1 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to PM Mood, my new free podcast that gives 2 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 1: you the listeners conversations you've always wanted with your favorite 3 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:25,279 Speaker 1: social influencers, authors, artists, activists, thought leaders, celebrities, and more. 4 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 1: This is the no talking points and no bullshit podcast 5 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:32,519 Speaker 1: that takes you behind the curtain, off the red carpet, 6 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,479 Speaker 1: and to the front lines of progress with change makers 7 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: and innovators that are doing the work to shift our 8 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:42,879 Speaker 1: culture and expand our social impact. I am so excited 9 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: that the first episode of PM Mood is with my 10 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: dear friend and social justice warrior Rashad Robinson, who is 11 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:54,280 Speaker 1: the president of Color of Change, the largest online civil 12 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: rights organization in the country that is literally doing the 13 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: work and retelling of black stories that show our full 14 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:07,960 Speaker 1: and complete humanity in Hollywood, that is fighting racialized policies 15 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:11,040 Speaker 1: on the ground that are trying to get our voting 16 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: rights back. There is so much work that Color Change 17 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 1: has been doing, and Rashad Robinson has been doing it 18 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 1: for decades, but for almost a decade at Color of Change. 19 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 1: So I'm so excited to welcome Rashad Robinson, President of 20 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: Color Change, two PM Mood for our inaugural episode talking 21 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:38,880 Speaker 1: about how you utilize your platform to increase social impact. Rashad, 22 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: you have been at the helm of Color of Change 23 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: for how long at this point? Because I feel like 24 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: you have turned this organization into an incredible powerhouse doing 25 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: so many things. We're going to specifically talk about telling 26 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: black stories in Hollywood. But how long has it been 27 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: and does it feel like you've been there a hundred 28 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: years or just five? Woll I couldn't possibly be a 29 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: hundred years, considering how young I am. But it was 30 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: eight years in May that I started a Color of 31 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: Change in two thou and eleven, and really have had 32 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: the privilege to watch this organization grow and to be 33 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:19,920 Speaker 1: inside of so many amazing moments, cultural and political, and 34 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: really have the opportunity to give everyday people away, to 35 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 1: make their voices her, to find the opportunities to win 36 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:29,520 Speaker 1: in moments where we didn't think winning was possible, to 37 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 1: chip away at so many of the barriers that stand 38 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:34,600 Speaker 1: in the way of true progress. So it's one of 39 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: your friends. I will be very honest that when Rashad 40 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: said that he was going to Color of Change, I 41 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,520 Speaker 1: said to him, I was like, you know, I just 42 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: I feel like that's not the right move because you 43 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: know racism like black people like, we have arrived, we 44 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 1: have a black president, you know, we have all of 45 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 1: these good things that are going on. Lo and behold. 46 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 1: Did I know that the fucking bottom was going to 47 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: fall out? Like some like like I think six months later? 48 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: But you had had been at GLAD and working on 49 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 1: advancing LGBTQ issues and equality, and that is how I 50 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: had worked myself into media, was talking about marriage equality 51 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: and lgbt Q equality. So when you were making this 52 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: transition to an online African American civil rights organization working 53 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: on uplifting the black community, I was like, oh, but 54 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: there's we're on another frontier, like there's this other group 55 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: and we live at the intersection of these identities and 56 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: lo and behold, I had no idea how far back is, 57 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: how far back times would be rolled back? But you 58 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: knew ya. So what compelled you do you think at 59 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: that time to recognize that this was the place that 60 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: you needed to go that unlike my very naive sitting 61 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: and drinking champagne with the Obamas in the White House 62 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 1: feeling like we had arrived, that we hadn't yet. You know, 63 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: it's funny you say, first of all, thank you for 64 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: saying that, because a lot of people, our number of 65 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 1: people said had all sorts of emails been like I 66 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: don't understand what you're doing, Like you are at GLAD, 67 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: you have this like perch, why would you leave this? 68 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 1: So here's what happened for me. I remember a couple 69 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: of moments that really sort of animated the decision that 70 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: I made about what would it mean to make this 71 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:19,920 Speaker 1: decision what would it mean to more squarely work in 72 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:24,160 Speaker 1: racial justice. First is I've always been working on racial justice, 73 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 1: even while I was at GLAD. I believe that racial 74 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 1: justice is one of the clearest force multipliers for change. 75 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: In fact, I believe that racial and gender justice are 76 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:36,480 Speaker 1: the clearest forces to undo the norms and the structures 77 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:39,599 Speaker 1: that have far too often have held back progress because 78 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: of a lack of gender justice and a lack of 79 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:45,480 Speaker 1: racial justice that create those circumstances. So I came up 80 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: doing racial justice work, and it's always been clear, and 81 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:50,720 Speaker 1: even at GLAD, while I was the head of programs 82 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,359 Speaker 1: and overseeing all the programmatic work, I worked hard at 83 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:57,400 Speaker 1: times to really center racial justice in that work. With 84 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:01,239 Speaker 1: this idea, and there's this idea of the curb effect. 85 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 1: Angela Glever Blackwell talks about the curb effect. It's this 86 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,280 Speaker 1: theory that when they put curbs on sidewalks, they put 87 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: the first one back, I believe in the late sixties 88 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 1: early seventies in Berkeley, and it was a big win 89 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:15,880 Speaker 1: for the disability rights community, but that curve in there 90 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: actually helped a whole lot of other people as well. 91 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 1: It was a forced multiplier for people being going to 92 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:24,120 Speaker 1: get packages around, for people, for elderly people being able 93 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:27,600 Speaker 1: to move. How we center the most marginalized people and 94 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: then work up from there helps to rise all boats. 95 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:33,720 Speaker 1: But on a more personal note, which I think is 96 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:36,840 Speaker 1: really what drives me in this work, was that my 97 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: niece was born right and I was seeing stuff on 98 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: TV that if it was gay, we would have stopped it, 99 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:46,039 Speaker 1: but it was black. And I remember writing long emails 100 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: to the heads of Color of Change because I just 101 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:49,719 Speaker 1: saw some of the work they were doing in the 102 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: media space and felt like they might have the best 103 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 1: opportunity to take it on. I would send these emails like, 104 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: this is how you should take this on, this is 105 00:05:57,320 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: how you should take that on. I remember clearly being 106 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: up in Vermont, where my brother and sister in law 107 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 1: and niece and nephews lived and babysitting my niece and 108 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:09,160 Speaker 1: watching this episode of So You Think You Can Dance, 109 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: and one of the judges came after hard this couple, 110 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:15,920 Speaker 1: this gay mail couple that was like dancing, and he 111 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: said all horrible things. I was watching it. I didn't 112 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: normally didn't watch that, but I was like in Vermont 113 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,599 Speaker 1: and there was not my job to do this show, 114 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 1: and I was like, oh, And I started texting my 115 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: team at Glad and by the end of the next 116 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:33,040 Speaker 1: day we had them apologizing, and I was like in 117 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:36,279 Speaker 1: a car to Albany to tape a segment for Access 118 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: Hollywood on why it was wrong. And I remember just 119 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: thinking about all throughout the day, I had been seeing 120 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 1: these horrible negative images of black people, and I was like, well, 121 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: who is doing that around this? And so like to 122 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: the extent that the work has always been part of 123 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: how I think about making justice and making change, but 124 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:01,279 Speaker 1: also for anyone who does this work, if you don't 125 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 1: have a sense of purpose that is rooted in a 126 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: personal story, that is rooted in a vision for the 127 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 1: future that is more than anything in a textbook, then 128 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:13,760 Speaker 1: you actually won't last in it because you deal with 129 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: way more losses day in and day out than you 130 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: deal with wins. And in speaking about your personal story 131 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 1: and what has guide you, which has been a sense 132 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:25,280 Speaker 1: of justice and fighting for justice wherever you are. If 133 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:28,240 Speaker 1: you see injustice, if you see inequality, it is something 134 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: that you have consistently all the years that I have 135 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:33,560 Speaker 1: known you, which is what feels like a thousand in 136 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 1: a good way. It has been the core value of yours. 137 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: Talk to me about now when you are seeing these 138 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 1: images on television, on streaming, in the movies about black people. Right, 139 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 1: what we constantly see in what has become a normalized 140 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: term is trauma porn. Right that as it pertains to 141 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: the telling of our stories and our lives, that it 142 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: is deep in the traumatic that we are used to 143 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: seeing black people cry, We're used to seeing black bodies 144 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 1: torn apart, whether it be by bullets or by beatings. 145 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: And color of Change has been on the forefront of 146 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: cases and issues and bringing light to where our money 147 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 1: is going, like you did with Alec, and making sure 148 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:22,400 Speaker 1: that we all know that when we are paying certain 149 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: companies that what they're using our money to do. And 150 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,240 Speaker 1: you have a phrase that you say, right, which is 151 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: what about using our money. Can't come for our money 152 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:33,839 Speaker 1: by day and take away our vote by night, or 153 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: can't come for our money by day and make us 154 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:37,679 Speaker 1: unsafe by night. And it's the same thing to me 155 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: that pertains to entertainment right when you're looking at things 156 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:45,040 Speaker 1: that we find entertaining. And there was something that James 157 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:47,720 Speaker 1: Baldwin had said at one time, which is that as 158 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:50,520 Speaker 1: black people, we have always been forced to look at 159 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:53,959 Speaker 1: white people, white people's stories, white people's lives, and they've 160 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,200 Speaker 1: never ever had to look at us. And even still now, 161 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 1: you know, just recently, you've had Gabe Union story come out. 162 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: Actress Gabrielle Union, who you know, by all cases, was 163 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:09,440 Speaker 1: one of the most likable judges on a America's Got Talent, 164 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 1: was told in twenty nineteen that her hairstyles are too 165 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:17,720 Speaker 1: black or she's showing up too black. We still get 166 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:22,079 Speaker 1: excited when we saw Annalie's keating on How to Get 167 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 1: Away with Murder, Viola Davis's character in a head rap, 168 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:29,079 Speaker 1: because we've never seen a black woman in mainstream media, 169 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:32,080 Speaker 1: on national television in a head wrap. What black women 170 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:35,360 Speaker 1: do to protect their hair at nighttime, So talk to 171 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:40,319 Speaker 1: us about this kind of this move, this pivot or expansion. 172 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:43,080 Speaker 1: I should say that color change has made into the 173 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: telling of black stories, and why that's so important, and 174 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:50,559 Speaker 1: why that is also connected to your niece and nephews, 175 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:53,480 Speaker 1: so that they can see reflections of themselves. Yeah, and 176 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 1: so our Tell Black Stories projecting campaign is an extension 177 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 1: of our Hollywood work. And is it way for us 178 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:04,840 Speaker 1: to really situate the telling of holistic and authentic portrayals 179 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: as a means to create a more human and less 180 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:10,679 Speaker 1: hostile world. I believe that if we create a more 181 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:13,559 Speaker 1: human and less hostile world for black people, we create 182 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:16,439 Speaker 1: a more human and less hostile world for all of us. 183 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: And you know, one of the things about this work 184 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,680 Speaker 1: is that it's situated into a number of sort of categories. 185 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 1: One is the work to move our stories and stop 186 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 1: the kind of harmful portrayals. And I want to be 187 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 1: really clear about this. This is not about a respectability politics, right, 188 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:36,760 Speaker 1: I'm not looking for just positive stories. We're looking for 189 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:40,040 Speaker 1: accurate and full portrayals. I think of the story of 190 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:44,959 Speaker 1: Oscar Grants and just the power of that story. Right, 191 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:48,080 Speaker 1: Oscar Grant was not someone without flaws, but he was 192 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 1: a human being and he had a full portrayal, and 193 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: we need these full portrayals that build the type of connection, 194 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 1: that build authentic connections. So it's about that campaigning. And 195 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:01,840 Speaker 1: so we run and paints to stop stuff. We run 196 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:04,200 Speaker 1: campaigns to get stuff on the air. Then we do 197 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,920 Speaker 1: a lot of work behind the scenes in Hollywood inside 198 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:09,920 Speaker 1: of writer's rooms, working and bringing real people inside of 199 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:14,679 Speaker 1: those writers rooms, pushing the industry to tell better stories. 200 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:18,040 Speaker 1: We also do a whole set of reports and advocacy 201 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 1: to help undergird that. And so we did a report 202 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: with UCLA on the diversity of writers rooms and then 203 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 1: tracked back that diversity to the actual content on the 204 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 1: air and found that a whole lot of really powerful 205 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:32,440 Speaker 1: information everything from out of the two hundred and thirty 206 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:35,040 Speaker 1: seven shows that we looked at, well over sixty percent 207 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:37,880 Speaker 1: didn't have one black writer in the writer's room. Out 208 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: of the crime procedures that we looked at in that study, 209 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,160 Speaker 1: only one of those crime procedures had more than one 210 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 1: black writer in the writer's room. When all of those 211 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:48,520 Speaker 1: shows were set in urban areas and telling a story 212 00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:51,160 Speaker 1: of crime and justice and inner cities, but have no 213 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: black writers in those writers rooms. And so we worked 214 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:56,760 Speaker 1: with UCLA on that report and pushed it out and 215 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:59,720 Speaker 1: then did a lot of the advocacy work around pushing 216 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:06,440 Speaker 1: i'm the structural barriers right to hiring, retention, elevation power 217 00:12:06,559 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: and all those things inside the industry. Right. Industries will 218 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:11,600 Speaker 1: oftentimes tell us right, and we hear this in Silicon 219 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 1: Valley and elsewhere, like, oh, maybe we need a mentorship program, 220 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:20,199 Speaker 1: or maybe we constantly talk about needing a pipe. But also, 221 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:24,000 Speaker 1: let's not start off by fixing the people who are oppressed. 222 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:27,320 Speaker 1: Let's start off by fixing the systems that are oppressing people. 223 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:29,840 Speaker 1: And that is like part of one of the things 224 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:32,080 Speaker 1: that we constantly see in all this is like we 225 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:36,520 Speaker 1: have these narratives that inequality, that injustice is sort of 226 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:39,679 Speaker 1: like a car accident, right, it just sort of happened, right, 227 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:43,520 Speaker 1: And when we think of inequality as unfortunate, we end 228 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:47,559 Speaker 1: up with charitable solutions to structural problems. So like, if 229 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:49,960 Speaker 1: there's lack of diversity, then was like, let's help people 230 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:52,880 Speaker 1: get into the writer's rooms instead of figuring out why 231 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,760 Speaker 1: we have a system that has prevented and created barriers 232 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: for people's full participation on stories that are actually at 233 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 1: their lives right. But when we think of inequalities unfortunate 234 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:08,280 Speaker 1: rather than unjust, we send water bottles to Flint instead 235 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: of cleaning up the pipes. We do inner city mid 236 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:15,240 Speaker 1: tour ship days. Instead of actually changing public education, we 237 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:19,960 Speaker 1: stop at re entry instead of ending massivecarceration. Because if 238 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: we fundamentally believe that some people are artificially on the 239 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:27,160 Speaker 1: bottom and some people are artificially on the top, then 240 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: we actually have to change the structures. Otherwise we have 241 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:33,480 Speaker 1: to believe that some people are on the bottom because 242 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:36,400 Speaker 1: they deserved, and some people are on the top because 243 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 1: they deserve. There's actually like kind of no in between. 244 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:42,400 Speaker 1: I know, we want to sometimes make there to be 245 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:46,240 Speaker 1: in between, but poverty it's a manufactured condition. It's a 246 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:48,440 Speaker 1: condition that many people are working to keep in place 247 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:51,160 Speaker 1: because they benefit. And so these reports allow us to 248 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: have sort of structure and rigor. We have a report 249 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:56,560 Speaker 1: coming out late in January that's going to be looking 250 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:59,680 Speaker 1: at the crime procedures on TV. We work with us 251 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:02,240 Speaker 1: arm in Lear's School to look at all the crime 252 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: procedures on TV and the representation of race on those 253 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:07,880 Speaker 1: shows and the representation of crime and then they can 254 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:11,720 Speaker 1: a bunch of structural demands and right, and so one 255 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: of the things a lot of folks have done in 256 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:15,960 Speaker 1: Hollywood is make a lot of demands around diversity. Right, 257 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 1: we need more diverse representation. And this is why it's 258 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:23,400 Speaker 1: so important that we have strategic interventions around racism, because 259 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:26,720 Speaker 1: we've sort of won some of the diversity battles on 260 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:30,360 Speaker 1: the screens, particularly the crime procedures. They have diversified those 261 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:35,960 Speaker 1: shows in Manys, the Cops, everyone. That's one thing I 262 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:37,840 Speaker 1: always like to joke about is is way more black 263 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:40,000 Speaker 1: judges on those shows than exist in the real world. 264 00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:42,440 Speaker 1: If you ever watch those shows, every show has like 265 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 1: a black judge, and it's like black judges everywhere, right, 266 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:47,200 Speaker 1: if only? And I'm like, yeah, if only they are 267 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:51,120 Speaker 1: oftentimes elderly, stately black women who are the judges. But 268 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:54,400 Speaker 1: if the writer of room are overwhelmingly white and they 269 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: are sending justice through the mouths of elderly, stately black 270 00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 1: people who make the audience believe that you can have 271 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:04,360 Speaker 1: a crime at the beginning of the show and you 272 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 1: solve for it by the end of the show, and 273 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 1: nobody got older, no years passed by that we have 274 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:13,840 Speaker 1: all of these trials, when in fact we don't actually 275 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: have a lot of trials. Upwards of ninety percent of 276 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 1: cases get pleaded out in the beginning. People are forced 277 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 1: into please because of lack of money, bail, a whole 278 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: set of things. None of that is shown on TV. 279 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:27,400 Speaker 1: A medical show like Grey's Anatomy or any of the 280 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 1: medical shows shows all sorts of innovations in medicine. A 281 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:34,880 Speaker 1: cancer treatment comes out one year, the next year you 282 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:38,920 Speaker 1: see a new cancer experiment happening on the show. You 283 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:40,960 Speaker 1: can't do that in a forty five minute episode, and 284 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 1: they don't do it on those shows. And so we're 285 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:46,320 Speaker 1: gonna really be pushing at those shows. And nice share 286 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:50,760 Speaker 1: this because right, it's a strategic intervention to recognizing right. 287 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 1: If we want to change the criminal justice system, there 288 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 1: are a set of written rules that we have to change. Right, 289 00:15:56,920 --> 00:16:01,360 Speaker 1: policy and practice around bail reform. It been saying America 290 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,360 Speaker 1: has three percent of the world's population and twenty five 291 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:08,480 Speaker 1: percent of the world's incarcerated population. Right, And so like 292 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,000 Speaker 1: the fact of the matter is is right. We do 293 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,000 Speaker 1: have written rules to change, but we also have unwritten 294 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:16,720 Speaker 1: rules and cultural rules to change. Because if we only 295 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 1: change the written rules. First of all, it's incredibly hard 296 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:24,200 Speaker 1: to change rules without changing people's public opinions. Why it 297 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:26,400 Speaker 1: is because I have to ask you this, because you 298 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:29,280 Speaker 1: know all of it. Yeah, Right, is about the perception 299 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 1: of the problem. Right, when you look at racist systems 300 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:40,320 Speaker 1: and structures, it is always that the problem is black people. 301 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 1: If you were to just you know, have your mom 302 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:45,600 Speaker 1: and dad in the home, if you were to just 303 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:49,360 Speaker 1: as oh, I don't know, Pete Buddhadesge said in a 304 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:52,560 Speaker 1: twenty and eleven video that there's no value in education 305 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:55,880 Speaker 1: because you just don't have any role models in underserved 306 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:59,480 Speaker 1: communities and communities of color. That there's this perception, like 307 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 1: you were saying that if you were on the bottom, 308 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: it's because you need to be there, because you were lazy, 309 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:08,439 Speaker 1: because you were under educated, or you devalue these different things. 310 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:11,480 Speaker 1: But the reality is is that that's not the case. 311 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:14,080 Speaker 1: And while I don't and I started off by saying, 312 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 1: there is a fine line to me between trauma porn. Right, 313 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:21,199 Speaker 1: this idea that everything about the black existence needs to 314 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:24,960 Speaker 1: be steeped in struggle, and then there's the really authentic 315 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,960 Speaker 1: ways in which you tell those stories of struggle, which 316 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:30,320 Speaker 1: I think are incredibly important. The question that I have 317 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:32,919 Speaker 1: for you, though, is what we have seen across the 318 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 1: board is that acceptance of various marginalized communities has been 319 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:43,000 Speaker 1: on the decline under the Trump administration, has been on 320 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:46,520 Speaker 1: the decline since twenty sixteen. Hate crimes have been on 321 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:51,400 Speaker 1: the rise. White supremacist organization groups have been on the rise, 322 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,200 Speaker 1: according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. And so talk 323 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:58,880 Speaker 1: to us about then if you cannot rely on policy 324 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 1: changes to be driven by our government, right, then what 325 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 1: is the responsibility do you think of executives in Hollywood 326 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,240 Speaker 1: which are still like we can Because I went to 327 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:16,400 Speaker 1: Hollywood recently to talk with writers and talk with producers, 328 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 1: and one of the things that they say is that, yeah, 329 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:21,320 Speaker 1: our writing rooms have become more diverse. These places have 330 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:23,800 Speaker 1: become more diverse. But guess what, the people that are 331 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:26,760 Speaker 1: green lighting it, the people that are funding these projects 332 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 1: are deciding what's going to get funded and what people 333 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,199 Speaker 1: are going to see. Or if they decide that the 334 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:34,720 Speaker 1: character which you may have written to be a woman 335 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:38,399 Speaker 1: who is from Nigeria or whomever, and they decide there's 336 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: not a big enough actress to play that role, or 337 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 1: what about this idea that Julia Roberts, what's an idea 338 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: that was floated about Harriott Dubman, like who has the 339 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:51,840 Speaker 1: power to green light? Is still very much white? So 340 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,679 Speaker 1: what is the responsibility when we are living in a 341 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:58,159 Speaker 1: political climate where what we have been working for, what 342 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:01,320 Speaker 1: we've been battling for on the front line, is now 343 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,719 Speaker 1: being rolled back. What responsibility do these people have with 344 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:09,320 Speaker 1: the images and the stories that are being told that 345 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:12,000 Speaker 1: help us continue to move the needle forward when our 346 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:14,879 Speaker 1: government is not actually doing that and is doing quite 347 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:17,680 Speaker 1: the opposite. Yeah, I mean, I think this is all 348 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,960 Speaker 1: about incentive structures. And what I mean by this is 349 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:25,200 Speaker 1: that is why people power and campaigning is so important, 350 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:28,439 Speaker 1: because none of these structures are going to change without 351 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:31,760 Speaker 1: people forcing them to, without people standing up and pushing 352 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: back on it. Every single one of the campaigns that 353 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:37,040 Speaker 1: we went at Color of Change, we always get to 354 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:41,040 Speaker 1: a point where the folks in power, the decision maker 355 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:44,840 Speaker 1: and power tells us why they can't do something, why 356 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:48,359 Speaker 1: the thing we're asking for is a thing that can't 357 00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:52,440 Speaker 1: be moved, and tell we force them too. I mean, 358 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 1: I remember very clearly when we came to a set 359 00:19:56,600 --> 00:20:00,560 Speaker 1: of credit card companies and payment processing companies, and we said, 360 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 1: stop processing fees for these white nationalists organizations. And the 361 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,240 Speaker 1: credit card companies said, go talk to the banks. We 362 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,080 Speaker 1: actually can't do that, that's not our responsibility. And the 363 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:11,840 Speaker 1: banks said, go talk to the credit card companies. And 364 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:15,240 Speaker 1: we started building out this campaign. And I remember and they, 365 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:19,080 Speaker 1: you know, had their pr people working. I remember, really annoying. 366 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:21,840 Speaker 1: I was in the back of a cab interview with 367 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:25,200 Speaker 1: a Washington Post reporter and he was in a very 368 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:32,359 Speaker 1: slow way explaining to me why why our campaign demanding 369 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 1: the credit card companies eliminate processing for these white national 370 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:39,719 Speaker 1: organizations was not something they could do, And did I 371 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:42,879 Speaker 1: want to comment on that and comment on why we 372 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: were making these demands on the companies that couldn't do 373 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,199 Speaker 1: the thing. And I said, well, they actually can do it. 374 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:51,840 Speaker 1: There's not a law that says they can. And he 375 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:53,680 Speaker 1: was like, well they can't. I'm like, no, they don't 376 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:57,560 Speaker 1: process his fees for ISIS, so they can. And so, 377 00:20:57,680 --> 00:20:59,960 Speaker 1: you know, we built out our campaign, we built out 378 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:04,200 Speaker 1: the infrastructure. We kept having conversations with these companies. So 379 00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 1: sure enough, Charlottesville happens and we're able. Then the staff 380 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:12,200 Speaker 1: goes in over the weekend and we turn that campaign 381 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:16,000 Speaker 1: on and we start pushing out and people who are outraged, 382 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:19,359 Speaker 1: now we point them to Hey, so all these folks 383 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:21,919 Speaker 1: were marching, and you know how they raise their money 384 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:25,320 Speaker 1: for the buses. You know how they are funding their organization. 385 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:28,320 Speaker 1: Go to their website. You could put your credit card 386 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 1: number in and buy paraphernalia that is like gun posters 387 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 1: that have comments about killing Muslims. They have t shirts 388 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:41,199 Speaker 1: and you can use it. All of a sudden, the 389 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:44,920 Speaker 1: credit card companies started sending us list of white nationalists 390 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:47,879 Speaker 1: organizations that they were eliminating and stop processing fees for. 391 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,800 Speaker 1: We're up to a hundred white nationalists organizations whose fees 392 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:55,080 Speaker 1: have been cut off. White nationalists organizations have called us 393 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:57,359 Speaker 1: and wanted to get on the phone to explain to 394 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:00,679 Speaker 1: us why they're not white nationalists organizations. I actually got 395 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:07,879 Speaker 1: one of those calls. It was a surreal and interesting conversation. 396 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:13,160 Speaker 1: There's a difference between presence and power. Presence is visibility. 397 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:17,639 Speaker 1: It's awareness, it's retweets, it's people talking about an issue. 398 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 1: It's maybe people being deeply outraged and wanting something to 399 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:25,080 Speaker 1: do about it. Power is the ability to change the rules. 400 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:29,320 Speaker 1: The kind of nexus between that is people power and 401 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:33,639 Speaker 1: narrative change. Everyday, people forcing systems to do things that 402 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 1: they otherwise said they couldn't do. And so the only 403 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:42,399 Speaker 1: thing that really changed between there was no law that 404 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,800 Speaker 1: was passed that said they can't process feed for white 405 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:48,880 Speaker 1: nationals organizations, and and to your point about the government, 406 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:51,640 Speaker 1: there would be no law and this moment that would 407 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:56,720 Speaker 1: actually the right people on both sides go side, so 408 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: like to the extent that the climate and the landscape changed. 409 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,000 Speaker 1: And I talk a lot about the founding of color 410 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,920 Speaker 1: of change because it does animate how we think about 411 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:10,480 Speaker 1: our work. You know, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, 412 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,000 Speaker 1: black people were literally on their roofs begging for the 413 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: government to do something, and they were left to die. 414 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:18,680 Speaker 1: And when they tried to go into stores in order 415 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:21,880 Speaker 1: to get what liberal resources that they can get, Yeah, 416 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:24,800 Speaker 1: they were attacked by the media, and they were fleeced 417 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,560 Speaker 1: by corporations, and they were ignored by their government. But 418 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:32,680 Speaker 1: people already knew the issues at hand, right, geographic segregation, 419 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:36,639 Speaker 1: generational poverty, the impacts of what we've done to our planet, 420 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:40,440 Speaker 1: the ways in which structural racism undergirds all of those things. 421 00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:45,439 Speaker 1: At the heart of that though no one was nervous 422 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:49,280 Speaker 1: about disappointing black people, not one, government, corporations, in media, 423 00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:52,480 Speaker 1: and when institutions are not nervous about disappointing your community, 424 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:55,919 Speaker 1: you don't need more presence, you don't need more visibility 425 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:58,720 Speaker 1: on the issue. You need more power. And at color 426 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:01,600 Speaker 1: of change, we are about building power. And so whether 427 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:04,919 Speaker 1: that is in the media landscape, of building cultural power 428 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:09,080 Speaker 1: that forces Hollywood and those that make changes to realize 429 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 1: that they've got to do better or else they're going 430 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:13,920 Speaker 1: to be held accountable, and also finding ways to reward 431 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,240 Speaker 1: and hold up and support those that do the right thing, 432 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:19,280 Speaker 1: or whether it's in the political space or the corporate space, 433 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:21,920 Speaker 1: all of these are terrains that if we are not 434 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,600 Speaker 1: building the infrastructure to fight and win, we don't actually 435 00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:28,920 Speaker 1: fundamentally change the way people get to live. And that 436 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:30,920 Speaker 1: is at the heart of what we do every day. 437 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:33,119 Speaker 1: That is sort of what I wake up when I 438 00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:35,760 Speaker 1: wake up and look at like far too many emails, 439 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:38,040 Speaker 1: or when I think about the campaigns that we can't 440 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:40,720 Speaker 1: take on because we may not have the capacity or 441 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:43,680 Speaker 1: the energy, I try to think about what are the 442 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:46,399 Speaker 1: things that we can do that are forced multipliers. But 443 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:49,320 Speaker 1: if we pull this lever, we can open up more 444 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:54,000 Speaker 1: things for change. Whether that's opportunistic campaigns like kicking someone 445 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 1: off the air of that allows you to tell a 446 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,280 Speaker 1: larger story, or whether that is actually structural campaigns that 447 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:03,000 Speaker 1: changes rules and change the structures. All of that is 448 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:07,160 Speaker 1: about how do we change the rules, because through changing 449 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:11,040 Speaker 1: the rules we can actually make people's lives fundamentally better, 450 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:14,960 Speaker 1: which you have for the past eight years, which is 451 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,639 Speaker 1: just extraort and I mean eight years a color of change, 452 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: but in your entire existence has been absolutely extraordinary to 453 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:26,240 Speaker 1: watch as your friend. So I like to make a 454 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:30,359 Speaker 1: little bit of a transition because oftentimes people ask me 455 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:33,840 Speaker 1: how I stop myself from going crazy? Right, So on 456 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:37,400 Speaker 1: PM mood, the question that I'm going to ask folks 457 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:41,359 Speaker 1: that come on is what do you do to shift 458 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:46,040 Speaker 1: your mood? Everything is so enraging and can get to 459 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:50,119 Speaker 1: the point of exhaustion. So I want you to be 460 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:51,920 Speaker 1: able to tell folks, you know, they get a little 461 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,840 Speaker 1: bit of insight into your life, but also maybe want 462 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: to try something that will help them, you know, equally 463 00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:02,440 Speaker 1: maintain their consciousness and connection to the work that needs 464 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:06,880 Speaker 1: to be done, but also allow them to level out 465 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:10,359 Speaker 1: in some way to change and shift their mood. So 466 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:12,440 Speaker 1: what are some of the things that you do? First 467 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,119 Speaker 1: of all, I think different people have different constitutions, and 468 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:17,320 Speaker 1: so you know, as a person, I have a team 469 00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: of about one hundred people, and various people on my 470 00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:23,600 Speaker 1: team the different things for self care for their own 471 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:26,600 Speaker 1: mental health and stability, and so I want to share this. 472 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:28,920 Speaker 1: But I'm also as a leader of an organization. I've 473 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:31,399 Speaker 1: learned over time that I need to make sure that 474 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:34,879 Speaker 1: I'm not making my practices other people's practices because they 475 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:38,520 Speaker 1: would not be helpful for everyone. Because I don't sleep 476 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:42,680 Speaker 1: a lot, yes so odd it sleeps like four hours 477 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:45,240 Speaker 1: the night. And if I did that, you all would 478 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:47,600 Speaker 1: not want to listen to me on a regular basis. Yeah, 479 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:49,920 Speaker 1: I mean I would sound crazy. I think I went 480 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:52,879 Speaker 1: to bed at like one thirty two o'clock in the 481 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 1: morning after like I finally got to bed, and I 482 00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 1: was at the gym at six forty five for my 483 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:00,600 Speaker 1: personal training, and I'm on the air with you, and 484 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:03,479 Speaker 1: I think I sound okay, and so like all of 485 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:05,680 Speaker 1: that like to that wouldn't happen, That would not be me, 486 00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:08,200 Speaker 1: and that's like a regular thing for me to be Like, 487 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:10,960 Speaker 1: to be clear, I'm not personal training every morning, but 488 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:14,440 Speaker 1: like me running this schedule side, But I'm a I'm 489 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:17,840 Speaker 1: a happy warrior. I'm in my sweet spot when I'm 490 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:21,440 Speaker 1: able to actually do something about the things that I see, 491 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 1: when I actually see things that outrage me, and I 492 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:28,639 Speaker 1: have the ability to make change on it. And so 493 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:30,600 Speaker 1: if I wasn't doing what I'm doing right now, I 494 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:33,080 Speaker 1: would want to be doing it. And I think about it. 495 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:35,560 Speaker 1: I've talked to like folks that we've worked with who 496 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:39,480 Speaker 1: are like professional athletes who train all the time because 497 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:42,280 Speaker 1: they're doing the thing that they always believe they should 498 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 1: be doing. Yeah, That's where I'm at. So that's one. 499 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 1: But it's not all like politics and activism twenty four hours. 500 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:54,320 Speaker 1: I have an amazing, an amazing group of friends. One 501 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:58,840 Speaker 1: of them are so amazing. Like I love to cook, 502 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:01,120 Speaker 1: and I find myself to be a very good cook, 503 00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,359 Speaker 1: and my friends love to eat and they show up 504 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:05,840 Speaker 1: and they like we show up with tap aware, they 505 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 1: show up with tapp aware, and so I'm like, I 506 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:11,560 Speaker 1: like to cook, especially like bigger dinners on the weekends 507 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:14,280 Speaker 1: where I can have a lot of people over and 508 00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:17,159 Speaker 1: cook too much food and force people to eat things 509 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:19,680 Speaker 1: or try things and try out new recipes on people. 510 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:21,880 Speaker 1: Just I will just put in a plug. My favorite 511 00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:26,440 Speaker 1: thing that you make is your grilled bread and homemade 512 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 1: to ziki. If I had one thing to eat for 513 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:31,280 Speaker 1: the rest of my life with somebody, that is what 514 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:34,600 Speaker 1: I would eat. I believe it hits every note possible. 515 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: I make like a homemade flat grilled bread with like 516 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:41,200 Speaker 1: rosemary and garlic, but it's like kind of underdone. Yes, 517 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:43,760 Speaker 1: it's a little soft in the middle, crispy on the outside, 518 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:46,320 Speaker 1: and then you dip it in the tiziki and it's yes, 519 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:48,560 Speaker 1: it's it's It would be on my restaurant menu. But 520 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:52,680 Speaker 1: I don't want you at some point, Yes you will, 521 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:55,680 Speaker 1: I believe. But all of that to say, I love 522 00:28:55,680 --> 00:29:00,480 Speaker 1: beautiful things and particularly clothes. Um, I like you like 523 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:04,760 Speaker 1: well tailored jackets. Yes, And I like looking at clothes 524 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:08,360 Speaker 1: on lot at not buying them and sometimes buying them. 525 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,480 Speaker 1: You know, I enjoy TV, and you know I comment 526 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:14,680 Speaker 1: and I advocate and I push on TV and I 527 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:18,080 Speaker 1: challenge those behind the scenes. But it helps that I 528 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:21,440 Speaker 1: actually watch TV and that I like enjoy it and 529 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:26,320 Speaker 1: I'm not critiquing industry and a practice that I have 530 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:30,840 Speaker 1: no relationship to and no engagement with. I believe in 531 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:34,560 Speaker 1: the power of creativity and creative arts in that medium, 532 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:36,840 Speaker 1: and so I really do enjoy it and appreciate it. 533 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 1: So I mean, those are like things that I do 534 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:42,640 Speaker 1: that I feel give me like other outlets. But I 535 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:45,600 Speaker 1: do have to say that I really do love what 536 00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:47,840 Speaker 1: I get to do every day. I believe in what 537 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:50,880 Speaker 1: I'm doing right now. I believe that we are at 538 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:54,680 Speaker 1: our best for only a period of time and our lives, 539 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:56,960 Speaker 1: and I believe this is the time where I can 540 00:29:57,400 --> 00:29:59,840 Speaker 1: like lean in and make as much change as possible, 541 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:02,200 Speaker 1: and so I'm gonna give it. I'm gonna give it 542 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:04,600 Speaker 1: all I got right now. I'm gonna like do it 543 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:07,680 Speaker 1: and do it as well as I can. Well, I 544 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:12,320 Speaker 1: love it and I adore you. Rashad Robinson, the Happy 545 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:14,840 Speaker 1: Warrior and President of Color of Change, Thank you so 546 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:17,320 Speaker 1: much for joining PM mood. Thank you for having me. 547 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:20,280 Speaker 1: This is fantastic and good luck with this podcast. Can't 548 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:22,480 Speaker 1: wait to hear all the other guests as well. Thank 549 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:26,880 Speaker 1: you so much, Thanks so much for listening to PM mood. 550 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 1: New episodes are up for download free every Tuesday on Apples, Spotify, 551 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:36,000 Speaker 1: and Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. If 552 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:38,239 Speaker 1: you want to hear more from me, check out my 553 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:43,280 Speaker 1: live daily political talk show Woke app daily at DNR Studios. 554 00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:48,280 Speaker 1: You can subscribe now at www dot DNR studios dot 555 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:51,440 Speaker 1: com slash Woke Up. Next week we will be in 556 00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:55,760 Speaker 1: conversation with the incomparable Jamel Hill. I can't wait for 557 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:59,880 Speaker 1: you guys to hear that conversation. That's it for us here, folks. Key, 558 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:03,000 Speaker 1: keep fighting, keep pushing, and keep doing your part to 559 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:04,320 Speaker 1: change the world.