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Speaker 1: I'm Will Lucas and this is Black Tech, Green Money,

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Speaker 1: Afro Tech two Lost in Texas, Bleaty Organs. Tammy Gordon

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Speaker 1: is on the main stage talking revisiting the Talented tenth,

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Speaker 1: a concept of creating leadership and Black communities via education

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Speaker 1: and missionaries of culture and expansion of thought. That's a simplification,

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Speaker 1: but you can do your homework on w E beat

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Speaker 1: the Boys in his work. She's talking with Torrean Robinson,

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Speaker 1: who's US dev at Alchemy Health, and Bridget Jones, the

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Speaker 1: hood historian Tennessee based his story and focusing on race

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Speaker 1: relations and the lasting legacy of US slavery. Excited to

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Speaker 1: be here, Torian Bridget, I'm so happy to have you guys.

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Speaker 1: We've been we've been talking about this, planning for this.

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Speaker 1: I'm just I want you to know we're friends. Okay,

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Speaker 1: this is like I love these people and so we're

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Speaker 1: gonna have a conversation. We're gonna invite you into the

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Speaker 1: conversations that we generally have. But we're here today to

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Speaker 1: talk about reclaim in your renaissance. And Beyonce has put

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Speaker 1: that back on the map. So anyone's heard the new

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Speaker 1: Beyonce album it's got a lot to do with the Renaissance,

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Speaker 1: but there are some real origins to the talented tempt

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Speaker 1: and the Renaissance, and so we want to have that

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Speaker 1: conversation with you all, um. But before we get started,

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Speaker 1: we're a lot more than our titles, a lot more

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Speaker 1: than what folks may see on the screen. And I

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Speaker 1: think I'm in charge of advancing. So I'm gonna do

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Speaker 1: some of that and if it works, it works, and

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Speaker 1: if it doesn't, I'm telling you right now, we're not

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Speaker 1: gonna use them. Um. But BRIDGIATORI and you guys, tell

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Speaker 1: us who you are, what you do, and how who

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Speaker 1: you are shows up in what you do. Um. Well,

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Speaker 1: I am a historian by trade. I am the director

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Speaker 1: of Equitable Partnerships for Bell Meat Historic Side and Winery,

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Speaker 1: which is drum Row, a former plantation. So I am

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Speaker 1: a black woman that works on a plantation. Now, whoever

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Speaker 1: talk about it my listen, um. But I've been able

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Speaker 1: to transition that into consulting for diversity, equity and inclusion

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Speaker 1: and kind of looking at how slavery is the reason

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Speaker 1: that we have so many issues still prevalent today. Um.

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Speaker 1: So I found a bridge builders historical consulting in UM

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Speaker 1: and that has opened numerous doors for me, um being

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Speaker 1: able to to talk about history in a way that

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Speaker 1: many people don't get to. When people tend to think historian,

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Speaker 1: they tend to think like old pH d Um. I'm

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Speaker 1: hood so my brand of historian is very different. And

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Speaker 1: I mean I'm native to Memphis. I went to Tennessee

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Speaker 1: State if you can't tell, um. So I'm very proud

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Speaker 1: of being able to to take up space and be

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Speaker 1: authentic to who I am. UM. So yeah, I'm I'm happy.

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Speaker 1: I'm blessed to be here. Hey again, Torrian Um you

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Speaker 1: said outside of the titles, I am a I am

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Speaker 1: a husband of twelve years. I am a father of four, seven,

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Speaker 1: five three once or crazy household, uh like they said,

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Speaker 1: I'm a multi you know, industry season leader. So I've

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Speaker 1: been across a number of spaces, you know, starting my

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Speaker 1: career in finance and retail banking, to community banking, to

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Speaker 1: youth development and to hire ed, to entertainment and now

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Speaker 1: you know working at Alchemy, which is a brand dedicated

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Speaker 1: to creating uh content for the culture around health and

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Speaker 1: wellness and so you know, and I actually was found

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Speaker 1: out about that organization. When I was at my previous

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Speaker 1: employer and Entertainment and realized how much how much we

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Speaker 1: need to heal in amongst the community. I was looking

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Speaker 1: for a resource for artists and staff and found out

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Speaker 1: about the dope things that was happening in Alchemy, and so,

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Speaker 1: you know, I wanted to give that context about the

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Speaker 1: spaces that I've been, who who I am, because it's

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Speaker 1: also helped shape you know, my narrative, my my r

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Speaker 1: V for this discussion. So when we talk about talent

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Speaker 1: to ten, it's like, you know, over the years, all

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Speaker 1: of these spaces haveing formed for me. Oh I failed

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Speaker 1: to mention, you know, from Chicago, from the career from

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Speaker 1: for those that that know, uh, they're familiar, but from Chicago,

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Speaker 1: spent thirteen years in Harlem, Uptown, New York, and then

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Speaker 1: relocated four years ago to Atlanta. And so again, where

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Speaker 1: you talk about the spaces that have been in the

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Speaker 1: industries that have been, I feel like, you know, I

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Speaker 1: could lend a certain perspective to this this discussion. Thank

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Speaker 1: you guys. You know it's so important that we gotta

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Speaker 1: bring our whole selves to this space and we're not

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Speaker 1: gonna preview the homework, but I'm gonna give you a

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Speaker 1: piece of insight to where we're going. I gotta bring

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Speaker 1: your whole selves to this experience. There's a lot of

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Speaker 1: ourselves that we don't share and get hidden when we

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Speaker 1: lead with I'm a engineer, I'm a director, I'm a whatever. Like,

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Speaker 1: let's share all of who we are, because there's so

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Speaker 1: much about being able to do that, especially in spaces

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Speaker 1: like this where there's so many of us and able

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Speaker 1: to see our reflections in one another. So thank you

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Speaker 1: all for setting the stage in that way. Um, all right,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna walk out there really quick because there's a

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Speaker 1: lot of intention in this conversation. Bridget and toring A're

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Speaker 1: gonna share a lot of insight, but I want you

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Speaker 1: guys to just follow along and know where we're going. Um,

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Speaker 1: we're talking about the renaissance. We're gonna be talking about

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Speaker 1: some topics that are tough, that are typically um triggering, Um,

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Speaker 1: but they're real and they're hours and so we're gonna

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Speaker 1: talk about that. So we're gonna talk about the Black Renaissance.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna talk about the origins of that. We're gonna

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Speaker 1: talk a lot about slavery and be real about where

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Speaker 1: some of our stuff comes from. UM, and then we're

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Speaker 1: gonna we want you guys to walk away with something.

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Speaker 1: There's homework, there's lessons like we want to be really

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Speaker 1: intentional that you guys leave this conversation with something and

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Speaker 1: then also a new connection with one another. So just

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Speaker 1: inviting y'all to know how we're going to explore the

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Speaker 1: next fifty so or minutes together. But kicking us off,

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Speaker 1: bridget the historian on our panel, can you tell us

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Speaker 1: what's what's the talented tenth? What's what's the renaissance? So

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Speaker 1: the talented tenth as a theory UM was essentially created

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Speaker 1: by a white man who was the founder of More

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Speaker 1: House UM and W. E. B. DWO boys picked up

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Speaker 1: on that and essentially just agreed with it. And it's

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Speaker 1: a theory that believes that ten percent of black people

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Speaker 1: will carry the rest of the race of black people.

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Speaker 1: So only ten percent of us has the acumen to

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Speaker 1: be successful. Not that are here right now? Where did

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Speaker 1: it come from? It came from ideas of exceptionalism. And

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Speaker 1: we've all seen ideas of exceptionalism in present day, but

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Speaker 1: historically speaking, the exceptional people were usually the people who

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Speaker 1: were either skilled laborers during enslavement, or they were by

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Speaker 1: racial So that means that you you were a black

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Speaker 1: smith for a tradesman, you had something that could translate

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Speaker 1: into a paying job, of well paying job post emancipation,

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Speaker 1: or you were by racial and head close ties with

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Speaker 1: the white community, so you were deemed an exceptional Negro

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Speaker 1: and they translated that later on into something they deemed

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Speaker 1: the talented tenth And these ten percent of people are

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Speaker 1: exceptional to all other black people, and they're gonna have

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Speaker 1: to carry the rest of black people because they just

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Speaker 1: pop babies, aren't gonna be able to make it, you know,

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Speaker 1: Tring you went to more House. We just don't know

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Speaker 1: if y'all know or heard what Bridges said. But it's

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Speaker 1: named after a white man, even though it is the house. Right,

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Speaker 1: How did this show up at more House? I mean

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Speaker 1: it showed up a new student orientation. I started school

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Speaker 1: in two thousands, so I'm also recognizing like times have

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Speaker 1: changed over the last twenty years. Um, you know, we've

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Speaker 1: had advancements, you know, or you know, when you think

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Speaker 1: President Obama and things like that. That again, new generations

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Speaker 1: may have different philosophies. But yeah, when I when I

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Speaker 1: started at Morehouse, I mean, and a number of folks

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Speaker 1: may have heard this at More House or across other

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Speaker 1: HBCUs or spaces, you know. The first thing that was

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Speaker 1: told to us and Slay was like, look to your level,

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Speaker 1: look to your right, that person is probably not gonna

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Speaker 1: be here. Uh. And at that time it was more

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Speaker 1: of adoption, or how I interpreted it was, you know,

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Speaker 1: this is a weeding out process. This is the best

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Speaker 1: of the best that's going to make it. And unfortunately,

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Speaker 1: half you know, half my you know, class that started

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Speaker 1: with me did not graduate. So again I took that

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Speaker 1: as a badge of honor. But it's one of those

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Speaker 1: things that I think depending how you internalize that, you know,

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Speaker 1: or the language that may be used, you know, confidently

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Speaker 1: I was thinking I was gonna be the you know,

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Speaker 1: the baddest man walking on two feet and coming to

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Speaker 1: save our people and you can go back to Chicago

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Speaker 1: or were dissipated to you know, wherever spaces we want

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Speaker 1: to go to in the world professionally, and we're gonna

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Speaker 1: help save the race. But again it's like that's how

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Speaker 1: it was. The seeds were planted. I don't think that

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Speaker 1: was necessarily their intention. And like I said, because I

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Speaker 1: have gone on to of you know, other spaces and industries,

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Speaker 1: one of the things I didn't know. I did come

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Speaker 1: back to Morehouse, you know, close to fifteen years later

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Speaker 1: as a fundraiser, and so I was as a fundraiser

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Speaker 1: at that time. You know a lot of that language

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Speaker 1: has changed, and so you know where it was no

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Speaker 1: longer you know, look at your level, look to your right.

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Speaker 1: It's like, hey, once you're here, we need to make

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Speaker 1: sure we see you through. Uh. And so I've seen

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Speaker 1: a lot of shifting that but yes, it started there

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Speaker 1: and then you know I became a you know, my kappaman,

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Speaker 1: and so again it's like go through that process and

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Speaker 1: things like that. Like you again, it adds to this

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Speaker 1: notion that you know, you're part of this Talented Tents.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna go off, We're going to save our people.

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Speaker 1: But again that could shift or half shift over shifted

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Speaker 1: over times for me. Yeah, and we're gonna come back

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Speaker 1: to this notion of saving our people because that's that's

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Speaker 1: a through line through the Renaissance, through Talented tenth and

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Speaker 1: even the evolutions of different phases of Renaissance. But do

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Speaker 1: you also went to hbc U T s U. I

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Speaker 1: had to show up in year world. Well, I was

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Speaker 1: told the exact same thing that torrion was an orientation

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Speaker 1: to look to your left, look to your right. Thing. So,

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Speaker 1: and it was accurate. The person who was to my

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Speaker 1: right did not graduate with me. The person to my

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Speaker 1: left did. Um. And also it showed up in spaces

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Speaker 1: like trying to pledge. Man, that was the hardest process

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Speaker 1: of of essentially kind of classism and trying to be

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Speaker 1: exceptional enough to make the line like that was. That

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Speaker 1: was a thing, you know, And if you went to

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Speaker 1: an HBCU pleasure in an HBCU was that's like creaming

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Speaker 1: the crop. When you meet people that went to HBCUs,

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Speaker 1: the first question asked did you pledge? And if you didn't, watch,

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Speaker 1: didn't you Um. So it definitely showed up there. I

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Speaker 1: think historically we see it in the major rette lines.

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Speaker 1: I know colorism has been historically really big with major

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Speaker 1: reading at HBCUs and in some HBCU instances even admission. Um.

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Speaker 1: There's a I won't say it's a fact, but there's

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Speaker 1: a probable rumor concerning fisk and historically administering the paper

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Speaker 1: brown paper bag tests for admission into Fisk University. So

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Speaker 1: if you're not this light or above this shade, you

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Speaker 1: can't even come here. Um. So I think it shows

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Speaker 1: up in numerous rays throughout HBCU culture. How many folks

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Speaker 1: and audience went to an HBCU show hands, Hey, any

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Speaker 1: d nine folks in the crowd? Oh ceol ceo. My grandmother,

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Speaker 1: my great grandmother, used to do the paperback tests before

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Speaker 1: we go to church, and I remember her being like,

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Speaker 1: y'all gotta wear stockings. Put on those white stockings because

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Speaker 1: y'all not light enough to be showing your legs out

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Speaker 1: in church. And so it's really interesting how these notions

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Speaker 1: that we may read about, and I don't know how

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Speaker 1: many of you guys heard about the town's attends before,

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Speaker 1: like before today, before beyoncet At talking about it on

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Speaker 1: her album There's a Few Hands. These are things that

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Speaker 1: are imprinted on us, right, and they came from somewhere, right,

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Speaker 1: there's origins from somewhere. Um. We'll talk a little bit

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Speaker 1: about where those origins are and where they show up.

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Speaker 1: But I've said I was listened to a lot of

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Speaker 1: the panels that ifro Tech the past couple of days.

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Speaker 1: We got folks who are looking for jobs. We got

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Speaker 1: folks who are trying to like figure out where my

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Speaker 1: stuff comes up? Where it shows up? Do I turn

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Speaker 1: that off? Can I be free because I'm with twenty

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Speaker 1: five thousand other black people, but I'm also interviewing and

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Speaker 1: trying to make connections and get that funding. How is

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Speaker 1: how has this followed you? Right? So, like y'all experienced

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Speaker 1: their firsthand at an HBCU, some of us in D

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Speaker 1: nine space being in step clubs, majorrette as you shifted

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Speaker 1: into your professional world, right this role or other ones

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Speaker 1: like how are y'all navigating some of this stuff that's

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Speaker 1: been imprinted on you from both your collegiate experience but

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Speaker 1: like in cases of great Grandma, like it's likely embedded

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Speaker 1: in our families to how do yall navigate up? I

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Speaker 1: think code switching was my hardest lesson, UM, learning how

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Speaker 1: to enter space and straddle that line between authenticity and professionalism. UM.

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Speaker 1: That was really really difficult for me because I believe

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Speaker 1: in being completely myself at all times, But that is

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Speaker 1: not always the best method towards getting to your bag

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Speaker 1: because a lot of times other people are not aware

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Speaker 1: of how your authenticity is a part of you because

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Speaker 1: you're expected to assimilate. You're expected to come into spaces

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Speaker 1: and and take up space in a way that makes

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Speaker 1: other people comfortable. And when you step outside of that box,

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Speaker 1: you become a problem. And I think I've been saying

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Speaker 1: on LinkedIn this idea of like the quiet firing, you

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Speaker 1: don't want to be quiet fired because you're trying to

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Speaker 1: be yourself at work. Um, I've had numerous instances of

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Speaker 1: like being at working again. I work on a historic plantation,

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Speaker 1: so there's levels of microaggressions that I've had to deal

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Speaker 1: with when talking about slavery with twenty five white people,

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Speaker 1: even down to oh, you're so well spoken, m child.

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Speaker 1: Was I not supposed to be? What does well spoken mean?

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Speaker 1: What's you thought I was gonna come in here? Ghand guys?

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Speaker 1: And if you did, you're still a historian. You still

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Speaker 1: got more facts than most people, right, But they would

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Speaker 1: discredit your facts solely because of how you look and

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Speaker 1: how you present yourself. I could have all the degrees

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Speaker 1: and accolades and certifications in the world, but at the

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Speaker 1: end of the day, when I step into their room,

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Speaker 1: I'm a five nine black girl with blue hair, and

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Speaker 1: they don't feel like these these things can coexist together.

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Speaker 1: Trying I want you to answer, also want to hear

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Speaker 1: your thoughts on this professionalism and authenticity because they seem

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Speaker 1: to be separate. But are they And in your experience,

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Speaker 1: what does that look like? Wherever you want to stop?

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Speaker 1: I guess to continue like that as I left Morehouse.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it doesn't matter if you go to HBC U,

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Speaker 1: p W I. You know, black folks, we treat each

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Speaker 1: other as a community. So if you move to a

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Speaker 1: certain city like New York, you know, and everyone knows,

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Speaker 1: it's like who has been It's like you find your

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Speaker 1: you find your your people. You know, whether you're in banking, creatives, uh, nonprofits, whatever,

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Speaker 1: you know, a lot of times we end up coming together,

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Speaker 1: all of us. And so what I've started to see

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Speaker 1: over time was, I mean we you know, you brunching

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Speaker 1: it up and you know, we engage in discussions. So

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Speaker 1: I mean some of these notions around talent attempts or

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Speaker 1: how you approach the world, you know, are going to

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Speaker 1: be not necessarily dispelled, but they can't evolve. And so

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Speaker 1: in my case, you know, like I said, I'm starting

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Speaker 1: my career in finance, UM working for HSBC Banking at

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Speaker 1: the time. UM, I opened our first branch in Harlem,

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Speaker 1: and so when I did that, it was the beginning

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Speaker 1: of the recession, so you know, pretty much set myself

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Speaker 1: up for failure. And I remember them asking me one time,

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Speaker 1: and I guess that was a micro aggression. They asked me, hey,

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Speaker 1: do you want to go back downtown as a way

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Speaker 1: to kind of asked me like, hey, your your careers

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Speaker 1: in jeopardy because you're not hitting these numbers. And they

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Speaker 1: had a cookie cutter model where it's like it didn't

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Speaker 1: matter if you open on a hundred twelth or Wall Street,

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Speaker 1: and so I was like, you, no, I wouldn't stay

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Speaker 1: around here, and and that that became my beginning of

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Speaker 1: kind of being authentically Uh me, I wanted to I

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Speaker 1: lived in Harlem, I worked in Harlem, so I wanted

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Speaker 1: to be within the community. Uh And I got to

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Speaker 1: see the community different. So that was and so kind

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Speaker 1: of connected into again to our peers and dispelling notions

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Speaker 1: or change involving people. My group just kind of saw

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Speaker 1: how I would move and so it's like, hey, you

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Speaker 1: sacrificed and you worked, you know, work for a bank

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Speaker 1: in Harlem and then I went into nonprofit work, which

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Speaker 1: ultimately I ended up working at a bank, I mean

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Speaker 1: nonprofit the Harlem Children in Harlem and that space there

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Speaker 1: and now tied into UM, the professionalism, working in the community.

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Speaker 1: UM being around the youth and younger folks, I think

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Speaker 1: dispels or pushes a lot of those boundaries or things

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Speaker 1: that we may hold onto. So when we talk professionalism,

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Speaker 1: and I remember at the time, where are the tech conference,

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Speaker 1: you know, UM, your biggest you know uh icons um

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Speaker 1: not black, but just in the tech space around that time,

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Speaker 1: you know, you have your Mark Zuckerberg's you had Steve

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Speaker 1: Jobs wearing black, but Mark winning a hoodie, and so

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Speaker 1: it's kind of hard to tell, you know. And we

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Speaker 1: have some of these traditional talented tenth notions around professionalism,

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Speaker 1: which ultimately I believe we're rooted in again, you know,

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Speaker 1: benchmarking against those that weren't from our culture, you know,

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Speaker 1: mainly white folks. And so if you're if you're telling

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Speaker 1: youth they have to dress a certain way. And then

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Speaker 1: at the same time saying tech industry was the pathway

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Speaker 1: of the future, and they're looking at examples like it was.

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Speaker 1: It was hard, it was an inauthentic balance to be

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Speaker 1: able to talk to him that way. So it started

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Speaker 1: formulating for me or pushing that notion like what are

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Speaker 1: we talking about? Uh? And I started showback up when

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Speaker 1: I went back to more House because it was to

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Speaker 1: fundraise where you know, you have some folks and recruiters

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Speaker 1: still in the finance space asking like, oh you need

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Speaker 1: to change you know, shade or change it. It's like

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Speaker 1: all of this, you know, I think as a community

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Speaker 1: or as a culture, we should have like start to

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Speaker 1: have a thought, well, think about where some of these appearances,

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Speaker 1: guidelines professionalism, what are we really talking about? Because, like

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Speaker 1: I said, as I went from Harlem Children's on which

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Speaker 1: part of the way we also bonded it or got

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Speaker 1: towards community and built community with the youth was also

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Speaker 1: being able to relate, relate, uh, relate to them. And

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Speaker 1: so you have someone that looks like you, that speaks,

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Speaker 1: you know, in a cocially relevant way. Uh, that's really

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Speaker 1: you know, inspiring them because you know how to you

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Speaker 1: know how to kick that lit with you know, you

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Speaker 1: know how to talk that stuff. You're interested in some

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Speaker 1: of the same things. And so when I started to

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Speaker 1: see examples, you know, from there, you know, to entertainment.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's just like, look, we're talking about the future.

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Speaker 1: A lot of those examples, you know, it's like, what

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Speaker 1: are we really holding onto? And and I realized it's

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Speaker 1: like maybe those are rooted in things that aren't necessarily

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Speaker 1: necessary for success, because by the time I got to entertainment,

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Speaker 1: you know, it's working at J. Cole's Drayville and uh

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Speaker 1: Drainville where it's like, you know, you have generationally, arguably

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Speaker 1: our great generation's greatest artists that may not epitomize what

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Speaker 1: W D W E. D. The Boys was talking about

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Speaker 1: when he was talking about talented that, but he and

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Speaker 1: a number of our artists were going to relate more

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Speaker 1: to the future than some of the things and notions

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Speaker 1: that we were trying to you know, dispel to them. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna come back to how we're able to navigate that, right,

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Speaker 1: because we I've got we've got a little bit of

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Speaker 1: time and experience on our side. Right, We've been able

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Speaker 1: to navigate professional settings, we have expertise in certain areas,

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Speaker 1: and so there's an era of privilege that allows authenticity

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Speaker 1: to show up for us, right and for folks who

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Speaker 1: have a bit more experience than it would for someone

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Speaker 1: who's out here looking for a job or trying to

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Speaker 1: make a career pivot or um change industries. I want

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Speaker 1: to get really specific about some of our stuff, because

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Speaker 1: you guys brought it up right. There's some things about

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Speaker 1: our hair, about our skin color, about the way we

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Speaker 1: talk about where we come from, what part of town

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Speaker 1: we're in. We didn't make those up right. And part

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Speaker 1: of we've been on the bravity dot org side, so

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Speaker 1: I get to run the bravity or Foundation, which is

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Speaker 1: a nonprofit side to Affrotech, Gravity Inc. And all the

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Speaker 1: things that you guys know bravity dot com to be.

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Speaker 1: We talk a lot about what our assignment is right,

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Speaker 1: and part of my assignment here is to ensure that

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Speaker 1: we're shifting our relationship to stuff that was never ours

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Speaker 1: to begin with and reclaim right. So like reclaiming this renaissance,

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Speaker 1: reclaiming notions of power that are ours. Right, we inherited

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Speaker 1: a lot of stuff. It's been imprinted on our DNA.

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Speaker 1: It shows up and how we were raised, it shows

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Speaker 1: up in the schools we go to. It shows up

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Speaker 1: and how we interview and think about professionalism and jobs. Right,

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Speaker 1: let's get real specific about what those things are, where

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Speaker 1: they came from, and then what we got to give back. Right,

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Speaker 1: let's give that back to wherever it came from. Right,

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Speaker 1: somehow we've taken on the notion of slavery as if

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Speaker 1: we were slaves, Right, that's our origin. Give them back

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Speaker 1: to the enslavers. We didn't do that, right. There's a

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Speaker 1: whole lot to us that has come about, like black

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Speaker 1: folks should be extinct, we shouldn't be here, And there's

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Speaker 1: so much about our power and about what we've navigated

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Speaker 1: and how we've navigated that should force us to ours

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Speaker 1: and look at that source of the information, like that

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Speaker 1: source of our power, and let go of the other things.

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Speaker 1: So I just I want to get specific, cause y'all

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Speaker 1: talked about it. We bridget it. Um, we're gonna see

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Speaker 1: where the slides are in here. Ignore this if it

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Speaker 1: is not relevant to what we're talking about, but we're

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Speaker 1: gonna we're gonna talk about it. Hair dress, All these

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Speaker 1: things came up. Where do you guys want to start with?

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Speaker 1: Then you want to start with touring and then bridget

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Speaker 1: where did it come from? You wanted? I was gonna say,

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Speaker 1: you want to start with a degree in education. We

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Speaker 1: had a tech conference. Yeah, let's go with it all right. UM.

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Speaker 1: So degree in education, as far as the way that

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Speaker 1: we put on it today has, first of vice, has

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Speaker 1: always been a thing. Education has always been something that

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Speaker 1: UM was for the well more wealthy. Education was a

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Speaker 1: class system even before UM. Back in Greek society, historically

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Speaker 1: only the wealthy was able to get an education. Everybody

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Speaker 1: else was a pauper or something like that. UM. But

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Speaker 1: as it relates to the current society, UM, the educated

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Speaker 1: black people historically were again either free black people who

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Speaker 1: had access to education because they were free because in

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Speaker 1: many Southern states it was illegal for you to learn

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Speaker 1: how to read and write UM, or in post emancipation

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Speaker 1: it was people who had wealthy white benefactors who could

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Speaker 1: afford to educate you. So somebody had to foot the

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Speaker 1: bill for that education until public schools become a thing.

425
00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:29,080
Speaker 1: And essentially education has always been a class thing. So

426
00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:33,520
Speaker 1: as we begin to establish HBCUs right after emancipation, these

427
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,840
Speaker 1: schools are places in spaces where black people who had

428
00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:39,760
Speaker 1: no education could come and get the early routiments of it,

429
00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:41,879
Speaker 1: so reading, writing, and arithmetic they used to call it

430
00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:45,640
Speaker 1: the three rs UM and then they they evolved into

431
00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:49,720
Speaker 1: the universities that we see today. So at one point, historically,

432
00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,520
Speaker 1: black colleges was all we had, that was the only

433
00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:55,760
Speaker 1: place we could go get an education. And today, you know,

434
00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:58,919
Speaker 1: I think to to see this resurgence of popularity for

435
00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,000
Speaker 1: HBCUs is really positive because I think it's it's great

436
00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,280
Speaker 1: to see black people champion HBCUs in a way that

437
00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:07,639
Speaker 1: I don't think we've seen probably the last twenty to

438
00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:12,880
Speaker 1: thirty years. Introject real quick tory and we went on

439
00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:14,840
Speaker 1: when we got here on Friday, we went on a

440
00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:20,040
Speaker 1: tour with Black Austin Tours. His name Javier Wallace runs

441
00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:22,720
Speaker 1: these tours. He founded it in twenty nineteen and he

442
00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:26,879
Speaker 1: takes you around downtown Austin to let you reconnect with

443
00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:29,040
Speaker 1: like the origins of blackness that are in the city.

444
00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:32,320
Speaker 1: He talked a lot about education, and there was a

445
00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:34,200
Speaker 1: group of students that we were on this tour with

446
00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:36,520
Speaker 1: and they were just like, well, how how are they

447
00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:38,399
Speaker 1: going to go to college? If they couldn't read, if

448
00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:42,480
Speaker 1: they couldn't write, if they like, weren't they ignorant? Like

449
00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,399
Speaker 1: they couldn't they couldn't access this even if it was

450
00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:47,840
Speaker 1: offered to them. And one of the things he said

451
00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:50,200
Speaker 1: that stuck out to me was like, don't confuse ignorance

452
00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:54,720
Speaker 1: and access. Right. Our people were listening. They they were

453
00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:57,320
Speaker 1: with the grape vine, right And um, I think, he said,

454
00:24:57,400 --> 00:24:59,639
Speaker 1: James Ball, And so you hold me accountable, James Wallban

455
00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:02,600
Speaker 1: Coin to him, the grapevine and information would get to

456
00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:05,520
Speaker 1: and from and through black people. We would find ways

457
00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:09,000
Speaker 1: to educate ourselves. Even if we didn't have access to

458
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:11,920
Speaker 1: the means to write or read, we would still know.

459
00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:14,359
Speaker 1: And so even as you talk about this like we

460
00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,920
Speaker 1: can't we can't confuse the notion of our aspirations and

461
00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:20,840
Speaker 1: wanting to do more and wanting to get education with

462
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,000
Speaker 1: the idea that it wasn't accessible to us. Those are

463
00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:26,040
Speaker 1: two very different things. Yeah, I think, And even looking

464
00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:30,760
Speaker 1: at what we deemed to be quality education, if you

465
00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:33,359
Speaker 1: look at the argument between w. E. B. Two Boys

466
00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:36,760
Speaker 1: and Booker T. Washington, because Washington being very much so

467
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:40,720
Speaker 1: UM technologically focused and feeling like and not to say

468
00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:43,240
Speaker 1: that his views were not in some ways problematic, but

469
00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:49,359
Speaker 1: feeling like black people should focus specifically on agriculture and

470
00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:54,560
Speaker 1: um technological advancements of that time period, and W. B.

471
00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:58,919
Speaker 1: The Boys are saying we didn't feel enough fields. We

472
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:01,600
Speaker 1: need to go get eduction haitian and run for political office.

473
00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:05,440
Speaker 1: These were two very opposing views, but very necessary because

474
00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:09,520
Speaker 1: if the world collapses today, me and my degree we

475
00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:14,359
Speaker 1: can't grow nothing. Mm hmm. It's I would say. Also

476
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:16,560
Speaker 1: when we look at this and we're talking about the spelling,

477
00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:20,680
Speaker 1: you know, the talented tenth or reimagining it or how

478
00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:23,000
Speaker 1: is it showing up amongst us? I mean, you know,

479
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:25,080
Speaker 1: I'm not saying in the public stere but amongst our

480
00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:27,560
Speaker 1: community chats or friends and things like that. You know,

481
00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:30,639
Speaker 1: I know there's a there's big discussions around the value

482
00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:33,479
Speaker 1: of education. Of course, you know HBCUs are being pushed,

483
00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:37,800
Speaker 1: but I mean college in general, and we're talking we're

484
00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:39,479
Speaker 1: coming to a point where you know, all of that

485
00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:43,479
Speaker 1: is being disrupted. The whole country is looking into it,

486
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:46,399
Speaker 1: the world is looking at us. Um. You know, like

487
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:48,320
Speaker 1: I said, in the spaces that I've been, I've seen

488
00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,399
Speaker 1: it being reimagined. Uh and so. And when I was

489
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:54,040
Speaker 1: also last at Morehouse when we were talking about new

490
00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:56,119
Speaker 1: pathways where the tech conference and so, a lot of

491
00:26:56,119 --> 00:26:58,560
Speaker 1: what you saw. Again, if you have a student saying

492
00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:02,960
Speaker 1: looking at you know, some of these founders and and

493
00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:06,080
Speaker 1: and see where they never finished their degree. Some of

494
00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:08,399
Speaker 1: the stuff for us where it's like we're quantifying or

495
00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:10,760
Speaker 1: putting value on each other, like whether or not you

496
00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:14,120
Speaker 1: finished or you've got this degree, versus maybe the education

497
00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:15,960
Speaker 1: side of it is like what type of skills or

498
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:18,720
Speaker 1: what what type of advancement? I mean, Jay Z doesn't

499
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:20,760
Speaker 1: have a degree, but it's like would any any of

500
00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:23,000
Speaker 1: us not go to a master class? You're gonna have

501
00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:27,600
Speaker 1: a like you know. So it's one of those things

502
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,000
Speaker 1: where I think for us, you know, it's not a

503
00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:32,560
Speaker 1: right or wrong, it's just a reimagining where you know,

504
00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:34,600
Speaker 1: when we talk about you know, us as a people

505
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:37,159
Speaker 1: at the table, it's gonna be some folks that have

506
00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:40,480
Speaker 1: you know, degrees, they're gonna somewhere nbas and certifications. Some

507
00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:42,879
Speaker 1: are gonna have you know, certifications with boot camps and

508
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:46,280
Speaker 1: or someone's gonna live life and have experience because they've

509
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:48,480
Speaker 1: been you know, entrepreneur for a number of years and

510
00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:50,480
Speaker 1: so and we can't discount that because I would throw

511
00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:53,879
Speaker 1: there in the education platform because because it's experience and

512
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:55,880
Speaker 1: so it's just one of those things that you know,

513
00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:59,760
Speaker 1: how we're looking at it is all I'm encouraging, encouraging

514
00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:02,280
Speaker 1: us to do, was just like, look at it more inclusive,

515
00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:03,560
Speaker 1: where it's going to be a little bit of that,

516
00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:06,800
Speaker 1: this and that to ultimately, you know, get us to

517
00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:10,679
Speaker 1: where we need to get to. Um, let's go to

518
00:28:11,359 --> 00:28:14,920
Speaker 1: let's go to hair. Right, you brought it up, Let's

519
00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:16,560
Speaker 1: go to hair. I know you got something under that,

520
00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:20,480
Speaker 1: but let's even even the clean cut. Right you talked

521
00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:23,280
Speaker 1: about blue and talked about your hair being blue. We

522
00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:25,800
Speaker 1: have a lot of conversations at home about my sister

523
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:27,520
Speaker 1: and I both have a little boys who have big,

524
00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:31,280
Speaker 1: natural curly hair, and our parents and great aunts are like,

525
00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:33,280
Speaker 1: don't you don't you want to edge that up? Don't

526
00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:35,920
Speaker 1: you put on a wave cap? Like, aren't there there's

527
00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:39,440
Speaker 1: he needs to look a certain way, Like that's undone,

528
00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:44,200
Speaker 1: it's unkept, it's not right. Are you incapable of doing

529
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,640
Speaker 1: your job with blue hair? Bridget? Does your beard prevent

530
00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:51,000
Speaker 1: you Tory from being able to go out and advocate

531
00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:55,160
Speaker 1: for mental health for black men, for supporting students, Like,

532
00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:57,760
Speaker 1: let's talk a little bit about what our appearance does

533
00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:01,680
Speaker 1: and how where'd that come from. So, in regards to hair,

534
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:05,760
Speaker 1: hair has always been something that goes across the diaspora.

535
00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:10,800
Speaker 1: So black people UM over across the ocean in Africa

536
00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:14,400
Speaker 1: have always been able to do some amazing things with

537
00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:18,440
Speaker 1: their hair, UM, and it symbolized tribe and region there

538
00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:22,040
Speaker 1: and they still in many cultures do this today. UM.

539
00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:26,479
Speaker 1: But when we got over here is when individuality and

540
00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:29,080
Speaker 1: that capacity started to become a problem. And I think

541
00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:31,280
Speaker 1: the first time that you really see this in history

542
00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:35,120
Speaker 1: is about seventeen fifty six fifty seven down in UM

543
00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:38,080
Speaker 1: Louisiana specific to New Orleans, when they created what was

544
00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:40,840
Speaker 1: called the teen Yon Law. And the Teenyon Law was

545
00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:51,800
Speaker 1: created because UM, white women felt like, uh, I'm trying

546
00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:54,560
Speaker 1: to say this in the video, you need to say.

547
00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:59,400
Speaker 1: White women felt like our hair was a distraction to

548
00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:04,520
Speaker 1: their in So they went to um, the person who

549
00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:07,120
Speaker 1: was basically like the governor at the time because this

550
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:10,640
Speaker 1: is during a period before Louisiana was um part of

551
00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:15,400
Speaker 1: the United States officially, and basically said you've got to

552
00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:20,400
Speaker 1: do something about these these free mulatto women specifically and

553
00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:24,680
Speaker 1: these enslaved women they hair. My husband, he looking, I

554
00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:26,920
Speaker 1: can't know, you gotta do something about it. And so

555
00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:28,880
Speaker 1: he passed a law called the ten young law and

556
00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:32,200
Speaker 1: women had to wrap their hair, and it it stopped

557
00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:35,680
Speaker 1: black women being able to distinguish themselves from free and

558
00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,680
Speaker 1: enslaved in a lot of cases, and it made all

559
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:41,560
Speaker 1: of us just looking slave. But the gag is though

560
00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:45,200
Speaker 1: they took them ten youngs and they wrapped them just

561
00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:50,200
Speaker 1: so fly the fly, and before you know it, a

562
00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:56,760
Speaker 1: teen young was considered hope couture by French royals. And

563
00:30:56,840 --> 00:31:00,120
Speaker 1: you can go find wealthy white French women where are

564
00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:02,360
Speaker 1: in a team young because they thought it looked dope.

565
00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:06,800
Speaker 1: But black women were legally obligated to where those raps

566
00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:13,320
Speaker 1: Appropriation're just gonna put that in the box right there

567
00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:21,000
Speaker 1: for the mentoring for the men. And it's it's interesting,

568
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:24,240
Speaker 1: and I guess it. It becomes it's a decision, and

569
00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:27,120
Speaker 1: it becomes a question of the spaces and places that

570
00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:29,440
Speaker 1: you're at. And so when I think of your traditional

571
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:33,600
Speaker 1: business banking, you know those folks like clean cut, not

572
00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:37,760
Speaker 1: loud and understanding. The rule of thumb was you're doing

573
00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:41,040
Speaker 1: this because you want your appearance not to distract from

574
00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:43,800
Speaker 1: the business at hand. That's how how I was taught

575
00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:48,280
Speaker 1: to me. Um, that's how I showed up. But over time,

576
00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:51,600
Speaker 1: and I've seen this push amongst the younger generation where

577
00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:53,040
Speaker 1: it's like, why do I need to do that? Why?

578
00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:55,400
Speaker 1: Why can't I? Why do I want to maintain my dreads?

579
00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:58,240
Speaker 1: I want to maintain my beard. And the thing I

580
00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:00,280
Speaker 1: would tell them at the time is just like, think

581
00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:01,840
Speaker 1: about where you're going. So if you're going in this

582
00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:04,800
Speaker 1: majority white space and this is what is expected, this

583
00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:07,600
Speaker 1: may prevent you from getting an opportunity, you know, and

584
00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:10,080
Speaker 1: just no, it's not fair. Life ain't fair. So I'm

585
00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:12,000
Speaker 1: not saying it's right and wrong. It's just not fair.

586
00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:14,680
Speaker 1: But that's a decision you're making. But if you want

587
00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:17,640
Speaker 1: to play that game, that's a decision you're making. Um,

588
00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:20,040
Speaker 1: So that's how I may show up in that. But

589
00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:25,280
Speaker 1: again moving on into more creative entertainment. Technically, I've been

590
00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:29,280
Speaker 1: working in black spaces since twenty two thousand eleven, so

591
00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:33,040
Speaker 1: it's been freeing, you know, across various industries because even

592
00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:37,000
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, I started growing my beard out, especially

593
00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:39,280
Speaker 1: when you know, I think I started losing my head.

594
00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:42,080
Speaker 1: I never found here. I've never really found out. I

595
00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:44,280
Speaker 1: just cut it all off. But you know, you start

596
00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:46,479
Speaker 1: to show up in different ways and and get creative

597
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:47,920
Speaker 1: with that, and you see a lot of black men

598
00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:51,720
Speaker 1: do that, whereas between they're here and you know, um,

599
00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:53,760
Speaker 1: you know, with their beards, and so I've seen it,

600
00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:56,240
Speaker 1: seen it become a lot more free. I think the

601
00:32:56,400 --> 00:33:00,200
Speaker 1: kept thing is still. I don't know if culturally will

602
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:02,120
Speaker 1: never let that go, because it's like, hey, look at

603
00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:04,000
Speaker 1: the end of the day, you know, you could say

604
00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,080
Speaker 1: you're being on you know, natural, but if it's like

605
00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:07,440
Speaker 1: you have edged it up or something, you know what

606
00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:09,320
Speaker 1: I mean, Like it's still you know, we've seen you know,

607
00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:13,000
Speaker 1: Steph carrying them and everyone ask questions like like you know,

608
00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:15,080
Speaker 1: you're not gonna get a line up, But it's just

609
00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:17,840
Speaker 1: one of those things. I don't I don't think culturally

610
00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:19,480
Speaker 1: we may get rid of that, but I think there's

611
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:23,000
Speaker 1: still a way to present it authentically. But you know,

612
00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:27,680
Speaker 1: um yeah, yeah. What I love about spaces like this

613
00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:30,880
Speaker 1: about after attack. I walked into Exbow Hall yesterday and

614
00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:35,240
Speaker 1: I mean, we are everywhere, and our hair and our

615
00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:40,040
Speaker 1: colors like gorgeous. Just everybody's looking good. We're out here

616
00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:43,880
Speaker 1: being ourselves. And even if this space is not necessarily

617
00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:46,840
Speaker 1: representative of what you have to go back home to, right,

618
00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:50,440
Speaker 1: so your office space, your job space, your community space.

619
00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:53,440
Speaker 1: We know right now this is our representative of Auston right,

620
00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:58,080
Speaker 1: Austin six five percent black right. I think we've done tripled,

621
00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:03,360
Speaker 1: quadruple that this week. What's really powerful about these spaces

622
00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:05,360
Speaker 1: is the fact that we get to be seen in

623
00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:07,760
Speaker 1: one another. Right. So I get to see other beautiful

624
00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:11,600
Speaker 1: black people moving their hair and doing things in different ways,

625
00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:15,239
Speaker 1: trying out different colors and textures and outfits and being

626
00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:18,319
Speaker 1: brilliant in that right and like exercising that And so

627
00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:20,600
Speaker 1: even if I don't see it, I get to take

628
00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:23,160
Speaker 1: a bit of that reflection and power from folks that

629
00:34:23,200 --> 00:34:26,919
Speaker 1: I'm with today and potentially give myself a bit more

630
00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:30,760
Speaker 1: permission to let go of some stuff. Right like our

631
00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:33,680
Speaker 1: our parents, who I think did the best they could

632
00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:37,359
Speaker 1: to help us navigate the systems, get the job, like

633
00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:39,680
Speaker 1: make sure that we're in these spaces and feel confident

634
00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:43,040
Speaker 1: and comfortable, like they passed the baton so that our

635
00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:44,719
Speaker 1: kids the way they don't have to. They don't have

636
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:47,080
Speaker 1: to where you show up as you baby, You show

637
00:34:47,160 --> 00:34:48,840
Speaker 1: up with all your hair and all your glory and

638
00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:51,759
Speaker 1: then talk your stuff. And that's going to be the

639
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:55,359
Speaker 1: thing that we hope, right, becomes what's more evident than

640
00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:58,680
Speaker 1: our physical appearance, because somehow our appearance got associated to

641
00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:01,719
Speaker 1: being dirty. Don't care you got locks, They've got to

642
00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:05,680
Speaker 1: be dirty. That we're not dirty, right Like, somehow that

643
00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:09,280
Speaker 1: got associated to that. Somehow I got associated to being unclean,

644
00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:13,400
Speaker 1: right to being scary droves of black people. This is threatening.

645
00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:15,520
Speaker 1: Something's got to be going on. You sure there's not

646
00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:17,120
Speaker 1: gonna be a fight this week at are like? You?

647
00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:19,960
Speaker 1: You sure all y'all know how to act together? Right? Like?

648
00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:23,439
Speaker 1: The notion of even us being in groups together, being

649
00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:28,360
Speaker 1: in community together, is somehow threatening to others, right. And

650
00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:31,680
Speaker 1: so the responsibility that we've have in here and even

651
00:35:31,719 --> 00:35:34,319
Speaker 1: with some of these notions and origins, right is knowing

652
00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:37,839
Speaker 1: where they came from, knowing what they meant, what they

653
00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:41,640
Speaker 1: were used to do to control. And then let's start

654
00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:45,279
Speaker 1: to reimagine what our go forward plant is, right Like,

655
00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:47,560
Speaker 1: what what are we going to do next? How do

656
00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:51,000
Speaker 1: we reshape and rethink that? And so as we think

657
00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:53,440
Speaker 1: about some of these origins, and there's a few slides

658
00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:56,480
Speaker 1: of these so that you guys have access to the history. Um,

659
00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:59,000
Speaker 1: you also have access to these two So please like

660
00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:02,799
Speaker 1: connect with them outside of this space. How do we

661
00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:09,640
Speaker 1: begin to reimagine these notions that are deeply imprinted on us,

662
00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:14,239
Speaker 1: deeply in our DNA, when a lot of it has

663
00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:16,880
Speaker 1: pinned us against one another, Right Like we were when

664
00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:18,279
Speaker 1: we were prepping for this, A lot of what we

665
00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:19,799
Speaker 1: were talking about was like, Yo, I'm not black, I'm

666
00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:23,680
Speaker 1: o J Right. We don't even see ourselves in one another,

667
00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:27,680
Speaker 1: largely because these things have divided us, right, Like I

668
00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:30,600
Speaker 1: went to a p W Y, y'all went to an HBCU.

669
00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:33,520
Speaker 1: Maybe my p W I is better, Right, Like my

670
00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:35,839
Speaker 1: hair is straight, years is curly, I'm like skinning your

671
00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:40,680
Speaker 1: dark steam. We have created these separations amongst ourselves. And

672
00:36:40,719 --> 00:36:45,480
Speaker 1: so even if not consciously I'm trying to be against you,

673
00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:47,839
Speaker 1: I know there's not room for all of us. Right.

674
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:51,960
Speaker 1: I don't see myself and you necessarily as a community, right,

675
00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:53,760
Speaker 1: Like not the three of us because we're the homies,

676
00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:57,080
Speaker 1: but like as a community, we're not necessarily seeing ourselves

677
00:36:57,080 --> 00:37:00,920
Speaker 1: in each other. How do we begin to reimagine that?

678
00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:03,440
Speaker 1: How do folks use a space like afro tech to

679
00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:08,280
Speaker 1: start to reimagine some of these deeply rooted notions. First,

680
00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:12,200
Speaker 1: I want to say that our division is not our baggage.

681
00:37:12,239 --> 00:37:15,759
Speaker 1: That division was given to us. UM. I think that

682
00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:18,600
Speaker 1: when we think about how we divide ourselves, of course

683
00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:22,439
Speaker 1: with color, that was something that happened due to miss

684
00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:25,359
Speaker 1: engeneration in many cases. Not to say that black people

685
00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:27,880
Speaker 1: don't come in our shades, because black people just come

686
00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:31,640
Speaker 1: in all shades, but in the context of Black American history,

687
00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:33,960
Speaker 1: miss engeneration is one of the largest reasons that we

688
00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:37,959
Speaker 1: come in various shades. UM. So that division was given

689
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:40,600
Speaker 1: to us. We didn't ask for that. UM. The p

690
00:37:40,840 --> 00:37:44,359
Speaker 1: w Y versus hbc CU narrative again given to us.

691
00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:46,080
Speaker 1: At one point in time, we could only go to

692
00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:51,440
Speaker 1: hbc U s. Once desegregation happened, our schools still underfunded,

693
00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:54,799
Speaker 1: so you know they was undefunded back then. If you

694
00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:58,640
Speaker 1: wanted a quality education in n with all the bells

695
00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:01,239
Speaker 1: and whistles, had to go to a p w I.

696
00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:04,680
Speaker 1: It wasn't your choice, it was given to you. UM. Now,

697
00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:09,080
Speaker 1: as that relates to how we how do we reimagine this,

698
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:12,919
Speaker 1: I think it comes back to us kind of reconnecting

699
00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:15,960
Speaker 1: with one another and releasing that baggage. UM. I know

700
00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:18,320
Speaker 1: Easter Ray said something that I thought was really dope

701
00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:23,640
Speaker 1: about when people start to get on, they started networking up.

702
00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:27,719
Speaker 1: What you need to do is network across. And when

703
00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:29,560
Speaker 1: she said that, it clicked for me because I think

704
00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:32,000
Speaker 1: it's something so powerful about reaching out to the people

705
00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:36,320
Speaker 1: that are on your direct level. You ain't gotta go

706
00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:39,880
Speaker 1: try to find Beyonce day two of you being on,

707
00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:43,920
Speaker 1: it's somebody that went to school with you that is

708
00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:46,879
Speaker 1: also just as hungry as you are, and they want

709
00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:48,759
Speaker 1: to be on just like you want to be on.

710
00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:57,239
Speaker 1: And I think, okay, um. Now, like for example, my

711
00:38:57,360 --> 00:39:01,239
Speaker 1: her stylist, she traveled here for me. She went to

712
00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:05,359
Speaker 1: t issue with me baby trying to get her bag too.

713
00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:08,680
Speaker 1: So it was important that I gave her this moment

714
00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:12,640
Speaker 1: because this moment was huge to me. That's networking across,

715
00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:19,439
Speaker 1: because most of us come from humble beginnings and we're

716
00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:22,279
Speaker 1: all just trying to make it. So if we reconnecting

717
00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:26,759
Speaker 1: you spaces and moments like these, that's the easiest way

718
00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:30,799
Speaker 1: to reimagine the Renaissance and to recreate something that they

719
00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:38,520
Speaker 1: ultimately tried to destroy, which was our community. I'm gonna

720
00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:40,080
Speaker 1: go there. I'm I'm gonna put a little on this

721
00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:44,759
Speaker 1: on us. You know, in the sense that we all

722
00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:49,759
Speaker 1: recognize when not homogeneous. You know, um, when I'm on

723
00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:52,080
Speaker 1: it with you know, we're from different I think one

724
00:39:52,120 --> 00:39:54,480
Speaker 1: thing that I got from going to HBCUs like the

725
00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:57,520
Speaker 1: first time, you know, being from Chicago, you meet someone

726
00:39:57,640 --> 00:40:00,400
Speaker 1: from well, I can't say Memphis because you know, we

727
00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:04,200
Speaker 1: know Chicago is a suburb of Mississippi. But but when

728
00:40:04,239 --> 00:40:07,200
Speaker 1: you meet someone from Texas or someone from Cali, you know,

729
00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:10,640
Speaker 1: the East Coast. It's like most of that knowledge I

730
00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:13,600
Speaker 1: had was consumed the music or what you saw on TV.

731
00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:16,640
Speaker 1: And so some of these notions, especially as I see

732
00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:19,000
Speaker 1: them show up in tech chains or whatever. You know,

733
00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:20,920
Speaker 1: some of that is his own stuff and it may

734
00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:22,879
Speaker 1: be rooted in some of the systems. But some folks

735
00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:25,120
Speaker 1: believing that and we've seen it, we see it, you know,

736
00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:28,920
Speaker 1: during this divisive time black Twitter or whatever where you like,

737
00:40:29,040 --> 00:40:32,800
Speaker 1: if some some I'm not gonna name things, but represents

738
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:36,400
Speaker 1: representatives of the black you know, within the black community.

739
00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:39,839
Speaker 1: Just do some public in the public sphere, like all

740
00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:42,480
Speaker 1: of us, have different reactions to it, you know what

741
00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:43,960
Speaker 1: I mean, And some of that may be rooted in

742
00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:48,840
Speaker 1: folks and also understanding what I feel like understanding some

743
00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:51,360
Speaker 1: of these things. And when I meet these things, I mean, culturally,

744
00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:54,840
Speaker 1: we just assume everyone thinks the same. We assume everyone's

745
00:40:54,840 --> 00:40:56,560
Speaker 1: gonna have those beliefs. When I went to Morehouse, there

746
00:40:56,640 --> 00:40:58,840
Speaker 1: was such as such the fourth you know, so I

747
00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:01,600
Speaker 1: meeting brothers that were rational, you know, like you know,

748
00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:05,320
Speaker 1: had legacies and different social economic classes and things like that.

749
00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:08,560
Speaker 1: And so again it's like I've taken the time over

750
00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:10,279
Speaker 1: the years or I've seen it over the years, where

751
00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:12,520
Speaker 1: and what our courage you know, you know, as we

752
00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:15,360
Speaker 1: continue to talk about moving as a community is not

753
00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:18,040
Speaker 1: necessarily we should be empathetic within our own culture of

754
00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:21,400
Speaker 1: like the differences that exist. Um. And that's where I

755
00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:23,320
Speaker 1: would just push a little just where some of it

756
00:41:23,400 --> 00:41:26,040
Speaker 1: is the own us on us to understand. But because

757
00:41:26,080 --> 00:41:28,680
Speaker 1: as soon as you say something that disagreement to the

758
00:41:28,719 --> 00:41:31,080
Speaker 1: majority of everyone pousing on that person, and it's like

759
00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:35,480
Speaker 1: you see within amongst us, we don't we don't agree

760
00:41:35,560 --> 00:41:38,120
Speaker 1: upon everything. I mean, beauty s lines and barbershops. You

761
00:41:38,200 --> 00:41:39,840
Speaker 1: see that all the time where people are able to

762
00:41:39,880 --> 00:41:42,200
Speaker 1: talk about it, those saying the same comments they'd be

763
00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:44,440
Speaker 1: made in the public. It's like, oh no, you know,

764
00:41:44,560 --> 00:41:47,040
Speaker 1: we don't, you know, yes we do, and we have

765
00:41:47,120 --> 00:41:48,560
Speaker 1: our own stuff, and so I think some of it

766
00:41:48,640 --> 00:41:50,919
Speaker 1: does show up just because we just need to push

767
00:41:50,960 --> 00:41:52,640
Speaker 1: to make sure that we're a little bit more empathetic

768
00:41:52,719 --> 00:41:57,520
Speaker 1: internally or just understanding that where where where could that

769
00:41:57,600 --> 00:41:59,360
Speaker 1: exist or how how could it be showing up now

770
00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:02,839
Speaker 1: for that particular the person this whole idea that we're

771
00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:06,239
Speaker 1: not one community. Right, we look at other cultures and

772
00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:08,320
Speaker 1: you go to a particular part of town, right, and

773
00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:11,120
Speaker 1: that's that part of town, and that's that part of town,

774
00:42:11,160 --> 00:42:15,200
Speaker 1: and these families all lived together, and all we have

775
00:42:15,440 --> 00:42:18,720
Speaker 1: right now is the hood, right, And so has rebirthed

776
00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:21,000
Speaker 1: this idea of the black wall streets and maybe maybe

777
00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:23,800
Speaker 1: will consider what it means to all live together and

778
00:42:23,920 --> 00:42:27,479
Speaker 1: be this like homogeneous community. But right now we don't.

779
00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:30,560
Speaker 1: We don't have that. And I'm trying to be like

780
00:42:30,640 --> 00:42:32,400
Speaker 1: Bridget when I grow up, y'all. So I'm in a

781
00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:36,480
Speaker 1: blue hair history, I'm in all all the things that's

782
00:42:36,640 --> 00:42:40,640
Speaker 1: these are goals, and I'm in class at a p

783
00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:44,680
Speaker 1: w I studying history. And one of the things we

784
00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:47,560
Speaker 1: were talking about was this idea of cultures and communities, right,

785
00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:51,520
Speaker 1: And we're talking about Native Americans and um, the tribes

786
00:42:51,640 --> 00:42:54,520
Speaker 1: and artifacts, right, and like they want to be able

787
00:42:54,560 --> 00:42:56,840
Speaker 1: to give things back that they stole and took, and

788
00:42:56,920 --> 00:42:59,439
Speaker 1: so they're looking at groups that they exploited. They're looking

789
00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:01,520
Speaker 1: at groups. And when I say they this is like

790
00:43:02,239 --> 00:43:07,000
Speaker 1: white European centered historians are saying, like, we don't messed up.

791
00:43:07,239 --> 00:43:10,560
Speaker 1: You know, we we took stuff. There are some people

792
00:43:10,719 --> 00:43:13,320
Speaker 1: black people who don't have any really roots or connections

793
00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:16,520
Speaker 1: to their history, and we stole something, so we probably

794
00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:19,040
Speaker 1: should give that back, right, And one of the women

795
00:43:19,080 --> 00:43:22,000
Speaker 1: in my class was like, yeah, you're right, Like I

796
00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:23,680
Speaker 1: think they would want it back. We should just we

797
00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:26,080
Speaker 1: should give it back to them. And so I'm looking

798
00:43:26,120 --> 00:43:28,520
Speaker 1: at them, like, who are you going to give it to? Barack?

799
00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:31,400
Speaker 1: Like we there's no there's no tribe leader, there's no

800
00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:35,480
Speaker 1: one who's like speaking on behalf of black people, like

801
00:43:36,040 --> 00:43:38,799
Speaker 1: who's hoped in it? Right? And so as we as

802
00:43:38,840 --> 00:43:42,879
Speaker 1: we consider afrotech right, and we consider technology, but also

803
00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:48,680
Speaker 1: consider this need for figuring out how we receive ourselves

804
00:43:49,200 --> 00:43:55,279
Speaker 1: in ourselves, how we collectively access artifacts and documents and

805
00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:59,200
Speaker 1: just stories of our history, like tech is an interesting

806
00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:02,919
Speaker 1: vehicle for that, right, Like tech, and right now, Web

807
00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:05,239
Speaker 1: three like we just saw the alpha we are competition.

808
00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:07,880
Speaker 1: Congrats to the winner. Those all the competitions. The competition

809
00:44:07,960 --> 00:44:09,920
Speaker 1: was really dope. Um, but congrats to the winner. We

810
00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:12,399
Speaker 1: were watching you guys in the back. Um. I wanted

811
00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:16,279
Speaker 1: to play the piano and saxophone. So I'm also a consumer. Um.

812
00:44:18,280 --> 00:44:21,520
Speaker 1: We don't like tech might be a space and is

813
00:44:21,560 --> 00:44:24,400
Speaker 1: the space as we're learning here to like really connect

814
00:44:24,560 --> 00:44:28,360
Speaker 1: this notion and be a part of that reimagination. What

815
00:44:28,560 --> 00:44:30,200
Speaker 1: is your perspective on that? Like, how do you how

816
00:44:30,239 --> 00:44:32,600
Speaker 1: do y'all see tech? Tori? And you mentioned music right,

817
00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:37,319
Speaker 1: and like this space in general is curated, so well,

818
00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:39,560
Speaker 1: I know I'll work for Levity. But also this is

819
00:44:39,640 --> 00:44:42,960
Speaker 1: my first affrot tech conference and it's just dope. Everything

820
00:44:43,040 --> 00:44:47,560
Speaker 1: from the transition music, like everything just feels black right,

821
00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:50,160
Speaker 1: Like it feels like it was meant for me to

822
00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:53,839
Speaker 1: be here, Like folks care that I'm showing up. There's

823
00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:56,440
Speaker 1: a whole experience in here that is really important. That

824
00:44:56,520 --> 00:44:59,359
Speaker 1: they are leveraging tech to be able to do right

825
00:44:59,400 --> 00:45:02,239
Speaker 1: in the platform of technology, to do as we think

826
00:45:02,239 --> 00:45:05,440
Speaker 1: about reimagination. Is their space for technology and leverage for

827
00:45:05,600 --> 00:45:09,640
Speaker 1: music to like rethink and maybe access game a bit differently.

828
00:45:10,280 --> 00:45:13,960
Speaker 1: I mean, uh, I was just gonna say I think

829
00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:17,560
Speaker 1: that when speaking to talk about his history. I think

830
00:45:17,600 --> 00:45:19,920
Speaker 1: that there's so much room as a person that's created

831
00:45:19,960 --> 00:45:26,439
Speaker 1: a career in museums. Museums are slowly but surely going

832
00:45:26,600 --> 00:45:31,920
Speaker 1: to have to become more technologically advanced because it's very

833
00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:34,040
Speaker 1: few people. I won't say very few, but it's the

834
00:45:34,200 --> 00:45:36,480
Speaker 1: number of people who go to museums and just gonna

835
00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:38,759
Speaker 1: stand in front of a panel and read six paragraphs.

836
00:45:40,080 --> 00:45:44,120
Speaker 1: That's that's dwindling. I'm one of those people that's gonna

837
00:45:44,160 --> 00:45:47,319
Speaker 1: read six paragraphs, but that's my preference. In the world

838
00:45:47,400 --> 00:45:52,000
Speaker 1: of social media and TikTok attentions, fans, they reassure, you

839
00:45:52,080 --> 00:45:53,920
Speaker 1: gotta give me a lot of information real fast. And

840
00:45:54,000 --> 00:45:56,720
Speaker 1: I think if we could find a way to merge

841
00:45:56,920 --> 00:46:03,080
Speaker 1: the dissemination of historic knowledge with technology, that could transform

842
00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:07,360
Speaker 1: how museums operate. When you think about how the National

843
00:46:07,480 --> 00:46:10,800
Speaker 1: Museum of African American History and Culture came and with

844
00:46:10,920 --> 00:46:14,520
Speaker 1: such a pivotal moment for black museums and black history,

845
00:46:15,040 --> 00:46:18,440
Speaker 1: if we could find a way to really give them

846
00:46:18,520 --> 00:46:21,279
Speaker 1: a technology arm so that people who may not be

847
00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:23,880
Speaker 1: able to travel to DC can still get access to

848
00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:27,279
Speaker 1: the information that could shift museums that could shift the

849
00:46:27,320 --> 00:46:32,680
Speaker 1: profession of historians. I think we're seeing it right now. Um.

850
00:46:34,560 --> 00:46:37,640
Speaker 1: I think it's just there's going to be a respect

851
00:46:37,760 --> 00:46:40,480
Speaker 1: level like that we're giving to the time, are they

852
00:46:40,680 --> 00:46:42,880
Speaker 1: right now? And I'm you know, dating myself being a

853
00:46:43,000 --> 00:46:45,040
Speaker 1: fort the old black man. You know some of the

854
00:46:45,200 --> 00:46:46,880
Speaker 1: you know, some of the technology I'm seeing, It's like

855
00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:50,839
Speaker 1: I don't need to use that. But when you recognize,

856
00:46:50,960 --> 00:46:54,120
Speaker 1: like or I would have to recognize that that is

857
00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:56,080
Speaker 1: the way we're talking Web three all day. You know,

858
00:46:56,760 --> 00:46:59,000
Speaker 1: this is where we're headed. It's almost like you know,

859
00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:02,360
Speaker 1: this is where we're moving, get on or get left behind,

860
00:47:02,920 --> 00:47:05,360
Speaker 1: and recognize that it's already happening. I mean, if it

861
00:47:05,480 --> 00:47:07,760
Speaker 1: wasn't happening, we wouldn't have what we call black Twitter,

862
00:47:08,120 --> 00:47:11,320
Speaker 1: We wouldn't have you know, black TikTok or you know

863
00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:14,600
Speaker 1: in these things, these technologies that have come up, we

864
00:47:14,760 --> 00:47:18,400
Speaker 1: have as a culture, have placed our thumb print on it. Immediately.

865
00:47:18,520 --> 00:47:20,239
Speaker 1: You saw what happened with the Clubhouse when it came out.

866
00:47:20,320 --> 00:47:23,319
Speaker 1: Black Thos got involved, became lit and then we made

867
00:47:23,360 --> 00:47:26,640
Speaker 1: it go away. Like so it's it's we find ways

868
00:47:26,760 --> 00:47:29,560
Speaker 1: to add our culture. You know, we're building you know,

869
00:47:29,680 --> 00:47:31,600
Speaker 1: we find ways to add our culture. Wherever we're at,

870
00:47:31,840 --> 00:47:34,680
Speaker 1: we're building community at community, at at Alchemy. Like so

871
00:47:35,120 --> 00:47:38,640
Speaker 1: wherever we're at, we're moving a community. Uh, it's just

872
00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:41,680
Speaker 1: recognizing and this is what I said, the respect recognizing

873
00:47:41,800 --> 00:47:44,759
Speaker 1: that it's no longer going to be you know, for

874
00:47:44,880 --> 00:47:48,359
Speaker 1: my demographic, no longer going to be always big Mama

875
00:47:48,440 --> 00:47:53,160
Speaker 1: Sunday dinner. It may be your text shame, it may

876
00:47:53,200 --> 00:47:55,680
Speaker 1: be friends given, you know, or it's it's hype of

877
00:47:55,920 --> 00:47:59,160
Speaker 1: you know, it's a it's nuanced, and it's multifaceted where

878
00:47:59,160 --> 00:48:00,719
Speaker 1: it's going to be a little bit in person, it's

879
00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:02,480
Speaker 1: going to be a lot of this, you know, a

880
00:48:02,520 --> 00:48:04,160
Speaker 1: tech conference, and then it's just going to be the

881
00:48:04,239 --> 00:48:07,840
Speaker 1: rest of it, maybe you know, digitally when we're building

882
00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:10,959
Speaker 1: community through there, which is fine. And so I feel

883
00:48:11,040 --> 00:48:14,520
Speaker 1: like once once we have come to recognize that that

884
00:48:14,719 --> 00:48:17,919
Speaker 1: is where black community exists now, you know, either whether

885
00:48:17,960 --> 00:48:20,160
Speaker 1: we're building it on our own platforms and our own

886
00:48:20,160 --> 00:48:23,360
Speaker 1: spaces or taken over some of their regardless, Like I

887
00:48:23,440 --> 00:48:25,200
Speaker 1: feel like as long as we use that in a

888
00:48:25,280 --> 00:48:28,560
Speaker 1: healthy way, I feel like the negativity, like that's I'm

889
00:48:28,560 --> 00:48:31,320
Speaker 1: not promoting that, but there are good uses of that,

890
00:48:31,640 --> 00:48:33,560
Speaker 1: you know, because you could get a lot of information

891
00:48:33,640 --> 00:48:37,040
Speaker 1: from those those influencers or creatives that are on TikTok

892
00:48:37,120 --> 00:48:42,440
Speaker 1: all these other spaces. So we use technology, we connect

893
00:48:42,520 --> 00:48:47,080
Speaker 1: with folks, we learn new mechanisms, maybe new modalities. My

894
00:48:47,160 --> 00:48:49,200
Speaker 1: six year old is teaching me all about the things,

895
00:48:49,360 --> 00:48:52,479
Speaker 1: because it's like, what am I doing? It's four y era,

896
00:48:52,719 --> 00:48:54,279
Speaker 1: that's not it. I don't even know. I don't even

897
00:48:54,320 --> 00:48:58,239
Speaker 1: know TikTok. So Instagram is where we're gonna stop. But

898
00:48:58,400 --> 00:49:00,839
Speaker 1: we use all that right, We're on its telegrams, we're

899
00:49:00,880 --> 00:49:05,160
Speaker 1: talking to one another, We're dancing and surf swagon right

900
00:49:05,280 --> 00:49:07,759
Speaker 1: like wabb We're doing all the things that bring us

901
00:49:07,800 --> 00:49:11,680
Speaker 1: together and build this community. And then we leave after check.

902
00:49:12,719 --> 00:49:15,960
Speaker 1: How do we make sure that we take that back

903
00:49:16,040 --> 00:49:18,120
Speaker 1: home with us? Like? What are the ways that we're

904
00:49:18,680 --> 00:49:21,480
Speaker 1: staying connected? The group chat is definitely one, but I,

905
00:49:21,680 --> 00:49:25,239
Speaker 1: for one, get very overwhelmed with group chats. They work

906
00:49:25,320 --> 00:49:26,880
Speaker 1: in the moment, and then at home, I'm like this

907
00:49:27,280 --> 00:49:32,560
Speaker 1: new too. No notifications. Okay, that's that's a tip. How

908
00:49:32,680 --> 00:49:33,840
Speaker 1: how are we gonna take this home? How are we

909
00:49:33,840 --> 00:49:37,080
Speaker 1: gonna take this community piece back home. I think, of

910
00:49:37,239 --> 00:49:40,840
Speaker 1: course Instagram. Instagram is one of the most influential apps

911
00:49:40,920 --> 00:49:45,040
Speaker 1: that I think we have seen created. Um, by following

912
00:49:45,120 --> 00:49:48,319
Speaker 1: your your favorite content creators on Instagram who are doing

913
00:49:48,440 --> 00:49:52,040
Speaker 1: this work. Um, that's how you stay connected. And I'm

914
00:49:52,120 --> 00:49:54,800
Speaker 1: old school baby, Come get a business card and shoot

915
00:49:54,840 --> 00:50:01,080
Speaker 1: me an email. Um. Yeah, I'm analog girl in the

916
00:50:01,160 --> 00:50:05,480
Speaker 1: digital world. Like I'm trying. I'm a TikToker barely. Um.

917
00:50:05,719 --> 00:50:08,320
Speaker 1: So I think that by connecting in any way that

918
00:50:08,440 --> 00:50:11,160
Speaker 1: you can have, let's have a conversation and take a shot,

919
00:50:11,600 --> 00:50:16,200
Speaker 1: like let's make a genuine connection and take it from there. Yeah,

920
00:50:16,239 --> 00:50:18,920
Speaker 1: I would say for this group, continue I mean they're here,

921
00:50:19,000 --> 00:50:21,319
Speaker 1: so I know they're here. The network connect you know, uh,

922
00:50:21,440 --> 00:50:24,000
Speaker 1: continue to build on that. I mean, this is something

923
00:50:24,280 --> 00:50:26,520
Speaker 1: you know, throughout my career I've always made sure I did.

924
00:50:26,560 --> 00:50:28,719
Speaker 1: It is I mean, it's powering the follow up or

925
00:50:28,840 --> 00:50:32,120
Speaker 1: recognizing that you know, just because we're now friends on

926
00:50:32,920 --> 00:50:37,759
Speaker 1: I G or whatever social platform, like, it's not it's

927
00:50:37,840 --> 00:50:40,799
Speaker 1: not as personal. So there's other ways, Like that's one

928
00:50:40,840 --> 00:50:42,880
Speaker 1: way to be connected, but then you know that check in,

929
00:50:43,000 --> 00:50:45,320
Speaker 1: that follow up and so you know, again with this,

930
00:50:45,640 --> 00:50:47,600
Speaker 1: with this group. It's like all the people that you're

931
00:50:47,640 --> 00:50:51,200
Speaker 1: meeting the networking with, like check that back to where wherever.

932
00:50:51,239 --> 00:50:54,399
Speaker 1: You're just going to stay in contact with those folks.

933
00:50:54,400 --> 00:50:56,560
Speaker 1: I met some amazing folks over here, you know, over

934
00:50:56,600 --> 00:50:58,239
Speaker 1: the last day and a half that I love to

935
00:50:58,280 --> 00:51:00,680
Speaker 1: continue to build. I mean, we are building community. This

936
00:51:00,840 --> 00:51:03,160
Speaker 1: is what we're about. And I think when we get

937
00:51:03,239 --> 00:51:04,880
Speaker 1: back to the root of what we're talking about as

938
00:51:04,920 --> 00:51:07,120
Speaker 1: far as what does the Talented tenth look like, I

939
00:51:07,200 --> 00:51:10,160
Speaker 1: think it's no longer you know, the ten percent, Like

940
00:51:10,239 --> 00:51:11,680
Speaker 1: if we want to brand in to keep it the

941
00:51:11,760 --> 00:51:15,200
Speaker 1: talented tent because it sounds cool, sounds cool. But at

942
00:51:15,200 --> 00:51:16,960
Speaker 1: the end of the day, it's like we move as

943
00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:19,239
Speaker 1: a people as a community, and so this is our

944
00:51:19,280 --> 00:51:22,239
Speaker 1: community and you just continue to you know, move up

945
00:51:22,320 --> 00:51:26,440
Speaker 1: together as a community through the multiple platforms and networks

946
00:51:26,480 --> 00:51:31,560
Speaker 1: that you have. We knew in prepping for this conversation

947
00:51:31,680 --> 00:51:34,359
Speaker 1: that we would have to address the oh we're talking

948
00:51:34,400 --> 00:51:39,120
Speaker 1: about history and origins at the biggest Black tech and

949
00:51:39,160 --> 00:51:42,279
Speaker 1: Web three conference. Like we knew that was gonna come up. Um,

950
00:51:42,760 --> 00:51:44,520
Speaker 1: we appreciate you all for rocking with us, but it

951
00:51:44,600 --> 00:51:47,799
Speaker 1: was really intentional that we talked about the origins, because

952
00:51:47,840 --> 00:51:50,600
Speaker 1: if we don't we don't know our stuff, if we

953
00:51:50,680 --> 00:51:54,040
Speaker 1: don't know the past, then we can't use any of

954
00:51:54,120 --> 00:51:57,400
Speaker 1: that to propel the innovation, to propel the technology, and

955
00:51:57,520 --> 00:52:00,400
Speaker 1: do that in a way that's going to serve us collectively. Right.

956
00:52:01,320 --> 00:52:02,600
Speaker 1: We want to make sure and we said in this

957
00:52:02,719 --> 00:52:05,759
Speaker 1: beginning that we would leave you guys with something. There's

958
00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:09,160
Speaker 1: gonna be some homework and just like an invitation, we

959
00:52:09,239 --> 00:52:12,200
Speaker 1: want you guys to be invited into the possibility of

960
00:52:12,280 --> 00:52:15,600
Speaker 1: what it means to really be in community with one another. Uh,

961
00:52:15,719 --> 00:52:17,879
Speaker 1: there's a few takeaways that I just want to make

962
00:52:17,920 --> 00:52:23,120
Speaker 1: sure that we get y'all through. Um, we want you

963
00:52:23,160 --> 00:52:26,839
Speaker 1: guys to listen, right, and Toring and Bridget will take

964
00:52:26,920 --> 00:52:29,360
Speaker 1: you through the other the other lenses of homework. But

965
00:52:30,800 --> 00:52:35,120
Speaker 1: our music is such an interesting modality for information for

966
00:52:35,239 --> 00:52:37,080
Speaker 1: a lot of this game, for like a lot of

967
00:52:37,160 --> 00:52:42,200
Speaker 1: this insight from Negro spirituals, right, especially being in the South,

968
00:52:42,280 --> 00:52:45,080
Speaker 1: were in the space of what used to be forty

969
00:52:45,160 --> 00:52:50,520
Speaker 1: six thousand plantations at the peak of enslavement in the US. Right,

970
00:52:51,040 --> 00:52:54,000
Speaker 1: there are the most freedman towns here in Texas. Like

971
00:52:54,040 --> 00:52:58,040
Speaker 1: the ground we walk on is sacred, so there's this

972
00:52:58,160 --> 00:53:01,560
Speaker 1: idea of listening to one another. For one, listen to

973
00:53:01,680 --> 00:53:04,520
Speaker 1: our music because there's messages in there that you know,

974
00:53:04,640 --> 00:53:06,400
Speaker 1: we rock to it, the beat is hot and all

975
00:53:06,440 --> 00:53:08,840
Speaker 1: of that's great, but there's real messages that our artists

976
00:53:08,880 --> 00:53:12,440
Speaker 1: in our community are sharing through their music and the

977
00:53:12,480 --> 00:53:16,160
Speaker 1: pieces just listened to the energy, like listen to spirit

978
00:53:16,360 --> 00:53:21,040
Speaker 1: with this whole city, especially downtown, is sacred ground. This

979
00:53:21,200 --> 00:53:24,239
Speaker 1: is sacred space that we've created. Like you've now been

980
00:53:24,360 --> 00:53:27,920
Speaker 1: imprinted in the convention center, So anybody that comes in here,

981
00:53:27,920 --> 00:53:31,560
Speaker 1: any conference that's hosted after Afrottech is also getting the

982
00:53:31,640 --> 00:53:35,480
Speaker 1: imprints of us being here. So there's an invitation in

983
00:53:35,560 --> 00:53:38,680
Speaker 1: all of this to listen as one. And then you

984
00:53:38,719 --> 00:53:40,560
Speaker 1: guys want to share what else we we should ask

985
00:53:40,560 --> 00:53:44,719
Speaker 1: the people to do with us. Yeah, finding someone um

986
00:53:45,000 --> 00:53:48,640
Speaker 1: to collaborate with, if you have an idea, if you

987
00:53:48,800 --> 00:53:51,640
Speaker 1: have something. If you heard somebody talking, you overheard it

988
00:53:51,760 --> 00:53:54,640
Speaker 1: was a low key ease dropping on somebody's conversation and

989
00:53:54,840 --> 00:53:58,839
Speaker 1: you feel like you had some genuine input. Tap him

990
00:53:58,840 --> 00:54:02,520
Speaker 1: on the shoulder, Hey, excuse me, I overheard you say.

991
00:54:02,640 --> 00:54:04,719
Speaker 1: I was trying to be abetis, but I overheard what

992
00:54:04,840 --> 00:54:07,960
Speaker 1: she was saying. And I would love to just whatever

993
00:54:08,040 --> 00:54:12,799
Speaker 1: that may be, because we cousins, y'all help each other out.

994
00:54:15,040 --> 00:54:21,160
Speaker 1: Yeah no, no, I was like no, so yeah, and

995
00:54:21,280 --> 00:54:24,880
Speaker 1: visited historic site a Blackness at Black Austin Tours. I mean,

996
00:54:24,960 --> 00:54:27,279
Speaker 1: there was an amazing tour I missed, but I saw

997
00:54:27,320 --> 00:54:30,800
Speaker 1: it on the ground. That again gives you historical context

998
00:54:30,880 --> 00:54:33,360
Speaker 1: of you know, our history here within the city. And

999
00:54:33,440 --> 00:54:35,360
Speaker 1: so just take advantage of the spaces that we're at.

1000
00:54:35,480 --> 00:54:37,040
Speaker 1: You know, we're here at the new space, and meet

1001
00:54:37,080 --> 00:54:39,279
Speaker 1: the people that you're meeting, but also you know, learn

1002
00:54:39,320 --> 00:54:41,600
Speaker 1: a little bit about the spaces that we're at. Yep,

1003
00:54:44,200 --> 00:54:47,560
Speaker 1: we've got to playlists and I'm sure that but there's

1004
00:54:47,880 --> 00:54:49,239
Speaker 1: this this is where I really wanted to go. And

1005
00:54:49,280 --> 00:54:53,600
Speaker 1: then we'll go back to um. The playlist, our culture,

1006
00:54:53,640 --> 00:54:56,239
Speaker 1: our music, all of that is just infusing how we do.

1007
00:54:56,400 --> 00:55:00,360
Speaker 1: And so we just curated just our music, our songs

1008
00:55:00,440 --> 00:55:01,879
Speaker 1: that sort of speak to a lot of the things

1009
00:55:01,920 --> 00:55:04,200
Speaker 1: that are coming up. And again the invitations that you

1010
00:55:04,280 --> 00:55:06,960
Speaker 1: connect with that a bit more intentionally and deeply, and

1011
00:55:07,040 --> 00:55:09,160
Speaker 1: so you can que our code and use that technology

1012
00:55:09,280 --> 00:55:11,920
Speaker 1: apt you know, to get to the Spotify playlist. But

1013
00:55:12,640 --> 00:55:14,160
Speaker 1: the things that we wanted you all to leave away

1014
00:55:14,239 --> 00:55:16,680
Speaker 1: with right, because we're this is an exchange of energy

1015
00:55:16,760 --> 00:55:18,719
Speaker 1: and information. Thank you all for coming to listen. But

1016
00:55:18,840 --> 00:55:22,280
Speaker 1: also this is like, this is love and we're sharing

1017
00:55:22,360 --> 00:55:27,239
Speaker 1: this with one another. Um No, it's yours. We've been

1018
00:55:27,239 --> 00:55:29,239
Speaker 1: given a whole lot of stuff and we carry a

1019
00:55:29,320 --> 00:55:32,320
Speaker 1: whole lot of stuff that, as Bridge and Tory and

1020
00:55:32,400 --> 00:55:35,200
Speaker 1: talked about, was never ours to begin with. So let

1021
00:55:35,280 --> 00:55:37,680
Speaker 1: that go. And it's a process of that. So we

1022
00:55:37,800 --> 00:55:41,320
Speaker 1: know that. But make a commitment, give yourself permission to

1023
00:55:41,440 --> 00:55:43,200
Speaker 1: let go of the stuff that's not yours so that

1024
00:55:43,320 --> 00:55:45,840
Speaker 1: you can reclaim the power of what it means to

1025
00:55:45,880 --> 00:55:47,960
Speaker 1: be in this space and be in a black body.

1026
00:55:48,960 --> 00:55:51,000
Speaker 1: The second piece in Bridget just talked about this like

1027
00:55:51,120 --> 00:55:56,080
Speaker 1: be audacious and unapologetic with your collaboration. There's a seat

1028
00:55:56,120 --> 00:55:58,920
Speaker 1: at the table. You got an interview, you got a conversation,

1029
00:55:59,320 --> 00:56:02,440
Speaker 1: Bring some body else with you. There is no interruption.

1030
00:56:02,520 --> 00:56:04,840
Speaker 1: This is not about like that awkward Who can I

1031
00:56:04,920 --> 00:56:07,160
Speaker 1: go into that circle? Can I not? We know how

1032
00:56:07,239 --> 00:56:09,359
Speaker 1: this works. You go and you say, girl, you look good?

1033
00:56:09,440 --> 00:56:11,040
Speaker 1: Can I Can I just talk to you for a second,

1034
00:56:11,040 --> 00:56:13,440
Speaker 1: Like there's a way that we know how to connect

1035
00:56:13,480 --> 00:56:16,040
Speaker 1: with one another. And so like leverage that here. Get

1036
00:56:16,200 --> 00:56:20,799
Speaker 1: rid of those notions of professionalism and networking that make

1037
00:56:20,960 --> 00:56:26,399
Speaker 1: this space that was curated for us unnecessarily intimidating. Don't

1038
00:56:26,440 --> 00:56:31,080
Speaker 1: be intimidated by this, be empowered by it, show up, connect, love, hug,

1039
00:56:31,320 --> 00:56:33,640
Speaker 1: you know, respect people's boundaries, but like be really in

1040
00:56:33,719 --> 00:56:37,040
Speaker 1: community with one another and be audacious about that. And

1041
00:56:37,160 --> 00:56:40,560
Speaker 1: then legacy's lyric right, like we wrote, we wrote a

1042
00:56:40,600 --> 00:56:42,720
Speaker 1: paper this year through blabty dot org. But the idea

1043
00:56:42,800 --> 00:56:47,040
Speaker 1: was just to pay homage to the words, the songs,

1044
00:56:47,160 --> 00:56:51,440
Speaker 1: the hymns, the energy of our ancestors that comes through music, right,

1045
00:56:51,520 --> 00:56:54,879
Speaker 1: and we know, as black people were holding and we're

1046
00:56:54,920 --> 00:56:57,360
Speaker 1: going to have to pass the baton seven generations ahead,

1047
00:56:57,400 --> 00:57:01,239
Speaker 1: some seven generations back, we're already doing susters work, all right.

1048
00:57:01,280 --> 00:57:05,000
Speaker 1: So the legacies that we're creating are today and a

1049
00:57:05,080 --> 00:57:06,400
Speaker 1: lot of that is through the stuff that we get

1050
00:57:06,440 --> 00:57:10,960
Speaker 1: to rockwood together. Um, so we'll put the QR codes

1051
00:57:11,000 --> 00:57:13,600
Speaker 1: back up. We invite you to engage in our playlists.

1052
00:57:13,640 --> 00:57:15,160
Speaker 1: The music is here, you're gonna hear it as we

1053
00:57:15,280 --> 00:57:19,080
Speaker 1: exit the stage. But just another space to to invite

1054
00:57:19,120 --> 00:57:22,760
Speaker 1: you into. And thank you, Thank you both for sharing

1055
00:57:22,800 --> 00:57:25,160
Speaker 1: this space with me. Thank you for like having the

1056
00:57:25,240 --> 00:57:28,720
Speaker 1: tough conversation and hope I'll just go out and love

1057
00:57:28,800 --> 00:57:44,040
Speaker 1: on each other being community. Thank you so much. Black Tech,

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Speaker 1: Green Money and producing The Black of the Afro Tech

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Speaker 1: on the Black Effect Podcast Network and nine Heart Media

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Speaker 1: and it's produced by Morgan Dabon and me Well Lucas,

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Speaker 1: with additional production support by Sarah Ergon and Rose M. Lucas.

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Speaker 1: Special thank you to Michael Davids svan ess A Suprano.

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Speaker 1: Learn more about my guests and other tech disruppers and

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Speaker 1: innovators the afro Tech dot Com. Join your Black Tech,

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Speaker 1: Green Money, leave us a five star rating on iTunes.

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Speaker 1: Go get your money. He's some money.