WEBVTT - Ep. 2 - That time I lied my way to a raise 0:00:04.320 --> 0:00:08.040 Hey, guys, welcome back to Brown Ambition Episode two. 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:11.360 Hey hey, hey, it's Tiffany again and I'm back. 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:19.000 So Mandy, welcome back. Yes, coming back. Life is pretty good. 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:22.079 Okay, I'm so excited you guys actually download and listen 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:23.560 to the very first Brown Ambition. 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:26.400 Yes, we know it was kind of rough. We know 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:27.240 that we're new at this. 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:30.560 Yes again, you can email us at Brown Ambition Podcast 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:32.600 at gmail dot com with all of your complaints and 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:35.400 make some compliments too, Yes, say something nice. We love 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:38.160 hearing from you guys. Without further ado, let's start the show. 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:50.720 Yes for Buzzworthy this week, we wanted to talk about 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:53.720 something that's not so much in the headlines as a 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:57.040 part of our daily life, which I'm sure a lot 0:00:57.040 --> 0:00:59.040 of you guys can relate to, and what it's like 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:01.480 to be the only one in the office, the only 0:01:01.520 --> 0:01:04.240 one who maybe is of color around the table. 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:06.200 You know, I didn't. 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:07.920 Really real or appreciate the fact that I was the 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:12.080 only one in the office until obviously after college, when 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:14.600 I actually got into an office and got a job. 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:18.640 And I think that it's challenging in ways that I 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:22.480 never expected. There was a week recently and again I 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:27.399 cover finance, which financial journalism is already a pretty small world, 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:30.880 and you know it's there's very low diversity in general 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:33.560 and journalism as a profession, which is something that needs 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:36.560 to be addressed, but especially in financial journalism, there are 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:39.039 so few of us, and being a woman, you know, 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:40.840 it's difficult. A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:43.200 at my desk and I was listening to another podcast 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:45.840 which I love, called Another Round, which has these two 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:49.960 great writers from BuzzFeed, Heaven and Tracy, and just listening 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:52.480 to them talk like we're talking right now, I realize 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:55.080 I haven't had a conversation with another black woman in 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:56.040 my place. 0:01:55.800 --> 0:01:59.000 Of work in two three years. 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:02.120 Wow, Like someone I work closely with, like that I 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:04.840 can turn to and like say what the like, what's happening? 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:06.600 What did he just say? Did she just say? Or 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:07.520 what should we say? 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:10.360 And having that sense of camaraderie. You know, I feel 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:12.280 like I get that from my friends outside of work, 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:15.480 obviously my family and stuff, but there's something about having 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:18.560 someone to turn to at the office, especially when there's stuff, 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:20.840 but especially when you're sitting on a table. You know, 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:24.080 every morning I go to work and we sit around 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:26.360 the table and talk about our ideas for stories. 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:26.399 For the week. 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:29.640 And you know, if we're talking about I don't know, 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:34.520 gender inequality and income inequality in the wage gap, you know, 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:36.600 it'd be nice to have someone sitting next to me 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:39.720 to back me up. Yes, if I'm talking about pitching 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:42.359 an idea to maybe for once not just talk about 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.200 gender inequality as a whole, and maybe mention the fact 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:50.200 that women of color, Latinos, Latinas and black women are 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:54.200 way more likely to make face inequities. Yeah, and make 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:55.960 and make less. That'd be nice. 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:59.519 So like for me, it's like it's a little different. 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:02.920 So I'm entrepreneur. I have a business called the Budgetista. 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:05.680 And so I grew up My parents are African. I 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:08.800 grew up in a very African household, very homogenious. It 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:12.080 was like Nigeria Central at home. But then I went 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:15.640 to a very white middle school in high school, so 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:19.880 it was like all almost all white at school. I'll 0:03:19.919 --> 0:03:21.760 give you an example of how white like my middle 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:24.960 school was. I remember I had my best friend Veronica, 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:26.840 she was the only black girl, and there was one 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:29.600 other little black boy, Bobby Tyson. I will never forget 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:34.279 Bobby because every time a girl from school was like, ooh, Tiffany, 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:37.000 you like Bobby. I'm like, no, you should like Bobby. 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:42.640 I'm like why so, And so I was like, I 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:44.680 don't know, it's like sixth seventh grade, you know, like 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:46.800 that's where you start liking boys, and you know, like 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:48.920 my friends who were because I had white friends too, 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:50.960 you know, and so my friends who are white were all, 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:52.520 you know, they were kind of like linking up and 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:53.560 starting to like boys. 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:54.720 And I guess they were. 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:58.440 Looking around for potential suitors for ten eleven year old Tiffany. 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:01.920 And they're like, hmmm, it's like the Pickens are slim for. 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:04.920 The until you were a catch, Yes, exactly. 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:06.200 What about Bobby Tyson? 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:10.560 For Bobby, he was a really nice guy anyway, So 0:04:10.680 --> 0:04:12.960 now it's a little different as far as being the 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:15.720 only one. What I found is because I worked for myself, 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:19.240 I don't go into an office, but sometimes I will 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:23.400 find like I just did a speaking engagement with a 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:27.120 really large corporation and I was surprised they asked me 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:28.960 to speak because when I got in front of the audience, 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:32.120 it was all I call it the white woman with wealth, 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:34.960 And I was like, are you sure? So it was 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:36.919 so bad that there was like maybe when. 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:39.159 Why didn't you feel why didn't you feel like you 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:40.680 did you like not feel like you fit in? 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:42.480 Or that they wouldn't relate to what you were saying. 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:45.000 You know, I didn't think, cause you know, when it's 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:46.800 well for those if you've gone to like a white 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:47.320 high school. 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:47.719 I didn't. 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:50.080 I didn't notice at first, you know, because I'm just 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:52.159 used to being I was used to being the only brown. 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:55.600 But it wasn't until there was like one other brown 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:57.960 woman in the audience. So afterwards I spoke. I did 0:04:58.000 --> 0:04:59.760 a really good job, so I wasn't nervous because I'd 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:01.960 had no really notice. I mean I kind of noticed, 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:04.760 but not it wasn't on the forefront of mine mind. 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:07.200 This woman pulled me to the side and said thank you. 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:11.400 So much, this brown woman, And I said, oh, you know, 0:05:11.440 --> 0:05:11.880 you're welcome. 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:13.599 I'm thinking she means in general. She said, no, you 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:14.000 killed it. 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:16.159 She said when you came into the room, Tiffany women 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:18.080 behind me were whispering like I know that's not the 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:20.160 person who's speaking. I know it's not her, and saying 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:24.120 basically like what yes, But I didn't know that, you know, 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:26.760 And so like I know it's not the black girl talking. 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:29.880 They thought I was there to check the mic, and 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:32.400 you know, so when I spoke, they didn't, you know, 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:35.080 because how could I know about personal finance? But like 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:37.880 I said, I didn't, thankfully. I didn't know that was happening, 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:39.800 and so I killed it. 0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:41.080 And that to me. 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:43.120 Is like what brown ambition is all about, yea, because 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:45.360 people don't realize when you talk about being the only 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:47.800 one or being what it means to be brown, what 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:52.320 is black, white, black, Asian, Latino, whatever. It's the fact 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:55.720 that when you walk in a room, everyone's expectations, not everyone, 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:58.800 but some people's expectations will already be so low to 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:01.520 you and you don't know what that does to a person, yes, 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:03.919 or what you know, you're projecting that onto that person, 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:05.800 Like we expect so little of you that anything you 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:08.200 do will be you know, will be surprised. 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:12.679 Yeah, and less thankfully because of just like this mixed 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:15.039 kind of like upbringing of like a white high school 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:18.080 African household. And since now I live in Newark, which 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:20.599 is like largely black, so because of that, I didn't 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:23.559 I'm so glad I did not notice the energy because 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:25.760 I would not have done well, because I would have 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:29.200 been nervous or maybe tried to overcompensate. But my thought 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:30.599 was just to do what I always do, you know, 0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:32.680 do a good job and then leave. And when she 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:36.120 said that, I was kind of just like really, wow. 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:39.680 I thought she's checking the mic. She's actually speaking wow. 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:42.480 And then it made me question like, wow, why did 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:44.839 this organization pick me? They knew the audience was going 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:47.120 to be white women with wealth and they were like, no, 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:50.280 we want Tiffany. And so it made me feel good 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:51.880 that one that they believe me because this is like 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:55.520 a huge national organization that shows me. And then two 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:57.680 it made me feel good because and it's such a shame, 0:06:57.720 --> 0:06:59.200 you know, you have to like carry the weight of 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:00.960 your rates on your back. I know you felt that 0:07:01.000 --> 0:07:03.680 at times. But it made me feel good, like well, like, 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:06.520 well you did good. So hopefully there's some women audience 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:09.400 who the next time there's a brown girl in front, 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:11.000 it's going to be like, well, the last brown girl, 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:13.520 they're good, so you know, maybe give her a little 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:14.200 bit more leeway. 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:18.280 But Cleen, Yeah, how many women of color who were 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:20.320 in a place of position of power or were like 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:22.640 killing it in their career Serena Williams comes to mind. 0:07:22.720 --> 0:07:25.240 Miss t Copeland, the you know who was just named 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:28.520 the first African American principal ballerina at the American Ballet Theater. 0:07:28.640 --> 0:07:29.560 Amazing, I know. 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:32.080 But they give these interviews and both of them will 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:34.240 talk about the fact that they feel like they have 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:37.920 to be amazing. There's this there's this additional pressure on 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:40.840 top of the pressures of their field that they have 0:07:40.960 --> 0:07:43.080 to come with their a game every time. 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:44.920 You can't have an off day, because if you have. 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:47.320 An off day, then oh that's how everyone is, Yeah, 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:48.760 how all your people are. 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:50.640 Or just attitude, you know, we have this whole brown 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:54.240 girl attitude like oh so it's like, you know, if 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:56.040 you if you're having a bad day and maybe you 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:58.239 just don't like we talked about resting bitch face before, 0:07:58.320 --> 0:07:59.800 just between the two of us, and. 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:02.400 I totally have I hate thataning guilty, but yeah. 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:05.160 You know, it's just like and so if that's not 0:08:05.200 --> 0:08:07.360 what it is, it's not I don't necessarily have an attitude, 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:10.000 but sometimes you have to do this forced fake smile 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:13.720 so people don't think you're naturally mean. And so, especially 0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:16.200 if you're in the in the audience of the being 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:18.280 the only one, because then you have to be like 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:21.480 extra on. I mean after speaking, I literally went home 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.720 and collapsed because I was so exhausted from being like 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:27.840 extra extra on, because I wanted to, you know, I 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:30.280 did not want to disappoint the race. I did not 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:32.720 want to misrepresent the race in the wrong way. Which 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:34.240 is crazy to have to carry all that. I'm like, 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:36.240 I should just be able to come and be Tiffany 0:08:36.280 --> 0:08:37.240 and leave and be Tiffany. 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:38.800 You know, on top of. 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:41.319 Being of color, you're also a woman in a field 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:44.440 that has been We both are fields that have historically 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:48.120 been dominated by men. And I feel when I speak 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:51.320 up in the newsroom sometimes it's, you know, in the 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:52.840 back of my head. As much as I try and 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:54.920 stamp out this part of me, there's a question of, man, 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:57.640 are they gonna be like, Oh, it's Mandy again talking 0:08:57.679 --> 0:09:00.840 about are all male all white panel? You know, like, 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:04.120 you know, oh, here comes Mandy. She's just always bitching 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:07.120 about something, you know, doesn't she wants us to have 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:10.040 the proper quotas of genders and races and stuff. And 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:13.040 that's what you know, when you're the only one that's 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:15.520 more easy to label you as that you know, it's 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:18.480 more easy to be like, oh, she's just the one problem. 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:21.160 Person exactly, so it's clearly not an issue because only 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:24.559 Mandy's complaining, right, It's like, well. 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:25.760 I wish someone else was here to say it's also 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:28.520 an issue. There's also pressure on us, and you're talking 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.560 about earlier. There's pressure on you as a black woman, 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:33.960 me as a black woman, a man is a black 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:37.680 man to convince others or to explain to others why 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:40.480 they should be upset about something or where our struggle 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:44.000 is coming from. I mean, we have to constantly explain 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:47.240 to people what hashtag black Lives Matter is all about. 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:48.640 And I feel like. 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:51.120 It's so easy to educate yourself. Yes, you know what, 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:53.880 You're not going to get this kind of education from 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:56.960 like a school. I mean, you can't sit here and 0:09:56.960 --> 0:09:58.600 tell me, oh, well, they didn't teach us then in school, 0:09:58.600 --> 0:09:59.679 so it's okay, I'm ignorant. 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:00.800 I didn't teach me either. 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:02.480 I had to go out and read about, you know, 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:05.040 my ancestry and the history of civil rights movement, and 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:06.640 the civil rights movement's happening right now. 0:10:06.960 --> 0:10:08.320 I'm just going, you know, just hit. 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:14.760 Up Google or Yahoo dot com search Yahoo's searching and 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:17.600 find out for yourself. There's no reason why, there's no 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:19.560 excuse to be uneducated about issues. 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:20.360 There's just none. 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:22.160 And there's just so many things that you can listen to, 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:24.360 Like this is great podcast that Maddy and I both 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:27.520 enjoyed called The Read, and they talk about race all 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:29.560 the time, and I get it. Sometimes it can be 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:32.800 really heavy. But then to me, it's like this that 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:35.280 if you don't want to educate yourself, then just please 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:38.160 be quiet, because if you're not going to educate yourself, 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:41.240 then don't be like loud and ignorant. You can't be 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:45.040 wrong and loud, like just pick one, pick one struggle 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:45.880 and ride out with. 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:49.080 That until you've read what you need to read and 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:52.400 educated yourself. Right. I think silence is Silence can make 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:55.040 you sound smart. Yes, knowing when to shut the f 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:57.120 up can make you sound real smart. 0:10:57.920 --> 0:11:20.520 Miley Cyrus Tis Yeah. 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:13.000 So it is time for our brown break. 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:15.040 I don't know if you were guys, remember from last 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:17.520 week we talked about what our brown break is. 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:19.080 So brown break. 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:19.840 Is explained to us again. 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:22.280 So really it's just when you're just like, you know what, 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:25.679 it's too much, this brown, this brown life, this brown 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:28.560 skin is just so heavy, and I just need a 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:33.360 break from certain topics or just something that's happening right now. 0:11:33.400 --> 0:11:35.840 So Mandy and I each choose a brown break and 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:37.200 we just kind of take a break from it. 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:39.800 Okay, let me know what's your What are you taking 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:40.640 a break from this freak? 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:44.079 So this week I'm taking a break from mister comb 0:11:44.120 --> 0:11:45.000 over himself. 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:48.520 The donalds me too, me too. 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:53.680 He is just so offensive and just it's almost like 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:56.120 he I don't even I don't know, I don't mean, 0:11:56.160 --> 0:11:58.320 I can't possibly understand what goes on in his mind 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:02.880 when he says things, especially about the Latin community, and 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:08.400 just you know, just so just racist and I'm just sexist, yeah, 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:10.840 very And I just I just need a break from Donald. 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:13.359 I mean I needed a break when he did. 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:17.079 You know that show what I apprenticed, Yes, I. 0:12:17.040 --> 0:12:19.280 Just needed It was just too much and I just 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:19.719 needed to. 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:21.720 Be so much worse now because people are not because 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:24.600 he's everywhere. Yeah, you know, and you know what, my people, 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:27.520 the media, it's our fault. Honestly, we've made him into 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:30.840 a subject worth talking about ourselves. 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:34.160 Yes, So that's it my break, taking Donald break, And 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:36.000 I don't want to hear about Donald for a little while. 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:37.719 Just stay out of my mentions with it. 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:42.400 I recommend twelve doses of ignoring CNN dot com and 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:43.760 also CNN the channel. 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:46.320 That is my prescription for you, Thank you. 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:51.000 My break this week is something that if you've ever 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:53.360 written on the Internet, which is what I do as 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:56.480 my job, that's how I get paid some way and somehow. 0:12:57.480 --> 0:13:01.240 You know, my biggest fee, your biggest fear is the 0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:06.920 Internet troll Internet commenters. Perhaps it's because I write for Yahoo, 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:11.439 which has a one hundred ga jillion bajillion readership. Every 0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:14.440 day people log in, and some people log in just 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:18.520 to troll, just to say racist things, just to get 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:19.319 on their soapbox. 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:21.640 So maybe let's take a walk back, so tell them 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:23.360 what trolling means on the internet. 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:26.960 Trolling Okay, So let's say you see an article. I'll 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:28.600 give it an example. So I was down in New 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:31.480 Orleans a couple of weeks ago to cover the ten 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:34.480 year I hate calling it the anniversary, but it's been 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:38.240 ten years since Hurricane Katrina obliterated the Gulf Coast. So 0:13:38.320 --> 0:13:40.000 I was down there and I was doing some stories 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:43.559 about how African American men in particular have been left 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:46.680 behind from sort of the revival of New Orleans. They 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:48.560 still earn less, they're still way more likely to be 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:50.760 in jail, they're still way less likely to have a job. 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:53.720 So I write this story and within a minute of 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:56.600 publishing it, and you know, a minute's not long enough 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:58.559 to read two thousand words. I'm not a mathetician, but 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:03.199 I'm pretty sure it's not immediately emails, immediately comments why 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:06.600 would I ever hire black people? This is all Obama's fault. 0:14:06.960 --> 0:14:09.280 We can't you know the same thing. Oh, you know 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:11.360 what they're gonna say. They're gonna say the government shouldn't 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:14.680 be supporting these people. You know, they're all just so lazy, 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:18.480 just racist, racist, racist stuff. And it's it kind of 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:22.120 diminishes your faith in humanity because you write that I 0:14:22.160 --> 0:14:26.360 wrote that story with like such heart and such you know, 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:28.480 taking so much care of the people I talked to, 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:30.680 and they were so open with me. Maybe I'm just 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:33.200 speaking for my own personal experience, but having a very 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:36.840 proud black father, it's not easy for a black man 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:39.600 to admit that he is failing in a way and 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:41.880 that it might be out of his control, and that 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:43.920 he's not able to provide for his family, and the 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:45.800 fact that I had gotten these men to open up 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:47.760 to me about this experience and what it's like being 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:50.520 in post Katrina New Orleans was very like it was 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:52.720 a personal story. I know I shouldn't, like, you know, 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:54.520 put myself in a story, but it was. 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:55.240 It was personal. 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:58.240 I take it very seriously, and it's it's even it's 0:14:58.240 --> 0:15:00.160 all that makes it all the more hurtful when we 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:04.800 have Internet trolls who just want to say completely unrelated 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:07.640 stuff about my story and use the fact that I 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:10.200 write for a major website and use that as their soapbox. 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:11.520 Yeah, it's very disheartening. 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:13.920 Yeah, it was never like. It was never I didn't 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:15.360 want to give them a platform. I want to give 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:16.640 people on my story a platform. 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:18.360 Yeah, that's what it's about trolls. 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:20.840 I always hear Opel say, don't read the comments. 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:22.280 Sometimes you gotta. 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:24.880 Yeah, sometimes every once in the blue moon there might 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:27.800 be a thoughtful comment. But I'm with like, I feel 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:28.280 like you should just. 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:29.960 Get rid of them. I wish we could get rid 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:31.520 of comments. I don't know why we don't. 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:33.680 I remember one time I did this interview with huff 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:36.240 Post Live, and I talked about how when I was 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:40.280 like twenty five. I had made this really big investment mistake, 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:42.720 and a friend of mine, well clearly not a friend, 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:45.240 but air quotes a friend of mine like stole all 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:47.720 this money from me off a credit card. And I 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:49.600 was just explaining, like, I was really young and I 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:50.480 made this dumb. 0:15:50.240 --> 0:15:51.440 Mistake, but I was using it. 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:54.080 I used that mistake as a catalyst to start the 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:57.480 Budgetista and to help people who had made their own 0:15:57.520 --> 0:16:00.600 financial mistakes. You would think there's nothing to say about that. 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:03.880 People went and you're the dumbest thing. 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:06.800 How dare you be humanity? 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:09.560 I mean, that's just I can't believe you did that. 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:13.760 Clearly you were selling yourself, your bodies just some crazy 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:16.280 some woman said something so hurtful I had to write 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:18.600 her back. And I wrote her back and I said, 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:21.680 you know, this is so hurtful. I was twenty five 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:26.160 years old, and at the time, my goal for investing 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:28.200 this money with my friend was because I really wanted 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:29.880 my parents to work so hard their whole lives. I 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:32.320 really wanted to use that money to help them with 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:35.000 bills and stuff. And that's the reason why, you know, 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:37.120 I made this choice to trust this person because the 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:39.840 person was my friend at the time. He was independently wealthy, 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:42.240 and that's why I made this choice. I guess I 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:44.000 don't know what I didn't. I didn't hurt at her, 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:46.720 I wasn't rude, but she was so shamed. She rolled 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:48.920 back and said, I'm so sorry. I'm ashamed of myself. 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:50.840 I couldn't believe it, she said, you know, I was 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:54.640 projecting on you my own insecurities and thoughts and feelings. 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:56.040 I truly apologize. 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:58.320 So amazing how nice they are when you email them 0:16:58.400 --> 0:16:59.960 back and you prove that you're a human. 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:01.840 Yeah, well not all of them. Some people were just 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:02.600 like I don't care. 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:05.320 I take I make it a point to email when 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:07.359 it's an email. See, leaving a comment is easy. But 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:08.560 if you go out of your way to find my 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:10.600 email address, which I don't make easy, and you've found 0:17:10.640 --> 0:17:12.840 it and you've taken the time to email me something hurtful, 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:15.639 then I respond ninety nine point nine percent of the 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:18.960 time thoughtfully, and I would say about seventy five percent 0:17:19.000 --> 0:17:20.359 of the time I get it. I get an email 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:23.000 back with someone who's very polite. Yeah polite, and they 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:24.440 might have just said the most racist thing. 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:26.520 Yeah, so we're going to take. 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:29.000 A brown break from that Trump and you Internet trolls 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:32.160 you know who you are, not not our BA audience, No, 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:35.720 but the trolls don't take this opportunity to email on 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:38.840 the foolishes either, like, oh, they need. 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:42.280 Some trolls in their all right. 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:45.240 So, now that we have taken our brown break, if 0:17:45.320 --> 0:17:47.800 you have a brown break, we'd love to hear, because 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:50.080