Speaker 1: Hey y'all, Hey, what's up? And welcome to Let's Red
Speaker 1: Table that I'm Tracy t Brow and I'm Cara Pressley,
Speaker 1: and man, this episode, I just I'm excited to be
Speaker 1: bad with our L T. T family. But it's Brianna
Speaker 1: Taylor and how can you say her name without reaction,
Speaker 1: without emotion? Wow, it's a lot. First of all, it's
Speaker 1: hard as it was until we watched this episode, and
Speaker 1: to see all that we saw, I'm so grateful that
Speaker 1: they brought it to the table as they definitely need
Speaker 1: their voice. Heard all of them, every single family member.
Speaker 1: It was nice to see she was a girlfriend, she
Speaker 1: was a sister, she was a daughter. Because I think
Speaker 1: we hear the name and kind of disassociate. Some people
Speaker 1: may think it's just a one off situation, but it
Speaker 1: happens truly more than we know. And Cara in saying
Speaker 1: that at the end of the episode, I truly didn't
Speaker 1: know some of the names that been Crump said, I
Speaker 1: was so who is that? Right? Right now? Let me
Speaker 1: do my additional research, right And I was so angry.
Speaker 1: Now you know what, angry is not hard enough. Angry
Speaker 1: does not convey the frustration enough. I was living I
Speaker 1: was lava hot because I just thought, really, while I'm
Speaker 1: at home asleep that part. But I was happy to
Speaker 1: hear from boyfriends. There were some pieces of just the
Speaker 1: story and how it transpired I heard as well for
Speaker 1: the first time. For the first time, right, we knew,
Speaker 1: but we didn't know, and what it took to get
Speaker 1: those charges dismissed for him, the fact that he missed
Speaker 1: her funeral, That it was so many other pieces I
Speaker 1: was upset about, Okay, because to know that the disrespect
Speaker 1: for her life and the absolute disrespect shown to her mother, right,
Speaker 1: and that he wasn't told what happened. He had to
Speaker 1: see it on the news on TV. Okay, that while
Speaker 1: you're being processed, jail is already its own stressful situation.
Speaker 1: Now see, I'm gonna tell you something, car, I don't
Speaker 1: know nothing about jail. I don't know much about it.
Speaker 1: I haven't been there, but I do know it's it's
Speaker 1: not the happiest of places. Okay. Okay, you were saying that, like,
Speaker 1: I'm like, Okay, now do we need to talk about that,
Speaker 1: because you're like jealous. Already not happened, Like I don't
Speaker 1: know about jail. I know based on what. I understand
Speaker 1: that people are not happy about going to jail, So
Speaker 1: you're right that part. I was not trying to imply
Speaker 1: to you were a jailbird. That's not what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: I was just like you speaking the first person. So
Speaker 1: I want to honor that right. I know, I completely understand,
Speaker 1: but I just couldn't. I can't fathom, really, that's really
Speaker 1: what I want to say, like just to be grieving
Speaker 1: and then he's like freshly grieving, state of shock that
Speaker 1: part right, and being processed, and even after you understand
Speaker 1: what's going on, I can't go to any services. I mean,
Speaker 1: the whole thing had to be absolutely surreal for him,
Speaker 1: poor Kenneth. And then to that, no matter how much
Speaker 1: healing you go through and in the journey of that
Speaker 1: and how much progress in healing he makes, there's still
Speaker 1: the fight. There's still the civil fight, there's still all
Speaker 1: of these things that are just lingering on that make
Speaker 1: it so difficult. And that was just grieving me. I
Speaker 1: felt the burden of that, the weight of that for him,
Speaker 1: on top of having your last moments alone. I think
Speaker 1: about Brianna often and just even when the mom heard
Speaker 1: the officers tell her like she's still upstairs. There's so
Speaker 1: many pieces, there's layers to this one. It's just a lot.
Speaker 1: I can say this, and I've said this and almost
Speaker 1: every episode because we've had such a full weighted season
Speaker 1: with Red Table Talk, because we've had so many important
Speaker 1: topics that have been brought to the table absolutely necessary conversations.
Speaker 1: And this one, I think is even more powerful to
Speaker 1: me because I heard it at the table right because
Speaker 1: there were black women and black mothers and black daughters
Speaker 1: and sisters and cousins that we know are at the
Speaker 1: table in Jada and Gammy and Willow. That made it
Speaker 1: important for them to be in the safe space of
Speaker 1: the table to tell this story and then to share
Speaker 1: all these details that were not readily available to the public,
Speaker 1: all of the blatant disregard and disrespect and just lack
Speaker 1: of concern. And as much as we love to talk
Speaker 1: and have fun, it is important that our platform also
Speaker 1: gives some important awareness to the injustices that are happening
Speaker 1: in this country, and this Briana Taylor's story is one
Speaker 1: one of them. And the fact that they are still
Speaker 1: fighting to date for her, still fighting makes me sick
Speaker 1: to my summit. To tell you the truth fighting and
Speaker 1: that the corruption in the office is finally coming out,
Speaker 1: because that's the impressed sit in the part in a
Speaker 1: sad way that many times it just continues to stay
Speaker 1: covered up. This is the part that makes me want
Speaker 1: to literally, Okay, the governor, you see both of us.
Speaker 1: All we could do is say, the governor, really, these
Speaker 1: are officials. No, you know what, Okay, you know what.
Speaker 1: I know that you do your level best card to
Speaker 1: try to see the glass had fool and look on
Speaker 1: the sunny side. And the little blue bird, the little
Speaker 1: blue bird sings on your shoulder. I get it. I
Speaker 1: get it. However, Comma, the governor Kentucky is a black man.
Speaker 1: He is a black man, and the fact that the
Speaker 1: corruption went all the way up to him and that
Speaker 1: he covered it vile. And then he has the unmitigated
Speaker 1: goal to run for office again. Sorry, if you don't
Speaker 1: go take it's the audacity for me. I mean, don't
Speaker 1: have speechless, seriously, speech again. These are elected officials that
Speaker 1: we're supposed to be able to trust. And how it
Speaker 1: works long ago and far away, long ago and far
Speaker 1: away in the Luther band drops for us. Okay, come
Speaker 1: on now in the far away lands. We used to
Speaker 1: believe that when you had people that were the same skin,
Speaker 1: that they were kin, that they looked out for you.
Speaker 1: There was a whole neighborhood, the village, the whole mentality
Speaker 1: that people that were alike supported each other supposed to be.
Speaker 1: But the great Michael Jackson made a song about It's
Speaker 1: called they don't care about Us, and that's on so
Speaker 1: many levels. It's the first time I learned that it is.
Speaker 1: Unfortunately it is accurate. We're not gonna talk about the
Speaker 1: current people who got the initial c oh not giving
Speaker 1: that person any credit or no no time. But I
Speaker 1: will talk about the other person's name that starts with
Speaker 1: the sea, and that's Supreme Court Justice Aarence Thomas. That
Speaker 1: was the first lesson for me. That was the first
Speaker 1: lesson for me, car when I realized what he was
Speaker 1: really about, I was like, this fan has just broken
Speaker 1: my heart right and was like confused about it. Clarence Thomas,
Speaker 1: I was younger and working in corporate. Those are two
Speaker 1: instances that have me just realized everyone is not on
Speaker 1: the same wave length as you. Everyone does not think
Speaker 1: the same way, and you cannot convince them to change.
Speaker 1: We gotta have some change though we've got to do
Speaker 1: at some point. There has to be some change. So
Speaker 1: when you think about you hear stories like Brianna Taylor,
Speaker 1: what is your mental and emotional journey as you process
Speaker 1: what happened Carl? The first thing I think is that
Speaker 1: could have been me, especially when it's women and we
Speaker 1: don't see it many times. But between this and Sandra Bland,
Speaker 1: in the initial moment, I think, man, that could have
Speaker 1: been me. But then I think about my son like
Speaker 1: it just starts to run a certain strand of anxiety
Speaker 1: through my mind anytime the situation happens. But processing I
Speaker 1: try to put down the phone and not scroll as
Speaker 1: much during those times, or weights a little while so
Speaker 1: that some more details can come out, because you don't
Speaker 1: want to be overexposed and desensitized at the same time.
Speaker 1: And the overexposed really though, that's the main part, because
Speaker 1: I don't want to be oversaddened by it's it's something
Speaker 1: to hit you in your core. But what about your tracy?
Speaker 1: How do you process? They make me so angry. I
Speaker 1: have an activist spirit, like there's an activist animal, like
Speaker 1: the intercore of me. I want things to be well
Speaker 1: because it's just wrong. Wrong is wrong, no matter how
Speaker 1: you slice it. And so I know that the only
Speaker 1: way that we can correct wrongs in our country is
Speaker 1: through legislation and by being active. This whole term, this
Speaker 1: whole season, our whole country, all of it. To your point,
Speaker 1: we've had so much information, we have numbed out and
Speaker 1: the Yana Van's Aunt's way of saying, neck down dead,
Speaker 1: you know that people have really truly been decessitized because
Speaker 1: we have access to so much information. And because of that,
Speaker 1: I think that you either scroll past it or you're
Speaker 1: so hyper sensitive to it that there's no kind of
Speaker 1: meeting in the middle of it. So what I've tried
Speaker 1: to do is honor how I feel when I see
Speaker 1: things that happened like Brianna Taylor's story, and it's unfortunate
Speaker 1: that this was not an exception, right, this wasn't an
Speaker 1: asterisk and ad hoc. You know what I'm saying that
Speaker 1: this has happened so many times. It's that I have
Speaker 1: to just allow myself to feel how I feel. And
Speaker 1: this is truly going to like the feeling wheel of
Speaker 1: it and saying, Okay, now how do I really feel?
Speaker 1: Because you can I'm mad, Well, no, how do I
Speaker 1: really feel about it? Because this could have been my
Speaker 1: little sister, this could have been my daughter, and the
Speaker 1: hurt and are the hurt, And then I have to
Speaker 1: change the hurt to action and make sure that I
Speaker 1: am being part of the solution and not just talking
Speaker 1: about oh yeah, that's perfect, that that's that's really important.
Speaker 1: As we continue to get upset out here and just
Speaker 1: again continue to not be able to fathom howard feeling
Speaker 1: that it's happening, like the unbelief of it all, we
Speaker 1: have to make sure we're self assessed and go out
Speaker 1: here with the right perspective. And for me, the key
Speaker 1: is to ensure that I keep myself current on what's happening,
Speaker 1: or as current as I possibly can, and then to
Speaker 1: make sure that when I'm in settings where I'm with
Speaker 1: peers or more over and more importantly with younger family
Speaker 1: members car that I am stressing the importance to them
Speaker 1: that it is okay for you to have a voice,
Speaker 1: but you need to know how to use the voice
Speaker 1: and when it is appropriate. And then too, there's so
Speaker 1: many stories we hear in the media now about gun
Speaker 1: violence and deaths and murders, and it's it's hard it's
Speaker 1: hard to hear all these stories of black deaths. As
Speaker 1: you said, we're all trying to take things in our
Speaker 1: own hands. You got your own freedom fighters out here.
Speaker 1: But I have to continue to protect ourselves mentally, spiritually,
Speaker 1: emotionally from all these things. How do you protect yourself
Speaker 1: from additional trauma when news stories of black deaths appear
Speaker 1: in your news feed when you're scrolling, how do you
Speaker 1: prioritize your own piece well, also being outspoken? Yeah, you
Speaker 1: do know that outspoken part? Then I guess, oh, we
Speaker 1: see it. Actually, y'all follow Trady t bro It's it's hard,
Speaker 1: it really is, and there's a sadness. And so peace
Speaker 1: in the midst of chaos has to be intentional, right,
Speaker 1: it has to be intentional. And so part of what
Speaker 1: I try to do as a daily practice, in addition
Speaker 1: to my affirmations for myself, is to focus in. And
Speaker 1: I listened to a five to eight frequency that's a
Speaker 1: healing frequency. And it's a healing frequency. I think I've
Speaker 1: I think I've seen it referred to as a love frequency. Okay, well,
Speaker 1: healing and love, you know, I can see how, Yes,
Speaker 1: I do I try, And so speaking of that, I
Speaker 1: try to make sure that I don't know what the
Speaker 1: people are that are called and shout out to y'all
Speaker 1: that are in the crystals and stuff. I love that,
Speaker 1: but I don't practice it, but I appreciate it. I
Speaker 1: guess that's the way to say it. And so in
Speaker 1: terms of chakra, because of the way I am, my
Speaker 1: heart chakra is always needing some care. I go to
Speaker 1: sleep at night. To answer your question, long, long, long
Speaker 1: story short, I listened to that by to eight frequency
Speaker 1: at night before I go sleep. Good. I love a
Speaker 1: good sleep meditation. Y'all listening to me trying to eight listen.
Speaker 1: I prefer a nice guided meditation sometimes because my mind
Speaker 1: will tell my mom started looking like the social train
Speaker 1: scramble board. I just just thoughts everywhere was so train.
Speaker 1: So yes, I have to kind of pull my scrambled thoughts.
Speaker 1: And then that's the other part. We find a way
Speaker 1: to laugh, We find a way to release and to
Speaker 1: have some some spark. There's a golden thread inside everywheb
Speaker 1: and so find an opportunity to make a connection and
Speaker 1: to somehow get some joy out of your day. Every day.
Speaker 1: That's every day amazing. That's what that is. This red
Speaker 1: Table Talk episode was important and impactful, but it was
Speaker 1: also heartbreaking and possibly triggering for people. So with our episode,
Speaker 1: we wanted to give our community a gift, which means
Speaker 1: we're doing things a little differently today. We don't have
Speaker 1: a guest, but we do have some stories from our community,
Speaker 1: some resources for you, and performances by black spoken word
Speaker 1: artists who are taking tragedy and turning it into art.
Speaker 1: You know, I love that because while we started out,
Speaker 1: it's like back to the future. Right, this is great.
Speaker 1: It's been a while since it's just been the two
Speaker 1: of us, and I love, love, love having guests on right.
Speaker 1: I am looking forward to us having this episode in
Speaker 1: this format too, So absolutely, let's get into it. We've
Speaker 1: received some emails specifically in response to Red Table Talks
Speaker 1: Brianna Taylor episode, and we're going to share these stories
Speaker 1: with you. Emily wrote that Brianna's story resonates with her
Speaker 1: because she has endured a four year long battle in
Speaker 1: court waiting for her father's murderer to be held accountable.
Speaker 1: She says, our voices weren't heard so many let downs
Speaker 1: from the state who represented my dead father to the
Speaker 1: very end. They played with our emotions that is hurtful
Speaker 1: as well when you hear different stories. I just it
Speaker 1: to speak directly to Emily to thank you for sharing
Speaker 1: with us, thank you for being with us, and then
Speaker 1: we recognize that our voices are not heard right and
Speaker 1: I want to sincerely share my sympathy with you and
Speaker 1: with your family for the loss and the tragic loss
Speaker 1: of your father. It's just horrible. It's horrible. And then
Speaker 1: have someone literally put you in a position where you
Speaker 1: have to watch, you have to bear witness to them
Speaker 1: not honoring what they know to be true, and then
Speaker 1: not give you in your family justice. It's horrible. It
Speaker 1: just gets heavy. Story after story after story. We're just
Speaker 1: gonna keep pressing forward. But thank you Emily for sharing.
Speaker 1: We do hear you, we do thank you, and we
Speaker 1: had another share and I'm so grateful to Emily and
Speaker 1: to Katisha. Katisha brought to our attention a recent tragedy.
Speaker 1: On October six, Jahim McMillan, a fifteen year old black teenager,
Speaker 1: was shot by police and Gulfport, Mississippi, and the parking
Speaker 1: lot of a family dollar store. McMillan's mother said that
Speaker 1: when she arrived at the store after her son was shot.
Speaker 1: Officers handcuffed her and walked her across the street. In
Speaker 1: her email, Katitia says, we have been protesting. Stuff like
Speaker 1: this happens in Mississippi often and nothing gets done about it.
Speaker 1: I'm so fed up. I'm speechless. First of all, I
Speaker 1: am I'm absolutely speechless. There's so much I want to
Speaker 1: talk about. But I want to say this that you
Speaker 1: can read more about Jaheem and our episode description or
Speaker 1: online in The Guardian, ABC News or other news channels.
Speaker 1: And I encourage you to do that because you think
Speaker 1: about this now. Car Your son's twenty, my son's forty,
Speaker 1: Your son has gone to family dollar gets shot. You
Speaker 1: show up, I show up on a scene, and then
Speaker 1: we're handcuffed and walked across the street. Why are you
Speaker 1: handcuffing me? It's the assuming that I'm wrong for me?
Speaker 1: Why am I handcuffed? I'm a human, I'm a mother
Speaker 1: whose son was shot. And I am grateful that people
Speaker 1: are protesting. I am grateful to hear that. And I
Speaker 1: wish you, Emily and your family justice and Jaheim McMillan's
Speaker 1: family absolute justice. Thank you so much, Emily and Katitia
Speaker 1: for writing into us. Yes, thank you both, and you
Speaker 1: can send us an email at Let's Red Table that
Speaker 1: at red table talk dot com, or sound off on
Speaker 1: our speak Pipe page at speak pipe dot com slash
Speaker 1: Let's Red Table that we are always here to listen
Speaker 1: to what you have to say, the virtual Red Table.
Speaker 1: That's what it's all about. It's time for our first
Speaker 1: spoken word piece. This is poet, author and speaker ri
Speaker 1: l a story in Her Peace, Remember Her? Hi everyone,
Speaker 1: my name is Ariel Astoria. I'm a multi passionate artist, poet,
Speaker 1: author and actor. For me, turning tragedy into art means
Speaker 1: that I am feeling and feeling deeply. I often think
Speaker 1: that art is birthed out of tragedy oftentimes, and it's
Speaker 1: in those moments when we feel and feel deeply, when
Speaker 1: we experience grief and pain that we cannot help but
Speaker 1: exude something beautiful. That's our This first piece I will
Speaker 1: be sharing with you is titled Remember Her. I wrote
Speaker 1: this poem in honor of Brianna Taylor. Say Name, Say
Speaker 1: you say sayame? Be be? Oh, say name? Where is
Speaker 1: her protest? Where is the rage burning for the female body?
Speaker 1: Not televised, not recorded? Her death? Not a silent act
Speaker 1: A violent exchange, a bullet to skin eight times, her screams,
Speaker 1: her cry still echoing in the walls of an apartment
Speaker 1: months home now a battle ground. She was a brief moment,
Speaker 1: a hashtag, her life, a brief moment, the fury diminished
Speaker 1: to fuse her murderer's homesteading comfortably, her body home, sitting
Speaker 1: unrest underground. Do not forget about the black woman. Do
Speaker 1: not forget about the chest that kept you in, the
Speaker 1: hands that held you. They say seven is the number
Speaker 1: of completion. So the irony of you not experiencing your
Speaker 1: twenty seventh birthday sits as acidic as the blood seeped
Speaker 1: into your apartment carpets. We are one year apart. Seven
Speaker 1: was the year I found myself. Was a year I
Speaker 1: found how to re speak the name God on my tongue,
Speaker 1: The year I found love, the year I lived life
Speaker 1: to the fullest. Your life cut short, unplugged, wiped from
Speaker 1: the story. I pray you lived your best year. I
Speaker 1: pray you found yourself before you lost her. I pray
Speaker 1: that as the bullets hit you, that God held you
Speaker 1: all in the same breath while you breathe your last breath.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry your life could not have been seen, this
Speaker 1: fullness could not have reached completion. Your body may be buried, love,
Speaker 1: but your name will not be. Okay, first, I gotta
Speaker 1: get myself together, because you know I'm over here wiping
Speaker 1: away tears. You know I'm grateful for tears, because hey,
Speaker 1: it lets me know that I can mourn. I can.
Speaker 1: I can mourn her, and I can say aloud, Brianna Taylor,
Speaker 1: I miss you and you mattered, your life mattered, And
Speaker 1: it is just hard. It's hard to be in a
Speaker 1: position where you hear such profound words. And that spoken
Speaker 1: word was beautiful. It spoke to what happened, the tray
Speaker 1: chick horrific death and her short life, short short, twenty
Speaker 1: six years is no time. And I literally it hit me.
Speaker 1: I could have been her mother and anti god mother,
Speaker 1: co worker. I have a niece named Brianna, Oh, and
Speaker 1: she is in that same age group. It just hit
Speaker 1: me and it hurts. But I am so grateful too
Speaker 1: to hear it and the habit delivered in such a
Speaker 1: beautiful and eloquent way that this spoken word was delivered,
Speaker 1: so that the tragic, the trag I mean, I just
Speaker 1: keep saying that word literally but it is necessary to
Speaker 1: be able to articulate it in more than one way. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: And so I'm grateful for this artist that she was
Speaker 1: able to to give us that, because if any other
Speaker 1: one person hears it, who doesn't understand the plight of
Speaker 1: Brianna Taylor's family or mother and doesn't have the opportunity
Speaker 1: to say, Okay, what happened, it was an accident, or
Speaker 1: try to somehow minimize the experience when you hear that,
Speaker 1: there's no way to deny it. Yeah, it's I want
Speaker 1: to say, these situations are harder than a random shooting
Speaker 1: or because this is the cause and from officials that
Speaker 1: we trust, and the further we get into our future,
Speaker 1: the more we need to continually say that the good
Speaker 1: guys do not always just wear the uniform. They're not
Speaker 1: just always coming to save the day. And and I
Speaker 1: think that's the harder place for people who are the
Speaker 1: upstanding citizen and trying to look at the bright side
Speaker 1: of things, like myself, because the true side is that
Speaker 1: the bright side can be the dark side to how
Speaker 1: do I tell my grandson and granddaughter you really can't
Speaker 1: trust every police officer that part when they're supposed to
Speaker 1: protect and serve. How do you say that? But we
Speaker 1: do have to acknowledge it because it's the truth. What
Speaker 1: do you how do you give them that? How do
Speaker 1: they even process that? How do you reconcile that with? Okay,
Speaker 1: I know I'm supposed to call the police if something happens,
Speaker 1: but I can't trust the police. Will the police see me?
Speaker 1: That's why the movie When They See Us was so important.
Speaker 1: Those were truly babies. Brianna was still a baby. Mm hmm. Yeah.
Speaker 1: This that was That was a beautiful piece, absolutely beautiful. Okay,
Speaker 1: I've got to get myself together, so we're gonna take
Speaker 1: a quick break, but when we get back, we'll be
Speaker 1: sharing seven ways you can make a difference in the
Speaker 1: world today. And I'm gonna blow my note okay for you.
Speaker 1: Here are seven ways you can make an impact. This
Speaker 1: is so important. I'm excited about these because we are
Speaker 1: all trying to make an impact where we can number one, vote, vote,
Speaker 1: vote and vote and vote and vote in every election. Okay,
Speaker 1: stop just waiting on the big ones. Vote for all
Speaker 1: the people, all the offices, national Okay votes, y'all. This
Speaker 1: is one of the most important ways for our voices
Speaker 1: to be heard the twenties two United States and mid
Speaker 1: term elections are on November eight, not the seventh, not
Speaker 1: the ninth. Eight. Register to vote and find early voting
Speaker 1: locations in your state at vote dot org. Another great
Speaker 1: way to support the movement is to volunteer to register voters.
Speaker 1: That part, and I'm gonna tell you what, you also
Speaker 1: need to go to vote dot org and check your
Speaker 1: registration status. Why we're talking about that because I am emphatic,
Speaker 1: as you almost know. If you have not followed me,
Speaker 1: then you haven't seen it. But if you do, you
Speaker 1: know that I talked about how important it is to
Speaker 1: be registered, informed, and engaged. But what I can tell
Speaker 1: you is that there are literally examples when I was
Speaker 1: registering voters where current voters have been purged out of
Speaker 1: the system and long term non voters were still active.
Speaker 1: So go to vote dot org and make sure you
Speaker 1: check your status before it's time for you to go
Speaker 1: and vote, because it will be too late if you don't.
Speaker 1: Number two, donate, donate, donate, Donate to causes that need funding,
Speaker 1: and especially look for grassroots organizations that may need more
Speaker 1: help than national organizations. Oh that's a good one. I
Speaker 1: love to donate locally right people you actually see in
Speaker 1: your community. Super important. Number three, support families directly. You
Speaker 1: can usually find crowdsource campaigns online when a tragedy occurs,
Speaker 1: so just triple check that the campaign is legit and
Speaker 1: that the money will go straight to the effective family.
Speaker 1: So she researched. That's good. Number four. Show up to
Speaker 1: a protest. Yes. Protests are so incredibly important to the
Speaker 1: visibility and success of civil rights campaigns. Carr, have you
Speaker 1: ever participating in the protest? Yes? Actually led a protest? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I did when Trayvon Martin had his tragedy, unfortunately a
Speaker 1: few years ago. And I say a few because it
Speaker 1: literally feels like it's still just happens. But the ironic parties.
Speaker 1: He was born on my birthday and died on my
Speaker 1: son's birthday. Um, just the dates, and we just were like, oh,
Speaker 1: we have to do something about this. So I got
Speaker 1: my son and my nephew, we made posters and we
Speaker 1: filled out all the city paperwork and we went out
Speaker 1: there and we had about a thousand people coming. We
Speaker 1: were on the front page of the paper, the Richmond
Speaker 1: Times Dispatch. So shout out to my city for supporting
Speaker 1: me and I'm happy I was able to do that.
Speaker 1: It was super important at the time because my son
Speaker 1: likes skills. I like skills. I just it was It's
Speaker 1: bigger than the candy and the small nuances of the case,
Speaker 1: but it was. It just touched home. That's fantastic. I
Speaker 1: don't know what I asked them. I think I know
Speaker 1: the answer. What do you think I was gonna say?
Speaker 1: Tony Brackton sang a song about it. You want to
Speaker 1: hear it? Here you go? How many ways? Right? Number five?
Speaker 1: Educate yourself, read a book, listen to a podcast, whichever
Speaker 1: way you learn best. Just make sure you know the
Speaker 1: correct history and do the work to combat your own prejudices. Yes,
Speaker 1: that's super important, especially in the day of the scroll.
Speaker 1: We will scroll past just the heading and think we
Speaker 1: got the whole articles. So thank you got the whole shebanging.
Speaker 1: And we're also super creative. We can create stories just
Speaker 1: from your headlines. It's like, okay, no, that's not what
Speaker 1: that was. So make sure you read research and learn. Yes.
Speaker 1: Number six shot from BIPOP creator and business owners. BIPOC
Speaker 1: stands for Black Indigenous People of color. Where and who
Speaker 1: you are shopping from matters you can use directories like
Speaker 1: support Black Owned to find black owned businesses in your
Speaker 1: area at support Black Owned dot Com. I love that. So, Cora,
Speaker 1: what are you some of your favorite black owned businesses?
Speaker 1: Oh Man, that's a few locally. I love them. Clothing business,
Speaker 1: it feels good to say men wearing black owned clothes.
Speaker 1: So shout out to Redborn Kings, shout out to Pretty
Speaker 1: Monster Zoo. That's one of my girlfriends who has her
Speaker 1: own T shirt line, Very Bold t Shirts and Mama
Speaker 1: Joe's collection. I love them. They're all local in the
Speaker 1: DMV and Richmond areas. What about you? There's so many
Speaker 1: fantastic black owned businesses, and I have to be intentional
Speaker 1: and and shout out three black owned businesses that are
Speaker 1: local to Memphis and that are women lead. One is
Speaker 1: Virtual Busions Brand at ww up your dot bb brand
Speaker 1: dot com. They do brand management for projects and virtual assistance.
Speaker 1: I absolutely adore Pops Colonel Gourmet Popcorn. I actually gave
Speaker 1: some of that popcorn to Jada last year when we
Speaker 1: came to Calabasas at Pops Colonels dot com. And then
Speaker 1: No Definition Streetwear is phenomenal. She started this business and
Speaker 1: has just taken off with no definition dot com. It's
Speaker 1: street where it's jeans, it's sweats, it's t shirts, it's earrings,
Speaker 1: and she makes all of them herself. Phenomenal black owned businesses.
Speaker 1: Check them out. Love that love that. We all like
Speaker 1: to look at the snacks. So I need to come
Speaker 1: back to Memphis. This is what I'm hearing right that
Speaker 1: eats eats number seven last, but definitely not least. Sign petitions.
Speaker 1: So whenever you see one, take two minutes out of
Speaker 1: your day to read about it and sign it if
Speaker 1: you definitely agree with it. We have a list of
Speaker 1: impactful petitions you can sign today, organizations you can donate to,
Speaker 1: and transfer woman of books to read all In our
Speaker 1: episode description, I'm super excited to introduce our next spoken
Speaker 1: word artist because he is the first poet laureate from
Speaker 1: my hometown of Richmond, Virginia, Roscoe Burnham's. He is here
Speaker 1: with his peace metaphysics, one on one for white privilege.
Speaker 1: I am Douglas Powell, artistically known as Roscoe Burnham's, and
Speaker 1: I am the first poet laureate of Richardmond, Virginia. Using
Speaker 1: trauma as a vehicle to create art is how we
Speaker 1: connect to people. It's how we relate. Everyone knows pain,
Speaker 1: and whether it's personal trauma or cultural trauma. Capturing these feelings,
Speaker 1: these moments, these emotions into a poem or a song,
Speaker 1: or onto a canvas or into fashion resonates with people
Speaker 1: in a different way. And for people who haven't necessarily
Speaker 1: experienced that type of trauma, it gives them a better
Speaker 1: understanding of who you are and what you've experienced. And
Speaker 1: for people who have experienced that type of trauma, it
Speaker 1: makes them feel less alone. Everyone wants to be understood,
Speaker 1: everyone wants to be heard, Everyone wants to be loved.
Speaker 1: So this poem addresses privilege in America when it comes
Speaker 1: to race. The poem is entitled Metaphysics one on one
Speaker 1: Metaphysics one oh one for white privilege. So, like, if
Speaker 1: a tree falls in the forest and the people in
Speaker 1: the forest claim not to hear it didn't make a sound.
Speaker 1: What if that tree was rosewood burning? What if that
Speaker 1: tree were planted right in the middle of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Speaker 1: What if that tree were dark shade of brown? Would
Speaker 1: it matter then? Or are you one of those all
Speaker 1: trees matter kind of people? What if the tree didn't
Speaker 1: just fall, What if the tree were chopped down. What
Speaker 1: if the axe was targeting that tree? Now? What if
Speaker 1: that tree made up about the forest, but for some
Speaker 1: reason made up six of the caskets. What if that
Speaker 1: tree had both of his branches stretched like the first
Speaker 1: day of spring? What if that tree tried to comply
Speaker 1: and still died? Is his death still a death? Is
Speaker 1: it death? A death when no one recognizes the life.
Speaker 1: Metaphysics is a broad philosophy full of questions, challenges what
Speaker 1: we think is real? How things can be both seen
Speaker 1: and unseen at once? Like sound, like breath, like god,
Speaker 1: like death? Like people of color in America? Now the
Speaker 1: nature of being? That is the perennial topic in metaphysics,
Speaker 1: and when discussing race poses a question that only white
Speaker 1: people get to ask themselves in this country, what does
Speaker 1: it mean to be? And that's privilege. The ability to
Speaker 1: question and then decide, the ability to create the standard
Speaker 1: or the norm and live in it without even knowing it,
Speaker 1: the ability to tell. Because people of color and America
Speaker 1: are often told what to be be. Cargo, be commodity,
Speaker 1: be cash, crop be free, but this water fountain free,
Speaker 1: be this side of the border be underfunded, underprivileged, underrepresented,
Speaker 1: but overwhelmed. Be affirmative action because they swear that you
Speaker 1: got it by affirmative action, But honestly, affirmative action has
Speaker 1: helped more white women than any other demographic. So really
Speaker 1: it's um be just enough to make a campus look diverse.
Speaker 1: Be hired, Be just enough to make an office look diverse,
Speaker 1: and be voting when they need you, voting when it's
Speaker 1: convenient and when they don't. Be gerrymandered out of a voice.
Speaker 1: Be quiet, because if it doesn't make a sound, well
Speaker 1: then it doesn't exist. This country is all white noise,
Speaker 1: all static and erasure. And just because you didn't create
Speaker 1: the interference doesn't mean you don't benefit from it. But
Speaker 1: you can't make the struggle. In my skin of theory,
Speaker 1: we are not a hypothesis. We are absolute. We are
Speaker 1: an axiom. We are an undeniable truth. And the truth
Speaker 1: is it isn't always rebel flags and maga hats that
Speaker 1: is our plight. Sometimes it's the people standing idly by
Speaker 1: pretending they don't hear us fall. Oh my goodness, Roscoe
Speaker 1: does it again? That was amazing? Yes, it was, oh
Speaker 1: okay powerful? What if we were a tree? I love
Speaker 1: that because that's truly what we are. We are strength,
Speaker 1: we are multi leveled, we are used, we are useful.
Speaker 1: We are nature, and we are natural. We are trees.
Speaker 1: It was the tree targeted by acts for me, tree
Speaker 1: targeted by an ask and which acts several and who's
Speaker 1: yielding it. It's got to take it down. I mean,
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you Roscoe for that powerful, powerful piece,
Speaker 1: prolific words, beautiful. Absolutely, We're gonna take a short break
Speaker 1: right now, and when we return, we'll welcome mental health
Speaker 1: expert Britney cop who is going to dispel some common
Speaker 1: myths about therapy for our mental health moment. All right,
Speaker 1: we are back with another vitally important mental health moment.
Speaker 1: I'm excited about this new part of the show. It's
Speaker 1: a nice moment to just talk to someone successful. And
Speaker 1: today we get to welcome licensed therapist Brittney cob to
Speaker 1: Let's Red table back. Brittney works as a consultant social
Speaker 1: media influencer to promote mental wellness, educate others, and fight
Speaker 1: this thing was associated with therapy and mental health, especially
Speaker 1: in the black community. She's here today to help us
Speaker 1: better understand the obstacles people face and caring for their
Speaker 1: mental health and hopefully we can knock a few of
Speaker 1: those them for ourselves and our listeners today. So thank
Speaker 1: you Brittany for joining us, Thank you for having me. Yes,
Speaker 1: we appreciate you. It's nice to see you at this
Speaker 1: virtual red table. Britta, appreciate y'all invited me here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: no problem, Thank you so much for accepting that invite. Right. Well,
Speaker 1: you are an advocate for mental health in the black community,
Speaker 1: and we know that treatments like therapy and prescriptions for antidepressants, Um,
Speaker 1: sometimes they're considered unnecessary, or they may seem like too much,
Speaker 1: or it's just not something we're used to. Often, Um,
Speaker 1: there's the idea that we just need to be strong
Speaker 1: and get through it. Right. So, what hurdles do the
Speaker 1: black community face when they're seeing getting mental health care
Speaker 1: outside of what we just listed, right, Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: so many. I think the ones that stick out to
Speaker 1: me the most, the first one really is just there's
Speaker 1: a lot of shame still. You know, there's so many
Speaker 1: harmful beliefs and messages that we have internalized develout mental
Speaker 1: health and about therapy. Also like internal beliefs about opening
Speaker 1: up to people and sharing being vulnerable and admitting that
Speaker 1: we don't have all the answers we need help, and
Speaker 1: so a lot of that shame we carry into adulthood,
Speaker 1: and patterns we learn in childhood just trying to survive,
Speaker 1: we carry into adulthood, and those patterns like will go
Speaker 1: completely against what actually helps us thrive and connect and
Speaker 1: build healthy relationships with people. And so until we can
Speaker 1: like recondition our brains to to to not see mental
Speaker 1: health and asking for help as a negative thing, you know,
Speaker 1: I think that's that's one of the biggest hurdles that
Speaker 1: I see right now. Another one is distrust in the
Speaker 1: medical and in the mental health field. You know, the
Speaker 1: system of mental health. It wasn't form taking into consideration
Speaker 1: our culture, our ethnicity, race, these are important things to consider,
Speaker 1: and if there's a lack of cultural sensitivity, there's a
Speaker 1: lack of trust. Oh wow, yeah, that's that's very very true. Now.
Speaker 1: I love that you said that, because I think sometimes
Speaker 1: we do just stay with our parameters of what we know.
Speaker 1: What happens in my house stays in this house, and
Speaker 1: there are so many other things on top of what
Speaker 1: we're used to that need to just be unlearned. Right,
Speaker 1: We need to learn new language and new ways of
Speaker 1: doing things. Yeah. Absolutely, I appreciate that transparency, because man,
Speaker 1: do we meet this topic. Yes, the stigmas rounding mental
Speaker 1: health care so often cause people to shy away from
Speaker 1: some sort of treatment. We just talked about that a
Speaker 1: little bit. So we would love for you to debunk
Speaker 1: some of these misconceptions for us. I'm gonna ramble off
Speaker 1: a list and I want you to to let us
Speaker 1: know what what would be like the opposite language. How
Speaker 1: can we debunk this? So let me get started. Number one,
Speaker 1: if I seek therapy it means I'm weak? What does
Speaker 1: it actually mean if you seek there? Yeah? Yeah, again,
Speaker 1: like that's a perfect example of what we've been conditioned
Speaker 1: to believe about these things. But I do think therapy
Speaker 1: can be really scary because it's exposing, it's vulnerable, and
Speaker 1: so a part of the work is again redefining what's
Speaker 1: normal to us. And so for me, seeking therapy is
Speaker 1: a sign that you care about your well being, you
Speaker 1: want to make changes, you want to feel better, and
Speaker 1: that takes courage to actually say I can't do this alone.
Speaker 1: That's wrong, right. Oh. I love that somebody's gonna set
Speaker 1: themselves free. You are not weak. You're actually courageous for
Speaker 1: saying something's got to change. Okay, I love that We're
Speaker 1: have to a good start. Number two, A therapist will
Speaker 1: just try to blame my parents for my problems. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a that's a major one to So therapy is
Speaker 1: not about blaming anybody, you know, it's really just about
Speaker 1: understanding the family system that you come from, who you
Speaker 1: come from, because those things can be impacting how you
Speaker 1: show up today and in the present in your life,
Speaker 1: in your relationships. Those things can be really impactful when
Speaker 1: it comes to just building relationships and thriving. And yeah,
Speaker 1: it can be difficult. Some therapy is not really even
Speaker 1: about going deep into your childhood. It just depends on
Speaker 1: what you're going to therapy for. But it's definitely not
Speaker 1: about blaming anyone, right, I was gonna say that to
Speaker 1: a different So maybe what you're in the room for.
Speaker 1: But I love that it's not about blame, just more
Speaker 1: so understanding, right what happened? Right? A love that alright.
Speaker 1: Number three. If I have a faith background, I don't
Speaker 1: need therapy. This one kind of resonates with me as well.
Speaker 1: Like I hear a lot of people say, just pray
Speaker 1: about it, you know, pray more, worry less, Like we
Speaker 1: have all these plaques and phrases and things and quotes,
Speaker 1: and how does faith really tap into therapy? Yeah, So
Speaker 1: therapists are hell to an ethical standard and a big
Speaker 1: part of that standard is meeting people where they are
Speaker 1: and respecting all of who they are and what makes
Speaker 1: them who they are. And so religion and spirituality can
Speaker 1: be a really big source of strength for many people,
Speaker 1: and so that is something that can be built into
Speaker 1: your treatment. And when people are looking for a therapists,
Speaker 1: it's important to know what's important to you when you're
Speaker 1: looking for someone. When you're looking for a therapist, pull
Speaker 1: up their bio, read their information, what they stand for,
Speaker 1: what are trained in, call them for consultation, And within
Speaker 1: the consultation you can ask questions like, how do you
Speaker 1: feel about spirituality and therapy together? How can you support
Speaker 1: me and implement my personal beliefs and practices into the
Speaker 1: work that we're gonna do together. I love that. I
Speaker 1: love that because like, if there's no common ground, then
Speaker 1: it's okay too to say maybe this therapist isn't for me. Right, So,
Speaker 1: I remember when I started therapy, I was very heavy
Speaker 1: on the fact that I want someone who has children,
Speaker 1: at least one and preferably a team because I was
Speaker 1: going through it. You should have some standards so you
Speaker 1: can say exactly what you need in therapy. That's so important. Yes,
Speaker 1: I like that. Okay, another one. Antidepressants will change my personality.
Speaker 1: That's definitely a stick. Why do you feel about that? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm a huge advocate of medication, but it's not for everyone.
Speaker 1: Antidepressants will have side effects, but the purpose of taking
Speaker 1: medication is to help alleviate symptoms and change how you
Speaker 1: feel in a positive way. And so if there's concerns
Speaker 1: about a changing your personality and it's a negative change,
Speaker 1: it's important to have those conversations with your doctor. The
Speaker 1: right doctor is going to listen to you and they're
Speaker 1: gonna want to hear your concerns, right right. I love that.
Speaker 1: I love that you said that because if there is
Speaker 1: a change you don't like, you can speak up, right.
Speaker 1: I think people think if they start, they have to
Speaker 1: be stuck with it. And I love that you said
Speaker 1: it's supposed to change them for the greater or to
Speaker 1: become their best self. Because I think people may have
Speaker 1: a fear of losing like themselves right and changing altogether right,
Speaker 1: legit fears too, right, Well, thank you for helping us
Speaker 1: debunk some of these misconceptions. I feel like we just
Speaker 1: have to have more conversations to help keep the conversation
Speaker 1: going forward. Right. So another thing I feel like, I
Speaker 1: think one reason people fear therapy is the idea that
Speaker 1: I'm just supposed to tell my secrets to a stranger. Right,
Speaker 1: It's just very generalized. So what is your advice to
Speaker 1: someone with this fear? How should they build on that
Speaker 1: trust with their new therapist. I think the first thing
Speaker 1: is just recognizing that being afraid is normal. It's normal
Speaker 1: for therapy to be a scary process meeting someone for
Speaker 1: the first time, especially not knowing what to expect, what
Speaker 1: they're gonna ask, what is the process going to be like?
Speaker 1: I would also say, like, it's not really your job
Speaker 1: to build trust with your therapist. It's your therapist job
Speaker 1: to build trust with you and create an environment where
Speaker 1: you feel safe enough to open up, and that's gonna
Speaker 1: take time. So I would encourage people to just be
Speaker 1: open to the process, and a part of that is
Speaker 1: accepting that it's going to be scary. I would encourage
Speaker 1: them to be open to speaking with the therapist about
Speaker 1: some of those fears because the therapist is able to
Speaker 1: work with you and help ease some of those fears
Speaker 1: that you have. Okay, I love that though. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's all about working together, and I think it just
Speaker 1: feels like for some people like they're going into this,
Speaker 1: especially if they're already coming into therapy feeling alone, they
Speaker 1: may feel like it's just another task on my list
Speaker 1: that I have to do alone. But what I'm hearing
Speaker 1: is it's definitely a team work environment. And again, your
Speaker 1: therapist should help to build that trust with you as well,
Speaker 1: so hopefully they'll have some strategies that can help many
Speaker 1: different people. I know there's not just one way to
Speaker 1: do this therapy thing, so hopefully we all have some
Speaker 1: new good perspectives about it today. Well, thank you so
Speaker 1: much for coming to the Virtual Red Table Brittany and
Speaker 1: sharing your insights with us. You can learn more from
Speaker 1: Brittany about these topics and others at a Black Female
Speaker 1: Therapist dot org. Thank you, Brittany, thank you so much
Speaker 1: for having me. We are ending this episode with some
Speaker 1: hope and joy. Oh we need a will help enjoy.
Speaker 1: This is ariale Estoria once again, this time with her
Speaker 1: poem this Here Joy. I wrote this here Joy in
Speaker 1: a season where I was overwhelmed with all of the
Speaker 1: grief and trauma we experience as black people, and I
Speaker 1: just needed a breath of fresh air, so I wrote one.
Speaker 1: When black people tap into joy, Heaven's gates open, and
Speaker 1: what you feel is not the wind but angels dancing
Speaker 1: in the trees, singing symphonies of this here is on
Speaker 1: earth as it is in heaven. Floodgates are opened. Tears
Speaker 1: may fall, but not in vain, no trace of pain,
Speaker 1: just the release that joy can be felt without guilt
Speaker 1: or wondering when the door will come knocking with anything
Speaker 1: but good news. See this here is good news too.
Speaker 1: When black people tap into joy, this is the sweetest
Speaker 1: of size, a sigh that has not been held by
Speaker 1: generations of breaths not breathed, a sigh that releases the
Speaker 1: stifled screams Ei. There is no room here for unnecessary opinions.
Speaker 1: When black people tap into joy, it is worship. It
Speaker 1: is all of the symphonies colliding into one smile, one dimple,
Speaker 1: one pure, bless filled, blessed like joy. That is one
Speaker 1: thing that cannot be taken away, this joy, this felt
Speaker 1: in the depth of our being, an audacious, fool and
Speaker 1: courageous and the greatest prayer we've ever prayed. When black
Speaker 1: people tap into joy, our bodies can't help but dance
Speaker 1: and shake and move the moment, the movement when something
Speaker 1: takes over your whole being and the weight of racism
Speaker 1: and violent systems that were never meant to hold you
Speaker 1: finally take a back seat and cannot claim this joy,
Speaker 1: and we dance I mean off, and we're allowed when
Speaker 1: we want to be. Because when black people tap into joy,
Speaker 1: that there there's a holy moment. And what do you
Speaker 1: do in the sight of such sacredness? You take it in,
Speaker 1: but you cannot take it away. It's beautiful. I love
Speaker 1: that because they spoke. It spoke so much to what
Speaker 1: we are. Black people have to but we have to be,
Speaker 1: not even just are what we have to be. I've
Speaker 1: I've always felt a sense of but yeah, but I
Speaker 1: mean like just to be weighted at It's like we
Speaker 1: don't even have the energy too. We have to constantly
Speaker 1: pressed toward rise up, be more. Shout dr by Angelo,
Speaker 1: come on now, tapping into our let us have it
Speaker 1: let us here, let us feel it. It's real and
Speaker 1: the thing that makes it so real is that you
Speaker 1: have to be able. I mean, you think about it.
Speaker 1: The joy, the enjoy is really the audaciousness, as she
Speaker 1: said in her poem, that we we have it. It's
Speaker 1: an eight at this point, that part. We want to
Speaker 1: take a moment. Silence on podcasts are hard because it's
Speaker 1: not what you want. But I think that there's some
Speaker 1: some appropriateness just for us to have one second, just
Speaker 1: to have it as a dedication to Brianna Taylor and
Speaker 1: her family. Right. If you want to know how to
Speaker 1: support Brianna Taylor's family, visit Justice for Brianna dot org
Speaker 1: to support Brianna Taylor's family directly and support their fight
Speaker 1: for justice. We want to know how you're feeling about
Speaker 1: this new season of Red Table Talk, and we are
Speaker 1: open to talk about anything with you all, So please
Speaker 1: send in your questions at let's red Table that at
Speaker 1: red table talk dot com, or or of course let
Speaker 1: your voice be heard and speak to us on speak
Speaker 1: pipe and you can reach us at speak pipe dot com.
Speaker 1: Slash Let's red Table that. Thank you so much for listening,
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for being with us and tuning
Speaker 1: in every week. Make sure you subscribe on my Heart
Speaker 1: Radio app, and please rate this podcast on Apple Podcast.
Speaker 1: We'll be back next week for another episode of Let's
Speaker 1: Read Table That a Bit. Thank you to our executive
Speaker 1: producers Jada Pinkett Smith, Ellen Racketin and Balin Jethrow. And
Speaker 1: thank you to our producer Kyla Kanu and our associate
Speaker 1: producer Yolanda Chow. And finally, thank you to our sound engineer,
Speaker 1: Stephanie Aguilar