1 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: Good morning, peeps, and welcome to wok F Daily with 2 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:19,799 Speaker 1: Me your Girl Daniel Moody pre recording from the Home Bunker. Folks, 3 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: it is a federal holiday today and wok F is off. 4 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: It's Juneteenth, and I have a lot of mixed feelings 5 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:35,199 Speaker 1: about June teenth being made into a federal holiday at 6 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: a time when curriculum is being banned so that you 7 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:42,160 Speaker 1: can actually learn about Juneteenth. So it's just another fucking 8 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: day off that didn't begin with significance for the greater 9 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: white mainstream American society, and because of Republican pushed for 10 00:00:56,480 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: white comfort ahead of white accountability, folks will never know. 11 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: I looked at a fucking tweet earlier that was later 12 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: taken down by the George Towner, I think, which is 13 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:20,040 Speaker 1: some you know like magazine that said Happy Juneteenth, and 14 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: it had two white women, two white women sitting on 15 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 1: a blanket pouring like white girl Rose. And then they 16 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:32,320 Speaker 1: had since pulled that down. But that's what I'm talking about, 17 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:35,679 Speaker 1: when we turned something into a federal holiday that has 18 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: great significance about our freedom, about justice in America, about 19 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: how outrageous it was that enslaved people would be forced 20 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: to continue to labor, die, be raped and brutalized in 21 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: the state of Texas for two years post emancipation. That 22 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: is what June teenth is. And so during this Pride month, 23 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 1: I am so excited an honored to welcome back to 24 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 1: for really gripping conversation my friend Robert Jones Junior, who 25 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 1: is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel 26 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 1: The Prophets, which won the twenty twenty two Publishing Triangle 27 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction and the twenty twenty 28 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: two NABA Book of the Year Award for Fiction. Robert 29 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 1: Jones Junior was formerly known on social media as Son 30 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: of Baldwin, and he is just extraordinary and we get 31 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 1: into really really great conversation. So I look forward to 32 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: you all getting a taste coming up next, folks. I 33 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:57,959 Speaker 1: am so excited to welcome back to a daily after 34 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:04,360 Speaker 1: so long, so long, brilliant, brilliant writer and author and 35 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 1: friend of mine, Robert Jones Junior. You may have known 36 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: him formerly the artist known as the Son of Baldwin, 37 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:16,520 Speaker 1: who is a Brooklyn based award winning writer and is 38 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: the author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Prophets, Robert. 39 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 1: It is such a pleasure to have you back. I'm 40 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: so excited to see your face. So first I want 41 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: to ask, as we are in the midst of Pride month, 42 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: as this is Juneteenth, just how how have you been 43 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: feeling about Pride this year, this Pride twenty twenty three. 44 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: How is it? How is it landing with you? 45 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 2: For me? 46 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 3: And someone else actually asked me this question, and I said, 47 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 3: what I'm thinking about more than ever this Pride is 48 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 3: those who came before me, the ancestors who through the 49 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 3: brick and paved the path that I today can be 50 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 3: married to my husband and at least on paper, be 51 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 3: protected under the law that my sexuality is no longer 52 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:28,159 Speaker 3: considered a mental health issue. So I'm paying so much 53 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 3: respect and homage to people like Marsha P. Johnson, whose 54 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:35,919 Speaker 3: park in New York I visited for the very first 55 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 3: time yesterday, and it's it's really in a strange place 56 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 3: in New York. It's in Dumbo, and I'm not sure 57 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:49,919 Speaker 3: why it's in Williamsburg Dumbo area and not in Manhattan someplace, 58 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 3: but it's a really wonderful spot. And what I noticed 59 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:59,799 Speaker 3: was how open and care free that space. 60 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:02,600 Speaker 2: It's how close it is to the water, how beautiful. 61 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 3: The sites are, And I was wondering what she would 62 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 3: think of having this park named after her and now 63 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,159 Speaker 3: being giving the recognition that for so long she was 64 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 3: denied even by members of the LGBTQ I A plus community. 65 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:25,679 Speaker 3: So this pride, I'm I'm really focused on thinking about 66 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 3: the strategies that our ancestors used to fight for their liberation. 67 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, it's it's so interesting. I think that 68 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:40,919 Speaker 1: usually in times of great strife, but you, as somebody 69 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: who is very studied, you know, looks to the past 70 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 1: as a as a guide to your writing, to our 71 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:54,839 Speaker 1: future case for liberation. And I think too often that 72 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: that space is denied. Right people we're seeing you know, 73 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 1: book bands, we're seeing curriculum bands. We're seeing full erasure 74 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:07,280 Speaker 1: right of the black experience, let alone the black queer 75 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: experience right and contributions to the furthering of our democracy. 76 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:16,360 Speaker 1: And so I want to ask you, as a as 77 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: a writer, you know, how is the past? How should 78 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:26,760 Speaker 1: the past be serving us in this moment right at 79 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:31,240 Speaker 1: a time when so much is being banned and erased. 80 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: It's almost as if a curriculum needs to be created 81 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:41,279 Speaker 1: for people to seek the tools that are being denied 82 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,919 Speaker 1: to them in the presence. So, you know, what does 83 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:48,480 Speaker 1: what does it look like for us to have the 84 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: past be our guide to not lose hope right in 85 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: the moment that we are currently in. 86 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 3: You know, from my own personal experience, whats the tools 87 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:08,120 Speaker 3: that schools didn't give me? My family gave me. So 88 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:12,720 Speaker 3: my grandfather was a very learned and well read man, 89 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 3: and so he had shelves and shelves of books that 90 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 3: he would take out, and I'm like maybe five, six, 91 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 3: seven years old, and he would take out a book 92 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 3: that this thick and say, you try to read this, 93 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 3: And of course I couldn't read read it. I didn't 94 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 3: know every single word, but the words that I did 95 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:35,600 Speaker 3: recognize pushed me to try to understand, to try to 96 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 3: put pieces together to please my grandfather, because I realized 97 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:45,360 Speaker 3: that for him this was very important. The problem we 98 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:49,680 Speaker 3: run into now is that in many cases it's the 99 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 3: parents who are in collusion these with these government officials 100 00:07:55,160 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 3: and politicians and institutions who want to erase the past 101 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 3: to pretend, in some jingoistic nationalistic fashion that everything in 102 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 3: this country was hunky dory, that everyone is innocent, that 103 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:16,720 Speaker 3: there's nothing to be held accountable for that just by 104 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:22,760 Speaker 3: being alive, you are entitled to power and privilege and 105 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 3: all of these other sorts of things. And I wonder 106 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 3: if if it's not going to take some sort of 107 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:40,320 Speaker 3: some courageous educators to buck the system, older siblings, aunts 108 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:45,840 Speaker 3: and uncles, cousins, to interfere so such that these children 109 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:47,720 Speaker 3: who are who are subject. 110 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:48,000 Speaker 2: To these. 111 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:56,560 Speaker 3: Draconian impulses from their their their caretakers and from the 112 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 3: educational institutions, that we could tear that down, that we 113 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 3: could subvert it in some way. I'm always looking for, 114 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,200 Speaker 3: like I do that to be quite honest with my 115 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 3: own nieces and nephews, when I see that they are 116 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 3: ignorant of something, I feel like my job is my uncle, 117 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 3: as the uncle, whether or not their mother or father approves, 118 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 3: is to tell them the truth, and to not just 119 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:25,960 Speaker 3: tell them the truth such that it's just my opinion, 120 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:28,840 Speaker 3: but to point to the evidence where I got the 121 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:32,640 Speaker 3: truth from that it is my job. So we Basically 122 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:34,720 Speaker 3: what I'm saying is we have to show up as family, 123 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 3: as community, as as as soldiers as activists within our 124 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 3: own circles, not just on the larger global scale, but 125 00:09:45,679 --> 00:09:51,040 Speaker 3: also in the home such that we interfere so that 126 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 3: these these terrible things don't continue to happen because we 127 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 3: can't rely on government. We cannot the santis Abbot MTG, 128 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 3: all of these wild and luna lunatic people who are 129 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:10,720 Speaker 3: dead sets on dragging us back to the dark ages 130 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 3: at any means, at any cost, by any means necessary, 131 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:17,400 Speaker 3: And they don't listen to reason. That reason is beside 132 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 3: the point. 133 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:20,120 Speaker 2: Power is the. 134 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 3: Point, and they are willing to do anything they. 135 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:24,440 Speaker 2: Have to do to get that power. 136 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 3: So we have to then, and I'm sorry to the 137 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:33,600 Speaker 3: former First Lady Michelle Obama, when when they go low, 138 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 3: we do not go high. When they go low, we 139 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:41,280 Speaker 3: go to Hell. Yes, and we drag them there with us. 140 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:47,960 Speaker 1: You know, because for me, Robert, like I believe that 141 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:50,480 Speaker 1: that sentiment that you just that you just said, I 142 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:54,079 Speaker 1: believe that because I'm saying, you know, what you see 143 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:59,960 Speaker 1: that this Republican white supremacist Party is doing is about 144 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:04,079 Speaker 1: not only ushering in an authoritarian regime in these United States, 145 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:06,920 Speaker 1: not only breaking down our political norms in order to 146 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 1: make space and room for a strong man right, but 147 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:15,760 Speaker 1: what they are also doing is very much about creating 148 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:21,559 Speaker 1: a climate of ignorance and fear that has neighbor questioning neighbor. 149 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: So when you go back to saying what this is 150 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:29,040 Speaker 1: about is really being of service to your community, I 151 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: want to go back to that point and unpack it, 152 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:36,760 Speaker 1: because the purpose of their hate is to shrink our 153 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:40,959 Speaker 1: idea of community. They're just you know, we're hearing reports 154 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:45,199 Speaker 1: of people being shot and killed by their neighbor next 155 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:50,440 Speaker 1: door because that's the fear bubble that they are living 156 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: in where I don't even I don't even know what 157 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:58,480 Speaker 1: community is because I don't even know the person down 158 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:02,680 Speaker 1: the street because I've been told through Fox and other 159 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:06,079 Speaker 1: entities to fear that person rather than speak to them. 160 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:11,760 Speaker 1: So can we talk about, you know, how our liberation 161 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:17,559 Speaker 1: is entwined with our ability to really understand and build community. 162 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:23,480 Speaker 3: You ever hear that expression of people united can never 163 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:29,720 Speaker 3: be defeated, The opposite is also true, a people divided 164 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:37,079 Speaker 3: can always be defeated. And so they are intentionally driving 165 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:43,080 Speaker 3: neighbor against neighbor, friend against friends, ally against ally. And 166 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:45,960 Speaker 3: you know when I was, when I was still doing 167 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 3: Son of Balden on social media, I could actually see 168 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:55,560 Speaker 3: when the disruption agents would enter a conversation and they 169 00:12:55,640 --> 00:13:00,120 Speaker 3: knew exactly what to say to trigger division, where I 170 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,720 Speaker 3: would I would try to intervene and say, listen, people, 171 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 3: this person is doing this on purpose because they're trying 172 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:08,839 Speaker 3: to turn us against each other. But they have they 173 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:13,880 Speaker 3: have learned, I guess, through training, just the right psychological 174 00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:18,839 Speaker 3: acts to commit to trigger people such that they now 175 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:22,360 Speaker 3: cannot listen to reason and they fall into this tumble 176 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:28,120 Speaker 3: of division, division, division, division. So one of the things 177 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 3: I wanna, I wanna that I hope that we learn 178 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:37,959 Speaker 3: is when when we see ourselves turning against another human being, 179 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 3: when we when we're forgetting that the other person on 180 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:45,280 Speaker 3: the other side of this argument is an actual, living, 181 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:49,920 Speaker 3: breathing human being. They they already got us because they 182 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:53,320 Speaker 3: made us forget. So now I can pull my gun 183 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:57,680 Speaker 3: out on this man who who this young boy who's 184 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 3: coming to pick up his siblings and shoot them because 185 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:07,120 Speaker 3: I'm scared, because I'm ignorant. Because the more ignorant you are, 186 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 3: the easier you are to manipulate. And they are counting 187 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:15,320 Speaker 3: on that. So this this is not happenstance. What what 188 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:19,600 Speaker 3: de santis Abbott and others are doing in regard to 189 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 3: defunding education and pulling certain subjects out of school. This 190 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:30,400 Speaker 3: is by design. They're hoping that they get us to 191 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 3: the point where we are so uneducated that we believe 192 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 3: anything that they tell us. So how do we fight that. 193 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 3: We can only fight that with knowledge. That's the only 194 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:47,080 Speaker 3: way we can do it. And I'm not sure how 195 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 3: that happens in the United States of America, a country 196 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 3: that despises knowledge. So I'm looking for visionaries who can 197 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:03,440 Speaker 3: figure out ways which we can subvert this, this horrific 198 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:06,160 Speaker 3: thing that's happening in this country. And I and any 199 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:08,520 Speaker 3: student of history can see exactly where we're going. 200 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:15,640 Speaker 1: The path off the cliff is so clear, right that 201 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 1: it is not about for me. The education piece of 202 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: this isn't about even creating a sense of clarity. It's 203 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 1: about creating a sense of courage, right, because the people 204 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:30,840 Speaker 1: know better. Right. They may not need to have known 205 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: what happened in the seventeen hundred, eighteen hundreds, nineteen hundred's 206 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:37,720 Speaker 1: to today to get us to this place, but they know, 207 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 1: good goddamn well, what in actual what freedom actually looks like, 208 00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:46,840 Speaker 1: and that this is not it. So you know, the 209 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,440 Speaker 1: issue that I think too that we face, aside from 210 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:56,080 Speaker 1: this behemoth of misinformation is the desire of some to 211 00:15:56,280 --> 00:16:00,480 Speaker 1: remain ignorant. Right. There are statistics that have come out 212 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:04,000 Speaker 1: that have said, you know, most recently that only thirty 213 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:08,280 Speaker 1: percent of people in this country know a trans person, right, 214 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 1: which is which is up, by the way, up from 215 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 1: eighteen percent some ten plus years ago when I actually 216 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: got involved in the LGBTQ movement, like in a real way, 217 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:27,440 Speaker 1: eighteen percent to thirty percent. But that means, Robert, that 218 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:32,320 Speaker 1: there are seventy percent of Americans who are susceptible to 219 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:37,240 Speaker 1: the lies that are being spread about this piece of 220 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:42,000 Speaker 1: the queer community because they don't know. And so in 221 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:47,840 Speaker 1: that vein, in your opinion, what does disruption look like 222 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: for those of us inside the community to disrupt the 223 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:55,400 Speaker 1: narratives that are being spread, but also for those outside 224 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: the thirty percent that actually do how can they influence 225 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:00,480 Speaker 1: the seventy Well. 226 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:04,359 Speaker 3: You know, Tony Morrison once said that the reason why 227 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:07,720 Speaker 3: people engage in bigotry is because. 228 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:08,880 Speaker 2: It feels good. 229 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:14,720 Speaker 3: When you are, for example, some poor family living in 230 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:20,000 Speaker 3: Arkansas below the poverty level, you can't figure out how 231 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:20,720 Speaker 3: to clothe and. 232 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:21,600 Speaker 2: Feed your children. 233 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:23,400 Speaker 3: If somebody comes to. 234 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:28,840 Speaker 2: You and says, if you believe in God. 235 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:35,159 Speaker 3: And you speak out against those trans and queer people, 236 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:40,840 Speaker 3: you will be rewarded, not only not only monetarily, not 237 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:42,360 Speaker 3: only financially. 238 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:46,200 Speaker 2: But psychologically rewarded because. 239 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:50,359 Speaker 3: Your whiteness then has currency. Your cis genderness now has currency. 240 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:53,840 Speaker 3: And so we have to figure out a way the 241 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,919 Speaker 3: thirty percent and those of us in the communities to 242 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:04,840 Speaker 3: make transfer anti transness, anti queerness, racism, misogyny, all of 243 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 3: these things have a consequence that doesn't feel good. And 244 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 3: the only way you can strike in this country at 245 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:19,399 Speaker 3: the heart of those things is through money. How do 246 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 3: we take these rich people's money away? Do we stop 247 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:28,000 Speaker 3: riding the MTA and make New York come to a standstill? 248 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:31,640 Speaker 3: Do we stop going to Amazon? Do we stop shopping 249 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 3: at Walmart? And do we find other means to survive 250 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:37,880 Speaker 3: outside of that? Do we set up systems in which 251 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:41,840 Speaker 3: we can have, you know, fail face because we have 252 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:43,920 Speaker 3: to turn away from all of these companies that we've 253 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 3: come to use and love. How do we strike at 254 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:53,480 Speaker 3: their pockets such that they recognize that spreading these things 255 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 3: and causing these divisions is no longer profitable. 256 00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:57,120 Speaker 2: For them. 257 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:00,879 Speaker 3: That's the only way a capitalist will understand it. They 258 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:03,760 Speaker 3: don't care about them. They have no morals, so we 259 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 3: can't make a moral appeal to them. They throughout the laws, 260 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,080 Speaker 3: so we can't make legal appeals to them. They don't care. 261 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 3: So the only thing they care about is their money, 262 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:16,000 Speaker 3: and we got to take it away from. 263 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:18,960 Speaker 1: Them, you know. And we're seeing this right, like, we're 264 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 1: seeing what has happened, Like let's look at Target, the 265 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:27,760 Speaker 1: Target fiasco and the Budweiser fiasco, and also Disney, Right, 266 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:30,399 Speaker 1: we're seeing what it looks like when you have some 267 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:34,160 Speaker 1: companies that actually take a public stand, and whether they're 268 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:36,720 Speaker 1: pushed to it or not, like a Disney who is 269 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: just like, we're not going to have our content dictated 270 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:42,399 Speaker 1: to us by a fascist right, like, we're going to 271 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:45,199 Speaker 1: go toe to toe with you. But then you have 272 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:49,880 Speaker 1: those that capitulate to the far right, like Target did 273 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:53,399 Speaker 1: by saying that, oh, for the protection of our employees, 274 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:55,480 Speaker 1: and I use that in quotations, for the protection of 275 00:19:55,480 --> 00:20:00,000 Speaker 1: our employees, we're going to pull our pride merch from 276 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:04,440 Speaker 1: our stores and so and Budweiser, you know, who saw 277 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:11,680 Speaker 1: sales fall because of their inclusivity right of queer people. 278 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: And so I wonder I believe in a national boycott. 279 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,960 Speaker 1: I believe in grinding capitalism to a halt, because I do, 280 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:23,879 Speaker 1: like you, believe that it is the only way to 281 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,040 Speaker 1: get people to do the right thing is to force 282 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:28,960 Speaker 1: them because shame does not work right. You cannot because 283 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:32,440 Speaker 1: you can't shame the devil. So I'm like, what does 284 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: you know? Is it coordination by word of mouth? Is it? 285 00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:39,600 Speaker 1: Because we've seen it work in history with the civil 286 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:43,040 Speaker 1: rights movement, but we have not seen it. I don't 287 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:48,639 Speaker 1: think in great success in in the modern age. 288 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:49,639 Speaker 2: That is true. 289 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:54,000 Speaker 3: And here's the sad part. We cannot rely on social 290 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:56,359 Speaker 3: media because social. 291 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:57,680 Speaker 2: Media is theirs. 292 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:00,840 Speaker 3: It belongs to the one piece, and so they will 293 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:01,760 Speaker 3: see it coming and they. 294 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 2: Will disrupt it. 295 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:09,400 Speaker 3: So it has to be on the ground, underground. It 296 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:12,480 Speaker 3: has to be in that way, that way shape or form. 297 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:18,520 Speaker 3: And these young the young generation in particular, I think is. 298 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:22,879 Speaker 2: Amenable to that. They are they are seeing. 299 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:25,120 Speaker 3: The injustices that are happening around them, and they are 300 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:30,400 Speaker 3: they are looking for ways in which to battle those injustices. 301 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:33,480 Speaker 3: And we have and that's why, you know, I guess 302 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:36,639 Speaker 3: they're trying to keep the education to a minimum is 303 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 3: because they know that these kids are looking for ways 304 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:43,680 Speaker 3: to do that. So our responsibility, as the generations before, 305 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:49,400 Speaker 3: is to sit down with them and figure these things out, 306 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:52,880 Speaker 3: like we have to like come up with ace the Republic. 307 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:57,240 Speaker 3: What I envy about the Republicans is how strategized they are. 308 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:00,920 Speaker 3: They have a message, and they make that message as 309 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:04,440 Speaker 3: simple as possible, and they make it as appealing as possible, 310 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:05,640 Speaker 3: even to the people to. 311 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 2: Whom it's going to hurt. 312 00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:07,639 Speaker 1: Yep. 313 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:10,840 Speaker 2: How can we on the. 314 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:17,560 Speaker 3: Left start doing that so that our messages are easy 315 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 3: to understand yep, and that they show a clear benefit 316 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:23,200 Speaker 3: for participation. 317 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:25,120 Speaker 2: That's what we. 318 00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:29,399 Speaker 3: Need to do, and we need the most charismatic people 319 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 3: we can find, the most intelligent people we can find, 320 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 3: like Danielle Moody for president. 321 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:36,200 Speaker 2: To do this. 322 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:40,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I think that you're right, And it's 323 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:43,840 Speaker 1: so interesting. I had the good fortune of being able 324 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:46,400 Speaker 1: to speak to a group of nine through twelfth graders 325 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:49,000 Speaker 1: recently and just hear, you know, what are the issues 326 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:51,679 Speaker 1: that they're most concerned about, What are the things that 327 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:55,200 Speaker 1: they are most interested in, And it is they are 328 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:59,200 Speaker 1: very aware of the fact that older generations are afraid 329 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 1: of their generation because of how much they know right, 330 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:08,920 Speaker 1: because they are not just waiting to be filled up 331 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:14,119 Speaker 1: right with what a boomer or whomever, gen X or 332 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:18,280 Speaker 1: whatever wants to tell them, Like they readily at their fingertips. 333 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 1: They have access to the whole world and they know 334 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:23,959 Speaker 1: how to use it. And so I wonder, like, do 335 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:27,560 Speaker 1: you think you know we always look to the younger 336 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:30,359 Speaker 1: generations to be the ones to solve the problems that 337 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,919 Speaker 1: weren't created by them, And so what do you feel 338 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 1: about Generation Z and Generation Alpha that is coming behind them, 339 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:46,360 Speaker 1: and how we should aid them? But how what they 340 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:49,240 Speaker 1: are taking on and what they are taking to task 341 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:49,760 Speaker 1: right now? 342 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:54,320 Speaker 3: We have to tell them to first of all, if 343 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:58,120 Speaker 3: when they hear band books, that we have to teach 344 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:01,280 Speaker 3: them that that is the first through for them, that 345 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:04,560 Speaker 3: that is a book they have to read, because if 346 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:06,359 Speaker 3: they want to take it away from you, there's something 347 00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:08,159 Speaker 3: in there they don't want you to know, and you 348 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:10,919 Speaker 3: have to know that information in particular, we have to 349 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:15,200 Speaker 3: first guide them in that direction. But we cannot keep 350 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:19,400 Speaker 3: relying on the young people to fix the shit that 351 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:25,359 Speaker 3: we fucked up. Yep, we have to participate and fix 352 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:28,719 Speaker 3: it and I know we're tired, and we're overworked, and 353 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:31,760 Speaker 3: we have a thousand things on our plates, but we're 354 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:36,199 Speaker 3: talking about existence here. We're talking about because you know, 355 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:40,600 Speaker 3: once democracy falls in America, that's the domino that's going 356 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:43,679 Speaker 3: to make it fall everywhere else. And we are going 357 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,360 Speaker 3: to be in some dark times. So it is up 358 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:51,680 Speaker 3: to the older generations of Americans, who are some of 359 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:57,919 Speaker 3: the most cynical and pessimistic people that I have ever encountered, two. 360 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:02,760 Speaker 2: Figure this ship out and stop. 361 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:07,960 Speaker 3: And stop relying on this younger generation to fix. 362 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:09,760 Speaker 2: What we broke. 363 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:15,560 Speaker 3: Yes, one of one of the things, one of the 364 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:22,640 Speaker 3: problems that I have with Biden is this idea of 365 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:30,120 Speaker 3: going across the aisle and not we We we were 366 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:34,840 Speaker 3: at a point where Democrats had power and we did 367 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:39,280 Speaker 3: not exercise it. We just squandered it. And then now 368 00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:42,119 Speaker 3: the Republicans are in this position where they can, you know, 369 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:47,080 Speaker 3: sort of challenge us and present issues and obstacles when 370 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:51,639 Speaker 3: we when we have the power. What is it about Democrats? 371 00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:56,960 Speaker 3: Is it that they're complicit? I wonder if I'm asking 372 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:00,200 Speaker 3: myself that question, are democrats complicit? Do they ask we 373 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:03,400 Speaker 3: want the same things that Republicans wanted at least the 374 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:08,919 Speaker 3: white elite Democrats do. They want in essence what the 375 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:12,639 Speaker 3: Republicans want. And if that's true, then I have to 376 00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 3: say we, the people who do not align with either 377 00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:24,520 Speaker 3: of those parties, have to start taking back control. And 378 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:28,119 Speaker 3: we can do that on our own streets. There's a 379 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:30,760 Speaker 3: program here in New York City, in Brooklyn, in the 380 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:35,200 Speaker 3: East New York section of Brooklyn, where the community has 381 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:41,120 Speaker 3: met with the police, the NYPD, and they said, stand back, 382 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:44,879 Speaker 3: we are going to try something. We are going to 383 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:50,399 Speaker 3: police our own neighborhood as an experiment. Y'all stand over there, 384 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:55,280 Speaker 3: two blocks away, three blocks away, and when something happens 385 00:26:55,359 --> 00:26:58,880 Speaker 3: in this neighborhood, crime or what have you, we are 386 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:02,359 Speaker 3: going to intervene as citizens of this neighborhood. 387 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:03,960 Speaker 2: And what they're. 388 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:06,880 Speaker 3: Finding is that works. 389 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:11,119 Speaker 2: Yeah, the fatalities drop. Ye. 390 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:16,399 Speaker 3: People begin to know their neighbors, understand that this is 391 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:20,040 Speaker 3: a community and that we're all in this together. So 392 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:25,320 Speaker 3: in that little microcosm, something is working. When the communities 393 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:28,719 Speaker 3: decides this is ours, we're going to care for it, 394 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,040 Speaker 3: We're going to take control of it. We're gonna love 395 00:27:31,119 --> 00:27:34,520 Speaker 3: our children, We're gonna love them past these these issues. 396 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,160 Speaker 3: We're going to provide them with the resources they need, 397 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:41,400 Speaker 3: like cause they have childcare services and they have uh 398 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:44,600 Speaker 3: mental health therapy for these kids that they find in 399 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:45,520 Speaker 3: these situations. 400 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:46,480 Speaker 2: We need to. 401 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 3: Start doing stuff like that where we cut the government 402 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,760 Speaker 3: out of it and we take we take control of 403 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:58,360 Speaker 3: it ourselves. That's that's where salvation rests, not in relying 404 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:02,159 Speaker 3: on the system which has a vested interest in not 405 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:06,200 Speaker 3: in showing our best interests. 406 00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:10,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's one hundred percent right. And Robert, you know, 407 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:13,520 Speaker 1: it's always so great to talk to you because I 408 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:20,040 Speaker 1: think that our conversations always feel very solution oriented, always 409 00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:23,880 Speaker 1: feel like that the power still does remain with the people, right, 410 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:26,040 Speaker 1: and that it is it is up to us to 411 00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:30,520 Speaker 1: really look at what do we value about community and 412 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:33,240 Speaker 1: how can we strengthen what it is that we value 413 00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:35,959 Speaker 1: about community. How do we start with what is in 414 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:40,840 Speaker 1: front of us instead of you know, looking beyond ourselves 415 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:46,120 Speaker 1: for the solutions. And I think that that is really important. 416 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:50,400 Speaker 1: The last question that I have for you today is, 417 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:56,160 Speaker 1: you know, with regard to Juneteenth, that became a touch point. 418 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:58,959 Speaker 1: I have no idea why for the Republican Party, as 419 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:02,719 Speaker 1: I guess they're way to provide a federal holiday, but 420 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:07,200 Speaker 1: then at the same time ban curriculum and conversation about 421 00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:10,600 Speaker 1: said federal holiday, but pat themselves on the back for that, 422 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:16,240 Speaker 1: but can't pass the George Floyd Policing Act, can't pass 423 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:21,160 Speaker 1: a voting rights Act, but give us holidays. What do 424 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:25,800 Speaker 1: you make of how we understand June teenth? Right now? 425 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:30,680 Speaker 3: You know, that was a really great strategy on behalf 426 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:34,240 Speaker 3: of the GOP to advocate for Juneteenth as a holiday, 427 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:41,880 Speaker 3: because holidays sort of function as distractions now. June Teeth 428 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 3: is a T shirt or ice cream or getting a 429 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:48,680 Speaker 3: day off of work, so we forget what it is 430 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:52,560 Speaker 3: actually about and what it actually represents. And the sadness 431 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:58,520 Speaker 3: that's attached to Juneteenth, which is these ancestors in Texas 432 00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:02,240 Speaker 3: didn't even know they were from slavery, and they got 433 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:06,600 Speaker 3: the news late. And you know, I once said about 434 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:12,760 Speaker 3: Juneteenth that the irony of it is not that the 435 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 3: news of our freedom came too late, but that it 436 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:20,640 Speaker 3: came too early because I don't think we're free. I 437 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:26,120 Speaker 3: think this is all an illusion. We have maybe some 438 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:32,800 Speaker 3: of the trappings of freedom, but we are not actually free. 439 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:35,480 Speaker 3: Me as a black queer man walking down the street. 440 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:40,720 Speaker 3: I don't feel safe ever, because if anti blackness doesn't 441 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:43,840 Speaker 3: get me, then anti queerness will. That's that's how I feel. 442 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:49,920 Speaker 3: So I can't bother with this holiday. What I want 443 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:53,959 Speaker 3: is substantive. So you have to give me the George 444 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:57,600 Speaker 3: Floyd Act. You have to give me universal health care. 445 00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 3: Like I don't care about your your your barbecue days 446 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:03,680 Speaker 3: on Juneteenth. I don't give a shit about that. I 447 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 3: don't care about Harriet Tubman on a twenty dollar bill, 448 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:08,520 Speaker 3: which she would be rolling in her grave behind. I 449 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:14,120 Speaker 3: want my liberation, and I want it now. I'm a 450 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:16,719 Speaker 3: tax paying citizen, so I get to I have some 451 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:19,800 Speaker 3: say and where my money goes. And I don't want 452 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:23,320 Speaker 3: it to go tillions of dollars to the military fighting 453 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:27,840 Speaker 3: these unjust wars on behalf of white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. 454 00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:31,240 Speaker 3: I want my money in my community to make sure 455 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:35,680 Speaker 3: that my kids have a great education where the foundation 456 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:39,760 Speaker 3: of that education is the truth, not patriotic bs. And 457 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:42,040 Speaker 3: I want to make sure that if I'm going to 458 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:45,080 Speaker 3: participate in the workforce, then I want to be healthy, 459 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:47,280 Speaker 3: so I don't want to have to worry about health 460 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:50,880 Speaker 3: care or how I'm going to what do I choose rent, 461 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:54,440 Speaker 3: food or health care. I don't want that choice. I 462 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:58,560 Speaker 3: want to be able to work, pay my rent, clothe 463 00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:03,400 Speaker 3: my children up, pay my bills, and not worry about 464 00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:06,320 Speaker 3: if I go to the hospital, I'll be stuck with 465 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:10,480 Speaker 3: an eighteen thousand dollar bill. I was diagnosed with MS 466 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:16,120 Speaker 3: in twenty nineteen. My infusion treatment costs ninety thousand. 467 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:19,360 Speaker 2: Dollars a pop. So I get two. 468 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:23,600 Speaker 3: Infusions a year, one hundred and eighty thousand dollars. If 469 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:26,440 Speaker 3: I wasn't able to get married and I wasn't covered 470 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:29,240 Speaker 3: under my husband's health insurance, that would be one hundred 471 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:31,720 Speaker 3: and eighty thousand dollars I could not afford. So I 472 00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:37,680 Speaker 3: could not have this treatment. That's the definition of obscene. 473 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:38,160 Speaker 1: Yep. 474 00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:43,520 Speaker 3: So I want a world in which that is unthinkable. 475 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:48,680 Speaker 3: And that starts not with the Democrats and not with 476 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:51,960 Speaker 3: the certainly not with the Republicans, and not with government. 477 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:53,200 Speaker 2: That starts with us. 478 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:56,320 Speaker 3: And we have to start understanding that being a citizen 479 00:32:56,360 --> 00:32:59,520 Speaker 3: is not a passive act. We have to be engaged 480 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:04,040 Speaker 3: at whatever level we can be. We have to be engaged. 481 00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:07,520 Speaker 3: This is this is not a game. I mean the 482 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:09,080 Speaker 3: one percent treated as a game. 483 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:10,160 Speaker 2: But we don't. 484 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:12,000 Speaker 3: We can't afford to treat that as a game. 485 00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:16,640 Speaker 2: We have to be engaged period period. 486 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:23,760 Speaker 1: Robert Jones Junior, my goodness. I always always appreciate you, 487 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:28,040 Speaker 1: always appreciate your words, your work, your passion. Folks. If 488 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:32,719 Speaker 1: you have not read the profits, you absolutely should. And Robert, 489 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:36,320 Speaker 1: tell folks how they can stay connected. You put together 490 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:40,440 Speaker 1: an amazing newsletter. You point people in the direction of 491 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:44,280 Speaker 1: new books. You're doing speaking. Just tell folks how they 492 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:45,360 Speaker 1: can stay connected to you. 493 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:49,920 Speaker 3: Yes, for my speaking engagements. You can visit my website 494 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:53,400 Speaker 3: which is son of Baldwin dot com and to keep 495 00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:56,960 Speaker 3: up with my latest writings and recommendations and so forth. 496 00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:00,280 Speaker 3: I have a substack newsletter at Robert Jones you your 497 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:02,360 Speaker 3: dot substack dot com. 498 00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:06,400 Speaker 1: Wonderful Robert Jones Jr. Thank you so much for making 499 00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:09,920 Speaker 1: the time to join wok f As always, we appreciate you. 500 00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:12,440 Speaker 1: Happy Pride, Thank you, Pride. 501 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:14,840 Speaker 3: Danielle. I love talking to you because you are the 502 00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:15,960 Speaker 3: smartest person I know. 503 00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:17,879 Speaker 1: My God, that is impossible. 504 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:24,200 Speaker 3: Your brain, your brain. I so admire your brain. 505 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:34,000 Speaker 1: Thank you friend, Thank you. That is it for me today, 506 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:38,320 Speaker 1: dear friends on wok AFT As always, power to the people, 507 00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:41,880 Speaker 1: and to all the people power get woke and stay 508 00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:42,879 Speaker 1: woke as fuck.