WEBVTT - Edutainment and Activism with Angelica Ross 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:16.360 Welcome to PM mood then No Talking Points, no Bullshit 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:20.200 podcast that takes you behind the curtain, off the red carpet, 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:23.079 and to the front lines of progress with change makers 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:26.520 and innovators that are doing the work to shift our 0:00:26.600 --> 0:00:34.000 culture and expand their social impact. I am so excited 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:39.920 to welcome to PM mood friend of mine and friend 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:47.640 of the show, Angelica Ross, who is a actress, writer, producer, 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:54.160 all around amazing badass. My god, I don't even know 0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:57.080 how long I've been following your career now, but it's 0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:02.400 been it's been a delight to see your trajectory, Angelica, 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:05.600 Like honestly, it warms my heart on a day to 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:08.600 day basis. But you know, we've been changing up how 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:12.520 we start PM Moods because we're in the midst of 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:17.160 a global pandemic. And when I had started this show, 0:01:17.280 --> 0:01:20.399 it was supposed to be lighthearted talking to folks about 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:24.440 how you're utilizing your platforms to increase your social impact, 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:29.360 which you have done all the time, um, you know, 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:32.640 since the beginning of your work. But just talk to 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:34.800 talk to us about where you are right now, where 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:39.080 you are quarantined and how are you doing well. First 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:42.840 of all, I am blessed and highly favored. Um as 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:48.880 my grandmother who would say, UM, but yes, I right now, 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:56.920 I am really focused on all of the blessings and 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:02.200 being grateful for everything that is going right right now. UM, 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:08.520 I'm trying to um. You know, it's difficult for everyone, 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:12.440 but in many many of us can look at our circumstances, 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:15.320 I think and say, things could be worse, you know, 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:18.919 And so I'm definitely, uh, just grateful for what I 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:22.040 can be grateful for, which is my new home that 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:27.000 I bought here in Georgia, thank you very much. So 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:31.960 it was I'm a first time home buyer and um, 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:35.320 so that was you know, I have to be honest, 0:02:35.360 --> 0:02:37.640 like it was such a big milestone for me to 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:40.360 purchase a home. It meant so many things to me 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:42.720 as a black trans woman to sort of start putting 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:46.160 these roots down and you know, getting I guess, a 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:50.120 piece of the American dream. Um. You know. But the 0:02:50.120 --> 0:02:52.560 thing is is that, like I'm like, how do I 0:02:52.639 --> 0:03:00.080 feel irresponsible when I not only put aside months of 0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:03.840 you know, reserves for all of my bills or whatever, 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:08.120 but I also saved for my down payment. I also 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:11.520 not only had you know, my one main job of 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:14.320 you know, filming an American horror story lined up, but 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:18.640 I also had, you know, just speaking engagements, personal appearances, 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:20.640 a lot of different things, you know, to add up 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:23.080 to whatever keeping me busy and keeping the bills paid 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:27.640 and all of that. All of it got completely shut down. 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:32.280 And so you know, I'm fortunate enough to I took 0:03:32.400 --> 0:03:34.680 advantage of every program that was out there, as far 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:39.280 as like delay my mortgage for months, delay my car 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:43.840 payments for a few months. You know, I'm just doing 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:46.120 everything I can to sort of brace for this moment. 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:53.240 But I also realize, um, you know, I talk spirits speaking. 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:56.520 You know, I feel like these challenges come up for 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:58.080 a reason, and they come up for a certain time, 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:03.280 and you know, America has the reckoning that is just 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:06.280 we've been like putting all for trying to put off, 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:08.120 for trying to pretend with things and with drugs and 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:11.960 with just distractions or whatever. But you know, we're getting 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:14.880 to a place where it's not letting us distract be distracted, 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:16.920 because guess what, you got to sit with yourself half 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:19.880 the time in the house. So whatever it is that 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:23.960 you're not dealing with, whatever excuses you're making for you know, situations, 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:28.360 whatever things you've taken for granted, people, you've taken for 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:32.480 granted relationships. Um, I mean just I think this is 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:38.680 a time to reevaluate everything everything. What are you doing 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:41.359 right now? I mean I would assume that this is 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:44.120 probably the first time, and god knows how long that 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:47.279 you've probably been sitting still, right, I mean you've been 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:52.120 You've been filming pos, you work then you know American 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:55.760 Horror Story, all the projects that you have in between, 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:59.560 trans tech, the speaking engagement. So what are you know? 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:02.160 How does it feel, I should say, first to sit 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:06.080 still in your new home and actually be in your 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:09.720 in your place and make and make a home because 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:15.039 you know you're you are an incredible Hollywood hustler right 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:17.920 then doing the month. So so what does it feel 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:20.280 like to be home, to be to be stationary. I'm 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:23.080 so grateful again for my Buddhist practice because it keeps 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:28.240 bringing me back to this perspective of duality of you know, 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:31.200 the good and the bad, you know the advantage of 0:05:31.200 --> 0:05:34.840 the disadvantage, And so I feel like I'm constantly just 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:38.559 in a heightened state of awareness around that. So being 0:05:38.640 --> 0:05:43.359 in my house, man, what an accomplishment? What? Um? What 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:50.279 um a reflection because I always believe, again from my 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:55.480 spiritual practice, that your immediate external environment is a reflection 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:58.560 of your internal environment, and it takes a lot of 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:00.400 work to get those things to, you know, kind of 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:02.880 reflect how you wanted to reflect. And so I look 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:05.000 around in my house and you know, I think about 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:07.000 the words of your home rising up to greet you 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:10.000 and all of those things, and I'm in the process 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:13.919 of making all of that happen. And at the same time, Wow, 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:19.680 I just have such mixed feelings of just my privilege, 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:23.320 you know, in the situation, but then my privilege being 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:27.680 so thinly veiled that I'm one foot away from, you know, 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:32.640 a disaster myself, you know. So it's it's it's it's 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:39.360 I'm alive. And I say that in ways of saying 0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:43.119 both I'm grateful I'm alive, but also like I think, 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:46.560 you know, I remember seeing Vanessa Williams on the celebrity 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:48.720 RuPaul Drag Race and she was just talking about like 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:51.120 just being back in that time and how you know, 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:54.520 a new challenge sometimes makes you feel alive, you know, 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:56.919 And I'm just like, you know, I feel alive in 0:06:57.000 --> 0:07:02.720 these ways where I'm not in a state where I 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:08.480 can sort of kick back room and true truly rest. Yes, 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:11.680 this is a time to rest. I think this is 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:15.320 also just a time to reflect and very just just 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:19.120 to reflect, and I'm really holding myself to the fire 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:25.240 to sort of take advantage of this time and think 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.840 about also the concept to who much has given, much 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:33.000 is expected. And so as I put into place all 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:36.200 the things to protect myself and my family and my 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:41.280 circumstances in my home, I'm blessed and I realize those things. 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:46.080 And so if things go well and I can get myself, 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:49.040 you know, taken care of and solidified, then my focus 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:51.880 is always to go back to the beginning, which is service. 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:55.520 You know, I'm someone who believes that success always begins 0:07:55.520 --> 0:07:58.640 with service. That's it began with trans Tach, it began 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:01.400 before trans Tech, with the trans Life Center that I 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:06.400 worked at. It began before that doing HIV, you know, educate, 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:08.960 peer education in high school, whatever the things is. Is 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:11.720 having this heart of service. We now have to kind 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:13.360 of divert our attention and that's what I'm just doing 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:16.400 right now. And it's just really diverting my attention on 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:20.400 from all the things that maybe don't matter as much 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:24.920 in this moment and trying to show up and matter 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:29.600 more in this moment in ways that truly matter. How 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:33.080 have you found you know, because we we what we 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:37.200 are learning, right and what you're talking about, this reckoning 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:40.720 that America is experienced, right, the world is experiencing. We 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:45.400 have abused this planet, We have abuse one another. We 0:08:45.440 --> 0:08:48.960 are seeing the manifestation right of it of what it 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:52.040 means to be selfish and neglectual, and we are we 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:56.920 are seeing which vulnerable populations are are most affected right. 0:08:56.960 --> 0:08:59.920 Those that we have been dismissive of and have believed 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:03.440 them to be expendable have largely been people of color, 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:07.880 and we know that within our community, within the lgbt 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:13.960 QI community, that those are some of the most vulnerable people, 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:18.320 trans women of color being some of the most vulnerable people. 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:25.680 What have you been hearing with regard to how folks 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:32.400 in the lgbtq I community are faring in this moment? 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:37.880 Because we're talking about the economic and health vulnerabilities of 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:42.200 black people of Latin X people, but we haven't done 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:47.120 deep dives into other marginalized communities. So what have you 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:49.640 been hearing and what do you know to be true 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:52.280 that we should Frankly, as you have been a leader 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:56.240 and an activist for quite some time, what do you 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:58.560 think we should be talking about in this moment with 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:04.600 regard to our community to day? Well, I definitely have 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:10.360 been hearing about a lot of struggle financially speaking, as 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:12.960 well as mental health struggles, because you know, you thought 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:17.240 people were struggling before with anxiety and depression and all 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:20.920 of the things that are triggered by things. So take 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:24.520 a situation like COVID nineteen and that just really exacerbates 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:30.560 many folks situation. And so I'm definitely hearing that. What 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:35.960 I'm also hearing and seeing is community taking care of 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:40.400 each other, because that's always been the moo, especially when 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:43.680 you're talking about black trains and queer folks. We've always 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:45.600 had to take care of each other when the system 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:49.360 has not taken care of us. And so that has 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:55.160 really just only further kind of gone into play. And 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:08.080 you know, I I sometimes am feeling quite um dysphoric, 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:14.600 and not in my gender identity. Um, I'm feeling so 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:20.520 such a dysphoria being in this country and turning on 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:25.520 the TV and watching people we're supposed to trust lie 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:32.320 to our faces, um avoid accountability UM and or speak 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:38.520 half truth in favor of personal and UM professional or 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:43.000 corporate interests, you know, UM and so you really can't 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:49.480 my my, my, my antennas are so heightened right now 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:56.679 because I know how people slip things in It's just 0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:59.679 like the how our government makes a bill and then 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:02.320 slip things in there while you're not looking, or are 0:12:02.360 --> 0:12:06.560 things that you don't quite understand. And so to be 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:11.200 in an environment where you can't trust your leaders, and 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:15.600 you can't trust the system, and you can't trust the 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:21.040 people who are meant to protect you, it is inevitable. 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:29.040 It is of critical importance that these marginalized community create 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:36.959 their own systems. And that's really the call of Black 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:42.120 Lives Matter. You know, I feel like I'm continually standing 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:46.560 behind that Moniker to make it true for all of us, 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:53.880 to make it true for our entire community. And you know, 0:12:54.040 --> 0:13:00.880 it's it's just unfortunate because these community, these these most 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:04.440 marginalized communities, don't have a lot to give. But they 0:13:04.480 --> 0:13:07.640 are the communities that I see giving the most when 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:09.840 it comes to this. They're the communities that I see 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:12.720 speaking up the vote most and putting themselves in the 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:15.040 line of fire when they have the least amount of 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:20.120 protections and the least amount of privilege in the situation. So, um, 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:23.439 you know what we need to be doing in this 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:33.240 situation is if we are tired of looking and scrolling 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:37.320 on social media and looking at another damn video of 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:44.920 you know, police brutalizing black bodies, or see another hashtag 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:48.320 come up? You know, um, is it Brianna Taylor? Ye? 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:51.640 And you know, and and even with Brianna Taylor, I'm 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:54.240 gonna name another one, Nina Pop Yeah, you know, a 0:13:54.240 --> 0:14:00.680 black trans woman. And for some reason we don't understand 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:07.360 that your humanity's off when you can rally a one 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:10.840 around one and not all three of those people right 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:15.600 around a mod around Brianna and around Nina. And those 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:19.680 are just the three most recent, all murdered within weeks 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:25.160 of each other, right but why well, well yes, maybe 0:14:25.160 --> 0:14:27.800 in the sense of, you know, the sad part about 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:33.560 Brianna Taylor's story is we're hearing about this now. This 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:36.840 happened actually back in March, right, and a mod we 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:40.560 heard about now, and that happened in February. Oh exactly, 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:43.560 you know what I'm saying, So likely within you know, 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:48.040 within weeks, meaning of them being taken. But then how 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:51.640 we learn about it? Right, Like, why not in that moment? 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:55.200 How that's the that's how are we learning about it? 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:58.240 And the reality is we're learning about it from who 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:01.800 each other yep. And so we are the we are 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:06.880 the news source that we trust, we are the pharmaceutical 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:09.960 companies that we trust, we are all of the different 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:12.160 level of authorities that we trust. And I think that 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:14.000 we need to take it just like those days of 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:16.880 Black Panther, where we got to take it to mean 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:21.280 about protecting, educating, and you know, all these taking responsibility 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:25.960 for everyone in the flock, regardless of identity, sexual orientation. 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:29.640 We have to be willing to confront this misogyny and 0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:34.400 patriarchy and that for right now, that's a really hard 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:36.760 part point for us. Right now, we can I can 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:40.680 see it in social media. I see it in so 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:43.200 many places that that's like a sticking place for us. 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:46.760 And so what's going to help us get beyond that 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:51.200 is every single last one of you brilliant black cists 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:57.040 women are going to really have to stand up and 0:15:57.440 --> 0:16:02.960 stand next to your LGBTQ plus black folks and together 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:07.120 the resound a message that is almost that is louder 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:10.080 than the NABLEACP that is louder than these things that 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:14.280 because the LEACP. Right now, I'm like, I'm I'm to 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:19.480 being keeping one hundred like I'm mad. I'm mad because 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:22.400 I've been in your zone. I've been at some meetings. 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:26.960 You called me into your space and you I basically 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:29.040 almost was there for a photo ops. How I feel 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:32.360 right because I you know, at this town hall, we're 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:34.640 talking about real things, and we talk about certain things, 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:36.680 and I'm trying to get meetings, and I can see 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:39.560 it's an internal struggle with who with the older black 0:16:39.560 --> 0:16:41.960 folks in the community who are in the older leadership. 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:47.440 So either we're going to really do this work or 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:51.560 it's going to be a struggle. Because I'm I'm I'm 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:55.520 actually a little worried at this point because there's a 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:57.840 lot of real facts and things that are happening right 0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:00.000 now that just add up to things that people are 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:02.160 just want turning it. They're not wanting to add it 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:05.080 up because if they do, that means you'll have to 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:07.119 do something about it. You'll paying attention, you know what 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:10.639 I'm saying, Paying attention to things, right, paying attention. There's 0:17:10.640 --> 0:17:13.200 a price to it because if you're gonna if you're 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:17.199 going to provide a necessary spotlight on an issue on 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:20.600 a people, right then it's going to force you to 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:24.160 do something about it. Recognition is only part of the 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:28.520 pathway to justice. Right Like, so we can recognize the 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:34.239 fact that certain people Pole's deaths are upheld and are 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:39.760 discussed and our headlines while others are not right they are. 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:43.480 The sad thing is that our oppression and our deaths 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:50.520 are entertainment for white America. So any movies they want 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:53.800 to award or green lit like have to do right 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:57.000 our oppression and the murder of our bodies. They have 0:17:57.080 --> 0:18:00.760 to do a certain narrative. And I, you know, there's 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:03.080 certain movies I just can't watch them anymore because I 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:08.040 refuse to see all this diversity in Into the Woods 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:10.760 and motherfucking creek scars use my language and all these 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:14.359 creatures that they can imagine in these stories, but they 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:18.320 can't imagine Black people in those stories. They can't imagine, um, 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:22.080 you know, create anything other than our oppression and are 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:26.199 killing us. And not only that, like, it pisces me 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:32.119 off that folks look yes, creating entertainment and storytelling definitely 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:35.560 changing hearts and minds is part of it. Well, when 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:38.080 we're talking about going up and against the system where 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:40.399 they don't give a damn, and when I'm telling you 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:43.600 don't give a damn. Listen, Jay Love, Listen, love you 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:47.720 Jeff Qute performance at the Super Bowl Girl, But like 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:50.960 that wasn't in alignment with the front that we was 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:53.600 putting up. You understand, I'm saying, with all the all 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:56.639 the black artists and major artists, Rihanna, everybody else, you 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:59.160 saw the stances they were taking. So then you try 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:01.280 to make a statement and then put children in cages 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:03.040 on the stage, and that went over all the white 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:06.040 people's heads. Under what I'm saying that that didn't change 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:10.760 the damn thing about the situation. So, like you know, 0:19:10.920 --> 0:19:13.840 we have got to get to a place where we're 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:16.440 really prepared for what's happening. They're lying to our faces, 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:19.280 they're making the laws and breaking them. At the same time, 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:23.280 you have white people who are busting into state buildings, 0:19:23.560 --> 0:19:30.000 buildings with arms armed. If black people dared, we know 0:19:30.080 --> 0:19:33.199 what happens when we dare to be our full and 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:36.720 complete cells right and show up as full and complete 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:39.879 humans right that are not asking permission to exist, but 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:43.840 just existing on our own accord. We know what happens, right, 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:45.800 But the thing is, we're not going to be able 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:50.560 to disarm because the moment you say, um about disarming America, 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:53.600 then the white people go get very loud and crazy 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:57.080 about the right to bear arms. Yes, but here's here's 0:19:57.119 --> 0:20:01.120 what I'm saying. Sometimes when folks abuse things, those rights 0:20:01.160 --> 0:20:03.280 should be taken Those rights should be taken away. Meaning 0:20:03.320 --> 0:20:06.840 like America, our stats aren't doing well for us in 0:20:06.880 --> 0:20:09.600 the sense of mass shootings, in the sense of violence 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:11.960 and all these different things. Maybe the right to bear 0:20:12.080 --> 0:20:17.360 arms needs to be earned. Maybe there's you know some okay, 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:19.360 like you can do this, but we got to now 0:20:19.400 --> 0:20:22.600 earn this right back by showing what are the reasons 0:20:22.680 --> 0:20:25.719 for you to even have these sort of weapons, you know, 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:28.320 And there's certain weapons that just don't need to be 0:20:28.400 --> 0:20:32.760 in everybody, in the everyday person's hands. So there's there's 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:35.240 a conversation we're not willing to have because people are like, oh, 0:20:35.320 --> 0:20:38.520 right to bear arms. So okay, I'm a Buddhist and 0:20:38.520 --> 0:20:40.399 I'm trying to stay away from the violence and the 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:43.159 things as much as possible, But we also have to 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:45.919 recognize the playing field and environment we are in, and 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:51.560 so as non white America. You know, um, I don't 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:54.119 know if it makes that much sense to keep allowing 0:20:54.119 --> 0:20:58.040 white people to stop pile weapons like this and we're not. So, 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:01.240 you know, that's funny because this conversation that has now 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:05.639 come up on my political podcast Woke f on a 0:21:05.680 --> 0:21:11.120 regular basis, which is that many of us who believe 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:15.960 in progressivism, believe in gun control, believe you know it 0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:19.000 to some extent. I have never had full belief in 0:21:19.119 --> 0:21:21.879 the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment was created in a 0:21:21.960 --> 0:21:24.600 time when AAR fifteens and machine guns and all these 0:21:24.640 --> 0:21:28.760 things didn't created for white people, the safe so that 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:31.880 the negroes didn't overthrow their stuff so they can protect 0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:33.880 their property, and that's where the police came from too. 0:21:33.920 --> 0:21:36.800 So so so it's like it was never meant for us, 0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:38.879 and it was never meant for the current type of 0:21:38.920 --> 0:21:41.840 system that society that we're living in. But on the 0:21:41.880 --> 0:21:46.040 flip of that, I'm saying, when I see these pictures 0:21:46.040 --> 0:21:50.520 of these militia, these white Trump militia, storm in these 0:21:50.560 --> 0:21:54.600 government buildings, right going into a Starbucks with a bazooka 0:21:54.720 --> 0:21:57.239 on your back, what is the what the point of 0:21:57.280 --> 0:22:01.359 that is intimidation, the point the point of that is oppression. 0:22:01.400 --> 0:22:05.919 And so at what point do black people say, you 0:22:06.000 --> 0:22:10.000 know what, they're killing us any fucking way, right like 0:22:10.119 --> 0:22:13.679 they are doing the most anyway. Maybe it's time that 0:22:13.800 --> 0:22:17.720 we begin to exercise our rights. And you saw that 0:22:17.960 --> 0:22:24.760 after the two men in the Ahmad Augury murder were arrested. 0:22:24.960 --> 0:22:30.240 We saw black militia now are guarding his home, where 0:22:30.760 --> 0:22:34.080 where his family is, and they have the same weaponry 0:22:34.119 --> 0:22:36.439 on and the cops were afraid to come down the 0:22:36.480 --> 0:22:40.480 street stay your ass at day. Then you weren't. You 0:22:40.520 --> 0:22:43.320 weren't nowhere for the last two months. Well, I mean, 0:22:43.320 --> 0:22:45.640 and I think the biggest rule that I heard come 0:22:45.640 --> 0:22:48.720 out of somewhere from someone that said something, was about 0:22:48.720 --> 0:22:51.919 the fact that you should not be policing a neighborhood 0:22:51.920 --> 0:22:54.159 you're scared of. Like if you don't know how to 0:22:54.200 --> 0:22:57.520 talk to the people you're serving and protecting, you have 0:22:57.600 --> 0:23:00.560 no right to be serving and protecting that environment. If 0:23:00.560 --> 0:23:03.520 you're shaking, you know, people are just our skin tone 0:23:03.960 --> 0:23:06.439 is a threat to you, just at one, you know. 0:23:06.520 --> 0:23:10.439 So I do believe, I do believe unfort you know, 0:23:10.480 --> 0:23:13.680 I hate I just I hate to say it because 0:23:14.600 --> 0:23:17.240 you know, that's just not that's not it's not where 0:23:17.280 --> 0:23:21.119 I live. But at the same time, UM, I know 0:23:21.359 --> 0:23:24.520 one thing. I love me. Let me tell you something. 0:23:24.640 --> 0:23:27.119 I know one thing. The higher that I move up 0:23:27.160 --> 0:23:29.080 and the more things I do, the more I want 0:23:29.080 --> 0:23:30.879 to keep somebody with me and around me. Do you 0:23:30.960 --> 0:23:33.399 understand I'm saying the one The more I need to 0:23:33.520 --> 0:23:36.800 keep certain folks around me that can make sure don't 0:23:36.840 --> 0:23:40.600 nothing pop off. Right, I'm a black trans woman, I 0:23:40.680 --> 0:23:46.080 know so instead you know, so I just you know, Um, 0:23:46.200 --> 0:23:48.320 I'm a prayer. I'm praying about it. I'm praying stronger 0:23:48.320 --> 0:23:49.600 about it, and I'm trying to show up in my 0:23:49.680 --> 0:23:53.800 leadership in certain ways. But that's what I mean. Is that. So, 0:23:54.440 --> 0:23:58.240 whether it's me doing trans tech, whether it's me building, um, 0:23:58.800 --> 0:24:03.040 you know, an army of black LGBTQ plus creatives to 0:24:03.080 --> 0:24:08.119 sort of re claim the narratives that have been told 0:24:08.160 --> 0:24:10.000 as well as like sort of filling the gaps that 0:24:10.040 --> 0:24:12.479 are missing. Um, you know, in both non scripted and 0:24:12.480 --> 0:24:16.520 scripted television. I'm doing my part. I'm doing what I 0:24:16.560 --> 0:24:18.600 know how to do, whether it's hitting that stage and 0:24:18.680 --> 0:24:21.480 talking to you know, college students, who are about to 0:24:21.480 --> 0:24:24.840 start off and and really need some like a spark 0:24:25.280 --> 0:24:29.400 to understand their purpose beyond some degree, or whether it's 0:24:29.440 --> 0:24:32.359 talking to people in a boardroom and getting them to 0:24:32.440 --> 0:24:36.120 recognize their power and responsibility on making sure that their 0:24:36.119 --> 0:24:38.399 corporation and their brand is making the right kind of 0:24:38.440 --> 0:24:40.840 footprint or you know, fingerprint on our planet and on 0:24:40.880 --> 0:24:44.679 our society. I'm doing every any and all the things 0:24:44.760 --> 0:24:48.159 like I can do. And part of doing it, or 0:24:48.240 --> 0:24:50.320 part of being what they would call a level five leader, 0:24:50.720 --> 0:24:54.320 is leaders who create other leaders, that's all. So I'm 0:24:54.359 --> 0:24:56.800 not just trying to create a bunch of people following me. 0:24:56.880 --> 0:24:59.359 And that's what the damn I feel like it's happening 0:24:59.440 --> 0:25:02.399 on the side, on the right or with everything is 0:25:02.440 --> 0:25:06.280 about just follow me blindly, without checking, without fact checking, 0:25:06.320 --> 0:25:10.040 without anything. Because if you took two seconds to fact 0:25:10.080 --> 0:25:12.920 check one thing you would see that our president is, 0:25:13.080 --> 0:25:15.760 which is a would unravel. It would it would unravel? 0:25:16.080 --> 0:25:19.000 You know? That's that's that's that's the fact. You know 0:25:19.080 --> 0:25:23.399 what do you think, um Angelica, because you have again 0:25:23.760 --> 0:25:27.280 you have been an activist, you have worn that hat 0:25:27.640 --> 0:25:33.439 since the beginning of your Hollywood career. Do you think 0:25:33.840 --> 0:25:40.360 that is it a personal responsibility that each each person 0:25:40.840 --> 0:25:43.920 has to make for themselves. Or do you think that 0:25:44.240 --> 0:25:48.639 when you work yourself into these positions, into these large 0:25:48.720 --> 0:25:52.439 platforms where you have, you know, hundreds of thousands of 0:25:52.480 --> 0:25:56.800 followers and millions of people watching your shows, do you 0:25:56.920 --> 0:26:01.560 think that more actors, more actresses, more people of prominence 0:26:01.880 --> 0:26:06.520