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Speaker 1: You and Me Both is a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: I'm Hillary Clinton and this is You and Me Both. Today,

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Speaker 1: I'm talking about and talking to gutsy women. I have

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Speaker 1: always been interested in the stories of individual women and

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Speaker 1: the impact that their lives have had on not only

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Speaker 1: themselves and their families, but you know, on professions, on politics,

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Speaker 1: on the economy, on science, you name it, and Chelsea

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Speaker 1: and I wrote an entire book on this subject, actually

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Speaker 1: called the Book of Gutsy Women. Because from the very

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Speaker 1: time she was a tiny little girl, I would tell

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Speaker 1: her stories about women I admired. But there was a

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Speaker 1: big difference. When she was a little girl, there were

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Speaker 1: women doing things that she could herself see an experience,

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Speaker 1: like her pediatrician was a woman. The mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas,

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Speaker 1: where she was born, was a woman. That wasn't the

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Speaker 1: case for me when I was a little girl, and

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Speaker 1: my mother encouraged me to go to the library and

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Speaker 1: to check out books about Amelia Earhart or Eleanor Roosevelt,

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Speaker 1: or Maria tal Chief, the fabulous Native American ballerina, and

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Speaker 1: so many others. Later in the show, we'll be hearing

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Speaker 1: from Tammy Duckworth in a Rock war veteran, a mom

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Speaker 1: and now senator from the great state of Illinois. But first,

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Speaker 1: I'm talking to the one and only Andrew Day. I

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Speaker 1: first encountered Andrew Day through her music. Andrew is an

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Speaker 1: incredible singer with two Grammy nominations to show for it,

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Speaker 1: and I got to see her talent up close when

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Speaker 1: she joined me on the campaign trail in and then

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Speaker 1: in January, she performed her song Rise Up as part

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Speaker 1: of the virtual Inauguration parade for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

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Speaker 1: Now she's starring in her first film as the iconic

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Speaker 1: Billie Holiday in the United States Versus Billie Holiday, directed

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Speaker 1: by Lee Daniels. Andre is following in the footsteps of

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Speaker 1: two other gutsy women, Diana Ross and Audre McDonald, who

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Speaker 1: have played Billie Holiday on screen and stage. I thought

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Speaker 1: Andrew's performance just blew the top off. To prepare for

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Speaker 1: the part, Andre immersed herself in the life of a

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Speaker 1: woman who was supremely talented and fearless in shining a

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Speaker 1: light on America's ugly history of lynching, even as she

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Speaker 1: battled her own demons. And of course, Andrew does all

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Speaker 1: her own singing in the film. The night before our conversation,

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Speaker 1: she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for

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Speaker 1: her performance. I caught her at photo shoot the next

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Speaker 1: day where she was borrowing a laptop. It was a

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Speaker 1: really busy day, but I could not be happier to

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Speaker 1: be able to talk to this extraordinary person. Oh, I

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Speaker 1: am hugging you so much right now. I hope you

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Speaker 1: can feel every out of it. Oh my god, how

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Speaker 1: are you feeling? The day after winning the Golden Globe.

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Speaker 1: I'm still like, I don't even know the words. I

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Speaker 1: was trying to figure that out say. I was like,

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Speaker 1: what do I feel? Gratitude? For sure? The one thing

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Speaker 1: I say and I will always say, is God is great,

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Speaker 1: you know what I mean, And you put such incredible

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Speaker 1: people in my path. I mean the way these people

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Speaker 1: poured into me, you know, the way my team and

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Speaker 1: people have supported me, and people like you have supported

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Speaker 1: in that in ways to me that don't even make sense,

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Speaker 1: you know, But God's so great. So I just feel

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Speaker 1: just it just makes me think of everybody who has

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Speaker 1: been a part of this whole journey, and it's just

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Speaker 1: like a blessing. I'm so grateful when you were chosen

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Speaker 1: by Lead Annuals to do this part. How did you

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Speaker 1: first react? Because you had not been acting? I mean,

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Speaker 1: you've got the most amazing you know, musical ability, and

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Speaker 1: I personally, you know, I love your singing. But thank you.

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Speaker 1: This was a real challenge for you, and I know

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Speaker 1: you give a lot of credit to your team, But

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Speaker 1: what did you have to do inside to be able

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Speaker 1: to get there? I had to do a lot. And

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Speaker 1: it's funny because when I got the role, When Lee

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Speaker 1: told me I got the role, my reaction wasn't necessarily

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Speaker 1: like Okay, I'm so great, I'm ready to do It

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Speaker 1: was sort of like are you sure? You looked at

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Speaker 1: the reactors like why, I'm not, Like it's not a

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Speaker 1: good idea. He's like, wow, you're annoying just come to say,

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Speaker 1: you know. But once I really prayed about it, and

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Speaker 1: like dove In, I mean, it was everything, you know,

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Speaker 1: because she's such a dynamic woman, But it was everything.

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Speaker 1: It was studying addiction. It was sitting with heroin addicts

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Speaker 1: and former addicts and learning how wow did you do that? Yes? Oh? Absolutely?

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Speaker 1: And actually I'll share a story with you because I

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Speaker 1: met a few. But there was a pair in particular,

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Speaker 1: it was his sponsor and he owned the sober living home.

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Speaker 1: And then it was a young kid who so he

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Speaker 1: was thirty years sober, and the young kid was only

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Speaker 1: like a year into his sobriety. And this young kid

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Speaker 1: is teaching me, you know, where the nylon goes above

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Speaker 1: the muscle, you know, and and just how to shoot

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Speaker 1: up with not just they're used to plastic needles. Back

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Speaker 1: then she would have been using glass, which was our

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Speaker 1: track marks were so big. But and at a certain

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Speaker 1: point he zoned like I see the sweat building on

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Speaker 1: his brow, I see his pupils dilating, and he's locked

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Speaker 1: into that moment. And so I asked that. I'm like,

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Speaker 1: is it really okay like for him to be here?

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Speaker 1: Like are we sure this is? He said, trust me,

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Speaker 1: he's a big fan of music. This is a part

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Speaker 1: of his recovery. It's you know, I got it, you

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Speaker 1: know what I mean. But that kid, what he gave

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Speaker 1: me in that moment was everything I needed to know

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Speaker 1: about the need, about the mental illness behind it, the trauma,

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Speaker 1: you know. So on top of that, it was working

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Speaker 1: with my acting coach, Tasha Smith, and working closely with

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Speaker 1: Lee and Tom Jones to get the voice right, and

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Speaker 1: hopefully the singing voice, once I get it rehabilitated, will

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Speaker 1: be the one you recognized. But my vocal cords are like,

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Speaker 1: what are you doing well? But you, I mean you

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Speaker 1: went all in. I mean you took up smoking, which

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Speaker 1: Billy Holliday did. You lost a lot of weight, you

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Speaker 1: cut your hair, yeah, hair that you had in order

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Speaker 1: to prepare. So what I loved is it you inhabited

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Speaker 1: Billy Holliday without imitating her. Yeah. That's actually a blessing

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Speaker 1: to hear, because that's what Lee would tell me. It's

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Speaker 1: got to be an interpretation, not an impersonation. And I

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Speaker 1: think that's why, like you said, I don't drink, I

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Speaker 1: don't smoke, I don't cuss. I'm not. For me, I

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Speaker 1: took a vow of abstinence almost about seven years ago,

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Speaker 1: so I'm not. I don't engage in that way either.

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Speaker 1: But for me, that's why I had to be just

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Speaker 1: generally more sexual in my behavior, you know, just cussing

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Speaker 1: a lot, because she had like a PhD in putting

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Speaker 1: a sentence together with cuss words. And then the smoking,

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Speaker 1: the cigarettes, the drinking alcohol. I had to really feel

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Speaker 1: it in my body, I think, because these weren't things

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Speaker 1: that she just did socially, like I mean, the woman

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Speaker 1: would wake up and have like kind of game, the

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Speaker 1: way you might have a cup of coffee, you know.

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Speaker 1: So right, she lived hard. She lived hard. So it

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Speaker 1: was just in order to really become her, as you said,

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Speaker 1: in order to I had to feel some of these things.

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Speaker 1: And honestly, like, yeah, it took a toll, you know,

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Speaker 1: but I would do it exactly the same way again

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Speaker 1: because her legacy, this is the Godmother of civil rights,

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Speaker 1: Her legacy deserves I believe that level of dedication because

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Speaker 1: she fought that hard for us, you know what I mean.

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Speaker 1: She did, And obviously it's a terrible story of her struggles,

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Speaker 1: and it's made all the worst by the US government's

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Speaker 1: campaign to destroyer to imprisoner, which is shown in the movie,

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Speaker 1: and to stop her from singing a particular song called

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Speaker 1: Strange Fruit, which helped to galvanize an anti lynching movement

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Speaker 1: across America, because Billie Holiday understood that she could use

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Speaker 1: her artistry, her talent, her voice to try to sing

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Speaker 1: about something that was so terrible. Did you know about

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Speaker 1: the song before you played? Billie Holliday. I didn't know

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Speaker 1: about the song. I did because she is my biggest inspiration.

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Speaker 1: That's where the Day comes from in my name. So

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Speaker 1: I love the relationship between her and Lester Young, and

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Speaker 1: he gave her the name Lady Day. So I've been

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Speaker 1: a huge fan since I was like eleven years old.

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Speaker 1: And the first two songs I heard was one called

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Speaker 1: Sugar and then I heard Strange Fruit, and so you

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Speaker 1: can imagine hearing that at eleven, You're like, what's going on?

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Speaker 1: Why do I feel different inside? You know? But what

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Speaker 1: I recognized and that was like sacrifice. I just felt

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Speaker 1: bad for this woman singing whatever is happening and whatever

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Speaker 1: she's talking about his real loss. You know. I think

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Speaker 1: what makes me so happy about this movie is most

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Speaker 1: people know her, you know, as it's great jazz singer,

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Speaker 1: but troubled, troubled troubled, which was so not the case,

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Speaker 1: you know what I mean. She was fighting for lives,

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Speaker 1: for our actual, very lives, and so it was her

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Speaker 1: singing this song in defiance of the government and and

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Speaker 1: the death of him until that reinvigorated third Good Marshal

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Speaker 1: in the movement. I don't believe we would have civil

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Speaker 1: rights the way we know it today, if it were

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Speaker 1: not for her singing this song. When you realize she

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Speaker 1: was doing all of that police civil rights, you go, wow,

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Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like they had to silence

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Speaker 1: her because those are strong shoulders, really powerful strong shoulders.

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Speaker 1: I think that's one of the many reasons why the

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Speaker 1: film is so important. I kept thinking how brave she was.

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Speaker 1: You know, she could have made a deal, made it clear. Okay, fine,

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Speaker 1: you sat me to prison. You know, you kind of

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Speaker 1: entrapped me with drugs. Okay, I'm gonna go back to

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Speaker 1: my career. I won't sing that song. She never promise

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Speaker 1: that would she know she never would, and she never did.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I'm sure she had moments where she's like

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Speaker 1: because listen, there were moments when she would leave certain

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Speaker 1: clubs after singing that song and the police would actually

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Speaker 1: pursue her, shooting into her car, like with the intent

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Speaker 1: to kill her. So she could have easily said alright, fine,

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Speaker 1: you know, and still made a splash and still had

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Speaker 1: a great career, and still and probably would have had

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Speaker 1: a better career, you know, even though she was a superstar,

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Speaker 1: but probably would have had a better career. But it's

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Speaker 1: just for that woman to be portrayed so frequently, you know,

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Speaker 1: and to still stick to it and to still sing

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Speaker 1: this song and to hold a mirror up to American culture,

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Speaker 1: because I think that was the huge thing at the time,

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Speaker 1: was that I think America wanted to look at lynching

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Speaker 1: as they were comfortable looking at it as this horrific

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Speaker 1: act done by sort of a fringe group of you know, racists,

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Speaker 1: but it's not. It was a culture. We'll be right back.

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Speaker 1: I'm curious to know when did you first discover singing

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Speaker 1: not only something that you were good at because a

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Speaker 1: lot of us like to sing and then we learned

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Speaker 1: we're not good at it, but that it was a

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Speaker 1: really unique expression for you. M M. Yeah. Me, it

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Speaker 1: was so much a part of my life for my

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Speaker 1: entire life. My mother can sing, my father can sing.

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Speaker 1: They always have music on in the house. So my

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Speaker 1: earliest memories are of my dad washing the car and

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Speaker 1: us singing together, where my mom would be kind of

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Speaker 1: be in the kitchen and she has this dance move

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Speaker 1: that she does. It's like burned into my memory and singing,

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Speaker 1: you know, all the time. But I believe it was

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Speaker 1: like around six years old and it was singing Whitney Houston.

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Speaker 1: Honestly that it was like we love just listening to

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Speaker 1: her in the house, and so that that I think

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Speaker 1: around six years old, really singing Whitney was the first

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Speaker 1: time I realized and my family realized like, oh wow,

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Speaker 1: you could actually singing. You have a nice voice, you know.

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Speaker 1: And where did you grow up? I grew up in

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Speaker 1: southeast San Diego. So yeah, my father was in the military,

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Speaker 1: so and spent time in Detroit, where my father is from,

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Speaker 1: born in Seattle, you know. So it's like definitely a

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Speaker 1: military touring, you know what I mean. And so and

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Speaker 1: then he was stationed at the base in San Diego.

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Speaker 1: And that's why I grew up spent my life. And

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Speaker 1: where was the first time that you sang publicly outside

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Speaker 1: of you know, washing cars and in your kitchen and

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Speaker 1: so um, publicly at Stually, I went to a performing

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Speaker 1: arts school and I started at the school when I

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Speaker 1: was in the sixth grade, when I was a loving

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Speaker 1: dance was my main thing at the time, actually, and

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Speaker 1: I just did like choral ensemble and all those those

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Speaker 1: different things. And I just have a love for just

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Speaker 1: music and for creating and for you know, the stage

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Speaker 1: and for the arts. You know, I love the idea

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Speaker 1: of performing arts schools because I think there's so many

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Speaker 1: kids who could benefit from going to such a school

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Speaker 1: if we had enough of them. But over the years,

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Speaker 1: you've used your voice too, as one of your songs

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Speaker 1: says stand up for something. And you know, I obviously

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Speaker 1: loved having you with me on the campaign trail, and

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Speaker 1: then I was thrilled with your performance of Rise Up,

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Speaker 1: one of my all time favorite songs, as part of

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Speaker 1: the Biden Harris inauguration. How did that feel to you

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Speaker 1: being part of that historic moment, especially with you know,

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Speaker 1: Vice President Kamala Harris taking office. Yes, I mean, and

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Speaker 1: I have and I just you know, learned this from

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Speaker 1: my mother and from my grandmother and from Billie Holiday.

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Speaker 1: And you know, watching women like you, like VP Kamala

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Speaker 1: here is like Michelle Obama. I mean, when women are

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Speaker 1: in positions of leadership, it has proven the numbers are there,

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Speaker 1: economies do better, you know what I mean. And so

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Speaker 1: for me, it's like it was incredible, it was historic.

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Speaker 1: It was a moment after so much darkness, a moment

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Speaker 1: for hope. And it's amazing to see her face in there.

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Speaker 1: And you know, having met her, and I mean one

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Speaker 1: of the first things we did was prayed together, and so,

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Speaker 1: as I said, I have such a need and a

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Speaker 1: passion to see more women in positions of leadership. Well,

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Speaker 1: and one of the things we've learned during this year

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Speaker 1: of pandemic is that countries run by women have done

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Speaker 1: better they have There you go, which is an important

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Speaker 1: lesson that I would like to see imparted. How have

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Speaker 1: you managed the pandemic? You had finished filming before that.

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Speaker 1: We did, We got everything in the can. We finished

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Speaker 1: filming December, literally right before everything kicked up. So managing

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Speaker 1: during the pandemic, I mean, it's just you know, just

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Speaker 1: you know what it is. It's just gratitude, because like

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Speaker 1: I sat down and I was just remember thinking like, man,

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Speaker 1: this changes everything. How are we going to do this?

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Speaker 1: How are we going to do A B and C?

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Speaker 1: And then I stopped and I realized, like, people are

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Speaker 1: choosing between shelter and food right now, you know what

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Speaker 1: I mean. So I just had to really stop and

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Speaker 1: just be like, you should be super super grateful. That's

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Speaker 1: not a choice that you have to make. You can

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Speaker 1: take care of your family and you guys can sustain,

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Speaker 1: so actually figure out how you can serve in this

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Speaker 1: time if you really want to write and so um yeah,

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Speaker 1: we actually paired with this charity Give Directly or Incredible

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Speaker 1: and started this I Give Directly charity, which was just

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Speaker 1: getting money into the hands of people who needed it

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Speaker 1: the most. And I like that a lot because I

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Speaker 1: think it gave people dignity to make choices with their

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Speaker 1: own money. So it was beautiful. That's how we focused. Well,

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Speaker 1: I'm glad to hear you underscore the importance of gratitude.

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Speaker 1: I believe that with all my heart. In fact, I

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Speaker 1: have a phrase about the discipline of gratitude and how

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Speaker 1: people you know should practice it like we practice, you know,

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Speaker 1: being healthy or you know, trying to exercise in a

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Speaker 1: lot of others. I love that because sometimes you don't

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Speaker 1: want to feel gratitude. No, I mean you you almost

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Speaker 1: you almost rejected, grateful for what you know went wrong.

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Speaker 1: I'm too upset to worry about gratitude. But you know

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Speaker 1: you have now You've had multiple hit songs, a starring

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Speaker 1: role in a film under your belt. Up, where where

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Speaker 1: do you see your career going? Do you want to

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Speaker 1: do more acting? You know? It's so funny all my

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Speaker 1: co stars would laugh at me right now, because when

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Speaker 1: I was on the movie set, I was like, yo,

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Speaker 1: I'm out, my vocal cords hate me, my body hates me.

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Speaker 1: I was like no. But now, like kind of being

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Speaker 1: on the other side of things, I think I do

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Speaker 1: not a lot. I'm not gonna be honest, not a

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Speaker 1: lot as far as acting goes. Just maybe a few more.

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Speaker 1: Just whatever really speaks to me and grabs me the

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Speaker 1: same way Billy did. But the thing I really really

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Speaker 1: have a need to tell is our stories, you know,

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Speaker 1: So I would like to. I started writing some things

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Speaker 1: and developing a few things, and I love to co write,

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Speaker 1: co direct, and co produce pictures because you know, Billy

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Speaker 1: Holiday story is one in a million stories that have

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Speaker 1: the narrative has been suppressed and the narrative has been changed. Right,

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Speaker 1: That's how sort of systemic inequality works. That's how oppression works,

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Speaker 1: is you have to control the narrative. So I just

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Speaker 1: feel like there's so many great stories of our contribution,

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Speaker 1: and I think telling the truth of those narratives is

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Speaker 1: going to be integral in really dismantling this system, piece

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Speaker 1: by piece by piece so that we can actually, you know,

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Speaker 1: have space for equality, space for everybody. I think that

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Speaker 1: is the most important task facing us as a country. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: but that does take a lot of bravery, because you've

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Speaker 1: got to be willing to stand up and tell stories

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Speaker 1: that are uncomfortable and and hear those stories and learn

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Speaker 1: from those stories. And I wanted to ask you about bravery.

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Speaker 1: I mean, when you look back now, what do you

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Speaker 1: think is the bravest thing you've ever done? What do

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Speaker 1: you look at and feel like, Wow, that really was hard. Wow. Well, listen,

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Speaker 1: I gotta tell you this movie because I did not,

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Speaker 1: Oh my god, I was when I tell you, I

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Speaker 1: was trying to run from this movie in every single way,

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Speaker 1: you know. First of all, as simply as I can

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Speaker 1: put it, I did not want to suck. I did

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Speaker 1: not want to be terrible, and I was a hundred

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Speaker 1: percent certain I would be. I had never This is

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Speaker 1: my first acting role, you know, on on screen. And

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Speaker 1: I didn't want to dishonor Billy Holiday's legacy because I

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Speaker 1: love her so, so so much. And the other thing

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Speaker 1: is I didn't want to dishonor Diana's legacy, right, who

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Speaker 1: played her so beautifully in nineteen seventy two. And it

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Speaker 1: was such a feat to get that film done. You know,

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Speaker 1: it was just so many layers to why. I was like,

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Speaker 1: but the main thing was just really interestingly enough something

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Speaker 1: that I believe God used this role in her her spirit.

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Speaker 1: She worked out of me, not out of me. It's

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Speaker 1: still working on it, but I have just really deep

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Speaker 1: seated feelings of just unworthiness and inadequacy. I never feel

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Speaker 1: like I belong. I have a fraud mentality, Like I

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Speaker 1: feel like I'm a fraud every place that I go,

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Speaker 1: and I'm overcoming that is like difficult, it's impossible. It's

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Speaker 1: why when they told me the first time you wanted

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Speaker 1: to call me, I was like no, and they're like

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Speaker 1: why not? I was like, what are I talking to

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Speaker 1: her about? She's brilliant, she's so smart. I didn't even

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Speaker 1: go to college, like or graduate, so I'm like, why

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Speaker 1: would I talk to But it's that constant feeling of

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Speaker 1: just not being good enough. But you know, it was

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Speaker 1: a prayer, actually was a scripture about walking on water

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Speaker 1: and doing an act of great faith that made me

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Speaker 1: do it meetingly. His fire, his dedication to Billie holiday

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Speaker 1: fearless storytelling, and his need to honor her legacy and

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Speaker 1: to make her a hero. It was all those things

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Speaker 1: that made me say yes ultimately and dyeing in and

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Speaker 1: we are so glad you did. Thank you. But I

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Speaker 1: will tell you every day I say he would laugh

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Speaker 1: at me because every day on set I'd be like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think today is the day they're going to realize

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Speaker 1: I'm no good and they're gonna fire me, like, shut up,

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Speaker 1: shut up. You know what that is called. It's called

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Speaker 1: the imposter syndrome, and it is a particular problem for talented,

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Speaker 1: smart women. Wow, I wonder we could do a whole

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Speaker 1: show on that. My dear, welcome back. You know. I

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Speaker 1: can't tell you how excited I am to talk to you.

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Speaker 1: And I know this, of all days, the day after

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Speaker 1: your big award has to be jam packed with everybody

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Speaker 1: in the world wanting to talk with you and do

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Speaker 1: an interview with you. But it just means so much

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Speaker 1: to me. If anybody deserved to have their hard work

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Speaker 1: and their talent and their spirit recognized, it's you, my friend,

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Speaker 1: and I only wish you the very best. Oh my gosh,

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Speaker 1: I love you, Thank you, my friend. Thank you makes

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Speaker 1: me so happy. The United States versus Billie Holiday is

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Speaker 1: now streaming on Hulu. My next guest is someone whose

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Speaker 1: career I have followed for a long time, Senator Tammy Duckworth.

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Speaker 1: You know I on I knew Tammy's story, but she

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Speaker 1: has a new memoir out, and in reading it, I

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Speaker 1: learned she's even braver than I realized. It's called every

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Speaker 1: Day is a Gift. It's just out today. I heard

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Speaker 1: you to track it down, and I'm delighted to be

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Speaker 1: talking with her. Hey, how are you? Oh my gosh, Tammy,

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Speaker 1: I can't tell you how excited I am to talk

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Speaker 1: with you. And let's get right into it, because I

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Speaker 1: know you're a pretty busy woman and I want to

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Speaker 1: respect that. So it seems like an understatement, Senator, just

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Speaker 1: say there's a lot going on right now. How are

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Speaker 1: you and your family and those two adorable little children

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Speaker 1: of yours getting alog? Oh my gosh, Well, you know, um,

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Speaker 1: we're muddling through, just like all the other working families

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Speaker 1: in Illinois and across the country are working through it.

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Speaker 1: My six year old think goodness has gone back to

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Speaker 1: in person classes because I was a miserable the carded teacher.

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Speaker 1: I'm not trained, you know, I always had respect for teachers,

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Speaker 1: but boy, I am not trained to do that. Um

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Speaker 1: and my that's Abigail and my leap. Her will be

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Speaker 1: three in April, so she's she's rambunctious us. I'll get up.

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Speaker 1: I can't believe she's three. I remember when she was

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Speaker 1: in your lap and you were breastfeeding on the floor

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Speaker 1: of the Senate taking care of a baby. You know,

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Speaker 1: I want to get to your book because I thought

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Speaker 1: it was, you know, really great. Thank you. Let me

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Speaker 1: start though, for listeners who may not know who you are.

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Speaker 1: You're a veteran. You received a purple Heart at two

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Speaker 1: thousand and four for your service in a rock and

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Speaker 1: while you were there, an attack on the black Hawk

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Speaker 1: helicopter that you were co piloting resulted in a crash

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Speaker 1: and eventually in the amputation of both your legs. In

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Speaker 1: a c Span interview, Senator, just a few months after

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Speaker 1: the attack, I found you amazingly upbeat and optimistic. Where

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Speaker 1: did you find that strength? Yeah, well, I'd had my

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Speaker 1: darkest moment I've ever had, probably within the first two

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Speaker 1: weeks after I woke up. So the attack happened on

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Speaker 1: November twelve. I woke up in the hospital eleven days

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Speaker 1: later at Walter read. My memory ends with trying to

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Speaker 1: land the aircraft, and I went through a pretty dark

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Speaker 1: period where I thought, well, remember when we landed the aircraft,

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Speaker 1: But I thought that I had crashed the aircraft and

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Speaker 1: it was my fault and I deserved to lose my legs.

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Speaker 1: I go into this spiral down, into this depth of despair,

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Speaker 1: and then I find out no, actually we landed it.

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Speaker 1: That I fought until my last breath to actually help

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Speaker 1: land that aircraft. And once I found that out, I've

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Speaker 1: been fined ever since. Hillary. I mean, you know, I've

427
00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:43,720
Speaker 1: been just so grateful that I'm alive. And I feel

428
00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:45,600
Speaker 1: like the book is called every Day as a Gift,

429
00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:48,320
Speaker 1: because every day since that day for me has been

430
00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:52,040
Speaker 1: a gift. You really describe a process that is all

431
00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:55,320
Speaker 1: too common for the men and women who serve our country,

432
00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:58,320
Speaker 1: and especially over the last twenty plus years, who have

433
00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:01,000
Speaker 1: been in and out of combat. You know, the sense

434
00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:05,440
Speaker 1: of responsibility and duty really above all. But your journey

435
00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:09,439
Speaker 1: starts in Thailand, and you write about what it was

436
00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:14,240
Speaker 1: like to be the daughter of a Thai Chinese mother

437
00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:19,320
Speaker 1: and a white American father living in Thailand, and frankly,

438
00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:24,080
Speaker 1: the discrimination that you faced as a child of mixed background.

439
00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:26,760
Speaker 1: What was that like and what do you think that

440
00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:31,119
Speaker 1: experience so early in your life prepared you for well, Hilary.

441
00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:35,399
Speaker 1: You know, growing up in Southeast Asia in the seventies

442
00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,720
Speaker 1: post Vietnam, there written a lot of amoration children and

443
00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:42,320
Speaker 1: the only amoration children around were the children of American

444
00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:46,480
Speaker 1: gis and largely prostitutes and sex workers, you know. And

445
00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:50,439
Speaker 1: there is rio stigma associated with that because most American

446
00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:55,600
Speaker 1: gis left their Thai or Vietnamese girlfriends behind with the children. Um.

447
00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:59,000
Speaker 1: Not many stayed and married and created a family the

448
00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,040
Speaker 1: way my father did. And so it just brought great

449
00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:04,479
Speaker 1: shame on my mom because everybody had looked at her,

450
00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:06,199
Speaker 1: just assumed that she was something that she was not.

451
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:08,760
Speaker 1: I even talked in the book about how there was

452
00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:13,640
Speaker 1: this whole dichotomy between being scorned as by Ratio as

453
00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:16,920
Speaker 1: a half breed child. But on the other hand, there's

454
00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:19,920
Speaker 1: these standards of beauty that are embraced where people wanted

455
00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:22,359
Speaker 1: to buy me for my mom, and my mom was accosted,

456
00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:25,080
Speaker 1: you know, by folks wanting to buy me. But it

457
00:24:25,119 --> 00:24:28,360
Speaker 1: gave me this viewpoint of America that showed for me

458
00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:31,960
Speaker 1: as now as a Senator, the struggle that immigrants go through,

459
00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:35,240
Speaker 1: and its struggle especially last year. You know, I certainly

460
00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:38,280
Speaker 1: wouldn't compare my experience to what Black Americans have gone

461
00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:40,720
Speaker 1: through in the Black Lives Matter protests, but I will

462
00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:44,680
Speaker 1: tell you it gave me an insight into that struggle

463
00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:47,080
Speaker 1: to be accepted and my whole life. People say, well,

464
00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:49,240
Speaker 1: where are you from? Really? I'm like, I'm American. My

465
00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:52,639
Speaker 1: ancestors have been here since before the revolution, and like, no, no, no,

466
00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:56,240
Speaker 1: where are you from really? And then you and your

467
00:24:56,280 --> 00:25:01,360
Speaker 1: family moved to Hawaii and you had a series of setbacks,

468
00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:06,840
Speaker 1: You had economic setbacks, you had all kinds of difficulties

469
00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:10,160
Speaker 1: kind of just keeping the family together. I would imagine

470
00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:14,480
Speaker 1: that also gave you a kind of grounding in what

471
00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:18,280
Speaker 1: it's like to have to really struggle. I have never

472
00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:21,120
Speaker 1: worked harder. My family has never worked harder than when

473
00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:23,479
Speaker 1: we were poor. There was at one point when I

474
00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:26,639
Speaker 1: was fifteen, sixteen years old and the only person in

475
00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:29,440
Speaker 1: my family with a job, and I was the one,

476
00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:31,760
Speaker 1: you know, trying to help us pay the rent and

477
00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:33,880
Speaker 1: put food on the table. And my mom at first

478
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:36,399
Speaker 1: when we moved to couldn't come with us because of

479
00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:39,879
Speaker 1: immigration laws even though she had American children, she was

480
00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:41,919
Speaker 1: married to an American. We didn't have the money for

481
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,360
Speaker 1: the visas, and and and the visas would have taken

482
00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:46,840
Speaker 1: a while also, so she couldn't even come with us.

483
00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:48,919
Speaker 1: And and I talked about, you know, trying to be

484
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:52,160
Speaker 1: mom at fifteen, you know, to my thirteen year old brother,

485
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:54,640
Speaker 1: and trying to buck up my dad to keep looking

486
00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:56,560
Speaker 1: for jobs. At this point, he've been unemployed for three

487
00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:58,959
Speaker 1: years since, still looking for a job. And finally, you know,

488
00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,000
Speaker 1: taking matters into my own hands, after I blew up

489
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:03,840
Speaker 1: at my dad and went and found a job. What

490
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:06,800
Speaker 1: happened after Hawaii? Where did you go next? So my

491
00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:10,600
Speaker 1: parents moved from Hawaii to Virginia because my dad, being

492
00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:13,440
Speaker 1: a veteran and prior civil service, was able to get

493
00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:17,359
Speaker 1: a job at GS four job Hillary, Oh boy, Okay,

494
00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:20,080
Speaker 1: that's a real entry level job. That is like, yeah,

495
00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:22,440
Speaker 1: very very very entry level. I think it was maybe

496
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:25,159
Speaker 1: ten dollars a year. And they left me behind because

497
00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:27,800
Speaker 1: I had at this point been accepted to the University

498
00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:30,720
Speaker 1: of Hawaii, and then after that I went to d C.

499
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:32,879
Speaker 1: We moved to Virginia to be with my folks, and

500
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:35,280
Speaker 1: I decided to go get my masters, and I was

501
00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:38,280
Speaker 1: accepted into George Washington University. So you see that climb

502
00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:40,760
Speaker 1: out of poverty and what it took to go step

503
00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:42,960
Speaker 1: by step by step. You know. Just being able to

504
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,920
Speaker 1: finish high school for me was a miracle because I

505
00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:48,600
Speaker 1: would have been more used to my family dropping out

506
00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,000
Speaker 1: of high school and working two jobs. So they had

507
00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:54,800
Speaker 1: to sacrifice to keep me in school. And so when

508
00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:57,360
Speaker 1: did you decide to join the military. How did that

509
00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:00,119
Speaker 1: come about? So you got your master's at GW you

510
00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:02,920
Speaker 1: and then what happened? So I finished my first year

511
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:05,600
Speaker 1: in the Berlin Wall was coming down, so all I

512
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,800
Speaker 1: was watching people from Czechoslovakia as a country was splitting

513
00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:11,360
Speaker 1: in half, running for the border, everything that they had,

514
00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:13,920
Speaker 1: trying to get on these trains. It just for me

515
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:16,520
Speaker 1: brought back all those memories of me as an American

516
00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:19,720
Speaker 1: with all of my privilege, watching Vietnamese boat people put

517
00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:23,000
Speaker 1: everything that they had and their children into a rickety

518
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,479
Speaker 1: boat and going on into the ocean, you know. And

519
00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:27,359
Speaker 1: so it brought back all these memories. And I wanted,

520
00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:29,480
Speaker 1: I knew I wanted to serve. I thought I would

521
00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:31,679
Speaker 1: serve in the Foreign service. I mean, you having been

522
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:34,480
Speaker 1: Secretary of State. It was like, my, you know, my

523
00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:36,840
Speaker 1: dream job isn't being an ambassador. Let alone you know

524
00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:39,119
Speaker 1: something that you did. There were guys in my class

525
00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:41,960
Speaker 1: who like, kemmy, just go take our OTC and learn

526
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:43,959
Speaker 1: a little bit about the military. And I went off

527
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:47,720
Speaker 1: to basic training and fell in love with the great

528
00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:52,000
Speaker 1: great What was it about the military? Was it the structure,

529
00:27:52,119 --> 00:27:55,800
Speaker 1: the sense of mission and purpose? Yeah. I described this

530
00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:59,480
Speaker 1: in the book because it was pretty miserable. You know,

531
00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:01,479
Speaker 1: the girl starts as a yelling age. I mean, it's

532
00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:05,119
Speaker 1: a miserable time. But it was a pure meritocracy. It

533
00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:07,680
Speaker 1: was all about are you willing to step up and

534
00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:10,520
Speaker 1: help carry the load. And they didn't care that I

535
00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:13,159
Speaker 1: was a little Asian girl. You know, they didn't care

536
00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:14,720
Speaker 1: anything about me. They just wanted to know if I

537
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:17,280
Speaker 1: could shoot straight. And I was willing to help carry

538
00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:19,520
Speaker 1: the load, you know, when the extra ammunition got heavy

539
00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:22,040
Speaker 1: to duff with, step up and help carry the ammunition literally,

540
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,760
Speaker 1: you know, on on a march. My first time in

541
00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:28,320
Speaker 1: my life where I was judged purely on how much

542
00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:30,760
Speaker 1: effort I was willing to put into it. And don't

543
00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:32,359
Speaker 1: get me wrong, I mean I I you know, I

544
00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,000
Speaker 1: talked about this in the book. I described locking myself

545
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:38,000
Speaker 1: in the lotrine and crying and then coming back out.

546
00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:40,720
Speaker 1: It's like, Okay, it's hard, but I love what you

547
00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:43,239
Speaker 1: say about it being a meritocracy. I mean, it's one

548
00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:47,400
Speaker 1: of the reasons why the military still remains such a

549
00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:51,440
Speaker 1: ladder of opportunity for you know, young people, whether it's

550
00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,920
Speaker 1: urban or rural settings, who want to figure out how

551
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:59,080
Speaker 1: to get themselves upwardly mobile and find the military as

552
00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:01,840
Speaker 1: a great way to do that. And so you you

553
00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:04,840
Speaker 1: were in Rozie and then did you join the reserves?

554
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:07,200
Speaker 1: At that point, I did. What you do is you

555
00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:09,240
Speaker 1: make this list. It's a wish list you give to

556
00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:12,080
Speaker 1: the army, and then the army decide. So one of

557
00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:14,000
Speaker 1: the instructors, i was the only female in my class

558
00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:16,560
Speaker 1: at the time, said everyone, you've got to write down

559
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:18,960
Speaker 1: combat arms jobs, even if you want to become, you know,

560
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:22,440
Speaker 1: a finance officer. Except for Duckworth, she's female. She doesn't

561
00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:24,920
Speaker 1: have to write any down. Oh come on, I know.

562
00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:28,080
Speaker 1: And my instructors actually lied to me and said women

563
00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:30,400
Speaker 1: couldn't serve in combat. But there were two combat jobs,

564
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:34,400
Speaker 1: air defense, artillery and aviation, and so I applied for

565
00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:37,200
Speaker 1: a Reserve Forces commission in order to get aviation to

566
00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:39,600
Speaker 1: become a helicopter pilot. Did you see this as a

567
00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:43,520
Speaker 1: potentially long term career that you thought, maybe this is

568
00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:45,160
Speaker 1: what I want to do, or did you still think

569
00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:48,480
Speaker 1: of it as a reserve officer duty. I only ever

570
00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:51,200
Speaker 1: wanted to do it part time. I still was pursuing

571
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:53,320
Speaker 1: my dream of the Foreign Service, like I I still

572
00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:55,080
Speaker 1: to this day. You know, I would love to be

573
00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:59,080
Speaker 1: you know, that young junior Foreign Service officer stamping passports

574
00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:02,400
Speaker 1: in it know, in a mission out in the boonies somewhere.

575
00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:05,880
Speaker 1: I I just it's because I watched ambassador left it.

576
00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:08,120
Speaker 1: I left it what I watched, you know what it is?

577
00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:11,440
Speaker 1: My dad at one point worked for the United Nations

578
00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:14,400
Speaker 1: refugee programs and he would be bringing bags of rice

579
00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:16,880
Speaker 1: with the American flag on it and delivering that to

580
00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:20,280
Speaker 1: refugee camps. I got to see watch American ambassador cut

581
00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:24,200
Speaker 1: ribbon openings on health clinics and places like that, and

582
00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:27,440
Speaker 1: I just, you know, the book is about it's a memoir,

583
00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:29,200
Speaker 1: but it's also my sort of a love story to

584
00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,240
Speaker 1: my country, to my nation, you know, And so no,

585
00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:34,840
Speaker 1: I I still wanted to become a foreign service officer,

586
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,920
Speaker 1: so I finished my master started my PhD, and I

587
00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:43,240
Speaker 1: was actually working for Rotary International helping Rotarians do humanitarian

588
00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:46,400
Speaker 1: missions around the world. When um I was deployed to Iraq.

589
00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:49,920
Speaker 1: You were there during some of the worst fighting, and

590
00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:54,240
Speaker 1: you were, you know, in that terrible attack that resulted

591
00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:57,960
Speaker 1: in the crash and your injury. When you were released

592
00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:01,200
Speaker 1: from the hospital, what were thinking about in terms of

593
00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:05,360
Speaker 1: the future that you and your husband wanted to build together. Well,

594
00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:07,880
Speaker 1: during my recovery at the hospital, all I wanted to

595
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:09,880
Speaker 1: do was go back to my unit. Like I put

596
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:14,240
Speaker 1: every effort I had in trying to regain my flight status.

597
00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,400
Speaker 1: You know, my whole life, my superpower had always spenned

598
00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:19,080
Speaker 1: my willingness to work hard. I mean I was never

599
00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:21,200
Speaker 1: the smartest kid in the class. You know, I got

600
00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:22,960
Speaker 1: mostly a's and some beast but I was never the

601
00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:24,600
Speaker 1: straight A student. I was never the one who would

602
00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:28,600
Speaker 1: win the scholarship. For me, working hard was my superpower

603
00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:32,400
Speaker 1: and I had to come to the realization at Walter

604
00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:35,280
Speaker 1: Read that my superpower wasn't going to rescue me and

605
00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:37,880
Speaker 1: get me back with my unit. And that was hard

606
00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:40,400
Speaker 1: and at the time I had met Dick Durban and

607
00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:44,680
Speaker 1: Barack Obama, and Dick Durbin actually was the one who

608
00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:47,760
Speaker 1: gave me his number, his personal telephone number, and he

609
00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:51,040
Speaker 1: said to Tammy, anybody have any problems, you call me.

610
00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:56,480
Speaker 1: So I of course immediately abused the privilege and I

611
00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:58,320
Speaker 1: started calling him because we had a lot of problems

612
00:31:58,360 --> 00:31:59,880
Speaker 1: that well to read and this is something you also,

613
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:02,080
Speaker 1: because she were working this issue in the Senate too,

614
00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:05,080
Speaker 1: and I was like, sir, like somebody is not getting paid, sir.

615
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,239
Speaker 1: The families are sleeping on the floor because there's no

616
00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:09,920
Speaker 1: clean places for them. To say that isn't invested with Molde.

617
00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:12,640
Speaker 1: And after about ten months of this, I mean, Dick

618
00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:16,080
Speaker 1: Durbin essentially became the unofficial ombudsman for the patients at

619
00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:18,480
Speaker 1: Walter Read So I was still a patient at the

620
00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:22,200
Speaker 1: hospital undergoing surgeries when Dick Durban said, Tommy, I think

621
00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,000
Speaker 1: you shoul think about running for Congress. You know, we

622
00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:26,480
Speaker 1: need a voice that understands what our troops are going through.

623
00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:30,680
Speaker 1: I remember being on the floor of the Senate as

624
00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:33,760
Speaker 1: you do, waiting for votes and and just chatting when

625
00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:36,880
Speaker 1: Dick Durban told me about you. I can remember it

626
00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:41,720
Speaker 1: absolutely clearly. He said, I've met this amazing veteran, this

627
00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:46,920
Speaker 1: woman who has had a really serious injury, lost her legs,

628
00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:51,080
Speaker 1: but she's become the advocate for all the patients at

629
00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:53,880
Speaker 1: Walter Read. I can remember saying that and him saying,

630
00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:56,800
Speaker 1: and I'm trying to convince her to run for Compress.

631
00:32:56,960 --> 00:32:59,440
Speaker 1: And I said, well, don't you think you got a

632
00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:01,840
Speaker 1: let her? He first, Dick, I mean, come on, give her,

633
00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:04,240
Speaker 1: give her a little bit of time. But how did

634
00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:08,920
Speaker 1: that unfold in terms of Dick Durban spotting your talent,

635
00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:14,080
Speaker 1: that incredible energy and can do spirit that you do have, Tammy,

636
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:16,840
Speaker 1: and making it his mission to persuade you to run

637
00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:19,360
Speaker 1: for office. I think he just had really good timing

638
00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:21,360
Speaker 1: because at that point I realized I couldn't get back

639
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,280
Speaker 1: to my unit, and I was lost. Right my whole

640
00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:26,760
Speaker 1: adult life, my mission was to serve my country, either

641
00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:30,040
Speaker 1: into foreign service or in the military and hopefully both

642
00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:32,920
Speaker 1: and and I had no mission. And this is why

643
00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:36,040
Speaker 1: we see so many of our troops fall into self

644
00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:39,200
Speaker 1: medication and mental health issues and homelessness, that this downward

645
00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:42,280
Speaker 1: spiral because they lose that mission, they lose their camaraderie,

646
00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:44,720
Speaker 1: their buddies, and Dick durban came along and gave me

647
00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:47,240
Speaker 1: a new mission and challenged me. My joke now when

648
00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:49,280
Speaker 1: he talks about seeing me in the hospital and inviting

649
00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:51,400
Speaker 1: me to run for Congress, and he asked me while

650
00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:56,160
Speaker 1: I was still medicated, And that's my excuse. What did

651
00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:58,440
Speaker 1: it for me was Dick Durbin saying, we have no

652
00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:00,760
Speaker 1: one with that with your voice can talk about what

653
00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:03,840
Speaker 1: our troops are going through. And so we said, what

654
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:07,320
Speaker 1: the heck? And did it? What year was this? Said Tammy.

655
00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:09,399
Speaker 1: This was at the end of two thousand and five.

656
00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:12,360
Speaker 1: But I lost, and um, but you put up a

657
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,200
Speaker 1: great fight. I did put up a grid and we

658
00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:17,359
Speaker 1: won the majority that year in the House. But I

659
00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:19,360
Speaker 1: wasn't part of it, and I was just devastated. I

660
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:21,799
Speaker 1: locked myself in my bathroom for three days and cry

661
00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:23,560
Speaker 1: because I was the only place that I did not

662
00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:27,839
Speaker 1: get self service. So I sat in my bathtub and

663
00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:30,560
Speaker 1: cried for three days. And then I got the call

664
00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:34,680
Speaker 1: offering me a position as the State of Illinois Director

665
00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:37,480
Speaker 1: of Veterans Affairs on the Governor's cabinet. So you go

666
00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:40,320
Speaker 1: to work for the state and then you decide to

667
00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:41,919
Speaker 1: run again. Well, I go to work with the state,

668
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,440
Speaker 1: and we actually took Illinois from being in forty eight

669
00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:47,719
Speaker 1: and the nation for veteran services to the top two

670
00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:50,040
Speaker 1: in the nation for veteran services with a lot of

671
00:34:50,080 --> 00:34:53,759
Speaker 1: innovative programs. But then I get asked by Barack Obama

672
00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:56,719
Speaker 1: once he was elected to serve at the federal v A.

673
00:34:57,360 --> 00:35:00,880
Speaker 1: And after about two years of that, I got really frustrated.

674
00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:04,520
Speaker 1: It can happen, It can happen. I got really frustrated,

675
00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:06,480
Speaker 1: which is a bureaucracy and all the things that I

676
00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:09,000
Speaker 1: realized a lot of what I wanted to fix with

677
00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:12,720
Speaker 1: legislative and that's what I decided to run for Congress again.

678
00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:17,200
Speaker 1: And one I remember, and once you were in Congress,

679
00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:20,279
Speaker 1: it became very clear that you know, you wanted to

680
00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:25,319
Speaker 1: prove that you could be a member of Congress that

681
00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:29,960
Speaker 1: would actually make life better for people. And you also

682
00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:35,040
Speaker 1: were a staunch advocate for women's rights and roles for

683
00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:38,640
Speaker 1: the rights and roles of minorities, for immigrants. You really

684
00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:42,040
Speaker 1: carved out a reputation in the House, Tammy, and then

685
00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:44,200
Speaker 1: you decided to run for the Senate. How did you

686
00:35:44,239 --> 00:35:48,640
Speaker 1: decide that? You know that I was pretty happy in

687
00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:51,879
Speaker 1: the House, I had been re elected, I've had my baby, Abigail,

688
00:35:52,239 --> 00:35:55,800
Speaker 1: and I was on maternity leave when the talk started

689
00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:58,800
Speaker 1: about the fact that Mark Kirk was up for re election,

690
00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:03,160
Speaker 1: the Republican who had at one uh Barack Obama's old seat,

691
00:36:03,719 --> 00:36:06,480
Speaker 1: and who would run and my name was in the mix.

692
00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:09,120
Speaker 1: People kept calling me. I was like, folks on maternity leave,

693
00:36:09,239 --> 00:36:11,880
Speaker 1: My god, let me have my time at my newborn.

694
00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:16,000
Speaker 1: But Illinois primaries very early. It's in March, so you

695
00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:18,640
Speaker 1: would have to declare by March of the previous year

696
00:36:18,719 --> 00:36:22,080
Speaker 1: to really have a good run. So I'm on aternity leave. Finally,

697
00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:24,520
Speaker 1: we decided that the opportunity to be in the Senate

698
00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:27,480
Speaker 1: was that opportunity, or the train was leaving the station,

699
00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:29,040
Speaker 1: and if I wanted to not get on that train,

700
00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:30,880
Speaker 1: that's fine. I could just keep running for re election.

701
00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:33,080
Speaker 1: But the idea of being in the Senate and being

702
00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:36,080
Speaker 1: able to represent my entire state again, it was really

703
00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:38,640
Speaker 1: what moved me to run. So I decided that, Okay,

704
00:36:38,719 --> 00:36:40,360
Speaker 1: this is the time to do it, and we just

705
00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:42,719
Speaker 1: took a deep breath and jumped. And it was miserable

706
00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:47,719
Speaker 1: trying to be a mom of a newborn and run

707
00:36:47,719 --> 00:36:51,799
Speaker 1: for a Senate and be a congresswoman was horrendous. I

708
00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:56,560
Speaker 1: can't imagine, Tammy. I mean, I've done one at a time,

709
00:36:56,600 --> 00:37:00,080
Speaker 1: but you were doing all three. But before we move on,

710
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:03,760
Speaker 1: I just want to say a word about your journey

711
00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:08,040
Speaker 1: within fertility and IVF, because you're write about that. I

712
00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:10,960
Speaker 1: do you know. I really appreciate your speaking out about

713
00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:14,319
Speaker 1: your own experience. Thank you. I decided to put that

714
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:17,440
Speaker 1: in the book because I mean, I put my fertility

715
00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:19,200
Speaker 1: on hold. My GUYD of college is said to me

716
00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:21,359
Speaker 1: my VA gynecologists like when I talked to her when

717
00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:23,399
Speaker 1: I was just turning forty and saying, I think we're

718
00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:24,880
Speaker 1: going to try to have kids, and she's like, well,

719
00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:27,360
Speaker 1: you know, you're you're towards the end of your time.

720
00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:29,600
Speaker 1: But that's what we professional women do. We give up

721
00:37:29,600 --> 00:37:32,560
Speaker 1: our fertility for our careers. But thank goodness, there are

722
00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:34,759
Speaker 1: the ways that we can help you get pregnant. But

723
00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:38,160
Speaker 1: the v A does not have fertility services, at least

724
00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:40,160
Speaker 1: they didn't at the time. So she referred me to

725
00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:43,600
Speaker 1: the Companion Hospital and I went to that fertility clinic

726
00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:47,319
Speaker 1: and a very nice female doctor didn't even see me

727
00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:49,239
Speaker 1: in a clinic. She came out and She sat with

728
00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:51,799
Speaker 1: me in the waiting room and said, Honey, you're gonna

729
00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:54,439
Speaker 1: be forty three soon. Your chances of getting pregnant, even

730
00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:57,320
Speaker 1: with fertility services is less than five percent. You should

731
00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:02,319
Speaker 1: just go home and enjoy your husband. And I believed her, though, yeah, right.

732
00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:05,000
Speaker 1: And it wasn't until I was giving a speech at

733
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:09,080
Speaker 1: like professional women conferences and stuff as a congresswoman and

734
00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:10,960
Speaker 1: the question got asked about how do you have work

735
00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:12,759
Speaker 1: life balance, and I said, well, I don't have work

736
00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:14,600
Speaker 1: life violence. I just worked because I'm going to be

737
00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:16,480
Speaker 1: forty three now and I'm never gonna be able to

738
00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:18,520
Speaker 1: have children as much as I wanted to. And a

739
00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:21,920
Speaker 1: woman there came up to me and said, here's my doctor.

740
00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:24,160
Speaker 1: You go see him. He's knocked up every professional woman

741
00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:26,920
Speaker 1: in the Chicago area over the age of forty the

742
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:29,400
Speaker 1: Sisterhood networks. But this is why I put it in

743
00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:32,040
Speaker 1: the book Hillary, because she was open with me, a

744
00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:35,479
Speaker 1: total stranger. And then she called me like every month

745
00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:37,480
Speaker 1: for six months until I finally went. And when I

746
00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:40,400
Speaker 1: went to see that doctor, the fertility doctor at Northwestern

747
00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:44,400
Speaker 1: University Hospital in Chicago, he said, who told you that

748
00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:47,520
Speaker 1: you couldn't get pregnant? And I said who, And he goes, Oh,

749
00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:50,760
Speaker 1: Catholic institution, I said, what, he goes. They don't believe

750
00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:55,440
Speaker 1: in in vitro fertilization. So I for four years was

751
00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:59,000
Speaker 1: a candidate for in vitro and I was told that

752
00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:01,439
Speaker 1: I was not. I talked about this in a book

753
00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:05,640
Speaker 1: about just how angry and betrayed I felt that a

754
00:39:05,719 --> 00:39:08,560
Speaker 1: doctor she should have said to me, well, there are

755
00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:10,839
Speaker 1: these other procedures, we can't perform them here because we're

756
00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:13,680
Speaker 1: a Catholic institution, goes, you know, you should go somewhere else. No,

757
00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:15,920
Speaker 1: she didn't even tell me about them. She just told me,

758
00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:19,160
Speaker 1: there are no reproductive services that can work for you

759
00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:21,560
Speaker 1: at forty two years old. You're gonna be forty three.

760
00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:23,200
Speaker 1: Just go home and enjoy your husband. By the way,

761
00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:24,839
Speaker 1: my husband loved that when I came home and told

762
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:26,680
Speaker 1: him the doctor told me to just enjoy my husband.

763
00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:30,840
Speaker 1: And in eighteen months from the day that I saw

764
00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:34,279
Speaker 1: my that Dr Confino at Northwestern, I was pregnant. Thank

765
00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:36,319
Speaker 1: goodness that that woman came up to you at that

766
00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:39,800
Speaker 1: event and told you to go get a second opinion.

767
00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:43,160
Speaker 1: When you got into the Senate, you found that, you know,

768
00:39:43,200 --> 00:39:46,400
Speaker 1: there were problems in the way that people were treated.

769
00:39:46,880 --> 00:39:50,680
Speaker 1: There weren't changing stations and the women's bathrooms. I remember

770
00:39:50,719 --> 00:39:54,160
Speaker 1: that very well, and I think you also advocated for

771
00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:57,319
Speaker 1: changing stations in the men's bathrooms in case that where

772
00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:02,440
Speaker 1: ever to be useful. We talked briefly about your second

773
00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:06,960
Speaker 1: daughter and when you gave birth to her, in being

774
00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:11,000
Speaker 1: coming the first Senator to give birth while in office,

775
00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:15,440
Speaker 1: that was a huge landmark. And then to bring Miley

776
00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:19,040
Speaker 1: to the floor of the Senate with you. And I

777
00:40:19,040 --> 00:40:20,680
Speaker 1: don't know if this is true or not, but I

778
00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:23,879
Speaker 1: read that, you know, there were some senators focused on

779
00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:27,279
Speaker 1: the logistics, which is always you know, the refuge of

780
00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:30,000
Speaker 1: those who want to say no, even asking about the

781
00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:32,759
Speaker 1: baby's dress code. I mean, what was the baby going

782
00:40:32,760 --> 00:40:35,600
Speaker 1: to be wearing on the floor of the Senate. So

783
00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:38,640
Speaker 1: here you are, you have to take her with you

784
00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:42,719
Speaker 1: because you're breastfeeding. Did you feel the sense of historic

785
00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:47,239
Speaker 1: change that you add little Miley represented? I did not,

786
00:40:47,640 --> 00:40:50,480
Speaker 1: to be honest, because I'm pregnant and I know you

787
00:40:50,520 --> 00:40:52,919
Speaker 1: know I'm about you know, as I'm approaching my due date.

788
00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:57,400
Speaker 1: I know the Democrats we needed every single vote, and

789
00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:01,080
Speaker 1: I knew that I couldn't take family leave when I

790
00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:03,480
Speaker 1: gave birth because the rules of the Senate are if

791
00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:06,800
Speaker 1: you take leave, you can't introduce legislation and you can't vote.

792
00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:08,880
Speaker 1: I just was just trying to figure out how I'm

793
00:41:09,239 --> 00:41:11,440
Speaker 1: going to get to work when they won't let babies

794
00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:15,439
Speaker 1: at my workplace. Um, and which is what every other

795
00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:17,480
Speaker 1: working mom does, right, How am I going to go

796
00:41:17,560 --> 00:41:19,360
Speaker 1: to work if they won't let me have the baby

797
00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:21,160
Speaker 1: at my workplace and I have to go into work.

798
00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:23,239
Speaker 1: But she's ten days old. I can't just leave her

799
00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:26,000
Speaker 1: with someone. By the way, Herston Jila Brand went through

800
00:41:26,040 --> 00:41:28,200
Speaker 1: this as well, but she could enter the Senate through

801
00:41:28,719 --> 00:41:31,080
Speaker 1: the cloak room, but I can't because there are steps

802
00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:34,239
Speaker 1: into it. So I had to change the rules. But

803
00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:36,200
Speaker 1: you're right, yeah, oron hats was the one who wanted

804
00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:37,400
Speaker 1: to know if the baby was going to wear a

805
00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:39,640
Speaker 1: hat or no hat, and whether it was going to

806
00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:41,719
Speaker 1: whether the baby was gonna have a blazer or like

807
00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:44,440
Speaker 1: he was worried about the dress code. But I remember thinking,

808
00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:47,600
Speaker 1: she's a baby, her head gets quote. They all wear beanies.

809
00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:49,480
Speaker 1: I'm not taking her hat off just to go vote.

810
00:41:50,840 --> 00:41:52,600
Speaker 1: But I did throw a blazer on her for the

811
00:41:52,680 --> 00:42:00,280
Speaker 1: vote in her one season, We're taking a quick break.

812
00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:12,040
Speaker 1: Stay with us. You know, I wanted to include you

813
00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:16,560
Speaker 1: in this episode about gutsy women because you exemplify it,

814
00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:21,319
Speaker 1: from adapting to your life first in Thailand than in America,

815
00:42:21,680 --> 00:42:25,560
Speaker 1: to your military service, your recovery from a devastating injury,

816
00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:29,200
Speaker 1: your groundbreaking work as a member of first the House

817
00:42:29,239 --> 00:42:33,719
Speaker 1: and then the Senate, and your experiences as a working mom.

818
00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:36,759
Speaker 1: I wonder, what do you see as the gutsiest thing

819
00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:41,800
Speaker 1: you've ever had to do? Um? I think probably facing

820
00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:44,440
Speaker 1: myself after a failure. I think coming out of that

821
00:42:44,520 --> 00:42:50,480
Speaker 1: bathrooms six, climbing out of my tub in two thousand

822
00:42:50,560 --> 00:42:53,120
Speaker 1: and six and going Okay, I gotta face the world

823
00:42:53,239 --> 00:42:56,320
Speaker 1: and what else can I do. It's facing the loss

824
00:42:56,400 --> 00:42:59,879
Speaker 1: of my mission, my identity as a helicopter pilot. I think,

825
00:43:00,080 --> 00:43:02,880
Speaker 1: just like picking myself back up each time and putting

826
00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:05,440
Speaker 1: one foot in front of the other. It's going from

827
00:43:05,520 --> 00:43:07,680
Speaker 1: being a child of you know, of relative privilege growing

828
00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:10,319
Speaker 1: up in Southeast Asia, um, you know, of an American dad,

829
00:43:10,360 --> 00:43:13,560
Speaker 1: to being in Hawaiian another poverty and you know, being

830
00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:16,600
Speaker 1: willing to go through the garbage to find you know, uh,

831
00:43:16,719 --> 00:43:19,400
Speaker 1: struggling gears so I could go look for money on

832
00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:24,680
Speaker 1: the beach. For me, the courage comes from getting back up.

833
00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:28,040
Speaker 1: What's great about America is that we're not a country

834
00:43:28,120 --> 00:43:30,759
Speaker 1: where we promise you that you'll never fail. We're a

835
00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:34,640
Speaker 1: country that says, if you're on your knees and you're

836
00:43:34,680 --> 00:43:36,480
Speaker 1: not willing to give up, then we're not going to

837
00:43:36,560 --> 00:43:38,920
Speaker 1: give up on you either. That's the beauty of America.

838
00:43:38,960 --> 00:43:40,719
Speaker 1: And I hope people see themselves in my book. I

839
00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:42,720
Speaker 1: hope they see like the struggles and maybe their families

840
00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:44,640
Speaker 1: went through when their dad lost a job at fifty

841
00:43:44,719 --> 00:43:48,319
Speaker 1: like minded, I hope they see the struggle of like me,

842
00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:50,200
Speaker 1: trying to do my job and be a mom and

843
00:43:51,160 --> 00:43:54,200
Speaker 1: feeling miserable at both. When I'm with my job, I

844
00:43:54,200 --> 00:43:56,120
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm being a terrible mother, and when

845
00:43:56,120 --> 00:43:58,440
Speaker 1: I'm with my daughters, I feel like I'm letting the

846
00:43:58,480 --> 00:44:01,480
Speaker 1: people at work down. Um. I hope they see themselves

847
00:44:01,360 --> 00:44:04,600
Speaker 1: in the journey and know that it's okay. It's okay

848
00:44:04,600 --> 00:44:08,239
Speaker 1: to struggle and just get back up. I think that

849
00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:11,600
Speaker 1: is great advice. They might not be able quite to

850
00:44:11,719 --> 00:44:16,240
Speaker 1: imagine doing everything you've done because you set a high

851
00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:19,520
Speaker 1: bar for getting back up and keep going, but I

852
00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:22,880
Speaker 1: think they will be inspired. You are an inspiration. I

853
00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:25,680
Speaker 1: am delighted to have this chance to talk with you,

854
00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:28,520
Speaker 1: and I just you know, wish you the very best,

855
00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:31,799
Speaker 1: Senator Tammy Duckworth's and just all the best to you.

856
00:44:32,120 --> 00:44:39,600
Speaker 1: Keep going. Thank you made I'm secretary my hero. Tammy

857
00:44:39,680 --> 00:44:46,160
Speaker 1: Duckworth's book is called every Day Is a Gift. Not

858
00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:50,080
Speaker 1: long after I spoke with Tammy, eight people, six of

859
00:44:50,120 --> 00:44:55,400
Speaker 1: them Asian American women, were murdered in Atlanta, Georgia. Tammy

860
00:44:55,480 --> 00:44:59,960
Speaker 1: has been outspoken in the wake of this terrible tragedy,

861
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:02,200
Speaker 1: so I asked her to join me again for a

862
00:45:02,360 --> 00:45:06,160
Speaker 1: quick check in to hear what's on her mind right now.

863
00:45:07,960 --> 00:45:14,160
Speaker 1: You know, after the horrific shootings in Atlanta on March sixteen,

864
00:45:14,560 --> 00:45:18,120
Speaker 1: you were one of the very first political leaders to

865
00:45:18,239 --> 00:45:22,960
Speaker 1: say that those shootings seemed racially motivated. Why was it

866
00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:27,160
Speaker 1: important for you to speak out about it. Well, there

867
00:45:27,160 --> 00:45:30,759
Speaker 1: are only two Asian women's senators from one thing, and

868
00:45:30,800 --> 00:45:34,319
Speaker 1: they're not that many Asian Americans in leadership positions in

869
00:45:34,360 --> 00:45:39,600
Speaker 1: this country, especially in high ranking government positions. And uh,

870
00:45:39,640 --> 00:45:41,879
Speaker 1: you know, having held a position like that, yourself being

871
00:45:41,920 --> 00:45:44,600
Speaker 1: one of the you know, few of not only women.

872
00:45:44,640 --> 00:45:46,520
Speaker 1: We've seen all the pictures where you're the only woman

873
00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:49,799
Speaker 1: at the table, right, Um, it's so important. And so

874
00:45:50,000 --> 00:45:53,080
Speaker 1: we'd seen a rise in anti Asian violence over this

875
00:45:53,120 --> 00:45:56,920
Speaker 1: past year because of Donald Trump's rhetoric and those Republicans

876
00:45:56,960 --> 00:45:59,880
Speaker 1: who chose to follow along with this leadership. In fact,

877
00:46:00,040 --> 00:46:03,759
Speaker 1: over uh, you know, three thousand more hate crimes that

878
00:46:03,840 --> 00:46:07,240
Speaker 1: were actually reported as hate crimes against Americans, a hundred

879
00:46:07,280 --> 00:46:10,359
Speaker 1: and fifty increase in our major cities just this past year.

880
00:46:10,920 --> 00:46:13,400
Speaker 1: And we know that hate crimes against Asians are very

881
00:46:13,480 --> 00:46:17,160
Speaker 1: much underreported, which is why, when you know what happened

882
00:46:17,160 --> 00:46:20,120
Speaker 1: Atlanta happened, I wanted to make sure that we put

883
00:46:20,160 --> 00:46:22,239
Speaker 1: the marker down that this looks like a hate crime

884
00:46:22,280 --> 00:46:25,799
Speaker 1: to me, especially since that police sergeant the first day

885
00:46:25,840 --> 00:46:28,280
Speaker 1: he did was said that, you know, was to defend

886
00:46:28,320 --> 00:46:30,359
Speaker 1: the shooters and he was having a bad day. I'm sorry,

887
00:46:30,360 --> 00:46:32,040
Speaker 1: I get bad days all the time, but I don't

888
00:46:32,040 --> 00:46:34,880
Speaker 1: go out and kill eight people, right. Well, I found

889
00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:40,120
Speaker 1: that just unbelievable in every respect. And when we look

890
00:46:40,320 --> 00:46:44,600
Speaker 1: at how crimes against Asian Americans have increased, as you

891
00:46:44,640 --> 00:46:48,480
Speaker 1: say so dramatically, why do you think that the story

892
00:46:48,560 --> 00:46:53,080
Speaker 1: of all these attacks, the physical attacks, the pushings, the beatings,

893
00:46:53,160 --> 00:46:58,200
Speaker 1: the spitting, the coughing, you know, the vandalism on businesses.

894
00:46:58,400 --> 00:47:01,080
Speaker 1: Why do you think it's taken so long for the

895
00:47:01,120 --> 00:47:04,280
Speaker 1: press to cover this and for you know, this kind

896
00:47:04,520 --> 00:47:08,839
Speaker 1: of terrible behavior to get the attention it deserves. I

897
00:47:08,880 --> 00:47:12,920
Speaker 1: think the racism against a PI is a little bit different.

898
00:47:12,960 --> 00:47:17,000
Speaker 1: It's got that whole model minority component to it, in

899
00:47:17,040 --> 00:47:20,120
Speaker 1: that there's a sense that Asians are doing just fine.

900
00:47:20,239 --> 00:47:24,560
Speaker 1: They're the doctors and the accountants and the scientists, and

901
00:47:24,640 --> 00:47:27,600
Speaker 1: so they don't need extra health, they don't really face discrimination.

902
00:47:28,080 --> 00:47:30,680
Speaker 1: And it also the hate crimes in the past year

903
00:47:30,719 --> 00:47:33,680
Speaker 1: that those statistics that I mentioned, two thirds of those

904
00:47:33,719 --> 00:47:37,719
Speaker 1: were against Asian women, and um Asian women are you know,

905
00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:45,480
Speaker 1: unfortunately stereotypist, meek and submissive and also hyper sexualized and

906
00:47:45,640 --> 00:47:48,040
Speaker 1: so uh, you know, there's this whole they got what

907
00:47:48,120 --> 00:47:50,080
Speaker 1: they're coming to them because they were working on a massage.

908
00:47:50,160 --> 00:47:52,120
Speaker 1: You know, they were giving massage, is that sort of thing.

909
00:47:52,560 --> 00:47:54,879
Speaker 1: So I do think that there's sort of several things

910
00:47:54,920 --> 00:47:58,680
Speaker 1: going on at once, and Asians have been this other category.

911
00:47:58,840 --> 00:48:01,879
Speaker 1: Asians were actually in tournament camps in the United States

912
00:48:02,600 --> 00:48:06,440
Speaker 1: any other way. It also is somewhat frustrating to me,

913
00:48:07,239 --> 00:48:10,120
Speaker 1: and I've spoken out about this for a year, that

914
00:48:10,160 --> 00:48:12,959
Speaker 1: there's not enough attention paid to the fact that two

915
00:48:13,040 --> 00:48:17,560
Speaker 1: million of our essential workers are Asian Americans and they've

916
00:48:17,600 --> 00:48:21,640
Speaker 1: been disproportionately affected by COVID. Nearly one third of the

917
00:48:21,719 --> 00:48:26,319
Speaker 1: nurses who have died from COVID nineteen were Filipino Americans,

918
00:48:26,400 --> 00:48:29,240
Speaker 1: even though they make up just four percent of our nurses.

919
00:48:29,880 --> 00:48:34,160
Speaker 1: And so part of the challenges, you know, expanding the presses,

920
00:48:34,440 --> 00:48:37,760
Speaker 1: understanding of what a story is, and trying to cover

921
00:48:38,239 --> 00:48:43,600
Speaker 1: what are very important activities and the consequences in the

922
00:48:43,680 --> 00:48:46,960
Speaker 1: community at large. Well, that's exactly, and I don't think

923
00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:49,120
Speaker 1: people connected the dots, and this is where we need,

924
00:48:49,280 --> 00:48:51,320
Speaker 1: you know, voices like yours and voices in the media

925
00:48:51,640 --> 00:48:54,279
Speaker 1: to connect the dots and say you can't call it

926
00:48:54,360 --> 00:48:56,920
Speaker 1: the Chinese virus. In fact, most of the cases in

927
00:48:56,960 --> 00:49:00,480
Speaker 1: the United States came from Italy. So it is just

928
00:49:00,520 --> 00:49:03,480
Speaker 1: a way to divide us, something Donald Trump was doing

929
00:49:03,600 --> 00:49:06,720
Speaker 1: to cover himself for the fact that he wasn't handling

930
00:49:06,760 --> 00:49:12,080
Speaker 1: this absolutely blame and Asian Americans are a frequent skipgoat

931
00:49:12,080 --> 00:49:15,800
Speaker 1: throughout our nation's history. But one thing, Well, finally, Tammy,

932
00:49:15,840 --> 00:49:18,800
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask, you know, as an Asian American woman,

933
00:49:19,080 --> 00:49:23,680
Speaker 1: as a mom, have you and your family experienced any

934
00:49:23,719 --> 00:49:28,799
Speaker 1: anti Asian bigotry this past year? My mother has My

935
00:49:28,880 --> 00:49:32,120
Speaker 1: mom is seventy nine, and Stuart drives and goes shopping

936
00:49:32,120 --> 00:49:34,560
Speaker 1: by herself, and that does all of that. But she's

937
00:49:34,560 --> 00:49:36,680
Speaker 1: come home from being at the grocery store where people

938
00:49:36,680 --> 00:49:39,319
Speaker 1: have said things to her, literally pushing her out of

939
00:49:39,320 --> 00:49:41,520
Speaker 1: the way, or you know, I think she said something like,

940
00:49:41,560 --> 00:49:43,040
Speaker 1: you know, somebody pushed out of the way the supermarket

941
00:49:43,080 --> 00:49:45,239
Speaker 1: said I don't want to catch your Chinese virus. You know,

942
00:49:45,520 --> 00:49:49,080
Speaker 1: Oh boy, that's sort of thing. Um, I'm much more visible,

943
00:49:49,239 --> 00:49:52,239
Speaker 1: so I don't get as much. I mean, I experienced

944
00:49:52,239 --> 00:49:54,920
Speaker 1: the racism. I mean I've been asked where are you

945
00:49:55,000 --> 00:49:57,879
Speaker 1: from while we're in uniform with this country? With her

946
00:49:57,880 --> 00:50:02,719
Speaker 1: flat on my computer point the I showed it right here. Well,

947
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:05,680
Speaker 1: I just want to thank you for your leadership once again.

948
00:50:05,760 --> 00:50:08,680
Speaker 1: You have, you know, just moved right to the forefront.

949
00:50:08,719 --> 00:50:12,920
Speaker 1: And I appreciate your not only raising these issues but

950
00:50:13,000 --> 00:50:16,640
Speaker 1: demanding action. You know, everybody needs to be you know,

951
00:50:16,760 --> 00:50:20,840
Speaker 1: paying much closer attention to what's happening in the Asian

952
00:50:20,880 --> 00:50:23,520
Speaker 1: American community. Is there anything you want to add before

953
00:50:23,560 --> 00:50:26,560
Speaker 1: we wrap up, Well, just thank you for for you know,

954
00:50:26,600 --> 00:50:28,680
Speaker 1: coming back and covering this. I think those of us

955
00:50:28,680 --> 00:50:32,799
Speaker 1: who are privileged to be able to have a soapbox

956
00:50:32,880 --> 00:50:35,680
Speaker 1: to stand on, we have to sort of exercise that

957
00:50:35,760 --> 00:50:38,600
Speaker 1: privilege in a way you know that recognized the responsibility

958
00:50:38,640 --> 00:50:41,440
Speaker 1: that comes with it. And sometimes it's speaking hard truths

959
00:50:41,520 --> 00:50:43,759
Speaker 1: to people and and talking about things and people are like, oh, no,

960
00:50:43,920 --> 00:50:45,839
Speaker 1: you know, we're not gonna pay attention that I've got

961
00:50:45,840 --> 00:50:48,399
Speaker 1: other things to worry about. Was no, this is important. Well,

962
00:50:48,560 --> 00:50:51,439
Speaker 1: one thing I never worry about is you speaking truth

963
00:50:51,520 --> 00:50:56,000
Speaker 1: to power, my friend, and keep it up, keep going.

964
00:50:56,280 --> 00:51:05,239
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. To learn more about what you

965
00:51:05,280 --> 00:51:08,520
Speaker 1: can do, please check out stop a a p I

966
00:51:08,680 --> 00:51:12,279
Speaker 1: hate dot org and to the a p I community.

967
00:51:12,360 --> 00:51:15,600
Speaker 1: Let me just say, you do not deserve to live

968
00:51:15,760 --> 00:51:19,440
Speaker 1: in fear for your safety or your families. You are

969
00:51:19,480 --> 00:51:23,120
Speaker 1: a vital part of this country and millions of people

970
00:51:23,520 --> 00:51:35,000
Speaker 1: are grieving with you and standing with you. You and

971
00:51:35,080 --> 00:51:37,720
Speaker 1: me both is brought to you by I Heart Radio.

972
00:51:38,320 --> 00:51:43,359
Speaker 1: We're produced by Julie Subran, Kathleen Russo and Lauren Peterson,

973
00:51:43,680 --> 00:51:49,600
Speaker 1: with help from Juma Aberdeen, Nicki etur Oscar Flores, Lindsay Hoffman,

974
00:51:50,040 --> 00:51:56,120
Speaker 1: Brianna Johnson, Nick Merrill, Rob Russo, and Lona Valmorrow. Our

975
00:51:56,239 --> 00:52:00,480
Speaker 1: engineer is Zack McNeice and the original music is by

976
00:52:00,560 --> 00:52:04,680
Speaker 1: Forest Gray. If you like you and me both spread

977
00:52:04,719 --> 00:52:08,120
Speaker 1: the word, post about it on social media, send it

978
00:52:08,160 --> 00:52:11,480
Speaker 1: to your friends, and make sure to hit the subscribe

979
00:52:11,520 --> 00:52:14,520
Speaker 1: button so you're the first to know when a new

980
00:52:14,600 --> 00:52:18,920
Speaker 1: episode drops. You can do that on I Heart radio, app,

981
00:52:19,360 --> 00:52:24,319
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. See you

982
00:52:24,400 --> 00:52:24,879
Speaker 1: next week.