Hey gang, this is Kai. A few years ago, I reported a story in the Mississippi Delta about a black

family that had owned its land since reconstruction, which is a remarkable fact given how many black

families in that region had their land taken away during the Jim Crow era. I spent some

time in the Delta helping this family learn the history of their land. And in the process, I learned

a ton about the history of economic inequality in this country. Anyway, one of the people I met while

reporting the story has just died. Perlene Lester passed peacefully in her home about two weeks ago

at the age of 93. She made a profound impact on me and on many others in her long fruitful life.

So in her honor, I want to share again the story of her family and of their land. Take a listen.

Financial markets are divorced entirely from the main street reality that's going to hurt small

business mightily over the next many months. The wealth gap is where historic injustice breeds

present suffering. Our relationship to the concept of asset is ownership. We were

owned to make white people money. I worry that our desire to fix the past compromises our ability

to fix the present. Richard Douglas, he says, you cannot capital some without land. Because if you

don't have land, you actually don't have freedom. Whose property is the state protecting and whose

property is it not protected? So we're not talking about Jeff Bezos type of wealth. We're talking about

being able to not only get five, but save and determine your own future.

I met a new friend last fall. Hey, Verneeda. Hey, how are you? I'm woman named Verneeda Blocker.

And the thing about Verneeda is she grew up country. So I don't know if you've ever heard of this,

but you can make snow cranes, snow ice cream. And she told me all these rustic stories about

stuff she did as a kid in Mississippi. Now, how they did it? Don't ask me. I was a little girl

married. Remember it tasted good. You, you could not pay me to eat some ice cream made from snow

that fell from the sky. Anyplace I have ever lived. Kai, you would have eaten this snow ice cream.

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