February 6, 2003

The following is an excerpt from the February 14, 2003 issue of PEOPLE magazine.

Trent Lott Now!

    It seems like only yesterday that Republican Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi resigned his post as Senate Majority Leader in disgrace.  Following remarks he still maintains were misinterpreted claiming he was in favor of segregation and other racist policies, Lott saw the tide of public opinion and then the leaders of his own party turn against him.  Despite a series of high profile press conferences and television appearances to apologize including an interview on Black Entertainment Television, Lott was pressured into relinquishing his post as Majority Leader.

    So where is Trent Lott now two months after the scandal that seemed to destroy his career?  You might be surprised.  Recently we spent a day with the busy Senator.  When we caught up with him, Lott was on the back nine of LaCosta Golf Club in Palm Desert.  He looked deeply tanned and fit, but he was far from relaxed as he and his golf partner O.J. Simpson battled through an intensely competitive round.  After settling their wagers - Lott won forty  dollars - and enjoying a hearty lunch of rare roast beef, the Senator told us the story of how his life has changed since those fateful weeks in December.

    "You know so many people see a challenging or problematic period in their lives as punishment when in fact it can be a reward.  That certainly has been the case for me," the Senator explained, running a hand over his freshly  shaven head.  Instead of collapsing along with his political aspirations, Lott found hope and comfort where he least expected it.  At his lowest point backstage after a humiliating hour-long grilling on BET, Lott met rap superstar and impresario Jay Z in the Green Room.  Jay Z was preparing to go onstage to perform his hot new hit single "Back Up That Party Ass - Part Two."  The two men from such different backgrounds found they had much in common.

    "Jay Z opened my eyes," Lott recalls.  "He said, T-Money - that's what he calls me - the Republican Party, Bushy George W, and that snake Bill Frist ain't got no love for you.  They you people and look how they done you, he said, and it all made sense to me."  The next day over several bottles of Kristal while chilling in a front booth in fashionable Beverly Hills bistro L'Escaountoire Senator Lott shared with the rapper long forgotten stories from his gritty, hard knocks youth in Tupelo, Mississippi.  Times were tough for the Lott family back then.  With his father long gone and his stepfather in jail for life, young Trent, the eldest of twelve children, had to help out his Moms any way he could.  From delivering papers in their all black ghetto neighborhood to tap dancing for change on the street corners of downtown Tupelo, the future statesman learned valuable lesson about life.

    "I come up hard," he recalls now.  "And maybe over the years I got caught up in all the fame and the money and the interns and the bling bling of life on the fast track in the Republican Party.  Maybe I forgot my roots, but that night backstage with Jay Z turned me around.  Now me and Jigga is tight.  We like brothers.  These days whether we're chillin' backstage in a VIP room with Beyonce and Ashanti or just bustin' a forty with Nate Dogg down on the block, it's all good," Lott says, the bright California desert sun glinting off his gold tooth and his thick gold rope chains.

    When questioned about his previous repressive racial policies such as supporting segregationist legislation, consistently voting against affirmative action, and opposing making Martin Luther King Day a federal holiday, Lott shows a brief flash of anger.  "Back that shit up, my brother, he interjects.  "They ain't no shame in my game.  I was Republican Senator, dog.  Let a playa play."

    These days Lott stays very busy with new business ventures like the low-income housing development he is working on with former Washington, DC mayor Marion Berry.  With his new crossover appeal, Lott has also been approached by the Miller Brewing Company to endorse their new line of high alcohol content soft drinks targeted at inner city youths called "T-Money's Jammin' Slammers."  Despite a full schedule, Lott still finds time for a full roster of charitable causes he supports including Camp Down Low, a six week summer camp for disadvantaged youths, which he founded with his friend Pro Football Hall of Fame running back O.J. Simpson.  The pair have also combined forces on a series of successful videos and self-help motivational tapes entitled "Bustin' Loose With T-Money and The Juice: I AM Somebody!"

    When asked if he feels any regrets over not having the opportunity to shape policy and wield power as the Senate Majority Leader, Lott appears wistful for a moment.  "Hell, sure sometimes I wish I could be out there with the Republicans leading our nation head first into a senseless war, jackin' the environment, and throwing down massive tax cuts for the rich.  But, my brother, I am happy where I am right now.," Lott says as he bids us good-bye and climbs behind the wheel of his massive gold Cadillac Escalade.  "Given the choice between being a policy maker in DC or getting my swerve on each and every night on the streets, I believe my brother Snoop Doggitty Dogg had it right.  Next time you see me I'll be 'rolling down the road smoking endo, sippin' on gin and juice with my mind on my money and my money on my mind.'"

    Words of wisdom from a man who has traveled down a rocky road of public disgrace and evil cynicism to learn them and find redemption.