Flame Monroe talks to April Ryan about policing, politics and more
Exclusive: The comedian also has some choice words for former President Donald Trump
In a must-watch interview, theGrio’s April Ryan sits down with comedian Flame Monroe for a dynamic conversation on politics, policing, gun violence and more.
From the Chauvin trial to the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, Ryan and Monroe cover important topics in the interview. During the wide-ranging conversation, Monroe breaks down her fear of police, specifically as a Black trans woman.
“We are afraid,” she says at the top of the interview. “As a Black person, trans woman…when I get stopped by the police, April, I put both my hands out the window and say, ‘Officer, I’m transgender.’
In the intimate moment, Monroe explains she’ll do anything to take away “the fear of the white officer,” in hopes of making it home to her children.
Read More: WATCH: Flame Monroe on the problem with pronouns & picking wrong battles: “The war is whoopin’ us”
Monroe also details an interview she recently conducted with a white woman, when Monroe received a sobering reminder of how white privilege presents itself in this country.
Monroe explains, “I was interviewing a white lady yesterday…and I asked her, ‘When you get stopped by the police, what is your biggest fear?’ Do you know what she told me, April? It just flabbergasted me, she told me her biggest fear was that her insurance premium would go up because she got stopped by the police.”
Ryan opened up about her own past experience being pulled over. She explains to the comedian, “You [white people] don’t live under fear…I was stopped years ago, I didn’t know, they were looking for someone who killed someone with a blue car. I had a red car! I didn’t know any better…”
She said her boyfriend at the time told her, “Don’t you ever let a police officer pull you over without getting his supervisor and getting a warrant!” She said she was young and “didn’t know any better” but it’s a moment that will always stick with her.
Monroe also talks about the rise of mass shootings in the country, the political implications, and how the right may try to spin the news coverage.
“They’ll try to say in 2022 when we come up for the primary that the country was safer in Trump’s regime than under Biden’s regime…not that we didn’t have mass shootings under Trump, it just didn’t seem to make such public display because he did so much foolishness!”
Of course, Monroe didn’t leave Ryan without some fiery jokes, including a particularly cheeky one involving former President Donald Trump.
Check out Ryan’s conversation with Monroe below.
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