said, "Okay, well, I don't have to do anything. All right, see how that's worked out, huh?" And now I'm in my second term. See how that works out. - Wow. You know, I'm gonna ask you a question. It almost is like, why would you ask her that knowing what you know that she's done in her lifetime? - Okay. - I'm gonna ask you the way. You were coming up with a attorney, dealing with all sorts of people. And then you become one of the care of the Democratic Party. Have you ever word about balance, retaliation? When you show your face and you walk around if people don't see it, you're being held, are you not afraid? I am not afraid because I do not have a spirit of fear in me. Remember, I was 27 years roughly the DA, they come with the attorney, the DA, responsible for a lot of things. So a lot of people mad about a lot of things we had to do 'cause we had to do our job. And everybody didn't come out on a good end of that. I get it, but we had to do our job and there were plenty of death threats. I had plenty of that while I was in Petersburg. Human side of me had to deal with that because I knew that I was there doing my job to the best of my ability. Did I get everything right? No. Did I say everything right? No. But I knew I was out there working for the people. I knew that there were victims who I had to be the voice for them. But I did hundreds of murder cases. Hundreds, 'cause I had a case load. And I walked through it. I was divorced for that deceased person. That's heavy. That's heavy. I had that responsibility. And it wasn't there for ego. I wasn't there for ego or title. I just knew that God gave me a voice to be for the people. And on the other side, I had to be careful. I'm not gonna be stupid, but I gotta be careful where I go and what I say and what I do. But now, I'm even more aware that now because of the climate that's out there. Because of the brazenness of groups of people just because. So we are aware. But at the same time Stacey, I know that I'm educating people. I know that I'm helping people get out and learn about candidates. I'm showing them what an authentic person could be like, we're all politicians. Owning a rental property sounds like a dream. Collect a rent and relax. That is until you realize how much work goes into getting it ready. First, you need to conduct market research to understand local rental trends and determine a competitive rent price. Then, there's cleaning, staging, repairs, and hiring a professional photographer. Next, develop a marketing strategy. List the property on rental sites. It's gonna kill the showings. It's gonna kill the showings. It's gonna kill the show. It's gonna kill the showings. It's gonna kill the show. Whew, sound complicated? Renner's warehouse is here to take the hard work off your rental to do with. Our job is complicated because it should be. We handle everything from marketing and showing your property to screening tenants and preparing the lease. Our best-in-class property management professionals take care of your property as if it were our own, from rent collection to maintenance coordination, all for one flat monthly fee. Go to rennerswearhouse.com for a three rental analysis to find out how much your home can rent for. Or call 303-974-9444 to speak with a rent estate advisor today. Because from now on, the only thing you need on your to-do list is to call Renner's warehouse. At Sprout's Farmers Market, you'll always find fresh at the center of the store. Come in to discover a huge selection of the season's best produce bursting with flavor in every bite. Explore thousands of better-for-you products for every dietary lifestyle from plant-based and organic to gluten-free and keto-friendly. Scoop up your favorite bulk nuts, fruits, sweets, and more. Perfect for baking or snacking. Visit your neighborhood sprouts today to explore healthy products down every aisle. - If you ever debate at a teenager, you are a politician. So we are all politicians. We can't get out of that. But what people are looking for now are authentic folks. People tell you what I'm right or wrong. And I see that. And God places me in areas where I have worked to do. - Wow. And because you, I mean, you're like one of the most perfect people to interview you. Because what we're gonna talk about, you have been the Commonwealth Attorney. You've been the community that the President to be has been wrong. Before we go wrong, let me ask you something. What is democracy teaching you? What does it mean in 2024? - So now you asked a loaded question there 'cause what does it mean in 2024? What does it mean? So let's talk about what it means. What does it mean? Because in 2024, it depends on who's using that word. So we need to understand that democracy means we have a form of government where people elect people to rule to make law. Those persons are to be held accountable by people 'cause everybody can't be called personally and making a law. But you can elect a representative who will go and speak and make laws on your behalf. That's a democracy. That's what it means by ruling other people. People have a say, so that's why elections are so important because we have a representative democracy where people are elected. So if your elections are messed up, then you may be putting people in place who are messed up and won't legislate like they should. And right there, people, I'm not sure if people realize that it is very important to start with your local representatives. - There you go. There you go. Because we have lost the art of storytelling. I was telling you this before. And storytelling, actually, they way back when we were the slaves. But we also had those teachers and schools who would tell stories and have your, have the kids sit around in a circle and listen and listen to their story and develop listening skills. And as we, for some, somewhere along the line, kids stop listening. And as they got older, they also stopped telling the stories. And some of those stories could have been lessons that they learned in school, like government, like the three branches of government. You know, if you learn in a school and if it's told to you and you get a chance to spit it back out during your classes, as you get older, when things start happening, you will tell your kids about the government. - That's right. - Okay. If you would tell them, you would take them with you when you go, 'cause you're gonna tell them how important it is to vote. Well, somewhere along the line of communication got broken. Even if I love my churches, where they got broken in churches too, 'cause you know, it used to be you could go until churching you would hear it. And we're working with our churches and our pastors. Bring that back. Talk about government. Talk about the branches. Bring that back 'cause that storytelling time also. So if you have that, if you have that person to person contact, then at your house, in your city, you're hearing about city council. You're hearing about the mayor, what he does, what she does, what they do. That's your local stuff. When it comes time for your elections, you're hearing about your clerks, your common attorneys or your district attorneys, your judges, and Virginia, the judges are not elected in North Carolina, they are, but that can all be part of your conversation. Okay. So when you're having that conversation in your home and your family, then you're making it real. You're making that local government real. So then when things start happening on the state forefront or on the national forefront, it's not new to you 'cause you're understanding. Oh, okay, well, they make the laws. Well, why I keep blaming the president for something when the laws are made by people in the general assembly. Right, right. Why am I blaming the mayor for something when the laws are made by the people on city council? Owning a rental property sounds like a dream. Collect a rent and relax. That is until you realize how much work goes into getting it ready. First, do you need to conduct market research to understand local rental trends and determine a competitive rent price? Then there's cleaning, staging, repairs, and hiring a professional photographer. Next, develop a marketing strategy. List the property on rental sites. It's gonna kill the showings. Oh, no, it's gonna kill the show. It's gonna kill the police. It's gonna kill the police. It's gonna kill the police. Whew, sound complicated? Renner's warehouse is here to take the hard work off your rental to do with. Our job is complicated because it should be. We handle everything from marketing and showing your property to screening tenants and preparing the lease. Our best-in-class property management professionals take care of your property as if it were our own, from rent collection to maintenance coordination, all for one flat monthly fee. Go to rennerswearhouse.com for a free rental analysis to find out how much your home can rent for. Or call 303-974-9444 to speak with a rent estate advisor today. Because from now on, the only thing you need on your to-do list is to call Renner's warehouse. What's next? At Moss Adams, that question inspires us to help people and their businesses strategically define and claim their future. As one of America's leading accounting, consulting and wealth management firms, our collaborative approach creates solutions for your unique business needs. We leverage industry-focused insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance. Uncover opportunity and move upward at MossAtoms.com. - That's why it's important. And that's our storytelling that we've lost. It makes you wonder, do people teach civics anymore in high school? So now we got to talk civics and middle have to talk civics and elementary. We got to bring a home to the kids and let them grow up with it. - Right, right. It shouldn't take so many people, like, okay. So we had Kamala Harris out here. She didn't come out of the gate. She didn't come speaking out of the gate. She came running. And when she came running, people didn't fall toward her. People didn't skip toward her. They started running toward her. What is so different? Kamala's already in the White House. She's already part of a team. What is so different than a month ago and now? - Because Kamala comes talented. She comes with credentials, okay? Which surprises a lot of people. We have a double standard that is not gonna go anywhere. Male, female. That double standard is not going to go anywhere. Well, here we have a female who is credential. Here we have people learning for once about, oh man, she's been a district attorney. You'd be surprised how many people don't know what district attorneys do or prosecutors or come with attorneys. And I'm that Kamala because I became Kamala attorney in '91. And we were at a district attorney's conference in 2006 or something like that. 'Cause she had just become the district attorney for San Francisco, so she came out to that. So I met her. We didn't even know we were in the same sorority. We weren't even talking about that. We were talking about the fact that she was a new DA of a large white San Francisco. That was major. That was a major accomplishment, okay? But now you have not only was she a district attorney, now she became attorney general. Well, do you know how many people didn't even pay attention or don't even know what attorney general does? Do you know how many people are getting educated about the position of attorney general because she was that? Now only that, this she moved up to being a senator in Washington. Wow, how many people knew that she was a senator and she was elected? A lot of people didn't even know that district attorneys were elected. She was elected in each position. And there was a fourth one vice president, elected. So Kamala came with credentials. So I like that. I like how you broke it down because I'm big on telling people around me when they come to me with negative things, be aware of the media. The media companies were coming in and the media companies weren't bad. Be aware of when they only give the bad. What, what, I'm gonna give you exactly what here it is because you are coming with the county. You have these people the first time they say yeah, do you know how many black men she put away? Now, they had someone came out and said she only came to court twice. And I said to someone, wait a minute, was it her job to be in court every day? Wait a minute. What was the population law in that community? Is that why she saw a movie or how about, did I make you do the crime? What do you say to the law? We have so many African Americans that say, do you know how many black people she put away? So first of all, understand the difference between a prosecutor and a judge. The prosecutor only puts on whatever evidence comes to him or her from the police department. That evidence consists of witnesses, it consists of blood splatter, it can consist of documents, it can consist of anything. The prosecutor's responsibility is to put together the evidence including the witnesses before a judge. It is the judge who renders guilty or not guilty verdict. Now, the prosecutor also and she did this in California. Also believes in not only preventive, but also rehabilitation. You can have drug courts. You can have working things out to misdemeanors for somebody who's doing community service. Prosecutors, they're not to convict, but to seek justice. That's the prosecutor's thing is to seek justice. And prosecutors do not determine what a defendant looks like. All of that happens before it even lands on the deaths of the prosecutor. Anybody who becomes a defendant, whether it's because of an accusation or somebody sees it, there has to be evidence. If there isn't any evidence, then the judge will find there's no evidence and not guilty. There are many times where cases have been fought before us and the persons bringing their accusations for a line and we could prove they were lying because that's the main thing again. I think it's to seek justice. It's to be convictions, but to seek justice. And there are many times when we find that people will come and out of whatever, there may be lines, there's no evidence and we'll tell the judge, this has to be no process. 'Cause that's something else people don't realize. The majority of states, it's not on the lower court, it's not the prosecutor bringing the charge. The charges are brought already either by a civilian or by a police officer. And then that report, that evidence is taken to the prosecutor. - Okay. - They're just doing the job. - It's all about research. - But when that comes out and I get it, do people want to put people away? If somebody is terrorizing, hurting somebody, killing somebody, yes, it doesn't matter what race they are. It doesn't matter what race. - Right, right. So as an educated woman, obviously, for what you've done and what you're doing now, am I asked to assume? It's not specifically because she's black, but it's because of who she is as a person. - She is an authentic person with credentials, who's talented, who has proven herself. And yes, she's my sister in the sorority. Yes, we're proud of it, what she stands for. She is authentic. She is about business, she's proven. She's traveled over 20 countries. She's in the office now. She's doing work now. She is a heartbeat away now. She's proven herself. She deals with our allies and our enemies internationally. She has that inside knowledge. And she has her own way of doing things. She's not an automatic stance for Biden. She is his vice president. And they are an awesome thing, a great team. But there's a new team that's good for him. - I like him. - Okay, I like him. There's a new team. And Bill Wallace is not standing for it. - I like him. - I like him. He's authentic. He's different. - Right. - Okay, a dad, a coach. And yes, he was in the National Guard and they're trying to make a big thing about him getting out so he could run for Congress. He's already served somebody year and had already indicated that he wanted to run for Congress. And when it became apparent that if he had gone overseas, that would have been an extended leave and he would not be able to run for Congress where he wanted to serve the people, then he got out and look at him. The man is awesome and they make an awesome pair. - It's, and it's my show. I can say who I rock with and who I don't rock with, okay? I respect everybody's ability to be able to choose. I like the excitement. I like what they're bringing with them. - Owning a rental property sounds like a drink, collect a rent and relax. That is until you realize how much work goes into getting it ready. First, you need to conduct market research to understand local rental trends and determine a competitive rent price. Then there's cleaning, staging, repairs, and hiring a professional photographer. Next, develop a marketing strategy, list the property on rental sites and schedule Kelli Showings. Oh, don't forget screen templates for the information. (mumbles) - Whew, sound complicated? Runners warehouse is here to take the hard work off your rental to-do list. Our job is complicated because it should be. We handle everything from marketing and showing your property to screening tenants and preparing the lease. Our best-in-class property management professionals take care of your property as if it were our own, from rent collection to maintenance coordination, all for one flat monthly fee. Go to runnerswarehouse.com for a free rental analysis to find out how much your home can rent for. Or call 303-974-9444 to speak with a rent estate advisor today. Because from now on, the only thing you need on your to-do list is to call runners warehouse. - What's next? At Moss Adams, that question inspires us to help people and their businesses strategically define and claim their future. As one of America's leading accounting, consulting, and wealth management firms, our collaborative approach creates solutions for your unique business needs. We leverage industry-focused insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance. Uncover opportunity and move upward at MossAtoms.com. - Tim, we need someone that hasn't spent all their life up in DC. We need someone that knows that farmers need help. We need someone that knows that women need help, you know? You're putting where you are moved, where the Democratic Party meets. Have you had any problem with people opposing what you're doing? - Hey, I'm not gonna say it's a problem. Okay, I'm not gonna say it's a problem. I respect and I have friends who are Republicans, okay? I respect everybody's right to feel the way they feel, to think the way they feel. I really do. So I'm not gonna come out and be in your face. Like some people have gotten. - Right. - And that's not the way to be. That's not the way to be. There's no question when you look at me and I'm mantra here in Nash County is #UnapologeticallyBlue. So no question. And that's why I had to do my blue hair. There's no question. When you see me, you know which way I rock. You add, my thing is not to persuade anybody. - Right. - No, but if you ask me about something, I will tell you what I know. And then you make up your own mind. I will tell you what I know. Now, I have responsibilities as chair. I have, now, let me tell you about our state chair. This is talking about excitement. - Okay. - Last year we had elected a new state chair. Anderson is the youngest state party chair in the United States. I stay party chair. She just turned 26, I think 26, 27. The youngest, she hit the wave. She hit the national circuit big time. She brings with her, she's a ball of energy. And her, her team that came in are all young for ball of energy. Mixture all the way, we love it. It's contagious. So we had that responsibility. And we're like, okay. So you know I'm a Democrat. Fine. If you want to take me on somewhere and talk about, you know, this, that and the other, I made armor says, if you're gonna talk about karma, I'm saying she was a D.A., a Attorney General, U.S. Senator and Vice President, boom. And has traveled 20 countries and a walk away. - Don't have to, don't have to keep going on. Don't have to keep going. - Her records speak for itself. - Speaks for itself. - It speaks for itself, I don't have to keep going. - Right, right. - You can accept it or not. - Right, wow. I made myself a shirt. A lot of people aren't bold enough to wear my shirts. It says, "Intelligence versus Idiocracy." (laughs) Wait a minute, wait a minute. It says, "Intelligence versus Idiocracy." I'll walk with the one way in the pearls and chucks. - Okay. - I feel like, and it's sad because we are living in a democracy. I feel like, Stacy, if you wear that shirt, you're gonna have to put the use you're gonna feel license and carry. I shouldn't have to feel like that. - No, you shouldn't. - But that's reality though. - This is where we're at now with people being divided and everything almost, people, they're forgetting that. I'm just gonna say, they're following a cult instead of wanting to make this country a good country. It's crazy. - My thought. - I don't think we are divided. I think you're just seeing the real feelings that people have had hid. - Yeah, you know, okay. We always, I mean, nobody has a 100% agreement. - Right. - Nobody. We've never been at a 100% agreement. You're not gonna ever have that. So if you're not gonna ever have a 100% agreement, then how can you say you're divided? Most of the time when we talk about divided in division, we talk about being able to divide into equal parts or, no, everybody has their own opinion and they've always had their own opinion. The only difference now is that people feel free enough that they don't have to wear their hoods. - Right. Because a friend, I worked with, actually he was a state trooper once and we were talking. And I said, you see what's coming out? I said, I didn't know they were still around. He said, Stancy, the hoods never went anywhere. They've been merely sleeping, waiting to be working out and they're up. - Well, I begged to differ. They were never asleep. Maybe just tell you, maybe just tell you. - I can tell you as a retired prosecutor, they were never asleep, friendly. They were never asleep, ever, ever. - Wow, wow. - They just feel now. They've been emboldened to come out and just, hey, they had their freedom and they do. They had their freedom to hate people because of their skin color. They had their freedom to hate women. And Lord help when you have the combination of someone who hates the color and hates women. - That's right. - The racism and sexism are alive today. - Wow. And as we talk about Kamala, I would like to ask you, so when she came running out and so many people went 24 hours, started running to her, Zoom calls, yep. I was on a call. I'm not mad about it. It just made me think about something. So by the time I got on a call, I was told, Stacey, there was like 40,000 black women. - And then we got up to 44. - Dr. Cassandra, 'cause you always keep it real. Why is it that 40,000 black women could gather within 24 hours for Kamala, but they won't gather to support their sisters and brothers that are everyday people. - I, you know me, my thing is in the choice of the words. And I don't like the word won't. - Okay. - Okay. - They don't a lot of times. - I think it depends on how they're brought together. - Okay. - And who brings them together? - Okay. - It's been a long time, and this isn't just with women. It's been a long time for our people since we've had a Martin of the King. - Okay. - Okay. The leaders that we have are getting older. We respect them nonetheless. We all have the right as we get older, they just won't let me do it. To slow down and to kind of back out of some things and just be kind of quiet and enjoy our life. We all would like to try to do that. But in the meantime, it's been few and far between of finding those leaders coming to the national stage. Like we have our national DNC president. He's wonderful. So we have him, Jeffries, we have a lot, but they're in the General Assembly. They're in Congress. So their time may not be as available, but they're loud and they're talking. So we have our leaders. We have female leaders, but they're in the struggle 'cause wherever they are locally, they're in the struggle having to deal with legislatures that aren't passing the right type of stuff or they're in the fight. But we have very few on the national who had a door open that they could come out on the national platform until we had Kamala. And when everybody started galvanizing, I'm seeing names, I'm seeing organizations all that are coming together. Owning a rental property sounds like a dream. Collect a rent and relax. That is until you realize how much work goes into getting it ready. First, you need to conduct market research to understand local rental trends and determine a competitive rent price. Then there's cleaning, staging, repairs, and hiring a professional photographer. Next, develop a marketing strategy. List the property on rental sites. It's gonna kill the showings. Oh, no, three times for the information. Drop the lease on the collection. (mumbling) Sound complicated? Renner's Warehouse is here to take the hard work off your rental to-do list. Our job is complicated because it should be. We handle everything from marketing and showing your property to screening tenants and preparing the lease. Our best-in-class property management professionals take care of your property as if it were our own. From rent collection to maintenance coordination, all for one flat monthly fee. Go to rennerswearhouse.com for a free rental analysis to find out how much your home can rent for. Or call 303-974-9444 to speak with a rent estate advisor today. Because from now on, the only thing you need on your to-do list is to call Renner's Warehouse. What's next? At Moss Adams, that question inspires us to help people and their businesses strategically define and claim their future. As one of America's leading accounting, consulting, and wealth management firms, our collaborative approach creates solutions for your unique business needs. We leverage industry-focused insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance, uncover opportunity, and move upward at mossadams.com. Putting aside the different colors, you know, putting aside what all coming together, which is wonderful. I think what you are seeing now are more ladies, leaders coming forward. I think the movement is there. So you see when with black women is out there, there's a win with black women in almost every state? Yes, yes. Then there's a national win with black women. And I think the movement is there. The sisters are galvanizing together now. And all it took was that opening. Just that opening, that one leader that says, "Hey, here we go. "Here's your opportunity to be heard." So are you saying that because of this, that we could have a better effect in our community, that black women will put together more, or does it have to be a national leader? I think everybody, this is just my personal thing. Okay. I just think we needed a spark. Yes, ma'am. I'm hoping, and don't get me wrong. It's with you. It's exciting to see that, but I'm with you. I'm with you. And I'm saying that as an elder, looking at the younger ones, I mean, I'm 64. And, yeah, I mean, yeah, hey. And hi, I was getting tired, and COVID took a lot from everybody. Nobody really wants to talk about that, but COVID, that whole, that was the first thing in our lifetime, where an entire world was literally shut down, where you had millions of deaths everywhere, okay? Where people had parents go into a hospital, and maybe one came out. Everybody was affected by COVID, one way or the other. That's fear. And it's a whole new mindset now. Okay. It's a whole new mindset. And I think this excitement, people are at that spark inside of people, people are understanding now that it does mean something to get involved. But I tell you what it is causing us to do, and maybe this will help us continue to galvanize and help people out. We are having to educate, okay? We are having to tell people, it's not enough to register to vote. We have people who have gotten the spark, who've never voted. - Wow. - They don't know how to vote. - Wow. - I remember I was telling you about precincts, wards, everybody knows about wards, 'cause city council are divided into wards. Well down here, your county, my county, is divided by precincts. So I've got 24 precincts. And each precinct, each precinct that you're overtaught for? Yeah, each precinct has a polling place. I'm not talking about wards, and my one city right now, they have the seven wards like Petersburg, okay? They have city council, but I'm talking about precincts. So the 70,000 plus registered voters, 'cause it's really like 90 some thousand people in Nash County are in 24. - Wow. Well, and you don't know what a precinct is, and we have early voting. For early voting, we have only four sites. So anybody from any precinct can go to any one of those four sites during early voting. - Okay. - But on election day, you gotta go to your polling place. Well, your polling place is in your precinct. If you don't know your precinct, then you don't know where to vote, 'cause it may not be the same as an early voting site. And early voting site could be a library somewhere. But like we have Nashville, like my city of Rocky Mount is divided into nine precincts. There are nine different polling places in Rocky Mount. - Okay. - Okay. So on election day, you can only vote in your precinct at your precinct polling place. But the rest of my areas are in rural areas. Rocky Mount is the largest municipality for Nash County. Everybody else, there are townships, okay? - Okay. - But those are in precincts. So we had to spend a lot of time telling people about the importance of knowing what your precinct is so you know where to vote if you don't early vote. - Wow. So I see you in the story. You've got your blue hair. You've got your pearls on. You got your blue dress on. And I don't know much about politics. - There you go. - But I see. We've got a statement in the end. - That's right, that's right. - So if I don't know about politics, and I'll walk up to you and I say, obviously you're a Democrat. But why is it that you think I should go blue? - You should go blue because we are about the people. We are inclusive. You can come to anything with Democrats and you're gonna see people of all race color creates. You can, it doesn't matter who you love. You can come on, we accept you. We're not gonna talk about you. We're gonna work with you because as a people, you have the right to be represented. And that's what we are about with the Democrats. We want to go in there and work for the working people, those who are in unions and farmers. We wanna make sure you have better wages. We wanna make sure about public education. And you need to go Democrat because there is something called a Project 2025 and agenda 47. And they want everything their way. They wanna get rid of the Department of Education. Did you know in this big 922 page book, there's an area under the Department of Defense where they want all kids in federally funded schools, in high schools to take the interest exam into the army. - Really? - Yes, page 103. Betterly funded schools. So, who does that leave out private schools? And who do we have to be filled with risking their life for the country? - And also they want to eliminate the Department of Education. Well, the majority of our children are in public schools and need that federal funding, that comes from the Department of Education. Well, Project 2025 was to eliminate that. If you want and you care about the pollution in the air, the water, our climate, you can't deny that we'll have a problems with our climate. Look at the 100 and some degrees that everybody went through. Well, under Project 2025, it would eliminate anything dealing with climate change, anything. Talk about democracy. Remember I said, democracy is for the people. And that's what we believe about in democracy. On December 3rd, 2023, you got a certain person that's running for president now that said on day one, he would be a dictatorship. Well, if you don't know what that means, you got to understand the difference between democracy and dictatorship. The democracy is for the people where you have the right to elect the people to go in and make your laws. The dictatorship is a total opposite. It's one person making all the laws. And that's what he said, day one, he would be a dictator. Who talks that way? Just kind of know about Dr. Cassandra. Oh, yeah. (laughs) Oh, yeah. Does she know who she got on her team? (laughs) Oh, no, a whole lot. No, a whole lot like me. We have that education. Wow, wow. You know, it's been great. It's been great, need to have you one more. I may need you to do your own podcasts. Oh, I'll listen. So God has you in Nash County. God has you doing things that I guess you didn't know you would be doing. And I'm still playing for a choir, so. And you're still playing for the choir. I'm still playing in church. So after Kamala becomes president, will you score, does the party still work? Or do they break? Oh, no. I will. You will. We'll see. Okay, for a month, I will. A little break. Where do you see yourself? 'Cause you've been doing so much. Where do you see yourself in, let's say, three years? Maybe finally taking a vacation I've never had. I've never had a vacation. Never. Nope. I didn't. I got to be honest with you. Until I get something like this happens, you don't realize that they are still people fighting the way they did back in the day when Martin Luther King was born. Yeah. Yeah. And it's many people. And when there's a myth that people don't judge based on your color, your religion, it's a great thing. Yeah. Is there anything that you want to know before we end the show? I do want to emphasize that we talked about this in the very beginning, Stacey, about local government. I do want to emphasize to everybody, my theme down here is bottoms up. Take your ballot, start from the bottom and go up so that you make sure you have covered every office. This election is not just about common. As we said, you got to know that you have the different branches of government. You got to know that commoner in the president or the governor, they are the executive branch. They enforce the laws. But then you have the legislative branch and every seat in Congress is up, every seat. You need to check out who's running for Congress for Senate or for the House, checking your local areas. And then if you're in North Carolina, this is our elected, we have in North Carolina, we have a person running for Supreme Court justice. They are elected down here. We've got court of appeals. So Supreme Court, you got Allison Reeves. We've got a sister that's already on the court of appeals running for re-election, Carolyn Thompson. We have a sister running for state auditor. She's the first black female auditor in the state. You've got to look at this. We've got a sister running for Judge. She's a judge now, Lisa of Florida. You've got to look at your ballot. There are other sisters talking about supporting sisters. There are other sisters running everywhere. So bottoms up. That's what I want to leave you with. Bottoms up. - Bottoms up. - Bottoms up, Andrew. So your email address for people to contact you, this drives you. (laughing) - I can't get rid of it. - Let me make sure I'm seeing this correctly. - I can't get rid of it. - Balsy. Balsy, duh. - Balsy, D.A. - Balsy, look at me being slow. (laughing) - Balsy, it's like that with the lacy plate, Dr. Cassandra. I'm always the last one to get it. - It'll joke, but anyways. Balsy, D.A. It's been nice. - It's been great. And you're doing great, Stacey. I'm proud of you. - Thank you. And you know, you hit me with the rules that even I needed to hear. And I'm learning more and more, and you just, you just wanted it. We have to start at the bar. And you say even between the mayor, there's the city council or the town council, or even school board. - School boards. Okay, school boards. So I do hope that others have learned something from you. - I'm here to educate. - If Kamala should call me this evening, I'd love her to know how well you spoke. (laughing) - Thank you, beautiful. And anyone that wants to know more, they can email you at malsy@aol.com. - Thank you. - I'm wishing you the best. Thank you, bye-bye. - Bye-bye. - Another great interview. Another great guess. I'll leave you with this. Think about what she said. Replay this video. And if there are others that you think don't even have a clue about where we need to start as we fight for what's right, share this video with them. And remember, don't worry too much about yesterday. Don't stress too much about yesterday. Don't worry too much about tomorrow. Because if you do, you just might miss living a day. I am Stacy Thomas. - Owning a rental property sounds like a dream until you realize how much work goes into getting it ready. Determine a competitive rent price, market the property, schedule the showing screen, finance drive up the lease at a rent collection, handle maintenance request, maintain communication. - Whew, sound complicated? Renner's warehouse is here to take the hard work off your rental to-do list. Qualify tenants, check. Rent collection, check. Maintenance coordination, you got it. Go to rennerswearhouse.com for a free rental analysis to find out how much your home can rent for. Or call 303-974-9444. Because from now on, the only thing you need on your to-do list is to call Renner's warehouse. - What's next? At Moss Adams, that question inspires us to help people and their businesses strategically define and claim their future. As one of America's leading accounting, consulting and wealth management firms, our collaborative approach creates solutions for your unique business needs. We leverage industry-focused insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance. Uncover opportunity and move upward at MossAtoms.com.