Speaker 1: Native Land Pod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership
Speaker 1: with Reason Choice Media.
Speaker 2: Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, was.
Speaker 1: I was, I was up? Everybody happy? Uh, Well Monday
Speaker 1: if you're listening to this as as a live but
Speaker 1: we do record these on Mondays and go live with it.
Speaker 1: But thanks to the great team Nick and Mark and co. Uh.
Speaker 1: They do a great job of getting it put on
Speaker 1: up and it'll live for you know, as long as
Speaker 1: they let it listen, y'all. I'm extremely excited to be
Speaker 1: back with you, and I hope that everybody's been doing
Speaker 1: well in the meantime in between times. The last time
Speaker 1: we were connected it was spring break for me and
Speaker 1: my family, so it was a little bit away, but
Speaker 1: we did get to tune in and check in with
Speaker 1: each other. And I share with you one this whole
Speaker 1: issue of lowering the barrier of injury that you know,
Speaker 1: to to show up to build an organization or a movement,
Speaker 1: or even a group of people of like mind to
Speaker 1: confront a system or to demand something from a system
Speaker 1: can be intimidating. But we talked about the need to
Speaker 1: assemble like minded people so that you're not in this
Speaker 1: work alone to bring down the barrier of entry by
Speaker 1: recognizing that the Montgomery bus boycott did not begin with
Speaker 1: this bigger, bigger frame in mind. They just wanted better treatment.
Speaker 1: The organization that led that effort want a better treatment
Speaker 1: for black people in that city. And from there, you know,
Speaker 1: we know the rest of the story. And so the
Speaker 1: reality is, if you're if you're trying to have an impact,
Speaker 1: don't burden yourself down with this idea that it's got
Speaker 1: to be the most important, most impactful, most comprehensive thing
Speaker 1: that people are pushing out there that I can join
Speaker 1: or else everything is is pointless or useless, that the big, big,
Speaker 1: big idea is the thing that's gonna get us across
Speaker 1: a finish line. Most movements of fact, I can't even
Speaker 1: think of one. UH began small, very nascent, very local,
Speaker 1: UH and grew from there to really encompass the world.
Speaker 1: I want to not skip over a few things as
Speaker 1: it relates to what's the type of graph of these
Speaker 1: people that you should be looking to bring into the group.
Speaker 1: And we're not trading old water. This is something I
Speaker 1: wanted to build upon because I went so quickly last
Speaker 1: week around around this whole idea of a similar team.
Speaker 1: You know, some of us like the idea when we're
Speaker 1: thinking of bringing the people into this deliberative group or
Speaker 1: work group or action group, folks who are either angry
Speaker 1: about something wanted to change it, either the federal level
Speaker 1: with Trump or the local level with the want to
Speaker 1: be Trump's the minimes that are you know that are
Speaker 1: that are bouncing around. Uh. The The idea really is
Speaker 1: you want to be able to assimilar group that doesn't
Speaker 1: stagnate and that you keep moving and building towards something.
Speaker 1: I know it can be cleverer. And some people even
Speaker 1: enjoy maybe be because they're in decidse to themselves, or
Speaker 1: they like to think of the rounded view and the
Speaker 1: rounded perspective and rounded picture on some things before they
Speaker 1: come down and say this is what we ought to do.
Speaker 1: These are the kinds of folks we ought to have
Speaker 1: in the room. And the truth is is I have
Speaker 1: found that that process becomes very very cyclical. You bring
Speaker 1: the argumentative voice into the room, people find themselves being
Speaker 1: taken off track, arguing back and forth. It doesn't become
Speaker 1: an environment that people want to you know, that they
Speaker 1: look forward to participating in. It might satiate you know
Speaker 1: your rowdy you know rowdy bunch, but by and large
Speaker 1: it's a turnoff for most people. And I would just say,
Speaker 1: if you're looking for the thoughtful debate back and forth
Speaker 1: and all of the arguments around an issue and an
Speaker 1: approach put out there, you know, join a the Big
Speaker 1: Club or some other sort of speaking collaborative or something
Speaker 1: in the community. Because unless you are founding and intentioning
Speaker 1: yourself for that very reason exclusively, and I don't know
Speaker 1: many people who are trying to do that. But if
Speaker 1: you are, it's all good, go forth and do great things.
Speaker 1: But if you're intentioning around having some other kind of impact,
Speaker 1: one that is visible, one that strikes a tone of
Speaker 1: defiance or optimism, whatever it is you're trying to carry out,
Speaker 1: it's real hard to do that when you've invited the opposite.
Speaker 1: You know, you've invited a contrary and voice into the
Speaker 1: room who is going to find argument with everything and
Speaker 1: would debate upside down the question. And so I don't
Speaker 1: want I don't want to be too flagrant about the
Speaker 1: who do we bring into the room. The suggestion last
Speaker 1: week was, you know, invite folks into your space. You're
Speaker 1: organizing space who have some shared like a mind on
Speaker 1: generally what you you think you're organizing around politics locally nationally,
Speaker 1: the mood, the need to diversify the local school board.
Speaker 1: I don't know, whatever it is for you, that conversation
Speaker 1: needs to be had and needs be had amongst your
Speaker 1: group with input from everybody. And once you all have
Speaker 1: researched and ferreted that out and everybody feels good about
Speaker 1: the thing that you believe you're supposed to do and
Speaker 1: that you want to target toward, then it's extremely important
Speaker 1: that you start to organize yourself in a way that
Speaker 1: gets things done, that moves the ball forward, that doesn't
Speaker 1: allow you to stagnate in one place. Because I heard
Speaker 1: this phrase number of years ago and has never meant
Speaker 1: and been more potent than as I have grown older,
Speaker 1: And it is don't make the perfect the enemy of
Speaker 1: the good. So just because something is imperfect, don't make
Speaker 1: it the antagonist to good. Good is still good, and
Speaker 1: sometimes good has to be good enough in that moment,
Speaker 1: given the time you have and what you what you've
Speaker 1: got to produce. Soy pay really close mind and attention
Speaker 1: to that who we're inviting into the group. And then
Speaker 1: another question that is that folks try to approach up front,
Speaker 1: and for those of you who don't, I would recommend
Speaker 1: that you do, uh, start to think about what does
Speaker 1: it mean to have a timeline around this, What does
Speaker 1: your commitment look like, What do we think our you know,
Speaker 1: all in commitment is going to take from us. The
Speaker 1: truth is is that the answer for most people, unless
Speaker 1: you are working up into a date like an election
Speaker 1: date or something along those lines, and your program is electoral,
Speaker 1: most people can't give you a real definitive answer to
Speaker 1: when we're going to start, when we're going to end,
Speaker 1: And we haven't even started talking about our unified vision
Speaker 1: about what the problem is, or what the vision is,
Speaker 1: or what the optimistic thing is that we're going to
Speaker 1: do for our community. So so so understanding that it
Speaker 1: is a good idea to try to ballpark for folks.
Speaker 1: Kind of a general going rule in this area is,
Speaker 1: you know, twenty four convenience, twenty four opportunities to be
Speaker 1: together as a full group. I'm not talking about subcommittees
Speaker 1: and working groups and all that kind of stuff. I
Speaker 1: mean as the group. Twenty four sessions is what you
Speaker 1: would want to plan for now, Maybe that means two years.
Speaker 1: Maybe that means meeting twice a month for some of you,
Speaker 1: and maybe even more for others of you. But twenty
Speaker 1: four is a good good way to sort of wait
Speaker 1: it and approach it, and then the group can fill
Speaker 1: it out, you know, as you all see fit. But
Speaker 1: I didn't want you to think that just because you
Speaker 1: didn't have an answer to the question how long this
Speaker 1: is going to last? I mean, the truth is is
Speaker 1: that that's a question for the group. All of us
Speaker 1: are going to input into this what we think we
Speaker 1: need to do, and based off that will determine what
Speaker 1: this thing is going to take. I talked last two
Speaker 1: weeks ago about the Montgomery bus boycott and the Montgomery
Speaker 1: Neighborhood Improvement Association, the organization I took the lead. You know,
Speaker 1: there was supposed to be a one day boycott according
Speaker 1: to the NAACP national release press release on this, and
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, there was a convening
Speaker 1: on that November fifth, and the church was packed and
Speaker 1: everybody said, we got to continue this until we win.
Speaker 1: I don't think they knew when they made that decision
Speaker 1: that it would be some three hundred and eighty plus
Speaker 1: days later. Before victory would be had. But I believe
Speaker 1: all of us know today that it was worth it.
Speaker 1: But a timeline can be helpful to people and give
Speaker 1: them some anticipated approach around what an investment in this
Speaker 1: looks like. Lolo, I want to invite you in now
Speaker 1: with any questions that you may you may have. You know,
Speaker 1: I put this timer on. Of course I didn't start
Speaker 1: it to like six minutes probably into this, so it's
Speaker 1: still gonna be long. Good to see your friend, Hi, Andrew.
Speaker 2: Everybody loves when you I wouldn't even say go on
Speaker 2: your rants, but when when you are in like your
Speaker 2: deep discussions, people love it.
Speaker 1: I I feel real self conscious about it right because
Speaker 1: you're like, oh god, this is in the weeds. And
Speaker 1: Angela in definitely are going to kill me when they
Speaker 1: see me because they want us to keep it, you know,
Speaker 1: forty thousand foot I can. I'm a very excuse me.
Speaker 1: I like to dive in to your details.
Speaker 2: I know Angela will laugh at me because I love
Speaker 2: the details, but I did. Okay, so we got a question.
Speaker 2: One of the first questions that I see is can
Speaker 2: you and your own burbiage tell how important it is
Speaker 2: for everyone to show up with their talents and passions
Speaker 2: in this fight. One person should not shoulder all of it.
Speaker 1: Oh man, I couldn't dittoh that enough. Pick up on
Speaker 1: the last part of that first, which is, no one
Speaker 1: person should shoulder this thing alone.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 1: Leadership is so heavy it is. It is ripe with burnout,
Speaker 1: with resentments and frustrations through the process, and it's inherently
Speaker 1: unfair to have one person always solely accountable for the
Speaker 1: thing to be done, and they never get to really
Speaker 1: absorb and deepen into the actual work that's being done,
Speaker 1: all right, not the committee meetings, not keeping everybody on schedule,
Speaker 1: but showing up at the protests at the town hall
Speaker 1: and being able to be fully present. Leaders need to
Speaker 1: be fed too, and I think one way of feeding
Speaker 1: our leaders is by baking into the pie that we
Speaker 1: are not going to leave you stranded here. We want
Speaker 1: you to be as immersed in this thing as we
Speaker 1: would like to be immersed in it. Leadership does come
Speaker 1: at a cost, but that cost can absolutely be spread
Speaker 1: across a number of us if people are willing to
Speaker 1: lean in in that way, and obviously if you choose
Speaker 1: a leader who recognizes that power is not limited to
Speaker 1: be uh, controled by singular beings. But but power is infinite,
Speaker 1: and the more you share it, the more you get
Speaker 1: of it, the more you bring people into it, the
Speaker 1: more you get to benefit. So so in some ways
Speaker 1: it's also self serving prophecy. And then the first part
Speaker 1: of that, this whole idea around just sort of playing
Speaker 1: your role. Look y'all, I know ain't lebron lebron jay.
Speaker 1: I suck at golf. I break I break driver heads
Speaker 1: all the time, which is not a thing you should
Speaker 1: do if you're a golfer out there, but I do.
Speaker 1: I'm just okay at those things. And I used to
Speaker 1: not really be willing to engage in things unless that
Speaker 1: could be really excellent. But time out for that. We
Speaker 1: got one life to live with the talents that you have,
Speaker 1: with the responsibilities that you shoulder, and with the passion
Speaker 1: that is stiffening your spine against whatever the fight may be.
Speaker 1: Use that channel that and the strength that you bring
Speaker 1: to the to the to the table, not trying to
Speaker 1: replicate somebody else, because guess what, you ain't gonna be
Speaker 1: somebody else at that And folks know or pretend to
Speaker 1: when they see one. We want you to keep it
Speaker 1: real deeping into your talent and bring that talent to
Speaker 1: the table. That's why God gave it to you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I definitely agree with you. I'm always big on
Speaker 2: player role play, yes, so long as.
Speaker 1: We are all in agreement about what the role is. Yes,
Speaker 1: I'm still playing out of turn right.
Speaker 2: No, that was that was great advice. People are saying
Speaker 2: great advice. You know, I get this question a lot,
Speaker 2: and I'm gonna, you know, surprise you with it. O
Speaker 2: Lord Andrew. Somebody asked somebody email and they said, how
Speaker 2: can they get you to run again? Like? What could they?
Speaker 2: Could they run your campaign?
Speaker 1: Bless it, bless it, bless.
Speaker 2: People are saying that they they need you. So is
Speaker 2: there anything that people could do a first.
Speaker 1: Do you know what? This is a build off of
Speaker 1: the last question in the last point, which was around
Speaker 1: playing your role to everything. There is a season and
Speaker 1: I try when I can to help people understand that.
Speaker 1: I have held some public facing role as an elected
Speaker 1: whether it be in student government or the county, the state,
Speaker 1: or at the municipal level since I was like seven
Speaker 1: years old, and then serious weight through high school and
Speaker 1: serious way through college with a lot of time just
Speaker 1: being poured into that so much so to the point
Speaker 1: when I didn't have that to get up and look
Speaker 1: forward to anymore. After the November election and I was
Speaker 1: out of office and I lost the office, I was
Speaker 1: aspiring to the absence of that thing that I had become,
Speaker 1: that I wore like it was first nature. Was that
Speaker 1: it caused me to lose myself, and I rolled it
Speaker 1: and I could, I could see it happening, and could
Speaker 1: not help myself up. My energy and effort went into
Speaker 1: into camouflaging it so folks couldn't read.
Speaker 2: It on me.
Speaker 1: But it would but but but it, but it took,
Speaker 1: it took a lot. It's that sifting to remove all
Speaker 1: things except what is absolutely necessary to keep, and so
Speaker 1: that stripping happens, and then you try to be real
Speaker 1: careful about building and scaffolding that back, because I don't
Speaker 1: want to lose my family. I don't want to lose
Speaker 1: my children, I don't want to lose my life. I
Speaker 1: don't want to lose the field that I have right
Speaker 1: now about what it means to feel liberated in some
Speaker 1: way or at least on the pathway to it. And
Speaker 1: so know this, I'm an obedient. I am increasingly obedient
Speaker 1: to God's guidance in my life. I've tried it my
Speaker 1: way for a long time, and I certainly like to
Speaker 1: maybe lean on some some some added guidance from from
Speaker 1: from from my creator and and the energy that people
Speaker 1: bring into this space. So I a shake the thought
Speaker 1: and know that if God has that for me, there's
Speaker 1: not a force that'll stop it.
Speaker 2: M Yeah, I love that. Well, at least you know
Speaker 2: that everybody loves you and they want you and they
Speaker 2: felt like you were one of the leaders that gave
Speaker 2: a lot of hope. We get those messages all the
Speaker 2: time about just the type of leader that you were
Speaker 2: and are now.
Speaker 1: So we're gonna play this part for a little while.
Speaker 1: Lo Low what you think you don team up me,
Speaker 1: you and the crew.
Speaker 2: Yeah, listen, y'all. I like this part. I love this part.
Speaker 2: I love doing this and I love, especially when it
Speaker 2: comes to media being in this space. So and I
Speaker 2: think that our are the dynamic that we all have
Speaker 2: between myself, between you, the other hosts, even are the
Speaker 2: NLP team behind the scenes. It is like a bridge,
Speaker 2: Like I feel like we are bridging this gap between
Speaker 2: movements that were yeah and new movements, And I just
Speaker 2: I love that this ain't my show though.
Speaker 1: Well we look, I said, we're going to stay on time,
Speaker 1: and of course I started my time are twenty minutes late.
Speaker 1: So you know, we've been here forty minutes. Probably I
Speaker 1: don't know, but they keep telling me, y'all, we got
Speaker 1: to keep this thing within twenty minutes, fifteen to twenty minutes,
Speaker 1: and so I don't want to waste anybody's time, and
Speaker 1: I certainly don't want to overload you with too much
Speaker 1: of a message in these little, small liquorments that we
Speaker 1: do have, but know that it doesn't have to be
Speaker 1: long and exhaustive to be impactful. So we're going to
Speaker 1: try and keep them briefing impactful.
Speaker 2: I love that, all right, And last thing I'll say
Speaker 2: is you all make sure that you all leave comments about, Yes,
Speaker 2: leave comments about some of the things that you might
Speaker 2: want to hear about when it comes to organizing playbook.
Speaker 2: We will be here every other Tuesday, I mean every
Speaker 2: other Monday.
Speaker 1: And then I just I just want to say look
Speaker 1: forward to when we're back on in another two weeks
Speaker 1: for us to dive into building an agenda in a
Speaker 1: program for your group. How it is that you start
Speaker 1: at the very front end, thinking about what does success
Speaker 1: look like? And then how do we analyze that? How
Speaker 1: do we count it? What they say is if you
Speaker 1: can't count it, it don't matter. And more importantly, that
Speaker 1: big powerful institutions count what does matter. That's part why
Speaker 1: you know this de I think is a big deal
Speaker 1: because if you're not counting, you've already told us where
Speaker 1: your priority is. See look at that rant. That's how
Speaker 1: we end up with a long show. My bad.
Speaker 2: Well you still with that timeframe, so we're good.
Speaker 1: I said fifteen minutes, so we allow.
Speaker 2: But it's all over, okay, all right, well I'm done.
Speaker 2: We outa here.
Speaker 1: Andrews we ya yo weacha, Well we actua would be
Speaker 1: we're staying here, so we out of here. Native Land
Speaker 1: Pod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with Reason
Speaker 1: Choice Media. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit iHeartRadio app,
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