[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - We are honored to be joined by the Honorable Carl McCall.

He has many firsts.

First, this book just published, it's a memoir.

"Truly Blessed and Highly Favored: A Memoir" by Carl McCall.

A little bit about Mr. McCall.

The first executive director of the Schumann Fund for New Jersey, the first African-American to be selected New York State Comptroller.

In 2002, ran for governor of New York State, lost to George Pataki.

Many, many firsts.

Also, the SUNY Board of Trustees, the president of the Board.

Mr. McCall, an honor to have you with us.

And the first, as I said, former comptroller of the state of New York, and former State Senator.

Carl, great to have you with us.

- Good to be with you, Steve.

Really look forward to this discussion - And there are so many, read about Carl McCall, because I didn't even do justice to all the things that he's done.

- (laughs) okay.

- Carl, first, the title of this book, I read about where the title came from.

Tell folks where "Truly Blessed and Highly Favored" comes from, please.

- Well, when I think back about my life and the ups and downs and the challenges I've had, I remember once running into a woman in a church where I served for a while, and it was a phrase that she used.

- You served as a pastor.

- Oh, that's right.

I've also been an ordained minister, I've done that as well.

And I was serving in a church in Harlem where I was also the state senator, and I was facing some difficulties.

And I went to her and one morning she said to me, "Mr. McCall, don't worry about it.

You are truly blessed and highly favored."

And that's kind of the way I look back at my life.

I started with very little, grow up in a very poor community in Boston, Massachusetts.

No one in my family had ever been to college.

My father deserted us and I was raised by my mother and five sisters and got a scholarship to go to an Ivy League college.

So things really have turned out very well for me.

I've had tremendous opportunities because I think I prepared myself for those opportunities.

And I always was committed to public service, serving others.

And so when I look back over my life, that's the way it's been.

Truly blessed and highly favored by the God above who has made it possible for me to do all of these things.

- You know, it's interesting.

I mentioned the Schumann Fund.

The Schumann Fund for New Jersey.

Carl McCall came after the Newark Riot/Rebellion.

The Schumann Fund was created.

You were selected as the first executive director.

You did not know New Jersey well.

- No, no.

- A, why did you take that role in the foundation community at the Schumann Fund for New Jersey?

And B, what did you learn about New Jersey that's so much different than New York, if at all?

- Well, I took the job because it was so interesting in that you had this generous group of people, the Schumann family.

And the riots had really affected them.

New Jersey was important, Essex County.

And they really wanted to do something.

And they had the resources.

And therefore they wanted their foundation to address not just the problems, but the underlying issues.

Why did these things happen in New Jersey and what could we do to make sure they didn't happen again?

So this was a real challenge for me.

And what I learned about New Jersey, and it's something that was a lesson that I've learned throughout, is to get something done, you have to have the right people.

It all comes down to people.

You can't do it yourself.

You know, you and I might wanna achieve something, but unless we have a group of people who can provide the advice and the assistance and help us execute, nothing happens.

And I ran into some very good people in New Jersey, Gus Heningburg, of course, we said, your dad and just so many other people.

Ken Gibson, who was the new mayor of New Jersey, - New mayor of, sorry for interrupting Mr. McCall.

I met Mr. McCall as a very young man.

The Schumann Fund supportive of my father's work in 1970 and '71, starting an organization called the North Ward Center post riots/rebellion.

You were meeting all these people for the first time.

Correct, Mr. McCall?

- For the first time.

I listened to them, you know, I indicated that Schumann Foundation wanted to be helpful.

They had to tell us what to do, they had to advise us, they had to assist us.

And that's what they did.

And that's what made a difference.

And I've taken that with me and other things that I've done along the way.

But I became a New York State comptroller.

It was a very big job.

2200 people worked in the office, and I was the chief auditor of the state, chief financial officer of the state.

I managed the state's pension fund.

I couldn't do all that by myself, but I was able to pick good people to do the job, to give them the leeway and the support to do it, and to hold them accountable.

And that's the lesson I learned in New Jersey.

And it's the lesson that's been helpful throughout my life.

- Let me ask you this, Mr. McCall.

Because my dad who passed a few years back, and you were contemporaries.

I went back and I said, "I wonder," and I hope you're not, I'm not being too personal here.

I said, "I wonder what Carl McCall's age is."

And you're in your 90s, correct?

- Not yet, almost, I'm 89.

- 89.

I'm working on 90 (laughs) - Sorry about that.

Question, question.

- No, not at all.

- Why are you still so motivated to not just write this book, but to continue to make a difference?

What motivates you?

- What motivates me is, thank God, I still have the ability to make a difference.

I have had experience, tremendous experiences, you know, in the private sector, the public sector.

I've been on nine corporate boards.

I was chairman, I was a member of a commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

So having had all these experiences, I think I have to share that.

I shouldn't just sit back and say, "Well, gee, these are some nice things that I've done."

But I reach out now to particularly young people, trying to convince them to be involved in public service, because that's so important.

So whatever I can do now to be helpful, I think I have an obligation to use this experience, to use the contacts that I've had and so forth to share that with people who could use those resources.

- Sure, let me ask you this.

You wrote this book, obviously, before the 2024 election, the historical election of Donald Trump and a Republican Congress.

We're taping this after the election.

Why do you, given your experience, your expertise, your understanding of politics, of public policy, of public opinion, why do you think Donald Trump attracted a significant number of African-American and Latino voters?

- I think some of those voters felt like other voters that they felt that they were not getting ahead.

They felt that their children were not gonna say, have the same opportunity that they had, and they were fearful, they were fearful that things were changing and they weren't in control.

And someone came along and helped exploit those fears.

Someone came along and said, "Yes, you are fearful because all of these terrible things are happening.

Immigrants are taking over our country.

Minority people are moving and taking jobs away from people who've had them in the past."

So the fears were exploited and people, therefore, felt that they wanted to go with someone who understood that issue, understood their pain and their suffering.

And the fact is, I don't think there was any offer of how we're gonna help, but the fears were really intensified.

And people said, "Yeah, let's try something different, because right now, things aren't going well for us."

- Mr. McCall, you've been a lifelong Democrat.

To what degree do you believe the Democratic Party has in some ways "lost touch" with the average working class, middle class American, regardless of gender or race or ethnicity?

- I think that has happened.

They're no longer communicating with that group of people.

They have a message that's somewhat condescending.

It's a message that doesn't really suggest to people who are painful and who are hurting now, that these are people who really understand what I need and that they're going to help.

And I think it's been a tremendous wake up call, a real jolt for the Democratic Party.

And the party is gonna have to adjust to that going forward.

Because I think the alternative isn't gonna work either.

The trickle down theory that, look, let's make rich people richer in some way that's gonna help people at the bottom.

That's not gonna work, hasn't worked in the past.

So we would, facing a reckoning now in this country in terms of how are we gonna go forward with programs, projects, and understandings that are gonna uplift everybody.

Everybody has to be involved in the recovery of this country.

- Mr. McCall, you understand philanthropy better than most.

The Schumann Fund for New Jersey, as we talked about, the first executive director back in the 1970s.

Question, to what degree do you believe foundations, the role of philanthropy is more important than ever before?

- It's very important more than ever before because I think they're understanding that they have to play a new role.

There's a book that was recently published by Darren Walker, the very inspiring, very competent president of the Ford Foundation.

And the title of of his book is, "From Generosity to Justice."

The foundations in the past have been providing money and support to people who have been left out, people who were in pain, people who are the victims of larger social issues.

And foundations now have to realize, and Ford Foundation and the Schumann Fund have realized this, that we've gotta look at the root causes.

You can't just look at just help people because they're hurting and we've gotta continue to do that, but why are they hurting?

What are the public policy issues that have to be addressed in order to move forward?

And foundations are now doing this, and we did this way back with your dad and others, what we created in Newark.

Ken Gibson, as you know, was a new mayor.

And Ken Gibson and I met him and he admitted that, you know, this is a very big job he has.

Maybe he doesn't have the experience, he needs some help.

And what we did was establish something called the Office of Newark Studies, where we brought in people to really deal with public policy and the issues behind the kind of social programs that we were putting forward.

- I'm gonna remind people of the book.

It is called "Truly Blessed and Highly Favored: A Memoir" from H. Carl McCall.

Mr. McCall, you honor us by being with us.

Thank you so much.

- Thank you, my pleasure.

See you next time.

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