WEBVTT - Abusive Relationship With America

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<v Speaker 1>Good morning, peeps, and welcome to wok EP Daily with

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<v Speaker 1>Meet your Girl Danielle Moody pre recording from the Home Bunker. Well, folks,

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<v Speaker 1>it is the fourth of July, so happy fourth to

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<v Speaker 1>all who choose to celebrate. And if you don't celebrate,

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<v Speaker 1>at least you have the day off, So have some cocktails,

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<v Speaker 1>do a meditation, go for a walk, spend time with

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<v Speaker 1>friends and family. I hope that you're doing all of

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<v Speaker 1>that also while listening to me. Continuing on our theme

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<v Speaker 1>for this week on wokf's Cookout, I am very excited

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<v Speaker 1>for today's conversation with my friend, musician, composer, creative director,

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<v Speaker 1>just all around artist, activists, bad ass Toshi Reagan. Now, friends,

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<v Speaker 1>if you are a longtime listener of WOKF, then you

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<v Speaker 1>know that I have had the pleasure of interviewing Toshi before.

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<v Speaker 1>Toshi has a wonderful place in my heart because many

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<v Speaker 1>years ago, and I say many because time is a

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<v Speaker 1>construct and pre COVID time just seems so so distant.

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<v Speaker 1>But probably back in around twenty fifteen twenty sixteen, I

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<v Speaker 1>had the awesome opportunity to interview Toshi for the first

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<v Speaker 1>time for NBCBLK and it was a wonderful experience because

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<v Speaker 1>Toshi introduced me to the one and only Octavia Butler

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<v Speaker 1>and her writings. And it was during that interview where

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<v Speaker 1>Toshi said to me, you must read Octavia Butler's Powable

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<v Speaker 1>of the Sewer and then we'll have a conversation about it. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>lo and behold. Some years later after I would read

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<v Speaker 1>Powable not once but twice and its companion book as well.

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<v Speaker 1>Toshi would turn Powable of the Sewer into an opera,

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<v Speaker 1>which she has been traveling around the country and is

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<v Speaker 1>currently in Washington, d C. And will bring the opera

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<v Speaker 1>to the Lincoln Center in New York City later in July.

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<v Speaker 1>And throughout this conversation that I have with Toshi today,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, we talk about what it means to be black,

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<v Speaker 1>queer and free. You know that freedom is truly about

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<v Speaker 1>a state of mind and a state of being right

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<v Speaker 1>that what does it mean to move free and to

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<v Speaker 1>think free outside of systems that were created for your oppression,

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<v Speaker 1>suppression and depression. Right throughout her years and throughout her work,

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<v Speaker 1>Toshi's voice. If you've never heard her music, my god,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, please go on anywhere that you stream music

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<v Speaker 1>and pull down some of her albums. But anytime that

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<v Speaker 1>I have ever had the pleasure of hearing her in person,

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<v Speaker 1>it's nothing short of soul stirring, you know. It's that music,

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<v Speaker 1>that voice that comes straight from the great beyond. And

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<v Speaker 1>in this conversation we talk about so very much just

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<v Speaker 1>this complicated relationship, this complicative and abusive relationship that we

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<v Speaker 1>have as black queer people with the United States of America.

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<v Speaker 1>So take a listen to my conversation with my friend

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<v Speaker 1>Toshi Reagan. Folks, I am very happy to welcome back

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<v Speaker 1>to wok F, which I think it has been years, Toshi,

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<v Speaker 1>welcome back to wok F Daily. Toshi Reagan, who is

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<v Speaker 1>a singer, songwriter, producer, creative director, creative, brilliant mind but

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<v Speaker 1>behind uh Parable of the Sewer the opera which you

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<v Speaker 1>all know that I have talked about Parable of the

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<v Speaker 1>Sower my God probably every week since I started Okay

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<v Speaker 1>and Daily. And Toshi is the reason why I got

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<v Speaker 1>into Octavia Butler in the first place. Because Toshi, I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know if you remember, it was like five years

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<v Speaker 1>ago I didn't interview with you for NBCBLK and you

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<v Speaker 1>were like, yeah, you need to go readout it, but

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<v Speaker 1>it's parable of this seller and and wrap your mind

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<v Speaker 1>around that, and then we can have another conversation. And

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<v Speaker 1>my god, what a preamble to the current state of

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<v Speaker 1>the world that we are living in. I'm so grateful

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<v Speaker 1>that you gave me that book as a guide. So

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<v Speaker 1>I just want to start off by saying to you,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, there has been a lot that has happened,

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<v Speaker 1>a lot that is going on. We are in the

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<v Speaker 1>thick of things as we are about to celebrate, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the nation's independence, and I'm just wondering for you, as

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<v Speaker 1>an artist, as an activist, as a queer person, what

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<v Speaker 1>that means. How does that land for you America's Independence day?

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<v Speaker 2>Independent from what you know, I think it's you know, yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>I think there's a lot of conflict between the foundation

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<v Speaker 2>of this country and the reality of existence.

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<v Speaker 3>You know how.

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<v Speaker 2>A lot of us have unfortunately been an abusive relationships,

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<v Speaker 2>and you know, at the heart of an abusive relationship

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<v Speaker 2>is a very big lie about what the terms are.

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<v Speaker 3>You know.

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<v Speaker 2>That something is happening that's really harmful and hurtful, and

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<v Speaker 2>then you're told it's not or you're told it's your fault,

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<v Speaker 2>or you're told that, you know, if only you didn't

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<v Speaker 2>have a certain behavior, if only you weren't a certain way,

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<v Speaker 2>then this wouldn't have to happen, or that this abuse

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<v Speaker 2>that's happening is actually good for you and it's making

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<v Speaker 2>things right. And so unfortunately a lot of us as

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<v Speaker 2>just individuals, have had this experience in our lives, and

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<v Speaker 2>everybody who's had that experience knows how horrific it is,

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<v Speaker 2>and especially if you can't get out of it. To

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<v Speaker 2>have somebody celebrate and anniversary of their abuse is really

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<v Speaker 2>like outrageous, you know, And I think, like I am,

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<v Speaker 2>I am down for the complexity sometimes of what this

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<v Speaker 2>July fourth means, because there's a lot of revolutions that

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<v Speaker 2>have happened inside of what America thinks is the revolution.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, there's a lot of revolutions and evolutions, and

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<v Speaker 2>all kinds of people have a hand on that. And

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<v Speaker 2>if they choose to say, like, you know, what, this

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<v Speaker 2>is actually what has given us some meaning and meaningful independence,

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<v Speaker 2>then I you know, I don't I don't like to,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, rain on people's.

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<v Speaker 3>Parade of that.

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<v Speaker 2>But the reality is that we have all been suffering

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<v Speaker 2>with the the energetic you know, I liked call it

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<v Speaker 2>the energetic awesome of the idea of this country's independence

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<v Speaker 2>because it's just based on so much brutality and violence,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's we live on stolen land, and we live

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<v Speaker 2>on stolen land that you know, it's cultivated and by

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<v Speaker 2>stolen people. And we've been really bad with the planet

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<v Speaker 2>as we've developed things. We've treated the planet like it's

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<v Speaker 2>just something we can do whatever we want, and we've

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<v Speaker 2>had an abusive relationships with ourselves. You know, we're water people,

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<v Speaker 2>like we need water, we're made of water, we need air,

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<v Speaker 2>we get to breathe like it's you know, like most

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<v Speaker 2>of the living things on the planet, and we've been

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<v Speaker 2>so abusive to both.

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<v Speaker 3>And that same energy, those same lies.

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<v Speaker 2>That you know started the country, which is that there's

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<v Speaker 2>like one race of people that's superior to others. There's

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<v Speaker 2>there's one gender a person that's superior to others, that

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<v Speaker 2>there's some kind of righteous right to all of this

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<v Speaker 2>is the same thing that's holding us back from evolving

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<v Speaker 2>out of the you know, horrific circumstances that created this country.

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<v Speaker 3>And so that's what I think.

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<v Speaker 2>About what did ly you know, it's there, you could

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<v Speaker 2>do what you want, but you know, there's no way

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<v Speaker 2>you will ever be able to really not come to

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<v Speaker 2>the honesty of, you know, what has really happened with

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<v Speaker 2>the creation of this country and where it leaves us now.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, I think that when you speak of America

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<v Speaker 1>and the relationship being abusive, I think that that's probably

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<v Speaker 1>the most resonant relational example I can actually wrap my

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<v Speaker 1>mind around about America, about the toxic behavior of telling

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<v Speaker 1>us as black people, as queer people, as people of color,

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<v Speaker 1>that everything is okay, that what we're experiencing and what

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<v Speaker 1>we're feeling and what we're being subject to is not

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<v Speaker 1>actually really happening. We're making it up in our head.

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<v Speaker 1>Everything is actually okay. So for us to not want

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<v Speaker 1>to celebrate the fourth of July or to say that

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<v Speaker 1>we have a complicated relationship or I remember when former

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<v Speaker 1>First Lady Michelle Obama said that she was proud of

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<v Speaker 1>her country for the very first time, and the far

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<v Speaker 1>right lost their mind. How dare you say that this

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<v Speaker 1>is the first time that you're proud of your country?

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<v Speaker 1>And it's just like we all don't have the same experience,

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<v Speaker 1>Like are you crazy? Like my ancestors were hanging from trees,

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<v Speaker 1>their bodies were literally ripped apart, babies were ripped out

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<v Speaker 1>of wounds, and families were broken up, and torture persisted

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<v Speaker 1>right for centuries. Oh do you think that we look

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<v Speaker 1>at the red, white and blue of the flag and

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<v Speaker 1>recognize that the red is only has been, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>through the shed, the bloodshed of our ancestors. And so

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<v Speaker 1>I find it so I find that this this place

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<v Speaker 1>that we are consistently pushed and pulled in with America

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<v Speaker 1>is one that is on balance of being infuriating, just

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<v Speaker 1>filled with rage, and then on the other side still

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<v Speaker 1>the beauty that particularly black people, indigenous people have created

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<v Speaker 1>out of the brutality and like not being able to

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<v Speaker 1>part and parcel those real heavy sentiments and just the

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<v Speaker 1>the the paradox of it all right, And so it's

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<v Speaker 1>I feel like, you know, for America. You you are

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<v Speaker 1>an artist and and have created so much art, so

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<v Speaker 1>much song, so much beauty, and through your music you're

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<v Speaker 1>able to, I think, mirror in a lot of ways,

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<v Speaker 1>like the pain and the beauty that we all like

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<v Speaker 1>try and wrestle with. How do you think as a

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<v Speaker 1>as a black queer artist, Toshi that like you've been able,

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<v Speaker 1>like has it helped you, I guess, be able to

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<v Speaker 1>kind of move through this relationship with this with this

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<v Speaker 1>nation state, Like how does it help you understand and

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<v Speaker 1>convey the complexity and the dichotomy and the polarization that

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<v Speaker 1>we all embody.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I think being alive and living and being inside

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<v Speaker 2>of circles of diverse circles of people of who have

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<v Speaker 2>different gender identities, who come from, you know, different parts

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<v Speaker 2>of the world, like having having a global vision and

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<v Speaker 2>not just like so focused on you know, this country

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<v Speaker 2>has really been helpful. And obviously, like doing being creative

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<v Speaker 2>is really helpful. I mean I come from the people

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<v Speaker 2>of Grace, you know, Like I come from the people

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<v Speaker 2>of Grace, And there is a certain part of the

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<v Speaker 2>population that has to have weapons, that has to have

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<v Speaker 2>the right to murder, that has to have rights over

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<v Speaker 2>other people's bodies, that tries to make like huge differences

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<v Speaker 2>between queer people and straight people. I just like, I

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<v Speaker 2>don't even think straight makes any sense to me anymore,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, Like I just like people, you know, gender

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<v Speaker 2>identities and sexualities are very fluid, and they know it,

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<v Speaker 2>even if they don't want to say it out loud.

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<v Speaker 2>People who are against freedom but say the word freedom

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<v Speaker 2>all the time. People who create a money currency that

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<v Speaker 2>is out of control, like they can't even really keep

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<v Speaker 2>up that.

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<v Speaker 3>People who build homes and apartments and don't solve problems around.

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<v Speaker 2>Homeless as people who you know, poison the water, poison

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<v Speaker 2>the land, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison.

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<v Speaker 3>It's outrageous.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't have to I see how bad these systems

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<v Speaker 2>are so clearly, and I don't need any more evidence

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<v Speaker 2>to really understand a freedom within myself, the freedom within

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<v Speaker 2>you know, my relationships with people, the freedom within you know,

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<v Speaker 2>the eyes of my grandparents when I was born and

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<v Speaker 2>I was the first child in a generation of our

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<v Speaker 2>family that didn't pick cotton, and not that picking cotton

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<v Speaker 2>is like, you know, the worst thing if you want

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<v Speaker 2>to pick cotton, but if you have to pick cotton

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<v Speaker 2>and you don't want.

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<v Speaker 3>To, it's horrible.

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<v Speaker 2>If you're used to found an economic system that you

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<v Speaker 2>can't have, you know, like not only can you not

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<v Speaker 2>have a part of, but it's against the law. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>if you're upheld in institutional prisons, whether they be like

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<v Speaker 2>you know, you have to work here, you have to

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<v Speaker 2>work here or there's no way that you cannot get

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<v Speaker 2>out of it.

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<v Speaker 3>It doesn't all have to be a jail. It's very

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<v Speaker 3>clear to me.

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<v Speaker 2>That once people found the bottom of a slave ship,

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<v Speaker 2>that is where the intention of most people were supposed

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<v Speaker 2>to be in the conditions of a bottom of a

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<v Speaker 2>slave ship, and what in order to build a land

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<v Speaker 2>that where people you know, have like the right to

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<v Speaker 2>be at the bottom of a slave ship means you

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<v Speaker 2>will poison and kill yourself. So a lot of our issues,

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<v Speaker 2>no matter how much money currency someone has or political

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<v Speaker 2>power someone has, literally killing themselves.

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<v Speaker 3>You know.

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<v Speaker 2>In Texas right now, they have a heat wave that's

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<v Speaker 2>like and Texas is hot, you know, so to think

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<v Speaker 2>of Texas having a heat wave that affects everybody, they

0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:13.200
<v Speaker 2>don't just affect the people you don't like. But did

0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:15.920
<v Speaker 2>the governor go, like, you know, break something where they

0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:20.640
<v Speaker 2>can't be no water breaks for people? And I'm like, wait,

0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:23.080
<v Speaker 2>what does it mean you can't have water breaks, like

0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:25.800
<v Speaker 2>at the same time as there's a heat wave, like,

0:16:26.880 --> 0:16:31.320
<v Speaker 2>you're killing yourself, you know, people working on boats, people

0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:33.960
<v Speaker 2>working on that They say sixty percent of the people

0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:36.960
<v Speaker 2>are from Latin X communities and He's like, no, we're

0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:38.480
<v Speaker 2>going to cancel a water break.

0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:40.320
<v Speaker 3>You're killing yourself.

0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:46.120
<v Speaker 2>And this is why I really see, you know, this

0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:50.720
<v Speaker 2>particular land, this gigantic piece of land, as a part

0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:55.320
<v Speaker 2>of land for the global community and not like the

0:16:55.480 --> 0:17:00.000
<v Speaker 2>citizens of America. This is land that was stolen from

0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:04.159
<v Speaker 2>indigenous people. And you know, we don't own it, you know,

0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:07.040
<v Speaker 2>and we never will. And people from all over the

0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:10.200
<v Speaker 2>world are always going to come to this land and

0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:14.240
<v Speaker 2>there is there is nothing that the Institution of America

0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:15.080
<v Speaker 2>can do about it.

0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:19.400
<v Speaker 3>They will try.

0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:22.840
<v Speaker 1>It's so funny because I went down over to Dumbo.

0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:27.760
<v Speaker 1>There's an exhibit that is made out of the same

0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:33.240
<v Speaker 1>steel bars that are used to make the border wall,

0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:40.160
<v Speaker 1>and the artists made this a huge structure that reads

0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:43.960
<v Speaker 1>land out of this border wall. And the whole idea

0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:51.360
<v Speaker 1>is about the fact that you borders are man made, right,

0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.919
<v Speaker 1>Like what are you talking about? Right? The only real border,

0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:59.119
<v Speaker 1>the only real borders are are are water right Like

0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:02.160
<v Speaker 1>that are you know, like that where the land meets

0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:04.639
<v Speaker 1>the water and you can't actually go and let you

0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:08.440
<v Speaker 1>have a vessel, right Like That's really like everything else

0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:12.760
<v Speaker 1>is just made up because people wanted to claim space

0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:16.320
<v Speaker 1>to your point, that is not theirs, right, And I

0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:20.639
<v Speaker 1>feel like in so many ways what we are experiencing

0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:24.920
<v Speaker 1>with climate change, and we saw a snippet of it

0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:31.120
<v Speaker 1>in COVID where mankind was forced inside, humankind was forced indoors.

0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:35.040
<v Speaker 1>And what happened to the waters, what happened to the air, right,

0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:37.879
<v Speaker 1>what happened in certain I mean this was all over

0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:40.800
<v Speaker 1>the world. What happened in certain places that hadn't seen

0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:45.320
<v Speaker 1>fish in canals that hadn't seen you know, serious blue

0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:47.439
<v Speaker 1>skies that hadn't seen all of these things. Because we

0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:51.760
<v Speaker 1>did it right. And so when we see these wildfires

0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:56.320
<v Speaker 1>and historic tornado after historic hurricane, after historic this, that

0:18:56.400 --> 0:19:00.720
<v Speaker 1>and the other thing, we see a glow that is trying,

0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:04.399
<v Speaker 1>that is literally fighting for its life rights, that is

0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:09.199
<v Speaker 1>trying to fight back against humankind that thinks that we

0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:14.439
<v Speaker 1>have another planet to go to, right, And I just

0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:17.879
<v Speaker 1>feel like there is just I never really understood. I

0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:23.560
<v Speaker 1>feel like until recently, how sick the quest for power

0:19:24.080 --> 0:19:32.800
<v Speaker 1>and land and property really is, How like devoid of empathy,

0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:39.000
<v Speaker 1>of kindness of you know, humanity this quest really is.

0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:44.480
<v Speaker 1>And you know, Toshi, like, I get so enraged when

0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:48.680
<v Speaker 1>I think about the coverage that we saw a few

0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:55.199
<v Speaker 1>weeks ago. Now with you know, billionaires who decided to

0:19:55.560 --> 0:19:57.720
<v Speaker 1>try and go to the bottom of the ocean, which

0:19:57.760 --> 0:20:02.200
<v Speaker 1>man has never been to before. Because I've conquered everything else,

0:20:02.280 --> 0:20:05.880
<v Speaker 1>because I'm so fucking bored with my life. I've conquered

0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:08.840
<v Speaker 1>everything else. Let me go do this thing. Wall the

0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:15.440
<v Speaker 1>wall coverage of their demise. Seven hundred migrants, hundreds die

0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:19.879
<v Speaker 1>drowned because they are literally on a voyage to seek

0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:25.000
<v Speaker 1>better life, opportunity and a future, right, the ability to work,

0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:31.840
<v Speaker 1>to build, to exist. No one cares, right, those billionaires,

0:20:31.840 --> 0:20:37.280
<v Speaker 1>they were explorers. Those migrants, Oh, they were just you know,

0:20:37.680 --> 0:20:41.280
<v Speaker 1>poor people on a search for something. It's just the

0:20:41.320 --> 0:20:46.200
<v Speaker 1>way that we look at our humanity. Do you think

0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:51.120
<v Speaker 1>that it is possible that we will ever really truly

0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:58.240
<v Speaker 1>understand our connectedness and not just like our oppression, right,

0:20:58.280 --> 0:21:01.560
<v Speaker 1>that we will understand the like there is no real

0:21:01.720 --> 0:21:05.720
<v Speaker 1>top and bottom, right, that we're literally all breathing the

0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:10.320
<v Speaker 1>same air, drinking the same water, and we need each other.

0:21:11.240 --> 0:21:15.760
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I think I think most people know that. Honestly,

0:21:16.160 --> 0:21:19.800
<v Speaker 2>I do think most people know that. I when we

0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:24.440
<v Speaker 2>did the opera, I started a journey called the Parable

0:21:24.480 --> 0:21:28.840
<v Speaker 2>Path and the parable path was so I could go

0:21:29.200 --> 0:21:33.320
<v Speaker 2>in to the communities where the opera was and have

0:21:33.440 --> 0:21:38.520
<v Speaker 2>like more intensive communications around some of the issues the

0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:42.879
<v Speaker 2>conditions that the opera brings up. And all I meet

0:21:43.000 --> 0:21:46.360
<v Speaker 2>is incredible people, like all kinds of people. People are

0:21:46.359 --> 0:21:49.400
<v Speaker 2>doing so many things. People are living in so many

0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:55.200
<v Speaker 2>different beautiful ways. People are designing infrastructures in their towns

0:21:55.200 --> 0:21:58.560
<v Speaker 2>and in their cities that are more imbalanced. People are

0:21:58.600 --> 0:21:59.960
<v Speaker 2>doing a lot of the hard work.

0:22:00.440 --> 0:22:02.639
<v Speaker 3>You will not see this on the front pages. You

0:22:02.680 --> 0:22:04.000
<v Speaker 3>won't see it on CNN.

0:22:04.080 --> 0:22:07.720
<v Speaker 2>You won't It's the kind of long term, every day,

0:22:08.160 --> 0:22:12.439
<v Speaker 2>you know, work that is not made for commercial media

0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:14.919
<v Speaker 2>because they have to make money and they have to

0:22:14.960 --> 0:22:19.720
<v Speaker 2>feel like they're appealing to something. And but I think

0:22:19.840 --> 0:22:24.240
<v Speaker 2>every the good news that everyone should take in probably

0:22:24.280 --> 0:22:27.040
<v Speaker 2>somewhere right near you or wherever you are when you

0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:29.960
<v Speaker 2>look at this good people, is that there are people

0:22:30.000 --> 0:22:33.000
<v Speaker 2>who are like no like we live on planet Earth,

0:22:33.040 --> 0:22:36.760
<v Speaker 2>and we need to live inside of a of a

0:22:37.000 --> 0:22:40.359
<v Speaker 2>of a harmony together or we'll just be at war constantly.

0:22:42.600 --> 0:22:47.399
<v Speaker 2>You know. Adrenaline is really really powerful, the adrenaline to

0:22:47.520 --> 0:22:52.280
<v Speaker 2>do violence, the adrenaline of fear, the adrenaline of like

0:22:52.480 --> 0:22:54.720
<v Speaker 2>trying to run away from things that are like right

0:22:54.760 --> 0:22:59.920
<v Speaker 2>behind you, the adrenaline of denial, you know, the search

0:23:00.080 --> 0:23:03.760
<v Speaker 2>for like goals or the idea of like enough currency

0:23:04.200 --> 0:23:06.560
<v Speaker 2>that you would be more powerful than anyone else that

0:23:06.960 --> 0:23:10.080
<v Speaker 2>you know. A lot of the things are really simplistic. Oh,

0:23:10.119 --> 0:23:13.160
<v Speaker 2>a color of somebody's skin is making them so much

0:23:13.200 --> 0:23:17.160
<v Speaker 2>different than somebody else. You know, the right to have

0:23:17.200 --> 0:23:19.879
<v Speaker 2>a weapon versus the right to decide what you know

0:23:19.960 --> 0:23:23.800
<v Speaker 2>you could do with your body. We're gonna we're gonna

0:23:23.800 --> 0:23:28.240
<v Speaker 2>save children by like you know, oppressing trans children.

0:23:28.960 --> 0:23:30.359
<v Speaker 3>However, we're not gonna we're.

0:23:30.200 --> 0:23:32.960
<v Speaker 2>Gonna let guns be in schools and murder kids every day.

0:23:33.359 --> 0:23:35.280
<v Speaker 3>Like some of these things.

0:23:36.800 --> 0:23:42.280
<v Speaker 2>Are really so simplistic and so violent and so like

0:23:42.280 --> 0:23:44.920
<v Speaker 2>like it's like there's two choices instead of like the

0:23:44.960 --> 0:23:49.119
<v Speaker 2>billions of choices that we all have to exist. And

0:23:49.160 --> 0:23:53.760
<v Speaker 2>then the absolute ignoring ignoring of the natural world, which

0:23:53.840 --> 0:23:56.760
<v Speaker 2>is like we are a part of the natural world.

0:23:56.840 --> 0:23:59.960
<v Speaker 2>We are we have a place in the natural world,

0:24:00.000 --> 0:24:03.720
<v Speaker 2>We have a place in the ecosystem. Like in natural

0:24:03.760 --> 0:24:06.240
<v Speaker 2>world does not care what our skin color is. They

0:24:06.280 --> 0:24:09.400
<v Speaker 2>care that we are human bodies on planet Earth and

0:24:09.440 --> 0:24:12.880
<v Speaker 2>what we are doing with our time here. So there

0:24:12.960 --> 0:24:16.040
<v Speaker 2>is a lot of genius and a lot of room.

0:24:16.160 --> 0:24:19.040
<v Speaker 2>There is a lot of care, There is a lot

0:24:19.160 --> 0:24:23.360
<v Speaker 2>of love. There is a lot of you know, people

0:24:23.800 --> 0:24:27.840
<v Speaker 2>of all kinds doing the work to get in right

0:24:27.880 --> 0:24:31.760
<v Speaker 2>relationship with this planet that we have. And the thing

0:24:32.040 --> 0:24:36.560
<v Speaker 2>that has always messed that up is really really systemic

0:24:37.200 --> 0:24:38.560
<v Speaker 2>and outrageous violence.

0:24:39.680 --> 0:24:42.040
<v Speaker 3>So I'm always telling.

0:24:41.800 --> 0:24:44.280
<v Speaker 2>Every people, you know, when we go somewhere, we like

0:24:44.359 --> 0:24:48.000
<v Speaker 2>really try to break down these systems, you know, economic

0:24:48.119 --> 0:24:49.359
<v Speaker 2>systems and currency.

0:24:49.440 --> 0:24:52.040
<v Speaker 3>What is currency? It's not just money, you know.

0:24:52.560 --> 0:24:55.960
<v Speaker 2>We try to look at like how how we are

0:24:56.119 --> 0:24:59.240
<v Speaker 2>inside of an ecosystem, like how much space are we

0:24:59.320 --> 0:25:02.159
<v Speaker 2>taking up with our food, with our like you know,

0:25:02.200 --> 0:25:04.720
<v Speaker 2>with our water needs, with our you know, what do

0:25:04.800 --> 0:25:07.320
<v Speaker 2>our with our cars or with our like modes and

0:25:07.400 --> 0:25:14.560
<v Speaker 2>transportations spiritual life like how are we spiritually in relationship

0:25:14.840 --> 0:25:18.400
<v Speaker 2>with the world and and how are we like what

0:25:18.440 --> 0:25:21.359
<v Speaker 2>are we doing with our spirits when we are being

0:25:21.480 --> 0:25:23.280
<v Speaker 2>so unkind all the time?

0:25:23.480 --> 0:25:24.240
<v Speaker 3>Like how what is.

0:25:24.240 --> 0:25:28.080
<v Speaker 2>The effect of that on everything? You know, there's a

0:25:28.119 --> 0:25:32.320
<v Speaker 2>lot of deep work being done. There's so many brilliant people,

0:25:32.920 --> 0:25:35.639
<v Speaker 2>a lot you know, I've talked to neuroscientists.

0:25:35.680 --> 0:25:37.400
<v Speaker 3>I'm talked, I'm like, what's wrong with us?

0:25:37.800 --> 0:25:42.480
<v Speaker 2>You know, like breaking down was like I talked to

0:25:42.520 --> 0:25:45.880
<v Speaker 2>a neuroscientists and a political scientist, and like all kinds

0:25:45.920 --> 0:25:48.440
<v Speaker 2>of sciences, I said, what is wrong with us?

0:25:48.480 --> 0:25:49.879
<v Speaker 3>Like why are we like this?

0:25:50.359 --> 0:25:54.440
<v Speaker 2>Why are we so suicidal? Like why are we killing ourselves?

0:25:54.440 --> 0:25:57.600
<v Speaker 2>Why are we killing the planet? Why are we Why

0:25:57.720 --> 0:26:01.520
<v Speaker 2>when did like having this certain level of profit like

0:26:01.520 --> 0:26:05.840
<v Speaker 2>like obliterate like having the joy of living and on

0:26:05.880 --> 0:26:09.640
<v Speaker 2>a clean planet. You know, why why so much cancer?

0:26:09.800 --> 0:26:11.600
<v Speaker 2>Like why do we have to have all these cancers?

0:26:11.600 --> 0:26:13.840
<v Speaker 2>Why are you you know, selling us things that could

0:26:13.840 --> 0:26:16.080
<v Speaker 2>give us cancer and then making us, you know, use

0:26:16.119 --> 0:26:18.600
<v Speaker 2>the chemo that the same company built, Like all of

0:26:18.640 --> 0:26:22.840
<v Speaker 2>these things come on. These are the things like all

0:26:23.160 --> 0:26:27.040
<v Speaker 2>humans have to take responsibility for in their own ways,

0:26:27.119 --> 0:26:30.679
<v Speaker 2>which means like in your way. You may not like

0:26:31.119 --> 0:26:33.680
<v Speaker 2>know how to solve any of these big problems because

0:26:33.720 --> 0:26:38.080
<v Speaker 2>they are huge. There are collaborative big problems, but they're

0:26:38.240 --> 0:26:44.320
<v Speaker 2>small accessible doorways where you are to something and you know,

0:26:45.040 --> 0:26:48.480
<v Speaker 2>you I ask people to find the small accessible door

0:26:48.920 --> 0:26:52.200
<v Speaker 2>that they can walk through to, you know, to work

0:26:52.280 --> 0:26:53.760
<v Speaker 2>on the issue that.

0:26:53.880 --> 0:26:56.560
<v Speaker 3>Is closest to their heart where they are.

0:26:57.119 --> 0:27:00.840
<v Speaker 2>And I also ask people to like really acknowledge like

0:27:00.920 --> 0:27:04.080
<v Speaker 2>when they have a level of currency that's more than

0:27:04.160 --> 0:27:07.879
<v Speaker 2>other people in any way, it's not always money, you know,

0:27:08.119 --> 0:27:11.359
<v Speaker 2>and that they like make room for other people and

0:27:11.520 --> 0:27:15.240
<v Speaker 2>lighten their load, like do something to help somebody else,

0:27:15.720 --> 0:27:17.280
<v Speaker 2>like get through some places.

0:27:17.400 --> 0:27:19.000
<v Speaker 3>And then I ask people like.

0:27:20.960 --> 0:27:24.000
<v Speaker 2>When you see a justice, Like when you see like

0:27:24.080 --> 0:27:29.040
<v Speaker 2>that there's law, you know, infrastructure that really makes it

0:27:29.240 --> 0:27:33.840
<v Speaker 2>very difficult for certain people to actually survive, that you

0:27:34.000 --> 0:27:37.919
<v Speaker 2>consider yourselves that person. You know, if someone is making

0:27:37.960 --> 0:27:42.800
<v Speaker 2>up laws that you know against trans children or trans people,

0:27:43.040 --> 0:27:46.560
<v Speaker 2>or gender non conforming people, or women who want to

0:27:46.600 --> 0:27:49.600
<v Speaker 2>have people really who want to have the right to

0:27:49.640 --> 0:27:54.080
<v Speaker 2>have abortions, consider yourself that person. Like give yourself the

0:27:54.200 --> 0:27:57.960
<v Speaker 2>opportunity to feel the outrage is somebody naming you as

0:27:58.000 --> 0:28:01.000
<v Speaker 2>a person that is dangerous to society and that you

0:28:01.600 --> 0:28:04.120
<v Speaker 2>even though you you and your family have done though

0:28:04.240 --> 0:28:06.920
<v Speaker 2>right things and pay your taxes and you know, pay

0:28:06.960 --> 0:28:10.360
<v Speaker 2>your bills and live that you can't have the one

0:28:10.440 --> 0:28:14.320
<v Speaker 2>hundred percent access to your body and what your body needs.

0:28:14.520 --> 0:28:18.600
<v Speaker 2>Consider yourself that person, you know, and get out there

0:28:18.800 --> 0:28:22.280
<v Speaker 2>and like be really outraged because if anybody took something

0:28:22.320 --> 0:28:25.080
<v Speaker 2>away from you, you would lose your mind. Like, these are

0:28:25.119 --> 0:28:28.240
<v Speaker 2>the things that that people can do. They have to

0:28:28.280 --> 0:28:31.600
<v Speaker 2>be like you know, know everything. They don't have to

0:28:31.640 --> 0:28:34.560
<v Speaker 2>be like you know, have the answer to every big,

0:28:34.760 --> 0:28:35.480
<v Speaker 2>big problem.

0:28:35.600 --> 0:28:35.919
<v Speaker 3>Don't.

0:28:36.000 --> 0:28:39.280
<v Speaker 2>Don't have the answer to every big problem, but access

0:28:39.400 --> 0:28:42.840
<v Speaker 2>what is right next to you. That is the scariest

0:28:42.880 --> 0:28:46.840
<v Speaker 2>things to people who are trying to run something very big.

0:28:47.360 --> 0:28:51.160
<v Speaker 2>It is togetherness and the kind of empathy that would

0:28:51.280 --> 0:28:53.960
<v Speaker 2>make you stand in front of people who are different

0:28:54.000 --> 0:28:54.280
<v Speaker 2>from you.

0:28:54.760 --> 0:28:56.160
<v Speaker 3>It is the scariest thing.

0:28:56.280 --> 0:29:00.200
<v Speaker 2>It is also participating in the system that they create

0:29:00.600 --> 0:29:03.320
<v Speaker 2>that they're trying to get you not to participate in.

0:29:03.960 --> 0:29:06.400
<v Speaker 2>So like I'm always telling people, oh, why won't you

0:29:06.440 --> 0:29:09.480
<v Speaker 2>get a party together and go and vote, Like show up,

0:29:09.520 --> 0:29:12.280
<v Speaker 2>show up, show up, show up like, make it cute,

0:29:12.320 --> 0:29:15.400
<v Speaker 2>make it hot, make it fun, go and show up,

0:29:15.440 --> 0:29:18.720
<v Speaker 2>bring your brilliant self to it. Because the system is

0:29:18.840 --> 0:29:22.960
<v Speaker 2>designed to depress you and make you not participate so

0:29:23.000 --> 0:29:27.320
<v Speaker 2>that more and more, you know, horrific kinds of people

0:29:27.400 --> 0:29:30.040
<v Speaker 2>can be running the entire country because they do.

0:29:30.600 --> 0:29:32.800
<v Speaker 3>They make laws and they pay attention to them.

0:29:32.880 --> 0:29:34.800
<v Speaker 2>So if you don't become a part of it in

0:29:34.840 --> 0:29:38.360
<v Speaker 2>any way, then the laws will get worse and worse

0:29:38.440 --> 0:29:38.920
<v Speaker 2>and worse.

0:29:40.560 --> 0:29:43.240
<v Speaker 1>Folks understand that they are a part of it, regardless

0:29:43.240 --> 0:29:45.720
<v Speaker 1>of whether they participate or not. It's how you want

0:29:45.840 --> 0:29:47.440
<v Speaker 1>to be a part of it, right do you want

0:29:47.440 --> 0:29:50.400
<v Speaker 1>to be? It to be by choice or by force?

0:29:50.480 --> 0:29:56.920
<v Speaker 1>Because either way you are participating. Last question for you,

0:29:57.000 --> 0:29:59.680
<v Speaker 1>my friend, No, it's not even a question. I just

0:30:00.000 --> 0:30:03.480
<v Speaker 1>I want you to give folks who I try and

0:30:03.520 --> 0:30:07.760
<v Speaker 1>tell to read the Powable who I try and tell

0:30:08.120 --> 0:30:12.320
<v Speaker 1>to really get a guide and an understanding of, you know,

0:30:12.480 --> 0:30:16.760
<v Speaker 1>how the forces come to be. Tell folks about your

0:30:16.840 --> 0:30:21.040
<v Speaker 1>opera and about you know it being you know, based

0:30:21.080 --> 0:30:25.280
<v Speaker 1>on Octavia Butler's book Powable of the Sewer. But like

0:30:25.480 --> 0:30:32.720
<v Speaker 1>why it's so extraordinarily timely, why it's so extraordinarily necessary

0:30:33.120 --> 0:30:33.920
<v Speaker 1>in this time?

0:30:34.520 --> 0:30:36.000
<v Speaker 3>Sure, I mean octav E.

0:30:36.120 --> 0:30:39.280
<v Speaker 2>Butler's parable the Sewer, I have to imagine, you know,

0:30:39.440 --> 0:30:42.680
<v Speaker 2>comes from research that she did in the eighties, in

0:30:42.720 --> 0:30:45.720
<v Speaker 2>the early nineties. This is the thirtieth anniversary of the

0:30:45.760 --> 0:30:49.440
<v Speaker 2>publishing of the book. It was released in nineteen ninety three.

0:30:49.800 --> 0:30:54.280
<v Speaker 2>And this book, you know, really it's it's extraordinary. I've

0:30:54.280 --> 0:30:57.440
<v Speaker 2>been reading it since ninety seven, and so when I

0:30:57.480 --> 0:31:01.000
<v Speaker 2>first read the book, I was like, no way, you know,

0:31:01.560 --> 0:31:04.200
<v Speaker 2>this can happen. But she she tells the story of

0:31:04.200 --> 0:31:07.640
<v Speaker 2>a community that has you know, walled themselves in, an

0:31:07.680 --> 0:31:11.719
<v Speaker 2>upper middle class community in Los Angeles outside of Los Angeles,

0:31:12.040 --> 0:31:13.320
<v Speaker 2>and they walled themselves in.

0:31:13.400 --> 0:31:14.680
<v Speaker 3>They got all their houses.

0:31:14.720 --> 0:31:17.320
<v Speaker 2>They never meant to be a community that was walled

0:31:17.320 --> 0:31:21.200
<v Speaker 2>in together, but things had gotten terrible and so in

0:31:21.320 --> 0:31:25.560
<v Speaker 2>order to like, you know, have some safety, they wall

0:31:25.640 --> 0:31:29.200
<v Speaker 2>themselves in and slowly but slowly, they kind.

0:31:29.040 --> 0:31:32.400
<v Speaker 3>Of revert to kind of almost a rural life. Everybody's

0:31:32.520 --> 0:31:36.760
<v Speaker 3>gardens and they're like growing their food, and they used

0:31:36.800 --> 0:31:37.880
<v Speaker 3>to have dogs and stuff.

0:31:37.920 --> 0:31:40.560
<v Speaker 2>They just set the dogs free in the streets because

0:31:40.600 --> 0:31:45.640
<v Speaker 2>they can't feed the dogs then feed themselves, and it's

0:31:45.800 --> 0:31:48.560
<v Speaker 2>very dangerous to just you know walk around and be

0:31:48.800 --> 0:31:55.000
<v Speaker 2>in neighborhoods. And the infrastructure the country really really falls apart.

0:31:56.160 --> 0:32:02.520
<v Speaker 2>It's you know, privatization everywhere, the you know, leadership that

0:32:02.760 --> 0:32:06.440
<v Speaker 2>just basically doesn't care about people, and the end of

0:32:06.520 --> 0:32:10.920
<v Speaker 2>social services. So all of these things where somebody is

0:32:10.920 --> 0:32:13.360
<v Speaker 2>being socialist is like a horrible thing. But that's how

0:32:13.360 --> 0:32:16.120
<v Speaker 2>we you know, have garbage picked up. That's how we

0:32:16.200 --> 0:32:19.040
<v Speaker 2>our schools are designed there. You know, we pay into

0:32:19.080 --> 0:32:22.160
<v Speaker 2>it and everybody gets to go type of situations, all

0:32:22.200 --> 0:32:24.840
<v Speaker 2>of that disappears. You have to pay for the fire department,

0:32:24.920 --> 0:32:27.960
<v Speaker 2>pay for the police, pay for every service that.

0:32:28.000 --> 0:32:29.440
<v Speaker 3>Used to just be available.

0:32:30.440 --> 0:32:32.880
<v Speaker 2>And she makes a fifteen year old girl see God

0:32:33.000 --> 0:32:36.080
<v Speaker 2>as changed, and she makes a fifteen year old girl

0:32:36.160 --> 0:32:39.120
<v Speaker 2>create a belief system called earth Seed, which is based

0:32:39.520 --> 0:32:42.960
<v Speaker 2>really on her understanding of nature and the planets and

0:32:44.280 --> 0:32:47.160
<v Speaker 2>and kind of our true relationship to to the world

0:32:47.600 --> 0:32:51.600
<v Speaker 2>and to the universe. And so that's that's really like

0:32:51.680 --> 0:32:54.840
<v Speaker 2>a very short version of it. What makes it so

0:32:55.000 --> 0:32:58.120
<v Speaker 2>timely is that Octavia did this thirty years ago, and

0:32:58.160 --> 0:32:59.120
<v Speaker 2>she kind of nailed it.

0:32:59.200 --> 0:33:01.440
<v Speaker 3>She nailed like our conditions.

0:33:01.800 --> 0:33:05.360
<v Speaker 2>And she never got on the New York Times bestseller

0:33:05.400 --> 0:33:07.120
<v Speaker 2>list when she was alive, but she got on it

0:33:07.160 --> 0:33:10.360
<v Speaker 2>in twenty twenty, you know, when we were in the

0:33:10.400 --> 0:33:14.200
<v Speaker 2>heart of the pandemic. And I always read this book

0:33:14.200 --> 0:33:18.160
<v Speaker 2>and as we when we first started, it was twenty seventeen,

0:33:18.720 --> 0:33:21.479
<v Speaker 2>and I insisted we got to start at twenty seventeen

0:33:21.480 --> 0:33:22.840
<v Speaker 2>because we got to need to be ready.

0:33:22.840 --> 0:33:24.920
<v Speaker 3>But I didn't know what we needed to be ready for.

0:33:25.560 --> 0:33:27.880
<v Speaker 2>I wanted us to be out telling this story. I

0:33:27.920 --> 0:33:30.840
<v Speaker 2>wanted us to be singing and rooms full of people.

0:33:30.920 --> 0:33:34.440
<v Speaker 2>I wanted people to be together here and hear us

0:33:34.440 --> 0:33:38.480
<v Speaker 2>sing this story. I wanted to work around the performances

0:33:38.480 --> 0:33:42.320
<v Speaker 2>and activate in different communities. And that idea that you

0:33:42.400 --> 0:33:45.400
<v Speaker 2>talked about earlier is like, how do we bake break

0:33:45.440 --> 0:33:48.760
<v Speaker 2>these borders and really see that we're all kind of

0:33:48.840 --> 0:33:50.320
<v Speaker 2>in it together type of vibe.

0:33:50.360 --> 0:33:51.520
<v Speaker 3>So I wanted to do that.

0:33:51.920 --> 0:33:55.120
<v Speaker 2>But I never understood how twenty twenty four could happen.

0:33:55.520 --> 0:33:58.200
<v Speaker 2>And then when the pandemic happened, I was like, oh,

0:33:58.640 --> 0:34:03.160
<v Speaker 2>because something really traumatic has to happen to like rev

0:34:03.280 --> 0:34:06.080
<v Speaker 2>up this like you know thing.

0:34:06.440 --> 0:34:09.000
<v Speaker 3>Where everywhere where infrastructure gets scared.

0:34:10.440 --> 0:34:13.720
<v Speaker 2>Oh, the people have seen that if they slow down

0:34:14.160 --> 0:34:17.799
<v Speaker 2>and they do less, that they can stop pollution. If

0:34:17.840 --> 0:34:21.319
<v Speaker 2>they slow down and do less, they can feed each other.

0:34:21.760 --> 0:34:25.560
<v Speaker 2>If they insist that that money is spread around, you

0:34:25.760 --> 0:34:27.600
<v Speaker 2>can take people out of poverty.

0:34:28.080 --> 0:34:29.560
<v Speaker 3>If we, like we all.

0:34:29.480 --> 0:34:33.520
<v Speaker 2>Learn this is our superpower of the pandemic is realizing

0:34:33.600 --> 0:34:36.919
<v Speaker 2>that we actually have what we need to take care

0:34:36.960 --> 0:34:40.919
<v Speaker 2>of each other, and we really do, like right now

0:34:41.120 --> 0:34:42.160
<v Speaker 2>we have it.

0:34:42.160 --> 0:34:45.520
<v Speaker 3>It's not like yeah, yeah, so, so.

0:34:45.160 --> 0:34:47.560
<v Speaker 1>It's not for it's not for the lack of knowing.

0:34:47.680 --> 0:34:50.520
<v Speaker 1>It's just for it's for the lack of desire. Right

0:34:50.719 --> 0:34:52.000
<v Speaker 1>for those that are in power.

0:34:52.480 --> 0:34:53.759
<v Speaker 3>We are in wars.

0:34:54.360 --> 0:34:58.640
<v Speaker 2>The wars are against us. The wars are against the

0:34:58.760 --> 0:35:02.440
<v Speaker 2>people of planet Earth. They are it's governments talking to

0:35:02.480 --> 0:35:05.799
<v Speaker 2>each other. But the wars are on our bodies, on

0:35:06.040 --> 0:35:11.640
<v Speaker 2>our houses, on our land, on our water, on our infrastructure,

0:35:11.880 --> 0:35:16.800
<v Speaker 2>They're on everything, and they're happening everywhere. And if people

0:35:16.920 --> 0:35:22.200
<v Speaker 2>can like really find a way to have that understanding

0:35:22.880 --> 0:35:26.400
<v Speaker 2>that we all know actually that we can live on

0:35:26.440 --> 0:35:29.600
<v Speaker 2>this planet and balance, and that we're being kept from

0:35:29.640 --> 0:35:34.240
<v Speaker 2>it by people who run many of the countries, which

0:35:34.280 --> 0:35:37.000
<v Speaker 2>is like a group of a small group of men

0:35:38.080 --> 0:35:43.120
<v Speaker 2>in every country all over the world doing this, you know,

0:35:43.520 --> 0:35:46.640
<v Speaker 2>that's the way we will have to go to get

0:35:46.800 --> 0:35:50.040
<v Speaker 2>somewhere we want to be for the future. So very

0:35:50.080 --> 0:35:54.480
<v Speaker 2>important for Octavia's story to be out there. All of

0:35:54.520 --> 0:35:58.720
<v Speaker 2>her books really talk about us in really amazing, wonderful ways.

0:35:59.080 --> 0:36:04.160
<v Speaker 2>There's also Adrian Marie Brown's work, and I really love

0:36:04.280 --> 0:36:08.759
<v Speaker 2>Alexis Pauline Gums work. I collaborate with both of them.

0:36:08.920 --> 0:36:13.160
<v Speaker 2>Adrian and I have a podcast Octavia's Parables, where we're

0:36:13.200 --> 0:36:17.919
<v Speaker 2>reading every chapter of everything Octavia is written. And I'm

0:36:17.960 --> 0:36:20.920
<v Speaker 2>doing the podcast this year with Alexis Paulling Gums and

0:36:20.960 --> 0:36:22.760
<v Speaker 2>we're reading Kindred.

0:36:23.440 --> 0:36:26.839
<v Speaker 3>So amazing. But there, Octavia is not the only one

0:36:26.840 --> 0:36:27.120
<v Speaker 3>out there.

0:36:27.160 --> 0:36:31.680
<v Speaker 2>There is a lot of other writers and storytellers who

0:36:31.840 --> 0:36:35.160
<v Speaker 2>are really saying the same thing, from multiple cultures and

0:36:35.280 --> 0:36:38.879
<v Speaker 2>multiple languages. We are really trying to reach each other,

0:36:38.960 --> 0:36:42.040
<v Speaker 2>and I just my biggest thing is to say, keep

0:36:42.080 --> 0:36:46.040
<v Speaker 2>reaching out your hands to each other and keep being

0:36:46.120 --> 0:36:49.359
<v Speaker 2>in alignment with this planet as the best you can.

0:36:50.320 --> 0:36:52.319
<v Speaker 2>We all can't do the same things, and we all

0:36:52.400 --> 0:36:55.239
<v Speaker 2>kind of in a system right now evolving, but do

0:36:55.360 --> 0:36:58.520
<v Speaker 2>your best and really fight for the water and fight

0:36:58.560 --> 0:37:01.239
<v Speaker 2>for the air, and don't let these like kind of

0:37:01.320 --> 0:37:04.799
<v Speaker 2>racist lines. Fight for the people, fight for each other,

0:37:04.920 --> 0:37:08.760
<v Speaker 2>fight for the trees, fight for you know whatever, fix something.

0:37:09.600 --> 0:37:16.480
<v Speaker 1>But you know you, Yeah, my friend, thank you so

0:37:16.800 --> 0:37:21.560
<v Speaker 1>very much. Thank you for your work and your activism

0:37:21.680 --> 0:37:25.880
<v Speaker 1>and your art and your time. I'm very excited. I

0:37:25.920 --> 0:37:31.759
<v Speaker 1>am going to see uh Powable later in July. I

0:37:31.800 --> 0:37:34.719
<v Speaker 1>got my tickets and I'm super excited to.

0:37:36.320 --> 0:37:37.120
<v Speaker 3>Lincoln Centner.

0:37:38.880 --> 0:37:43.600
<v Speaker 1>Yes, I'm so I'm so excited. I cannot wait. So

0:37:44.360 --> 0:37:48.280
<v Speaker 1>thank you so much to shi Uh for your time,

0:37:48.440 --> 0:37:51.040
<v Speaker 1>for your brilliance, for your space. I appreciate you so

0:37:51.280 --> 0:37:51.800
<v Speaker 1>very much.

0:37:52.200 --> 0:37:53.200
<v Speaker 3>I appreciate you.

0:37:53.239 --> 0:37:56.279
<v Speaker 2>I always I always needed a good dose of outrage

0:37:57.320 --> 0:38:00.600
<v Speaker 2>every day. So I'm so glad to in to you

0:38:01.080 --> 0:38:03.719
<v Speaker 2>and get it because you be on fire and I

0:38:03.760 --> 0:38:06.920
<v Speaker 2>love it and I'm grateful for you. Somebody got to say, hey,

0:38:07.800 --> 0:38:11.280
<v Speaker 2>what about it? So I'm thankful to you and thanks

0:38:11.280 --> 0:38:12.000
<v Speaker 2>for having me on.

0:38:13.840 --> 0:38:23.240
<v Speaker 1>Thank you. That is it for me today, dear friends

0:38:23.320 --> 0:38:27.200
<v Speaker 1>on Woke a f as always Power to the people

0:38:27.360 --> 0:38:30.920
<v Speaker 1>and to all the people. Power, get woke and stay

0:38:31.400 --> 0:38:32.080
<v Speaker 1>woke as fuck.