>> Hello and thanks for joining us on Chicago tonight.

Black voices.

I'm Brandis Friedman.

Here's what we're looking at.

What you should know about the Trump administration's crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

>> The feeling that I get when I'm living in my own here, it does have a different breath at do have a different law.

And we sat down with actress Kiki Palmer to talk about natural here joining new hit movie and her fate spots in Chicago.

>> And now to some of today's top stories.

Mayor Brandon Johnson is accepting an invitation to testify before Congress about Chicago's status as a sanctuary city.

The invitation comes from James Comer, Republican congressman and chair of the House Oversight Committee also requested all documents and commute mutations related to Chicago's sanctuary status, including those between each city as well as non-governmental organizations and state officials.

Johnson has repeatedly said Chicago will remain a welcoming city.

He'll appear March 5th alongside the Democratic mayors of Boston, Denver and New York City.

Aggressive breaking and slippery conditions were the cause of the 2023 collision on the CTA yellow line that injured dozens that's according to a new report by the National Transportation Safety Board.

While the train operator was found to have alcohol in his system at the time of the incident, the board determined it was, quote, unlikely to have contributed.

Instead, the NTSB pointed to aggressive breaking that resulted in we'll slide eta's decision to disable an automatic track break feature and the presence of leaves ended organic Joe like substance on the rails, making conditions more slippery.

According to the report, 16 people were hospitalized, treated and released while 3 were critically injured.

The CTA estimates the collision resulted in about 8.7 million dollars in damages.

Relatives of children in foster care will soon be able to get more financial support in navigate a more flexible custody process.

Governor JB Pritzker signed the kind act into law earlier today in Springfield, the legislation allows family members to get the same monetary support has licensed foster caregivers, the State Department of Children and Family Services will also work to create less burdensome regulations for relatives who step in and become certified.

Advocates say it can first approach when placing children leads to better social behavioral, mental health and educational outcomes.

>> To take care, additional children.

And we need this financial support to do so.

But the past and at.

As it changes in prioritizes campfires approach for asked 8, it would make a significant difference for kinship caregivers like myself.

>> search is underway for a new leader at Adler Planetarium.

Michelle Larson is stepping down as president in CEO after more than a decade on the job to become the president of Clarkson University in upstate New York, the board's chair, Kesha Steelman, says, quote, through Larson's leadership, we've assembled an exceptional senior management team strength and the organization's financial and operational capabilities and established a durable foundation for future success.

Chief financial officer are just Wong will serve as interim CEO.

Up next, inside efforts to undermine and eliminate diversity programs.

That's right.

After this.

>> Chicago tonight like is made possible in part by the support of these.

Don't use.

>> President Trump's move to do away with diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the federal government has also made waves in the public and private sector companies like Walmart Target and McDonald's recently moved to abandon their dei initiatives.

Backers of Trump's decision say these practices were discriminatory and promoted inequity.

But advocates argue social equity initiatives are essential to create a fair and balanced society here with more on dei initiatives are Xavier rainy, CEO of Justice informed social impacts consulting firm and on Zoom, Jacob, Hubert president of the Liberty Justice Center.

Gentlemen, thank you for joining us.

Welcome back.

this is a viewer.

Want to start with you.

What is the historical significance was the context behind dei?

>> The eye was created as a program shortly after the civil rights movement and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, of course, we created legislative environment where we said that America was equal and then all person should be treated equally without discrimination with regard certain protect identities.

However, that doesn't mean that the social application of that was just going to happen.

So diversity, equity inclusion programs were created to start both incentivize but also hold accountable institutions, communities and individuals that didn't comply with that law.

And so that was sort of the dawn of the eye where it's gone since then is a bit further.

I'm sure we'll get into that.

Absolutely.

What are what are some of the misconceptions of dei today?

One?

I think it's a one of the great misconceptions is that it's trying to get on qualified people in when the reality is we're trying to get an qualified people out.

The eye is not about trying to get unqualified people of color in 2 high ranking roles and get women into jobs that they don't haven't worked for in these sorts of things that actually to say that America's never a competitive employment marketplace when you suppress labor and you don't allow for women to enter into the work workplace and you don't have data that shows whether there's a racialized effect and hiring practices for law firms, for instance, eventually you have to ask yourself, why aren't there more black lawyers?

Why aren't there more women doctors?

Why aren't there Indian folks working in some of these copies what's going on here?

There's a reason for that and de-icing operatives to level that playing field.

>> Jacob, Hubert, you know, given the history of race and or and gender discrimination in this country, why wouldn't dei help move equity forward?

>> What we have the Constitution that requires the government to treat everybody equally regardless of their race.

We have laws that prohibit race discrimination and we have plenty of lawyers who are willing to go to bat for people who've been discriminated against based on their race.

And that's all very good.

But we're talking about with these programs that President Trump sought to eliminate our programs that promote people or give people positions based on their race or their repair, a touristic like that rather than on their qualifications for the job.

And so what I think President Trump is saying what a lot of people believe right now is that we should get all kinds of racial discrimination out of our government, whether any kind of racial preference, this treat people as individuals hire people who are qualified and if there is invidious discrimination going on in any direction, get rid of that discrimination.

>> Do you think that just simply being more mindful of the barriers that history has a record for some folks in this country?

Do you think that that is a form of discrimination?

>> I don't think are really talking about anybody being mindful here.

What we're talking about and what the president got rid of our programs that actually make decisions about who will be hired, who will be promoted and that sort of thing based on race, characteristics like that.

You know, people want to tell you you don't want to teach children about slavery.

You don't want to teach military kid.

That's about the Tuskegee Airman.

That's not what this is about.

That's a total strong and the people bring up to cover the fact that we're really talking about is getting rid of discrimination, treating everybody as equal individuals in judging them and giving them positions and pay based on their mayor.

That's all this is actually about.

And I think people are tired of the kind of racial division.

The proponents of these programs so often stow to try to tell some people their victims and other people, oppressors and set them against one another.

You know, racial conflict.

Unfortunately, people feel it has increased in recent years because there are so many to term and to stoke this conflict and profit from every sign and what I think this push against Dei is really about is saying no to get race.

Forget all of that.

Let's go back to treating each other as equal individuals.

>> I want to hear a clip of briefly from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

She's discussing the removal of funding to dei programs.

>> It is the responsibility of this president and this administration to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars.

That is something that President Trump campaigned on.

That's why he is launched Doge's the Department of Government Efficiency who is working alongside O and B and that's be sent out this memo last night because the president signed an executive order indeed to do just this.

And the reason for this is to ensure that every penny that is going out the door is not conflicting with the executive orders and actions that this president has taken.

So what does this pause mean?

It means no more funding for illegal dei programs.

>> Illegal dei programs.

Jacob, a are D I programs illegal.

>> Yes.

If they giving people of benefits, privileges, jobs promotions based on race or 6, the law makes that illegal across the board doesn't say you can't discriminate against this race.

You can't discriminate against in favor of that race.

The law demands that the government especially treat everybody equally.

And so if you have programs that are doing that, yes, they are illegal.

If it's the government doing it, they violate the Constitution.

>> Okay.

So while we're on it, let's let's talk a little bit about private companies because the executive order from the White House focused on Funding dei programs at a federal level.

But we're also seeing private companies, Walmart, target McDonald's.

They're also abandoning their dei initiatives.

Xavier, want to come to you first.

Why do you think that is?

>> Well, partly because I think they believe things that like what Mister Huber just said, they think the dei is about creating these check boxes and giving unqualified people jobs.

They think the dei is about training people to hate.

And the reality is that most people don't even know how to love what we're teaching them.

This is how to include persons that they most likely don't live around.

The reality is most white Americans do not live around an African-American.

Most African-Americans don't live around persons who are of Indian descent.

We are segregated Cup country and in order to actually create a space that is equal and we come into an integrated space such as the workplace and the workplace is the most integrated space for the majority of Americans, not their homes.

Then we have to do the work of understanding how to teach them to do the work of integration, to live up to those values that the Constitution says, which is that we are not only all created equal, but we are to be treated equally.

We're not training people.

We're teaching people to hate.

We're not using race as a straw man.

What we're doing is letting people know that you don't know what races and how it's affected people.

I would challenge Jacob to consider.

Why is it that there are less than 5% of the partners and major law firms across the United States who are African-American.

And while the majority of the white man, why is it that 91% of all venture capital dollars go to white male businesses?

Yeah, we have white men in Texas going to the Supreme Court saying that small business grants to women of color is somehow unconstitutional because they can apply for that one.

91 1% of the money goes the white men, but they'll shut down all the apparatus.

As for getting data about the why things like the E E O C things like Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Those shut those down like President Trump is doing right now to ensure we can't measure just how unequal it is and then say the counting inequality is a form of in justice and creating programs to address.

It is a form discrimination.

this it.

So the president he to he brought up dei in the face of tragedy just last week.

Let's take a listen.

>> Faa is diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities.

That is amazing.

And theirs is FAA people with severe disabilities, the most.

Underrepresented segment of the workforce and they want to mend and they want them.

They can be air traffic controllers.

I don't think so.

>> Jacob, is there a danger in baselessly, faulting dei for failure like this?

>> Yeah, I don't know.

You where the president gets his notions about this.

I don't too much about that specific situation.

But, you know, the question was raised will why are you know, only 5% of law firm partners, if that's the case of the people of color, whatever the statistic won't say, if you if you wonder why certain demographic groups are underperforming, let's look at the schools that we force them to attend.

Look at the Chicago Public schools that have been failing minority children for decades and look at the people in this country.

Don't want those families to have a choice.

Wouldn't you know it?

It's the same public sector unions and other interest groups that pushed I think these people, if they're really concerned about this sort of thing, should take a look at why people lack opportunities.

It's because they like educational choice.

It's because they have a government that puts up barriers to entrepreneurship that make it difficult for people succeed.

It's about people who profit off of keeping people dependent and in bad schools.

If you're not talking about that.

And I question very much whether someone is really about the success of every or if someone is about profiting from racial division.

>> Okay.

I I wish we could talk about this a whole lot more because I know that both of you have a lot of thoughts and a lot more to add.

I'm sure it is a conversation that will have to keep having until then they had is where we're going to have to leave it as a rainy.

And Jacob fewer thanks you both for joining us.

>> Thank you.

Thank you, Dennis.

Up next, one on one with the one and only Kiki Palmer.

Stay with Actress singer, author podcaster and everybody's best friend Kiki Palmer is having a moment.

She's been a mainstay on our screens and she was a kid in movies like Akeelah and the Bee.

But we've also seen her more mature projects like Jordan Peele's film, Nope and hosting the red carpet at the Met Gala the Chicago area native is in town this week to celebrate natural hair and Black History Month at the Dusable Black History Museum.

She's also fresh off the release of her latest film.

One of them days.

>> And sorry and some get it.

I swear to God.

I wasn't.

>> because actually on time I got off at 7.

I've got 2 good so well.

And I've still got you in >> Will been a them as eyes that yes.

And I really should have done it because you go more of the bad billing with a win on the fine to kids is that they got in on strains that have to do with your stomach.

This is not heals, all things.

Girl.

You lead to something little did.

include >> We're working on one of the day is for.

>> About 6 years East tonight, Sareeta Singleton hole who are 18 and Sony obviously.

So to get to that point in and feel proud at the E which we all did for the work that we did, but then didn't know that other people enjoyed I think that's the best feeling ever.

That's what you would hope to happen.

And that's what happened for This movie gets talked about a lot, as you know, sort of a black female lead buddy comedy.

How do you see bill?

What do you think it looks with the story was to take away?

Well, I mean, I definitely would not take away the fact that is a black female lead buddy comedy.

I have have pride in that.

Also think it's little bit about friendship about community in the movie hits and a lot of important take a stand also poverty credit hold you back.

But at the core of it, it's about the fact that in life wherever you are, these things are going to happen and it's have by your helps to get you through.

And I think that that's like really important to remember, especially in times like this.

for me as an artist, it's telling that story with cop comedy span is always to be the best medicine.

It's been likened to female Friday or compared to baps years ago or girls trip right?

>> Why do you think there are not comedies like this one?

>> I mean, that such to so many reasons as to why they could think the main one is a lot of times.

The people that would write them aren't even close enough to the stove for to catch fire economy.

So it's like getting the right people in the rooms at the right time.

That's the excitement around people like Issa, Rae or cuenta Brunson on Jordan Peele is once people do breakthrough like they have, they can then usher in some of these projects like, you know, I don't know that people would know who Surrey to Singleton was unless it was the they could identify and say, hey, this guy's there's a world for this and the great the crazy thing about it is that people want to see world outside their own.

You know, we want to go we see some different where every all this person's a spaceship, you know, make or are you know, this is Ashley Honor.

This is a swimmer and so have we did lean more if we could get more people to be able to get the stories into the right hands.

I think they would have the same success.

The film also shows some love to the city of La at a time when the city can use its.

Do you ever see yourself doing any sort of similar Chicago productions that sort of give Chicago the same?

Lovely not go up 11.

John Hughes, you know, in loving those films which obviously take place in Chicago Illinois.

And so I would love to do that.

It will be an honor is so funny.

I don't think ever actually >> played a character this in Chicago, which is at the like have a very Chicago's sounding voice to think it's crazy that yet, but I would love to.

>> One of the places around spotty love to hit up when you're in town.

>> Okay.

Whenever I'm here are my favorites.

But was always going to my parents house, you know, it is not my parents house that I'm definitely going cause family all the family stats.

I lavillenie.

It's like I fit one of my favorite restaurants here just because the food is so unique, you know, and then you always going to be good with Patel or Harold.

Any of that, it's, you know, this is a classic things I feel like I don't even need to say.

>> in just walk around the shops, like I always say, growing up in the south suburbs, I didn't get to go to the city a lot.

>> So when I finally start going to city as a teenager, I was like, when I'm in Chicago, Israeli fire like I didn't realize that this city like New never heard of our way.

>> So you grew up obviously in the spotlight as a childhood actor.

And you're look has evolved through the years and now you are a brand ambassador for Creme of Nature.

Obviously what would you say?

Your hair journey has been like.

>> Manly attorney has been intense, obviously growing up in Illinois, going to private school.

It was like straight here and what it needed to be.

And I think it created a weird relationship with my here over time.

So when I was about 23, 24 I may be 23.

I cut it all off.

Shave it all off and started from the top and really started to have more personal relationship with my here and remembering what it was like to do things with it, you know, and not just not care about what I'm doing to the we've ordered.

We which still live But it's different when you start knowing that, oh, wait a minute.

This is a ride.

Sit on the does, you know, lack creme of nature.

Moisture shy fo most.

You know what I mean?

Or micro activator green and I put this in here and you can give me something different in knew that.

But that was even I think it was curry I do as a re imagine.

But it was kind of like a love story coming back again for me.

I hear from my journey and really figuring out all the different styles and I could do with Sounds like a reclamation.

Yes, I would say reclamation is a great word choice.

Thank you very much.

I do words sometimes.

Yeah, but it's empowering when you can know what to do with your it.

And when you have products that allow you to have the freedom.

>> To try new things.

I think we forget that.

That's a part of that.

That's a part of the relationship with ourselves.

It we gotta keep feeding.

>> He said obviously you live for, you know, the But you were here natural in open.

You are a little hesitant about doing that at the time.

And then there's there's sort of like the spotlight of the drama in one of them days about black women getting their hair braided and sometimes it can take a little while what is it like the wearing your national here going to publicly?

Because some people are it is protective, right?

Like it is.

I think because of obviously, you know, the elephant in the room is assimilation, right?

You're costly toll with the standard of beauty is and it doesn't include natural.

Kiki coyly here, which is again, why one creme of nature brought me on as a chief brand officer.

That was my main thing because a lot of times your natural hair is was suddenly deemed is.

>> Not in knot modern old-school.

That's because in the 70's that's when you mostly seen it.

So that has to now be re.

Imagine the today by would you say reclamation reclaiming that this is court to the Crown Act.

This is here.

That's appropriate for it.

This is here.

That's a pro Fiona fashion show.

This is here.

That's appropriate on a celebrity or a star whoever.

Whatever you think, you know, the people that you see on TV.

And so that to me has been biggest thing that I've been excited to do.

>> You know, this position of being and officers simply existing in my natural form and then of course, saying, hey, these are some products that can help you.

>> You know journey, whether you want to do the curly coils and you want to do you sing a coil, get you to Crow activate if you want to the foam most in the style in China.

Leave in conditioner.

Hit yourself up with little rots.

It.

There's something there for everybody.

But get into that journey because, well, yes, I'm gonna always live full weekend, but always live full leave the feeling that I get when I'm living in my own here, it does have a different breath at do have a different look.

>> You also released a book late last year.

on that thing.

Yes, congratulations.

Adding away.

was the called the book.

What You know, what would you say is is your message with that book?

What do you want folks to take away from it?

>> I think the main thing that I think I realized that 10 year difference from the first Buckeye Road.

I don't belong to you was that I realize, oh, wait a minute, lives never going to be perfect is not about trying to control circumstances outside of myself.

It's about just controlling me.

You know, in making sure that I am.

>> You know that open to the changes in in in knowing that it's OK to pivot and that I'm going to make mistakes, bomb want to learn from them.

So just having more of kindness to yourself.

You know, Santa me self mastery is about.

Understanding that you can't control life changes, but that is going to be okay.

And they you you're going to learn and have the things you need to be able to get through and get tested.

What's next Kiki Palmer?

You're doing a lot all the What what do know?

I would hope you know, I you know, really having a lot of fun as chief brand officer commit nature.

I love the opportunity.

I get to also, you know, encourage of the young women to reclaim their hair actually have really great products that allow them to do that.

I'm looking forward to all those ways and the community aspect.

I think that's the big thing, right?

Is Black History Month.

We have everybody out here tonight.

I'm excited to go through all the history of hair.

You crude nature.

Start in 1976, honey, we have a lot of here history to get into so excited to explore that tonight.

And then outside of that, you know, yeah, like community with key TV, my network, I'm excited, too.

And you inspire, encourage and help financially.

Other artists out there and people in general that want to get in the industry, whether you would cinematographer, oh, you're a writer.

You want to be a producer.

You know, for me, the big thing with my brain merch brand is that it should extend outside of myself.

You know, I love performing.

I'm always gonna perform.

It's a great thing.

But I would also like to extend with that brand means 2 others, you know, in a way that feels tangible, so uplifting others next on your list.

And all right, congratulations keeping over.

Thank you so much.

Good to me.

Thank you.

Can lead to wars.

>> And the film one of them days starring Kiki Pomeranz is in theaters right now.

>> And that's our show for this Wednesday night.

Stay connected with our reporters and what they're working on by following us on Instagram at W T Tw Chicago and join us tomorrow night at 5.30, and a special time at 10, 30 President Trump pauses his plan for hiking tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico.

A look at the potential impact if he follows through.

Now for all of us here in Chicago tonight, black voices, I'm Brandis Friedman, thank you for watching.

Stay healthy and safe and have a good thing.

>> Closed captioning is by Robert and Clifford law she Congo, personal injury and wrongful That is proud to be