WEBVTT - Gen Z Has Entered the Chat Pt.2 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.840 Native Lamb Pod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:04.080 with Resent Choice Media. 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:08.760 Welcome Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome. 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:11.480 Welcome home. Y'all to Part two of Native Lamb Pod, 0:00:11.600 --> 0:00:14.040 and listen. I have heard a lot of you all 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:17.159 say I am resting, We are resting, and certainly you 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:19.800 deserve that. But are we at the point where it's 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:22.080 enough and it's time to get back to work? Well, 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:25.200 nobody better to have that discussion with with young people 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:27.720 who have all the energy. So we're going to pick 0:00:27.800 --> 0:00:30.040 up where we left off in the previous episode of 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:33.080 Native Lamp Pod and get into what are these young 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:36.559 folks doing, but more importantly, what do they need from 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:40.120 us to empower them? So let's kick off this conversation 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:45.640 right now. I appreciate all all your points, all of 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:49.520 you guys, and I think it's healthy for us to hear, 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:53.760 you know, the healthy exchange of ideas and ideology. Ty 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:58.280 you talked about. You know, it doesn't take you know everybody. 0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:00.400 I wonder this is really for all you all, But 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:03.560 I'll start with high. I wonder do you feel like 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:07.240 you're reaching people? Do you feel like okay, Well, if 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:09.960 it's one out of one hundred that's organizing out of 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:12.800 that hundred people, do you feel like you're tapping into somebody? 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:16.160 That's the first question. The second question is, we do 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:20.640 tend to talk about civic engagement and activism, and sometimes 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:23.759 these things are talked about only through the lens of voting, 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:27.440 which is what I was trying to ask earlier to you, Marley, like, 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:30.640 maybe people are out here doing all kinds of community work, 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:33.640 but they did not choose to vote, which doesn't take 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:37.320 away what they were doing in community. Some people feel like, yeah, 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:40.199 I'm out here cleaning my community. I'm out here organizing 0:01:40.240 --> 0:01:43.399 the same way, but I'm not necessarily, you know, interested 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:45.920 in upholding the white man's democracy. Maybe I'm maybe my 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:48.560 interest is somewhere else. I'm curious on where you all 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:50.560 stand on all that. That's how I'm starting with you, 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:51.600 So I. 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:53.200 Guess i'll ask you that that last question. 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:56.480 First, you know why some folks are involved in civic 0:01:56.520 --> 0:02:01.400 engagement outside of the electoral framework, And you know what 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:03.880 I mean, Let's look at the Hillary Clinton election, right, 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:07.360 roughly sixty three million votes for her, roughly sixty million 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:11.080 for Donald Trump, Roughly a little over one hundred million 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:13.440 who decided to stay home because they were disconnected from 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:17.120 the systems that told them to go vote. When you 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:20.320 talk about, you know, the pandemic, the stimulus check that 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:24.359 a lot of folks received, that represented the most direct 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:27.320 interaction that folks have had with Washington around the country. 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:29.280 For a lot of folks the first time where they say, 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:32.040 you know, I can actually see what was reflected in 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:33.440 Washington back here. 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:36.080 But up until that point, they had realized what we. 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:39.040 Often emphasized it organizes, is that it starts at home 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:40.920 and you build your consentu circle out from there, you're 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:43.640 building your community. You're going to your PTA meetings, You're 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:47.040 making sure your neighborhood is clean if you have, you know, 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:49.760 a housing council. You're being involved in the things that 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:52.240 are closest to you, because at the end of the day, 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:54.840 that is the best place to insulate yourself from the 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:58.000 trickle down effect of even this fascist regime. Right is 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:02.720 affecting sensible leadership to make sure that you're insulated locally 0:03:03.000 --> 0:03:05.519 and then starting to be more aspirational and caring about 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:08.239 national things, caring about foreign policy. 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:11.160 But I think the immediacy of. 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:13.840 Care has always lied with trying to take care of 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:15.480 the home front. And so that's a lot of what 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:19.880 we're seeing there with the disconnect from electoral systems as 0:03:19.919 --> 0:03:21.040 opposed specific engagement. 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:22.120 Outside of that, the. 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:25.040 Other thing that you asked was about do I feel 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:27.560 like I'm reaching people when I reach one person? 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:30.360 And I would say yes, because that one person could be. 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:33.520 The next meat or something better than me, somebody that 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:35.520 could collaborate with me, somebody that can then go and 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:38.320 get one person. Like I think that we have to 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:41.360 be realistic in the fact that it's not everybody's thing. 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:43.600 Like I said, I know that folks from back in 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:45.680 the day that lived during a certain era where there 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:47.720 were black and white photos like to cosplay like they 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.600 were also the Malcolm X's and Martin Luther King's. 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:52.760 But like age doesn't make you that, you know, back. 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:55.400 In that generation, there were folks that were drinking their liquor, 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:57.040 There were folks that were smoking their weed. There were 0:03:57.040 --> 0:03:59.760 folks that were doing any and everything until they got 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:02.240 that thing that activated them to care that said you 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:04.600 know what, hey, you should have some attachment here. And 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:06.800 it's because somebody brought it to them in their language 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:08.120 and said, you know what, this is what you can 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:10.600 do to integrate into movement. So I think that I 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:13.960 feel effective when I reach one person, especially if I 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:16.000 reached them outside of the typical framework. Like you see, 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:19.080 I did the Obama saying tan suit thing for y'all today, 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:23.320 But like I need a hoodie for sha, I need 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:25.280 Brody in the hoodie. I need Brody with the skull 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:27.279 cap because he's gonna go and talk to folks and 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:29.719 have different conversations with people that I won't meet. But 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:32.039 if I can get him to meet me, to respect me, 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:34.280 and to take this information and download it and pass 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:37.120 it on, then me meeting that one person right there 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:39.200 might have been more effective than me meeting one hundred 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:41.080 people that day because he can go back and have 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:43.160 that rapport in his hood to be able to walk 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:45.560 down and talk some high level intellectual shit to folks 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:48.359 who otherwise didn't care, right, and so being able to 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:51.680 get that one person in these respective rooms, whether it 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:54.600 is over there, whether it is in the queer community, 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:56.760 whether it's in the faith community, I think it's important 0:04:56.760 --> 0:04:58.320 that we try to build that one. 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:00.360 In each of these communities because of we can. 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:03.120 Get that one to act as an ambassador for ideas 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:05.800 to act as an ambassador for this good fight that 0:05:05.839 --> 0:05:07.240 we're going to raise the army for it. 0:05:08.200 --> 0:05:10.160 For sure, I think you're spot on, tie, and I 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:13.480 think you know, we reach people by recognizing that the revolution, 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:16.400 the road to the revolution isn't linear. Right Like during 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:19.440 the Civil Rights movement, there were young people who weren't 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:21.520 always on the front lines and didn't always have the 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:24.320 bullhorn in the mic, but best believe they're recording and 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:27.640 writing and documenting and archiving. I mean, there were artists 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:31.120 whose music was their fight, you know, the musicians whose 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:33.600 instruments was their fight. There are some who are making 0:05:33.640 --> 0:05:36.920 calls spreading awareness, which is now our version of social media. Right, 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:39.760 So we have to be okay with understanding that our 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:43.279 gifts are different, our passions are different, but that doesn't 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:46.120 make it any less effective when fighting white supremacy because 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:48.680 it is quite literally rooted in everything we do. You know, 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:51.360 like some folks are migrating back to the South and 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:55.200 reclaiming land and starting like farms, y'all, like shout out Briebaker, 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:58.040 readhear book rooted. But you can't tell me that that's 0:05:58.080 --> 0:05:59.560 not a form of resistance. 0:05:59.640 --> 0:05:59.800 Right. 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:02.279 We each have our role to play, and we have 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:05.000 to accept that it looks different, you know. So we 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:08.320 reach people by acknowledging that all skills are welcome. We 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:11.799 reach people by acknowledging that all of your talents are welcome, 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:14.400 that you know, the folks who are the support team 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:17.040 who bring the milk and water for tear gas to 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:20.080 protest that you are important, where the comms team that 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:22.560 makes the graphics. Everyone has a role. Everyone has a 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:24.599 place in this movement, you know. And so not every 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:26.120 young person is going to say if we don't get it, 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:27.960 shut it down, which is my favorite, you know. But 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:30.240 some people are saying, well, if we don't get it, 0:06:30.360 --> 0:06:31.839 how do we create it for ourselves? 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:32.200 You know? 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:34.320 And that method of fighting back looks different than what 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:36.280 we're used to seeing, and which is why it's so jarring, 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:37.840 and which is why it feels like young people are 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:40.440 too zen and to relax for this movement. But I 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:42.480 don't think it makes it any less effective. I think 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:45.200 black joy in and of itself is resistance, and we 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:47.000 can't just say that and then get upset when we 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:47.560 practice it. 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:52.719 I yeah, I love everything you guys are saying, and 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:54.440 I have to tell you it kind of puts me 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:57.200 in the mind Spain's. My friends and I joke a 0:06:57.240 --> 0:07:01.120 lot where we talk about music because this has always 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:01.719 been the case. 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:02.120 You know. 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:06.200 James Baldwin had some challenges with how Martin Luther King 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:10.520 was moving, you know. And I remember listening to music that, 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:13.280 you know, my uncles and my parents they were like, 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:15.560 oh girl, that ain't no music. You know, this real music. 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:17.880 But on the Temptations, this real music. And so we 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:21.440 joke that young people someday will be what y'all listening to, 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:24.320 man mios migo, some real music, and it's just the 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:27.560 way generations go, you know. So, and I just want 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:31.400 to be clear. I don't think any of us, you know, 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:36.080 are are saying like wagging our fingers to young folks. 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:38.400 But I do think that there are a lot of 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:41.480 people who are disenfranchised. I can't remember who said something 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:45.960 about hope. Maybe it was my life, but yes, I'm 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:48.920 gonna just tell you I feel hopeless. Somebody in the 0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:50.960 comments like I'm tired of timany feeling so doom and groom. 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:53.480 I'm like, yeah, I got gotta hear y'all, because I'm 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:56.120 tired of feeling doom and gloom. But hearing you all talk, 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:59.320 it does give me hope that you're out there doing 0:07:59.440 --> 0:08:03.000 something and that you all seem to have hope, because 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:06.160 I'm telling you, I don't hear that from a lot 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:08.680 of young folks, and I don't have the words to 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:10.120 speak into them to say. 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:11.239 Well, you should feel hopeful. 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:14.440 I just have the words to say, please fight, Please 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:16.360 get in the please at least get in the fight, 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:19.440 because what we're seeing right now is just so frightening. 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:21.160 So I just I want to just say thank you 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:24.120 to you guys for being so passionate. And I think 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:28.600 what I love most is your authenticity. Ty I don't 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:30.640 know where you are. I feel like you from the South, 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:37.680 and if okay, I'm gonna find you, Tief you, I 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:38.080 was just. 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:40.960 Gonna say, you know one thing that I think is important. 0:08:41.160 --> 0:08:42.920 There were a number of you, or all three of 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:46.920 you brought up at some point mentorship or the disconnect 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:49.320 between one generation to the next. If you be sure 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:51.360 you said, if you pass the baton, that means you 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:53.640 gotta leg go of the other end, all of which 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:55.480 I think are very powerful. I think my point of 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:58.319 privilege is I have a ton of mentors. I say 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:00.120 it takes a village to raise a child. That that's 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:01.679 the one we know. But I say it takes a 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:04.480 village to sustain an adult, and I really believe that. 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:07.160 But I'm I'm challenged by what you all are sharing 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:09.960 around mentorship, and I really want to hear about how 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:13.280 my generation can do better by gen z, what are 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:15.920 the things that you guys feel like can be done. 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:19.000 I think to aspire folks that are that need to 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:21.960 be hopeful about even getting support from us, Like maybe 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:25.120 like we don't want to apply the same tactics, but 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:27.600 you know, we do want to learn from the mistakes 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:29.480 you made. I'm spending a lot of time right now 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:31.839 with folks who are a part of organizing Gary and 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:33.600 Deanna and seventy two and attend it. 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:35.720 I want to learn what they got right, what did 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:36.360 they get wrong? 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:38.800 So Marley, I'll start with you because your publicist is 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:40.480 saying you do actually have to go, So I'm going 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:42.520 to start with you and then we'll go on. 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:45.600 Yeah, I mean, I think I really appreciate asking like 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:47.560 the literal ways. I feel like that's the first step 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:49.600 is always just grounding it back to reality. Is when 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:51.480 you notice you're doing something wrong, like let's get the 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:54.440 actual steps. When it comes to mentorship, I think there's 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:56.760 two things that I really like. Is one when I'm 0:09:56.760 --> 0:09:59.240 able to find a mentor who isn't just focused on 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:03.160 kind of wellness, not wealth or wellness as a way out, 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:06.040 like neither wealth nor wellness, that it's a combination of both. 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:08.440 That in order to be well, to be healthy, you 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:10.680 kind of have to you will be able to gain capital. 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:13.080 So finding people and being the person that says like, 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:15.319 you're not just gonna make it out out of getting 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:18.079 a million dollars or making your first whatever or buying 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:20.079 your first house. You're not gonna make it out that way. 0:10:20.280 --> 0:10:22.120 But really it's actually going to be about taking care 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:25.520 of you. So mentors that focus on the connection both 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:27.920 between like what your bank account looks like and what 0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:30.120 your transcript looks like and what's going on in your head. 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:32.840 So making sure that this mental health conversation, which we 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:35.400 know has always been difficult within the black community and 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:39.600 difficult in all immigrant and indigenous communities, is just having 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:42.120 these hard talks. Is being a person that leads with 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:44.760 mental health as a huge part of justice work, where 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:47.520 like Tiff was saying, this feeling of hopelessness, you can 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:51.320 feel hopeless together and seeing that across different generations. We 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:53.760 can talk about you know, George Floyd and Trayvon Martin, 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.320 but there's also stories of the La riots, Like there 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:58.760 are so many other examples that we have not lived 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:02.280 through a police brutality of violence against women and girls, 0:11:02.280 --> 0:11:05.040 of school shootings, that these problems come back around and 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:07.839 back around. So the second thing being helping to make 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:11.199 those ties and helping with those historical connections because we 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:13.600 are often, as gen Z say, like we've experienced the 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:16.200 pandemic and we experienced all these things, but you guys 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:18.440 did too, And I think learning about the ways that 0:11:18.520 --> 0:11:21.240 you all have mitigated those moments and just talking in 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:24.320 as transparent of a way as possible about, like from 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:27.120 the real mental to the physical, to the economic to 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:30.000 the academic ways that you get out of hard times 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:32.000 is what young people need to hear because I think 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:34.920 we're all just adjusting to adulting and realizing that yo, 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:37.480 like this is an internal game of like how much 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:40.160 am I going to let white supremacy and capitalism dance 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:42.360 in my head every day? And the ways that you've 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:45.280 rewired that during political unrest, even if you didn't know 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:47.360 what you were doing. Hearing about it, I think is 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:49.520 so helpful because you don't realize how much of this 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:52.840 game is mental and about a belief in oneself and 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:55.920 an honoring of the daily discipline of working towards a better. 0:11:55.720 --> 0:11:56.720 Future for black people. 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:59.240 So when we take care of ourselves, we actively keep 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:02.320 ourselves alive, we build another day for a better future. 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:05.559 And I think mentors should. We can help each other 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:07.719 and inform each other so much in that it's a 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:09.840 really beautiful reciprocal way to help. 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:13.080 That's good, Marley. I do want to just reiterate our 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:15.840 space is always open. Nobody has ever silenced here, even 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:18.200 and pushback. We don't have to agree on everything. We 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:21.600 fight every week, but certainly no voices are silence here. 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:23.719 So we welcome you back anytime. Thank you so much 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:24.120 for coming. 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:24.880 Appreciate it. 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:28.079 Thank y'all, see you later. Pleasure to be on the 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:30.600 other side of this break. We're going to dive deeper 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:34.719 into this concept of rest as a form of resistance. 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:47.160 There was a point that we've been wrestling with quite 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:49.319 a bit. Andrew and Tip y'all have seen this too. 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:51.360 I wonder what you all think about this tie in 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:55.960 Victoria about rest, like the narrative of rest at a 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:59.439 time where there's so much going on, certainly not encouraging 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:01.480 people to know ever sleep and to stay woke to 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:04.599 the point of your detriment, but there is this interesting 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:09.720 narrative that's permeating. I got conspiracy theories about it, where 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:13.160 we're telling people to rest and not almost not protect ourselves, 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:16.200 and I think that's dangerous, particularly for the Black community. 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:18.480 I'm curious to know what you all are seeing and 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:20.720 hearing from your generation about that narrative. 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:24.520 I'll hop in real quick, because I think that, like 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:27.640 you know, we're living in this era where we got 0:13:27.720 --> 0:13:28.880 a generation of folks. 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:31.600 From anticizing living in their soft era, right, and so there's. 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:33.280 All of this stuff that we do to kind of 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:35.600 throw ourselves in a lull, and I think some of 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:40.960 that sort of just cultural kind of conversation is bleeding 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:44.920 over into this social justice conversation right where like this 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:47.520 soft life is being blended in with like we'll rest 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:50.600 is resistance, and we're getting some of the same talking points. 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:53.360 And like, I think because Victoria made this point earlier, 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.480 there is definitely validity to needing to rest. 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:58.880 I mean a soldier that goes to battle needs. 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:00.719 To be well fed, well slapped, right, So, like, there 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:03.320 are things that you need to do to condition yourself 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:06.240 for a long battle, and part of that is rest. 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:09.640 Part of that is sustaining rest. I do think, however, though, 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:13.920 that like, because we have done this weird blend of 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:16.880 like I said, that rest that is necessary in this 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:19.400 soft life. We have a lot of folks feeling like 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:24.320 they think their contribution to our social justice fight will 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:26.520 solely be rest. And it's like, no, you rest after 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:28.840 you do some shit, or you rest before you're doing something, 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:32.280 but restling will never be the sole action that you're 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:33.400 doing to save our people. 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:36.000 And I don't want people to like cause I do age. 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:38.200 I do believe to your point that there's a lot 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:40.640 of people it's seductive to believe that all you would 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:42.680 have to do to save our people just rest, Like, 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:44.480 I mean, who's not going to pick that position? I 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:47.080 choose the couch if that's all that we have to do, 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:49.360 you know what I'm saying, Like anybody would just say, Okay, 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:51.240 well that's how I'm going to show up. Sure, I 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:55.480 think it's important to remind people that rest is part 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:58.640 of resistance, But It is not the entire picture of resistance. 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:01.280 It is part of sustaining resis resistance, but that in 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:04.200 and of itself, if the entirety of black people is resting, 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:08.080 who is at action and working for our interests? Who 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:10.560 is fighting that fight that we will need to fight 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:13.000 to sustain through the twenty first century. So I think 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:17.000 it's important to balance that conversation out that yes, we 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:20.760 must rest, but rests on par with the work that 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:24.040 you're putting in to deserve that rest, to warrant that rest. 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:26.160 That's it because I come from a family of workers. 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:29.320 My dad comes from a small town in Virginia, Chase City, 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:31.520 one stoplight. If you're not looking for what, you'll miss it. 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:33.520 But he grew up on a farm where they raised 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:36.840 their animals. So that concept of resting, or that concept 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:39.280 of resting from my aunt, who was born in Mecklenburg County, 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:41.680 who had to get up early to walk while white 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:44.440 kids would being bused to school. She couldn't afford that rest. 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:47.920 My mother just became American in two thousand and all 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:49.840 of what it took for her to become a citizen, 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:53.160 learning things that even some of our lawmakers don't know 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:54.400 about governance. 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:56.800 Here in America. She couldn't rest, so the idea that 0:15:56.840 --> 0:15:57.920 rest alone would do it. 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:00.120 We got to get a little bit more realistic and 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:01.920 we got to get over this concept that says that 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:03.600 all we're going to do is set back and somehow 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:04.960 the world will get better for us. 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:10.400 Awful Victoria, you have thoughts on that. I do. 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:13.200 I think, well, I agree with what you said. I 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:16.000 think young folks are and not even just young folks. 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:19.600 I think people in general in this movement are prioritizing 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:23.400 self care, which I am a firm believer. You know, 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:26.080 I think it's the key to longevity in this movement. 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:27.680 You know, like, how do you fight for your people 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:31.640 if you're not taking care of yourself mentally, spiritually, emotionally, 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:34.440 all the things right? And so I don't think, you know, 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:37.680 this movement is disappearing. I think it's evolving. I think 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:41.760 rest and protection is important. I think we are creating. 0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:45.520 I think we're creating spaces and events and during events 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:48.920 and during protests for moments of health and wellness. I 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:51.280 also think that we have to acknowledge, like you said time, 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:55.760 that rest and action go hand in hand. Like doing nothing, 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:59.240 absolutely nothing is never the answer, but taking care of 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:03.240 yourself after showing up is important. Burnout is a real thing, y'all. Like, 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:05.120 and I'm sure all of you know, you know, burnout 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:07.720 is a real thing, even you know, for even for 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:11.440 myself personal experience after organizing folks to vote in October, 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:13.840 literally every single day, day in, day out, walking up 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.440 to people having conversations on foot y'all, Like, I had 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:20.840 to take a week after to just breathe and cry 0:17:21.359 --> 0:17:25.320 and just exist and rest and recover because this work 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:27.640 is heavy. I mean, when you're talking to a mom 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:29.959 who just buried her son, or you're you're helping that 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:32.480 mom pick out an outfit for their for their son 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:34.879 in a casket, like that weighs on you. 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:36.560 You know, you go to you go to sleep thinking 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:37.360 about that at night. 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:38.760 You know, I do a lot of work in human 0:17:38.800 --> 0:17:43.320 trafficking prevention, and after reading cases of babies being human 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:46.120 trafficked after you know, seeing that and then doing rescue 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:48.679 work like that, stuff stays with you. Because we're human, right, 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:51.240 we have emotions, and so I think it's important to 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:54.800 acknowledge that when you're doing the work, rest is also 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:57.320 important because that weighs heavy on you, and you cannot 0:17:57.320 --> 0:18:00.199 be effective in helping someone else is helping someone else 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:03.120 if you're not you know, showing up for yourself. 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:06.520 Mm hm, I you know. 0:18:06.640 --> 0:18:11.800 I just want to say I appreciate one. I appreciate 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:14.520 the story you told Tie about the White House having 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:19.600 b two K singers there in lieu of black activists 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:24.000 and basically all all of you young people given your 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:28.080