Speaker 1: Positively Gam is sponsored by Basiline. See how they are
Speaker 1: working towards equitable skin care for all at basiline dot com.
Speaker 1: Shirley Chisholm is known for this quote, if they don't
Speaker 1: give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.
Speaker 1: And I feel like you, in particular are very familiar
Speaker 1: with bring your own chair. Can you talk to us
Speaker 1: a little bit about that? You know, I like that quote,
Speaker 1: but I really would like for us to build our
Speaker 1: own table, you know. And yes, yeah, and it's and
Speaker 1: that's something to the point that you can relate to too.
Speaker 1: You guys literally have done that by providing space for
Speaker 1: our issues, and I think that it's imperative for us
Speaker 1: to do that in every single industry we touch, even
Speaker 1: the ones they don't want us to touch, but we
Speaker 1: know we belong. What's up, everybody, I'm Gammy and this
Speaker 1: is Positively GAM. Every week I have raw in depth
Speaker 1: conversation with inspirational people pushing for change or everything from aging, relationships, politics,
Speaker 1: wellness to the current issues facing the black community. And
Speaker 1: this is an extra special episode because we are doing
Speaker 1: a crossover at show with Angela Rye, the host of
Speaker 1: On One Welcome Angela, I am so excited. I'm very
Speaker 1: nervous too. I have to admit I'm very nervous to
Speaker 1: talk to you, but I'm excited at the same time.
Speaker 1: Don't be nervous. So Angela, you are the CEO of
Speaker 1: Impact Strategies of Political Advocacy firm in the Nation's Capital,
Speaker 1: also a c and and political commentator and MPR political analysts.
Speaker 1: We have many voices, we have many black women who
Speaker 1: come to the forefront now with their voices, but I
Speaker 1: consider you one of those prominent voices right now. And
Speaker 1: can you tell us a little bit about your journey
Speaker 1: and how you got here? Like was this always you
Speaker 1: know what you saw yourself doing? No? Never. You know,
Speaker 1: it's so funny because you know, there are young people,
Speaker 1: especially when I could still go to college campuses and
Speaker 1: talk to them and they would say, you know, I
Speaker 1: want to be on TV. I've always wanted to do this.
Speaker 1: You know what should I do? And I say, first
Speaker 1: things first, I never wanted to be on TV. It's
Speaker 1: so interesting because I really did fall into it, although
Speaker 1: some people would say I really come by it. Honestly,
Speaker 1: my dad had like a TV show on like Public
Speaker 1: Access back in the day. He has a radio show
Speaker 1: right now. He is truly a talker. You know, grew
Speaker 1: up debating my parents, believing that I could always have
Speaker 1: an opinion, so was groom for it in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways, but never knew that it was about I
Speaker 1: always just thought it was about being able to fully
Speaker 1: express myself. And so what I can say is I
Speaker 1: definitely feel the pull around I'm supposed to use my
Speaker 1: gifts to serve humanity, particularly my community, and it just
Speaker 1: so happens that one of those gifts is advocacy through
Speaker 1: this through the spoken word, and that's I guess how
Speaker 1: you get to TV. But it was like law school
Speaker 1: and I wanted to go and make a difference. I
Speaker 1: wanted to be the female Johnny Cochrane, you know, like
Speaker 1: there were all of these other things that I aspired to,
Speaker 1: but it wasn't TV. So if as a result of
Speaker 1: my work it was profiled, I was cool with that,
Speaker 1: But like going to be talking on TV, never and
Speaker 1: even thought about it. Got it? Do you feel And
Speaker 1: then this is a question that I that I ask
Speaker 1: a lot of people, do you feel pressure to be
Speaker 1: a role model? Oh? I think yeah? Like and it's
Speaker 1: crazy again because I'm learning through therapy how perfection is.
Speaker 1: Tendencies as a kid like just translate into trying to
Speaker 1: be perfect and trying to fit a certain mold as
Speaker 1: an adult. So as a kid, I had some cousins
Speaker 1: shout out telling my cousins, I'm about to get y'all.
Speaker 1: You're gonna be mad. But this is the truth. Some
Speaker 1: of them were real bad. Like on my mom's side,
Speaker 1: they were they were always in trouble. And so I
Speaker 1: was the kid who was like, let me. I was like,
Speaker 1: I'm not even gonna go play with them because they're
Speaker 1: always in trouble. I'm gonna sit right here with the
Speaker 1: adults and I'm gonna be on my best behavior. Now.
Speaker 1: On my dad's side of the family, I was a
Speaker 1: completely different human being and I'll be running around with
Speaker 1: my cousins on that side. But like I was trying
Speaker 1: to fit a certain image because what I realized gam
Speaker 1: and maybe this is manipulation. At an early age, if
Speaker 1: I was good, I got gifts, you know, like it
Speaker 1: was a whole thing. Like if I was on my
Speaker 1: good behavior, I got rewarded for that. So I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be I'm gonna play the part. So I
Speaker 1: think now I haven't been able to separate what part
Speaker 1: I'm playing from who I really am, and now I
Speaker 1: already went. I'm trying to unravel all of that and
Speaker 1: be like, oh no, it's okay to not be perfect
Speaker 1: because guess what, boo, You're really not. You know, it's like, wow,
Speaker 1: I'm learning a lot. So for sure, it's like it's
Speaker 1: always been an intricate part of who I am. And
Speaker 1: even I can hear my dad now in my head
Speaker 1: saying practice makes perfect, little girly, you know what that meant?
Speaker 1: Stop saying that, you know? But he has some other
Speaker 1: good advice. Do you feel any pressure to, like, like,
Speaker 1: for me one thing that I struggle with? So actually
Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask for your opinion on this or maybe
Speaker 1: your assistance on this, because I feel like I have
Speaker 1: a lot of pressure to present myself a certain way
Speaker 1: to the public eye, and it's not necessarily what I
Speaker 1: really feel. So sometimes I feel like I have to
Speaker 1: curb what I say and and and curb what I'm
Speaker 1: feeling so that it's more palatable. Yeah, where does that
Speaker 1: you ever find yourself in that position? Absolutely? But I
Speaker 1: really want to know, like from you Where does that
Speaker 1: come from? Is it like, Okay, I'm hosting this show.
Speaker 1: I'm hosting this show, and people expect for it to
Speaker 1: be healing, and so if I speak my truth, it's
Speaker 1: gonna damage people and it won't be healing anymore. Like where,
Speaker 1: where does or to have you always felt some pressure
Speaker 1: to put on certain errors or perform a certain way?
Speaker 1: Where does it come from? Yeah, I've I've always been
Speaker 1: a person that was very uncomfortable in my own skin,
Speaker 1: you know, which, actually I don't want to I don't
Speaker 1: want to lead off the discussion too much, but that
Speaker 1: actually that kind of discomfort and lack of self esteem
Speaker 1: actually led me into my journey and addiction. So you know,
Speaker 1: I guess maybe some of that is left over, you know,
Speaker 1: but I feel like there's a lot of I feel
Speaker 1: like I have a lot of pressure also, you know,
Speaker 1: being Jada's mom, and you know, there's just a certain
Speaker 1: expectation how you present yourself and how you carry yourself
Speaker 1: in the world, and definitely on Red Table. It's it's
Speaker 1: so deep because I feel like this is a burden
Speaker 1: that so many black women have. Whether you're on TV
Speaker 1: or you're on Facebook Watch, or you're on a podcast,
Speaker 1: or you are the first lady of a church, or
Speaker 1: you are you know, Kamala Harris now as VP or
Speaker 1: Michelle Obama's first lady. Like you can't ever be angry,
Speaker 1: You can't ever like use your hands when you talk,
Speaker 1: because that means you have an attitude if you you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, Like, you can't do any of that.
Speaker 1: And and then how dare you say anything about racism
Speaker 1: or your own shortcomings or your own implicit bias or
Speaker 1: you just like you have to be you have to
Speaker 1: fit perfect mode. And I think I think that it
Speaker 1: hamstrings a lot of us and drives if even if
Speaker 1: it's not to addiction, it drives a lot of us
Speaker 1: to performance, you know what I mean, into like dwelling
Speaker 1: and fully existing in wounded ego space instead of being
Speaker 1: able to unpack what your authentic truth is, and so
Speaker 1: I a thousand person relate to it and with so
Speaker 1: crazy is I think a lot of people would assume
Speaker 1: I don't deal with that because I'm outspoken. But being
Speaker 1: outspoken doesn't always mean that you're telling your authentic truth sometimes,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like, sometimes you're saying what
Speaker 1: you believe people can handle. To your point about palatability,
Speaker 1: or you are saying things that you know you've been
Speaker 1: talking about with your friends, and maybe you shouldn't be
Speaker 1: saying it yet because you having fully processed with your
Speaker 1: truth is And that's the part that I feel like
Speaker 1: I'm really coming into now, like all right, should I
Speaker 1: be expressing this idea yet? If I don't quite have it?
Speaker 1: You know, like I feel now like I understand that
Speaker 1: I can destroy things with my words, and even if
Speaker 1: that's my truth, does that mean it needs to be said? Yes?
Speaker 1: You know. So it's like, all right, maybe there's another
Speaker 1: form of processing that doesn't require me to verbalize it,
Speaker 1: and that's hard for me, and I'm learning that now. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's you know, I'm a work in progress. That's that's
Speaker 1: all I can say. I'm a work in progress, Thank goodness.
Speaker 1: But we digress. No, this is not the digression. This
Speaker 1: is the me, you know, because because part of this,
Speaker 1: I'm so glad you raised this, because part of this
Speaker 1: is like I wonder if that is exactly how you
Speaker 1: were feeling on the show where you guys talked to Olivia.
Speaker 1: Olivia Jade with the college, the college admission scandal and
Speaker 1: her parents and like you were like, why do we
Speaker 1: have to provide the space for this? You know? And
Speaker 1: I was like I was like, yeah, you know, like
Speaker 1: for real, why do we have to Because it's not
Speaker 1: just Olivia you worked to me, you were speaking to
Speaker 1: this larger issue of black women always having to make
Speaker 1: white women and white people feel comfortable process and there
Speaker 1: bs at our expense, at the expense of our energy
Speaker 1: and our exhaustion and our anger and our rage and
Speaker 1: our sadness. It's like, when do we get the whole
Speaker 1: space for us? So I was like, I feel this,
Speaker 1: I feel it. Yeah, it was definitely was was some
Speaker 1: of that, but yeah, absolutely absolutely I did feel that
Speaker 1: way and it but you know, you know, it just
Speaker 1: was a very challenging situation wanting to honor, you know,
Speaker 1: what Jada felt, you know, was necessary for the show
Speaker 1: and what she felt was necessary because I give her
Speaker 1: props to I give I give both of us props
Speaker 1: for you know, trying to speak guard truth, because Jada
Speaker 1: was true to who she was and trying to live
Speaker 1: a compassionate life, you know, and I was trying to
Speaker 1: be true to how I felt and how I I
Speaker 1: felt like a lot of people, particularly in my generation
Speaker 1: would feel about having her on under those circumstances. But
Speaker 1: and then when you think about the number of black
Speaker 1: mothers who go to jail because they use somebody else's
Speaker 1: address so their kid could go to a better public school,
Speaker 1: you know, and like, do real not two or three months?
Speaker 1: Do real jail time? You know? So I like, I
Speaker 1: just I related to it so much. And I think
Speaker 1: part of the beauty of your podcast now and the
Speaker 1: show is you all give us space to process things
Speaker 1: that we have to bury very very you know, one
Speaker 1: day that stuff explos like Mount St. Helen's, you know,
Speaker 1: like one day it's like that's all got to come out.
Speaker 1: So I really do appreciate the fact that y'all talk
Speaker 1: about it from various perspectives, because we're also not monolithic,
Speaker 1: even in the same family exactly exactly, and that's what
Speaker 1: the show is about. And so if you can't, you know,
Speaker 1: have an opportunity to speaks both both sides, then you
Speaker 1: know we're not really true to what the show is
Speaker 1: supposed to be about, which is the three generational um
Speaker 1: point of view. Not all care is created equal. Alaska's
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Speaker 1: book a flight, they'll book it with the most caring
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Speaker 1: and earn one mile for every mile you fly on
Speaker 1: the most carrying airline in the sky. So, but you know,
Speaker 1: you and I we we decided to talk about the
Speaker 1: black woman's role in in America and particularly about the
Speaker 1: impact on the election. And we all know you know,
Speaker 1: names that you know easily come to mind when we
Speaker 1: think about black women in history. We can go back
Speaker 1: to Sojournal Truth and Mary mcglee, A Bethune and I
Speaker 1: to B Wills. We can name all of those. We
Speaker 1: can talk about of course Michelle Obama, Stacy Abrams. But
Speaker 1: are there some sung heroes like grassroots people that come
Speaker 1: to mind that you might want to to shout out, Yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure, you know, and thankfully some of them are
Speaker 1: my friends. You know, there are people who ran political
Speaker 1: action committees, and all political action committees are made the same.
Speaker 1: Some of them do collect donations to ensure that they
Speaker 1: can give to different candidates on the ground. Because it
Speaker 1: wasn't just about the presidential this year. It was you know,
Speaker 1: congressional races and still in the middle right now of
Speaker 1: the Georgia Senate runoff and maybe simple in the Senate
Speaker 1: which will make all the difference from a government standpoint,
Speaker 1: but also stay in local races. And so you have
Speaker 1: people like Adrian Sharpshire who runs Blackpack and a lot
Speaker 1: of what their work is is canvassing and having to
Speaker 1: canvas during COVID, you know, like wow, shout out to
Speaker 1: Adrian for just having the fortitude and the innovation to
Speaker 1: be able to still reach our voters. I think about
Speaker 1: Tamika Mallory, who's gotten a lot more attention this year,
Speaker 1: but Tamica for so long has been doing that work
Speaker 1: without any attention, and in some degrees, you know, people
Speaker 1: bashing her, and so Tamika on the ground being able
Speaker 1: to see her in North Carolina on theo both knocking
Speaker 1: on doors and they had a whole bust with untell
Speaker 1: freedom and just doing like God's work. I think of
Speaker 1: Latasha Brown, who not only with Black Voters Matter in Georgia,
Speaker 1: you know, helped to flip Georgia blue this year, but
Speaker 1: also before this and the Alabama special election for Doug Jones.
Speaker 1: He lost this this term, but they helped to get
Speaker 1: Doug Jones elected in Alabama. If it wasn't for the
Speaker 1: work of Latasha Brown and Black Voters Matter, that wouldn't
Speaker 1: have happened. And what's so incredible about them is they
Speaker 1: really make sure they're talking to the groups in those
Speaker 1: states and communities and they're funding those groups. So I
Speaker 1: love Latasha for that because she's she has a big
Speaker 1: enough energy and spirit to suck up all the action
Speaker 1: oxygen herself, but she really does ensure that she's giving
Speaker 1: a platform in space for other people who look like us.
Speaker 1: And then I would say, finally, still on the pack side, Um,
Speaker 1: Stephanie Brown James co founded Collective Path with her husband
Speaker 1: Quentin James, and has been doing amazing work. She did
Speaker 1: amazing work at Emily's List and before that the Double
Speaker 1: A CP just incredible and so well thought you know, uh,
Speaker 1: thought out and deliberate. She was an s g A
Speaker 1: president at Howard, Like she's been doing this work, and
Speaker 1: her leadership style is all about consensus, Like she'll come
Speaker 1: to you and say, you know, since what how are
Speaker 1: you feeling about this? Like what do you think we're
Speaker 1: doing wrong here? How can we get this right? And
Speaker 1: that's the kind of leadership this these days that we
Speaker 1: really need. And stacy of course, and and say and like,
Speaker 1: I mean, there were so many black women who made
Speaker 1: this election happen. And then of course Kamala for for me,
Speaker 1: my unsung would be the key drawing Robinson from Baltimore, Maryland,
Speaker 1: who heads the UM Baltimore Chapter of Black Girls votes
Speaker 1: and I have on my Black Girl's Vote sweatshirt today. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Niki dra is Niki dra is really special, Like she's
Speaker 1: traveled to UM different cities and you know, to register
Speaker 1: voters and had unfortunately had to have virtual voter and
Speaker 1: engagement parties. But you know that that organization is really
Speaker 1: strong in trying to inspire black girls and black women
Speaker 1: to use the political process to improve the quality of
Speaker 1: life with their families. You know, we know that of
Speaker 1: black women voted for the Biden Harris ticket, right, and
Speaker 1: we talk about the Democrats owing the black community. But
Speaker 1: I want to ask you and and and what we
Speaker 1: got out of it was as you mentioned, Biden one,
Speaker 1: and what we got was Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris. And
Speaker 1: you know, I'm really feel excited about that. But before
Speaker 1: we we focus on Kamala, I want to ask you,
Speaker 1: do you feel like we really have a black agenda?
Speaker 1: Because I just feel like it's really important. I think
Speaker 1: that we have this expectation that, you know, the whoever
Speaker 1: is in in charge, whether it's Republicans or Democrats, you know, oh,
Speaker 1: the black community something. But what is it that we
Speaker 1: want them to do? I think that we have been
Speaker 1: non specific about that, and I think it's really important
Speaker 1: that we have a black agenda. Do you feel like
Speaker 1: we've accomplished that yet? I love that and it actually
Speaker 1: takes me to another unsung hero. She's been getting a
Speaker 1: lot of shine for the work they've done to create
Speaker 1: the hashtag black Lives Matter. Alicia Garza, who also founded
Speaker 1: Black Futures Lab, talked to thirty thousand black people all
Speaker 1: over the country before the election, talking to them about
Speaker 1: what our agenda should be. That is the largest survey
Speaker 1: of black people since the eighteen hundreds. I've never even
Speaker 1: heard of best survey. See that, And that's that was
Speaker 1: my question, like, who's going to come up with the
Speaker 1: black agenda? How are they? How are we going to
Speaker 1: determine what the black agenda is? And this is the thing.
Speaker 1: So what's so fascinating to me is we will make
Speaker 1: so many things trend and talk about so many things,
Speaker 1: and especially this question like who's gonna do a Black agenda?
Speaker 1: And we don't have one, but we do have one,
Speaker 1: and we just don't lift it up. And it actually
Speaker 1: is really good work. And if I'm really being honest
Speaker 1: with you, it's not even as progressive as I am.
Speaker 1: Black people. The black folks she talked to from all
Speaker 1: different parts of the country. Black people can be pretty conservative, right,
Speaker 1: so what are expectations around policing? Are pretty conservative, we're
Speaker 1: just talking about accountability, body cans, and you know, for
Speaker 1: for economics, the economic agenda I think needs to be
Speaker 1: fleshed out a little more. But one thing that was
Speaker 1: clear is Black people feel like we need better family
Speaker 1: lead policies and we at least need to be making
Speaker 1: fifteen dollars minimum wage so that we can live. And
Speaker 1: so when you look at it, all of these things
Speaker 1: are pretty palatable, And I think the most important thing
Speaker 1: is when we talk about a black agenda, we're talking
Speaker 1: about how we uplift all of the most vulnerable. When
Speaker 1: you help and you ensure that black people are taking
Speaker 1: care of the whole country is taking care. We are,
Speaker 1: you know, experiencing COVID at worst numbers. We are experiencing
Speaker 1: what happens when there's an economic crisis at worst numbers.
Speaker 1: We are experiencing mass incarceration and criminal injustice at worst numbers.
Speaker 1: So if you start to fix things for us, it
Speaker 1: automatically fixes things for everyone else. What makes you so
Speaker 1: excited about Kamala Harris and what do you think that
Speaker 1: she can really bring to the administration? Because I'm excited,
Speaker 1: I'm excited, and I would encourage I would encourage the
Speaker 1: listeners to take a look at the the interview that
Speaker 1: you did with Kamala Harris on on one, because it
Speaker 1: was excellent. It was when she was actually running for
Speaker 1: the presidency, but it was an excellent interview and it
Speaker 1: really gave me insight to what she's bringing to the table.
Speaker 1: So what would you say about that one. You know,
Speaker 1: Kamala is one of the most genuine people I know
Speaker 1: in policics, and I think that people don't always see
Speaker 1: that because just like when we were talking about at
Speaker 1: the beginning of this and I was like, no, don't
Speaker 1: cut this off, because it's so real and we're impacted
Speaker 1: by it. Everywhere, she is judged by her skin color.
Speaker 1: She's judged by the fact that, you know, her mom
Speaker 1: is East Indian or East Indian and her dad is Jamaican,
Speaker 1: and therefore she must not really know what the real
Speaker 1: black experiences as if slave ships didn't go to Jamaica too, right.
Speaker 1: She is judged by appearance and who she dated and
Speaker 1: all of these things that we all know as black
Speaker 1: women in every other role. But you would think that
Speaker 1: someone who has ascended to this level with me somewhat
Speaker 1: exempt from some of these things. Kamala has as a result,
Speaker 1: I think, really put on a guard to protect herself
Speaker 1: because in like the in the purest sense, she is
Speaker 1: sensitive and she is kind and she really loves people.
Speaker 1: And when you're sensitive and kind and you really love people,
Speaker 1: that means you care a lot about what people have
Speaker 1: to say. So you see a lot of times when
Speaker 1: you her, you see someone who's really guarded, and I
Speaker 1: relate to that so much. That's not her at all.
Speaker 1: She is so down to earth and has the best
Speaker 1: laugh and loves hip hop and loves our people and
Speaker 1: loves to cook, and it's so down for the cause
Speaker 1: and listens to everybody that has a good idea, probably
Speaker 1: some folks who got bad ideas to you know. And
Speaker 1: so what I think is incredible about her in contrast
Speaker 1: to Joe Biden, and frankly, the thing that I'm worried
Speaker 1: about for Joe Biden is this ability to hear, even
Speaker 1: when it hurts. I'm gonna listen to you. I don't
Speaker 1: necessarily like how you're talking about my record, but let
Speaker 1: me see where I might have a growth opportunity. She
Speaker 1: brings that genuinely, and I think they were all gonna
Speaker 1: be better for it. What I am hopeful for is
Speaker 1: because she's coming in as a black women woman. There.
Speaker 1: You know, people Joe Biden's closest advisors are white men,
Speaker 1: and I think that she'll be able to really push
Speaker 1: back on their perspectives on our culture for all women
Speaker 1: and for other people of color, um and marginalized communities
Speaker 1: at the time where we need it most given, you know,
Speaker 1: living in a trifecta pandemics from economic injustice to COVID
Speaker 1: you know, racial injustice, racism. So I think that she
Speaker 1: will be a gift for all of us in that role.
Speaker 1: And I believe that she's going to use that platform
Speaker 1: for the people, as she said there in her campaign,
Speaker 1: Kamala Harris for the people. Yeah, yeah, I feel I
Speaker 1: love her conversation about changing the ideas of what UH
Speaker 1: safe community looks like. I love that conversation. And once
Speaker 1: again I would I would encourage listeners to to go
Speaker 1: on YouTube and and and look at that interview that
Speaker 1: you had with her, because she talks about when you
Speaker 1: heal the black community, we you don't do that with
Speaker 1: more police, you know, and that's part of changing how
Speaker 1: you look at the criminal justice system too, because if
Speaker 1: you create safe communities, then you don't need more police
Speaker 1: and that means so many different things. So I mean,
Speaker 1: but it's such a huge task. It's such a huge task.
Speaker 1: It's like, I don't know, And you asked her that question,
Speaker 1: like where do we start because we have to deal
Speaker 1: with economics, we have to deal with education. You know,
Speaker 1: we can't just be we're not looking for handouts at
Speaker 1: all we have we never got one even though we
Speaker 1: gave all the handouts, I say, the hand we gave
Speaker 1: about the handouts, the hand ups, the hand ends, like
Speaker 1: we gave given everything from the from the very inception
Speaker 1: of this country. So when you do you ask me
Speaker 1: what I'm most excited about with her? What are you
Speaker 1: most excited about with this incoming administration? And what's your
Speaker 1: greatest fear? Too? I think what I'm most cited excited
Speaker 1: about once again is Kamala. You know, I'm very excited
Speaker 1: about having a black woman with that kind of power,
Speaker 1: recognizing to when we talk about power, there are limitations
Speaker 1: like if we don't flip the Senate, we're gonna be
Speaker 1: in the same position that President Obama was and we
Speaker 1: and we really have to understand that. People talk all
Speaker 1: the time about what Obama didn't do and all of that.
Speaker 1: Like the President is not doesn't have as much power
Speaker 1: as you think he does. You know. It's the Senate
Speaker 1: you know, and Mr McConnell still being in power. He's
Speaker 1: gonna try to stop everything just like he did before,
Speaker 1: you know. So that is my fear. So my biggest
Speaker 1: fear is that we don't flip the Senate. And it's
Speaker 1: crazy because people don't know Barack Obama for his first
Speaker 1: two years actually had the House in the Senate. They
Speaker 1: don't remember that, and they ended up losing the House
Speaker 1: and the Senate behind healthcare, which we needed, but people
Speaker 1: are so resistant to it because they're like, oh, um,
Speaker 1: we need to make sure that the insurance companies are good.
Speaker 1: What about the humans? What about the humans? Surely Chisholm
Speaker 1: is known for this quote, if they don't give you
Speaker 1: a seat at the table, bring a folding chair. And
Speaker 1: I feel like you in particular are very familiar with
Speaker 1: bring your own chair. Can you talk to us a
Speaker 1: little bit about that? You know, I like that quote,
Speaker 1: but I really would like for us to build our
Speaker 1: own table, you know, And yes, yeah, and it's and
Speaker 1: that's something to the point that you can relate to too.
Speaker 1: You guys literally have done that by providing space for
Speaker 1: our issues, and I think that it's imperative for us
Speaker 1: to do that in every single industry we touch, even
Speaker 1: the ones they don't want us to touch. But we
Speaker 1: know we belong everywhere, and so to me, it's about,
Speaker 1: you know, if you see something where our stories aren't
Speaker 1: being told, or if you see that we're not being represented,
Speaker 1: whether it's in the incoming administration, it's a corporation on
Speaker 1: the board, in the c suite, or you see that
Speaker 1: you know there's a gaping hole in you know, management
Speaker 1: or middle management, or executive roles on sports teams, you know,
Speaker 1: or how folks use black things. We have to ensure
Speaker 1: that we're always pushing for our interests. That's the only
Speaker 1: way our economic circumstances are going to change. Community shift,
Speaker 1: and we experienced the paradigm shift even in our own worthiness.
Speaker 1: We have to believe that we're worthy first, and I
Speaker 1: think that's not just about the finances, that's also about
Speaker 1: how we see each other. Yeah, you know that was
Speaker 1: gonna lead me into my next question, but I think
Speaker 1: you answered it. Why is it so important to have
Speaker 1: a mix of different ethnicity, these ethnicities and power in
Speaker 1: political office and everywhere. And I think you you've answered
Speaker 1: that already. There was my There was a class I
Speaker 1: took an undergrad Adrian called critical Race Theory. A lot
Speaker 1: of will take that class, like in law school, and
Speaker 1: in this classroom. I went to University of Washington, so
Speaker 1: all my classes were like huge, big, you know, crazy sizes,
Speaker 1: but this was like a seminar class, so it was small,
Speaker 1: like twenty five of us. Shout out to Dr Andrea
Speaker 1: Simpson who talked this class, by the way, but it
Speaker 1: was the most diverse class I ever had in college,
Speaker 1: and no other classes like that after nobody was the
Speaker 1: same race. It was for the first time in my life.
Speaker 1: White people were like, I'm Irish, my parents are Scottish,
Speaker 1: I'm Jewish. They weren't just saying like they were white,
Speaker 1: because it was it was appreciated that all of the
Speaker 1: diversity in the classroom was really appreciated. My grade was
Speaker 1: so good in that class because it wasn't just the textbook,
Speaker 1: it wasn't just a professor. I had the benefit of
Speaker 1: learning the cultural experiences of my classmates. If we took
Speaker 1: that same thing and applied it into every other thing
Speaker 1: we did. We would all be so much smarter because
Speaker 1: we're learning perspectives, you know, And I think it's it's crucial.
Speaker 1: You cannot serve people if you don't understand anything about
Speaker 1: where they're coming from. And you can't do that if
Speaker 1: you don't interface with people from their communities exactly. So
Speaker 1: it's super important you talk about in public office, they
Speaker 1: literally are being paid by taxpayers. They especially should have
Speaker 1: a diverse group when commonly, well, she's leaving the Senate.
Speaker 1: That will mean no more black women. If Governor Newsom
Speaker 1: doesn't appoint a black women, that's irresponsible, that's irresponsible. We
Speaker 1: cannot have that anymore. In did not have a and
Speaker 1: only have two black men in the Senate. You know,
Speaker 1: it's it's actually really crazy, it is because that's not
Speaker 1: the world that we live in. That's not the world
Speaker 1: that we live in. The world is very diverse, and
Speaker 1: here in the United States we are, you know, we
Speaker 1: are filled and surrounded with all these different nationalities. And
Speaker 1: I mean we we we learned that growing up. I
Speaker 1: was not raised a Christian. I am now, but we
Speaker 1: were not raised as a Christian. We were raised in
Speaker 1: the ethical society and one of the goals for the
Speaker 1: children in the community was they took us around and
Speaker 1: we learned about all different kinds of religion, all different
Speaker 1: kinds of religion. So that makes you feel comfortable with
Speaker 1: people that don't look like you. It gives you a
Speaker 1: sense of tolerance and acceptance of other people that don't
Speaker 1: look like you, that are different from you, you know.
Speaker 1: And it also gave us an opportunity to learn about
Speaker 1: different religions so that when we became of age, we
Speaker 1: could make our own decisions about what religion we wanted
Speaker 1: to practice, you know what I mean. And that is
Speaker 1: part of being in a world that is full of
Speaker 1: people learning our differences and accepting our differences and learning
Speaker 1: you know what we're we're like because we still stuck
Speaker 1: on that word race, you know, and there's only one race,
Speaker 1: and that's the human race, that's true. And the thing
Speaker 1: that that's that's so compelling about the ethical society that
Speaker 1: you're talking about is like how much safer would you know,
Speaker 1: kids be, would would adults be if they really had
Speaker 1: a different understanding, you know, like just pushing people like
Speaker 1: everything is not your way. That maybe your viewpoint, but
Speaker 1: that's not the only way. Yeah, so that's how I
Speaker 1: grew up. Okay, we're gonna wrap it up now because
Speaker 1: I know you gotta go Angelus. So we're gonna wrap
Speaker 1: it up with the wouldn't you like to know? Set man?
Speaker 1: And this is where I ask you my my, my
Speaker 1: little rapid fire questions. And so one of them is
Speaker 1: something that you asked me. What book are you currently reading? Oh,
Speaker 1: I want to read cast but I am in the
Speaker 1: middle of um Clean our Food's Sacred Woman. I just
Speaker 1: got that in the good I can't wait to talk
Speaker 1: to you about this. I can't wait to talk to
Speaker 1: you about this. And then um, I was just reading.
Speaker 1: I just finished Dr Dyson's new book, A Reckoning Um
Speaker 1: with Race, Uh, you know, a conversation with on Race
Speaker 1: with America. And then another book that I have to
Speaker 1: shout out because it's a game changer for me, is
Speaker 1: the Purpose of Power. We talked about Alicia Garza earlier
Speaker 1: and she just released her book. I don't never read
Speaker 1: one book at a time. I don't know if that's
Speaker 1: good or bad. Yeah, I don't either, I have to
Speaker 1: be honest, I don't either. Do you prefer actually reading
Speaker 1: and holding a book in your hand or do you
Speaker 1: use kindle or audio books as well? Because I love
Speaker 1: audio books. I love them all. So I downloaded um
Speaker 1: Barack Obama's book and I'm only into like the third chapter.
Speaker 1: I started reading Dr Dyson's book for a book talk,
Speaker 1: and then I went back to Queen a Fool's book.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go back to Obama's book. And my brother
Speaker 1: Charlemagne's um icon Lenard was saying he's listening to it
Speaker 1: and reading it at the same time, and that's been
Speaker 1: really good. So I was like, maybe I'm gonna try that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I find that when I'm reading a nonfiction that I
Speaker 1: have to actually read it. I need to hold it
Speaker 1: so I can make marketings and notations and all of that.
Speaker 1: But if I'm reading um fiction, I can I can
Speaker 1: just listen to it because it's just for entertainment and
Speaker 1: I can get through it really really quick. Okay, one
Speaker 1: thing you want to get off your chest? Oh, one
Speaker 1: thing I want to get off my chest for this year,
Speaker 1: especially just because the other day the Proud Boys went
Speaker 1: and tore down a Black Lives Matter sign off of
Speaker 1: a historic black church in Washington, d C. In Metropolitan Amy.
Speaker 1: So what I really want to get off my chest
Speaker 1: is black lives matter, not just in your email signature block,
Speaker 1: but period. And there you go, and there you have it.
Speaker 1: That part, what's a model that you live by? Oh
Speaker 1: my mom loves to tell me this and I'm working
Speaker 1: on it every single day, she says, Angela make big
Speaker 1: things small and small things nothing. Wow. I love that.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Angela, it was such a joy
Speaker 1: to talk to you. Please please share with with the
Speaker 1: audience and the listeners where they can find you on
Speaker 1: social media and what projects and what things you might
Speaker 1: have coming up. Well, I'm on Instagram at Angela ry
Speaker 1: Twitter is Angela Underscore Rye. I am still doing my podcast.
Speaker 1: We're closing in on a book deal coming up here soon,
Speaker 1: so late breaking news right there. And then I'm looking
Speaker 1: forward to this detox. I know, I know you're doing
Speaker 1: twenty one days. I don't. I don't know if I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be able to do one day. I'm gonna I'm
Speaker 1: gonna start with you, and I'm gonna just make sure
Speaker 1: that you know I'm walking with you on the side
Speaker 1: and rooting you on and and I just need for
Speaker 1: you to root me for me to get this six
Speaker 1: pack and we'll work on that too. I got it.
Speaker 1: I'm ready and I'm drink my water. There you go.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, Angela, it was a joy. So these
Speaker 1: are my takeaways from my conversation with Angelo Ride today.
Speaker 1: Number one, we as black people must claim our space.
Speaker 1: And number two, as Shirtley Chisholm said, if they don't
Speaker 1: give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.
Speaker 1: But as Angelo Wiz say, you can bring a chair,
Speaker 1: but you can also bring your own table. And with
Speaker 1: that we're out. Thank you to my guests, Angela Rye.
Speaker 1: If you're listening on Apple Podcasts, be sure to rate
Speaker 1: and review the episode. Follow me on my Instagram at
Speaker 1: gammy nars to share with me your thoughts on the episode.
Speaker 1: I'm here, I'm talking, and I'm listening and as always, folks,
Speaker 1: stay grateful. Positively GAM is produced by Westbrook Audio. Executive
Speaker 1: producers Adrian Vanfield, Norris, Jada Pinkett Smith, Amanda Brown and
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Speaker 1: Associate producer Erica Ron, editor and mixer Calvin Vailis. Positively
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