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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast, a weekly

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Speaker 1: conversation about mental health, personal development, and all the small

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Speaker 1: decisions we can make to become the best possible versions

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Speaker 1: of ourselves. I'm your host, doctor Joy hard and Bradford,

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Speaker 1: a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information or

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Speaker 1: to find a therapist in your area, visit our website

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Speaker 1: at Therapy for Blackgirls dot com. While I hope you

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Speaker 1: love listening to and learning from the podcast, it is

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Speaker 1: not meant to be a substitute for a relationship with

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Speaker 1: a licensed mental health professional. Hey, y'all, thanks so much

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Speaker 1: for joining me for session four forty two the Therapy

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Speaker 1: for Black Girl's podcast. We'll get right into our conversation

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Speaker 1: after a word from our sponsors. Before we get started,

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Speaker 1: just a brief content note that there are mentions of

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Speaker 1: racial violence in today's episode. If you have sensitivities around

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Speaker 1: this subject, I urge you to take breaks as needed

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Speaker 1: or step away if it becomes too difficult. In twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty three, the murder of Agica aj Owens shook the country,

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Speaker 1: another Black mother taken too soon in a moment of

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Speaker 1: senseless and unnecessary violence. In the years since, AJ's story,

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Speaker 1: as told on Netflix's The Perfect Neighbor, has prompted a

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Speaker 1: larger conversation around race, fear, stand your ground laws, and

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Speaker 1: the everyday realities and dangers Black families navigate in America

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Speaker 1: and in their communities. But Aj was more than a

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Speaker 1: victim of racial violence. She was a woman whose life

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Speaker 1: was filled with love, ambition, and unapologetic hope for her

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Speaker 1: children and her future. Today, I'm pleased to be joined

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Speaker 1: by two women who are integral to carrying AJ's story

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Speaker 1: forward with courage and purpose. Pamela Diaz, AJ's mother and

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Speaker 1: co founder of the Standing in the Gap Fund, has

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Speaker 1: turned unfathomable grief into a mission to protect families to

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Speaker 1: face race based violence and its aftermath. Here with Pamela

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Speaker 1: is her co founder, Sakima Robinson, producer and advocate for

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Speaker 1: racial justice, who helped bring AJ's story to the masses.

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Speaker 1: In this conversation, we explore how their relationship formed, what

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Speaker 1: it means to tell a story shaped by grief, and

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Speaker 1: how storytelling, advocacy, and memory can become pathways to collective healing.

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Speaker 1: We talk about community justice and the ongoing fight to

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Speaker 1: ensure that Aj and so many others like her are

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Speaker 1: not forgotten. If something resonates with you while enjoying our conversation,

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Speaker 1: please share with us on social media using the hashtag

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Speaker 1: TVG in session, or join us over in our patreon

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Speaker 1: To talk more about the episode. You can join us

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Speaker 1: at community dot therapy for Blackgirls dot com. Here's our conversation.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining me today, Pamela and Taquima.

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Speaker 2: Thank you for having us.

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Speaker 3: Thank you as well.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I would love for you to start by telling

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Speaker 1: us who you are and what brings you to this

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Speaker 1: conversation today. We'll start with you, Pamela.

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Speaker 3: My name is Pamela Dias and I'm the mother of

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Speaker 3: Ashaka aj Owens, who was shot and killed June twenty

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Speaker 3: twenty three. She was knocking on a neighbor's door who

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Speaker 3: never opened the door and shot through a locked door,

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Speaker 3: killing her. And the reason she was knocking on the

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Speaker 3: door is because it was a long dispute that spanned

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Speaker 3: over several years. Was harassing my grandchildren, her children, and

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Speaker 3: it ended deadly as she stood behind stand your ground laws.

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Speaker 3: And I'm also a proud co founder of this Standing

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Speaker 3: in the Gap fund.

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Speaker 2: Doctor Joy is nice to be here with you my

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Speaker 2: name is Takima Robinson and I am co founder of

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Speaker 2: the Standing in the Gap Fund with Pamela Das. But

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Speaker 2: I come to know Pamela and Ajica through my little sister,

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Speaker 2: who was AJ's best friend and was tapped within hours

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Speaker 2: after this awful murder occurred to support the family, and

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Speaker 2: I've been doing that since this occurred in various capacities.

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Speaker 1: So glad that you both are able to join us today.

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Speaker 1: So I didn't know that there was a prior connection

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Speaker 1: between the two of you, So you already knew one

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Speaker 1: another even before the senseless tragedy. You did not, but

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Speaker 1: you were connected through you.

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Speaker 2: You were kids, We were connected. So my sister was

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Speaker 2: best friends with Aj. I think my sister in Paym

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Speaker 2: I met, but only sort of through the relationship with

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Speaker 2: the extension of Aja. I mean I had actually not

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Speaker 2: known Pam, but I know many of the folks who

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Speaker 2: will watch The Perfect Neighbor will see what happened on

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Speaker 2: that faithful night. But the children after that night were

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Speaker 2: brought to my sister's house, and Pam came directly to

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Speaker 2: my sister's house from Atlanta when she received the phone call.

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Speaker 2: So my sister's home and sort of our family etc.

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Speaker 2: Became kind of ground zero supporting the aftermath of this tragedy.

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Speaker 1: And at what point and how was the decision made

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Speaker 1: for you both to kind of come together to tell

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Speaker 1: AG's story.

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Speaker 3: So Geeta, who is actually too Kima's sister in law's

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Speaker 3: slash cousin, I met her after the passing up my daughter,

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Speaker 3: and initially I believe the film was when Geta approached

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Speaker 3: me about doing a documentary. There had been some discussions

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Speaker 3: as to whether or not the shooter would be charged appropriately,

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Speaker 3: if justice would be served, So initially it was sort

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Speaker 3: of just documenting the process and trying to ensure that

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Speaker 3: justice would be served. And then along the way they

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Speaker 3: determined that there was more to it through the footage

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Speaker 3: that was obtained through for You requests which TAKEMO will

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Speaker 3: share more light on that. But Gaeta approached me after

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Speaker 3: she had put together the film and asked me to

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Speaker 3: watch it, and it was my decision as to whether

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Speaker 3: or not to lead or go forward with the film.

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Speaker 3: And after watching it, I will admit I had to

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Speaker 3: watch it a couple of times. Initially I was surely

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Speaker 3: watching through the lens of a grieving mother and grandmother,

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Speaker 3: and then I watched it again and I really the

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Speaker 3: significance of the story and how powerful the documentary was,

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Speaker 3: and that I needed to share with the world what

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Speaker 3: happened with my daughter and in hopes of making real change,

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Speaker 3: and so I allowed permission for the film to be

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Speaker 3: Birth into the World.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so get the Ganda Bear, who is a director

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Speaker 2: of this film, is my sister in law. She's married

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Speaker 2: my brother technically my cousin. And I actually lived in

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Speaker 2: Jamaica when this occurred, and so when I received the

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Speaker 2: phone call, in order to get to Florida as quickly

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Speaker 2: as possible, I ended up flying to New York to

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Speaker 2: get to Florida. My sister was in distress, she needed support,

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Speaker 2: She didn't know what to do. I believe that Saturday,

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Speaker 2: after this incident occurred, Pam, my sister, inquired about AJ's body.

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Speaker 2: They were told that the police department only worked Monday

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Speaker 2: through Friday. There was no local news coverage. There was

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Speaker 2: sort of nothing thing happening. My background has been in advocacy,

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Speaker 2: social justice, in philanthropy, and so I was able to

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Speaker 2: sort of access folks like Being Crump, Latasha Brown, Joyread

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Speaker 2: and others, and so I started leading a lot of

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Speaker 2: the advocacy work. Pam was in deep mourning, you know,

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Speaker 2: as we talk about therapy for black girls, she is

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Speaker 2: just in the sort of pit of hell in terms

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Speaker 2: of mourning. And so what I could offer was my

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Speaker 2: network of relationships, and that included my extended family, my brother,

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Speaker 2: my sister in law who's home. I found myself in

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Speaker 2: the middle of the night as I was waiting to

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Speaker 2: change planes to get to Florida, and so in that

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Speaker 2: wee hour of the morning, we decided to have my

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Speaker 2: brother come with me and to have a film crew

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Speaker 2: meet us on the ground, because again at that moment,

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Speaker 2: this is sort of seventy two hours after this had occurred,

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Speaker 2: Susan Laurence still had not been arrested, and so we

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Speaker 2: were afraid if we did not begin to document this,

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Speaker 2: if we did not begin to unlock doors to the media,

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Speaker 2: that this would just be another incident where there would

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Speaker 2: be no justice, right. And so at that point, Nakan

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Speaker 2: got involved, Gita got involved, I was involved. We were

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Speaker 2: on the ground. We were there with Ben Crump, who

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Speaker 2: I connected to the case, and we were documenting the aftermath.

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Speaker 2: Given the fear that we had about a lack of

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Speaker 2: justice in a few weeks and we started seeing to

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Speaker 2: local news reports that showed this body cam footage, and

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Speaker 2: I think we had an aha that there was more

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Speaker 2: evidence there that we should probably think about gathering. As

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Speaker 2: we do in many of these cases, there is a

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Speaker 2: criminal case than there is civil cases, and in recent

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Speaker 2: history there have actually been DOJ charges for hate crimes

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Speaker 2: brought against both Breonna Taylor and George Floyd's murderers. We

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Speaker 2: were talking to the White House, we were having conversations

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Speaker 2: with the Biden administration, with Com Harris, with the DOJ,

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Speaker 2: with Kirsten Clark, who was at the DJ at the time,

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Speaker 2: and we're pretty confident that they would be interested in

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Speaker 2: pursuing it, and we wanted to gather as much evidence

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Speaker 2: to make our case to the DOJ and eventually whatever

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Speaker 2: civil cases and other things that might come about. So

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Speaker 2: we actually did a foyer request they call it the

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Speaker 2: Sunshine Law in Florida to obtain this footage that we

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Speaker 2: were starting to see pop up on local media, and

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Speaker 2: we wanted to obtain that as quickly as possible, and

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Speaker 2: so through Anthony Thomas, who's an extension of Ben Crump

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Speaker 2: and who has represented the family locally in this matter,

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Speaker 2: we were able to do a request to receive that information.

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Speaker 2: Once we received it, we just had a thumb drive

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Speaker 2: a bunch of footage, right, so all the nine one

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Speaker 2: one calls, we had interrogation footage. We just had a

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Speaker 2: whole dump of material and we needed to sort of

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Speaker 2: sort through it to figure out what it was. So

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Speaker 2: there was no thought of using it to make a

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Speaker 2: movie at that point. We were using it as an

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Speaker 2: advocacy tool. We were hoping if we could share this

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Speaker 2: with some investigative journalists, right, we could get some folks

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Speaker 2: to dig into this a little bit further. We could

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Speaker 2: elevate her case and elevate the matter. And so I

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Speaker 2: asked my sister in law if she would just cut

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Speaker 2: the footage and put it in some sort of order

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Speaker 2: for us, just to see what it was that we

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Speaker 2: had that we might be able to use from an

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Speaker 2: advocacy perspective. And once she did that, and once her

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Speaker 2: team did that, her and the con did it together.

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Speaker 2: What they really saw was how this thing really played out,

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Speaker 2: something that we're never often given purview in, which is

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Speaker 2: what leads up to these cases. We hear about what

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Speaker 2: happens afterwards. In George Floyd, we saw the incident, but

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Speaker 2: we didn't see what led up to this. In this case,

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Speaker 2: we saw two years of evidence that showed two years

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Speaker 2: of what actually led up to this, and it was

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Speaker 2: eye opening. We saw systemic failure, We saw Susan actually escalating,

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Speaker 2: and we just saw unfortunately this matter play out before

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Speaker 2: its eyes through this footage. And so that is how

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Speaker 2: it occurred. Once they saw that, they asked Pam's permission

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Speaker 2: to begin the process of putting it together in a

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Speaker 2: documentary format, went away for about a year, and then

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Speaker 2: presented her with a rough cut, always with the intention

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Speaker 2: to honor Aj and to honor AJ's story and really

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Speaker 2: vindicate her through this undeniable footage.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for sharing that backstory, and I'm

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Speaker 1: glad that you and your family had the wherewithal to say, like, oh,

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Speaker 1: we better like document this, And it feels like that

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Speaker 1: was likely. I'm guessing a huge part into why we

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Speaker 1: actually saw justice in AJ's case, right, because there is

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Speaker 1: so much compelling footage and there is so much evidence

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Speaker 1: that it felt really hard to kind of deny that

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Speaker 1: this clearly was something that was escalating. Pam. You mentioned

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Speaker 1: that you had to kind of sit with did a

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Speaker 1: couple of times before you felt like okay with it

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Speaker 1: kind of being released. What was that like for you

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Speaker 1: to continue to watch it and like, what kinds of

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Speaker 1: things were you thinking about? Is you made the decision

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Speaker 1: for it to be turned into a documentary.

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Speaker 3: It's definitely was a difficult watch. There are so many

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Speaker 3: layers to the film, from grief to community to justice.

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Speaker 3: Initial like, as I stated, I was watching through the

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Speaker 3: lens of a grieving grandmother. I'm watching my daughter laying

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Speaker 3: on the ground fighting for her life. I'm watching my

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Speaker 3: grandchildren and sheer distress. I'm watching the community their outrage,

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Speaker 3: their hurt, their anger. I see moments of joy and

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Speaker 3: the film where children were at their innocence, being at

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Speaker 3: their core. Who they are, children, playing, having fun, and

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Speaker 3: all of that was taken away. And then I have

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Speaker 3: to ask myself, I don't know why this happened. I

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Speaker 3: may never know the reason, but it did. And I'm

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Speaker 3: here at this moment. What do I do next? Where

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Speaker 3: do I go forward? I had to pray. I had

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Speaker 3: to hear a word from God, and I believe that

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Speaker 3: this is His will. A part of me wanted to

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Speaker 3: be selfish and just hurt and just grieve and just warm.

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Speaker 3: But there was no way that I could do this.

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Speaker 3: This was bigger than my hurt, This was bigger than

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Speaker 3: my grief. This was a real opportunity to make a

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Speaker 3: difference in this world. This was a real opportunity to

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Speaker 3: make changes to laws. This was a real opportunity to

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Speaker 3: bring awareness not only to just gun violence, but to

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Speaker 3: what racial biases and so on really is like in America.

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Speaker 3: It's not just someone's recollection or someone's feelings or thoughts.

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Speaker 3: You see it in the film. It's undeniable. And I

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Speaker 3: did not want America or the world to become numb

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Speaker 3: to violence, to another black person being murdered. It's just

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Speaker 3: not okay. We have seen it over and over again.

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Speaker 3: And this was my opportunity to share our story, our

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Speaker 3: pain and our grief and to make real change. So

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Speaker 3: I had to. There was no choice. It needed to

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Speaker 3: be done. And that's the reason why I said, let's

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Speaker 3: do this.

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Speaker 1: And they came in. There is such a responsibility, I'm

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Speaker 1: sure you know and your family knows around sharing stories

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Speaker 1: like this, especially when the you know, when a j's

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Speaker 1: family is involved, there are minor children involved, can you

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Speaker 1: talk about maybe some of the decision making in like

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Speaker 1: what that feels like the responsibility of telling this story

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Speaker 1: fairly and in a way that actually honors Aj.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say, first and foremost it felt like

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Speaker 2: a need to get permission, and so I think it's

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Speaker 2: always really important that we saw Pam's permission. This would

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Speaker 2: have not seen the light of day unless she permitted it,

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Speaker 2: and I know that's not how most filmmakers go about

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Speaker 2: making films, even of this kind. A lot of folks

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Speaker 2: don't know who's behind this film, and they assume, I've

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Speaker 2: been told people assume if white folks made this film.

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Speaker 2: And so for us, this film was it was important

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Speaker 2: that we saw permission from Pam and on behalf of herself,

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Speaker 2: in AJ's legacy and her children. We knew this was

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Speaker 2: really really sensitive material and so that part felt really

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Speaker 2: really important to us. And honestly, we would not have

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Speaker 2: gone forward if Pam said this was too much, right,

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Speaker 2: So it first started in respecting her grief and making

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Speaker 2: sure that we were permitted to do this, and so

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Speaker 2: that was important. Pam wasn't involved in the editing of

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Speaker 2: the film, etc. The film team, the director and our

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Speaker 2: amazing editor really led that part of it, but they

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Speaker 2: made a lot of decisions as well. They made decisions

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Speaker 2: about what to keep in and what to leave out.

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Speaker 2: A lot of folks struggle to watch this film. I

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Speaker 2: think what they're struggling with is the level of emotionality

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Speaker 2: in the film, the heightened emotions. We're not used to

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Speaker 2: really seeing people in that state of trauma. The film

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Speaker 2: itself is not I mean outside of the hate speech

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Speaker 2: and the context of the situation, the film isn't violent.

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Speaker 2: We don't see a lot of actual violence. But people

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Speaker 2: are having a really visceral response to the film because

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Speaker 2: the film is very emotional, and so we knew that

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Speaker 2: there was a responsibility in that and showing people in

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Speaker 2: their most vulnerable moments, particularly the children. But it also

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Speaker 2: to Pam's point, it felt like, in this moment, when

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Speaker 2: many of us are numb to gun violence, racial violence,

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Speaker 2: we needed to wake people back up. We needed to

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Speaker 2: move people from their headspace back into their heart space,

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Speaker 2: and we needed people to bear witness to the impact

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Speaker 2: gun violence, the impact of racial violence, and you have

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Speaker 2: to deal with that. You have to face that in

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Speaker 2: this movie through the emotions and the trauma of the

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Speaker 2: children in the neighborhood as you see it playing out.

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Speaker 2: So that felt like a responsibility. I think the last

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Speaker 2: part for us that feels like a responsibility is we

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Speaker 2: didn't make this for entertainment. This was never meant to

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Speaker 2: be entertainment. We know this has been Netflix's True Crime,

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Speaker 2: and we are proud of the numbers and the people

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Speaker 2: watching it around the world, But we actually made this

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Speaker 2: to make a difference. You know, I always talk about

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Speaker 2: Pam in the same lineage of Animi Till, of the

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Speaker 2: same kind of decision that Emmett Till's mother made to

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Speaker 2: not only you know, have a public funeral, but to

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Speaker 2: have an open casket and invite the media to see

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Speaker 2: what had happened to her child. And without those images,

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Speaker 2: we may not have seen some of the breakthroughs in

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Speaker 2: the civil rights movement. And so we know this courage

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Speaker 2: and we know this bravery, and we've seen it in

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Speaker 2: our history, and so it felt like that same kind

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Speaker 2: of responsibility, and again the same need to seek that

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Speaker 2: level of permission from those who were most impacted by this,

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Speaker 2: Pam and and the children. The other part of the

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Speaker 2: responsibility that I've always felt is to make sure that

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Speaker 2: outside of, you know, making a movie. We made sure

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Speaker 2: that the children were as whole as we could as

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Speaker 2: we could make them right. And so Aj was the

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Speaker 2: primary breadwinner for her children, and so making sure that

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Speaker 2: through our work and through our efforts, through standing in

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Speaker 2: the Gap, you know, we've been able to provide her

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Speaker 2: family with some resources to continue to support the kids financially.

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Speaker 2: So the responsibility has always been about supporting her family

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Speaker 2: and through that, how do we support other families impacted

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Speaker 2: by a racial violence. The responsibility has always been about

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Speaker 2: seeking permission from those most impacted by this and making

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Speaker 2: sure that this effort was blessed by pam and that

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Speaker 2: it served AJ's family, and it served her legacy and

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Speaker 2: shared the truth of what happened with the world and

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Speaker 2: really vindicated a black woman in many ways we don't

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Speaker 2: normally get to be vindicated. And so those were I

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Speaker 2: think the responsibilities that we were holding not just to

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Speaker 2: create entertainment, but to try to change hearts and minds

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Speaker 2: and hopefully try to change policy.

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Speaker 1: More from our conversation after the break, Pamela, can you

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Speaker 1: talk about what the healing process has been like for

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Speaker 1: you and the children and how you felt maybe the

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Speaker 1: release of the film has maybe helped your healing process

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Speaker 1: or what role has it played.

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Speaker 3: We are not completely healed. It is ongoing, and I

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Speaker 3: will say that the children are very resilient. They've taught

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Speaker 3: me so much about grief and about courage and about openness.

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Speaker 3: We share a lot of stories, a lot of memories,

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Speaker 3: past memories. I think that helps us a lot in

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Speaker 3: our grief and our healing process, and which our grief

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Speaker 3: is definitely linear. Our grief, it's up and down like

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Speaker 3: a roller coaster. We have good days and we have

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Speaker 3: bad days. We have good moments and bad moments. It's ongoing,

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Speaker 3: but it's sharing those moments, and each one of us

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Speaker 3: are healing. Looks a little differently. For one of us,

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Speaker 3: it may be talking about the past memories. For another

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Speaker 3: it may be just just quiet alone in our own thoughts.

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Speaker 3: But definitely sharing the story and the film with the

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Speaker 3: world has been very therapeutic. Like I said, it is

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Speaker 3: a hard watch, but it's what comes out of it.

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Speaker 3: It's knowing that I'm impacting lives that hopefully the changes

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Speaker 3: that come about. No other family has to endure what

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Speaker 3: we went through when Anshaka, when she was knocking at

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Speaker 3: the door, which is how she lost her life. She

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Speaker 3: wasn't just knocking on the door for Israel or her

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Speaker 3: own children. She was knocking on the door for all

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Speaker 3: children of color. She didn't know it at the time.

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Speaker 3: She was saying that not only does my children's lives matter,

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Speaker 3: but all children of color matter. And so she was

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Speaker 3: brave enough to do that. This is the least that

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Speaker 3: I could do. It can be very emotional, but I

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Speaker 3: gained my strength from my daughter. She stood up for

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Speaker 3: what was right, and I firmly believe that sharing the

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Speaker 3: story is what's right, and that's what helps me with

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Speaker 3: my grieving and my healing process.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for sharing that, Pam. I'm wondering

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Speaker 1: where you found support. You know, a lot of people

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Speaker 1: talk about after a tragedy there's a lot of support

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Speaker 1: kind of in the immediate aftermath, within a couple of months,

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Speaker 1: like that phone stops ringing, people are not stopping by.

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Speaker 1: What does your support system look like to support your healing?

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Speaker 1: So yes, so it does subside. People have to go

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Speaker 1: on with their lives.

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Speaker 3: Sometimes I say I have separation anxiety. When we all

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Speaker 3: come together and we all part and go our separate ways.

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Speaker 3: It's hard, but I still know that they're there, although

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Speaker 3: they may not be physically in my space on a

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Speaker 3: daily basis. Most are just a phone call away, some

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Speaker 3: are actually here locally, but I know that they care

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Speaker 3: and they love us and that they support us. So

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Speaker 3: that helps. But most of all, it's my faith that

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Speaker 3: gets me through prayer and then also counseling. Counseling has

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Speaker 3: definitely helped, both with myself and the children. That's an open,

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Speaker 3: safe space where we can talk about out anything and everything,

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Speaker 3: things that we may not necessarily feel comfortable talking with

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Speaker 3: our loved ones. And so therapy has definitely been a

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Speaker 3: big part of my healing process. And I just draw

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Speaker 3: on my inner spirit, my inner strength, and I just

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Speaker 3: keep rooted in my community, in my prayer and therapy

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Speaker 3: and just knowing that this is just one day at

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Speaker 3: a time, that it's not going to happen overnight.

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Speaker 1: Thinking. You mentioned that some of the response that you've

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Speaker 1: gotten from the film is that people don't necessarily know

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Speaker 1: who's behind it. They're confused. But is there anything that

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Speaker 1: has been surprising to you about like the public's response

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Speaker 1: to the film.

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Speaker 2: I think the fact that folks may not have known

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Speaker 2: who made the film and watched it on Netflix and

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Speaker 2: made assumptions about who makes documentary about subjects like that.

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Speaker 2: I was actually surprised when that inquiry came, and I

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Speaker 2: thought it was important that people knew the backstory behind

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Speaker 2: the film. It made me more resolved to make sure

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Speaker 2: we shared this part of it because that particularly in

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Speaker 2: our community, in black community, I think the intent behind

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Speaker 2: this film matters to people. Right some folks commented that

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Speaker 2: they felt like there was a trauma porn or an exploitation.

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Speaker 2: I think those fears for our community are always pretty relevant,

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Speaker 2: and so understanding who made the film and what was

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Speaker 2: behind it was really important. So that was a surprise

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Speaker 2: to me, and I think something that is important to

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Speaker 2: us to sort of share the genesis and the impetus

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Speaker 2: behind this. Right again, we did not make this for entertainment.

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Speaker 2: We made this with permission. We made this in an

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Speaker 2: honor of AJ so that was important. It's a hard

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Speaker 2: film to watch. It's a really really hard film to watch,

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Speaker 2: and there are so many folks in our community, especially

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Speaker 2: post George Floyd, who just don't have the tolerance for

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Speaker 2: any more black trauma. And so, you know, we definitely

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Speaker 2: felt that in real time. We did not feel like

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Speaker 2: we got the media coverage or the media response from

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Speaker 2: our community when this happened. Some people are just hearing

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Speaker 2: about Aja's story through this film, so I'm excited. I'm

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Speaker 2: happy for that, But I think it does say something

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Speaker 2: about our tolerance level to consume this type of material,

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Speaker 2: and so I think that that was also maybe not

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Speaker 2: surprising because we were living it, but it was tough.

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Speaker 2: And I'm glad that we've been able to be on

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Speaker 2: platforms like this or share more of the intention and

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Speaker 2: backstory and other spaces to have richer conversations around kind

436
00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:57,439
Speaker 2: of what we're up to, what the intentions were. And

437
00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:01,359
Speaker 2: also too, after people experienced this, people aren't the same.

438
00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:04,719
Speaker 2: They're not the same as they were both ninety minutes before,

439
00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:07,720
Speaker 2: and so people are really wrestling with a lot of

440
00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:10,560
Speaker 2: emotions that come up. I feel like when I tell

441
00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:12,600
Speaker 2: people to watch this film, I always tell them to

442
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:16,480
Speaker 2: watch it in community and create space for yourself to

443
00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:19,000
Speaker 2: talk about it afterwards. We know there are a lot

444
00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:23,040
Speaker 2: of people in our community who have experienced gun violence,

445
00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:26,320
Speaker 2: whether directly or indirectly. A lot of folks in our

446
00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:30,119
Speaker 2: community who watch this and are triggered and sort of

447
00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:35,119
Speaker 2: re traumatized because of really relevant lived experiences, and so

448
00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:39,880
Speaker 2: I think a lot about audience care and making sure

449
00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:43,760
Speaker 2: the folks viewing this also know that we see them

450
00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:45,880
Speaker 2: and we know this can bring up a lot, And

451
00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:49,239
Speaker 2: so there's a back to the responsibility question. I think

452
00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,440
Speaker 2: there's a bit of a responsibility that we feel. We've

453
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:56,200
Speaker 2: offered a lot of opportunities to have talkbacks, We've offered

454
00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:59,640
Speaker 2: a guide for people to watch this in community with

455
00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:02,480
Speaker 2: some questions, the help process that we work with mental

456
00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:06,719
Speaker 2: health professionals to help us create. And so maybe not surprise,

457
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:12,240
Speaker 2: but definitely felt overwhelmed after this came out with how

458
00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:16,800
Speaker 2: audiences were processing it in a responsibility to give them

459
00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:17,640
Speaker 2: some resources.

460
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:22,240
Speaker 1: Pamela, is there something you'd add there, anything that has

461
00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:23,960
Speaker 1: surprised you about the response.

462
00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:28,920
Speaker 3: I think that when people are watching the film, they

463
00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:32,560
Speaker 3: are watching the film like I did, initially from a

464
00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:38,120
Speaker 3: space of emotion, and as Takima said, you know, they're

465
00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:42,200
Speaker 3: not the same as they were ninety minutes prior to

466
00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:46,240
Speaker 3: watching the film. I think when they go into it,

467
00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:50,400
Speaker 3: they may be thinking of looking at it as a

468
00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:54,200
Speaker 3: true crime, but I don't think they understand what they're

469
00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:59,080
Speaker 3: about to embark on prior to watching the film, and

470
00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:02,520
Speaker 3: then once they do watch the film, I think their

471
00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:08,960
Speaker 3: emotions consume them. So in some ways, some viewers may

472
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:15,440
Speaker 3: not fully understand why a mother or a grandmother would

473
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:20,080
Speaker 3: subject putting this type of film out and usually because

474
00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:23,480
Speaker 3: again they're watching through the lens as I did, of emotion.

475
00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,280
Speaker 3: But once you sit with it and if you really

476
00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:31,760
Speaker 3: kind of dissect it and understand, as Tekima said, it's

477
00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:37,360
Speaker 3: not meant for entertainment, although it has done tremendous and

478
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:41,719
Speaker 3: we are truly grateful for the response and their viewership,

479
00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:46,640
Speaker 3: but it really is meant to shed light on the

480
00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:52,680
Speaker 3: issues that concern our communities, especially people of color. It's

481
00:30:52,880 --> 00:31:01,320
Speaker 3: meant to provide education. It's meant to teach us what

482
00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:05,520
Speaker 3: gun or laws, the effect it has when it's placed

483
00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:09,120
Speaker 3: in the wrong hands. It's meant to teach us what

484
00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:13,840
Speaker 3: stands your grounds, laws do, the deadly effect it has,

485
00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:20,880
Speaker 3: how it can be weaponized. It's a teachable moment. It's

486
00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:27,760
Speaker 3: beyond entertainment. It's beyond grief. It's beyond our own personal emotion.

487
00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:32,560
Speaker 3: It's something that is needed to be shared with the world,

488
00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:36,680
Speaker 3: and it's to bring us back to community, to bring

489
00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:40,800
Speaker 3: us back to being what a perfect neighbor is meant

490
00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:41,520
Speaker 3: to be.

491
00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:55,120
Speaker 1: More from our conversation after the break, have there been

492
00:31:55,160 --> 00:32:00,720
Speaker 1: any changes or kind of new legislation related to standard laws?

493
00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:04,120
Speaker 1: Maybe as a result of the documentary coming out that

494
00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:05,080
Speaker 1: you all are aware of.

495
00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:10,880
Speaker 2: So there are no The movie came out in October,

496
00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:14,600
Speaker 2: so we haven't gotten to legislative session. Most legislative sessions

497
00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:18,680
Speaker 2: will be this spring. But there have been some recent

498
00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:23,520
Speaker 2: amendments to stay in your ground law, which exists in

499
00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:26,320
Speaker 2: thirty eight states. This is not just a Florida problem.

500
00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:29,040
Speaker 2: This exists in thirty eight states in some form or fashion.

501
00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:34,560
Speaker 2: We've seen some progress in states like Georgia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota

502
00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:38,680
Speaker 2: recently where folks are beginning to chip away at the law.

503
00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:42,600
Speaker 2: Most states already have self defense laws which we think

504
00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:45,760
Speaker 2: are pretty sufficient, and we actually don't need a stay

505
00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:49,040
Speaker 2: in your ground law. What's interesting about staying your ground,

506
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:52,240
Speaker 2: just to sort of give a little kind of tibbot

507
00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:56,520
Speaker 2: of education to the audience, is the legislation was originally

508
00:32:56,640 --> 00:33:00,160
Speaker 2: drafted by the NRA, which probably doesn't surprise anyone, but

509
00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:04,400
Speaker 2: it was actually done in collaboration with the state legislator

510
00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:09,160
Speaker 2: from Marion County, from Okalla, where this incident occurs, so

511
00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:13,400
Speaker 2: it was drafted, it is from Okalla, it was created

512
00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:17,960
Speaker 2: in this place, and so AJ's case is a full

513
00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,040
Speaker 2: circle moment. Most of us know stand your Ground from

514
00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:24,440
Speaker 2: Trayvon Martin and I believe what was that twenty twelve,

515
00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:27,440
Speaker 2: twenty eleven, but we don't know that it was written

516
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:31,240
Speaker 2: right here in Okalla and in Marion County by the

517
00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:34,680
Speaker 2: legislator who represented this place up until a year ago.

518
00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:39,400
Speaker 2: So it's legacy begins here and we hope it's legacy

519
00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:43,880
Speaker 2: ends here with AJ's case law. Her case was decided

520
00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:50,400
Speaker 2: by an all white jury and unanimously they convicted their peer,

521
00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:55,920
Speaker 2: Susan Lawrence, to manslaughter with the sentence of twenty five years,

522
00:33:56,440 --> 00:34:00,320
Speaker 2: and so her case law is extremely significant. Through the

523
00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:04,320
Speaker 2: film and through the impact campaign that we are producing,

524
00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:08,200
Speaker 2: we hope to actually use the film to make changes

525
00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:10,400
Speaker 2: in states that are ready, and so we're going to

526
00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:14,640
Speaker 2: be focusing on those states Pennsylvania, Georgia, Minnesota, where there's

527
00:34:14,680 --> 00:34:18,080
Speaker 2: already been some progress, where their existing coalitions too are

528
00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:20,440
Speaker 2: doing that work, and we also want to do some

529
00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:23,520
Speaker 2: work in Florida. But We're also open to working in

530
00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:27,040
Speaker 2: the other thirty four states that have this law on

531
00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:30,520
Speaker 2: the books because we think this is the type of film,

532
00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:35,239
Speaker 2: This is type of art that really lays clear the

533
00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:39,839
Speaker 2: issues around staying your ground and how folks can weaponize it.

534
00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:44,839
Speaker 2: And staying your ground is an extension of white vigilantiism, right.

535
00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:48,960
Speaker 2: It comes from that same ethos and from that same history,

536
00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:52,680
Speaker 2: and so we know it comes with a racial undertone

537
00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:56,280
Speaker 2: and has actually had that same kind of impact since

538
00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:59,600
Speaker 2: it was enacted in the early two thousands. So our

539
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:04,399
Speaker 2: intent are to continue to leverage this film and make

540
00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:08,280
Speaker 2: it a teaching tool around staying and ground reform.

541
00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:10,680
Speaker 1: So you both have referenced Standing in the Gap, the

542
00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:13,640
Speaker 1: organization that you have co founded. Can you tell us

543
00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:16,120
Speaker 1: more about the organization and the work that you plan

544
00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:16,520
Speaker 1: to do.

545
00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:21,239
Speaker 3: Standing in the Gap was co founded by myself and

546
00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:27,560
Speaker 3: Takima Robinson. Basically, it was again birth when we lost

547
00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:31,160
Speaker 3: my Ajaka, when I lost my daughter, but it's meant

548
00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:35,680
Speaker 3: to support families very much like my family. When I

549
00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:41,960
Speaker 3: lost Ajaka, I didn't have the resources. She was a

550
00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:47,280
Speaker 3: single mom, and I was now left with the burden

551
00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:54,240
Speaker 3: of caring for children financially emotionally, physically, everything that comes

552
00:35:54,280 --> 00:36:00,600
Speaker 3: with raising four young children, educating them and so on. Well, one,

553
00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:06,160
Speaker 3: I didn't have the financial need. Also, we needed therapy.

554
00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:11,440
Speaker 3: Most therapists do not accept insurance. We had housing concerns,

555
00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:15,440
Speaker 3: I had to relocate from Atlanta, Georgia. I left my

556
00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:20,120
Speaker 3: job and I relocated to Okella, Florida. So there is

557
00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:24,160
Speaker 3: so much that went into with losing my daughter. And

558
00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:28,720
Speaker 3: then we had to ensure that justice would be served.

559
00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:33,400
Speaker 3: So that meant advocacy work, organizing boots on the ground.

560
00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:39,120
Speaker 3: So all of these require financial resources which I personally

561
00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:43,799
Speaker 3: wasn't prepared. And then also so standing in the gap

562
00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:49,120
Speaker 3: will help support initiatives such as those, but also it

563
00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:53,320
Speaker 3: has an advocacy piece as well, just as Techema educated

564
00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:57,680
Speaker 3: us on standiar ground laws. That's one of the things

565
00:36:57,719 --> 00:37:01,040
Speaker 3: that we want to do is to work at chipping

566
00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:06,120
Speaker 3: away at these laws because we see what happens when

567
00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:11,240
Speaker 3: it's weaponized and so on. So staying in the gap

568
00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:16,719
Speaker 3: is really a lifeline to families who are impacted by

569
00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:21,200
Speaker 3: racial gun violence. And it was it was born out

570
00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:27,120
Speaker 3: of the death of my daughter, Ashaka Owens, and I'll

571
00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:30,960
Speaker 3: let it chem up further go into and death. More

572
00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:32,560
Speaker 3: about standing in your gap.

573
00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:37,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, everything Pam said, she said it perfectly. Those are

574
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:41,320
Speaker 2: our intentions. It's just sup poor families impacted by racial violence,

575
00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:47,480
Speaker 2: inspired by Ajaka's passing and all the things that we

576
00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:51,480
Speaker 2: learned and endured, making sure that those families have access

577
00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:55,320
Speaker 2: to resources and don't have to bear the financial financial

578
00:37:55,320 --> 00:38:00,200
Speaker 2: burden on top of already dealing with a nightmare. You know,

579
00:38:00,239 --> 00:38:03,560
Speaker 2: you shouldn't be having to put up GoFundMe accounts and

580
00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:07,479
Speaker 2: trying to worry about the finances for funeralizing a loved

581
00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:14,440
Speaker 2: one under these circumstances. And honestly, our communities need mechanisms

582
00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:18,600
Speaker 2: that are not extractive in order to be able to

583
00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:23,759
Speaker 2: quickly have an infrastructure to support folks like this, and

584
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:26,240
Speaker 2: we just don't have that. So what does mutual aid

585
00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:30,280
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty five look like? How can we organize

586
00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:34,520
Speaker 2: ourselves better to make sure we can move resources quickly?

587
00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:38,240
Speaker 2: You know, Pam was talking about the part of standing

588
00:38:38,239 --> 00:38:42,200
Speaker 2: in the gap that, in addition to supporting families, supports

589
00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:46,200
Speaker 2: organizers on the ground. You know, organizing takes money, it

590
00:38:46,239 --> 00:38:49,720
Speaker 2: takes resources, and it doesn't have a grant cycle timeline.

591
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:53,920
Speaker 2: We had thirty days to file charges against Susan Lawrence.

592
00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:57,440
Speaker 2: There were thirty days, so there was a tight timeline.

593
00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:01,120
Speaker 2: Most foundations and things like that, they can't move money

594
00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:05,040
Speaker 2: that quickly, and so we learned a lot about what

595
00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:09,160
Speaker 2: folks deal with in this circumstances. Through this circumstance, and

596
00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:13,759
Speaker 2: we were trying to solve our problem, but then realize, right,

597
00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:17,439
Speaker 2: we could actually stand something up that could support other

598
00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:21,480
Speaker 2: folks so they don't have to face these problems by themselves.

599
00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:25,640
Speaker 2: So it's meant to be an enduring resource. Our highest

600
00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:28,560
Speaker 2: hope and highest dream is we can endow it so

601
00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:33,160
Speaker 2: that it exists into perpetuity. And the resources again are twofold.

602
00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:38,320
Speaker 2: One to support families directly for expenses related to stuff

603
00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:43,480
Speaker 2: like security, which we had to have, funeral expenses, mental health,

604
00:39:43,560 --> 00:39:46,080
Speaker 2: et cetera. And the on the other side, be able

605
00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:49,799
Speaker 2: to support organizers and advocate to get out in the

606
00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:53,959
Speaker 2: streets and often fight for justice, which also takes resources.

607
00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:58,280
Speaker 2: And then lastly to be able to leverage these opportunities

608
00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:00,920
Speaker 2: for some kind of systemic or power change.

609
00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:03,920
Speaker 1: Pamela, what do you hope that people who watch the

610
00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:07,239
Speaker 1: film take away not only from the film related to

611
00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:10,760
Speaker 1: AJ's life, not just the way that she died.

612
00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:18,680
Speaker 3: I want people to take away community responsibility as you

613
00:40:18,719 --> 00:40:22,759
Speaker 3: could have lost her life standing up for her babies

614
00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:26,360
Speaker 3: and in essence standing up for all of our babies.

615
00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:32,200
Speaker 3: She carried the message that every child of color deserves respect,

616
00:40:33,040 --> 00:40:38,360
Speaker 3: deserves dignity, deserves to be a child, free to be

617
00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:43,480
Speaker 3: a child. She bore the burden of losing her life

618
00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:48,040
Speaker 3: so that we could have a better life. Because had

619
00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:51,680
Speaker 3: she not lost her life, we wouldn't be here today.

620
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:55,920
Speaker 3: We wouldn't be on your platform, we wouldn't probably the

621
00:40:55,960 --> 00:41:00,600
Speaker 3: perfect neighbor would not have been made. The world will

622
00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:07,560
Speaker 3: continue on with more violence, more deaths, more racism, more biases.

623
00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:11,279
Speaker 3: It would just be a never ending cycle. But she

624
00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:14,640
Speaker 3: was a black mother who stood up for what was right.

625
00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:19,040
Speaker 3: She lost her life for what was right, and so

626
00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:22,880
Speaker 3: now in turn, we must stand up for her and

627
00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:25,960
Speaker 3: all of those who are to come behind her and

628
00:41:26,080 --> 00:41:29,440
Speaker 3: stand up for what was right. She was more than

629
00:41:29,560 --> 00:41:33,440
Speaker 3: just a single mother. She was more than a friend,

630
00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:39,600
Speaker 3: a sister, a daughter. She is whom is going to

631
00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:44,240
Speaker 3: make a change in the world. There's a funny story

632
00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:47,439
Speaker 3: that I often share because she was a single mother

633
00:41:47,719 --> 00:41:51,279
Speaker 3: and she wanted to do more. She wanted better for

634
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:54,920
Speaker 3: her children's lives. She carried the burden of being the

635
00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:59,240
Speaker 3: sole breadwinner. So we would often sit on the phone

636
00:41:59,360 --> 00:42:04,960
Speaker 3: and she would run all these different entrepreneurial ideas by me,

637
00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:08,680
Speaker 3: and I was like, I don't know. I never was

638
00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:12,520
Speaker 3: in full support of some of her ideas. But she

639
00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:17,880
Speaker 3: was adamant that she was going to be successful, and

640
00:42:17,960 --> 00:42:21,600
Speaker 3: she was adamant to the point that the world would

641
00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:25,240
Speaker 3: know her name. She emphatically told me that the world

642
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:28,960
Speaker 3: was going to know her name. I'm sure she thought that,

643
00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:34,640
Speaker 3: you know, her business idea was going to be that successful.

644
00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:40,200
Speaker 3: But unfortunately she didn't live to birth any of her

645
00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:44,160
Speaker 3: entrepreneurial ideas to see them come into fruition. But I

646
00:42:44,360 --> 00:42:48,880
Speaker 3: believe that it was by design, God's ordinance that she

647
00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:52,080
Speaker 3: lost her life in this manner. And this is the

648
00:42:52,080 --> 00:42:56,200
Speaker 3: way that the world would know her name. This is

649
00:42:56,239 --> 00:42:59,960
Speaker 3: the way that the world would remember her as someone

650
00:43:00,680 --> 00:43:04,440
Speaker 3: who stood up for what was right, who was compassionate,

651
00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:09,880
Speaker 3: who had a heart of gold, and she's going to

652
00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:14,000
Speaker 3: make a real change. Her legacy will live on through

653
00:43:14,040 --> 00:43:19,880
Speaker 3: her children. Her legacy will live on through the perfect neighbor,

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00:43:19,920 --> 00:43:23,239
Speaker 3: her legacy will live on through the Standing and the

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00:43:23,320 --> 00:43:31,440
Speaker 3: gal Fund. And I truly believe that Ashaka, a single

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00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:35,920
Speaker 3: black mother from Okella, Florida, not only will the world

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00:43:36,040 --> 00:43:40,000
Speaker 3: know her name, but the world will remember her for

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00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:44,440
Speaker 3: the impact, for the blueprint, for the footprints that she

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00:43:44,600 --> 00:43:45,320
Speaker 3: left behind.

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00:43:46,400 --> 00:43:49,360
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for that, Pima Tikima. Can you

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00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:51,520
Speaker 1: close us up by letting us know where we can

662
00:43:51,520 --> 00:43:53,480
Speaker 1: stay connected to the work that you all are doing

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00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:56,200
Speaker 1: and Standing in the Gap and kind of stay connected

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00:43:56,200 --> 00:43:57,759
Speaker 1: to what's happening with the film.

665
00:43:58,280 --> 00:44:01,359
Speaker 2: Absolutely? Absolutely. There is a couple of ways in which

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00:44:01,360 --> 00:44:05,120
Speaker 2: people can stay connected. There is a film website called

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00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:08,600
Speaker 2: The Perfect Neighbor Film. You can find that online and

668
00:44:08,600 --> 00:44:12,160
Speaker 2: then you can find Standing in the Gap Org Standing

669
00:44:12,160 --> 00:44:15,440
Speaker 2: Indegapfund dot org. Make sure you put in Standing in

670
00:44:15,520 --> 00:44:19,600
Speaker 2: the Gap fund dot org. You can also follow us

671
00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:23,920
Speaker 2: at Standing in the Gap Fund on all social platforms.

672
00:44:24,600 --> 00:44:28,080
Speaker 2: We are inviting people to stand in the Gap with us,

673
00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:31,480
Speaker 2: and I really really believe that this must be a

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00:44:31,560 --> 00:44:34,440
Speaker 2: for us, by us movement. This debt has to be

675
00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:38,080
Speaker 2: foubou all day and so we are inviting people to

676
00:44:38,360 --> 00:44:41,080
Speaker 2: support our work. We have an opportunity where people can

677
00:44:41,120 --> 00:44:44,200
Speaker 2: become a sustanding donor, and so they can learn more

678
00:44:44,360 --> 00:44:48,120
Speaker 2: on our website about how you can also support families

679
00:44:48,160 --> 00:44:51,799
Speaker 2: impacted by racial violence. You can sign up for our newsletter,

680
00:44:52,320 --> 00:44:55,520
Speaker 2: and The Perfect Neighbor is our second arts partnerships. We

681
00:44:55,640 --> 00:44:58,040
Speaker 2: launched this work at art Vaso and so a big

682
00:44:58,080 --> 00:45:01,120
Speaker 2: part of Standing in the Gap is using culture as

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00:45:01,200 --> 00:45:05,080
Speaker 2: a medium for this message. And so please go find us,

684
00:45:05,160 --> 00:45:08,040
Speaker 2: sign up for our newsletter, learn about all the ways

685
00:45:08,040 --> 00:45:11,279
Speaker 2: that you can get involved, and you look out for

686
00:45:11,440 --> 00:45:14,120
Speaker 2: more things that we will be launching with artists in

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00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:18,319
Speaker 2: the future. Because we believe culture is part of our

688
00:45:18,360 --> 00:45:22,240
Speaker 2: healing process. We believe culture is healing, and we believe

689
00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:26,160
Speaker 2: that when we create powerful cultural products like The Perfect Neighbor,

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00:45:26,200 --> 00:45:28,960
Speaker 2: we can also elicit change in the world. So if

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00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:31,640
Speaker 2: folks are interested in that work and being part of

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00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:36,720
Speaker 2: our movement and being part of this mutual aid work

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00:45:36,719 --> 00:45:40,440
Speaker 2: that we are doing to stand with families and communities,

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00:45:40,520 --> 00:45:44,680
Speaker 2: they can learn all about that at Standing indegapfund dot org.

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00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:46,560
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for that. We will make sure

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00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:48,480
Speaker 1: to include all of that in our show notes. I

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00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:51,120
Speaker 1: really appreciate both of you spending some time with us today.

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00:45:51,200 --> 00:46:00,520
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you, Doctor Joy Thank you grateful that

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00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:03,200
Speaker 1: Pamela and Takima took the time to share AJ's story

700
00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:06,520
Speaker 1: for today's episode. To learn more about them, the Perfect

701
00:46:06,520 --> 00:46:08,680
Speaker 1: Neighbor and the work they're doing with the Standing in

702
00:46:08,719 --> 00:46:11,200
Speaker 1: the Gap Fund, be sure to visit the show notes

703
00:46:11,239 --> 00:46:14,480
Speaker 1: at Therapy for Blackgirls dot com slash Session four forty two.

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00:46:15,560 --> 00:46:17,280
Speaker 1: Did you know that you could leave us a voicemail

705
00:46:17,320 --> 00:46:20,440
Speaker 1: with your questions or suggestions for the podcast. If you

706
00:46:20,520 --> 00:46:23,040
Speaker 1: have topics you think we should discuss, drop us a

707
00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:25,880
Speaker 1: message at Memo dot fm slash Therapy for Black Girls

708
00:46:25,920 --> 00:46:28,000
Speaker 1: and let us know what's on your mind. We just

709
00:46:28,080 --> 00:46:31,000
Speaker 1: might answer it on the podcast. If you're looking for

710
00:46:31,000 --> 00:46:34,120
Speaker 1: a therapist in your area, visit our therapist directory at

711
00:46:34,120 --> 00:46:38,080
Speaker 1: Therapy for Blackgirls dot com slash directory. Don't forget to

712
00:46:38,080 --> 00:46:41,239
Speaker 1: follow us on Instagram at Therapy for Black Girls and

713
00:46:41,280 --> 00:46:44,240
Speaker 1: come on and join us in our Patreon for exclusive updates,

714
00:46:44,320 --> 00:46:47,399
Speaker 1: behind the scenes content, and much more. You can join

715
00:46:47,480 --> 00:46:51,239
Speaker 1: us at community dot Therapy for Blackgirls dot com. This

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00:46:51,280 --> 00:46:55,640
Speaker 1: episode was produced by Elise Ellis, Indaichuvu and Tyree Rush.

717
00:46:55,960 --> 00:46:59,040
Speaker 1: Editing was done by Dennis and Bradford. Thank y'all so

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00:46:59,120 --> 00:47:01,760
Speaker 1: much for joining me again. This week. I look forward

719
00:47:01,760 --> 00:47:05,359
Speaker 1: to continuing this conversation with you all real soon. Take

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00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:05,839
Speaker 1: it care,