WEBVTT - America Doesn't Deserve Juneteenth

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<v Speaker 1>Good morning, peeps, and welcome to WIKA app Daily with

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<v Speaker 1>Me Your Girl. Danielle Moody prerecording from the Bunker, Folks,

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<v Speaker 1>I this episode is going to be about Juneteenth. I

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<v Speaker 1>have mixed feelings about Juneteenth, hence my hesitancy as I

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<v Speaker 1>was getting ready to announce it. I don't have mixed

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<v Speaker 1>feelings about Juneteenth being celebrated. I have feelings about how

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<v Speaker 1>Juneteenth is being co opted and commodified, and that especially

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<v Speaker 1>at a time when we have an entire cult republican

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<v Speaker 1>radicalized domestic terrorist party working over time to ensure that

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<v Speaker 1>nothing that is taught in K three twelve education has

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<v Speaker 1>even a hint of perspective outside of white supremacy and patriarchy.

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<v Speaker 1>And that I believe that the Juneteenth holiday came about

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<v Speaker 1>as a pacifier right to all of the other things

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<v Speaker 1>that black people in this country have been asking for

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<v Speaker 1>four centuries. Right When I think about Juneteenth, when I

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<v Speaker 1>think about the way in which Juneteenth has been talked

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<v Speaker 1>about and the backlash that has been received, and it

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<v Speaker 1>pisses me off. It pisses me off. Juneteenth is a

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<v Speaker 1>celebration of freedom and liberation, but it is also a

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<v Speaker 1>reminder a deep reminder of the insidious nature of white supremacy.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah slighting lies, economic extraction, abuse of black people. Juneteenth

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<v Speaker 1>came about because it would be two years following the

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<v Speaker 1>end of the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation that

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<v Speaker 1>enslaved Africans in Galveston, Texas would learn that they were

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<v Speaker 1>now free. I'm certain that the white, vicious terrorists that

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<v Speaker 1>were owning human beings knew that they were to be freed,

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<v Speaker 1>but decided that they hadn't gotten enough free labor, They

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<v Speaker 1>hadn't caused enough trauma, abuse, harm, violence, right, just needed

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<v Speaker 1>two more years. This country makes me sick because every

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<v Speaker 1>time that people are forced into the streets to declare

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<v Speaker 1>the relevance of their own lives, that our lives actually matter,

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<v Speaker 1>and that no lives, all lives can't matter until black

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<v Speaker 1>lives actually matter, that we are still saying the same

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<v Speaker 1>things that our ancestors said, still fighting for the same

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<v Speaker 1>things that white, lying ass politicians and this lying ass

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<v Speaker 1>federal government, regardless of which party is in charge, have

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<v Speaker 1>denied Black people their full humanity. Because here's the thing.

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<v Speaker 1>Juneteenth became a federal holiday following the racial uprisings of

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<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty when we all watch collectively George Floyd take

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<v Speaker 1>his last breath at the hands of the murdering X

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<v Speaker 1>cop Derek Chauvin. For close to nine minutes, we watched

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<v Speaker 1>a black man killed like a dog in the fucking street.

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<v Speaker 1>Then we waited with bated breath through a trial to

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<v Speaker 1>see if maybe this time someone is going to be

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<v Speaker 1>held accountable for what the world witnessed in fucking Hora.

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<v Speaker 1>We asked for a police reform, We asked for an

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<v Speaker 1>end to qualified immunity. We asked for accountability of this

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<v Speaker 1>state funded, fucking mob to be able to be charged

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<v Speaker 1>and held criminally responsible for the damage and harm and

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<v Speaker 1>death and destruction they cause. Eight months into bullshit negotiations

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<v Speaker 1>between Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans, they come out, throw

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<v Speaker 1>up their hands and say, oh, we couldn't come to

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<v Speaker 1>an agreement, so we'll just continue with the status quo,

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<v Speaker 1>which is that black lives don't actually matter and never have.

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<v Speaker 1>They're only useful as tools to our ends, but outside

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<v Speaker 1>of that, you're deserving of nothing. So then they turn

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<v Speaker 1>around and they say, oh, well, here's Juneteenth off for everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>including the white fucking racist, including the ancestors of those

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<v Speaker 1>that kept us in shackles, that tortured, raped, sold our children,

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<v Speaker 1>and then turn around and want to say that, oh,

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<v Speaker 1>black people don't know anything about family, a nuclear family.

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<v Speaker 1>Give me a break. How do you make a federal

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<v Speaker 1>holiday and then don't create any curriculum around that holiday?

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<v Speaker 1>Juneteenth was only celebrated in a handful of places, Texas, Washington, DC,

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<v Speaker 1>where I used to live, being one of them, two

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<v Speaker 1>of them. I hadn't heard about Juneteenth until I moved

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<v Speaker 1>to the Washington DC DMV area for college. Can you

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<v Speaker 1>imagine the amount and the lengths that this white supremist

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<v Speaker 1>country has gone to to hide their abuses, to hide

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<v Speaker 1>their terrorism, to distort reality, to paint this picture of

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<v Speaker 1>white exceptionalism, knowing that there is nothing exceptional about whiteness

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<v Speaker 1>outside of the exceptional way with which they reeled brutality

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<v Speaker 1>and harm. So then as people are forced out into

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<v Speaker 1>the streets out a hide of a pandemic before we

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<v Speaker 1>have vaccines, before we even really know what we are

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<v Speaker 1>dealing at with. Oh, the federal government says we're gonna

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<v Speaker 1>make Juneteenth a federal holiday that'll show black people we

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<v Speaker 1>care about them. I don't need your fucking holidays that

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<v Speaker 1>everybody gets off and doesn't know dick about. I don't

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<v Speaker 1>need Maya Angelou's face embassiled on a coin. I don't

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<v Speaker 1>even need Harriet Tubman on a twenty dollar bill that

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<v Speaker 1>we will never see. What I need is equity. What

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<v Speaker 1>I need is justice. What I actually need and wants

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<v Speaker 1>fucking reparations, not Juneteenth ice cream or T shirts, just

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<v Speaker 1>another way to capitalize on the money that black people

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<v Speaker 1>put out into our economy to support it. We spend

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<v Speaker 1>more money than most other communities and get nothing back

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<v Speaker 1>from these very same corporations that want to now turn

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<v Speaker 1>their websites from half Rainbow to half kenttie cloth. And

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<v Speaker 1>that's supposed to be showing some type of allyship and solidarity.

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<v Speaker 1>Miss me with it. So as I'm seeing people from

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<v Speaker 1>Nike to Walmart giving employees a day off or saying, oh,

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to do a day of service, or let

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<v Speaker 1>us give some wayward black community a couple of thousand dollars,

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<v Speaker 1>patting themselves on the back for fucking what. The amount

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<v Speaker 1>that black people are owed in this country is obscene.

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<v Speaker 1>We have had HR forty introduced every year, and I

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<v Speaker 1>want to pull it up for you because people don't

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<v Speaker 1>know this. Why because it's never happened. It's never, ever, ever,

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<v Speaker 1>ever happened. HR forty has been introduced multiple multiple times.

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<v Speaker 1>The bill seeks to establish the Commission to Study and

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<v Speaker 1>develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. The Commission shall examine

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<v Speaker 1>slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States

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<v Speaker 1>from sixteen nineteen to the present and recommend appropriate remedies.

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<v Speaker 1>It's never passed, it's never passed. We've had no such commission,

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<v Speaker 1>We've had no such investigation. We haven't even had so

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<v Speaker 1>much as a fucking apology, really, right, a recognition of

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<v Speaker 1>harm that has been done. Folks will say, oh, but

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<v Speaker 1>you know, don't you remember when the House, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>under Nancy Pelosi said that they were sorry about slavery,

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<v Speaker 1>and then was that when they put the kenty cloth

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<v Speaker 1>around them and all got down on one knee. I

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<v Speaker 1>tell you that what makes me sick, so sick about

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<v Speaker 1>America is we don't want to do anything. We don't

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<v Speaker 1>want change, not America as a whole, and certainly not

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<v Speaker 1>white America. And I'm going to say it as a whole.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not part in parceling. So if I'm not talking

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<v Speaker 1>about you, then I'm not talking about you. But you see,

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<v Speaker 1>things get done in this country when White America demands it.

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<v Speaker 1>So if there are so many good, thoughtful, caring, empathetic allies,

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<v Speaker 1>then where are their voices around demanding reparations for the

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<v Speaker 1>Black community, for a community that has faced so much.

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<v Speaker 1>It's amazing. You want to talk about excellence. Every day

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<v Speaker 1>I find myself in awe of Black people in this

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<v Speaker 1>country and all of the fact that given every single obstacle,

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<v Speaker 1>whether it be through education, incarceration, our death rates being

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<v Speaker 1>higher than everybody else, gun violence, police brutality, right, food deserts,

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<v Speaker 1>our healthcare system that has killed so many, including one

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<v Speaker 1>in three Black women that go to deliver babies. Oh,

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<v Speaker 1>when I think, folks about all of these things, it's

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<v Speaker 1>amazing to me. The success is that we've had the

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<v Speaker 1>people that have been produced through this community. You want

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<v Speaker 1>to talk about resiliency, and yet we're still being forced

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<v Speaker 1>into the streets to demand acknowledgement that oh, we're killed

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<v Speaker 1>at an alarming rate by the police state, and then

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<v Speaker 1>we can't even hold those same police accountable that the

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<v Speaker 1>most that they get is what administrative lead that is

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<v Speaker 1>your podcasts that books are being banned that are written

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<v Speaker 1>white people uncomfortable. White people should be uncomfortable, should absolutely

0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:52.520
<v Speaker 1>be uncomfortable. You know what's uncomfortable walking around in a

0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:57.880
<v Speaker 1>black body in this country and not knowing how you

0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:02.280
<v Speaker 1>are going to be received, knowing that by virtue of

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<v Speaker 1>being in this body, and don't let me add in

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<v Speaker 1>the other layers of being queer. Right, black trans women

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<v Speaker 1>are murdered at a rate well above the national average

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<v Speaker 1>of murder rates. That you can't shop in a grocery store,

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<v Speaker 1>you can't play on a playground, you can't sleep in

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<v Speaker 1>your own bed, you can't walk to the corner store,

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<v Speaker 1>you can't shop for a legal gun without the fear

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<v Speaker 1>of violence descending upon you. And then guess what your

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<v Speaker 1>family after your death, having no recourse, getting no justice,

0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:53.760
<v Speaker 1>getting absolutely fucking nothing but more pain so that we

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<v Speaker 1>can all have press conferences to talk about this will

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<v Speaker 1>never happen again, just in time for it to guess

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<v Speaker 1>what happening again. It is exhausting living in a country

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<v Speaker 1>and supposedly being told that you are not a patriot

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<v Speaker 1>because you stand up to a country that has decided

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<v Speaker 1>that you are worth nothing. If you are not laboring

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<v Speaker 1>for free, for the system and just being thankful for

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<v Speaker 1>being allowed to exist outside of shackles, then somehow you

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<v Speaker 1>are the problem. I'm the racist because I acknowledge the

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<v Speaker 1>fact that racism is embedded in every Fabrican, in every

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<v Speaker 1>system of this country. But you want me to jump

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<v Speaker 1>up and celebrate Juneteenth being named a federal holiday in

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<v Speaker 1>a country that has killed so many of us. And

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<v Speaker 1>just recently acknowledges the fact that the Tulsa massacre that

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<v Speaker 1>happened over a hundred years ago wiped out an entire

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<v Speaker 1>town of people. Bombs those people never received, or operations.

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<v Speaker 1>Those people never received anything other than a mass fucking grave.

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<v Speaker 1>So you should be applauded for acknowledging that. You should

0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:10.520
<v Speaker 1>be applauded for the fact that we know. Why has

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<v Speaker 1>cancer research and other research been able to happen. Oh,

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<v Speaker 1>because the healthcare system stole cells from a black woman,

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<v Speaker 1>Henriette A. Lacks made multi billions off of it while

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<v Speaker 1>her family lived in poverty, not knowing that she had

0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:30.480
<v Speaker 1>been stolen from that she had no bodily autonomy, that

0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:37.400
<v Speaker 1>her cells, her body, her pieces had been commodified. We

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<v Speaker 1>only learned about that through a book and research that

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<v Speaker 1>was done. Still, her family has received nothing. But I'm

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<v Speaker 1>supposed to be happy with a holiday. I've been talking

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<v Speaker 1>for a long time about really considering leaving this country.

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<v Speaker 1>In the next couple of years. My sister is returning

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<v Speaker 1>to the States after twelve years of living abroad, and

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<v Speaker 1>now that she's returning, we are actually wondering if it's

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<v Speaker 1>even safe for us to exist in this country. And

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<v Speaker 1>it isn't. We know that. But how do you flee

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<v Speaker 1>everything that you know? And where do you go that

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<v Speaker 1>is safe? Because black people are not safe anywhere. Anti

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<v Speaker 1>blackness is prevalent everywhere. So what does it mean to

0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:39.359
<v Speaker 1>occupy a body that you have no escape from? And

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<v Speaker 1>everyone is made a target? But please pass me some

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<v Speaker 1>of that Walmart Juneteenth ice cream. I'm sure that will

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<v Speaker 1>make me feel better. I'm going to preview a piece

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<v Speaker 1>that by the time that this airs will be running

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<v Speaker 1>on The Daily Beast that I wrote because I was

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<v Speaker 1>asked to write about my feelings around Juneteenth, and I said,

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<v Speaker 1>my feelings are actually quite layered. I have more anger

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<v Speaker 1>than I do anything else because just like everything that

0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:20.840
<v Speaker 1>black people had that was ours, it now becomes everyone else's.

0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:25.680
<v Speaker 1>Now you have CNN doing a global Juneteenth holiday. Juneteenth

0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:29.880
<v Speaker 1>is about the abuse of Black people and their liberation

0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:36.760
<v Speaker 1>in this country, being liberated from white supremacy, only right

0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:40.399
<v Speaker 1>to be left out of one shackles in order to

0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:46.440
<v Speaker 1>be put into another one under Jim Crow, to just

0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:56.960
<v Speaker 1>birth generations into poverty, into under education, all because they

0:18:57.040 --> 0:18:59.720
<v Speaker 1>did the hard labor to build this country, only to

0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:10.960
<v Speaker 1>have its spit in its face. So for me, America

0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:21.119
<v Speaker 1>doesn't deserve Juneteenth. It doesn't deserve the day off. What

0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:27.160
<v Speaker 1>it deserves is the hard labor and the hard fucking

0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:31.840
<v Speaker 1>truth that my ancestors had to live through. And thank

0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:37.399
<v Speaker 1>God for their perseverance under such unbelievable terrorism and durest

0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:41.720
<v Speaker 1>because otherwise I wouldn't be here. It's why I love

0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:44.840
<v Speaker 1>the T shirt that says, I am my ancestors wildish

0:19:44.920 --> 0:19:50.800
<v Speaker 1>dreams because you see those black people that you see

0:19:50.960 --> 0:19:55.080
<v Speaker 1>walking around and living where the products of the enslaved

0:19:55.280 --> 0:20:00.440
<v Speaker 1>Africans that you couldn't kill, that this country could kill,

0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:14.480
<v Speaker 1>but tries to kill us every day. America. Honestly, these

0:20:14.560 --> 0:20:22.520
<v Speaker 1>days makes me feel ill, even as I went recently

0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:25.720
<v Speaker 1>to the White House and still this place that was

0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:34.800
<v Speaker 1>built again for free by my ancestors, still fills me

0:20:34.920 --> 0:20:40.240
<v Speaker 1>with some type of hope. But I don't know what's

0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:43.040
<v Speaker 1>smaller than a mustard seed, But that is how I feel.

0:20:48.000 --> 0:20:51.119
<v Speaker 1>This is the piece that is in the Daily Beast

0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:54.480
<v Speaker 1>right now that I will share with all of you

0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:57.440
<v Speaker 1>as you reflect on Juneteenth, and you know, I want

0:20:57.480 --> 0:21:00.359
<v Speaker 1>to hear from all of you, all people that listen

0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:03.879
<v Speaker 1>to Woke a f Do you believe that Juneteenth should

0:21:03.880 --> 0:21:07.840
<v Speaker 1>have been named a federal holiday? Is there something else

0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:11.240
<v Speaker 1>that could have been done, Let's say, maybe passing HR

0:21:11.320 --> 0:21:13.960
<v Speaker 1>forty and kicking it up to the Senate and having

0:21:14.000 --> 0:21:16.639
<v Speaker 1>that being signed by the President of the United States

0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:23.080
<v Speaker 1>to actually honor what was stolen, the lives that were stolen,

0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:32.119
<v Speaker 1>and figure out how to restore the generational damage that

0:21:32.160 --> 0:21:36.760
<v Speaker 1>has been done. What does it say about this country that,

0:21:36.880 --> 0:21:40.639
<v Speaker 1>even when we have Democrats that are in power, that

0:21:40.760 --> 0:21:43.240
<v Speaker 1>this isn't something that they could imagine to get done.

0:21:43.240 --> 0:21:58.520
<v Speaker 1>It's not a priority skip Corporate Juneteenth branding invest in

0:21:58.600 --> 0:22:03.560
<v Speaker 1>black people. June nineteenth, eighteen sixty five is a date

0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:07.919
<v Speaker 1>in our nation's history that all Americans should know, but

0:22:08.119 --> 0:22:11.520
<v Speaker 1>haven't until recently. It was the day that the last

0:22:11.640 --> 0:22:15.560
<v Speaker 1>enslaved African Americans were notified about their emancipation following the

0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:18.800
<v Speaker 1>end of the Civil War. The kicker, it came two

0:22:18.840 --> 0:22:22.760
<v Speaker 1>whole years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

0:22:23.480 --> 0:22:26.439
<v Speaker 1>That's two years have continued abuse and torture at the

0:22:26.480 --> 0:22:29.760
<v Speaker 1>hands of white slave owners who knew of the emancipation

0:22:29.800 --> 0:22:33.640
<v Speaker 1>but kept their scheme going until the news reached Galveston, Texas.

0:22:34.400 --> 0:22:37.520
<v Speaker 1>So how does this occasion call for Juneteenth ice cream

0:22:37.520 --> 0:22:40.359
<v Speaker 1>and T shirts modeled by white women make sense to

0:22:40.400 --> 0:22:45.760
<v Speaker 1>corporate America. Juneteenth became a national holiday in twenty twenty

0:22:45.760 --> 0:22:48.800
<v Speaker 1>one following the racial uprisings of twenty twenty that was

0:22:48.840 --> 0:22:51.119
<v Speaker 1>sparked by the brutal murder of George Floyd at the

0:22:51.119 --> 0:22:55.040
<v Speaker 1>hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the midst

0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:57.639
<v Speaker 1>of the COVID nineteenth pandemic that the world was still

0:22:57.640 --> 0:23:01.320
<v Speaker 1>trying to understand. Thousands of Black Americans and allies took

0:23:01.359 --> 0:23:05.240
<v Speaker 1>to the streets demanding justice and police accountability. What did

0:23:05.240 --> 0:23:09.240
<v Speaker 1>we receive instead, a national holiday and a failed attempt

0:23:09.560 --> 0:23:13.720
<v Speaker 1>at police reform legislation. That's the thing about America. This

0:23:13.880 --> 0:23:16.720
<v Speaker 1>country would rather provide a holiday in a Maya Angelou

0:23:16.800 --> 0:23:21.800
<v Speaker 1>embazzled coin than voting rights, police reform, economic investment, and

0:23:21.920 --> 0:23:25.200
<v Speaker 1>K through twelve education taught outside of the lens of whiteness.

0:23:26.160 --> 0:23:29.080
<v Speaker 1>The Juneteenth Federal Holiday was announced at the very same

0:23:29.119 --> 0:23:33.080
<v Speaker 1>time Republicans were escalating their crusade against critical race theory.

0:23:33.680 --> 0:23:37.040
<v Speaker 1>It was the most American move yet, creating a federal

0:23:37.080 --> 0:23:40.000
<v Speaker 1>holiday but not designing a curriculum that teaches what that

0:23:40.080 --> 0:23:44.280
<v Speaker 1>holiday means, all because of the radical rights war against

0:23:44.280 --> 0:23:49.240
<v Speaker 1>consciousness otherwise known as wokeness. As with any holiday in

0:23:49.280 --> 0:23:52.879
<v Speaker 1>the United States, what follows is the mass commercialization by

0:23:52.920 --> 0:23:57.280
<v Speaker 1>corporate America, squeezing any real sentiment or understanding dry in

0:23:57.359 --> 0:24:01.120
<v Speaker 1>order to increase their bottom line. What does it mean

0:24:01.200 --> 0:24:05.160
<v Speaker 1>for corporations to commodify the Juneteenth Holiday extracting once again

0:24:05.240 --> 0:24:08.200
<v Speaker 1>from a community they choose not to invest in. It

0:24:08.240 --> 0:24:11.400
<v Speaker 1>means taking our money in one hand and supporting candidates

0:24:11.440 --> 0:24:13.720
<v Speaker 1>that vote against our access and equity in the other.

0:24:14.720 --> 0:24:18.160
<v Speaker 1>The real bottom line, corporate America needs to find more

0:24:18.200 --> 0:24:21.120
<v Speaker 1>meaningful ways to honor this sacred holiday than selling ice

0:24:21.119 --> 0:24:25.480
<v Speaker 1>cream wrapped in Kente cloth and African colors. What the

0:24:25.520 --> 0:24:28.880
<v Speaker 1>Black community has always needed is the resources that were

0:24:28.920 --> 0:24:32.080
<v Speaker 1>beautially extracted from our ancestors with their free labor, which

0:24:32.080 --> 0:24:35.560
<v Speaker 1>built this nation. We need our neighborhood, schools and businesses

0:24:35.600 --> 0:24:39.480
<v Speaker 1>to be reinvested in, not as charity, but as reparations

0:24:39.520 --> 0:24:44.320
<v Speaker 1>for the generational trauma and damage inflicted upon us. This, however,

0:24:44.600 --> 0:24:47.320
<v Speaker 1>is the conversation that American doesn't want to have, because

0:24:47.359 --> 0:24:49.840
<v Speaker 1>doing so would force a level of accountability that White

0:24:49.880 --> 0:24:52.840
<v Speaker 1>America would prefer and not reckon with. Let alone, actually

0:24:52.880 --> 0:24:57.119
<v Speaker 1>acknowledge corporations can and should play a vital role in

0:24:57.160 --> 0:25:00.440
<v Speaker 1>the restoration of the Black community and other marginalized commun unities,

0:25:00.920 --> 0:25:03.640
<v Speaker 1>instead of lining the pockets of their CEOs, whose pay

0:25:03.720 --> 0:25:06.480
<v Speaker 1>has reached record levels. As the rest of US struggle

0:25:06.520 --> 0:25:10.520
<v Speaker 1>with the effects of inflation and supply chain disruptions, corporations

0:25:10.560 --> 0:25:14.640
<v Speaker 1>could instead invest in historically black colleges and universities, creating

0:25:14.640 --> 0:25:17.560
<v Speaker 1>a pipeline for the next generation of C suite executives.

0:25:18.520 --> 0:25:22.040
<v Speaker 1>Corporations like Walmart could put their money where their branding

0:25:22.119 --> 0:25:25.000
<v Speaker 1>is and contribute to underserved communities like the one in Buffalo,

0:25:25.200 --> 0:25:28.119
<v Speaker 1>whose Soule grocery store in the black community became a

0:25:28.200 --> 0:25:31.960
<v Speaker 1>scene of a vicious white supremacist hate crime. Why was

0:25:32.000 --> 0:25:34.880
<v Speaker 1>Top's Grocery such an important hub in the Buffalo community

0:25:35.400 --> 0:25:38.160
<v Speaker 1>because for decades it had been outright ignored by both

0:25:38.240 --> 0:25:43.560
<v Speaker 1>politicians and corporations. There are way too many communities like

0:25:43.720 --> 0:25:47.040
<v Speaker 1>Buffalo where the largely black communities have a dearth of

0:25:47.080 --> 0:25:50.639
<v Speaker 1>grocery stores, community centers, banks, and tree lined streets with

0:25:50.720 --> 0:25:55.240
<v Speaker 1>regular sanitation pickup. Instead, they're dotted with predatory lenders and

0:25:55.320 --> 0:25:59.919
<v Speaker 1>liquor stores. This hasn't happened by accident, nor is it

0:26:00.000 --> 0:26:03.639
<v Speaker 1>a moral failing of black people. It's a product of

0:26:03.760 --> 0:26:07.320
<v Speaker 1>racist redlining and disinvestment. But this doesn't have to be

0:26:07.359 --> 0:26:11.679
<v Speaker 1>our curse forever. If Corporate America wants to celebrate Juneteenth,

0:26:11.680 --> 0:26:15.160
<v Speaker 1>the honor the legacy of enslaved Africans that built this country,

0:26:15.520 --> 0:26:18.200
<v Speaker 1>those companies need to shift their thinking from one of

0:26:18.280 --> 0:26:21.720
<v Speaker 1>extraction to investment. What would it look like to make

0:26:21.760 --> 0:26:25.760
<v Speaker 1>public commitments to diversifying their workforce from the assembly lines

0:26:25.800 --> 0:26:28.440
<v Speaker 1>to the C suites. What would it look like for

0:26:28.600 --> 0:26:32.840
<v Speaker 1>more companies to do what Sapphora did and devote physical

0:26:32.880 --> 0:26:35.480
<v Speaker 1>space in their stores for black owned health and beauty lines.

0:26:36.280 --> 0:26:38.840
<v Speaker 1>There are a myriad of ways that corporate America can

0:26:38.880 --> 0:26:43.040
<v Speaker 1>engage with Juneteenth. That isn't about commodification, but it means

0:26:43.080 --> 0:26:49.520
<v Speaker 1>making a promise and actually delivering. This piece is live

0:26:49.840 --> 0:26:52.960
<v Speaker 1>right now at the Daily Beast, so I encourage you

0:26:53.040 --> 0:26:56.399
<v Speaker 1>all to check it out and share it widely. Share

0:26:56.440 --> 0:26:58.800
<v Speaker 1>it with your friends, share it with your family, share

0:26:58.840 --> 0:27:02.879
<v Speaker 1>it on social media. Because this is the truth. It

0:27:03.040 --> 0:27:09.080
<v Speaker 1>is not enough to acknowledge something, to acknowledge pain just

0:27:09.280 --> 0:27:14.800
<v Speaker 1>for a holiday, just as a pacifier for real, actual

0:27:14.920 --> 0:27:17.040
<v Speaker 1>work that needs to be done. And it's not Black

0:27:17.080 --> 0:27:19.920
<v Speaker 1>people's job to do it, because we didn't create racism

0:27:20.640 --> 0:27:23.399
<v Speaker 1>and the slave trade to begin with. We're only the

0:27:23.440 --> 0:27:28.120
<v Speaker 1>ones that have to deal with the residual effects of it.

0:27:29.320 --> 0:27:32.240
<v Speaker 1>When will it end? When white people have decided that

0:27:32.480 --> 0:27:36.600
<v Speaker 1>true ally ship isn't just about marching alongside. It is

0:27:36.640 --> 0:27:41.480
<v Speaker 1>actually about continually speaking out and organizing on behalf of

0:27:41.520 --> 0:27:45.480
<v Speaker 1>those who have been wronged and continue to be historically

0:27:45.480 --> 0:27:49.960
<v Speaker 1>wronged in this country. We don't all deserve Juneteenth an

0:27:49.960 --> 0:27:53.159
<v Speaker 1>America sure as fuck does not. Get a behind the

0:27:53.200 --> 0:27:56.679
<v Speaker 1>scenes look at Comedy Central's The Daily Show Beyond the Scenes,

0:27:56.720 --> 0:27:59.480
<v Speaker 1>an original podcast from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

0:27:59.520 --> 0:28:01.960
<v Speaker 1>Every week, host Roy Wood Junior goes deeper with the

0:28:02.040 --> 0:28:05.440
<v Speaker 1>notable guests and experts from the Emmy Award winning series. Together,

0:28:05.480 --> 0:28:08.600
<v Speaker 1>they use comedy to tackle current topics from gentrification to

0:28:08.640 --> 0:28:10.679
<v Speaker 1>gun laws and take a closer look at how and

0:28:10.760 --> 0:28:13.479
<v Speaker 1>why these topics matter. Listen to Beyond the Scenes from

0:28:13.480 --> 0:28:16.160
<v Speaker 1>The Daily Show with Trevor Noah on the iHeartRadio app,

0:28:16.200 --> 0:28:19.560
<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. New episodes

0:28:19.640 --> 0:28:29.840
<v Speaker 1>every Tuesday. That is it for me today. Folks on

0:28:30.040 --> 0:28:33.600
<v Speaker 1>Woke app as always, Power to the people and to

0:28:33.840 --> 0:28:38.040
<v Speaker 1>all the people. Power, get woke and stay woke as fuck.

0:28:43.480 --> 0:28:45.840
<v Speaker 1>Get a behind the scenes look at Comedy Central's The

0:28:45.920 --> 0:28:49.000
<v Speaker 1>Daily Show on Beyond the Scenes, an original podcast from

0:28:49.040 --> 0:28:51.640
<v Speaker 1>the Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Every week, host Roy

0:28:51.640 --> 0:28:54.400
<v Speaker 1>Wood Junior goes deeper with the notable guests and experts

0:28:54.440 --> 0:28:57.320
<v Speaker 1>from the Emmy Award winning series. Together, they use comedy

0:28:57.360 --> 0:29:00.520
<v Speaker 1>to tackle current topics from gentrification to gun and take

0:29:00.560 --> 0:29:02.920
<v Speaker 1>a closer look at how and why these topics matter.

0:29:03.080 --> 0:29:05.240
<v Speaker 1>Listen to Beyond the Scenes from the Daily Show with

0:29:05.320 --> 0:29:08.640
<v Speaker 1>Trevor Noah on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever

0:29:08.680 --> 0:29:12.040
<v Speaker 1>you get your podcast. New episodes every Tuesday.