WEBVTT - White Supremacy Then and Now 0:00:01.400 --> 0:00:04.720 This episode is sponsored by FX's Fleischman Is in Trouble, 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:09.399 starring Jesse Eisenberg, Claire Danes, Lizzie Kaplan, and Adam Brodie. 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:12.680 The strama tells the story of recently divorced Toby Fleischmann, 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:15.320 who dies into the world of at based dating with 0:00:15.360 --> 0:00:17.360 the kind of success he never had in his youth. 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:21.280 Then his ex wife disappears, leaving him with their two 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:24.919 children and no hint of her return effectus. Fleischman Is 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:42.680 in Trouble, streaming November seventeenth only on Hulu. Greetings and 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:46.760 welcome to Woke f with me Danielle Moodye. This past week, 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:49.680 we saw a major shift in American politics with the 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:53.880 long awaited inauguration of President Joe Biden. But we still 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:55.720 have a long road ahead of us to get to 0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:58.720 a place of justice and equality in this country. One 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:01.360 path we need to take in pursuit of justice is 0:01:01.400 --> 0:01:06.280 the impeachment trial of the former twice impeached President Donald Trump. 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:08.840 On Tuesday's episode of Woke a F Daily, which you 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:12.320 can hear right now at patreon dot com slash woke AF, 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:15.160 I had the honor and privilege of speaking with one 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:19.399 of our nation's impeachment managers. Congresswoman Stacy Plaskett about her 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:22.720 role in impeachment and why Trump needs to be convicted 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:28.600 even after leaving office. I have to tell you I've 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:32.200 really thrown myself into work, and the work that I'm 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:37.440 doing I think is so incredibly important as an impeachment manager. 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:42.559 And Jamie Raskin's words, I saw him on Cable News 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:46.200 yesterday when he said he lost his son in twenty 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:49.640 twenty and he'll be damned if he loses his country 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:55.800 in twenty twenty one. You know, I have had the 0:01:55.880 --> 0:02:00.640 good fortune of also speaking with Representative Raskin and to 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:05.120 think about how committed, you know, you have to be 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:10.280 to this country, to the constitution, to this democracy, to 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:14.440 be able to push through the unspeakable trauma of losing 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:18.760 a child to now working so desperately not to lose 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:22.400 a country. Can you talk to us about what it 0:02:22.480 --> 0:02:26.119 is like to be an impeachment manager, what has come 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:30.000 up for you as a representative but also as you know, 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:36.919 just a believer in democracy, a believer in institution. Right, yeah, Well, 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:41.280 you know, my legal career began in the Bronx District 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:45.400 Attorney's office, which is kind of a trial by fireplace. 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:50.080 You're given a week of training and then you're sent 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:54.200 assigned to a courtroom and giving a stack of cases. 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:58.679 And you know, people pride themselves there on being very 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:02.760 fast paced, my core, weekend, core, complaint room, the whole bit. 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.320 And so I kind of took this the same way 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:10.320 of just throwing myself into it. But one of maybe 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:13.880 the things that as well comes as a bronch district 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:22.080 attorney is being very i have to say, unemotional about 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:26.519 criminal trial and just getting to the facts and to justice. 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:31.080 And I've really tried to be this way in working 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:35.160 through how we are going to present this case. Is 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:38.800 not getting caught up in the emotion of what we 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:42.320 all experience, but how do we prove the elements of 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:48.280 the crime place on January and leading up to January sixth, Right, 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:54.440 because January sixth was the fulfillment of a conspiracy or 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:58.800 throw this government. Insurrection doesn't occur at the beginning of 0:03:58.840 --> 0:04:02.440 an individual's time and office. It occurs at the end. 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:07.600 And this is classic to what our founding fathers anticipated 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:14.400 when they were drafting the Constitution and discussed impeachment while 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:18.839 an impeachment was going on in England while they were 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:24.520 having the conversation about putting impeachment, because impeachment is two parts. One, 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:27.640 it is removing that individual from the clear and present 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:31.760 danger that they present, but it is also preventing that 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:36.520 individual or individuals from ever being able again to do that. 0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:41.159 It's qualification of the person from being able to run 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:45.000 for office, from receiving the trappings of what we give 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:50.000 those individuals who were our former presidents. That doesn't just 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:55.279 include the tax player, social Security, retirement pay staff and 0:04:55.320 --> 0:05:03.680 the others. It includes briefings. Right say, right, do we 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:07.640 want this individual to continue to have access to the 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:12.560 leavers of power knowing what he will do to retain 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:17.360 power for himself. Those are the reasons that we are 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:23.200 having in this drib. Tell me what is different between 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:26.880 the one article that we are looking at right now, 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:33.000 which is incitement and insurrection, correct, versus what we were 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:39.240 looking at in twenty nineteen, which was obstruction of justice? Right? 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:42.840 What are the what are the what are the impeachment 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:47.120 one point zero and now impeaching two point zero? Right? 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:53.440 Two point zero is always bigger better. The differences is 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:57.360 that we've all seen the crime. M hmm. The difference 0:05:57.480 --> 0:06:00.719 is that not only were we all witnesses, but that 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:06.200 the jurors were actually victims of the crime. That is 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:09.160 going to be the difference in how this is presented, 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:13.600 And the issue is now for these senators. If they 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:19.800 are able as victims and continuing ongoing victims, as they 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:28.560 are threatened right by this president and by those conspirators 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:31.640 who were with them with him, are they able to 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:35.880 transcend that or to be protected from that, to be 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:46.159 able to render a verdict? Our nation's future is at stake. 0:06:46.440 --> 0:06:49.920 Are we going to hold a white supremacist demagogue accountable 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:52.520 for his crimes against our country? And if not, what 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:55.640 does that say about America? But to be honest, white 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:59.679 supremacy is in our legacy and lineage, going back before 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:02.320 the founding of our nation. I was also joined this 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:06.960 week by the amazing Robert Jones Junior aka son of Baldwin, 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:10.880 author of the new brilliant novel The Prophets. In addition 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:13.640 to talking all about the long journey that led to 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:17.000 the creation of his first novel, Robert also discussed how 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:20.280 white supremist patriarchy is tied to the legacy of slavery 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:23.400 and the long held suppression of black queer love. It 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:26.520 was an enlightening and emotional conversation which you can hear 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:29.920 all thirty minutes of right now at patreon dot com 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:33.040 slash Woke af Here's a taste of what we talked about. 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:37.360 Why do you think that it is still so difficult? 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:43.559 We're talking twenty first century, so many decades removed from 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:49.560 Harlem Renaissance, from these different iconic moments for us to 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:55.960 talk still about black queer love for that question, for 0:07:56.080 --> 0:08:00.320 you still to ask that question, what about? And I 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:04.920 would even say what about our love? Right right? Because 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:07.560 there are so many answers to the what about love? 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:11.920 People will point to what they believe to be representations 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:14.560 of love, But I say, what about our love? What 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:18.360 is it about black queer love that is still something 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:24.400 that is so underground, that is still so wanting and 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:28.640 still seem so fictational? I know when I was doing 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:36.480 the research, everything pointed to Christian indoctrination because when listeners 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:38.920 might not know. But there are several chapters in a 0:08:39.000 --> 0:08:41.920 novel that go back to pre colonial Africa to discuss 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:47.000 what life was like for pre colonial continental Africans in 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:50.720 terms of gender and sexuality and such. It is not 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:55.160 until the European colonizer and the Christian missionaries show up 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:59.679 to many of these African tribes that we begin to 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:03.200 look at things that we deemed a normal part of 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:07.839 the landscape, a normal part of life, as sinful and disgusting, 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:12.320 and then internalize those feelings as almost to say that 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:16.640 they rose up out of themselves. And I tie it 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:22.920 very closely to white supremacist capitalist patriarchy, the desire to 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:29.200 ensure that each black person is basically a machine to 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:32.400 make more laborers and soldiers, So it needs to be 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:37.400 in these heterosexual paradigms, under these rape cultures in order 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:40.600 to produce more laborers and soldiers for the overseers and 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:45.920 the plantation owners. And that trauma has really affected the 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:50.000 way in which black queer people are regarded and the 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:53.480 ways in which we are able to be free about 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:56.680 our love and care for one another. And it is deeply, 0:09:56.760 --> 0:10:00.520 deeply sad. But I hope that with a confrontation we 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:05.240 could get to restoration and then eventually to healing. Oh 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:09.040 my god, I can remember, and I still there are 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:14.560 some sites that, you know, celebrate black queer life right 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:17.360 some you know, there are so many on Instagram. I 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:20.600 think Native Suns is one of them that my friend 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:23.640 of Meal and he says, and when years as well 0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:28.800 created because he has always been a visionary about the 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:33.520 power of images, right, and the power of those images 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:42.400 to transform our perception, our stereotypes, ourselves through those pictures. Right. 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:45.600 And I think about the way in which your writing 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:53.400 creates this beautiful cinema in our minds of what we 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:57.120 can see and smell and taste and connect with in 0:10:57.200 --> 0:11:02.120 such a brutal period of our history, you were able 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:07.480 to articulate something that was also beautiful. How do you 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:10.199 find you know? You know what I'm saying, because even 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:12.959 in these moments, Robert, it is so hard to find 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:17.480 the beauty and the tragedy. Yes, but it was so 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:20.959 necessary because what I realized when I was writing this 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:24.920 book was the pain, the physical pain I was feeling 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:27.640 on my skin as I was writing some of these scenes. 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:31.000 I said, the reader is going to feel this thing too. 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:35.280 So I have to imbue as much love and compassion 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:40.120 for this situation and for these characters, particularly the black characters, 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:44.720 as I can, because I have to remember, I'm writing 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:48.000 for the ancestors like this, this is a witnessing. I 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:51.280 am giving testimony on behalf of the people who survived 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:53.440 so that I could be here to do what was 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:57.840 illegal for them to do, read and write, And so 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:01.240 I had to ensure that their lives were as full 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:03.640 as they really were, because when we whenever we think 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:05.760 of this time period, we only think of the labor 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:10.560 m and the brutality that they faced, But we don't 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:13.880 think about how they loved and who they loved, and 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:17.439 what made them laugh and when they went to bed, 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:21.280 where they dream about. You know, these were people. They 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:25.920 were not slaves. They were people, and slavery was not 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:28.600 their burden. Slavery is the burden of the white people 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:31.800 who enslaved them. And that's the only reason why white 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:33.840 characters show up in this book is because I wanted 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:37.800 to make sure that the sin rested with the sinner, 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:41.560 and the sinner and in my mind, are the white 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:52.800 people who enslaved our ancestors. White supremacy is not in 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:57.520 the past. Patriarchy is not in the past. Homophobia is 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:00.840 not in the past. The same forces that oppressed us 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:03.680 from hundreds of years are still working out in the 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:06.960 open to this very day. It's up to us to 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:10.160 fight back to create a better world and sustainable future 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:13.360 for ourselves and for those that come after us. These 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:15.680 are the kinds of conversations I will continue to have 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:18.640 this year on woke F daily. So please head over 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:22.079 to patreon dot com slash woke F and subscribe so 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:25.200 you don't miss a single moment. Five dollars a month 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:27.880 gets you five shows a week, as well as some 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:31.480 bonus content, so you get a lot of me every 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:34.960 single month. For now. I hope you stay safe and 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:37.440 well as we enter into this new era of what 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:41.200 America can be. Power to the people and to all 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:45.080 the people. Power, Get woke and stay woke as fuck.