-Hello!
Thank you so much
for doing our show.
-Thank you so much
for having me.
-Let's just start things off by
telling me how are you feeling.
Because I know you tested
positive for COVID.
-I am feeling so much better.
I have seasonal allergies
and everything is in bloom,
of course, in Atlanta.
So I couldn't
tell the difference
between allergies and COVID.
But I'm doing great.
My husband was the one who was
really down and out
and he's doing so much better.
So, thank you for asking.
-And how are things in Atlanta
right now?
You're going back to phase one?
-We have some voluntary
recommendations for businesses
because people are asking
for guidance.
And they were all driven
by the metrics and the data.
And unfortunately, based on
where we are in Georgia,
we're now back to phase one.
Meaning, we are asking people
to please stay in,
unless it's absolutely necessary
to limit crowd gatherings,
to no more than 10
and of course
continuing to ask people
to wear face coverings.
-Yeah.
And, of course,
you're really being helped out
by Governor Kemp.
What is going on with that?
I'm sorry, are you being sued
by the governor?
-I am personally being sued
by the governor,
but ironically,
just before joining you,
I had a very good conversation
with the governor.
So, we discussed where we
disagree and hopefully
we can figure out
a way to agree to disagree
without having to play
this out in court.
But at the end of the day,
we want the same thing.
We want people to be safe.
We want to stop the spread
of COVID-19.
And it certainly doesn't help
when we're having
to fight one another.
-I love that.
I love that you told me.
That's so great.
That's a happier
ending to that situation.
I have to say, because I've
seen you on television,
I guess the first time was after
the murder of George Floyd.
And I just thought you were
so brave and I just --
it felt good to have a leader
speaking and talking straight
and telling us what's going on
with all that madness.
And so, is it bizarre to you
to keep doing these interviews
and being on camera?
-This is different for me.
And especially doing it
from home,
I've been doing it
from home since March.
But I majored in journalism
in college.
So, in my head, I could always
do a good job,
but that was only in my head.
-[ Laughs ]
-It's certainly gotten better.
The hardest part around my house
is making sure there's no noise
and nobody's in here
talking to me.
I know you know
what that's like.
-Oh, yeah.
-And making sure I can get
Internet connection
because everybody
is on their device.
-[ Laughs ]
Everyone is on a different --
oh, my kids are only
six and seven,
and they're on things
all the time.
And I go, "I have to do --
Daddy's doing a show"
and they don't care.
No one cares.
They're kids.
And a couple interviews
were interrupted.
Winnie lost two teeth,
I want to say,
during the four months
we were doing it from home,
and she'd just run in
with a bloody mouth,
like, "I'm so happy."
And I'm like, "Get away!
You're frightening my guests."
Like, what is going on?
Did you get any tips
or anything from your dad?
I know your dad was famous,
a singer/songwriter.
-Well, he always told me
never let them see you sweat.
And he would always say
on your worst day,
you better get up and look
like everything is okay.
So, that has come --
I've taken that to heart lately,
and just try
to make him proud.
-You definitely are.
I think I know a few
of your dad's hits.
Was there a famous song
we'd know
or a couple jams that we'd know?
-Well, I didn't get
any of his talent.
That's why I'm a mayor.
So I'm not going to sing.
-No, no, no.
I'm sorry.
I didn't want you to sing.
I'm sorry.
I wanted to know a song that --
should I just Google your dad?
-Yeah.
Let's see.
-Oh, there he is.
Are you -- Right behind you.
-I keep him near me
at all times.
That's another one.
So, Curtis Mayfield wrote
all of his hits.
"Monkey Time," "Um, Um, Um."
"Hey Little Girl" was nominated
for a Grammy in 1963.
He opened for the Beatles
when they came to America.
And there's this great picture
of Paul McCartney
getting off of the plane
on his return to Europe.
And he has my dad's album
under his arm.
And my dad would always tell me
he opened for the Beatles
and I never believed him.
-Of course, exactly.
Wow!
-Yes, he was telling the truth.
I saw it on the Internet.
-Did you ever get
to meet anyone?
Did you ever get to meet
the Beatles or Curtis Mayfield?
-Well, last year I met Elton
John, which was really cool.
And he told me
this wonderful story.
He sang one of my dad's songs
for me.
And he was here doing some work
with his AIDS foundation
and he told me this great story
about being on tour
in Europe with my dad.
And at the end of the tour,
my dad took off his tie
and gave it to him
and he described the tie to me.
So, that brings tears
to my eyes.
But my dad and Curtis Mayfield
were the best of friends.
And I was laughing a couple
of days ago with my husband.
We used to go swimming at
Curtis' house all of the time.
And now as an adult, I wonder
if Curtis actually knew
that we were swimming
at his house
or if my dad just knew
where he kept the keys
because he was never
there when we would do it.
-[ Laughs ] You just crashed it.
Jumped in his pool.
That's awesome.
-But his family
is like my family.
We're still very close.
-I wanted to talk, if you could,
say a few words about
Congressman John Lewis,
who recently passed.
I know you two knew each other.
What do you remember
about him most?
-Just his humility.
And the beauty of growing up
in Atlanta,
there are these giants
that are real life.
A lot of people only knew John
Lewis from reading about him
or watching him on television.
But we would see him
in the grocery store
or in the drugstore
or anywhere in the city.
He and C.T. Vivian
and Dr. Lowery as well.
The fondest memory I have
of Congressman Lewis
is that my aunt worked
in SNCC with him.
Her name was
Ruby Smith Robinson.
She died at 26.
She died very young.
And whenever I would see
Congressman Lewis,
he would ask about
my cousin, her son.
And he would tear up
when he talked about her.
And what always struck me
about that
is she had died
so many years before.
But he kept her in the movement
so close and dear in his heart.
And it just -- he just always
had time to talk to you,
to make you feel special,
and he just took pictures
and selfies with everyone.
And I never seen him complain.
Never seen him upset about
anything other than injustices
that we all know
that he was so passionate about.
But just a wonderful man,
and just the best example
of servant leadership
that I've had.
-I just recently saw
the documentary about him,
maybe a couple weeks ago
that was amazing.
Did he get to see at all
what you've done with police
reform in Atlanta?
-Well, I know Congressman Lewis
paid attention
to everything
that we did in Atlanta.
I had an opportunity
to visit him in D.C.
And he invited me
into his office.
He had a nice breakfast set up.
Just such a gracious man.
And he paid attention
to everything that we did
and, in fact, there was
some legislation related
to the CARES Act.
And our city was about
to get left out
and we called on Congressman
Lewis and his team to help us
and we got the funding
that we needed in the city.
So, literally,
until the very end,
he was continuing
to see about us
and represent us
so very well in Congress.
I know he's personally
my Congressman.
He lives just a couple of miles
from my house.
But I know he's the nation's
Congressman as well.
-I know you can't probably
even say anything,
but you know you're on the short
list to be running for
Vice President of this country.
How does it feel to be
on the short list?
-So, it's funny.
My 12-year-old just came in and
asked me, "What's a short list?"
-[ Laughs ]
"I'm short. Can I be on it?"
-You know, there are 330-plus
million people in America.
So to have my name mentioned
as a part of this list
is just beyond anything that
I ever imagined for my life.
So I'm honored to be a part
of the conversation.
And the end of the day, this is
about Joe Biden being elected
President of the United States
because we all know we cannot
take four more years of
that man who's
in the White House right now.
-Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms,
thank you so much
for coming on our show.
I'm going to YouTube your dad's
songs right now, by the way.
And he would be very proud
of what you accomplished.
Thank you so much
and please come back.
-Thank you for having me.
