WEBVTT - Excavating Truths 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:14.560 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to billgate f Daily with 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:20.480 Meet your Girl Danielle Moody recording from the Bunker. You know, folks, 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:25.120 we are waiting with bated breath for the decision to 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:29.880 come down from the Supreme Court that throws a grenade 0:00:30.520 --> 0:00:35.040 on Rob Wade that essentially, for the first time in 0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:39.400 close to fifty years, women and people with uteruses in 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:44.320 this country will not have access to abortion, They will 0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:49.800 not have bodily autonomy. We will have a patchwork of 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:53.200 care in this country that really will come down to 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:56.680 your economic status and your ability to be able to 0:00:56.720 --> 0:00:59.560 get on planes and buses and trains in order to 0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:02.120 access the type of care that you need. But in 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:08.200 some places like Texas and Tennessee and Florida, you that 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:14.160 action of leaving your state to receive reproductive care can 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:19.000 amount to a jail sentence, can amount to your loved 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:22.440 ones or friends or colleagues who may be hard up 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:27.440 for cash, throwing you under the bus so that they 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:31.760 can get a ten thousand dollars or more bounty for 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:35.319 being able to dime you out to authorities. Oh, I 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:37.640 don't think that they left the state to go on vacation. 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:40.080 I think it was something much more nefarious than that. 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:44.400 We have often said on this show and in other 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:52.000 places and spaces that what the religious, radicalized right wing 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:57.640 party wants in this country is Gilead. And you know, 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:00.280 when I say that, I say it tongue in cheek. 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:03.520 But the reality is is that if you are a 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:06.680 person of color in this country that knows even just 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:11.560 the surface of America's history, you know that Gilead has 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:19.120 already been forced sterilization, forced abortion for women of color 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:24.120 and indigenous women in this country. That has been the norm, 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:31.160 and there has been no recourse Roe v. Wade, and 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:35.519 that decision allowed women and now also people with uterus 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:40.000 is to be able to access that freedom and that power. 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:46.440 Now it's going to be taken away. The thing is 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:50.360 is that this isn't going to end there. This is 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:55.800 about full and complete control. When I talk about abortion, 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:59.320 I'm also talking about voting rights. I'm also talking about 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:02.959 school careerulum and the fight against critical race theory, which 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:04.959 by the way, still is not taught in K through 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:09.399 twelve schools. I'm talking about the anti trans bills, the numerous, 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:12.480 the hundreds that have been put out across the country, 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:18.840 all of This is about control. It is about toxic masculinity, 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:23.320 It is about every type of phobia that you could 0:03:23.320 --> 0:03:25.960 think of. It is about the desire to turn the 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:30.000 clock back, the desire to have ownership over other people's 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:33.480 lives and their bodies, and that if they aren't like you, 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:38.480 operate like you, then they don't deserve to exist. It's 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:43.119 as simple as that when we look at these manifestos 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:47.640 that we've seen pop up, whether with the Buffalo white 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.960 nationalist shooter, whether with the Proud Boys or the oath Keepers, 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:55.480 whether it is the gunmen in New Zealand who basically 0:03:55.520 --> 0:04:00.240 all pull from the same place. Fox News Donald Trump 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:08.680 putin these figures right of people who have decided that 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:13.880 their way is the only way. I try and say 0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:17.400 that we have options, that there is still hope, but 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:20.520 the reality is is that I am not completely sure 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:26.520 of that fact. My next guest, who's coming up shortly 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:31.839 tells of a story that is so heartbreaking and was 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:40.560 really challenging to listen to. Dawn Tyree is a person 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:47.320 who supports her LGBTQA community, and she was robbed through 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:52.800 a child forced marriage. She was robbed of her sexual orientation. 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:59.240 She struggled for years with self harm because of the oppression, 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:04.480 and just recently, at the age of forty nine, has 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:09.240 come out and decided to reclaim the power that has 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:13.560 been taken away from her as identifying as a pansexual 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:17.120 at the age of forty nine. What how are these 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:22.560 things linked unless somebody is doing harm to you or 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:26.520 to themselves. And I mean real harm, not the perceived 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:32.240 harm that Greg Abbott thinks that parents of trans children 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:35.200 are doing by caring for and loving their children by 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:39.479 giving them gender affirming surgery. No, no, I'm not talking 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:44.760 about that harm. I'm talking about real harm. Who are 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:48.400 we to tell people how they should show up, how 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:52.520 they should identify, how they should love, how they should exist. 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:59.640 The freedom supposedly around religion, the freedom of bodily autonomy, 0:05:59.760 --> 0:06:02.720 was for us to be able to move without shackles, 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:06.000 whether they be literal or figurative, for us to be 0:06:06.080 --> 0:06:12.320 able to move and understand and grow into ourselves without 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:17.840 the harsh spotlight or shame that other people project onto us. 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:21.400 Freedom of religion was about being able to practice right. 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:25.400 It was not supposed to be about the religious radicalized 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:30.880 rights ability to prescribe their interpretation of their Bible onto 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:36.359 the rest of us. This is a story about power, 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:40.719 and frankly, we have moved to a space where it 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:46.320 isn't a conversation about differing ideologies. It is about good 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:52.200 versus evil. It is about seeing all people's humanity, regardless 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:55.520 of if it mirrors your own. At the core of it, 0:06:56.200 --> 0:06:59.360 what we are saying when we talk about progressive politics, 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:02.440 when we talk about progression, it is a fact that 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:06.960 when we were writing the forefathers were writing this constitution, 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:15.000 I was considered chattel. Women did not have the right 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:18.920 to vote, we didn't have the right to exist, to speak, 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:25.080 to be queer. People were hung burned at the stake. 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:31.000 Isn't it a good thing that we've evolved from that 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:34.760 place that we can continue to try and perfect this 0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:38.720 very imperfect union. But here we are in this moment 0:07:40.480 --> 0:07:43.680 where there is a real power struggle that is at hand. 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:49.200 And again the media allows for Republicans to continue to 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:53.600 hide behind ideology, but it isn't around oh well, I'm 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:57.400 a fiscal conservative and I'm this and i'm that. No, 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:01.560 if you don't call these people what they are and 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:08.040 buy their name white supremists, Christian fundamentalist, Christian fascist like 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:13.440 the group in Dallas that decided to try and enter 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:19.520 into a gay bar and cause harm. Why would they 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:23.520 travel to this space? Ain't nobody invite them? Why can't 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:26.440 you just allow people to be and find community where 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:30.800 they are. Why do you see yourself as the one 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:34.840 that gets to dictate what makes sense. If you don't 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:39.559 want your kids learning about queer people, black people, Latin 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:43.400 X people, indigenous people, pull them out of school, send 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:46.080 them to the fucking Catholic school, send them to Christian school, 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:50.319 fucking homeschool. But you don't get to dictate what curriculum 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:52.800 looks like for the rest of us because you only 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:55.520 want to see the world through a white, cis hetero 0:08:55.679 --> 0:09:03.000 mail lens. But we don't ever push back, We just cower. 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:09.080 And so I think that this conversation with Dawn Tyree 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:15.000 is one that is illuminating because her experience didn't come 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:21.320 through Trumpism, It was decades prior to that. It was 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:29.480 about the fundamental treatment and mistreatment and abuse of girls 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:33.880 and of women in this country. So when we say 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:37.520 oftentimes this is not who we are, we don't really 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:43.600 have a strong foundational understanding of who we are because 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:50.120 all America has ever known is violence, is hatred, is misogyny, 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:59.000 is homophobia, transphobia, islamophobia, patriarchy, and if we don't excavate 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:04.800 these true then they will keep repeating themselves. So coming 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:13.760 up next my conversation with survivor Dawn Tyree. Hey there, 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:16.040 I want to tell you about another podcast I think 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:18.880 you'll love. The Brown Girl's Guide to Politics, hosted by 0:10:18.920 --> 0:10:22.480 a Shanty Gohler, the president of Emerge BGG, is the 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:24.680 one stop shop for women of color who want to 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:27.160 hear and talk about the world of politics. Join a 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:29.920 Shanty this season as she talks to incredible women of 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:32.520 color who are changing the face of politics and tackling 0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:35.360 some of the most important issues basing the United States, 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:38.880 from reproductive justice to voting rights, to climate change and more. 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:49.040 Tune in every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. Indisputable 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:52.120 with Doctor Rasha Ricci is one of the latest shows 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:55.520 on the TYT network and also the fastest growing news 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:59.200 show in America. On his show, Doctor Ricci plays no 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:02.800 games for policy, delivering a heavy dose of fact based 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:06.240 truth and penetrating analysis on all the top news stories 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:10.880 focusing on racism, criminal and social justice, politics, police brutality, 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:14.800 Karens and much more. Listeners can also expect interviews with 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:19.640 fascinating guests, political leaders, commentators, and even fiery debates with 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:23.640 conservatives on a wide range of policy topics. In the Bullpen. 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:27.320 It is an indisputable fact that you will love this show. 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:32.280 Listen to Indisputable with Doctor rashad Ricci on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:35.160 or wherever you get your podcasts. If you like what 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.360 you hear, be sure to subscribe so you never miss 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:48.280 a new episode. Folks, I am very excited to welcome 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:53.320 to Woke a f Daily Dawn Tyree, who is an author, activist, 0:11:53.360 --> 0:12:02.079 and survivor of child marriage. Dawn, you know your story 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:05.840 was a part of an A and E documentary that 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:11.720 was done and you in this space talk about how 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:16.320 you were forced to marry your abuser at the young 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:21.120 age of thirteen when you were pregnant, and I want 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:26.560 you to explain to the Woke AF audience what child 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:31.480 marriage is and why it's a conversation that we should 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:34.959 be having in this country as we're hearing places like 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:40.320 Tennessee and others working to lower the age of marriage, right, 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:43.000 would they apparently want to lower the age of everything 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:45.240 for you? To get an assault rifle for you to 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:49.839 be able to get married. But God forbid you be 0:12:49.880 --> 0:12:53.280 able to have bodily autonomy. That's something that you need 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:58.760 all different kind layers of consent for. So tell us 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:04.040 a bit more about your story. Well, my story is 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:06.480 that I was forced to marry at thirteen years old. 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:09.559 It was a family friend who had actually been my 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:13.320 legal guardian, who I referred to as my nanny. He 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:16.360 had been sexually abusing me for two years, and when 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:19.400 I became pregnant, the fix all was for us to 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:22.320 get married. It saved him from a prison sentence and 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:26.200 saved my parents from child abuse and neglect charges, so 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:28.400 it basically saved all the adults and put me in 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:35.440 servitude as a sex slave to my abuser. Oh God, Dawn, 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:40.080 can you tell us what state was this happening in. 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:43.839 It happened in Texas, and a lot of people would say, oh, 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:46.400 of course it did. But you know, there are nine 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:49.440 states today that have no minimum age for marriage, so 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:52.520 it could have easily happened, and California is one of them. 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:56.280 And we actually lived in California before we moved to Texas, 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:58.280 so we were really only in Texas for a couple 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:04.439 of months before the marriage took place. Do you even 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:12.520 what was your mindset during this time of I imagine 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:16.520 that in order to get married at the age of thirteen, 0:14:18.559 --> 0:14:22.200 you had to have parental consent, right, so what can 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:26.160 you walk us through what that yeah, what that process is, 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:30.640 and what that looked like from from what you Recallum, 0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:35.600 So it typically takes parental consent or you know, a 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:39.600 judge discretion, and in my case, it only took my 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:45.120 father's signature to marry UM. What that looked like to 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:49.440 me at that time? UM, I was cohersd. I would 0:14:49.560 --> 0:14:52.280 you know, I didn't have a say in what was 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:55.160 going on? Who as a child? A child you know, 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:58.080 defined by the law as anyone under eighteen years old. 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:00.760 So at thirteen years old, I really did have a say. 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:05.280 I was groomed to marry him for two weeks before 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:07.920 the marriage took place. I mean I was getting the 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:11.080 input from him that he was saving me from a 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:13.840 bad situation, that it was in my best centrist. My 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:17.280 stepmother was reinforcing that with that I couldn't stay at 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:19.800 home with a baby, and that you know, we needed 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:22.600 to be married. It was going to save him and 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:26.440 you know, I'm not sure where my father was standing 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:28.560 in this. I think he was under a lot of influence, 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:32.400 you know, by my stepmother, and so he went ahead 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:35.960 and gave consent to this marriage to my rapists who 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:38.720 was I was thirteen and he was thirty two years old. 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:43.200 It was clearly, you know, a statutory rape, and in 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:47.160 marriage in the United States to a minor overrides the 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:50.600 federal law of statutory rape. So at that point that 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:54.400 no charges, not not during the marriage or even after. 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:56.800 When I was trying to escape, I tried to file 0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:00.880 police reports, and because of the marriage, it totally saves 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:08.480 him and exonerates the perpetrator from any charges. So let 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:14.000 me ask you this. You're thirteen years old, this man 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:17.160 this I mean, I would refer to him as a rapist, 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:21.840 but I don't want to put words in your con is. Yeah, 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:26.120 it's thirty five years old. You go before whom in 0:16:26.240 --> 0:16:31.080 order to have this marriage a judge, right, that's correct. 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:33.160 You know, you have to go before the judge. So 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:36.520 the clerk will issue the license and you go before 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.640 the judge. And in some states, the judge, you know, 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:43.920 may have some discernment and there may be an investigation which, 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:47.200 in my opinion, an investigation by the court is just 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:51.120 a band aid or you know, it's only for the 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:54.560 consciousness of the court to put a rubber stamp on 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:56.920 the marriage. It's saying, look, we've done this safety you know, 0:16:57.040 --> 0:17:01.840 check and everything's fine. And in our experience, in my experience, 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:05.199 it doesn't matter. M You know, when social services steps 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:08.240 in and there's an investigation, most children are not going 0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:11.680 to out their family out their parents are out their abuser. Um. 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:13.720 And so it really serves no purpose. In fact, it 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:16.119 puts a children more at risk because they have to 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:19.920 go home with these people that have threatened them, you know, emotionally, 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:24.000 physically and otherwise. UM to not speak against the family. 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:30.840 How long did this, this this marriage? This this this 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:34.760 trap for you right, how long did this this last? 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:39.040 I was I was trapped for a little over three years, UM. 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:41.240 And it is a trap. So thank you for referring 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:45.360 to it as a trap. Miners that mary have no 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:48.040 legal recourse. I mean I tried to go to a shelter. 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:50.320 They turned me away because we were miners. Try to 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:52.720 rent an apartment, you can't sign a lease, Try to 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:55.520 hire a lawyer. Lawyer won't go into contract with you, 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:58.160 I couldn't rent a hotel room. Yeah, I mean it's 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:00.560 a joke, you know. Here I am at sixteen years old, 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:03.560 I have two children in tow. We're trying to escape 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:08.280 a very violent situation, and the shelters turned us away. 0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:10.760 We literally couldn't go to a women's shelter or a 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:15.000 homeless shelter. And it's that way right now today across 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:20.960 the nation. So let me get this straight, right, because 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:24.640 this is just this is the insanity of a country 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:28.040 that says that we love and protect children. Right, We're 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.960 watching children get gunned down in their classrooms and lawmakers 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:34.639 say they can't do anything about it. And you're telling 0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:40.560 me that basically, you're able your parent, one parent is 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:45.600 able to sign over your bodily autonomy yourself as a child, 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:48.560 because in the eyes quote unquote of the law, you 0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:51.440 are a miner until you reach the age of eighteen, right, 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:57.440 And so they sign over your bodily autonomy, your authority 0:18:57.520 --> 0:19:01.359 over self to your abuser. And then in the eyes 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:04.119 of the law, you were married, but you are not 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:06.520 a woman to be able to go into a shelter 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:10.760 with your two children. You got that one, correct, you know, 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:16.440 And not only that, like by losing it my bodily autonomy. 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:19.440 I was expecting my second child at fourteen years old, 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:22.919 you know, and not one time when I, you know, 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:25.920 went to my prenatal appointments or was seeing the physician 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:29.600 or my doctor or whomever, did someone stop and asked 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:32.320 me if this was a choice that I would that 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:36.400 I was okay with or I don't recall ever being 0:19:36.600 --> 0:19:41.120 educated about birth control or anything like that. And so, 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:47.800 you know, you just you're completely removed from any self governing. 0:19:50.800 --> 0:19:54.399 Did you think that you had done something wrong? Oh? Absolutely, 0:19:54.440 --> 0:20:00.320 it felt like that. And I gohead, it really felt 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:04.000 like I had done something that, um, you know, I 0:20:04.400 --> 0:20:07.359 brought this all upon myself. And because I was hearing 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:09.879 that from my stepmother and things like that, so the 0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:13.320 negative voices kind of go, you know, their own repeat um. 0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:16.040 And so I felt like I deserved the situation that 0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:18.280 I was in, that I had brought it upon myself, 0:20:19.520 --> 0:20:21.919 and you know, the only the only thing that I 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:25.439 could do for myself was to figure out how to 0:20:25.480 --> 0:20:28.440 get out of this situation. And that's I mean, that's 0:20:28.480 --> 0:20:30.800 a whole other can of worms. It's like when the 0:20:30.960 --> 0:20:35.159 miner decides or wants out of the abuse of the situation. 0:20:36.880 --> 0:20:41.040 I'm getting a little bit paidback. Sorry. Um. When the 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:45.960 minor wants out of the abusive situation, often the family 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:49.280 will disown them. So now you have not only the 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:54.880 community turning this this child away with their children or not. Um, 0:20:55.200 --> 0:20:58.920 you don't have any family support. UM, So you really 0:20:58.960 --> 0:21:02.760 are alone. And it's it's quite a shame that even 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:06.160 the community looks down upon, you know, child brides. It's 0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:10.840 almost like, UM, it's it's shameful, and it is put 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:13.080 on on us that it was our fault when in 0:21:13.080 --> 0:21:19.120 fact we didn't have any choice when it happened. What 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:26.000 how did you go, Dawn, from being a sixteen year 0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:32.480 old with two children trying to flee an abuser, no 0:21:32.720 --> 0:21:36.280 family to run to that was that was going to 0:21:36.680 --> 0:21:40.399 open their doors in their arms to you to be 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:43.840 to where you are now, to becoming an activist and 0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:51.720 an author. What was that arc? Who? Um? Part of 0:21:52.000 --> 0:21:59.679 you know, the emotional change and kind of the awareness 0:22:01.040 --> 0:22:03.160 wake up call, if you will, for me, was after 0:22:03.240 --> 0:22:09.639 my daughter was born and I began to worry about 0:22:09.640 --> 0:22:14.400 her safety as an infant. I mean, this is just repulsive. 0:22:15.520 --> 0:22:18.960 But at fifteen and sixteen years old. I did not 0:22:19.080 --> 0:22:23.840 want him changing her diaper. And that's when I began 0:22:24.000 --> 0:22:26.920 to plot my way out, like try to figure out 0:22:26.960 --> 0:22:28.760 how am I going to get out of this situation. 0:22:30.400 --> 0:22:33.359 And we had to, you know, my family unit how 0:22:33.400 --> 0:22:36.640 to be separated because it wasn't possible. As I had mentioned, 0:22:36.640 --> 0:22:39.439 we were turned away from shelters and you know, just 0:22:39.520 --> 0:22:43.600 had had no means or resources to get out of 0:22:43.600 --> 0:22:48.119 that situation. And so my children actually stayed with his 0:22:48.320 --> 0:22:53.159 parents while I stayed with an anonymous family member to 0:22:53.200 --> 0:22:56.720 get my feet on the ground. And then on one 0:22:56.760 --> 0:22:58.639 of the visits, I would go visit my children on 0:22:58.680 --> 0:23:01.760 the weekends, and on one of those visits, I packed 0:23:01.800 --> 0:23:04.440 him up and I took them and it was very messy. 0:23:05.359 --> 0:23:09.480 And again because my husband at that time, so I'm 0:23:09.520 --> 0:23:13.200 sixteen years old, he is my husband and my legal guardian, 0:23:13.359 --> 0:23:16.040 even though I was an emancipated minors, so he had 0:23:16.040 --> 0:23:18.720 the rights to report me as a runaway, and when 0:23:18.800 --> 0:23:20.800 law enforcement caught up to me, they would threaten to 0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:24.040 return me to my rapists. So I mean this, it's 0:23:24.080 --> 0:23:30.320 a violent, perpetual circle of being trapped and authority and 0:23:30.840 --> 0:23:36.760 control and manipulation, you know, and so I was able 0:23:36.800 --> 0:23:40.840 to kind of stay undercover, you know, and and fly 0:23:40.960 --> 0:23:45.399 under the radar for our safety until I got my 0:23:45.400 --> 0:23:47.760 feet on the ground. And that is it was very difficult. 0:23:47.800 --> 0:23:51.239 I would move into I'd find a roommate, you know, 0:23:51.359 --> 0:23:55.320 apply for the room, put the down payment on the room, 0:23:55.359 --> 0:23:58.479 move in, and then two weeks later, kind of you know, 0:23:58.960 --> 0:24:01.360 fake it and say, oh my goodness, you know, I'm 0:24:01.400 --> 0:24:04.840 really sorry. I have two children and I need to 0:24:04.880 --> 0:24:07.600 suddenly they had to come and live with me suddenly. Um. 0:24:07.840 --> 0:24:10.440 And and that was something that I would repeat over 0:24:10.560 --> 0:24:13.000 and over and over so that we would have a 0:24:13.040 --> 0:24:14.639 place to live because it was hard to find it. 0:24:15.000 --> 0:24:17.840 I couldn't rent a place, but I could find a roommate, 0:24:17.960 --> 0:24:20.679 you know, a situation that would be willing to let 0:24:20.760 --> 0:24:23.240 me move in, and then I would move my children in. 0:24:24.840 --> 0:24:28.920 And it's you know, the poverty and the things that 0:24:29.000 --> 0:24:33.080 we went through, um for many years, at least a decade, 0:24:33.440 --> 0:24:36.640 where we would, you know, live without electricity at times, 0:24:36.720 --> 0:24:40.760 living without basic essential needs, you know, toilet paper, toothpaste, 0:24:40.800 --> 0:24:43.720 things like that. And you know, my children they don't 0:24:43.760 --> 0:24:45.879 know any different. When you're raising your children, it's like 0:24:47.240 --> 0:24:49.200 that's just life. It's life that we don't have toilet 0:24:49.240 --> 0:24:51.360 paper and we're you know, using other means to keep 0:24:51.440 --> 0:24:54.920 ourselves to to you know, have hygiene and things like that. 0:24:56.680 --> 0:25:03.520 The the the forfeited education increases, the poverty with child brides, 0:25:04.440 --> 0:25:09.920 the chances of IPv increases like fourfold for child brides. 0:25:10.720 --> 0:25:14.120 It's really sad how we set this is a setup 0:25:14.160 --> 0:25:17.159 for failure. You had mentioned the divorce rate in the 0:25:17.240 --> 0:25:20.440 nation is like fifty percent. For child marriages, it's over 0:25:20.520 --> 0:25:29.399 eighty percent. So how many dawn now that you have, 0:25:30.040 --> 0:25:35.480 I mean gone through, my God so much? How did 0:25:35.480 --> 0:25:40.120 your activism start and wear? And if you have any 0:25:40.359 --> 0:25:47.320 statistics or numbers, how many girls in this country that 0:25:47.480 --> 0:25:50.480 says that they care about girls, that says that they 0:25:50.520 --> 0:25:56.800 care about children are in similar situations. We know that 0:25:57.080 --> 0:26:00.760 three hundred thousand children were married between two thousan twenty 0:26:01.000 --> 0:26:06.520 eighteen in the United States. Some sixty thousand of those 0:26:06.560 --> 0:26:10.040 marriages could have been punishable by statutory rate laws and 0:26:10.160 --> 0:26:20.439 given a prison sentence. I mean, that is just extraordinary. 0:26:20.600 --> 0:26:24.480 And we have places right now in this country that 0:26:24.560 --> 0:26:26.920 are looking to lower the age, as I said at 0:26:26.920 --> 0:26:31.080 the top, like in Tennessee, to lower the age of marriage. 0:26:31.560 --> 0:26:36.160 And so when you talk and you share your story, 0:26:36.640 --> 0:26:40.480 what is it that you're trying to get people, including 0:26:40.600 --> 0:26:45.800 our lawmakers to understand. I think we use our voices 0:26:45.840 --> 0:26:51.040 for the voiceless. I mean, you know, I felt like 0:26:51.320 --> 0:26:55.679 my situation was a very isolated situation. And you know, 0:26:55.800 --> 0:26:59.320 in twenty eighteen, when I myself started to investigate child 0:26:59.320 --> 0:27:02.679 marriage and United States was totally blown away that it 0:27:02.720 --> 0:27:06.440 was legal in all fifty states that year twenty eighteen. 0:27:06.720 --> 0:27:09.680 And so using our voices, we're trying to influence change 0:27:09.800 --> 0:27:13.560 and protect children from child marriage. We're learning that it's 0:27:13.560 --> 0:27:17.400 connected to human trafficking, sex trafficking, child labor. I mean, 0:27:17.880 --> 0:27:22.560 there's an overlap there that's frightening. Hearing that other states 0:27:22.640 --> 0:27:28.520 want to lower the age for marriage is terrifying. We 0:27:28.600 --> 0:27:31.679 have nine states in the US right now that have 0:27:32.040 --> 0:27:39.520 no minimum age for marriage. I just don't I Like, 0:27:40.240 --> 0:27:43.440 you say this to me, and I'm like, how how 0:27:43.600 --> 0:27:46.920 is that something that that could even stand? Is it? 0:27:47.240 --> 0:27:50.960 Do you believe it's because people don't know? Like And 0:27:51.000 --> 0:27:53.560 when I say people, I mean, like the masses don't 0:27:53.680 --> 0:27:57.520 know this fact. Or is it that we know and 0:27:57.560 --> 0:28:00.520 we just don't care, Like what's your opinion on that. 0:28:01.400 --> 0:28:03.840 I think my opinion. Okay, First of all, people are 0:28:03.880 --> 0:28:07.720 shocked to learn, you know, about child marriage in the US. 0:28:07.800 --> 0:28:10.920 So it's true that a lot of people just don't 0:28:10.960 --> 0:28:15.400 know and are unaware, and even lawmakers, legislators are surprised 0:28:15.400 --> 0:28:18.040 when they find out that, you know, it's happening in 0:28:18.080 --> 0:28:21.119 their state. And so we bring awareness to it. We 0:28:21.200 --> 0:28:26.480 try to educate the legislators and then influence change because 0:28:26.760 --> 0:28:29.720 of the archaic laws that are in place, those are 0:28:29.720 --> 0:28:32.400