WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 112120 ft. Ramses Ja & Tessa Farrell 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:05.040 Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'm your host. Rams' 0:00:05.240 --> 0:00:11.040 joh q Ward is indisposed this week, and so we 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:15.880 have another guest sitting in for what I believe is 0:00:15.920 --> 0:00:24.919 a very necessary episode, very necessary installment, and one that 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:30.360 really deserves a lot more in the way of a 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:33.319 conversation that I've been able to give to it. And 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:40.279 that is who we are relative to each other on 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:47.080 the other side of what I believe is the most 0:00:47.159 --> 0:00:53.560 traumatic election that we've had to endure, most traumatic couple 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:57.880 of elections for that matter, and then the four years 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:03.800 that we lived under President Trump. Joining me today once 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:06.839 again is Tessa Farrell. She's been on the show before. 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:12.920 Thank you again for coming back. And Tessa is a 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:21.080 longtime activist slash community organizer, slash do gooder. I'm always 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:25.040 in the fight for justice, particularly for black and brown folks. 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:29.960 She's all about criminal justice reform, on and on and 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:33.759 on the list goes on, and certainly a very much 0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:40.399 a celebrated advocate of issues that I think I'm safe 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:43.600 in saying that they may not affect you directly, but 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:49.120 they affect you, know, your human family. And so I 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:52.520 I thought that she was going to be somebody to 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:59.080 help kind of balance out this conversation. But also, you know, 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:02.840 I'm I'm aware that you are able to maneuver in 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:08.480 circles where people can perhaps speak more freely because of 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:15.839 your lack of melanie, where someone may not explain their 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:19.000 passion for voting for Donald Trump around someone like me 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:23.120 who's well melanated. When they're around you, they might feel 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:25.359 like they can get that off. And so perhaps you 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:28.320 might have a little bit more insight. And again I 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:31.360 appreciate you coming by, and again I think it's important 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:34.800 for us to begin to have the conversation how do 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:39.680 things look moving forward? So I want to start by saying, 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:50.400 recently on the show, I mentioned that, oh, rather, we 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:58.840 discussed blocking folks from your social media who don't subscribe 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:03.680 to the same police philosophy. You know, my whole life, 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:08.760 I've voted as a Democrat. I typically vote down ballot, 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:18.320 all blue, despite my Compton roots. And the reason for 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:23.919 that is not because of my blackness, not because I'm 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:27.480 not a free thinker, not because I'm not someone who 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:32.840 is unable to be critical of the Democratic Party. The 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:36.800 reason for that is because I'm a human being above 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:40.560 all else. First, and foremost. The reason for that is 0:03:40.560 --> 0:03:46.280 because I find myself being empathetic, being kind, leading with 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:50.600 love ten times out of ten, if and where it's possible. 0:03:53.520 --> 0:04:02.440 And I believe that not in philosophy necessarily, but in practice, 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:09.080 the Democratic Party and largely the Democratic ticket, falls closer 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:17.520 in line with my personal morality than does the Republican ticket. 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:23.040 I understand that in theory, based on God and country 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:28.760 and all these noble ideas that you know, the Republicans 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:35.240 theoretically could hold a moral high ground or something like 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:38.680 that in the right person's mind, who you know, just 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:41.800 looks at the philosophy and not really the practice. You know, 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:44.400 they don't, you know, account for the voter suppression. They 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:47.039 don't account for you know, it's so funny when you 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:51.520 think about the Republican Party being the party about God 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:55.520 and Bible and stuff like that, and largely this party 0:04:55.600 --> 0:05:03.640 backs initiatives and supports practices that it'd be very difficult 0:05:03.720 --> 0:05:06.800 for me to assume that Jesus Christ himself would be 0:05:06.839 --> 0:05:14.000 a person championing the guns and you know whatever. You know, 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:18.400 it really doesn't matter, because you know, we're not here 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:20.839 to pick apart that we're here to discuss the healing 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:27.960 aspect of it. But I will say that my morality 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:32.440 again fallows more in line with what I feel the 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:36.280 Democrats represent. Again, it's not a perfect match, but it's 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:42.080 a two party system, and consistently they're the guys who 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:44.560 just have a little bit more love in their language. 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:48.200 Think Bernie Sanders versus a Donald Trump. You know, it's 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:51.000 it's plain to see. And then with Donald Trump, these 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:54.960 folks have moved even further away from that God and 0:05:55.040 --> 0:05:57.920 country sort of a thing. They can elevate this man 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:01.599 and celebrate this man who's a known cheater, just an 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:05.560 exceptionally a moral human being prior to even being made president. 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:13.480 And then exactly and then became more there there were 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:16.480 more scandals, more you know, lies, of course, is a 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:19.200 pathological liar. And then and you know, these are things 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:23.440 that you know, anybody would have to admit, provided that 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:28.400 they haven't joined the cult. If you will the Trump cult, 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:33.480 you know, you have to admit that they are beyond inconsistencies. 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:36.320 They're outright lives right, just a person that makes up 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:40.120 stuff on the fly and is very damaging and has 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:43.800 no accountability for himself, and so hard to imagine Jesus 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:47.760 himself standing next to someone like that, and it's a 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:52.359 little bit easier to see Jesus standing next to pretty 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:54.279 much anybody you know in the same And a lot 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:57.320 of folks don't know this. You know, there's a lot 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:01.840 of folks like me who really feel like trump Ism 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:10.840 is a modern incarnation of Nazism. It's and and then 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:17.720 there's there's a little bit of that confederacysm if you will, 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:27.400 there as well, sure a separate country, super right, supernationalist. 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:33.600 And you know, the lines follow racial lines. You know, 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:39.240 there are people who are poor or otherwise not rich 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:46.280 that are somehow afraid of being taxed like they are rich. 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:50.880 And it's the thinnest argument that you know, I can imagine. 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:54.600 But you know, some folks, you know, they can't see 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:57.720 the forest from the trees, in my opinion, and this 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:00.080 is why I it is very difficult for me to 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:04.119 ever even imagine aligning myself with someone with a party 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:07.960 rather who you know feels that way. Now, with that said, 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:22.680 have you, Tessa encountered anything that really speaks to the 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:26.280 divide that we're dealing with right now after this selection? 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:32.080 I mean in what capacity? 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:34.760 Well, like I said, you know, your your privy to 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:42.360 conversations that may not happen around black folks, brown folks, 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:48.200 folks who might be particularly sensitive or have been you know, 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:52.360 traumatized under a Trump presidency. So you know, I guess 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:54.760 my question is meant to just kind of find out 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:57.160 if you've come across any folks that will push their 0:08:57.160 --> 0:08:58.720 tongue out a little bit further around you. 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:05.200 Yeah. Sorry, being facetious, I feel like it follows us 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:06.240 no matter where we go. 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:14.280 Sure, yeah, I mean most notably aptly timed too. 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:19.839 Some of what was communicated in your last episode. You know, 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:24.880 I was out to breakfast following the election. 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:27.880 Or what is? 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:30.240 Yeah, I guess we call it election day, the victory 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:34.199 for Biden and Harris that day when it was finally announced, 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:38.960 and was sitting at a table with some folk, and 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:46.120 a cis white gentleman sitting next to me, you know, said, 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:49.520 knowing he shouldn't audibly said, I shouldn't say this, but 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:55.040 you know, I voted for Trump, and uh, you know, 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:57.800 in some respects it's foolish because I'm definitely not the 0:09:57.840 --> 0:10:00.000 type of person to mince words. 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:02.120 So I feel like he knew what he was. 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:04.600 Doing and why he was saying what he was saying, 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:08.440 because certainly it was bound to get a reaction, and 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:15.079 it did uh quite visibly and audibly for the other 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:16.400 patrons in the restaurant. 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:22.079 And in that moment, you know, he went. 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:25.320 On to defend the decision as it being something that 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:30.320 he made from an economic standpoint, and and said that 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:34.600 he had not made the decision based on his morals, 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:37.600 but rather these other things that he felt were important, 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:41.120 that he felt were justifiable, that he felt would affect 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:46.720 others in his life, and the taxation and you know, 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:53.760 economic policy, and you know that that in and of 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:57.480 itself was the red flag. Is what ended up aligning 0:10:57.520 --> 0:10:59.840 so beautifully with the podcast when I listened to it later. 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:04.120 Was my argument in that moment, you have to absolutely 0:11:04.240 --> 0:11:08.480 vote with your morality, with your conscious, with your being. 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:13.080 You have to vote with the most at risk marginalized 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:16.280 people in mind. And I feel like, particularly as a 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:20.280 white person showing up to the poles, you have to 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:23.760 do that because that vote carries weight, if not but 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:26.960 for yourself, but all of these other people more directly affected, 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:31.600 many of who may not have the will or desire 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:34.520 to show up at the will of desire or capacity 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:38.280 ability to show up to these poles for a multitude 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:44.640 of reasons what have you, And it just turned into 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:46.720 a very chaotic. 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:54.559 Unpleasant So he said he voted based on economics. Is 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:56.440 this a wealthy man? No? 0:11:57.200 --> 0:11:59.560 I mean I shouldn't say to his defense, I shouldn't 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:03.280 say that so quickly, but no, knowing his background and 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:08.720 in my relationship with him, no, no, he is a 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:10.160 working class volte. 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:16.200 Well, I think that you said something that's very interesting. 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:19.400 So I guess before we get to the point where 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:25.200 we're healing, we do really need to understand how we 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:30.120 got here and who we are in this moment. And 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:32.920 I like how you put it. You vote based on 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:40.760 your morals. It always blows my mind how people are 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:49.319 able to look past things that, even if you don't agree, 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:56.960 are racist. You know, there are other people, typically people 0:12:57.000 --> 0:13:00.680 not affected by racism, who try to offer in times, 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:04.440 redefine racism for their own purposes. So even if you 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:15.200 don't identify or acknowledge the racism that has flown from 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:24.480 the mouth of uh Donald Trump, I would I would 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:29.520 imagine that you would still be able to empathize with 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:39.760 black people, black communities, brown people, Muslim people. You know, 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:44.679 there's a lot of pain and a lot of trauma 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:49.400 that these communities have endured under this president. People not 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:51.840 feeling safe. You know. It went from the dreamers, to 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:53.880 the kids in the cages, to the you know, it 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:58.200 started to build the wall, you know, and particularly with 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:04.400 my Hispanic brothers and sisters, you know, to know that 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:11.960 they've had a target on their back under this presidency. 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:14.920 You know, whether or not I agreed that Donald Trump 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:19.280 was being racist, I could acknowledge that those communities were 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:24.120 being traumatized under this presidency, and the empathy that exists 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:27.400 within me would not allow me to vote cast a 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:32.400 ballot in a manner that would allow that trauma to 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:36.440 continue in those brown communities that I'm watching my Hispanic 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:41.760 brothers and sisters endure. And that's the part that I 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:49.840 think makes so much of these these Trump votes so hurtful, 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:53.160 because folks are able to say, like, you're the person 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:56.200 that you went to brunch with, Well, I voted for 0:14:56.520 --> 0:15:00.560 economic reasons, even though this is not a way healthy man, 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:03.280 even though I'm assuming it has something to do with 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:08.600 Biden's proposed tax plan that taxes the four hundred thousand 0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:13.000 and first dollar, not anything below four hundred thousand dollars, 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:17.600 and so anyone making less than that is not affected 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:19.320 by this plane at all. So I'm assuming he doesn't 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:24.240 make four hundred thousand dollars a year, but would vote 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:29.760 for that when there are actual people I'm assuming in 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:36.080 his life who might be further traumatized with another four 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:40.080 years of a Trump presidency and the fact that a 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:45.360 lot of I mean, let's be honest, white males. If 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:49.560 you look at the voting history of white males, a 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:54.200 lot of times, it's very easy for white males to 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:57.120 turn a blind eye to that. And these are our brothers, 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:02.800 and it feels very hurtful to endure that election after election. 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:07.880 And you know, when I did have the other episode, 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:15.720 I did make sure to mention that I understand, not directly, 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:18.360 but I can allow the human in me can allow 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:22.320 for there to be a separate argument that I don't 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:27.560 agree with. But since you know, these folks on the 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:30.240 other side have had a different experience and therefore have 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:35.600 a different value system, I can allow for that and 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:40.600 understand that it could exist up to the point where 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:46.400 it has a harmful effect on other people. In other words, 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:51.400 I'll speak plainly. If a person is a Republican and 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:55.680 they vote God and country, however misguided they are in 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:58.640 those votes. Again, I don't believe that Jesus Christ would 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:02.240 have anything to do with what the Republican Party actually does, 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:05.920 not what they stand for in theory, but what they 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:11.000 actually do. Again with voter suppression, again with you know, 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:13.480 all the scandals that we've seen in the White House. 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:16.360 You know, this is supposed to be the upright, you know, conservative, 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:20.639 you know, honorable party. And you know, I have not 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:23.720 seen that in my adult life, and I've certainly seen it, 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:27.480 you know, smeared even further under a Trump presidency. But 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.200 you know the theory of that party, I can understand 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:39.600 a person saying these ideas and ideals aligned with my values, 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:41.920 and I would like to cast my vote in this direction. 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:47.200 And I do want to say this. I applaud many 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:54.040 Conservatives who this past election decided that they were going 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:58.560 to vote for decency. They were going to vote for 0:17:58.600 --> 0:18:02.000 their brothers and their sisters who might not worship the 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:07.760 way that they do, who might not have the same 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:11.879 stamp on their birth certificate, but are still good people 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:18.879 and are still entitled to a life free of terror, 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:31.119 a life with dignity, a life with comfort and happiness, 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:34.720 you know, and and folks that have been able to 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:37.320 come out of their own circle and say, you know, 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:44.240 I will not cast my vote to support this horrible 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:51.399 person a second time. And so I do applaud those folks. 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:55.119 And again I do understand how folks could subscribe with 0:18:55.359 --> 0:18:59.280 the party that most closely aligns with their beliefs. But 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:14.399 this past election is particularly harmful to us because Donald 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:17.800 Trump was elected, and we knew what was going to 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:21.480 happen when he got elected, and then he did way 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:29.800 more crazy stuff than we ever expected. Every day, every day, 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:33.520 almost it was a new thing. Was getting arrested, he's 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:37.680 saying something, He's insulting countries, insulting people from country. He's 0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:41.160 just doing every single day. He's like that, this guy 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:44.080 got nothing right. You know. I think he did some 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:48.280 criminal justice stuff with Kim Kardashian. But my belief is 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:50.440 that there was an opportunity for Donald Trump to sit 0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:53.760 down at the table with Kim Kardashian. That's it. You know, 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:56.160 if it didn't help Donald Trump and the optics around 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:59.000 Donald Trump and Donald Trump wouldn't have done it. And 0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:03.440 if that that's all that, I'm sorry is not enough 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:06.320 because Black people are not just in jail. We actually 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:07.960 live out in the real world too, and we have 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:11.120 to encounter all these Nazi flags excuse me, Trump flags, 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:14.679 excuse me, oh wait, I guess it doesn't matter against 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:26.160 them exactly exactly, and and empowering people who have the worst, uh, 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:31.800 who are the worst of us. And so I think 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:39.640 it's important to say here and now that people who 0:20:42.359 --> 0:20:46.800 say to their friends to themselves, I voted for Donald 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:52.160 Trump because Donald Trump is blah blah blah, I own 0:20:52.200 --> 0:20:58.960 a business, I'm a Christian, whatever reason that you've invented 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:03.119 to vote for this man a second time. You know, 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:05.320 there's seventy million of these people here. 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:08.320 Now you already know who you're voting for. 0:21:08.520 --> 0:21:14.120 Yeah, but particularly this past election, after knowing all these things, 0:21:14.200 --> 0:21:22.440 to vote for this man a second time and then say, well, 0:21:22.480 --> 0:21:25.040 I'm not racist, I just voted for Donald Trump because 0:21:25.040 --> 0:21:28.840 of this. Or I'm not sexist, I just voted for 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:33.640 Donald Trump because of that, or I'm not a xenophobe. 0:21:34.200 --> 0:21:37.280 I just voted for Donald Trump because of blah blah blah. 0:21:37.320 --> 0:21:37.480 Right. 0:21:40.720 --> 0:21:43.080 I think that you don't get to play that card 0:21:43.680 --> 0:21:47.800 that I'm not a racist card, because what you've done 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:53.280 is empowered racism. And I mentioned it that you don't 0:21:53.359 --> 0:21:58.439 get to define it if it doesn't affect you, right, 0:22:00.000 --> 0:22:04.920 And that'd be like me trying to explain period cramps 0:22:05.920 --> 0:22:11.119 or breastfeeding or something that is, you know, largely associated 0:22:11.160 --> 0:22:18.400 with with a female experience, which I'm not having exactly. 0:22:22.080 --> 0:22:25.080 And so I think that when folks say a vote 0:22:25.080 --> 0:22:30.119 for Donald Trump is a vote for racism, that those 0:22:30.200 --> 0:22:37.760 Trump votes should really begin to check how they feel 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:42.639 now of the time. I recognize it's extremely important to 0:22:42.640 --> 0:22:46.080 have forgiveness built into the conversation. So there are people 0:22:46.119 --> 0:22:50.639 who have done racist things, said racist things, and have 0:22:50.760 --> 0:22:53.439 been able to be educated and reformed because they know 0:22:53.520 --> 0:22:55.280 in their heart of hearts that they don't want to 0:22:55.320 --> 0:22:58.000 be this, They don't want to do this. They may 0:22:58.119 --> 0:23:00.399 not be aware of it when it's happening. They may 0:23:00.440 --> 0:23:03.120 be shortsighted. They may make a vote, cast a vote 0:23:03.119 --> 0:23:05.600 out of fear. You know. I recognize that a lot 0:23:05.640 --> 0:23:10.639 of Christian, straight white males feel like they're under attack 0:23:10.760 --> 0:23:15.199 from all sides, from all people, and they feel like 0:23:15.359 --> 0:23:17.760 they have the world at their feet, and a lot 0:23:17.800 --> 0:23:21.600 of them do and a lot of them don't, and 0:23:21.640 --> 0:23:23.800 they look around and they say, Man, I really wish 0:23:23.840 --> 0:23:26.000 I had some of that white privilege that everyone's always 0:23:26.000 --> 0:23:29.720 saying I got, because I'm broke and I can't seem 0:23:29.760 --> 0:23:32.320 to get a leg up in life. And I recognize that, 0:23:32.880 --> 0:23:36.280 you know, so again it's always important to have forgiveness 0:23:36.320 --> 0:23:40.160 built into the conversation. But you know, while we're having 0:23:40.240 --> 0:23:42.639 this part of the conversation, and before we move to 0:23:42.680 --> 0:23:45.280 the part of the conversation, that I need to revisit 0:23:45.320 --> 0:23:49.440 about those of us who are walking away feeling victorious 0:23:49.480 --> 0:23:52.639 after this past election, how we're going to create a 0:23:52.640 --> 0:23:54.320 space for us all to sit at the same table. 0:23:55.160 --> 0:23:59.280 While I'm talking to those Republican Trump votes, I think 0:23:59.320 --> 0:24:05.840 it's important has to say you really need to come 0:24:05.880 --> 0:24:10.000 to terms with that statement and not dismiss it. A 0:24:10.680 --> 0:24:15.720 vote for Donald Trump was a vote for racism. It 0:24:15.880 --> 0:24:22.840 was a vote for xenophobia, a vote for sexism. Imagine 0:24:22.840 --> 0:24:26.800 all the people who've been hurt by maybe not Donald 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:32.240 Trump directly, but by people who believe that Donald Trump, 0:24:33.080 --> 0:24:35.560 if Donald Trump does something, that it's okay, you know. 0:24:35.800 --> 0:24:39.920 Imagine all the women who've been fondled and groped and 0:24:40.280 --> 0:24:47.120 molested and raped, and then this man gets to say 0:24:47.119 --> 0:24:50.399 and do all of these horrible things and get elected president. 0:24:50.119 --> 0:24:55.600 And white women show up to sure, imagine favor of 0:24:55.640 --> 0:24:57.000 that individual. 0:24:56.640 --> 0:24:59.760 But imagine what it's like to live in a world 0:24:59.760 --> 0:25:04.760 where that is the leader, right, and just his presence 0:25:04.800 --> 0:25:09.600 in that position justifies all of the horrible things that 0:25:09.680 --> 0:25:12.240 you've experienced as a woman who had gone through any 0:25:12.240 --> 0:25:16.879 of those traumas that I listed before, and what that 0:25:17.000 --> 0:25:20.800 must be like. And again, a vote for him is, 0:25:21.080 --> 0:25:26.080 in your own way, as a Republican, Trump vote, that's 0:25:26.119 --> 0:25:29.240 your way of empowering that that is a vote for racism. 0:25:29.280 --> 0:25:34.840 That is you strengthening and emboldening the most racist, the 0:25:34.880 --> 0:25:40.119 most sexist, the most harmful, the most horrible ideas in 0:25:40.160 --> 0:25:44.200 this country. And there's seventy million of you that could 0:25:44.200 --> 0:25:47.760 not look past your own four walls to see that 0:25:47.840 --> 0:25:51.240 we share this planet, the whole planet, not just with 0:25:51.320 --> 0:25:55.080 each other. You know, science is real, the Earth is dying, 0:25:55.160 --> 0:25:57.000 we're killing it. We got to do something about you 0:25:57.040 --> 0:26:00.440 know what I mean? And I think that it's very 0:26:00.440 --> 0:26:06.040 important to have a moment of reflection, and I know 0:26:06.119 --> 0:26:10.480 that it's very difficult to say to yourself, I'm racist 0:26:10.760 --> 0:26:15.800 for having voted for Donald Trump. But I do think 0:26:15.880 --> 0:26:20.280 that if you have that conversation with yourself, if you 0:26:20.400 --> 0:26:28.840 recognize that that's exactly what he stood for. He divided 0:26:28.880 --> 0:26:32.879 and divided and further divided and further divided from the 0:26:32.920 --> 0:26:37.200 moment he announced his campaign, not only his political opponents, 0:26:37.240 --> 0:26:39.640 but he did it with the country. He made sure 0:26:39.680 --> 0:26:42.639 to keep that alt right on his right hand the 0:26:42.680 --> 0:26:46.640 whole time, and nobody else likes them except for him 0:26:46.640 --> 0:26:49.320 and people that are like him. You cast a vote 0:26:49.359 --> 0:26:52.399 for Donald Trump, understand that you cast a vote the 0:26:52.480 --> 0:26:56.520 same way that the Ku Klux Klan votes. And that's 0:26:56.560 --> 0:26:59.879 something that you have to sit with before anything else. 0:27:00.800 --> 0:27:04.160 No one stole anything from you. It is human nature 0:27:04.280 --> 0:27:08.879 to cooperate. It is human nature to get along with 0:27:08.920 --> 0:27:14.120 each other, to find a way to be to live 0:27:14.160 --> 0:27:18.359 in harmony. Doesn't always work. History is filled with examples 0:27:18.359 --> 0:27:20.960 of that not working. You know, there's plenty of wars 0:27:20.960 --> 0:27:23.520 if you want to cite those, But for the most part, 0:27:23.680 --> 0:27:27.280 our day to day lives, we get along fine. And 0:27:27.320 --> 0:27:29.560 that's one of the great things about this country is 0:27:29.560 --> 0:27:32.920 that there's so many cities, huge cities full of all 0:27:32.920 --> 0:27:36.160 different kinds of people, Asian people, Native American people, people 0:27:36.200 --> 0:27:39.040 from all kinds of places in the world that you 0:27:39.160 --> 0:27:44.399 never even heard of, getting along swimmingly, and your vote 0:27:44.440 --> 0:27:52.679 was a vote against human nature. So again, that's the 0:27:52.800 --> 0:27:57.960 starting point. You don't have to outwardly ever say I'm racist. 0:27:58.000 --> 0:28:00.359 But if you start there, then I think think that 0:28:00.440 --> 0:28:04.480 you can begin to unpack your fears. You can begin 0:28:04.560 --> 0:28:08.600 to unpack the things that you have in place to 0:28:08.760 --> 0:28:14.400 insulate yourself from that truth. And perhaps once you've done that, 0:28:14.920 --> 0:28:17.919 you can start to build a bridge back over here 0:28:18.440 --> 0:28:21.959 with the rest of humanity who miss you and we 0:28:22.040 --> 0:28:23.439 love you. 0:28:23.440 --> 0:28:23.639 You know. 0:28:23.720 --> 0:28:27.920 That's the thing that I say a lot. Okay, I 0:28:28.160 --> 0:28:29.280 like it's were here. 0:28:31.000 --> 0:28:34.720 And I are going to say, but do we miss you? 0:28:35.000 --> 0:28:36.840 Okay, how about this? Let me let me say it 0:28:36.880 --> 0:28:44.080 this way. I'll say it like that bridges in and 0:28:44.200 --> 0:28:46.360 I'm gonna speak to that because I burn my share 0:28:46.360 --> 0:28:50.440 of bridges too, you know. But I think that once 0:28:50.480 --> 0:28:54.040 you boil everything down to its essence, I think that 0:28:54.120 --> 0:28:57.200 you're left with love. That's the that's the foremost emotion, 0:28:57.360 --> 0:29:00.400 that's the How about this. If you saw a person 0:29:00.640 --> 0:29:05.880 that was God forbid bleeding in the street, split second decision, 0:29:06.080 --> 0:29:08.160 you would go and try to help this person. Absolutely, 0:29:08.360 --> 0:29:11.120 you wouldn't ask what color is this person, what faith 0:29:11.200 --> 0:29:13.040 is this person? Is this person believed this way or 0:29:13.040 --> 0:29:15.640 that way? But you would see a human being in distress, 0:29:16.080 --> 0:29:19.880 and the part of you that's most basic, that knows 0:29:20.080 --> 0:29:23.320 that trauma is not good, and the part of you 0:29:23.360 --> 0:29:26.480 that compels you to help that person. I think that 0:29:26.480 --> 0:29:29.360 that's rooted in what I like to call love. You know, 0:29:29.520 --> 0:29:31.800 that's the thing that the tithe that binds, the thing 0:29:31.800 --> 0:29:34.720 that makes us social. We're not jaguars. We just come 0:29:34.760 --> 0:29:36.160 together the mate and then we go back in our 0:29:36.200 --> 0:29:39.160 own little corner. We're humans. We live our whole lives 0:29:39.160 --> 0:29:41.760 with each other. It is the nature of human beings 0:29:41.760 --> 0:29:44.400 to get along. And so I think that while we 0:29:44.440 --> 0:29:48.480 certainly have to have a conversation about that block button, 0:29:48.520 --> 0:29:50.800 because I did upset a lot of folks when I say, yeah, 0:29:50.800 --> 0:29:53.560 I fired a block button off, no, I think that 0:29:53.640 --> 0:29:56.960 a little bit agreement, a little bit more context would 0:29:56.960 --> 0:30:03.880