# Tyler Perry Speech Kamala Harris Rally In Atlanta, GA | 10.24.24 Auto-transcribed by https://aliceapp.ai on Sunday, 27 Oct 2024. Synced media and text playback available on this page: https://aliceapp.ai/recordings/XypTDNiGecUf7nCJBZR12mvoOtuPg9AI * Words : 2,110 * Duration : 00:13:59 * Recorded on : Unknown date * Uploaded on : 2024-10-27 00:07:26 UTC * At : Unknown location * Using : Uploaded to aliceapp.ai ## Speakers: * Tyler Perry - 100.0% ---------------------------- Tyler Perry [00:00:00] Hello, Georgia. Hello, Hello. Hello. Tyler Perry [00:00:06] I gotta tell you, I've been a resident here for a little more than 30 years, so I know a few things about Georgia. What I want to share with you today is that this is where I found the American dream for myself. And lately I found myself having my feet in two different worlds. Tyler Perry [00:00:24] One where I'm talking to very wealthy people at their table and then I come to work and I'm talking to people who work for me about everyday problems and everyday issues. So it puts me in a very, very peculiar spot to be able to talk to you. Tyler Perry [00:00:36] And I'm grateful for that, having my feet in both those worlds. Because I still remember what it was like to stand at the Winn Dixie on Beaufort highway and have $20 and try to figure out how do I make this meal work for the week. I know what it's like to have my landlord knocking at the door and I'm in the bed hiding because I don't want him to knock on the door. Tyler Perry [00:00:58] I know he has an eviction notice. I know what it's like to be homeless here in Georgia. Tyler Perry [00:01:04] I know what it's like to have to scrape up enough money to get to stay at a Pay by the Week hotel off of Beaufort Highway. I know what it's like. I know what it's like to sleep in my car wrapped in my grandmother's quilt because I had no place to go. I know what it's like to come from work and walk outside and realize that my car has been repossessed. Tyler Perry [00:01:25] So make no mistake, I know. Tyler Perry [00:01:28] And I remember how hard it is. And I remember the struggle. And I also know, hear me, how expensive it is to be poor. Tyler Perry [00:01:39] But I also believed in an American dream. And when I was coming here to Georgia, I was looking for inspiration. And there was this show called Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. And there was a man on there that I really admired, I looked up to. He had a helicopter and his name was on hotels all over the place. Tyler Perry [00:01:56] He was. Hold on just a second, let me get through this so you hear what I'm saying? Tyler Perry [00:02:03] Young black men admired him because his name was in rap lyrics. So when I first started making a little money, the first thing I did was checked into the Trump Hotel because I wanted to feel that specialist. But then I started to do my research. Research is important. Uh huh. Tyler Perry [00:02:20] Truth is important. Facts are important. Tyler Perry [00:02:26] I found out about a discrimination lawsuit against he and his father because they didn't want people like me in their building. I found out about him Taking a full page ad out on young black men in the New York Times, I found out about the birther lie. We all heard it saying that Barack Obama was not born in this country. Tyler Perry [00:02:49] There are undertones there and there are echoes there that we all had to pay attention to. So I watched him when he won the presidency. Tyler Perry [00:02:58] I watched him say that there were good people on both sides when neo Nazis were screaming, jews will not replace us. I watched him from the Central Park Five to Project 2025. Tyler Perry [00:03:14] And what I realized is that in this Donald Trump America, there is no dream that looks like me. Tyler Perry [00:03:24] We want a president who believes that this American dream is for everyone. Tyler Perry [00:03:31] And that president is Kamala Harris. Tyler Perry [00:03:40] We want a president that understands like I did in Georgia. When I came here, I didn't have anything, but I had a dream. So I worked, and against all odds, I worked my way to where I am now. It was here in Georgia. See, in Georgia, you know what we do? Tyler Perry [00:03:53] We don't sit around and complaining. We go to work. Tyler Perry [00:03:58] It was here where I became a studio owner. My first studio was on Crog Street. Now that is Crog Street Market. And then I bought another studio, which was on Greenbrier, right near Greenbrier Mall on Continental Colony Parkway. And it was there that Barack Obama came in 2012 to do a fundraiser. Tyler Perry [00:04:16] And he was getting ready to leave and he said, come ride with me. We're going to my house for a fundraiser. I'm saying, wait, you want me to ride with you and the beast? So I get in the car and traffic is stopped. And we're riding and we're riding and he's talking to me. Tyler Perry [00:04:28] And for those of you who are old enough to remember Charlie Brown, all I heard was, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. I finally said, I'm sorry, Mr. President, but I haven't heard a word you said, because I'm in awe of this country. What a great country that you could become president of the United States. Tyler Perry [00:04:50] And he turned to me, quick as a flash, and he said, yes, but what a great country that you could become. Tyler Perry. Tyler Perry [00:05:00] From that moment, I went and I bought a bigger studio. I bought Fort McPherson army base. Tyler Perry [00:05:07] Right now, where we hire thousands of people are coming through their doors. And I don't care what was stacked up against me. I don't care. I didn't pay attention to that. What I paid attention to was, how do I help somebody? Tyler Perry [00:05:18] I broke through that door, laid it down on its side and let it become a ramp so that somebody else can get hired Too. Tyler Perry [00:05:28] You want to hear something about an American dream? Fort McPherson was once a Confederate army base where there were Confederate soldiers trying to plot and plan on how to keep 3.9 million Negroes enslaved. Now that land is owned by me. Tyler Perry [00:06:01] Let's talk about an American dream. It's seniors working so hard and working hard and working seniors working hard. And what I realized when I bought it that seniors around their taxes were going through the roof. So what I did was I said, no, no, no, you're not going to come here and take these seniors houses. Tyler Perry [00:06:17] I paid everybody's taxes off for years so that they can keep their houses. Tyler Perry [00:06:24] When an 85 year old woman in Coweta county lost her house to a fire and wanted a place for all her grandkids, I rebuilt that house for her. Tyler Perry [00:06:35] Most recently, I saw in AJC a story where there was a woman who hired this contractor and he gutted her house and left her there with nothing. She was living in a house with no plumbing and no walls for years. I rebuilt that house for her. Why am I telling you this? I'm not telling you this to be bragging. Tyler Perry [00:06:50] What I'm telling you about is. What I want you to understand is I have compassion for our seniors. So when a candidate says. When a candidate says that we have lowered the cost of insulin to $35 for seniors, that candidate has my vote. Tyler Perry [00:07:15] I put many kids through college. And recently there was a family, a woman who was murdered by her husband and she had three kids that were of college age. I put all those kids through college. So when I hear a candidate say we are going to do what we can to reduce student loan debt, that is a candidate that I can stand with. Tyler Perry [00:07:38] I stand with a candidate who has an American dream for everyone. She stands with us and she has an American dream for our children. And let me tell you something about the children. I don't know if you remember, but her DNC speech was great. Right? Tyler Perry [00:07:50] But there's a moment that you may have missed when the cameras were rolling and she was walking around and the balloons are falling and confetti's falling. I'm watching her smile and wave. Her family comes out, but there are two little girls on the stage and I see her constantly making sure they're okay, not getting too close to the edge. Tyler Perry [00:08:10] That's what you want. See, the little things will tell you about the heart of a person. Tyler Perry [00:08:21] In that speech, she talked about how we have more in common than what separates us. So Georgia, I want to put that to the test. I didn't have a father who gave me millions of dollars to start a business. Did you? Didn't think so. Tyler Perry [00:08:38] My mother didn't have some great legacy, but she taught me how to pray my way through a situation. It sounds like we have that in common. I'm the kind of American that believes in a secure border, but at the same time believes that if anyone is coming seeking legal asylum, our arms should be open to them. Tyler Perry [00:09:03] I'm the kind of American that believes that if you are running for office, you shouldn't sink and tank a bipartisan bill to to help the border so that you could use it for your own glory. Tyler Perry [00:09:16] If you are like me, I work my ass off to buy my first house and build my business and take care of my family. That is the American dream. I believe if you work that hard and you put into Social Security when you get to a certain age that you put in should be there waiting for you because it's yours. Tyler Perry [00:09:43] I believe that we all should have affordable health care and not be replaced with the concept of a plan. What the hell. Tyler Perry [00:09:57] I'm the kind of American that believes that no matter what your party, we ought to be able to sit down and have civil conversation so that we can work toward a solution. The same as I do with our governor Brian Kemp. Tyler Perry [00:10:12] I'm the kind of man that believes. I'm the kind of man that believes that the government nor a man should be telling a woman what she can and cannot do with her body. Tyler Perry [00:10:33] I'm the kind of American who believes that poll workers should do their civic duty without being harassed and threatened like Ruby Freeman and Shay Moss in Fulton County. Tyler Perry [00:10:47] And I am not the kind of American that glories in, enjoys, laughs at or celebrates an 80 year old man being hit with a hammer because his wife is in politics and you don't agree with her. Tyler Perry [00:11:05] And two things can be true at once. I am not the kind of man that Glorian celebrates, enjoy or laughs at a 78 year old former president almost meeting his death at an assassin's bullet in Butlers, Pennsylvania. It's not right. It's about decency, America. And I think you agree with me. Tyler Perry [00:11:29] But I am the kind of American that believes if you lose an election that you honor the constitutional peaceful transfer of power. Tyler Perry [00:11:45] And judging by your reaction, I believe Kamala is right. We have more in common than what separates us. As I'm closing here, I just want to talk about that quilt that I used to wrap up in my grandmother's car. In my car. That quilt that my grandmother gave me. Tyler Perry [00:12:01] That quilt was a tapestry of beautiful pieces, but I completely ignored it. I didn't think it was worth anything because she had made it from all of these stitches and gave it to me as a gift. And I was walking past this antique store years later, and I saw one in the window. Tyler Perry [00:12:15] And I go, wow, that's a beautiful quilt. It reminds me of my grandmother. Tyler Perry [00:12:18] So I walk in, I talked to the lady. She started explaining to me that each patch in that quilt was worth this and meant this because of the woman who made it. So when I think about America, I think about my grandmother's quilt. We are all shapes, sizes, and colors, but we are one. Tyler Perry [00:12:44] And it was so important for me to stand with a candidate who understands that we, as America, we are equipped. And I could never stand with a candidate who wants America to be a sheet. Tyler Perry [00:13:07] So today I voted for Kamala Harris and Georgia. It was only about 11,400 votes that separated Trump and Biden. So every vote counts. So I stand here full throated with my full chest, begging you, imploring you, let's get out and make Kamala Harris the 47th President of the United, United, United States of America. Tyler Perry [00:13:54] Thank you, everybody. Tyler Perry [00:13:55] God bless.