Speaker 1: And now watching my mic back, you're like that journal time.
Speaker 2: We just strikes with Waters from headquarters behind him and
Speaker 2: the line the border.
Speaker 1: If you're just tuning into Civic Picherami host Rams this Joah, I.
Speaker 3: Go by the name of q War, DJ q Ward
Speaker 3: or just q This.
Speaker 1: Indeed maybe the legend himself.
Speaker 3: I don't believe the rumor of Rams says really out
Speaker 3: of pocket things sometimes on the radio. That was one
Speaker 3: of them.
Speaker 1: No, No, not at all, well deserved. Anyway, be sure
Speaker 1: to stick around because we got more positive outcomes from
Speaker 1: the year twenty twenty one for you. Uh, We're going
Speaker 1: to be talking about some vot right stuff. We're gonna
Speaker 1: be talking about the census, cancel culture, some just some
Speaker 1: some topics that we've discussed on the show that we
Speaker 1: believe have evolved in a in a positive way. There's
Speaker 1: a positive trend associated with these things, and I can't
Speaker 1: wait to share them all with you. But first, like
Speaker 1: we always do at this time, let's discuss how to
Speaker 1: become a better ally, shall we?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 1: Indeed, so we are going to talk about voting rights initiatives,
Speaker 1: So again be sure to stick around for that. But
Speaker 1: we're still in the middle of making sure that voting
Speaker 1: rights are protected and that voting is easy and accessible
Speaker 1: for marginalized communities, and one such entity that is still
Speaker 1: bringing the heat toward that end is the NAACP. The NAACP,
Speaker 1: if you don't know, is the National Association for the
Speaker 1: Advancement of Colored People. Granted, it's an old term, but
Speaker 1: it's an old institution, and they are the largest and
Speaker 1: most influential civil rights organization in the nation via the
Speaker 1: work that they do. Advancing political, educational, social, and economic
Speaker 1: equality for Black people in the United States depends on
Speaker 1: the generosity of supporters like you, and what you can
Speaker 1: do to become a better ally is head to NAACP
Speaker 1: dot org slash donate and you can make a fifteen
Speaker 1: dollars donation to continue challenging in justice across America. At present,
Speaker 1: they're trying to reach a one hundred and fifty thousand
Speaker 1: dollars goal and your help would be appreciated, So please
Speaker 1: consider again making that fifteen dollars donation to the NAACP
Speaker 1: to help bolster the fight against inequality and to protect
Speaker 1: voting rights, which is very necessary, especially in marginalized communities
Speaker 1: and communities where they're more susceptible to gerrymandering, and the
Speaker 1: value of the individual will vote is diminished. If you
Speaker 1: believe in becoming a better ally once again, visit na
Speaker 1: A cp dot org slash donate.
Speaker 3: And I know our political system can make it very
Speaker 3: easy to get discouraged with the way the whole thing works.
Speaker 3: And I've you know, heard people say to my face
Speaker 3: that their vote didn't count. And you know, there's certain
Speaker 3: things that reaffirm those feelings. Be a better ally, be
Speaker 3: a better part of our union. You know, do your
Speaker 3: civic duty, vote, pay attention to what's going on. Don't
Speaker 3: just don't be me and just complain all negative.
Speaker 2: Vote.
Speaker 3: We need that very very active in our in our
Speaker 3: in our you know, our civic process. But I know
Speaker 3: because I get discouraged sometimes. And it's not just me. Uh,
Speaker 3: Sometimes we don't get the outcomes that we feel like
Speaker 3: we deserve, and promises are made that are not kept,
Speaker 3: and it makes you say, what am I doing this for.
Speaker 3: Let's not let ourselves become those who just observe, don't
Speaker 3: just watch participate. Sure, I love that, And you know what,
Speaker 3: there are some people who do just that.
Speaker 1: They don't just watch, they participate and I want to
Speaker 1: shout them out because they came up on the show
Speaker 1: this year and they shared a story and their story
Speaker 1: ended up having a positive outcome. Their names are Zara,
Speaker 1: Mimi and Mustani. There was a video that went viral
Speaker 1: this year and it had I believe it was last
Speaker 1: time I checked, it was like five million views. Certainly
Speaker 1: a very engaging video on our social media as well.
Speaker 1: We have it up on our Instagram and it's one
Speaker 1: of our more viewed videos on our YouTube page and
Speaker 1: on and on. But it's just a lot of engagement
Speaker 1: for those who don't know. Zara, Mimi, and Mustani are
Speaker 1: all students at Arizona State University. They, Zara especially and
Speaker 1: I believe Mimi as well, worked with Arizona State to
Speaker 1: create a multicultural center, a space where they could be
Speaker 1: protected from a lot of the I'm not a student
Speaker 1: at ASU anymore, I did go to school there, but
Speaker 1: you know, they wanted a space where they could share
Speaker 1: black ideas and have black conversations and not feel that
Speaker 1: feeling that a lot of times non white folks have
Speaker 1: in the presence of white people in this country, where
Speaker 1: you feel like your things are alien, your things might
Speaker 1: be ridiculed. You know, they wanted a safe space where
Speaker 1: they could have black convers stations. Imagine two Spanish speaking
Speaker 1: people having a conversation in Spanish, their native language, that
Speaker 1: they have their jokes and you know, their idioms and
Speaker 1: so forth. You know, when you're having that conversation in
Speaker 1: front of a non Spanish speaker, you might feel like
Speaker 1: you're offending that person or otherwise they might take issue
Speaker 1: with it or something like that. So this is kind
Speaker 1: of the idea behind us. Anyway, they worked with the
Speaker 1: university creates this multicultural center and began using it and
Speaker 1: it was I think a few days old when some
Speaker 1: white students entered into the Multicultural Center. There were other
Speaker 1: white students there, of course, because it's not an exclusive place.
Speaker 1: It's just a place that kind of fosters culture other
Speaker 1: than you know, white American culture, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: But these specific white male students came into to the
Speaker 1: Multicultural Center and they had some inflammatory language affixed to
Speaker 1: their person in the in the form of their clothes
Speaker 1: and to their laptop. And I believe one of the
Speaker 1: things said police lives matter, which in that space is
Speaker 1: very very much insulting that that phrase police lives matter
Speaker 1: only exists because the phrase black lives matter exists and
Speaker 1: didn't exists to challenge that in the legitimacy of it.
Speaker 1: And there was some There was a Bass Pro Shops hat,
Speaker 1: there was a Chick fil a cup. You know, these
Speaker 1: like sort of dog whistle you know, coded racist things
Speaker 1: or coded conservative will call them. You know, they might
Speaker 1: not be racist, but very conservative things. And then one
Speaker 1: of the other student he had a like an anti
Speaker 1: Joe Biden shirt. And if that were it, that would
Speaker 1: have been maybe enough to just stay under the radar.
Speaker 1: But they were actually pointing the laptop and kind of
Speaker 1: doing that mean stare thing and making gestures at the
Speaker 1: black women in the center to try to entice them
Speaker 1: to engage. In other words, they went there looking for
Speaker 1: a fight. This is the story that was told to
Speaker 1: me that I do believe is true because I do
Speaker 1: know these women because they've been on the show before
Speaker 1: they went viral, and after Zara got involved, it got heted.
Speaker 1: And if you know Zara, you know exactly what I'm
Speaker 1: talking about. And if you don't know Zara, get to
Speaker 1: know her. I promise you need some of that in
Speaker 1: your life. But she came up like Queen Latifa and
Speaker 1: set it off, and the video of her engaging these
Speaker 1: white male students ended up going viral. As I mentioned,
Speaker 1: and as it turned out, the one of the students,
Speaker 1: one of the male students, was very connected and they
Speaker 1: put together a masterful campaign to get all of the
Speaker 1: girls suspended from school, which meant that Zara would not
Speaker 1: get her doctorate that she'd been working on. She's working
Speaker 1: on her dissertation, and that Mimi, I believe she's also
Speaker 1: a PhD candidate as well. She wouldn't have been able
Speaker 1: to complete her degree, and Mustani was going to be
Speaker 1: kicked out of school as well, and otherwise this kid's
Speaker 1: parents would stop donating to something like that, right, is
Speaker 1: what got back to me. Well, after initially just kind
Speaker 1: of sweeping it under the rug, the school actually went
Speaker 1: back and engaged the three women and says, hey, look,
Speaker 1: we're going to have to have a trial, and if
Speaker 1: you're found to not be within compliance of your student
Speaker 1: ethics whatever, we're going to have to get you kicked
Speaker 1: out of school. So they all had to get lawyers
Speaker 1: and it became this whole thing. And what I did
Speaker 1: was she got the community involved. She came up here
Speaker 1: and she shared her story and a lot of you,
Speaker 1: our listeners, really helped to support her. I believe they
Speaker 1: had like six thousand letters written something like wow on
Speaker 1: their behalf to make sure that they stayed in the school.
Speaker 1: And the outcome of that, which is why we're sharing
Speaker 1: it on our year end episode of positive outcomes, is
Speaker 1: that they were allowed to stay in school. The school
Speaker 1: said we all we want you to do is write
Speaker 1: a letter of explaining what you did and why you
Speaker 1: won't do it again. And all three of the girls women,
Speaker 1: all three of the women said, I'm much older than them.
Speaker 1: They're in college and you know, so I mean nothing
Speaker 1: when I say girls, but they are women. All three
Speaker 1: of them said, now we're not writing that letter and
Speaker 1: they're still in school. And I love that, so so yeah,
Speaker 1: just to I'm happy to be able to share an
Speaker 1: outcome like that.
Speaker 3: The promise you'll never do it again part is so condescending,
Speaker 3: that's what they and that's too much to ask, right,
Speaker 3: You're going to ignore the nuance to consequences in the
Speaker 3: context of under which those things happen. Sure you'll never
Speaker 3: defend yourself again, is what you're asking me to promise.
Speaker 1: These are all points that they made in their press
Speaker 1: conferences when you're talking and everything else. And that's a
Speaker 1: beautiful thing though, that they were willing to stand up
Speaker 1: for their principles. You know, this show exists. I'm telling you,
Speaker 1: like you don't know for you listening to Q and
Speaker 1: I's voice, this show that you're listening to right now
Speaker 1: exists because Q and I decided to stand up for
Speaker 1: our principles. We felt like a show like this was
Speaker 1: necessary at our old radio station where we worked, and
Speaker 1: they said the exact words were, I don't want to
Speaker 1: do a black show and it was a hip hop station,
Speaker 1: and that felt very hurtful, and especially in a time
Speaker 1: when it was necessary for us to have conversations. This
Speaker 1: is necessary for us to communicate and to share information.
Speaker 1: Where's the next protest? What does defund the police mean?
Speaker 1: You know? Those sorts of things have what is critical
Speaker 1: race theory? Those sorts of things, And so again we
Speaker 1: applaud to people standing up for their principles. Unfortunately, we
Speaker 1: were able to stand Zara, Mimi and Mastani and we're
Speaker 1: very happy with that outcome. Speaking of critical race theory,
Speaker 1: I will say this that on our best day, we're
Speaker 1: neck and neck. But you know, there are a lot
Speaker 1: of people that oppose the teaching of critical race theory,
Speaker 1: and they're just really good on the other side at
Speaker 1: marketing fear and people lap it up to be afraid
Speaker 1: of telling the truth in school, it seems, and the
Speaker 1: way they reform it is like, no, they're going to
Speaker 1: teach your children to hate themselves and be embarrassed about
Speaker 1: their history. And that has never been what it is
Speaker 1: been about. That's not that I'm no more embarrassed of
Speaker 1: my legacy at having come from slaves, then your children
Speaker 1: would be embarrassed about learning that they may have come
Speaker 1: from slave owners. Right, it's a very distant past for
Speaker 1: all of us, you know, on the schoolyard, we're all friends.
Speaker 1: At least that's what it was at all the schools
Speaker 1: I went through my whole life, and I went to
Speaker 1: school for nineteen years because I have a master's degree
Speaker 1: hanging on my wall, and I don't know how long
Speaker 1: you went to school, but that's long enough to know difference.
Speaker 1: I went to school in different states, in different cities,
Speaker 1: I moved around. I got it right. But the fact
Speaker 1: that this country had to have a conversation about it
Speaker 1: I believe that that's a positive outcome. And granted, we
Speaker 1: don't have fear in our arsenal, or rather, we don't
Speaker 1: use fear as one of our tools to accomplish what
Speaker 1: it is that we want as black people. We just
Speaker 1: don't really move like that. That. That's not to say
Speaker 1: there haven't been examples of that, you know, But even
Speaker 1: those examples, I don't believe they were based in fear.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: The Panthers, Well, you have to find exceptions there you go,
Speaker 3: because I'm glad you brought the panthers up. The panthers
Speaker 3: armed themselves, thank you, as a means of self defense.
Speaker 3: We didn't storm the capital for instance. You know what
Speaker 3: I mean, We as a people, and I can speak
Speaker 3: to this in this with this broad general language, because
Speaker 3: it's true, we as a people have never sought revenge
Speaker 3: for the way this country has treated us. Yeah, ever,
Speaker 3: in our entire history, you know, we've had instances where
Speaker 3: we took to the streets. You know, you can bring up,
Speaker 3: you know, examples of riots if you will, when the
Speaker 3: outcomes were just so blasphemously disrespectful that people were just enraged.
Speaker 3: But even then, we didn't take arms against people right,
Speaker 3: you talk about the destruction of property. We understand these
Speaker 3: things are criminal. We didn't take to the streets with
Speaker 3: weapons and shoot and kill and and physically fight. And
Speaker 3: even in the instances where violence occurred, it was as
Speaker 3: a reaction to, again, the destruction of property and laws
Speaker 3: being broken. I'm not going to, you know, pretend that
Speaker 3: everything was done in a way that was vanilla and
Speaker 3: civil and benign. But there's I think there has always
Speaker 3: been this fear or this expectation that one day we'd
Speaker 3: rise up and try to burn this thing down. And
Speaker 3: that's just not our goal. We literally just want to
Speaker 3: exist and prosper and thrive in the way that this
Speaker 3: country has promised us. We should be able to, that's all.
Speaker 3: And being denied that at every turn for what feels
Speaker 3: like a thousand years is exhausting. Sure, sure, absolutely, But
Speaker 3: at some point our history and our record shouldn't matter. Yeah.
Speaker 3: We have been on the receiving side of the beatdowns
Speaker 3: for the entirety of the country's history.
Speaker 1: Sure, And the beatdowns aren't just like physical beatdowns are
Speaker 1: like yeah, like really grand like massive scale.
Speaker 3: Bet you can't live and prosper here. According to Article
Speaker 3: three sections, yeah, goodness, it's like written into the law.
Speaker 1: But in any event, the conversation about critical race theory,
Speaker 1: the fact that it exists, the fact that people really
Speaker 1: have to use fear to continue to wield it as
Speaker 1: a weapon, to where even people like Bill Maher is
Speaker 1: an opponent of critical race theory, a well known liberal,
Speaker 1: old school liberal guy, has kind of given into the
Speaker 1: fear that somehow critical race theory is new humh, and
Speaker 1: that it's specific intention, or rather the outcomes of it
Speaker 1: will specifically cause children hunh who don't even have concepts
Speaker 1: gelled in their mind yet kindergarteners are going to learn
Speaker 1: to hate themselves because of something that happened a billion
Speaker 1: years old.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I understop rocking with Bill Maher, who I think
Speaker 3: positioned himselves for a long time as an ally once
Speaker 3: during our last president's term last term, started speaking in
Speaker 3: ways about black people and about the black experience that
Speaker 3: he one couldn't possibly know and that were very clearly
Speaker 3: opposed to how we feel as the people. It was
Speaker 3: very disappointing.
Speaker 1: Well hang on, let me jump in here. At least
Speaker 1: on our show, we'll never pretend like we know what
Speaker 1: we don't know. We'll say we don't know it, you know,
Speaker 1: and that's very infuriating when other people, you know, we
Speaker 1: we haven't yet had a conversation about white savior complex.
Speaker 1: But for those who feel so inclined, please engage in
Speaker 1: some googling and some research on the white savior complex.
Speaker 1: And I believe that he might be an example of
Speaker 1: that where just everything this guy says is gospel because
Speaker 1: he said it, you know, obviously he's smart. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's a male thing too, and I'm not going to
Speaker 1: say that we don't have those type of tendencies because
Speaker 1: we're men as well, but you know, we appreciate it.
Speaker 1: But we have this show so that we can tell
Speaker 1: our own stories. We can we can speak our own truth,
Speaker 1: and that we can decide what path we're going to
Speaker 1: use to go forward. And you listening to our voices.
Speaker 1: We like to count you as allies, and we hope
Speaker 1: that our Black conversation in your presence helps to give
Speaker 1: you a glimpse into what life is like beyond your
Speaker 1: capacity to just imagine. And so very grateful for Bill Mahr.
Speaker 1: But you know there's something, there's a point when you
Speaker 1: just can't do anymore and you have to let those
Speaker 1: who at least feel like they know better, you know,
Speaker 1: or have lived that life, you know, be self determined.
Speaker 1: And so here we are. It's going to be a
Speaker 1: weird transition here. But but one of the positive things
Speaker 1: that we can look back on this year is, you know,
Speaker 1: this year, we a lot of our Asian brothers and
Speaker 1: sisters really had to and are still having to deal
Speaker 1: with some very heavy stuff. You know, these these attacks
Speaker 1: and these seemingly unprovoked random attacks on their bodies. People
Speaker 1: losing their lives, Elderly Asian people losing their lives. It's
Speaker 1: been very hurtful and disgusting to see. And I will
Speaker 1: admit that we see black people commit crimes against Asian people.
Speaker 1: We do see that, and we condemn that the same
Speaker 1: way we condemn anything else that is awful. And we
Speaker 1: would never that's just not who we are as people.
Speaker 1: And to that end, we've invited folks up on the
Speaker 1: show to have conversations about them. You know, real quick,
Speaker 1: we want to give a shout out to uh Lisa's
Speaker 1: son who came up on the show a couple of times.
Speaker 3: Shelley you, if you can hear us, we appreciate you.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, to just come and just be yourself and tell
Speaker 1: us what life is like in your world and tell
Speaker 1: us how we can help you. You know, that's really
Speaker 1: what we hope that this space would be, and it
Speaker 1: was our pleasure to be able to share it in
Speaker 1: solidarity with our Asian brothers and sisters as they decided
Speaker 1: what path they should take and how we should help them.
Speaker 1: And to know that there was some legislature, legislation I
Speaker 1: never get that word right, enacted to protect them specifically. Granted,
Speaker 1: we all wanted it, you know, and we're not going
Speaker 1: to back up off of that, but to know that
Speaker 1: there was something that was written down formally by this
Speaker 1: country to protect them and to protect their liberty and
Speaker 1: their well being, that feels special, and that feels like
Speaker 1: an accomplishment that we as a country have been able
Speaker 1: to celebrate in this past year, and so wanted to
Speaker 1: take a moment to mention that as well. You know,
Speaker 1: we talked a lot about the voting rights initiatives, the
Speaker 1: John C. Lewis Voting Rights Bill, I'll call it. I
Speaker 1: don't know the exact name, but it was something like
Speaker 1: that Lewis right, that passed the House, I think it's
Speaker 1: they're still working on getting it through the Senate or
Speaker 1: something like that. But as we mentioned earlier, you know,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of folks really helping the campaign that
Speaker 1: especially the NAACP. Once again, if you would like to
Speaker 1: make a donation toward that end, visit in DOUAACP dot
Speaker 1: org slash donate and you can do just that. But
Speaker 1: very proud of all of us working together to try
Speaker 1: to protect our right to vote and to not let
Speaker 1: it be taken away from us based on based on
Speaker 1: falsehoods by one person whose pride couldn't suffer, you know,
Speaker 1: the loss of an election whose whole empire is built
Speaker 1: on him being a quote unquote winner and people support
Speaker 1: him based on that. So you know, obviously there's there's
Speaker 1: a lot of weird stuff at play there, but you know, again,
Speaker 1: voting rights, we look at that as something that we
Speaker 1: came together and celebrated. The twenty twenty census results came
Speaker 1: back in twenty twenty one, and we were able to
Speaker 1: discuss that and able to have some meaningful conversations about
Speaker 1: the population shifting and what it must feel like to
Speaker 1: be a white person and a time when you know
Speaker 1: the world is changing around you and being able to
Speaker 1: empathize and maybe understand some of the frustrations on the
Speaker 1: right and folks that feel like they're losing their place
Speaker 1: in the world, and hopefully provide some comfort. Like you
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier that hey, we're all on the same team.
Speaker 1: You know, we don't want revenge, you know, that sort
Speaker 1: of thing. And we were able to talk about cancel
Speaker 1: culture as well a couple of times on the show
Speaker 1: and how it is necessary, but how it can also
Speaker 1: be too much. So those are some of the things
Speaker 1: that we're very happy that we've been able to talk
Speaker 1: about on this show. And of course, above all us,
Speaker 1: we're very happy that you've tuned in and you've helped
Speaker 1: the show grow by donating, by sharing content, by whatever
Speaker 1: it is that you've done. You are kind of the
Speaker 1: battery in our backs.
Speaker 3: And cancel culture it had its place, right, I think
Speaker 3: the cancel I think canceling people was necessary. But everything
Speaker 3: has to be done in moderation. We're not canceling everybody
Speaker 3: for everything. And I think that's where I think that's
Speaker 3: where those who oppose it, I think that's where it started.
Speaker 3: Then it swung all the way the other way. Yeah, Okay,
Speaker 3: we can't cancel everyone for everything, so we shouldn't cancel
Speaker 3: anyone for anything. And those are two very very points
Speaker 3: of view.
Speaker 1: We strike a balance and we just kind of figure
Speaker 1: out how to use that. That's one thing that we
Speaker 1: do kind of wheel down our end. Maybe it's not,
Speaker 1: but it is consequence, as we'll call itself. Anyway, it's
Speaker 1: time for the Way Black History Fact and Q you
Speaker 1: might love this one, Oh, so journal Truth, Sojourner Truth Insight.
Speaker 1: Is there is there a better name that's like the
Speaker 1: history of people, that's a great name. Well, last week
Speaker 1: we were able to dedicate our Ebony Excellence segment to
Speaker 1: Belle Hooks, who passed away in December. And you know,
Speaker 1: a title of one of her books that came out
Speaker 1: in the eighties borrowed a line from Sojourner Truth, and
Speaker 1: Q mentioned that we should dedicated Way Black History Fact
Speaker 1: to her, and that's what we will do right now.
Speaker 1: So allow me to read a former slave. Sojourner Truth
Speaker 1: became an outspoken advocate for abolition, temperance, and civil and
Speaker 1: women's rights in the nineteenth century. Her Civil War work
Speaker 1: earned her an invitation to meet in Abraham Lincoln in
Speaker 1: eighteen sixty four. Truth was born Isabella Bamfrie, a slave
Speaker 1: in Dutch speaking Ulster County, New York. In seventeen ninety seven,
Speaker 1: she was bought and sold four times and subjected to
Speaker 1: Harsh's physical labor and violent punishments. In her teens, she
Speaker 1: was united with another slave, with whom she had five children,
Speaker 1: beginning in eighteen fifteen. In eighteen twenty seven, a year
Speaker 1: before New York's law freeing slaves was to take effect,
Speaker 1: Truth ran away with her infant Sophia to a nearby
Speaker 1: abolitionist family, the Van Wagner's. The family bought her freedom
Speaker 1: for twenty dollars and helped Truth successfully sue for the
Speaker 1: return of her five year old son, Peter, who was
Speaker 1: illegally sold into slavery in Alabama. Truth moved to New
Speaker 1: York City in eighteen twenty eight, where she worked for
Speaker 1: a local minister. By the early eighteen thirties, she participated
Speaker 1: in the religious revivals that were swooping the state and
Speaker 1: became a charismatic speaker. In eighteen forty three, she declared
Speaker 1: that the spirit called her to preach the truth, renaming
Speaker 1: herself sojournal Truth as an itinerant preacher Truth met abolitionist
Speaker 1: William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglas. Garrison's anti slavery organization
Speaker 1: encouraged Truth to give speeches about the evils of slavery.
Speaker 1: She never learned to read or write. In eighteen fifty,
Speaker 1: she dictated what would become her autobiography, The Narrative of
Speaker 1: Sojourner Truth, to Olive Gilbert, who assisted in its publication.
Speaker 1: Truth survived on sales of the book, which also brought
Speaker 1: her national recognition. She met women's rights advocates including Elizabeth
Speaker 1: Katie Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, as well as temperance advocates,
Speaker 1: both causes she quickly championed Almost Done Hang with me
Speaker 1: An eighteen fifty one, Truth began a lecture tour that
Speaker 1: included a woman's rights conference in Akron, Ohio, where she
Speaker 1: delivered her famous Ain't I a Woman's Speech? And that's
Speaker 1: where Belle Hooks got the title from a book teach.
Speaker 1: In it, she challenged prevailing notions of racial and gender
Speaker 1: inferiority and inequality by reminding listeners of her combined strength,
Speaker 1: Truth was nearly six feet tall and female status. Truth
Speaker 1: ultimately split with Douglas, who believed suffrage for formally enslaved
Speaker 1: men should come before women's suffrage. She thought both should
Speaker 1: occur simultaneously. During the eighteen fifties, Truce settled in Battle Creek, Michigan,
Speaker 1: where three of her daughters lived. She continued speaking nationally
Speaker 1: and helped the slaves escape freedom. When the Civil War started,
Speaker 1: Truth urged young men to join the Union cause and
Speaker 1: organized supplies for black troops. After the war, she was
Speaker 1: honored with an invitation to the White House and became
Speaker 1: involved with the Freedmen's Bureau, helping freed slaves find jobs,
Speaker 1: build and build new lives. While in Washington, d she
Speaker 1: she lobbied against segregation, and in the mid eighteen sixties,
Speaker 1: when a streetcar conductor tried to violently block her from writing,
Speaker 1: she ensured his arrest and won her subsequent case. In
Speaker 1: late eighteen sixties, she collected thousands of signatures on a
Speaker 1: petition to provide former slaves with land, though Congress never
Speaker 1: took action. Nearly blind and death toward the end of
Speaker 1: her life, Truth spent her final years in Michigan.
Speaker 3: Of course, she spent her final years in Michigan, where.
Speaker 1: Q Ward was born talk to him Q.
Speaker 3: I listened to all she did with her life, and
Speaker 3: I am convicted that we are not doing enough.
Speaker 1: Isn't that crazy? She's a Now, you know, we talk
Speaker 1: about let me start over. In this space. We celebrate women,
Speaker 1: we celebrate powerful women, we celebrate black women. We believe
Speaker 1: that women are the ones who have to teach us
Speaker 1: how to love them, and we believe in learning how
Speaker 1: to love on the terms of the person we're choosing
Speaker 1: to love. Part of that comes from me being nurtured
Speaker 1: by a powerful woman, doctor Westernberg, doctor Camilla Westernberg, who's
Speaker 1: again a frequent contributor to the show here and also
Speaker 1: my teacher when I was in college, who took the
Speaker 1: time to really help me. I was in a really
Speaker 1: difficult time in my life and she took the time
Speaker 1: to help me, and she put me in front of
Speaker 1: all these books and she taught me all these names.
Speaker 1: And eventually we're going to talk about Angela Davis because
Speaker 1: she's the one in my mind, she's the one that
Speaker 1: really got me. But it does feel like if it's
Speaker 1: an honor to be able to share this on the
Speaker 1: way Black History fact, and it does feel like absolutely
Speaker 1: we can be doing more, And if she were sitting
Speaker 1: here right here with us, I'm sure she would want
Speaker 1: us to do more then, you know, talk an hour
Speaker 1: a week, which we do. But you know, when the
Speaker 1: story of our life is told, hopefully our contribution will
Speaker 1: be more than what we've done. It might never be
Speaker 1: as much as what she's done, but you know, everybody
Speaker 1: needs heroes, and we're glad that we have her as ours.
Speaker 1: And maybe, just maybe we might be some heroes to
Speaker 1: some folks that come after us. But there there's a
Speaker 1: tremendous amount of humility and honor that comes in to
Speaker 1: be able to you know, bring stories like this back
Speaker 1: up and make them live one more time on this
Speaker 1: radio show. And I think, above all else, it really
Speaker 1: matters that you take the time to listen to us,
Speaker 1: whether this be your first time listening, or you listen
Speaker 1: every week, whether you download the show, whether you on
Speaker 1: YouTube or whatever it is, however you consume this, it
Speaker 1: really does matter. It really it feels very special, not
Speaker 1: just to the programmers but to the actual listeners. We
Speaker 1: can't thank you enough for another year and for another
Speaker 1: opportunity to share time and space and ideas with you.
Speaker 1: Our brothers and our sisters, and with that said, that's
Speaker 1: going to do it. Thank you for twenty twenty one everyone.
Speaker 1: Once again, I'm your host rams this job and I
Speaker 1: go by the name q Ward. Yes, indeed, please hit
Speaker 1: the website civiccipher dot com. You can go on there
Speaker 1: and submit any questions that you would like us to answer.
Speaker 1: Of course, you can submit topics for us to discuss.
Speaker 1: The show is growing largely because you've donated money. Money
Speaker 1: does help the show grow and it will continue to
Speaker 1: grow with your donations. Not only can we donate to
Speaker 1: the NAAC three, you can donate to Civic Cypher on
Speaker 1: our website civiccycer dot com. Plea sure, be sure to
Speaker 1: follow our social media. It's all at civic Cypher and
Speaker 1: download this in any previous episodes that you're going to
Speaker 1: check out and until next week y'all pa ma.
Speaker 2: Yo, we handled it. These brothers a fabulous our lady
Speaker 2: showing you where Vrom traveled. This will speak to you
Speaker 2: from sunlight to move, busting on stage like gonna fight
Speaker 2: the mo rove my mic back.
Speaker 1: You're like that journalist with journalist too.
Speaker 2: We can strike back morble borders with orders from head
Speaker 2: borders behind and and.
Speaker 1: Be line sides up and the borders the press package.
Speaker 1: We bring it to you as.
Speaker 2: It happens the streets love pop them from music and
Speaker 2: rapping the street compared the Slash week expando. You're gonna
Speaker 2: fight the slander with the proper propaganda. What's happening, It's happen.
Speaker 2: You've got any questions and ask if the news is
Speaker 2: just a TV show.
Speaker 3: You're pasting this mo