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Speaker 1: Bo any Ceo you and why Boom County biscuits sum

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Speaker 1: right off?

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Speaker 2: Right? All right?

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Speaker 1: Can you tell I'm passionate about biscuits? Hello, I'm Akila Hughes,

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Speaker 1: And for roughly the past year, I've been on a

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Speaker 1: journey back to my hometown in Kentucky where I want

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Speaker 1: to change my high school's racist mascot, the Rebels, into

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Speaker 1: something that is more inclusive and arguably loved by everyone

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Speaker 1: in the South. The biscuits. Okay, so Boo, or what

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Speaker 1: do you put on the side of the football home?

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Speaker 1: Is it like just a static biscuit or is it

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Speaker 1: like a biscuit around a bowl of sausage gravy?

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Speaker 3: I don't know, not really feeling biscuits.

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Speaker 1: Not feeling biscuits, fair biscuits.

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Speaker 3: Okay, I can't wait to see that.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's cute, right, all right, Well, maybe it

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Speaker 1: won't be the biscuits, but really, my only goal in

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Speaker 1: this journey is to help my high school in Brison

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Speaker 1: new mascot any mascot that students can be proud of

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Speaker 1: for decades to come. I spent the last year making

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Speaker 1: trips back to Kentucky to speak with local advocates.

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Speaker 2: Just remember what we.

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Speaker 1: Did a year ago, build a coalition of allies.

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Speaker 2: Oh, I will hope to change your rebels if you

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Speaker 2: would like that.

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Speaker 1: I would love that and dive deep into the history

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Speaker 1: of racism in my hometown.

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Speaker 3: And I really believe that that people need education. And

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Speaker 3: they keep saying they have, you know, diversity officers everywhere

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Speaker 3: and things like this, But this takes a real education

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Speaker 3: and some willingness to open up to yourself and learn

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Speaker 3: yourself and who you really are.

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Speaker 1: Along the way, I've also had tons of conversations with

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Speaker 1: impressive people like sports journalists Jamel Hill, who knows exactly

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Speaker 1: what racism and sports looks like. When you think about

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Speaker 1: how the NFL has to wear that stain of what

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Speaker 1: they did to him, because I don't think it'll ever

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Speaker 1: be forgotten. NFL defensive tackle kalei Is Campbell, who stepped

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Speaker 1: in to help his own high school change from the

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Speaker 1: to the Ravens.

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Speaker 4: No matter where you come from, there's such an attachment,

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Speaker 4: there's such a pride. But for a moment there it

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Speaker 4: was like pribe but has like a little bit of

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Speaker 4: a life right.

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Speaker 2: Like an asterisk.

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Speaker 1: That's how I feel. That's exactly how I feel. And

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Speaker 1: even mascot designers like Brian Allen, the creator of Gritty,

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Speaker 1: the mascot for the Philadelphia Flyers, who is now beloved.

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Speaker 1: But it wasn't always that way.

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Speaker 2: Some people thought you looked like a demon, so there

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Speaker 2: was a little bit of that, and eventually people kind

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Speaker 2: of forgot that they hated him, and because a lot

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Speaker 2: of times I'll tell people that nobody liked him at first,

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Speaker 2: and they don't even remember that part, which is fantastic.

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Speaker 1: All of these entertaining and educational conversations happened in an

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Speaker 1: effort to learn as much as I can and convince

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Speaker 1: my high school that it's finally time for a change.

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Speaker 1: It hasn't been easy and the work isn't over, but

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Speaker 1: I'm so excited to share the show with y'all. And

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Speaker 1: who knows, maybe this is exactly the push all those

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Speaker 1: other rebel schools across the country need to move away

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Speaker 1: from racist, dated and embarrassing icons. Be sure to subscribe

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Speaker 1: to Rebel Spirits so you can get our first episode

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Speaker 1: as soon as it drops next week. Listen to Rebel

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Speaker 1: Spirits starting on September three on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts,