From Chino Latino to the Middle East: Uptown Love, Global Rage & Two Friends Who Don't Always See Eye to Eye

It started with the return of a beloved Chino Latino restaurant in Washington Heights and ended with two friends in an intense debate about the Middle East, Trump, and the future of America. That's Uptown Voices. That's Black & Blanco.

In this wide-ranging episode, Led Black and Octavio Blanco cover everything happening uptown — from community arts opportunities and free childcare to the upcoming theatrical release of Mad Bills to Pay, the Sundance award-winning film set in the Bronx that Led has been championing since he first saw it at Lincoln Center last year.

Then the conversation turns to the state of the world. Trump's $400 billion defense budget proposal. The war with Iran. The cost of living. The "Great Impoverishment." And a genuinely intense debate between two friends who love each other — and don't always see eye to eye.

This is what honest, unscripted community media looks like. No sugarcoating. Just Uptown.

If this episode resonated with you, please like, subscribe, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. It costs you nothing and it means everything to us. Spread love — it's the Uptown way.

SHOW NOTES
🎙️ Uptown Voices Podcast Instagram: @uptownvoicespodcast YouTube: Search Uptown Voices Podcast or find us on the Uptown Collective page

🎬 Mad Bills to Pay Opening April 17th at Regal Concourse (Bronx) and Film Forum (Downtown) Follow: @madbillstopaymovie on Instagram

🎨 Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (NoMAA) 
Website: nomaanyc.org 
Instagram: @nomaanyc

• Hispanic Society Outdoor Installation — $10,000 honorarium, deadline extended. Now April 6, 11:59 pm. 
• NoMAA Labs Clown Workshop with Edu Diaz — April 21st
• America the Beautiful? — Open call for exhibition submissions, deadline April 26th
• NoMAA Third Annual Benefit Night at the Palace — May 27th
• Uptown Arts Show — June (date TBA)
  
  

🏛️ WaHi Chamber of Commerce Policy Breakfast 

May 7th, 9am–12pm at the Armory Track & Field Center. 

Uptown Voices will be live streaming the event 

Register on instagram: @wahichamber 

Annual Membership: $100/year | 501c3 donations tax deductible

🏫 Free Childcare — NYC 2K Program 

Free childcare for 2-year-olds launching in NYC including Washington Heights & the Bronx Info: NYC.gov/childcare Jingle Contest with Cardi B — submit at NYC.gov/jingle | Hashtag: #NYC2KJingleContest | Deadline: April 13th

🎓 West Harlem Development Corporation — Free Columbia University Space 

Free in-kind space for CB9 nonprofits — first come first serve, opens first Monday of each month Website: WestHarlemDC.org

🌸 Fort Tryon Park — Heather Garden Shearing & Community Parade 

April 11th, 10am–1pm at Margaret Corbin Circle

🏥 Free Mammogram Screenings 

April 23rd, 9am–4:30pm at River Park Towers Community Center, Bronx Courtesy of Senator Robert Jackson & the American Italian Cancer Foundation 📞 212-544-0173 | Bring photo ID (insurance not required)

🎒 Kindergarten Applications 

Offers now available — call 718-935-2009 for info

🎨 Sweet Plantains — Open Call for Original Poster Art 

Film by Anthony Rojas Instagram: @theanthonyrojas

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — Welcome back & Happy Easter/Passover 
01:14 — La Dynastia Chino Latino is back — and why it matters 
05:27 — The cultural legacy of Chino Latino restaurants uptown 
06:30 — Mayor Mamdani, free childcare & the NYC 2K Cardi B jingle contest 
08:37 — Washington Heights & the Bronx included in free 2K pilot program 
09:06 — NoMAA / Hispanic Society outdoor installation
11:07 — Anthony Rojas & Sweet Plantains poster open call 
12:05 — West Harlem DC free Columbia University space for CB9 nonprofits 
13:34 — Fort Tryon Park Heather Garden Shearing & Broadway Beautification 
15:44 — Mad Bills to Pay — April 17th theatrical release 
19:27 — Octavio's take on Mad Bills to Pay 
23:26 — America the Beautiful? NoMAA open call & what it means right now 
25:30 — Subscribe to Uptown Voices on YouTube — almost at 500! 
28:20 — WaHi Chamber of Commerce Policy Breakfast — May 7th 
30:45 — Free mammogram screenings & kindergarten offers 
33:12 — Uptown Voices newsletter revival & something new coming soon 
34:00 — Follow these four accounts for uptown community news 
34:55 — The conversation shifts: Trump, war & the state of the world 
38:14 — "The Great Impoverishment is Real" 
41:45 — Trump's $400 billion defense budget — who does it really serve? 
44:19 — The Middle East, colonial history & the cat's out the bag 
51:53 — Iran, Israel & where Led and Octavio diverge 
1:20:08 — A heated moment — two friends, one real disagreement 
1:22:57 — Spread love, it's the Uptown way

Creators and Guests

Host

Led Black

Host

Octavio Blanco

What is Uptown Voices?

A podcast focused on the Uptown neighborhoods of Inwood, Washington Heights and Harlem. Our neighborhoods have a voice and we want to be heard and felt. We love Uptown.

Each episode will elevate the people here who are making a difference in the life of this community. We’re also committed to “real talk” that seeks solutions that improve the quality of life in our beautiful Uptown neighborhoods.

Led Black (00:00)
What up, what up, what up everyone? It's Led Black and Octavio Blanco for another episode of Uptown Voices, AKA Black and Blanco, live on a Sunday, April, what's today, the fifth? My brother, how you doing, man?

Octavio Blanco (00:15)
Today's the fifth. Yeah, I'm good, man. I'm good. I'm excited about today and good to be here with you, lead. We've we had a little bit of a short hiatus. I want to make sure to say happy Easter and happy Passover to everybody who celebrates. Yeah, it's good to be here. It's a lot happening in the neighborhood. A lot happening in the world and

We're here to discuss it. What about you? You've had a little bit of ⁓ a time away and you're back now. How are you feeling?

Led Black (00:49)
I'm doing good, I'm doing good brother man. Shout out to my sister-in-law, ⁓ Uncle Sandra, we went to see her last week, so we was in North Carolina. And it's funny, whenever I go away, like, those places are dope, but nothing like New York, you know, so it's like.

Octavio Blanco (01:01)
Hehehehehe

Led Black (01:01)
New York City with all its problems

is like, it just stay on your mind, no matter, for me at least, you know what mean? But anyway, we got a lot of to get into, man, brother. Like we got to make sure that we get to a bunch of stuff happening uptown and a lot of arts events, events, cultural events, stuff for the kids. So you want to kick it off, brother?

Octavio Blanco (01:14)
Yeah.

Yeah, well, first of all, I think it's good news that ⁓ I can bring to the community. Last night, I walked back by it just to confirm, ⁓ the La Dynastia Chino Latino restaurant is open. It's been closed for a while. I understand that there might have been some issues in there with the landlord. I don't know exactly what was going on, but it's open. I walked by last night with my wife, Kathy.

Led Black (01:41)
That's great news.

man, that's great news.

Octavio Blanco (01:51)
And it

was bumping in there. know, it's a Chino Latino, for those who don't know, is actually a really interesting New York cultural institution. think it's New York mostly, although I think probably like down in Miami, probably there's some of it too, but it's...

Led Black (02:11)
Yeah, but it's not like New York. It's not like New York.

What's interesting for me, is that like Chino Latino food for me is, and again, for lot of Dominicans from the Heights and Latinos from uptown in the Bronx, Chino Latino food, for me, that's the only time I ever not ate in my house, I was going to a Chino Latino restaurant. What's really interesting is that I didn't have regular Chinese food until much later.

Right? The Chinese restaurants in my neighborhood, yeah, were all Chino Latino restaurants. So they were Chinese people that lived in either Dominican Republic, Peru, somewhere in Latin America.

Octavio Blanco (02:40)
Really?

Usually

Cuba, usually Cuba, they mostly were from Cuba because the communist party has ruled Cuba.

Led Black (02:57)
Well, Cuba, you're right. There were the backbones were from Cuba for

sure, but they were from all over. So, Sarasota and the Bronx, they're Dominican Chinese, you know what mean? And know, and Florian Palio, they're from Peru, you know what I mean? But again, like, Chino Latino food is for me is...

Octavio Blanco (03:14)
Yes, that's right. That's right.

Led Black (03:19)
is like nostalgic, right? That's why I love that food. That's why I was so sad when it closed and I would pass by and I was like, what's going on? So thank you for bringing that good news. I know for me and a lot of people, you know, cause again, they used to be, these restaurants were everywhere back in the days. You know what I mean? They used to, the one my mom used to go to used to be on one of the first between Audubon and St. Nick right across from what used to be the Astral Theater was now like the flea market, whatever that sneaker store thing is. But it used to be there.

Octavio Blanco (03:35)
Yeah.

Led Black (03:48)
There was a bunch of them on Monday first. these Chino Latino restaurants, for the most part, they don't really exist as much. So I'm glad that it's back. I'm going to make sure I'm patronized shortly.

Octavio Blanco (03:59)
Yeah, we gotta patronize that place. Yeah, for me, as somebody who's not from New York and who hasn't been exposed to a lot of the diaspora of Latinos, whether they be Latino-Latino or Chinese-Latino, until I came to New York, ⁓ I was always blown away when there would be a Chinese person behind the counter, and then they come speaking with their Cuban dialect or their Dominican accent.

And for me, that was always like, wow. But you know, the truth of the matter is, you know, we come in all shapes, colors, sizes. It's, we need to get used to that. So it's very good. I'm very happy to see them.

Led Black (04:40)
Yeah. And sometimes, know, like Chinese

tostones, like Chinese tostones are banging, like, you know what mean? The way they do them a little bit different. So that's what I love about the interplay of cultures. And again, for me, it's foundational, right? It's either I ate Dominican food in my house. If we ever went, it was the Chino Latino because my mother could speak to them. She felt comfortable there. You know, it was welcoming and again, so.

Like, that's why I love Flore De Mayo. Carly, that's 72. There used to be a 72nd came back as well like last year. Like for me, whenever I see Chino Latino, man, like that's fond memories and I love that food, man. So shout out to all the people representing Chino Latino food. I think it's one of a kind. And another thing that people don't know is that the Nutcracker comes out of...

Octavio Blanco (05:18)
Yeah.

Led Black (05:27)
Florida Mayo, you know mean? So that's another thing that like, so it's an important, you know, Chino Latino restaurants are important cultural hubs and it's amazing. And when you put it in New York City and in that vibrancy, it's amazing. You know, when you go to Florida Mayo, when you look at the clientele, you know what I mean? There's a lot of people there, like you could just sell it. It's like, it means a lot to them. So shout out to all the Chino Latino restaurants across the city.

Octavio Blanco (05:27)
⁓ that's right. That's right.

That's right. That's right. And, you know, moving on to some more of the community, ⁓ some of the community ⁓ goings on. There's and there's good news from that from that. ⁓ We've got the mayor who Mayor Mondami and his administration has been pushing really, really hard and putting out new opportunities for free childcare.

for two year olds is called the 2k and it's coming to New York City and This week he announced a jingle competition with Cardi B So uptown's uptown zone Cardi B you can if you have a jingle or you want to make a song about ⁓ free childcare and 2k You can submit it at NYC gov

Led Black (06:30)
Yeah, with Cardi B. Yeah, that's pretty cool.

Octavio Blanco (06:48)
forward slash jingle and you can post it on your socials using the hashtag NYC2K jingle contest and submissions close April 13th. This is real and if you win, you'll get to work with Cardi B. So that's kind of cool. And along those lines, there's also a new citywide childcare map and website. So if you're looking for

childcare right now. You know, the mayor made this new map, it's digital. It makes it easy to find childcare options near you. I see.gov of childcare care care care. And you can check and check and check and check there. Yeah, so you know, childcare is so important. So expensive. Let you have three daughters. I don't know how you did it.

when they were growing up, to provide them with the child care that they deserved and that they needed. I mean, they're amazing. They've grown up into being like amazing young adults. So you did a good job there. Whatever it was that you did, you did a good job.

Led Black (08:01)
Well, with the two younger ones, had my mom. So my mom was the daycare. You know what saying? So they would spend, you know, their days with my mom, you know, being extra super Dominican, eating things that, you know, that I probably still won't eat, you know what I mean? Like, but they were there. So I think that helped a lot. You know what I mean? So we, my oldest had to go to daycare.

Octavio Blanco (08:07)
Right.

Hahaha

Led Black (08:20)
That's an arm and a leg, you know what saying? That's an arm and a leg. And now you have free 2K. And again, when people don't realize it's also a pilot program, but Washington Heights and the Bronx are involved. So if you have a two-year-old, you should apply. And I'm not sure if the deadline is missed or not, but I think it's important to look into it.

Octavio Blanco (08:30)
Yeah.

Led Black (08:37)
because that's a big step up, know, childcare is crucial and is necessary. So yeah, for sure. And I want to talk also about Noma. So Noma right now, there's a bunch of stuff happening with Noma, Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance. Of course, you know, we have the Uptown Arts Show in June, but before that, there's a bunch of things happening like right now that I think everyone needs to know about. So right now, Noma and the Hispanic Society at 150 Fifth and Broadway, they put an extension for the out...

Octavio Blanco (08:44)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, go for it.

Led Black (09:06)
the outdoor installation submission. So that's tomorrow. So you have until tomorrow to submit for this. super important. It's a $10,000 honorarium. And you're going to have your artwork there right outside of the Hispanic society and between Boricua College and Audubon Plaza. That's really beautiful. I think for artists, they should also look at that. they're also doing Noma Labs. So Noma Labs is like a regular course where they have either some instructing on different aspects.

doing a clown show, right? So I think his name is Edwin Diaz. He's going to be doing the clown on the 21st, if I'm not mistaken. And I think that's going to be a really important, another great thing that Noma provides. Shout to Noma. Like I said, and we also have a winner for the poster contest. Shout out to Martha Blair.

Octavio Blanco (09:44)
Yeah, yeah.

Led Black (09:54)
who did this incredible piece with a fist in the air. Make sure you check them out. And again, I just want to reiterate, Noma NYC on IG, and always check them out, because they always got important information for the community and opportunities for artists.

Octavio Blanco (10:08)
Yeah, and it's Edu Diaz who's doing the clown class. And he says that the class will be through movement, games, and improvisation. You'll be invited to let go, play, and rediscover your own clown. This class is open to all levels. And the only requirement is the willingness to have fun and share a joyful time together. So yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun. And don't forget the Noma Third Annual Benefit, right? That's coming up.

on May 27th. called Night at the Palace. Check it out at Noma. What is it? NorthernManhattanArtsAlliance.org? Or what's the website for Noma?

Led Black (10:49)
is nomanyc.org.

Octavio Blanco (10:51)
NomaNYC.org. So go to NomaNYC.org and you can check out all those really cool ⁓ upcoming events. And ⁓ more art related events, we've got Anthony Rojas, right? He's a filmmaker here uptown. You're saying that he's got a open call right now for a film that he's producing called Sweet Plantains for Original.

Led Black (11:07)
My brother.

Octavio Blanco (11:21)
So he's looking for people to submit ⁓ art for original posters. And I think his Instagram is at the Anthony Rojas. ⁓ So that's another thing for ⁓ artists uptown.

Led Black (11:32)
Yeah, shout out to Anthony. Anthony, I've been working with Anthony for

Yeah, shout out to my brother Anthony. I've been working with him on so many things. know, he's also part of the nightlife team and we, you know, we work on the festival every year. Super talented young brother. You know, this is, think, his third short film. So I think it's in post-production now, if I'm not mistaken. And they're doing like a really cool like poster contest, you know, for it, which I think is brilliant. And, you know, I think that they might think we're looking like five different winners, I think. So look into it. Shout out to my brother. And then I have to also say to my other client, West Harlem Development Corporation,

Octavio Blanco (12:02)
Yeah.

Led Black (12:05)
they also have something that's expires tomorrow. So every first Monday of the month, West Harlem gets Columbia to give in kind space.

to CB9 residents. if you're CB9, look into this. If you have a nonprofit that screenings events, it's really, some of the stuff is on like at the forum on 125th and Broadway. So it opens up tomorrow, usually around 10 a.m. and it's first come first serve. So if you're in CB9 and you have a nonprofit and you want to get like a really good space for your event, make sure you check them out. That expired, like I said, tomorrow it opens up, but it closes right away. So make sure you look into

Octavio Blanco (12:48)
Yeah, it's first come to first serve. I've got the URL up on the screen. But yeah, go to WestHarlemDC.org and look for the rent a space at Columbia University. ⁓ That's going to be really good for nonprofits in Community Board 9. ⁓ If you're looking for a space.

to have an art show, you're looking for a space to have a screening. Columbia University provides the spaces at no cost. all you need to do is apply. But it is first come first serve, so you got to move on that. ⁓ Now we've got some fun stuff coming up in April at ⁓ Fort Tryon Park. It's the annual shearing of the Heather Garden and Community Parade. That's on April 11th. It's from 10 a.m.

to one, it's at the Heather Garden, which is right at the entrance there at Margaret Corbin Circle. It's a really beautiful garden with lots of awesome flowers. I was there yesterday and the flowers are in bloom. The pinks are like amazing. The yellows, it's like having the sun in your face. It's amazing what they've done with that garden. And ⁓ most of the time with this ⁓ Heather Garden, it's a lot of fun. You get to walk away with

a piece of the Heather garden that you could plant at home. There's usually like bagpipes and a little community parade. It's just a fun thing for people in the community to start doing. And then also related to Fort Tryon is something that I try to do every year. It's volunteering at the Broadway Beautification. This is down at the entrance of Broadway just north.

of that little plaza. ⁓ Basically what the park and the volunteers do is they meet up there at 10 a.m. ⁓ It's on the second and fourth Saturday of each month. And we go through that whole like Broadway ⁓ embankment and clean it up and pull out the non-native species and trim and make it nice.

Led Black (15:04)
It's wonderful.

Octavio Blanco (15:07)
And it's a lot of hard work, but it's a lot. It's really, it's really, ⁓ when you're done with that, you really feel like there's always like a before and after, you know, you look back and you're like, wow, that looks really nice. What we did there. And it's all, all times, all times of people, all types of people. And it's, ⁓ it's, it just makes it nice. And it makes you feel like, like part of the community. And really it does. It is really important when we look back and we see, wow. We made that look good. It's not the.

Led Black (15:18)
We accomplished something.

Octavio Blanco (15:36)
It's not littered anymore. It looks nice. It feels really good. ⁓ Don't forget mad bills to pay. want you to make sure, let to pitch that because tickets are available.

Led Black (15:44)
Yeah, for sure.

Yeah, right now, so, Mad Bills to Pay, it drops April 17th. Right now, we're gonna be in two theaters, the Regal Concourse in the Bronx and Film Forum downtown. And again, this is mad important that we support this film when it comes out. Like those first week numbers are crucial in the long-term longevity of this film. But now, I'm really excited about this film.

We did an event at the United Palace that you came to. Thank you so much for pulling up. And it was great to see that event on that screen, right? At the United Palace on that beautiful screen. Some people that have seen this movie before, this was like the cut that's coming out in theaters. So it's a little different if you've seen it before on the film festival circuit. But it's just a beautiful film and I can't wait for the world to see it. I think everyone that's seen it so far has been blown away.

Octavio Blanco (16:19)
Yeah, man.

Led Black (16:41)
And then I give you, let me just give you a little bit of the lore. I know I repeat myself a lot, you know, I saw this movie last year. Yeah, I saw this movie last year in April, you know, with Calyxto. It was a film festival at Lincoln Center, right?

Octavio Blanco (16:47)
No, you gotta, you gotta.

Led Black (16:57)
And as soon as we finished, I was like, yo, this movie's amazing. I got to hang out with Juan Collado that night. And we were just blown away by the film. I told Calyxto this needs to be opening night for the New York Latino Film Festival. But he's the director of that, right? That's his choice to make. There's other consideration, other bigger studios involved. But luckily, it was opening night. It was our opening night. And I feel like a real attachment to this film. then like,

It's a full circle moment because earlier this year, Nylyf, because Nylyf New York Latino Film Festival is not just a festival, it's also an agency that Calixto runs, you know, and I work on that with him. You know what mean? So we got chosen to, and this is one thing I want to say, Joel, shout out to director Joel Afonso Vargas, right? Because this is something people don't know, but one of the things he had on his contract, right, was, hey, I need a multicultural agency to be part of this rollout.

Right? So if Joelle doesn't do that, we don't get chosen to, you know, help out with this film. So shout out to Joelle for doing that. But, you know, our colleagues don't make that pitch and that pitch hit, you know what I mean? And now a year later from seeing this film, I'm helping to, you know, introduce it to the world as part of the Not If I Just See, right? And it's a film that I love so much. means so much to me, right? So it's like, it's not just a check, right? It's something that I really, really truly love.

And again, I think it's gonna be a game changer. You know, Regal Concourse, we're gonna do really cool events that we're gonna be announcing. So make sure you follow Matt Bills to pay movie on IG. You know, that's like gonna be the central source for really cool stuff. But we're doing some really cool stuff like with the Golden Corral and the Bronx, which is, if you know, you know, you know, so we're doing a lot of really cool stuff. Check out the IG there. We're posting really interesting behind, like, I don't wanna like toot our own horn, but.

I think this movie itself could be film of the year next year, but I also think that what Nilev is doing for this film ⁓ is revolutionary. And I think we're going to see this movie just really, really hit. But again, it's a matter of the people going out support, make sure you get your tickets early. I know as Latinos, as people of color, we could be like, I'll get it later. I'll get a day off. But first of all, could sell out because it's doing really well. But also you should want to push those numbers up.

Like sometimes we forget we have power and we have agency and we can vote with our dollars. So take your dollars, go buy a ticket, go to the Bronx, support the Bronx, support Film Forum. Go ahead my brother.

Octavio Blanco (19:27)
And I just want to...

Yes.

Nah, I was just going to say, you know, having seen the film, you know, I was very like curious about the film, very excited to see the film. And I'm so happy that I did see the film. Thank you for inviting me. I'm glad that I was able to make it. The film is it's really, you know, beyond the fact that it's, you know, Latinos on the screen. And yes, that is amazing. And beyond the fact that it was, you know, this it's an amazing story of how it

of how it was made and how it came to be. But the actual story itself is really, really good. It's a coming of age film ⁓ in a different way. ⁓ Coming of age in a different way, coming of age in the Bronx. From what I can say is that the film was authentic, ⁓ gritty, ⁓ funny, all the things, funny, sad. ⁓ I really am glad that I went to see it.

I do think that it presents ⁓ life ⁓ for a young family in the Bronx in a really, it presents them in an authentic and gritty way, but it doesn't ⁓ get away from showing love, showing humor, and showing some of the realities. So I really do encourage the realities of life in the Bronx and in this country. So I really do encourage people to go check it out.

Led Black (20:55)
Yeah.

Octavio Blanco (20:59)
And yes, support Latino film, but also just it's a damn good film.

Led Black (21:04)
is a damn good film. And the last thing I wanna say about that is also the way it was shot, It's an immersive experience, right? The cameras is basically still, every shot is like that cameras there, it's stationary and the scene revolves around it. Like, I think like 70 % of it was improv, right? They got a beat.

and they had certain lines that they had to say, but everything around there was improvised, right? So it makes for this kind of special moment. And I think I really do think this little film with this little budget could really shake up things. And then I'm really excited. Like it's April 17th, 417.26, 417.26, Matt Bills to pay. So now we're going to switch back to Nomar, because we forgot to mention this before, that Nomar also has an open call right now for it's an exhibition, America the Beautiful.

Octavio Blanco (21:45)
Yes, Ticket? Yeah, yeah, we forgot to mention this one.

Led Black (21:54)
but at end of the beautiful is a question mark, right? And as this country now turned 250 years old with a tyrant at the helm, you know, what does it mean, America the Beautiful? And I think that's a great exhibit. And what's very interesting is being curated by Nnedi Aleo Gutierrez, who's the executive director of Noma. So this is very interesting. And I think it's in keeping with what's happening. It feels very relevant putting just a question mark around it.

You know, and one thing I've always said is that the beauty of American history is its ugliness. And what I meant by that is that, you know, even all the bad things have happened here, the twin genocides, right, of the native and African, right, even after, you know, Jim Crow, know, internment camps for Japanese, every, the dropping of bombs, right, that this country still is special.

Right, and it still is beautiful, even after all that, that even after all that, this happened, you know, that America could elect someone named Barack Hussein Obama. And I'm not talking about Obama right now, because I no longer like Obama, but the fact that this country could do that, you know what I mean? It shows you that there is something here that we're losing now, right? And I think it's excellent. So you have until April 26th to submit. So whatever America, the beautiful question mark means to you.

Octavio Blanco (23:03)
You

Yeah.

Led Black (23:19)
You know, go to nomanyc.org to submit and, you know, make sure you do that. I think that's pretty cool.

Octavio Blanco (23:26)
Yeah, and you know, nothing's black and white, right? So like, every, every country, every, every, every generation, every person has shades of gray and ⁓ America is no different. There's beautiful things about America and there's horrible things about America. America, the beautiful has to have a big question mark behind it because America has not always been beautiful for everyone. Although in America,

somehow by hook or by crook, ⁓ people can make it ⁓ ahead. But what does that even mean to make it ahead? Is it just a monetary thing? So I'm excited about this. If you want to hear Nerea speak about the way that artists represent and how artists are at the vanguard of culture.

⁓ Definitely check out the first episode of Uptown Voices, which is our very first episode. It will bring chills to you hearing Miria talk about how artists are at the vanguard.

Led Black (24:22)
a very first episode.

Octavio Blanco (24:33)
and what it means to be an artist and how Noma is there to support artists. We're going to have them, you know, hopefully on again, ⁓ probably around the time of our one year anniversary, ⁓ which is coming up. But certainly you, if you want to know about Noma and what it stands for and what artists mean for their communities, and in particular, this community, check out episode one of Uptown Voices.

you wherever you listen to or you watch your, your podcasts, we're on YouTube. That's the easiest, but we're on Apple. We're on audible. We're, everywhere that you listen to. We're on, we're on, ⁓ you know, every, every, every platform. So we're everywhere. Check it out. And we're going to be, we're going to keep growing. and before we move on, one thing that we haven't said is please subscribe to this podcast.

Led Black (25:19)
We everywhere, baby. Ubiquity.

That's right.

Octavio Blanco (25:30)
Please subscribe to Uptown Voices on YouTube. ⁓

Led Black (25:31)
Please subscribe.

Octavio Blanco (25:34)
On YouTube we're getting close to 500 ⁓ followers. ⁓ May not seem like a big number for like, but it is a big number for us. And it's a big number for a hyper local podcast to have 500 followers. when we hit 500, we'll have more opportunities to grow. And so if you haven't subscribed yet and you're watching, go to YouTube.

Find Uptown ⁓ Collective and subscribe to Uptown Collective. That's where we publish the Uptown Voices podcast on YouTube, is under the Uptown Collective YouTube page. And there's also not just Uptown Voices, there's a whole bunch of other really cool videos that ⁓ were produced that are living on the Uptown Collective YouTube page, including this podcast. ⁓ moving on, I wanna make sure

that ⁓ if you are, you don't have to have a business, you don't have to be an entrepreneur, but the Washington Heights Chamber of Commerce Policy Breakfast is coming up on May 7th. Now this Policy Breakfast is an opportunity for ⁓ entrepreneurs, businesses, elected officials, nonprofits, and also anybody in the community

to come and to hear about what is, and not just to hear, but to voice what's important. What are the policies that need to be ⁓ pursued by our elected officials? What are the things that this community needs? And when it comes to the Wahee Chamber in particular, it's what do the businesses here need? Businesses in Washington Heights and Inwood and all through uptown.

are in a battle for survival against big chains. We like to see a good mix of mom and pops and national brands, but what's happening is that mom and pops are having so much more difficulty in surviving. So what are the policies, what are the elected officials going to do to help this community, which has been overlooked often in terms of...

⁓ you know, ⁓ helping our, our businesses survive and not just survive, but thrive. So it's going to be this year at the armory track and field center. again, it's may 7th. It's a morning event from 9 a.m. To 12 p.m. ⁓ uptown voices are going to be there. ⁓ you know, we're going to be bringing the event live. So if you can't make it tune into uptown voices on YouTube and on ⁓ Instagram and on Facebook.

We're gonna be live with all the speeches and we're gonna be interviewing some of the people who are attending there to get their thoughts on what's needed in Washington Heights and Inwood and what they're pledging to do. ⁓ If you want to attend in person, go to the Wahee Chamber Instagram, that's at Wahee Chamber. ⁓ That's where you can ⁓ scan a QR code.

and sign in to and sign up for the ⁓ for the for the event. So that's the Wahi Chamber Policy Breakfast. It's an annual breakfast. You can see past events on the Wahi Chamber website, ⁓ but it's important. And I do encourage whether you have a business or not, whether you're planning on maybe becoming an entrepreneur in the future, or maybe you're just concerned about what's happening in your neighborhood and how can people be helping.

local entrepreneurs to survive and thrive here. ⁓

Led Black (29:22)
Yeah, and to that point, I just want to

say sometimes, you know, people get stuck where like, oh, you know, we always could need to have more resources, right? There could always be more programs. But a lot of times we have programs, we have organizations, we have institutions, is that people don't do enough to help out. So make sure you support White Chamber of Commerce, right? These are important institutions doing important work in our community.

Octavio Blanco (29:45)
Yeah, and join it. If you haven't joined, join the chamber. You don't have to be a business. You can be an individual to join the chamber. And it is not expensive. mean, it's relative, I guess. Everything's relative. relative to other organizations, it costs $100 for a year membership to the Wahee Chamber. the Wahee Chamber organizes events.

It organizes not just mixers, which are important, but also educational events and ⁓ the policy breakfast and a bunch of other stuff. ⁓ you know, and if you want to donate to the Wahee Chamber, if you've got money and you want to donate to the Wahee Chamber, the Wahee Chamber is a 501c3 ⁓ organization and any contribution is 100 % tax deductible. So you can join the Wahee Chamber, become

a member or you can contribute and or you can contribute to the Wahi Chamber a 501c3 100 % tax deductible contribution. So that's really, really ⁓ important organization that needs support.

⁓ Moving right along now, I want to thank Robert Jackson ⁓ and his staff. They put out information every week about great events and great things that exist in the community. So make sure that you connect with Robert Jackson and his staff. The state senator is partnering with the American Italian Cancer Foundation to offer no cost mammogram

screenings for eligible women in New York City. That's on April 23rd from 9 to 4 30 p.m. ⁓ That is ⁓ at the ⁓ in the Bronx at the River Park Towers Community Center. ⁓ If you you know if you if you

If this is, if you haven't had a mammogram screening and you need a mammogram screening, ⁓ make sure that you check this out. I'm putting up information on the screen right now. The number to call is 212-544-0173, 212-544-0173 to schedule your appointment. ⁓

Bring a photo ID and an insurance card if you're insured, but you don't need to have insurance to go. definitely call 212-544-0173. Another thing that we want to bring to your attention is that if you have a little one and you've ⁓ applied for kindergarten, the offers are available. So keep an eye open ⁓ on what your kids

where your kid has been accepted to. ⁓ You can also ⁓ call 718-935-2009 in order ⁓ to check out what's available to you and your kids for kindergarten. So there's a whole lot out there going on, Led. ⁓ I think ⁓ we could spend five hours.

Led Black (33:09)
Yep.

Octavio Blanco (33:12)
talking about everything, make sure that you're looking for opportunities. These opportunities are available. We are going to be ⁓ reviving our newsletter. So be on the lookout for that ⁓ coming up. ⁓ Also, we are open for business, right, Lyd? We are going to be approaching our

Led Black (33:28)
Yep.

We're gonna keep

it, we're not gonna say no yet. Let's keep it, we got something that's gonna roll out. No, not yet, not yet. We're gonna roll something out. We're gonna work it in and we're gonna offer a product for community organizations, businesses, but we're not gonna roll it out just yet. How about that?

Octavio Blanco (33:40)
Nothing yet? it? All right, we're going to roll something. Not yet? OK, Roll something out. right. Got you.

All right, so just stay tuned, because we've got a lot of stuff coming up.

Led Black (34:00)
Yeah,

so right now I'm just gonna say you should of course be following Uptown Collective, of course, right? You should also be following Uptown Voices podcast, right? You should be following Noma NYC and you should follow West Harlem underscore DC, right? Cause those four outlets are gonna provide you up to date, timely, relevant, resonant information about things happening in your community.

opportunities, right? And that's the thing is like, we have them, we could always use more, but what we have, we could need to share and support and nourish and make this kind of like, it is an ecosystem already, but we just need to expand the ecosystem to help each other out because community is the only answer, is the only thing we have at the end of the day, especially as we now, you know, I think it's a good segue, right? Cause I just.

for all those people, for all those Latinos, know, they said, how bad could it be? You know, this is where we're at now, right? We're knee deep in a war that we shouldn't be in, right? With the most powerful man on the planet being Donald Trump. You know what mean? So, and...

Octavio Blanco (34:55)
Yeah.

Who doesn't care?

Who doesn't give? Who doesn't care about you? He doesn't care about you.

Led Black (35:20)
He doesn't care about, he doesn't care about anybody, right? Like he, you know, and that's the thing is that it's an embarrassment at this point. The shit that comes out of his mouth has no bearing on reality now. We look worse than ever. And again, we have this madman at the top of the pyramid. You know, you and I talk about this all the time. And again, I still think that, I think overall the situation is much worse than we think, right? I think that the,

The high price of gas right now, I still think it's low, right? I think it's based on faulty premises. The gas should actually be a lot higher because of the amount of peril that we're in as a civilization, as a world body, right? And I think that, again, this is all due to leadership. All these people that thought, it couldn't be that bad. Look where we at. Look where we at.

In the piece that I wrote during the pandemic, said, you know, America can't withstand a second Trump presidency. And I think that rings true. We're a year and change in and look where the fuck we're at. And again, for those, and we talked about this last week about the Overton window, right? But the thing is that I'm starting to believe there's two Overton windows, right? Again, because what you turn on your TV, you're not seeing the truth. You know, I think maybe last week,

The New York Times, some of the stuff kind of showing you some of the damage being done in Israel, some of the damage being done to the bases in the Gulf Arab countries. Like I think it's much worse than people think and it goes back to leadership. And I think that even the notion, like everyone talking about, Democrats are gonna win in the elections in November. You know, I'm thinking there may not be elections, right? I'm thinking this man knows he's gonna lose.

We are already living in a dictatorship, even if everyone doesn't understand that. And that election may not happen. And everything that entails, right, like there's no good options for Trump right now with this war. He could one, say we won and leave, that's fine. But that infrastructure you built for decades and trillions of dollars, that's gonna be gone, right? They're not gonna be accepted no more. America, seems like it's a failing power, so that's hard.

He can't stomach that because of his sociopathic tendencies, right? But then the other thing is that go further, send ground troops. It's only gonna get worse. And it's funny when you see the media, they say like, oh, Iran's getting devastated. It's 36 days now or some shit, right? It's a month in change. And the fact that the United States, the greatest military empire the world has ever known, right? Alongside Israel, tag team.

Octavio Blanco (38:07)
A month, a month, yeah.

Led Black (38:14)
the diabolical duo, they're tag teaming Iran and Iran's still standing. Right? And not just standing, inflicting pain. Like everything is worse off than when Trump started this, right? The straight to hard moves were open until Trump started this, right? Those bases existed until Trump started this. We are way worse off and this could be.

Octavio Blanco (38:26)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Led Black (38:42)
This could end up being, you know, I use the term before, so I'm gonna keep saying, I don't want people to say, they came up with this term. The great impoverishment is real. This is where we're headed. We're getting poorer, every single one of us, because everything is getting more expensive. And Trump has really, you know, done a number on this country, and this thing may not recover.

Octavio Blanco (39:03)
And so let me rewind a little bit because you just hit us with a lot there. And I think everything that you said has to be, you know, ⁓ clarified and analyzed. But it's true what you're saying. Let's just rewind also to the very beginning of what was what was he selling? What was his big deal for the Americans? Right. His big deal was your life is going to be better with me in power.

We are not going to go to ⁓ wars. We are going to be investing in you as a people, know, America first. But if you look at his policy, at his budget, ⁓ that he's, his budget proposals, and you look at where the money that he, where the money is going, that he wants this country to foot the bill on.

it's all going towards defense. He is asking for an additional $400 billion. All almost all of it, all of that is going for defense. And when we look at the rest of the money that he wants to allocate, like for things like the labor department, which is, you know, helping people ⁓ find keep

⁓ and helping ⁓ industry, ⁓ know, that money is going away. ⁓ When he's looking, when we're looking at money for the agriculture department, you know, to help farmers and help ⁓ ranchers and help people to... ⁓

survive in this economy, that money is going away. When we're looking at social security and the health and human services and HUD, that money is going away. The only money that he is asking for increases are for the ⁓ defense, are for ⁓ the justice department, his justice department, which has been completely

Led Black (41:03)
Mm-hmm.

Octavio Blanco (41:17)
corrupted and is now being run by his personal lawyer, right? Like the, you know, he just fired the head of the justice department and now the attorney general is his personal lawyer. So the whole premise for what he was ⁓ running on is now clearly been shown to be.

Led Black (41:19)
Hmm.

Octavio Blanco (41:45)
a farce. It's not about America first, it's about him and his billionaire friends and the military industrial complex and his political international political allies like Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin, who are both ⁓

Led Black (42:05)
I mean, hold on. I

mean, I just think you have to clarify because, you know, they're not both allies. And I think Netanyahu is really more like his boss. And maybe Putin is his boss too. you know, I don't ever, Israel's not an ally, Netanyahu's not an ally. Those are liabilities for the country, for this country. You know, in my opinion.

Octavio Blanco (42:16)
Yeah, true. Yeah, true. Yeah. OK.

Well, the current Israeli government, yes, it is.

Led Black (42:30)
No, no, not the current

government. The state of Israel, the states from beginning to end, has never been an asset. It's been more of a liability for this country. And it's caused more problems in the world than anything else. It's an artificial colonial construction. And if we don't deal with that, if we try to do what the New York Times does, then we're lying and I don't want to take part in taking line.

Octavio Blanco (42:55)
I mean, you got to also you do have to under we have to understand the reality of where it is. And you're and you are correct that the way that the Israel was originally formed, ⁓ you know, after the Second World War was a tremendous, tremendously ⁓ unfair.

And ⁓ it was, ⁓ it shouldn't have gone down that way. I think that the blame also needs to be shared with, ⁓ you know, Britain, which had tremendous control of the region and so basically invented the Middle East as it now stands. ⁓ But you are, you know, I think we need to

be like, I agree with you that there is certainly, ⁓ you know, ⁓ a lot of problems that were ⁓ inflicted on that region and a lot of horrors that we're seeing now being unleashed in its most unvarnished.

unvarnished way. It's a real, it's in front of our eyes. Yeah.

Led Black (44:19)
Yeah, what I'm saying is the cat's out the bag. The cat's out the bag, right?

The whole point was Greater Israel from the beginning, even before it was Greater Israel, right? And, and Netanyahu rolled Trump into this. But I just think when you just focus on Netanyahu, it's his fault. No, it's not. It's the society's fault. It is the creation's fault. And I said this before, like, if it costs so much billions to put this thing together.

And if it caused these people, again, you look at the videos of Israeli soldiers that they posted on their own TikToks and Instagrams of doing heinous things to people, we cannot pretend it's just Netanyahu. It's not just Saint Netanyahu. It's not. is a thing. It's like, we used to be in a, we used to live in a time 10 years ago where you couldn't say anything about the state of Israel. You couldn't say it at any stage.

Right? Because anything you would say will be misconstrued as anti-Semitism. Not that some anti-Semitism, not that it doesn't exist. Of course it does. There are vile anti-Semites all over the world and in governments. That's not what I'm saying. But anytime you spoke any truth about the state of Israel, you will be labeled anti-Semite. We don't live in that world no more. So it's like, why go back to that world? Why keep pretending that it's just now? It's since October 7th, Israel became bad.

That's the problem, they got attacked. Like it's vacuum thinking to think that that's where, like we can't allow the Zionists to tell us when to start thinking about a situation. It didn't start on October 7th, right? The knockback happened in 48, but it goes beyond that, right? It goes like you said with the British in 1917 and the peak Sikos agreement where they gave us and they were gonna create the state for you, right? But it's always been a colonial enterprise from day one.

and it has hardened into an apartheid regime. Just last week, right, they passed a law where they can hang Palestinians, only Palestinians, prisoners, only, only. And if you look at Ben Gavir, he was wearing a noose, a noose, a gold noose, and his whole team was watching a gold noose brooch, right? That's custom, right? And then when the law passed, they popped champagne.

Octavio Blanco (46:30)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Led Black (46:43)
pop champagne like they won a championship. You see what I'm saying? And again, no disrespect to you, my brother, but this thing that we do where when it comes to Israel, they were still hedging out, well, we don't want to talk. I think we need to move on. The world has moved on. The world has moved on. And again, it can no longer be that any criticism of that state is seen as anti-Semitism because it's not true. And it doesn't let us deal with the truth of what America has created. Israel is America's Frankenstein has always been.

And now we're dealing with that Frankenstein rampaging through the region, taking land like white man, right? They are doing this and that's what's happening. And I think any sugarcoating of it, it's just the last few. No, it's from beginning, it has been something that was implanted and has caused all the problem. Iran is not the problem in the Middle East. It's not Iran, guys. It's another country that starts with I. It's also Saudi Arabia. It's also UAE, right? These are also.

Octavio Blanco (47:14)
Yeah.

Led Black (47:41)
artificial creations is also Jordan, right? These are artificial creation. It's not just Israel, but the whole thing that was created by the West, Israel, the Gulf States, Jordan, right? Because basically people don't know this, right? But the Hashemites, right? Which were, they're the original descendants of Mohammed, right? That's the Hashemite line. They were in charge in the region of Saudi Arabia, right? But they got expelled and the British basically put them as...

Octavio Blanco (47:42)
Yeah, well that's, yeah, I mean.

Led Black (48:09)
that each son became one is the king of Iraq. The other one's going to be the king of Syria. The other one king is of Jordan. And the thing is, those got overthrown. The only one that still remains is king of Jordan. And then they put the Saud family in charge of Saudi Arabia. And they basically made a movement with the Wahhabism, the religious extremists. But what I'm saying, none of these things are legitimate. All of these are colonial creations. And what Iran has shown is Iran has upset the whole thing. And again, if America wants to stop,

Octavio Blanco (48:36)
Well, yeah, I mean, I

just want to say, you when you said that Iran is not the problem, I mean, Iran is not the only problem. And there's tons of, and I know that we've talked about this so much about like how Iran became what it is today and what it was and how the United States and Israel, you know, pushed to change it and put in this, ⁓

repressive government. just think that, like, let's take it back to where we started. And we're talking about how much money that this president is asking this country to invest into defense over $400 billion on top of the $1.1 trillion that's already

being invested in into defense. What does that ultimately mean, right? When we look at this at this whole argument in context, what you're describing about the colonial, the way that that region post World War II was essentially rewritten by ⁓ colonial powers. ⁓ That's what we're dealing with right now is that the people there

are not, ⁓ they have never and it seems like will never be okay with those colonial ⁓ lines. And they're just trying and they're now like, what we're seeing now is a whole rewriting, think, of the map in the Middle East, including what you call what they call Greater Israel, and what, you know, whether Iraq,

remains Iraq or whether it becomes fragmented into a bunch of different countries. The amount of money that we are asking to invest into defense only says one thing to me. And that is that we're not leaving that region anytime soon. Any kind of ⁓ promise from this government and from this president that we're going to be leaving soon.

and that it's gonna be a quick ⁓ military action and not a war is complete BS. Because if you look at the amount of money that they're investing, follow the money. If you follow the money, what is that telling you? It's telling you that we're gonna be there fighting this out because we can't be left out of the redrawing of the map, right? We need to be part of that. ⁓ And so ⁓ any hope.

that I think people have of this being a quick resolution. Like you said, any hope that our gas prices are gonna be coming down anytime soon is a false hope. think that the root that what's becoming clearer to me is we've been there for a month and nothing has essentially changed, except for the hostilities between all of the players are becoming more and more hostile.

Led Black (51:53)
Yeah, I agree. Robert Pape, who I've talked about before, he's a professor, just brilliant person, been war gaming this. This, Iran, it's again, and I just have to push back a little bit, right? Like I just think that when you don't put Israel at the center of your analysis, I think you miss a lot. And I think when you look at the Iraq war, that...

and Syria, and you look at Lebanon, and you look at even Libya, right? All these things were done for Israel. And I think that if you don't put that at the center of analysis, we're missing a lot. And I think that ⁓ the world has changed, and we've done all these things too for the benefit of Israel, but it's had a second thing. It actually has made Iran stronger.

Right. And I, and thing I want to go back, cause I know you kind of feel like, ⁓ you want to put blame on Iran. You want to like equate them, but I know I'm going to put everything on Israel. Right. Because that's super important because I think it's central to understanding the world that we live in. Right. And, and Iran, Iran is the aggrieved party. They've had sanctions on those countries forever. Right. They, it's the, it's a conspiracy between America, Israel and the Gulf Arab States.

They've been keeping Iran down with sanctions, with dirty tactics, right? Because Iran is like one of the fourth smartest country in the world. It's full of really good people, right? And I'm not talking about the government. I'm talking about the people. This is the ancient Persian empire. These are brilliant, strategic, smart people. And now they're proving that, right? And I hate to say this, but a good chunk of the world is rooting for Iran because the bad guys here

are America and Israel. And I think we need to really come to terms with that as people living here. And it's America and Israel attacking. It's America and Israel attacking the pristine state that no one wants us, the only democracy in the Middle East. We need to get rid of that. That's not true. That's not true. It's not true. it's not, it's not just Netanyahu.

Octavio Blanco (53:55)
But I honestly, I just, okay.

But here's

the challenge that I'm having with just what you just said. Because I feel like you're creating two different narratives. Because on the one hand, you're saying that Iran is full of good people, which I agree with.

Iran does have a lot of good people. And then you're not actually talking though about the Iranian government, which is repressive and horrible and has been hurting its own people, you know, just regardless of how it came into power. But hold on, on, hold on, hold on. Just wait, wait, wait. No, no, no, no, you got to, no, no, no, no, no, because, no, because

Led Black (54:35)
Mm-hmm.

But hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. out, time out, time out, hold on. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You don't know, hold on. No, time out, time out, time out, time out. I tell you, no, no, hold on. can't just, hold on. You can't just say that. No, hold on,

hold on, please. Let me just, let me finish. You can't just say that.

Octavio Blanco (55:05)
Wait, no, because you

interrupted me though, because you have to, you then say that Israel is a monolith and you're not giving the same kind of like, I guess, description of Israel as a group of people, that Israel is full of good people and that its government is evil.

It's what I that's where I'm where I'm having trouble with what you're saying. That's where I'm where I'm having trouble.

Led Black (55:39)
I know because you

have the myth, this myth of Israel, this good ethical thing that has never been. And of course there's good people in Israel, of course there's good Israelis, but the majority of the people in Israel want Iran devastated. The majority of people in Israel want ⁓ Gaza and gone. You see it on their TV saying, I don't care if you drop a bomb and get rid of every single one, they're all terrorists. That's true. And when you say, I don't want to see it, it's that you're putting blinders on.

Okay. And when I'm saying, you say the, the, hold on, let me finish. Now, let me finish. When you say the regime is oppressive, why? Why? So again, we go back to 53, only a few years after the creation of Israel, you have a democratic, elected leader who says, hey, you know what? You make it too much money of our all. Can we have that back? America and Britain for the benefit of Israel got rid of him and installed the fucking Shah, right? And the Savak.

And they punished those people so brutally that in 79, Dayatollah comes to power. But that's a reaction to this. And you think they're not going to be repressive after everything they've been through? You think they're not going to put a tight lid on everything? Of course they have to. Like, we pretend like the actions are just out of the blue. They're repressive because they're like being repressive because they're stupid mullahs, right? No, they're repressive because you have the greatest empire in the world always fucking with you, trying to take you out.

for the last forever. Again, you realize the diet total came into power in 79, right? And then what happens right after the Iran-Iraq war that America played both sides again, but was mostly on Iraq side. Millions of people died there. All right. That was done on purpose. And then you talk about the sanctions, right? They don't let, they've been holding Iran back like this. Iran has been able to survive. And again, the media tells you Iran is bad. So you think Iran is bad. Israel's good, Iran bad. That's the stupidity.

of our discourse in this country. And we need to move away from that shit because it's hurting us at this point, right? We, again, and not only that, you are missing the point. The whole world is missing, they've gone. Israel is no longer the good boy of the world. It's not true. It's never been true. And we need to get, and it's not just Netanyahu, it's the society as a whole. And again, we're talking about the, right now Iran didn't start this

Octavio Blanco (57:42)
But you're, but you're.

Yeah, I mean, I'm just, I'm just trying to challenge what you're what you're presenting because the the the the that there is plenty of blame to go around to the leadership of both of these nations and that within these nations, there are good people who have been ⁓ maybe bamboozled by their leadership or

because of their own fears, which have been heightened by their leadership. mean, in Iran, a lot of Iranians would love for the Israeli state to be, you know, disappeared as well, right? Like they're not seeking, yeah.

Led Black (58:43)
But I want to say one thing before I, no, I'm gonna let you continue. I just want to say one thing because we're gonna end on IG,

I think pretty soon. So if you want to hit the go to link in bio, go check us out. Cause we're gonna continue this argument. I think it's an important argument. So I'm gonna let you finish, but I just want to tell the people know we're going OT on YouTube. We're going OT on YT. So go into the Uptown Collective ⁓ YouTube channel. We're gonna continue this argument. Not continue my brother, I'm sorry.

Octavio Blanco (58:52)
yeah,

Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ T.

Yeah, yeah. So I'm trying to come to a place of understanding the past and moving forward into the future. And I think it's important. And that's not to say that we're going to give a pass to the horrible precedent that's been created.

Led Black (59:28)
Mm-hmm.

Octavio Blanco (59:41)
⁓ by ⁓ the Israeli government, by the American government, and also by the Iranian regime. ⁓ The fact of the matter is that, yeah, yeah.

Led Black (59:52)
And again, please hold on, hold on, on. See,

that's the right thing I just want to point out to you, right? And I think it is because you come from a journalist background. You refer to Iran as a regime, but Israel's a government. America's a government. You see the language thing that we do? Right? It's a regime. Why is it a regime? It's been fucking powers since 79. Is it a regime at this point? It's not. It's an administration. It's a government.

Octavio Blanco (59:59)
Okay.

Okay.

Yes, that's a good.

Well,

Led Black (1:00:18)
But it's a regime because it's

Octavio Blanco (1:00:19)
well, we could.

Led Black (1:00:20)
Iran and that's how we're supposed to talk about Iran. It's a regime, you see?

Octavio Blanco (1:00:22)
Let, let, all right,

all right, let me, let me then rephrase, okay? Let me rephrase it. So we're not giving a pass to the Israeli regime or the American regime or the Iranian regime. All three are regimes, right? Even though America is a supposed democracy, you could say that it's a regime because if you look at the definition of a regime, it's a system of government that's been in place. ⁓

whether or not it's a Democrat, whether or not we're Democrats or Republicans, our whole system of government is a regime. Same thing with Israel and same thing with Iran. So they're all three regimes and they are all three governments. But you're right. Right. I think that's a good catch. And I'm going to lay down on my sword about that because I think you're right that the

Led Black (1:01:04)
Yeah, but you know, that's not the way they use regime. You know, regime is meant to be otherly, not white. Regime means not white government. That's what it usually means.

Octavio Blanco (1:01:21)
that language is super important. And the fact that I called Iran a regime and I called Israel a government and the United States a government does show a certain amount of bias. And I own that. So I thank you for pointing it out because it's important, right? Like you say, it does create an other. It does put them as an other. But I guess what I'm also trying to ⁓ communicate is that

in all of these three regimes, and including the Saudi Arabian and the Arab states, the Gulf Arab states that are currently in power there, what we have is like an ultra like elite that is manipulating information to create fear within their ⁓ electorate, within their populations. And that these populations have been, you know,

mobilized through fear and through the hatred frankly to view each other, view each other, right? Because

plenty of Iranians view ⁓ Israel don't view Israelis as human beings and plenty of Israelis do not view Palestinians and Iranians as human beings as we've seen from their own, you know, IG accounts. It's horrible what's going on. ⁓ What am I trying to say? I guess what I'm trying to say is that when we stop when we stop looking at

the reality of who's there and what's existing. then we are, it becomes intractable to start talking about what comes next. So like, we can continue to point as to the horrible things that have happened as the reason why things are the way they are today.

Led Black (1:03:07)
Mm-hmm.

Octavio Blanco (1:03:30)
but we also have to, at some point, start to look at ways that we can, you know, move forward. And I think that that happens by viewing and by making a a clear distinction between the rulers of these, of these people and the people like, ⁓ and yeah, go ahead. Go ahead.

Led Black (1:03:55)
All right, let me know when I can answer because I have to, again, that's

nice. That's all beautiful, right? Like it's this kumbaya thing that I get. It's a nice gesture, right? But you're completely, it's again, it's vacuum thinking, completely context thinking, right? The thing is Israel didn't exist till 1948, right? The state of Israel didn't exist till 1948, right? Iran,

is like 6,000 years old, right? Okay? Now you took white, was a small, in 1880s when Zionism was beginning as an actual idea, there was 5 % Jewish people in Palestine, right? And they were part of the community. were part of the, they weren't oppressed. They were part of, they did everything together with the Christian and Muslim brothers and sisters. They were a community, right? They were just like them.

Octavio Blanco (1:04:54)
In Palestine,

you're saying, in Palestine.

Led Black (1:04:55)
in Palestine,

they were ethnically very similar, they were just different religiouses, but it was a beautiful mosaic, 5%. And then you have this movement that says, hey, we're gonna take the people from Eastern Europe. And because the West didn't like Jews anyway, it worked out for them. We'll fund you, we'll fund you going somewhere else and oppressing someone else because we don't like you, we're gonna get rid of you. And then it happened and you had this installation.

on other people's land. Like that's the thing you don't want to actually like come to term with, right? That that was a historic, hold on let me finish, let finish please, please. It's a historic injustice, right? You came and you took and you plundered. It is a modern day colonial project and experiment. And I had said this before, like one of the things that you could see with Israel as a thing, right? Is in certain ways in real time, you can see

Octavio Blanco (1:05:28)
Mm-hmm.

No, I-

Led Black (1:05:54)
what the West was like in the 1880s here, right? When the American state was exterminating the Native American with no, with just full blood, like, just this fever to get rid of these people because you wanted their land. That's what you see happening. But you wanna say, they're the same thing. One is here, they're not. This is a historical injustice that was plopped upon them. And I used to hang while they're there.

Let's just deal with it. You can't get rid of people that are there. But what about the historical injustice that underlay it? And again, what I'm saying to you is the Iranian society is Iranian society. It's been there. The mullahs might be in power, but it's Iranian society. Well, you created Israel. You didn't just fund it with money. You also fund it with programming and indoctrination. Israelis don't see, let me clarify myself. The majority of Israelis do not see

Palestinians as even human beings. And it's been proven. But you don't want to really deal with that. So you go, what are we going to do now? And again, that's not fair. That's not justice. And justice is going to come away either way. And what I'm saying to you is also that if you want to realize that the real anti-Semitic hate is rising for real, you know who was the cause of it? It is the Zionists. It is the actions of Netanyahu, the actions of Zionist Ben-Gavir.

Right? That they're hanging, creating laws that only hang one part of your population. That's racist. Racist. You know what saying? Like there's one party with power and one party that's trying to, like, that's what I just, like, I just want you to, you can't just be like, it's all fair square. It's not.

Octavio Blanco (1:07:35)
Yeah. No, yeah, let me, let me, so,

yeah, no, you're, yeah. Let me, let me know when, when I'm good to, yeah, because you're, you're absolutely right. mean, the, the, you're right about, you're right about the, racism that's being perpetrated. You know, it's, it's certainly, it's, it's, it's, it's awful. And it's, and it's, ⁓

Led Black (1:07:44)
They're They're good.

Octavio Blanco (1:08:05)
But like one of the, and I ask you this, like one of the questions that I have is, and that a lot of people have when this discussion comes into being is, well, we're gonna look at it as the, in the light of the United States, for example, like, ⁓ is it fair then for people to judge Americans?

because of the actions or the wins of President Trump, right? Is that equal? Are we looking at things? Is that a valid, I'm just asking you, that?

Led Black (1:08:39)
But again, but that's like, no, but

your question is, again, your question has no, it's almost nonsensical, I'd say, right? Has nothing to do like with Israel, right? Like, what are we talking about? What I'm saying to you is that, but again, you can't compare America in the same thing. America is a country of.

Octavio Blanco (1:08:59)
Well, because...

Led Black (1:09:04)
300 million, it's full of immigrants. Israel's not that. Israel's an apartheid state. And it's like, you don't wanna deal with what it is. It's an apartheid genocidal ethno state. And that's what it is. And last week, they legalized hanging only some of their populations. It's not the same. So stop, if you're make an analogy, make an analogy that makes sense, because that one doesn't make sense. And it's still trying to run away the Israel, because, but again, the majority of Israel, again,

Octavio Blanco (1:09:17)
What some

Well, some would say that the United

Led Black (1:09:33)
What I want you to understand is the construct that is Israel took billions of American dollars and it also took a mentality, right? You need to have some really powerful cognitive dissonance to exist in Israel because of what was done for that country to exist just 75 years ago. It's recent history, right? It just happened and it continues to happen, right? They just did the genocide two years ago and you're like, what about America? Like, I just don't want to, I'm tired of like.

Octavio Blanco (1:09:35)
What?

Wha-

Led Black (1:09:59)
like pretending that these things didn't, they just did a genocide, they're still ongoing. They just, right? They just attacked Iran. It just happened. So what do we do with that? Like again, what do we do? That's the truth. That's what happened. And instead we wanna pretend Iran's the problem, this person's the, no, there's another country with the, I, that's the problem. But we were never allowed to say it. And now we can say it. And you don't wanna say it. I get it.

Octavio Blanco (1:10:04)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Led Black (1:10:27)
But I just feel like we're somewhere else with it. We really are. I think the country, maybe not the leadership, not the leadership of the Democratic party, not the leadership of the Republican party, they're still beholden because they get checks. But the people are done, are really, really done. And again, we need to get over those myths about Israel being this great, the only democracy, it's not a democracy, it really isn't. It's just because elections alone do not allow a democracy make.

Octavio Blanco (1:10:32)
Yeah, I know.

No, yeah, no.

No, you're absolutely right. I mean, I think we saw when we talk about the Overton window opening and what is ⁓ possible to contemplate, like we just saw like the Brookings Institution, right? Not a extremely, ⁓ you know, left or right wing organization is fairly bipartisan. ⁓ Come out and say that they did an analysis, which is very interesting. And

And they also feel that ⁓ Israel as it exists today politically, ⁓ with the way that people are allowed to vote or not allowed to vote is never going to work. So this two state solution, right, where you have a Palestinian state and an Israeli state isn't going to work. Brookings says it's got to be.

one man, one vote, and everybody needs to be part of the Israeli state. if that were to happen, you know, politically, that would be, number one, a complete change, because there aren't as many Israeli people in Israel as many folks, you know, imagine.

And if you were to give one man one vote, you we would see that the, you know, others in that region would have a much more power than the Israelis. And beyond that one man one vote, I do see what's happening, you know, not just the genocide in Palestine, but also the land grab that is happening unabated by settlers in the West Bank.

And it's true that people in Israel need to open their eyes ⁓ more and be, ⁓ I believe, ⁓ more honest about what's going on and not, like you say, have that cognitive dissonance of ignoring when settlers are ⁓ attacking ⁓ Palestinian. ⁓

people on the West Bank and burning down their homes and pillaging their olive groves and ⁓ scaring them out of their communities. That is happening. And we have people on the land who are showing that happening. And until I think that internal ⁓ apartheid that is currently

part of Israel is dealt with in some way. You're absolutely right that Israel ⁓ is going to be lacking any kind of moral authority to be able to, you know, ⁓ back, ⁓ whether it's a military or political ⁓ activities. And yes, the right wing in Israel is becoming much more empowered. ⁓ And ⁓

Netanyahu has been able to dodge. mean, he's a he's a war criminal and just a ⁓ criminal in general. And he's been able to dodge ⁓ the bullet from I don't want to say it that way. But he's been able to dodge the ⁓ charges. He's been able to dodge the courts. And now he's ⁓ made it made the country ⁓ one that is ⁓ standing behind his

his horrible totalitarian fascist tendencies. I guess what I'm saying is like,

Led Black (1:14:40)
I mean, I want to say a thing. Go ahead, I'm sorry.

Octavio Blanco (1:14:46)
⁓ I'm an agreement with you that we cannot look away from the atrocities. We cannot look away from the genocide. We cannot look away from the bombing of Iran. ⁓ And we cannot give the Israeli government and I guess Israeli society a pass either until it

deals with this cognitive dissonance of having created an apartheid state where one group of people have less rights than another group of people. Until that is resolved, I think that the world is saying, well, we're not going to stand for it.

Led Black (1:15:43)
I mean, the only thing I just, can I get in? wanna go ahead.

Octavio Blanco (1:15:43)
I will say, and I just will just and I'll just finish. I'll

just finish here. Sorry, my my way of speaking, I do pause a lot. So I apologize for that. But but I will say to fit to conclude is that there is an argument and I maybe want you to react to this in terms of why is Israel such a hyper focus?

for ⁓ the United Nations and others when there's plenty of horrible ⁓ governments and regimes all over the world doing awful things that you don't really hear about so much, like South Sudan or the Somaliens. OK.

Led Black (1:16:29)
Easy answer, easy answer, easy answer,

when you say that, mean?

Octavio Blanco (1:16:32)
No, yeah, you're

Hahaha

Yeah, no, you're right. I wasn't asking you that as a spokesman for Israel. I don't wear that badge. I appreciate how it comes off that way. I mean, think that your rebuttal is on point. I think that the fact that we do fund Israel with so many billions

Led Black (1:16:40)
Yeah.

Octavio Blanco (1:17:01)
and have funded Israel for so long with so many billions, unquestioningly, irrespective of party.

Led Black (1:17:06)
Irrespective of party, irrespective of party, right? The only thing that the

Octavio Blanco (1:17:11)
Yeah, unquestioningly, that's the part that is ⁓ so frustrating to me, that it's unquestioningly. ⁓

I would be much bigger a supporter of, I guess, Israel if I felt that Israel was ⁓ acting in a fair way with its Palestinian inhabitants ⁓ and not creating a two-tiered ⁓ system. think that's a...

that's problematic, right? ⁓ When they don't, when they, it's, it's, it's, it's, yeah, it's, and the United States keeps sending money unquestioningly so that Israelis can, can supplement their, their educational system, their social, their social services. Meanwhile, where we are in the United States, we don't get any of that stuff. We don't get, we don't get to have that.

Led Black (1:18:16)
And I think that we need to finally

Octavio Blanco (1:18:19)
Yeah, but I mean, I also I still when we're talking about Israel, you know, isn't it more clear to talk about Israeli government versus Israel? Because when you talk about Israel, you're lumping a whole group of people in is the same thing as if we're talking about Iran versus like the Iranian government or Saudi Arabia versus the Saudi Arabian government.

Led Black (1:18:44)
It's not the same thing.

me, let me point this out. Hold on, me finish. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.

Octavio Blanco (1:18:46)
But they is, who's the they?

Led Black (1:18:51)
do the mapping.

Octavio Blanco (1:18:53)
No, yeah, I mean, mean, part of what I'm trying to do by asking you these these questions, though, is ⁓ get get a deeper understanding of your position. And also, Really try to.

Led Black (1:19:11)
Mm-hmm.

Octavio Blanco (1:19:20)
counter the complaint that some people might have, that people do have, that by stating these facts, we are, you and I,

are number one, ⁓ creating ⁓ a more dangerous environment for Jewish people. And number two, that we are ⁓ being anti-Semitic, which I think, you know, it feels like that's the mechanism. ⁓

to ⁓ try and shut down ⁓ conversation. So I want to keep the conversation going.

Led Black (1:20:08)
So, why,

that word has been used as a

Octavio Blanco (1:20:09)
That is the problem.

Led Black (1:20:10)
saying, hey, Israel's doing something bad and

Octavio Blanco (1:20:10)
Mm-hmm. Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Led Black (1:20:13)
it's like, that's what

Octavio Blanco (1:20:13)
Well, certainly, yeah.

Right.

Led Black (1:20:16)
This doesn't benefit.

Octavio Blanco (1:20:15)
And because

Trump is such an idiot, right? It's one thing if Israel had unilaterally attacked Iran and we'd been like, well, yeah, good luck with that. ⁓ Instead, we decided that we needed to get in there before they did that so that we could exert our dominance.

you know, mark our territory like a dog pissing on a tree on the corner. You know, it's pure idiocy.

Led Black (1:20:43)
Yeah, but that's what I'm saying. All the American

then you

Octavio Blanco (1:20:46)
Yeah.

Led Black (1:20:46)
is what I where everything gets turned off, work from home. That's all coming here.

Octavio Blanco (1:20:46)
Yeah.

yeah. only work from

home is, yeah. Yeah, that's gonna be coming here.

Led Black (1:20:55)
Yeah. And it's all because of Israel.

Octavio Blanco (1:20:57)
Yeah.

Led Black (1:20:58)
or

Octavio Blanco (1:20:58)
Yeah.

And don't forget, you are from uptown, and so you have a certain way of speaking. You have a tone. I think that, again, I think people might misconstrue passion for something else. people are not used to, yeah, exactly, well, that's the problem. People need to accept and be ready to have...

Led Black (1:21:17)
That's their problem.

Octavio Blanco (1:21:28)
honest conversations about what's happening. But it's not, I don't think that people are ready to have real honest conversations about what's happening. People are really deeply entrenched. ⁓ But also, you know, people need to understand that what's coming from from you and what's coming from me is not coming from a place of,

of anger or well maybe anger yes but not of like hate of of of Jewish people ⁓ it's it's it's quite i think i it's the opposite yeah but it's

Led Black (1:21:59)
Of course. mean, it's even stupid that we got to even say that, but you're right. Of course not. It's ⁓ a

Octavio Blanco (1:22:04)
Right.

Led Black (1:22:04)
But Like this.

Octavio Blanco (1:22:04)
Yeah.

Yeah. And I would at this

point, at this point, at this point, I wouldn't say it's the opposite. would at this point, I would say it's a both it's an issue on both sides. Both sides hate each other. Both sides are teaching their children to hate one another from a young age. And and yes, you know, it comes from from something but both.

Led Black (1:22:23)
I reject that. I reject that.

You have no proof of that. You have no proof of that. No, you have no proof of that. No, you have no proof.

Octavio Blanco (1:22:25)
I'll tell I'll just say well I'll just I will

just say this my proof is that if I if if I were bombed the way that I was bombed by the Israelis like Israel is not engendering any love for for its own country

Led Black (1:22:29)
You have no proof of that. You have no proof of that. No, there's no proof. You've heard it before.

That's different than what you said though. That's

And you have no proof of that. And there's a difference between.

Octavio Blanco (1:22:46)
I'm saying that if anything, it's

happening now. If anything, it's happening now. Well, that's what I said.

Led Black (1:22:51)
But that's different. That's not what you said. That's not what you said. And

it's a problem.

Octavio Blanco (1:22:55)
Yeah

Well,

Led Black (1:22:57)
And again, there's a different reason, hey, that

Octavio Blanco (1:22:58)
well, we're to have to we're going to.

Led Black (1:22:59)
Look at it. Yes, sir.

Octavio Blanco (1:23:00)
Led, we're gonna have

to leave it at that, unfortunately. I gotta run, I gotta go. I know you wanna keep arguing. I wanna keep arguing you, but I physically can't at this moment. All right. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. All right, peace out. Bye.

Led Black (1:23:05)
Why? I want to keep arguing.

You got it, brother. We'll talk soon. Spread love as the uptown ways. Argument among friends.

All right, y'all, bye.