WEBVTT - Fighting the Good Fight 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:15.360 Welcome to woke F with me Danielle Moody. This week 0:00:15.400 --> 0:00:18.720 has been extremely rough as we watch events unfolding out 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:22.360 of Minnesota and now Indianapolis amidst what has been a 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:25.880 bloody return to normalcy. It turns out that normal in 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:30.000 America means mass shootings, racist hate crimes, and extradicial killings 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:33.160 of young black people by killer white cops. This does 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:36.639 not happen by accident or coincidence. This is how our 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:39.960 country was designed. This week on woke F Daily, I 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:43.800 was joined by Jim Freeman, author of Rich Thanks to Racism, 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:46.440 a new book in which he talks about America's uber 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:49.440 wealthy and how they have profited off of our racist 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:52.920 institutions and continue to do so on a historic scale 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:56.800 during a global health pandemic infused with renewed uprisings for 0:00:56.960 --> 0:01:00.520 racial justice. We talked for half an hour about how 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:04.720 for profit racism persists in the education, criminal justice, and 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:07.440 immigration systems. If you want to hear the full in 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:11.240 depth conversation, head over to Patreon dot com slash woke AF. 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:15.640 In his book, Jim talks about the concept of strategic racism, 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:19.080 the idea that racial inequities are baked into our systems 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:22.920 by design in order to make the wealthy even wealthier. 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:25.360 I asked Jim to talk about how the fight for 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:29.880 racial justice isn't just about educating people, but directly challenging 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:35.640 our institutions that uphold and profit from racism. It's very 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:37.880 exciting that there are a lot of people now, particularly 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:41.200 after last summer, who started to recognize the urgency to 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:45.240 end systemic racism. And it's very exciting that lots more 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:48.960 people are joining this movement, joining these efforts. I mean, 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:51.120 I think the movement that's being built right now can 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:54.400 finally achieve that goal. But I wrote the book because 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:57.240 there's very little understanding of what and who stands in 0:01:57.280 --> 0:01:59.920 the way of that, and it's a lot of these 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:03.960 dynamics that you're talking about, right because I wanted people 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:09.000 to understand that the biggest reason why systemic racism persists 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:13.280 is that these dynamics pre COVID and during COVID, which 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:16.320 are so devastating for so many people of color and 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:18.760 so many communities of color, are for a lot of 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:23.880 large corporations and Wall Street banks enormously profitable. They are 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:28.320 the biggest reason why we have these deeply unjust policies 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:31.639 on the books, and they're also heavily invested in preserving 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:36.440 and expanding racial inequities, which I refer to as strategic racism. 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:39.040 So the book is really intended to give people a 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:42.799 roadmap of what it's going to take to truly dismantle 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:46.600 systemic racism, because while it's very doable, there's still not 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:49.720 enough people supporting racial justice efforts and far too many 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:51.959 people opposing them. And as you say, a lot of 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:54.919 those people are getting even more wealthy and more powerful 0:02:54.960 --> 0:02:57.840 as a results of this global pandemic. I mean, we're looking. 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:01.000 One of the things that come up for me is 0:03:01.040 --> 0:03:05.840 a recent headline Jeff Bezos, right, is now worth one 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:11.640 hundred and forty three billion dollars. And in the headlines, right, 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:16.400 are the workers that work in the Amazon factories, right, 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:19.960 that have been working around the clock to ship us 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:22.320 all our packages so that we could work from home, 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:26.799 who don't have proper healthcare, who don't have the ability 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:31.919 to sue their employer for unhealthy work environment. And yet 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:35.440 he's becoming the richest and richest and richest. I mean, 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:38.560 he's going to probably reach at some point a trillion 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:41.320 dollars in net worth, and yet the people that work 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:43.960 for him can't afford to put food on the table. 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:47.920 We see these stories and we kind of just shrug 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:51.560 Jim about it, like we get mad, and we're mad, 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:54.280 and we're on social media for a day or two, 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:57.520 and then we all go back to business as usual. 0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:01.360 How do you sustain you think the outrage and the 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:03.920 attention where the attention needs to be due, which is 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:10.440 that we have a very wrong sized capitalistic structure that 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:14.720 is based on racism and injustice and ensuring that some 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:17.279 people stay on the bottom while other people stay on 0:04:17.320 --> 0:04:22.040 the top. How do we sustain the attention and the outrage. Well, 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:23.280 I think a big part of it, I mean, you're 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:25.039 absolutely right. I mean I think a big part of 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:30.560 it is exposing the full circle of that injustice, right, 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:34.520 because there are a lot of people who are starting 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:38.480 to recognize the injustice of what of what you just said. 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:40.359 There are a lot of people who have for a 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:42.800 long time, obviously, but more and more people are recognizing 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:44.640 the injustice of what you just said. What I think 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:49.440 people didn't have much understanding of is how not only 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:54.120 are billionaires like that making a tremendous amount of money 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:56.400 off of people who aren't being paid a living wage, 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:59.640 who can't pay for, you know, all the things that 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:03.400 we take as given for meeting people's basic human needs. 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:05.400 Not only are they doing that, they're then taking their 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:11.760 money and reinvesting it in strategies to further oppress those people, right, 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:14.840 and particularly communities of color. And most of the time 0:05:14.880 --> 0:05:19.160 that's done in secret. It's not done in public view. 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:22.120 Like they're not passing all these criminal justice policies with 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:24.840 their name on it, right, They're not passing all these 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:28.920 immigration policies with their name on it. Right. They're doing 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:33.040 this mostly in secret through organizations like ALEC, the American 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:36.840 Legislative Exchange Counsel, And so they're making money off of us, 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:38.840 or they're taking the money that we give to them 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:41.520 for the products that we need to survive, and then 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:44.000 they're using that to make our lives harder on the 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:47.360 back end. So I think there's a lot of strategies 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:49.840 and tactics that we need to employ to, like you say, 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:52.600 sustain the outrage. What I hope that this book contribute 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:55.080 was shedding some light on what that looks like and 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:57.960 how that contributes to systemic racism. In particular, you know 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:01.479 in your book, Rich thanks to you look at three 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:06.400 particular areas of focus. You look at our education system, 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:13.680 criminal justice, and immigration. Walk me through those three and 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:16.440 why those three were chosen, as I mean, obviously they 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:19.360 should be. I talk about this unwoke a of all 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:21.880 the time as a former educator. I say that there 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:28.400 is no better mechanism to support the consistency of white 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:33.360 supremacy without the public education system, without us telling kids 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:36.320 who is important, who is not, who is worth studying, 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:39.680 who is not, what is considered classic literature, what is 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:43.520 not right. We are purposefully educating under the guise that 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:48.000 racism will die out with generations. And if that were 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:50.840 the case, it would have died out hundreds of years ago. 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:54.240 So why did you look at these particular areas and 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:59.119 what do they show us about how racism is exacerbated 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:01.800 and how the ultra wealthier profiting off of it in 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:05.840 these particular areas. I focused on those three areas in 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:08.400 particular because you know, there may not be a more 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:12.240 significant racial justice issue in the US right now than 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:16.400 the massive overinvestment in the criminalization of people of color, 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:21.320 alongside the dramatic underinvestment in the systems and strategies that 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:26.400 would create healthier, safer, and more equitable communities nationwide. Right, So, 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:29.880 on those three issues, you know, we've dramatically expanded the 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:33.080 criminal justice system, made it the catch all solution for 0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:37.280 an enormous variety of public health and safety issues, and 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:39.920 particularly within black and brown communities. Then we took that 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:44.120 same approach, that same destructive and ineffective tough on crime approach, 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:48.240 and we exported it to the immigration enforcement system while 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:53.200 implementing a variety of cruel and discriminatory policies targeted undocumented folks. 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:55.840 And they, meanwhile, like you say, We've never in the 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:58.040 entire history of our country been willing to create a 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:01.320 truly equitable education system. We've never been willing to put 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:04.800 youth of color on equal footing with white youth. So 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:08.040 the harm caused by each of those within communities of 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:11.960 color is astronomical. But what they also share in common 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:15.160 is that the ultra wealthy are heavily invested in maintaining 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:18.680 and even exacerbating those inequities. So if you follow the 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:22.280 money behind all the public policies that create those systems, 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:26.200 what you soon find is that you wind up coming 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:29.960 back to the network that the Koch Brothers created of 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:34.000 billionaires and multimillionaires who are investing in those systems. You 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:38.199 find organizations like ALEC with large corporations and Wall Street 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:41.559 banks that are, like I said, pushing these policies, usually secretively, 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:44.760 and those two groups in particular have made huge investments 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:48.160 in think tanks and advocacy organizations and media outlets that 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:52.760 have been very, very successful in advancing that agenda. But 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:54.520 then what I also want to do is break down why, 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:58.040 like what's the strategy behind it? And I obviously spill 0:08:58.080 --> 0:08:59.520 a lot of ink about this in the book, but 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:01.720 the short answer is because it's all those things are 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:07.200 economically advantageous for them. I refer to them as racism profiteers. 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:11.959 They make money off of mass incarceration through the prison 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:14.360 industrial complex and those dynamics, but a variety of others 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:17.560 too that before writing book I wasn't even aware of. 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:20.200 They also make money off immigrant attention. They make money 0:09:20.200 --> 0:09:23.079 off of school privatization. That's one layer, But another layer 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:26.280 is they pay less in taxes when we as a 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:30.040 society choose to dehumanize people rather than meeting their basic 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:32.760 human needs, which is a big part of all those systems, 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:35.959 and I would also say that systemic racism is extremely 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:39.559 effective at controlling us, at dividing us, at causing us 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:43.080 not to recognize our common interests. So all of those 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:53.480 dynamics help them maintain their political and economic power in 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:56.360 troubled times like these, it is important to know how 0:09:56.440 --> 0:10:00.680 to relax, unwind, and take a breath. Easy to say 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:03.559 those things, but much harder to put them into practice 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:06.040 in our lives. So I went to the best expert 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:09.040 I know. My mother, Shirley Newton, is the owner of 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:12.000 Essence of Yoga studio in New York, and after years 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:14.320 of being on the air, she finally agreed to join 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:16.760 me to share her wisdom with the woke AF family. 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:19.679 Even ten minutes of my mother's many nuggets should be 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:22.880 enough to inspire and enlighten you. But as always, if 0:10:22.880 --> 0:10:25.600 you want to hear every minute of our extensive chat, 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:28.319 and I highly recommend that you do, please check out 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:31.800 our Feel Good Friday Conversation on woke af Daily's Patreon. 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:34.199 Five dollars get you five new shows a week and 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:38.520 access to hundreds of existing shows, including this one at 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:42.320 patreon dot com slash woke af For now, here's my 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:45.480 mother Shirley Newton getting started by talking about how we 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:50.880 need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. I think that 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:53.520 a lot of people and you tell me if this 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:56.240 is true with the students that you've seen throughout the years, 0:10:56.840 --> 0:11:01.080 which is that people are afraid think of their authentic 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:06.280 selves and people are afraid of quiet. I know that 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:09.560 I was before the pandemic. You used to tell me 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:11.800 that I was on a hamster wheel all the time 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:14.480 and that I needed I needed to stop doing such 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:21.240 aggressive cardio and really needed to breathe and sit. Why 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:25.080 do you think that people are afraid of the quiet? 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:28.280 And what do you say to people who are afraid 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:32.360 of the quiet? So what do we do when we're afraid? 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:37.200 We try to run away and physically run away, emotionally runaway, 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:40.400 spiritually run away because we don't want to face what 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:43.240 the quiet is going to bring to us. So, when 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:46.120 you're in a yoga class or one of the most 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:50.760 challenging poses I find for students is say Shavasna, which 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:54.040 is the rest pose. When you have to lay there 0:11:54.400 --> 0:11:58.920 for five or ten minutes in stillness. It becomes really 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:03.120 uncomfortable for some students because when you sit there there's 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:06.400 no place for you to go. You have to be still. 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:12.119 And when the stillness comes, then like everything reveals itself 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:15.600 to you. Maybe you are dealing with something and you 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:18.080 really do not want to face it, but when you're 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:23.280 still with yourself on your yoga mat, it reveals itself 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:25.480 to h to you. There's no place for you to run, 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:28.600 so you have to face it. So it's important, and 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:32.800 I say to my students, it's important when you're in 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:36.439 a pose and you're starting to feel a little bit 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:40.600 of discomfort, as long as you're not feeling pain, but 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:43.400 it's discomfort. And what I qual it, I put little 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:46.480 words on it. I qual it heighten awareness. When your 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:51.880 awareness of the sensations in your body is heightened, sit 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:54.240 in it. Feel it because you're going to learn this 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:57.640 technique on your yoga mat that you don't get out 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:01.959 of her pose just because I'm feeling some burning sensation here, 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:04.720 not pain. If you're feeling pain, get out of it, 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:08.720 that's important. But when you're feeling that discomfort, sit in 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:11.360 it because this is where you're going to learn the 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:13.959 tools on your yoga mat to take in your daily life. 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:19.200 So when you're feeling uncomfortable in an uncomfortable situation with 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:24.000 a cowork or the family member, set face set because 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:30.040 it communicate. It's really important because it's hard. Yeah, hard 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:32.760 doesn't mean it just means which hard do you want 0:13:32.800 --> 0:13:35.880 to deal with? Ignoring your feelings is hard too, because 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:39.200 it's going to manifest someplace else. Yes, So ask yourself, 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:41.200 which of the heart do I want to deal with? 0:13:41.520 --> 0:13:44.400 Do I want to deal with the hard communication and 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:47.679 the hard sensations that I'm feeling right now in my 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:54.479 muscles so that I can build strength and release physical toxicity. 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:56.800 Do I want to deal with that hard? Or do 0:13:56.840 --> 0:13:59.080 I just want to run away and be a hamster 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:02.960 on on that wheel with no tools to help me. 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:06.200 How do you deal and stress? We all know how 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:10.760 stress reads havoc on your immune system, and that's what 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:14.160 we're all trying to do to reduce the stress hormones. 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:19.080 So sleep is another key important part of our wellbeing 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:24.640 and our wellness. So sleep, movement, movement, and I think 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:30.440 it is so underestimated about movement, physical movement, mental movement, 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:34.200 spiritual movement really important because if we don't move our 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:39.160 physical body, all the systems eventually starts breaking down. So 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:42.840 you're either going to pay attention take care of your 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:47.080 wellness so that if you don't, you know, you will 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:50.240 be forced to take care of your illnets or your illness. 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:53.520 So take the time, make time to take care of 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:58.960 your wellness so you're not forced to take care to 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:02.080 make time for or illness. And there's a quote out 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:06.720 there like that, it's really really important that we move 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:10.560 and there is no perfection in yoga. There's no perfect 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:15.040 pose because there's always another level, so we're all. I 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:19.080 approach my practice and I share this with my students, 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:22.280 always approach my practice as a beginner, so that you 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:26.520 have this open space that you can just receive because 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:30.240 there's so much for us to learn about ourselves, and 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:36.000 we may get stuck and those energetic layers and you know, 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:41.000 sit and examine and assess why am I stuck here? 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:44.680 What lessons do I need to learn so that I 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:48.960 can move on. One of the things mom is I 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:52.080 think that for me, and I always offered this on 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:55.760 the show. I've been sharing more so of my journey 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:59.840 into wellness right into fullness over the past year, and 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:04.360 I think that for a lot of ambitious people, you 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:08.240 get sucked into what we refer to as grind culture 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:11.480 right where you are just continually grinding. We talk about 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:15.400 the hamster wheel, where you're continually moving. But when you're 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:21.640 talking about movement, you're talking about purposeful, connected, mindful movement 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:26.600 as opposed to just busying yourself with moving. So I 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:29.040 just want you to talk about just a little bit 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:35.960 of the difference between moving to be busy and mindful movement. Yeah, 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:40.120 so moving to be busy, it's like trying to use 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:44.640 that constant. My calendar is full. I don't have time 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:47.640 for this. I don't have time to take care of myself. 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:51.480 So everyone has to work, and you know, because you 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:54.360 work to make the money so that you can take 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:57.960 the yoga class or whatever. Right well, unless you're but 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:02.880 there's a thing called balance, and you can't have a 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:05.919 take a look at your calendar and if there's no 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:09.600 empty spaces there, then something is missing. Our whole life 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:14.840 is built around balance. So one of the things I 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:18.119 was having a conversation with the students because we have 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:21.440 a twenty one day challenge of yoga going on right now, 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:24.520 and I say to them, ask yourself, if you're saying 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:28.400 that I can't do this because I don't have time, 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:31.320 I can't go to a yoga class. I can't take 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.919 care of myself because I don't have time. If you 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:38.960 approach it with that mindset, you're setting yourself up for failure. 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:43.040 You have to approach your well being as I must 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:46.840 make time for wellness, must make time to take care 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:50.159 for myself, not if I have time, I will unroll 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:52.680 my map and take a yoga class. It is something 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:55.679 that you must approach that I will make time for, 0:17:56.359 --> 0:18:00.400 not because I'll do it because I have time. You 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:04.600 have to create the time. And another important thing I 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:09.480 say to my students also think about this for just 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:13.720 ask yourself with the challenge that we're doing, close your 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:15.359 eyes here for a moment. And I did this in 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:19.960 class last night, and ask yourself. Have I worked for 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:23.560 someone for twenty one days out of any given month 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:26.719 in my whole life? Have I ever done that? And 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:30.520 I said, just sit for a moment and just ponder 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:34.919 on that. Have I worked for corporation? Have I worked 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:37.679 for someone else for twenty one days in any given 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:42.360 month out of my lifetime? And they all everyone had 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:46.439 a smile, and I said, now ask yourself. Think if 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:51.000 you're being your whole being here as a corporation. And 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:56.359 you are the CEO of this corporation, and you want 0:18:56.440 --> 0:19:01.120 to have a sustainable corporation, right, a sustain a lifestyle 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:04.439 to get through all the different stages of your life. 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:08.480 So if you do, if your corporation is not sustainable, 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:12.840 then what will your life be. So you go to work, 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:18.200 to work for someone else corporation so their business is sustainable, 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:22.200 but you must do that for yourself. You have yourself 0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:27.040 a priority. You are the CEO of this corporation. Your physical, 0:19:27.200 --> 0:19:31.360 your emotional, and your spiritual being is your corporation. You 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:35.679 are the CEO, and you must allow this corporation to 0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:40.280 be sustainable, treat it well so it's sustainable through all 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:43.800 the stages of your life, when your twenties, your thirties, 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:50.320 your forties, your fifties, your sixthies, like cheese in So 0:19:51.760 --> 0:19:54.440 you know, I think that that's so important, and it's 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:56.760 one of the things that I've learned most from you, 0:19:57.040 --> 0:20:01.080 so many different lessons obviously throughout like my entire life, 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:04.679 but making yourself a priority. And I will tell people 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:07.120 a story about the fact that I used to grow 0:20:07.200 --> 0:20:10.240 up eating dinner at eight or nine o'clock at night 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:14.160 because and people were like, well come over for sleepovers 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:16.879 and be like, why y'all eating dinner at nine o'clock 0:20:16.920 --> 0:20:19.359 at night? And it was because my mother was a 0:20:19.440 --> 0:20:24.679 teaching a spin class or our step class, or you know, 0:20:24.800 --> 0:20:27.400 she needed to go to the gym after her work day, 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:31.440 and so that's what she did. And it was always recognizing. 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:33.919 And I think that I'm going to ask you to 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:38.920 say this especially for caregivers, for parents who either have 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:42.760 children or they are carrying caretakers for their elderly parents. 0:20:43.320 --> 0:20:47.520 You know, you always made yourself a priority so that 0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:51.920 Nicole and I could grow up seeing ourselves as a priority. 0:20:52.359 --> 0:20:56.520 A lot of people are still stuck in martyrdom where 0:20:56.520 --> 0:21:00.520 they feel like they have to sacrifice themselves for their 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:03.199 kids or for their parents. So can you speak to 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:07.040 that about like the importance of making yourself a priority 0:21:07.119 --> 0:21:10.720 even when you have kids and elderly parents, both of 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:14.000 which you have found yourself. You know in that you 0:21:14.119 --> 0:21:17.959 cared for you know, my grandparents, You cared for Nicole 0:21:18.040 --> 0:21:22.000 and I and like and other stranger friends and things 0:21:22.000 --> 0:21:27.560 like that. How did you manage that? So, Daniel, you 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:31.000 know how mother has all these sayings, all of them 0:21:31.040 --> 0:21:33.680 that I share with my students and I share with 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:39.479 my family. Remember this, you cannot pour from an empty 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:43.159 cop Okay we say it on woke app and I 0:21:43.240 --> 0:21:46.320 credit you all the time. Another analogy that you can use. 0:21:46.600 --> 0:21:49.320 And I say this to my students that I keep 0:21:49.640 --> 0:21:52.639 saying that because this is what I do is to 0:21:52.680 --> 0:21:57.560 help people understand the importance of their well being. And 0:21:58.880 --> 0:22:02.080 one of the things that we should realize, like when 0:22:02.080 --> 0:22:07.119 you're caring for your family and you're getting you, you 0:22:07.160 --> 0:22:11.000 will have some inappropriate outbursts or you're just lashing out 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:14.600 at the kids or your spouse or your partner or 0:22:14.720 --> 0:22:18.159 family member and they're looking at you. Where's this coming from? 0:22:18.400 --> 0:22:21.040 And I will tell you a little secret. That is 0:22:21.080 --> 0:22:24.440 coming from built up resentment. Because you have given so 0:22:24.520 --> 0:22:27.960 much of yourself and you have not taken anything back. 0:22:28.280 --> 0:22:31.919 So it is really important to refill your cup. I 0:22:32.000 --> 0:22:35.560 say to my students, think of this like every Friday morning, 0:22:35.680 --> 0:22:38.360 I do a restorative your class and I call it 0:22:38.760 --> 0:22:41.320 this is a class that you come back to to 0:22:41.480 --> 0:22:45.480 redeposit in the ATM machine. Because think of your being, 0:22:45.920 --> 0:22:50.639 like everyone is taking your taking withdrawing from your ATM machine, 0:22:50.920 --> 0:22:53.719 the physical being, the well being, your spiritual being, your 0:22:53.720 --> 0:22:56.440 emotional being. You give it to your job, to your 0:22:56.480 --> 0:23:01.919 family members, and your friends, and they keep depleting you 0:23:02.119 --> 0:23:05.600 all week of that energy. When do you take the 0:23:05.720 --> 0:23:09.840 time to make a redeposit in your bag? And that 0:23:10.000 --> 0:23:12.639 is what the resort of yoga class is all about 0:23:12.640 --> 0:23:17.040 on a Friday morning, is redepositing in your energy bang 0:23:17.400 --> 0:23:20.119 so that you can pour from that cup that's fall. 0:23:25.080 --> 0:23:27.960 You cannot pour from an empty cup. I've been repeating 0:23:28.000 --> 0:23:30.280 that saying from my mother to my woke A family 0:23:30.480 --> 0:23:33.440 a lot this week as we deal with so many tragic, 0:23:33.560 --> 0:23:37.960 unnecessary stories of violence and death unfolding. It's okay to 0:23:38.200 --> 0:23:41.640 not be okay, it's okay not to watch all the videos, 0:23:41.760 --> 0:23:44.600 read all the stories. You need to take time to 0:23:44.640 --> 0:23:47.359 fill your cup. So this weekend or whenever you have 0:23:47.440 --> 0:23:50.280 the time after you're listening to this, please take time 0:23:50.480 --> 0:23:55.480 to take proper care of yourself physically, mentally, spiritually. You 0:23:55.520 --> 0:23:59.200 need it and you deserve it. If you like today's conversations, 0:23:59.240 --> 0:24:01.000 I do hope to see you in the comments and 0:24:01.119 --> 0:24:04.840 DM's over at woke AF Daily's patreon at patreon dot 0:24:04.840 --> 0:24:07.920 com slash woke AF. Until the next time you hear 0:24:07.960 --> 0:24:10.840 my voice power to the people and to all the 0:24:10.920 --> 0:24:14.200 people power. Get woke and stay woke as fuck.