1 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,720 Speaker 1: Good morning, peeps, and welcome to okay F Daily with 2 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:20,240 Speaker 1: Meet Your Girl Danielle Moody. Prerecording from the Home Bunker, Folks. 3 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: I'm really excited to bring to you part one of 4 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: a two part conversation that I had with the very 5 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:35,760 Speaker 1: esteemed doctor Dina Simmons. Doctor Simmons did a TED talk 6 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: on impostor syndrome that was published at her former job, 7 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, and she talks about the 8 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 1: toxic environment of academia, particularly for black women. And you know, 9 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:58,279 Speaker 1: doctor Simmons in her TED talk, which was about her 10 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:05,679 Speaker 1: own experience as a black woman in a very racist 11 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:08,839 Speaker 1: higher ed system. And this is not the first time 12 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:12,959 Speaker 1: that I've had these conversations before, as it pertains to 13 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: other esteemed doctors that I know from higher ed institutions 14 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: that have been denied tenure. Right, we all watched publicly 15 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 1: as it happened to Nicole Haddon Jones, the author of 16 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 1: the sixteen nineteen project. We watched as she was denied 17 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: tenure at Duke University, which was her alma mater, and 18 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: then we watched that play out where she sued them, 19 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: received an undisclosed amount of money and then went over 20 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: to take her brilliance and her project over to Howard University, 21 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: historically black college and university. And so we know that 22 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: these things happened, but it doesn't just happen in the 23 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:08,360 Speaker 1: field of academia. Toxic, racist, misogynist environments are alive and 24 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:12,640 Speaker 1: well in every industry. And I will talk to doctor 25 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:18,560 Speaker 1: Simmons in this first part of two parts robust conversation 26 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:22,520 Speaker 1: about what it means to own your power, what it 27 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 1: means to take up space. I was asked recently for 28 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: the best advice that I have ever given and received 29 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: at the Lesbians Who Teach summit in San Francisco earlier 30 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: in October, and I said this about the best advice 31 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:45,079 Speaker 1: that I've ever given. Take up fucking space. Oftentimes, in 32 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 1: a lot of my career until probably the last you know, 33 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: I would say, the last five to six years, I've 34 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: been the only one in the room. And what do 35 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: I mean by that? The only black person, the only 36 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: child of immigrants, the only queer person, the only woman, 37 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 1: not often the only woman, but the other three. Absolutely, 38 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:09,160 Speaker 1: And that has been my path my entire life. As 39 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 1: you all know who've listened to the show for a 40 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: very long time, I grew up in a predominantly white 41 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 1: suburb on eastern Long Island, and my public school education 42 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: was in a ninety six percent white school and ninety 43 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:31,560 Speaker 1: six percent white community. And you know, by virtue of 44 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: my parents and my family at large, I have never 45 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: been one to shrink in a room where I do 46 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: not see myself reflected for better or worse for many 47 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: For many, many decades, I've seen myself as a need, 48 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:51,960 Speaker 1: the need to be an ambassador in those spaces. We 49 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 1: will talk about the undue burden that that presents as well, 50 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: the undue burden and stress, an additional labor that you 51 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: are not being paid to do that happens when you 52 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: are the only one in these spaces. And so what 53 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: does it mean to reclaim rest? What does it mean to, 54 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: as Auntie Maxine has said, Representative Maxine Waters, reclaim your 55 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:21,479 Speaker 1: time right. I'm currently reading If you guys follow me 56 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: on Instagram, I did post a story recently Tricia Hersey, 57 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:30,839 Speaker 1: who is the Bishop of the NAP Ministry on Instagram. 58 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: I am reading her debut manifesto Rest is Resistance, and 59 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: in there she talks about how capitalism and white supremacy 60 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:46,839 Speaker 1: has robbed us of our dream space has robbed Black 61 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:51,599 Speaker 1: people in particular, which she dives into, but all of 62 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:56,279 Speaker 1: us collectively that are wrapped into capitalism and this grind culture. 63 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:00,800 Speaker 1: That I am only as valuable as what I produce right, 64 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: not by virtue of who I am. And I think 65 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 1: that it is really important for us to continue to 66 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: unpack these conversations that help us reset our programming, because 67 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 1: don't be mistaken, we have all been preprogrammed from a 68 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:25,599 Speaker 1: young child. I'll give you this from Tricia Hersey's book 69 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: Rest Is Resistance, which is available now. I'll tell you 70 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: this little tidbit she writes in the book about how 71 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: from elementary school we begin to program children to be workers. 72 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:49,720 Speaker 1: We force young kids, and she'll tell an anecdote in 73 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:55,280 Speaker 1: the book to betray their bodies. This is her language, 74 00:05:55,760 --> 00:06:00,760 Speaker 1: betray their bodies and conform to the time constraints that 75 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:07,559 Speaker 1: a teacher allows them to be able to use the bathroom. 76 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: A child could be squirming in their seat, unable to 77 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: hold their bladder, and a teacher will say to them, well, 78 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:19,760 Speaker 1: you can't use the restroom until twelve thirty. Well it's 79 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 1: eleven forty five and my body is telling me I 80 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 1: need to go now, and what do we do Well, 81 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:32,840 Speaker 1: we have kids have accidents quote unquote that demoralize them, 82 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:37,719 Speaker 1: that embarrass them all because they won't conform their bodies, 83 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:44,200 Speaker 1: won't conform to the productivity schedule that we begin to 84 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:51,239 Speaker 1: put them on as young as in kindergarten. Well, now 85 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:56,040 Speaker 1: look at your own routines. How we design our work calendars, 86 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 1: or rather, how our work days are designed, that we 87 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 1: are forming too. I can't tell you how many zoom 88 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 1: meetings I jump on where folks tell me, Hey, Danielle, 89 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: can you give me, you know, just three minutes. I'm 90 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: so sorry, but I've been in back to backs all 91 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:13,960 Speaker 1: day and I haven't been able to use the bathroom. 92 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 1: What can you just give me, you know, four minutes 93 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: to go heat up a cup of coffee? Or do 94 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: you mind if I eat on this call because I 95 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: just haven't had any time. Because we have been programmed 96 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: to believe that we are undeserving of that time, that 97 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: we will seem lazy, we will seem like we are 98 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: not dedicated to the work. If what I listen to 99 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: the needs of my body, that I am not a 100 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: machine that I actually do need to physically recharge and 101 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:56,240 Speaker 1: relieve myself and eat and breathe fresh air and get 102 00:07:56,320 --> 00:08:03,280 Speaker 1: some sunlight and the conversation, the first part of this 103 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:06,240 Speaker 1: two part conversation that I have with doctor Dina Simmons, 104 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: begins to unpack all of the systems that are at 105 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: play that tell us that we are unworthy, and particularly 106 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 1: those that have played on repeat for black people and 107 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 1: black women throughout the course of time. So coming up next, 108 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: dear friends, the first part of a two part conversation 109 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 1: with my new friend, doctor Dina Simmons. Hey there, I 110 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: want to tell you about another podcast I think you'll love. 111 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 1: The Brown Girl's Guide to Politics, hosted by a Shanty Gohler, 112 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: the president of Emerge BGG, is the one stop shop 113 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: for women of color who want to hear and talk 114 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 1: about the world of politics. Join a Shanty this season 115 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: as she talks to incredible women of color who are 116 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:55,840 Speaker 1: changing the face of politics and tackling some of the 117 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:59,680 Speaker 1: most important issues basing the United States, from reproductive justice, 118 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:02,760 Speaker 1: to rights, to climate change and more. Tune in every 119 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:08,440 Speaker 1: Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts, Folks, I am very 120 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 1: excited to welcome to woka f Daily for the very 121 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:17,440 Speaker 1: first time, Doctor Dena Simmons, activist, educator, Ted Talker, and 122 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 1: the founder of Liberate Ed. She's also the upcoming the 123 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: author of the upcoming book White Rules for Black People. 124 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Woke f So I want to jump in 125 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 1: and I want to talk about your upcoming book, and 126 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:39,440 Speaker 1: then we will talk about all the ways in which 127 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 1: you have found yourself and other highly esteemed black academics, 128 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:55,719 Speaker 1: black women academics disrespected in your professional field and industry. 129 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: But I want to dig into your upcoming book because 130 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:04,240 Speaker 1: I'm exhausted, as I know that you must be right. 131 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:11,480 Speaker 1: I'm exhausted by the chosen ignorance of white people. I'm 132 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:17,360 Speaker 1: exhausted by the media chasing the desire and the likes 133 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:20,960 Speaker 1: of the Karens and the Chads in order to decide 134 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 1: whether or not we're going to turn into a fascist country, right, 135 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:26,559 Speaker 1: whether or not they deemed that their gas bills are 136 00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:30,679 Speaker 1: too high to give a damn about our democracy and 137 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: just equity in general. So I want to get your 138 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:40,480 Speaker 1: your your thoughts based around your upcoming book. What prompted it? 139 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: So you know, I think many of us, So I 140 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:49,200 Speaker 1: think before talking about my book, I think I need 141 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: to talk about the journey, right, So my journey to 142 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:55,960 Speaker 1: right now, having this conversation, to the book, to the 143 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,480 Speaker 1: places that I end up and have been and whatever 144 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:04,600 Speaker 1: my future hold. Right. So I started born and raised 145 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:07,280 Speaker 1: in the Bronx, New York, my mother coming into this 146 00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:10,880 Speaker 1: country as a you know, an immigrant from at cleaning 147 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:15,880 Speaker 1: white people's homes and saying to herself, one day, I 148 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:18,959 Speaker 1: want my children to go to school like these white folks, right, 149 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,679 Speaker 1: because we've already she can tell as an immigrant in 150 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:26,520 Speaker 1: this country that white folks got better stuff, right, And 151 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:28,679 Speaker 1: so she said, I want my kids to have that too. 152 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:31,600 Speaker 1: And so when she had the opportunity, and when we 153 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:34,360 Speaker 1: learned of the opportunity of boarding school, we went to 154 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:38,520 Speaker 1: boarding school. Now, what no one did is prepare me 155 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 1: for what it was like to leave the Bronx with 156 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:46,360 Speaker 1: everyone looking like me and for those who can't see me, 157 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:50,320 Speaker 1: I am a light skinned black woman. I have my 158 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 1: hair up up and it's it's natural, curly, big state 159 00:11:54,880 --> 00:12:00,080 Speaker 1: and approach, and I'm here going into this place and 160 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:03,800 Speaker 1: it was so overwhelmingly white. And so as a fourteen 161 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:06,360 Speaker 1: year old, I'm like, yo, I'm not gonna make no 162 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:09,440 Speaker 1: friends here. That was the first response that I had 163 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: to my boarding school and that I ain't gonna make 164 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 1: no friends here is the response and the feeling I 165 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: usually get when I walk into white spaces. And so 166 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:22,960 Speaker 1: what I learned in the process of going to boarding 167 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:27,040 Speaker 1: school and then to college in Vermont and then to 168 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:32,199 Speaker 1: that you just keep d a white place after white blazing, 169 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 1: right Ivy League, is I've better learn how to perform here, right, 170 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 1: And so what black folks are or we are great performers, 171 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:47,000 Speaker 1: we will, yes, ma'am, and yester you because that's what 172 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:52,000 Speaker 1: we learned, right. And so I learned the rules of whiteness, 173 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:54,000 Speaker 1: and so that's why I was like, I learned how 174 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:59,040 Speaker 1: to navigate white spaces up to the point that it 175 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:02,440 Speaker 1: made me sick, up to the point that I said, 176 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:04,480 Speaker 1: I couldn't do this no more because it's me or 177 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:07,480 Speaker 1: it's me doing this or death. And so it got 178 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:10,880 Speaker 1: to the point where I just could not follow the 179 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: rules anymore. And you know, I wanted to no longer 180 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: have these white rules oppress me, limit me, keep me 181 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:22,360 Speaker 1: from my excellence, keep me from my fullness, keep me 182 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:27,680 Speaker 1: full from freedom. And so I, you know, left my 183 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,679 Speaker 1: Ivy League university because it was the most toxic place 184 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:35,920 Speaker 1: I've worked and but yet at the same time, as 185 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:39,840 Speaker 1: a child, the lessons that our schools teach us is 186 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 1: that you should aspire to end up in a place 187 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:46,800 Speaker 1: like that. So in many ways, our rule system begins, 188 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: it becomes the beginning or the the place where young 189 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:59,080 Speaker 1: people learned that they must aspire to whiteness. Yep. And 190 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:04,080 Speaker 1: so so now it's like my entire journey and my 191 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:08,360 Speaker 1: book will be about with white journey whiteness. But let 192 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:10,800 Speaker 1: me tell you, I was very good, like I said 193 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:12,840 Speaker 1: in my TED talk, and I don't even know if 194 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: it made it to the Ted Talks. So some of 195 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:17,600 Speaker 1: my TED talk was edited out. But one of the 196 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:21,240 Speaker 1: parts that I think I edited out was the sort 197 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:24,640 Speaker 1: of psychic homelessness that many black folks feel in white 198 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 1: spaces because we are performing for white spaces, but at 199 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:32,040 Speaker 1: the same time, in that performance, sometimes that performance becomes 200 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:37,480 Speaker 1: who we are. We leave themselves and sort of the 201 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: grief that goes with that, sort of the trauma of erasure, 202 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 1: of self erasure that goes with that, but also the 203 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: fact that we learn to perform these places and do 204 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:54,040 Speaker 1: it so well that sometimes when we go home, our 205 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 1: home doesn't even recognize us, So we don't even recognize 206 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: our home, and we go home and we don't want 207 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:00,840 Speaker 1: home because it's nicer over there. So no one talks 208 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:04,800 Speaker 1: about all of that loss and grief that goes with 209 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:07,880 Speaker 1: taking a young black child from the hood and to 210 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:09,720 Speaker 1: saying we're going to give you a better life. But 211 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:12,560 Speaker 1: no one talks about the loss and the grief. We 212 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:16,600 Speaker 1: just focus on this very narrow definition of success being 213 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:20,040 Speaker 1: how do you get as close to whiteness and how 214 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:23,360 Speaker 1: do you guys far from yourself? So, like I shared 215 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:26,840 Speaker 1: my book, and we'll see that title six right is 216 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:30,960 Speaker 1: essentially a homecoming. Right, how do I come back home 217 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:33,520 Speaker 1: to myself? How do I come back home to my community? 218 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:39,800 Speaker 1: Because there has been that distance for so long. You 219 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:43,080 Speaker 1: have said so much that I want to I want 220 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:48,840 Speaker 1: to unpack for our audience who does not have the 221 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 1: same experience. Right. I have often shared on this show 222 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 1: my own experience of growing up in a ninety six 223 00:15:56,400 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 1: percent white community, of going to a predominantly white institution, 224 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 1: of being UM a child of immigrants. My family came 225 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 1: from Jamaica, UM, so big up the Caribbean UM, and 226 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:14,560 Speaker 1: you know, and and the idea you know which my 227 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:17,840 Speaker 1: mother would learn later when my sister and I would 228 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:22,600 Speaker 1: go for our master's degrees, um, that She's like, I 229 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:24,960 Speaker 1: just chose the best school. I moved to the best 230 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:29,080 Speaker 1: school district that we could afford. Right that you know 231 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: that that that we could afford to go to. And 232 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:37,280 Speaker 1: it didn't occur to me, right um, that there would 233 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:42,800 Speaker 1: be so many instances of assimilation and a razure that 234 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:46,920 Speaker 1: you would then unpack as adults and I and I 235 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: didn't experience and I'll be honest, I didn't experience deep trauma. 236 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,520 Speaker 1: There are there are I have memories right that I 237 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: have that I have unpacked over the over the years. 238 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: But my experience allowed me to be able to navigate 239 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:07,320 Speaker 1: white spaces in a way that I have been able 240 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:11,760 Speaker 1: to utilize, right um. And again that white people don't 241 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:14,439 Speaker 1: ever have to do James Baldwin said, they never have 242 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:16,719 Speaker 1: to look at us, right, but we always have to 243 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:20,440 Speaker 1: look at them. And so for for for the audience, 244 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:25,240 Speaker 1: talk a little bit, if it's not too much about 245 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 1: providing an example about the way that this performance works, 246 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:35,000 Speaker 1: what this performance actually looks like. And then the toll 247 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:39,119 Speaker 1: you know in this and I love the phrase in 248 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:43,280 Speaker 1: this psychic homelessness that happens. And I think that you know, 249 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:47,240 Speaker 1: in a lot of ways, a lot of performers, Broadway performers, actresses, 250 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:49,719 Speaker 1: you're taking on and the way that you take on 251 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:53,800 Speaker 1: these characters, at times you lose yourself in right. But 252 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:57,640 Speaker 1: unlike a Broadway show or a film, it's not done 253 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:00,800 Speaker 1: after several months. This is a lifetime performance. So can 254 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,040 Speaker 1: you talk a bit about how that shows up and 255 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:08,880 Speaker 1: what that looks like. So you set assimilation earlier, and 256 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:13,480 Speaker 1: so sometimes that assimilation looks like code switching. And so 257 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:17,600 Speaker 1: for folks who don't know, it's like I'm from the Bronx. 258 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:21,000 Speaker 1: And so when I'm coming in this white space and 259 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:23,440 Speaker 1: I'm like, yo, what's up? Good? What's good? Folks? And 260 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,439 Speaker 1: someone corrects me and tells me that good is an 261 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: adjective and that well is an adverb. And when someone 262 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:34,119 Speaker 1: asks me, as asks me how I'm doing, I should 263 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,040 Speaker 1: answer with an adverbs or should be well right, or 264 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:42,320 Speaker 1: when I'm corrected for saying acts as acts instead of ask. 265 00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:45,920 Speaker 1: So these little ways right that we get chipped and corrected. 266 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:48,240 Speaker 1: And so after a while you're like, oh, I gotta 267 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 1: learn to speak like them. I gotta learn to talk 268 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 1: like them. I gotta learn to smile like them. So 269 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:59,200 Speaker 1: you shift and change, and it's like called shape shifting 270 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:03,280 Speaker 1: that you sent do so that you ensure white comfort. 271 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:05,040 Speaker 1: That's really what you got to do when you go 272 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:06,919 Speaker 1: to white spaces and you ain't white, because you got 273 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:09,359 Speaker 1: to ensure that white folks say comfortable. So and so 274 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:13,680 Speaker 1: you always got to be aware that when you show 275 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: up in this space, is that you are the work 276 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:18,880 Speaker 1: that you're doing to one perform and then the other 277 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,200 Speaker 1: work that you're doing to pay attention and to read, 278 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:26,679 Speaker 1: to read white white response to you is essentially the 279 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:30,159 Speaker 1: work of performance, right, because you're reading the room, so 280 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:31,920 Speaker 1: you read the room and as a young show, so 281 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,200 Speaker 1: sometimes change. It's changing the way you're dressing. It's changed 282 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,119 Speaker 1: in the way you walk. It's changing your hair, because 283 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:40,159 Speaker 1: we all know both. You know, when we wear our 284 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:42,880 Speaker 1: hair and the way it naturally grows out our head, 285 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 1: it's considered unprofessional and right, I always say to folks 286 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:51,040 Speaker 1: who defines professionalism, why can't my natural state of being 287 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 1: be professional? And those are ways in which we're raised, 288 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 1: and that's the ways we learn to perform. So let 289 00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:58,800 Speaker 1: me straighten my hair, let me perform. So then I 290 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:02,160 Speaker 1: don't come across as as too black for these folks, 291 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:04,640 Speaker 1: are too militant for these folks, right, And so those 292 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:08,200 Speaker 1: are the ways in which that we perform. But black 293 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:12,920 Speaker 1: folks have always been performing right when our enslaved ancestors 294 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:17,760 Speaker 1: were in working in you know, the enslaver's house, best 295 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:22,320 Speaker 1: believed they were smiling through their rage. Best believe, best 296 00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:26,359 Speaker 1: believe that a bunch of black folks in institutions, whether 297 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 1: it be corporate, academic, not for profit, are smiling through 298 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:35,480 Speaker 1: pain or smiling through comfort. Because again, what we learn, 299 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:39,119 Speaker 1: one of the rules we learn is to ensure that 300 00:20:39,119 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 1: white folks maintain their comfort. And so I would say 301 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:48,800 Speaker 1: it's the shape shifting. It's the shifting and leaving some 302 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 1: of yourself at home and taking out the yoe at 303 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:56,159 Speaker 1: the end of the sentence, you know. And folks and 304 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:58,879 Speaker 1: teachers often say, but that's the correct way to speak. 305 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:01,719 Speaker 1: You should be thankful to the teachers that corrected the 306 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 1: way you speak. And I often say, in that correction, 307 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 1: there's also a triggering. There's also and when I say triggering, 308 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:13,680 Speaker 1: I mean like the fact that there's a message that 309 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,840 Speaker 1: the way I am is wrong. So there's a way 310 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: to honor what I bring naturally to a space, what 311 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:25,000 Speaker 1: I bring indigenously to a space. And I could be 312 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: bilingual or multilingual, learn a new language instead of saying 313 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:31,000 Speaker 1: a race that because that that ain't right, and so 314 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:33,199 Speaker 1: I think too often an education that's what we do. 315 00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: We say a race, who you are and get it 316 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,840 Speaker 1: come correct if you want to be successful, because we 317 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 1: have a very narrow definition of success, a very narrow 318 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:46,480 Speaker 1: definition of what professional is, and a very narrow definition 319 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:50,359 Speaker 1: of what it means to thrive. And in many ways, 320 00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:55,679 Speaker 1: the definition of success or thrive does not have a 321 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:58,200 Speaker 1: natural black woman's face on it, and we got to 322 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 1: shift that neither doesn't have rest or relaxation, or joy 323 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,600 Speaker 1: or laughter. And as a result, what do we learn 324 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,520 Speaker 1: as black folks? And what did I learn was that 325 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:10,720 Speaker 1: I had to show my worth by how much I 326 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:16,959 Speaker 1: produced I do and how many of us are sick 327 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:20,879 Speaker 1: and dying because we are still working our tailed up. 328 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:26,760 Speaker 1: It's no secret that the news is horsepill hard to swallow. Thankfully, 329 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:30,679 Speaker 1: there's the Bituation Room podcast hosted by comedian and commentator 330 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:33,760 Speaker 1: Francesca free Or and Tini for a lighter take on 331 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:36,760 Speaker 1: the heavy staff. Each week The Bituation Room brings you 332 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:40,240 Speaker 1: progressive comedians, experts, and activists to break down the issues 333 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:42,480 Speaker 1: in a way that won't just leave you crying under 334 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 1: a weighted blanket. Get the Bituation Room on Apple, Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, 335 00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:55,560 Speaker 1: and streaming on YouTube and Twitch. There was a just 336 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:58,680 Speaker 1: and I saw that too in my book as well. 337 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:03,440 Speaker 1: This is this idea as well. There was just released 338 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:07,280 Speaker 1: in terms of the straightening of straightening of our hair. 339 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:11,880 Speaker 1: H the report that just came out that said, guess 340 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:19,840 Speaker 1: what causes cancer? Uterine cancer? At that hair? Relax right right? 341 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:24,560 Speaker 1: How many mamma's relax their hair? Ye? And you know, 342 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:28,800 Speaker 1: I thought about it in when when that news broke 343 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:33,639 Speaker 1: because I I went natural in early two thousand, I 344 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,240 Speaker 1: had grown out, I had started growing out my my 345 00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:41,439 Speaker 1: perm in the nineties. Uh when I and then you know, 346 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:44,280 Speaker 1: and then went into the process of having locks, which 347 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:48,120 Speaker 1: I've had now for for a very very long time. 348 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:53,159 Speaker 1: But you know, it's just this idea that white society 349 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,280 Speaker 1: will tell you how you need to look and then 350 00:23:56,359 --> 00:23:59,880 Speaker 1: provide and then the product that we used to look 351 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:03,920 Speaker 1: that way will kill us. It is I mean, it 352 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:09,119 Speaker 1: is just like you know, you there there's no there's 353 00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:12,000 Speaker 1: no other way to look at that, right than for 354 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,800 Speaker 1: than for what it is um And you know the 355 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:22,240 Speaker 1: ideas like these, Your your message and so beautifully stated, 356 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:28,119 Speaker 1: is about what it seems to me, the relearning of 357 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:33,360 Speaker 1: our worth. And how do how you know and how 358 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 1: do we relearn our worth as black people? Right now 359 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:47,000 Speaker 1: at a time when literally you have the governor of Florida, 360 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:54,320 Speaker 1: Ron DeSantis, who literally wrote legislation about white comfort. You 361 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: have a sitting member of Congress, regardless of how crazy 362 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:02,280 Speaker 1: we know that she is, Marjorie Taylor Green, talking about 363 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:11,040 Speaker 1: schools teaching anti whiteness. So how do you articulate or 364 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: express how we understand and learn our worth and navigate 365 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:20,560 Speaker 1: through this imposter syndrome and through this contortion that we 366 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:25,160 Speaker 1: have been doing our entire lives when literal policies are 367 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:30,399 Speaker 1: being created to deny us that very avenue, that very pathway. 368 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:35,440 Speaker 1: It's again white limitations, right, So like we and we've 369 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:37,920 Speaker 1: seen this. So I just finished I just watched Till 370 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,920 Speaker 1: the movie, and I was just I've been thinking about 371 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:46,639 Speaker 1: tild story, Emmett tild story. And for those of you 372 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:50,639 Speaker 1: who don't know, Emma Till was a black a teenager 373 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:52,840 Speaker 1: who went to visit his family in the South from 374 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:56,720 Speaker 1: Chicago and did not make it past the entire time 375 00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:01,040 Speaker 1: because he was killed for you know, speaking, you know, 376 00:26:01,359 --> 00:26:04,600 Speaker 1: having some interaction with a white woman who did who 377 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,520 Speaker 1: displeased the white woman, and obviously she you know, Caroline, 378 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:13,359 Speaker 1: I believe kind of exaggerated the details. And because what 379 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,200 Speaker 1: happens and with black folks is that one we're adultified 380 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,040 Speaker 1: as children would become adults. He was seen as a 381 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:21,359 Speaker 1: man even though he was a child, and he was killed. 382 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:25,120 Speaker 1: And and so what I was thinking about was this, 383 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:27,359 Speaker 1: you know, this idea of you said, we have to 384 00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:31,399 Speaker 1: contort ourselves into these spaces. And now we have legislation 385 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:34,520 Speaker 1: that says you beuys, stay, you beust stay contorting yourself 386 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 1: because we like, we're not uncomfortable. And so Till goes 387 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:45,480 Speaker 1: down to the South and doesn't know the rule right 388 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:47,840 Speaker 1: because at that time it was a little bit more 389 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:49,720 Speaker 1: liberal in the North than it was in the South. 390 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 1: And we have a whole we have a whole conversation 391 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 1: because I think white supremacy is universal. I just think 392 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: it looks different dependent on where you are, right and 393 00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:02,280 Speaker 1: so so so I think that the tension that we 394 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:04,879 Speaker 1: have as black folks is how do we raise our 395 00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:10,199 Speaker 1: children so that they can be free ants live to 396 00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:12,880 Speaker 1: see the next day. And that is a real tension 397 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,960 Speaker 1: that that white parents don't have to worry about, Like 398 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:20,320 Speaker 1: when a there's a point in the movie and I 399 00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:22,359 Speaker 1: actually didn't even need to see the movie to know 400 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:25,840 Speaker 1: this where you know the kids, the black boys are 401 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:28,920 Speaker 1: out and the uncle and the aunt are up watching TV. 402 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:30,600 Speaker 1: You know they want to be sleeping, but you know 403 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:32,840 Speaker 1: they can't sleep because their kids that are not home. 404 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:39,520 Speaker 1: Black families still worry about their children because you never 405 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:41,600 Speaker 1: know if you're going to read about them be yup 406 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:44,639 Speaker 1: on the newspaper and so that, and so now we 407 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:49,880 Speaker 1: have legislation that said, how dare we make white folks uncomfortable? 408 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:52,679 Speaker 1: And you know or anti whiteness? And to me, I 409 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:54,960 Speaker 1: think when you hear them their argument, they actually want 410 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:56,679 Speaker 1: to go back. A lot of the folks who are 411 00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:59,960 Speaker 1: arguing for this, like who are on the anti curtive 412 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:03,600 Speaker 1: race theory train are really thinking are arguing like, but 413 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:08,880 Speaker 1: what about our country's values of equality and justice for all? 414 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:13,640 Speaker 1: What happened? And I'm like, where were you where I 415 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:17,680 Speaker 1: was being a race where were you? Every day when 416 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:21,280 Speaker 1: black and Latin eggs, and Indigenous and queer children and 417 00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:24,200 Speaker 1: trans children are saying, we feel uncomfortable, we don't feel 418 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,600 Speaker 1: welcome to here. Where were you? So to me, the 419 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:30,520 Speaker 1: double standard and the arguments really don't make any sense 420 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:32,879 Speaker 1: because at the end of the day, it is strictly 421 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:38,240 Speaker 1: about who as a nation we deside we decide deserves protection, 422 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:41,840 Speaker 1: and we have decided that only white little kids deserve 423 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:45,600 Speaker 1: protection in this country. White little kids who conform to 424 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:50,440 Speaker 1: a binary gender. Come on, now, you put this in 425 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:53,600 Speaker 1: a little white kid in their trainings? Oh, throw them out, yep. 426 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:59,440 Speaker 1: And so you know, we've decided very narrowly who as 427 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:02,840 Speaker 1: a country we decide to protect, and that is not 428 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:06,520 Speaker 1: going to be a future that is worth living for 429 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:09,280 Speaker 1: a lot of folks. And that's why we got to 430 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:12,080 Speaker 1: do the work anyway that we can. Like you know, 431 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:14,440 Speaker 1: the end of the month, I mean, and the end 432 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:18,400 Speaker 1: of November we have a holiday, you know, which I 433 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: don't celebrate because I come from Antigua, but it is 434 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:25,440 Speaker 1: a It has indoctrinated this idea of thanksgiving. We know, 435 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:29,360 Speaker 1: it's a whole lie. You know, there was rapture, there 436 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:33,360 Speaker 1: was raping, there was killing. It wasn't as like beautiful 437 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:37,040 Speaker 1: and harmonious as we tell the story. But that's an 438 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:39,560 Speaker 1: opportunity because folks are gonna be sitting at the table 439 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 1: for the white accomplices out there. I'm like, that's the 440 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:44,960 Speaker 1: time to talk to your racist uncle. Talk to your 441 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:48,680 Speaker 1: racist uncle, tell them you know how, you know, because 442 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:50,760 Speaker 1: also we got to be voting, and I know voting 443 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:53,840 Speaker 1: is coming up, and thinking about Georgia, I'm thinking about 444 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:57,920 Speaker 1: how close certain states are and I'm like, really, anyway, 445 00:29:57,960 --> 00:29:59,520 Speaker 1: I've just been all over the place. But all that 446 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:04,520 Speaker 1: to say is that it's not I don't want to 447 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:08,840 Speaker 1: dooms believe, like believe that everything is doomed. I want 448 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:14,720 Speaker 1: to I believe that this can shift, and this is 449 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,880 Speaker 1: an opportunity for us and those of us who are 450 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:23,320 Speaker 1: about this like radical revolutionary life of collective liberation. I 451 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:26,239 Speaker 1: want to believe that that we can change something. And 452 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:28,520 Speaker 1: that's what honestly wakes me up every day. That's the 453 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:31,240 Speaker 1: work that I do at Liberate Ed is really trying 454 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:33,880 Speaker 1: to create a world where all children can live, learn 455 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:38,560 Speaker 1: and thrive in the comfort of their own skin. And 456 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:41,320 Speaker 1: I first said those words of twenty fifteen and my 457 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:45,000 Speaker 1: ted talk because at the end of the day, all 458 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:52,840 Speaker 1: black people want is to live comfort in peace. Just 459 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 1: let us live in peace and let us die in peace. 460 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:57,480 Speaker 1: Like you don't have to contribute to either of it, 461 00:30:57,520 --> 00:30:59,720 Speaker 1: just let us be. And I think that's at the 462 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:01,160 Speaker 1: end of the day. I do the work so that 463 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:03,760 Speaker 1: I can live in peace because every time I speak 464 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:06,320 Speaker 1: my truth truth. And I don't know about you, Danielle 465 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:08,760 Speaker 1: Is I got to worry about what death threats I'm 466 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:12,080 Speaker 1: gonna get, what email I'm gonna get. And all I'm 467 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:16,920 Speaker 1: trying to do is live in peace and ensure that 468 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:19,720 Speaker 1: every single child can live, learn, and thrive in the 469 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:27,240 Speaker 1: comfort of their skin. That's it for part one of 470 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:30,800 Speaker 1: my two part conversation with doctor Dina Simmons. Make sure 471 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,640 Speaker 1: to check back tomorrow for the rest of the conversation 472 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:36,640 Speaker 1: about how to wake people up to their power and 473 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:42,920 Speaker 1: how to take up space as always, dear friends, Power 474 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:46,320 Speaker 1: to the people and to all the people. Power, get 475 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:48,560 Speaker 1: woke and stay woke as fuck.