WEBVTT - 021123 A Discussion of Standpoint Theory (Part 2) 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:06.080 And now watching my mic back, you're like that. 0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:13.520 Strikes with waters and headquarters behind him to the border. 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:15.280 So if you're just tuning in the Civic Cycer, I 0:00:15.320 --> 0:00:16.400 am your host, Ramsy's job. 0:00:16.520 --> 0:00:18.640 He is Ramsey John, I am h Ward. You are 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:21.759 listening to Civic Cycler a lot more to stick around for, 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:22.480 so please do. 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:23.440 Uh. 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:31.280 We're going to spend some time discussing standpoint theory. Yeah yeah, so, Uh, 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:35.800 this is something that is new to me. It's an 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:38.680 old theory. I think it originated in maybe the seventies 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:42.280 or something like that. But we just came across it 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:44.640 and we sat with it and we thought, maybe this 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:48.319 is a good way to explain some things to our listeners. Uh. 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:51.720 Certainly it helped us explain some things to ourselves and 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:57.520 things that we were seeing. And we like things like that, 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:01.680 things that challenge our way of thinking and help us 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:05.959 expand our mental framework. And if you are one of 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:07.920 the people that likes that sort of thing, and definitely 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:11.400 stick around for that, and of course much much more. 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:13.600 But first and foremost, we're going to start off with 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:19.759 becoming a better ally ba Ba Baba and Today's Baba 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:23.360 is sponsored by Major Threads Get all the finest in 0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:29.720 men'swear and sportswear at major Threads dot com. This article 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:32.600 comes from Black Information Network. You can find that at 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:34.760 bionnews dot com. And we are going to shout out 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:38.280 for becoming a better ally an amazing man. I love 0:01:38.319 --> 0:01:40.760 this guy. I spent a lot of time skateboarding when 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:42.760 I was in high school. Man, when I was in 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:45.960 grade school, so this was the coolest dude when I 0:01:46.040 --> 0:01:48.360 was in grade school. He actually had had bikes and 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:50.240 I was in like gts and Dinos and that sort 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:52.880 of back in the day. Anyway, he had a Tony 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:56.440 Hawk bike. Anyway, Tony Hawk. Uh. He has pledged to 0:01:56.480 --> 0:02:00.160 donate proceeds from from autographed photos to a memorial on 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:03.600 for Tyrie Nichols, whose family said shares the same passion 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:07.800 as a skateboarding legend. On February third, Hawk said he 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:10.639 and BMX writer Rick Thorne would autograph pictures to raise 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:13.440 money for Tyrie Nichols Memorial Fund, which was launched after 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:15.360 the twenty nine year old black man who was fatally 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:18.799 beaten by Memphis police. Or the associated price is a 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:22.120 quote from him. My proceeds from these will go to 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:25.960 the Tyree Nichols Memorial Fund, which includes plans to build 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:29.519 a public skate park in his honor. As our worlds 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:32.840 continue to grieve his loss, Hawk tweeted Friday, he goes 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:36.400 on he was a talented skater, among other admirable traits. 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:39.720 Let's keep his legacy alive. That man did not have 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:43.120 to do that. Tony Hawk is a good man. People 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:46.640 like him go to heaven all right. Nichols and an 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:48.440 avid skateboarder and father to a four year old boy, 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:50.400 died on January tenth, three days after he was pulled 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:53.000 over by Memphis police Officer's footage released earlier this month 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:55.679 show's officers repeatedly punching, kicking, and hitting him with a 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:59.120 baton as he cried out for his mother. Six officers 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:02.400 involved in the deadly traffic stop. Blah blah blah whatever. 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:05.920 Half of the proceeds from the talk Hawk and Thorn's 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:08.560 autograph photos will go toward helping nichols family, building a 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:11.880 skate parder in his name, and honoring his love for skateboarding. 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:16.799 So that's how you can become a better ally do 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:19.960 like Tony Hawk? Man? I love that one, all right? 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:29.160 Standpoint theory. While I'm here. I pulled this in as 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:33.400 Layman's the terms as I could find from britannica dot com. 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:37.840 But I employ you to take standpoint theory. Put that 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:39.760 in your lap, and at a point when you have 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:43.560 some time, read it, read the read the the the 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:48.000 the cerebral academic version of it. I would never be 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:50.320 able to articulate it here on this show. I wouldn't 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:55.600 have the time, And I don't even know if you 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:58.880 know my understanding of it is as profound as it 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:04.360 could be. But we have some certainly have some talking points, 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:07.320 and I want to share with you. But first I 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:16.920 want to start with a story. I go for walks 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:21.200 with some frequency, we'll call it five days a week, 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:30.120 and let's be honest, an affluent neighborhood. And I have 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:37.840 friends who never have to worry about money. In fact, 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:39.880 they don't have to worry about money so much so 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:48.160 that they don't even think about it. And their worldview 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:59.240 is insulated by their means and the privilege. These people 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:05.640 are good people, and for a long time I could 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:09.400 not understand fully and I'm still learning, I'll admit that, 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:12.320 but I cannot understand fully how you know some people 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:19.920 could vote for such and such or could have these 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:27.440 ideas that center you know, profits over people, or were 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:31.200 so susceptible to what I would consider to be fear 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:35.159 mongering things that are not based in a real in reality. 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:40.360 You know, we talked about it earlier. CRT is scaring children. 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:43.680 We've been teaching American history to children since they've been children. 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:47.800 All of a sudden, because of what is it, the 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:54.000 Great Replacement theory taking center stage and far right QAnon 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:59.880 message boards online. You know, people are trying to edge 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:04.000 kate children or rather uneducatedly is what's the word I'm 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.960 looking for? Fail to educate children so that they do 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:11.080 not become sympathetic and empathetic, and they use the guise 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:15.240 of oh, this hurts white children's feelings to appeal to 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:27.240 folks who have no practical, valid certainly not substantial experience 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:34.760 walking a path that shows full well that these notions 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:41.600 are unfounded, entirely unfounded. Right, but good people, well intentioned, 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:46.400 well meaning people. I'm learning myself crazy. I had a 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:51.640 conversation recently with a woman, beautiful woman, beautiful woman. I 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:54.440 don't want to put her business out there, but she 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:57.480 knows who she is. She listens to the show and 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:00.880 while she's listening, I will say again that I love 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:07.680 you and I thank you for this inspiration for today's segment. Shoots. 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:10.640 You may come up one day who knows she's talking 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:15.320 to me? And she says, why is no one listening 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:19.480 to each other? Why are we not making progress? How 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:23.080 is the world the way that it is? Why is 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:28.360 it not simpler? She's asking questions that deserve to be asked, kay, 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:34.800 that deserve to be answered and answered absolutely, And I'm 0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:37.640 at a lost for words. I'm like, you know, if 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:41.080 it was that simple, people would have figured it out 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:44.880 long before I got here. And she says, like me, 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:48.960 She's like, well you, She says, you know, black people 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:52.640 are my angels. I promise she's the person that does 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:55.640 not need to say that. She says, black people have 0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:57.880 always been kind to me in my life. Black people 0:07:57.880 --> 0:07:59.440 have always looked out for me, cared for me when 0:07:59.440 --> 0:08:05.320 I needed it. Black people are my angels. And I 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:11.160 wish that the world was better for all of us. Right, 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:16.320 And it's so simple, but you know, how do we 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:26.720 get there? Enter standpoint theory? All right? So first and foremost, 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:30.160 I will speak for myself. I believe that Q is 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:33.240 of a similar persuasion. But I will speak for myself 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:35.800 first and foremost, I often speak for you, and I 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:41.480 just assume so. One of my heroes, historical heroes, is 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:44.000 a man named Fred Hampton. Fred Hampton is known for 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:50.400 let's be honest. Now, he's known for getting killed by 0:08:50.480 --> 0:08:53.760 the police in Chicago. Assassinated by the police in Chicago. 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:58.800 That's a fact that is not me embellished. Assassinated by 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:02.360 the Chicago police. Look that up. They admitted it, okay. 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:08.120 But when he was alive, he was a very charismatic 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:10.360 person who was around during the time of the Panthers 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:11.880 and so forth. And you have this idea and this 0:09:12.040 --> 0:09:15.840 sort of movement. It was referred to as a Rainbow coalition, 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:20.079 and the idea there was that he took ideas. He 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:23.920 basically took everyone who had a struggle in this country 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:26.480 and set them all down at the table with black 0:09:26.559 --> 0:09:30.640 people to say, Okay, my Asian brothers and sisters, my 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:36.199 Jewish brothers and sisters, we haven't forgotten you, my Indigenous 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:40.880 Native brothers and sisters, my Hispanic brothers and sisters. You know, 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:45.600 my lgbt q I A plus brothers and sisters. Of course, 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:48.400 they weren't called that back. Then all of us have 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:56.679 something to gain by creating a meaningful social impact, and 0:09:56.800 --> 0:10:01.240 we can create that change more easily and more effectively 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:05.559 together in unison. So we're greater than the sum of 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:09.520 our parts. Right This rainbow coalition was something that I 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:12.320 really believed in and believe in right now. And again 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:15.880 I'm speaking for Q if I may that this is 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:18.400 something Okay, he's nodding his side, this is something that 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:23.120 we appreciate on the show. With that in mind, I 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:29.440 will say this, The standpoint theory is a feminist theory, 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:33.760 and I will credit the author in just a minute. 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:40.440 So this does not originate with, you know, a black 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:45.040 power movement or struggle, rather a feminist struggle, but the 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:47.520 idea sound. And you know, people that are looking to 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:52.480 create a better world oftentimes look at historical change makers, 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:56.600 and far be it from us to ignore our sisters 0:10:56.679 --> 0:10:59.240 in the progress that they've made in their struggles. And 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:02.960 I know that our sisters and everyone, sir, everyone looks 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:06.160 at what black people do to try to move the needle. 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:08.440 Everyone else who's kind of born on the strike against them. 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:11.880 Because we have been traveling this road for a very 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:18.880 long time and have made meaningful progress throughout history. So 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:20.760 today we're taking a page out of the book of 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:27.240 feminism and standpoint theory is a feminist theoretical perspective that 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:37.319 argues that knowledge stems from social position. That's important because well, 0:11:37.360 --> 0:11:39.599 if you don't know, it doesn't sound like anything. But 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:43.280 if you break it down, knowledge stems from social position. 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:48.040 Think about that. You would think, as I would think, 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:55.680 that knowledge stems from academics. But where do academics come from. 0:11:56.440 --> 0:12:03.520 Often academics come from means, privilege, access, et cetera. And 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:12.679 they cannot in a meaningful way articulate the reality and 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:25.400 solutions and approaches for people who have not they who 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:29.079 where they have not lived in their shoes. Right, So 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:37.240 this presupposes that your perspective is based on where you 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:39.360 are in society. Okay, so we have to accept that, 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:41.920 and I do believe that there is some truth there. Again, 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:44.560 this isn't I'm not purporting this to be a reality. 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:48.960 It's a theory that I believe works in helping us 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:53.600 expand our mental framework and how we choose to approach problems. 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:59.080 Like my friend asked me, how do we approach these 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:04.160 problems if you're not from that position? Maybe we could 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:06.160 listen to people from that position. This is the point 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:07.840 I'm trying to make, and I'll continue to make it here. 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:12.480 All right, So the theory emerged from the Marxist Uh oh, 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:17.880 there's another one of those words that. 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:25.559 Our country, our government, our leaders have made taboo with 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:27.719 no context. You hear it, you think it's bad, and 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:30.559 that's it, thank you. There's no research, there's no studying, 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:33.959 there's no learning. That word is bad, just like socialists, 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:37.120 just like communists, just like and I'm not saying that 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:39.480 any of these words are good or bad. I'm just 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:42.680 saying there's an auto association with bad when we hear them, Yeah, 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:44.600 with no understanding of what they actually mean. 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:48.760 In principle. These things are all good in principle. In practice, 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:54.959 they all have their advantages and disadvantages, and indeed so 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:55.840 does capitalism. 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:58.160 Yeah, and they've been classified the way that they have 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:01.199 been intentionally for people to not push back or question 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:04.600 the idea of capitalism, which is what we subscribe to, right, 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:10.320 what we subscribe to is better. Our religion, our class system, 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:14.840 our you know, way of government, our way of economics 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.120 is better. And to keep you guys from asking us 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:21.040 too many questions or wanting to venture into trying some 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:23.920 other way. We'll just make whole thing outright, We'll just 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:26.600 make all those other ways bad. And if we say 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:29.840 that they're bad enough times for long enough, you'll just 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:32.480 agree with us and never ask us any questions. 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:35.960 And I think that's important. You know. I refer to 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:39.440 myself as a decadent capitalist pig from time to time 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:48.400 because I have a sports car and you know, live 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:51.200 in a decent part of town and have watches it 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:57.240 are more expensive than they need to be. But I 0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:01.240 also recognize that I can live in this country and 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:05.440 be critical of certain parts of this country. That's not 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:09.320 to say that in socialist societies that people don't, you know, 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:16.640 accomplish great things. I'm a sharer by my very nature, 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:20.640 and there's a way to walk that line. But the 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:22.920 way things have been marketed to us in this country, 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:26.320 and I'll admit that I've been you know, marketed to 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:28.120 as well, and I had to unlearn a lot of 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:32.800 things and relearn what I now know and the wise 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:35.040 of why I was taught what I was taught, so 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:37.280 that I didn't have to feel awful about myself. I 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:43.080 didn't have to feel like you know, there's only one 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:49.600 way to do things, and so I'm grateful for things 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:52.320 like this. I'm grateful for people like you. Was able 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:54.800 to articulate when I said, you know, I got to 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:57.200 Carl Marx's name, and I was like, oh, and he 0:15:57.320 --> 0:16:02.600 jumped in there, because these things often are our emotions 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:06.720 are manipulated so that we continue to prop up the capitalists. Right, 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:11.880 and while I and all of us are capitalists, in practice, 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:14.800 the real capitalists are the ones who are really benefiting 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:17.200 from this society, and the people at the bottom of 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:19.560 the siety, of the people that their lives are ruined 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:22.080 because their mother is sick, you know what I mean, 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:24.520 and they have to you know, like that sort of 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:28.920 thing to keep those people from pushing back, from rebolting. 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:32.800 As I mentioned, you know, there's powerful forces that market 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:38.520 to us fear. You know. Jim Carey said something recently 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:40.600 and he's like, why is it that everyone in America 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:44.240 is afraid of the socialist healthcare that we have in Canada? 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:47.240 For those who don't know Jim Carrey's Canadian. He's like, 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:50.240 in my whole life, I've never waited in line, I've 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:53.640 never had to worry about anything all my medicine was 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:55.680 paid for. Why in the world, what is the point 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:58.240 of a government. What is the point of a government 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:02.120 if not to take care of things like this? And 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:04.920 in America we have this idea. The people on the 0:17:04.960 --> 0:17:07.400 ground level are like, just do it yourselves. I got 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:09.520 I did it myself. You do it yourself. And we're 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:12.120 not caring for each other. And it's because we think 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:13.440 this is the only way that it has to be, 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:15.560 because we're afraid of doing it any other way, when 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.080 we literally have examples around the world where it's just. 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:23.119 It's not just fear, though, the intentional misinformation part counts, right. 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:26.879 They present that there was some politician and I'm not 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:29.399 leaving a name to be vague, I just don't remember 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:32.800 who it was. That their whole thing was, they're going. 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:35.480 To take your health care from you. Isn't that crazy? 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:39.119 And he was saying that about the people that were 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:43.119 trying to give you health care? Right, His argument was, 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:46.200 they're going to take away your choice for your own 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:48.600 health care provider that you have to pay for, which 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:52.480 isn't it to give you one for free, which isn't 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:56.440 strictly true. But even if that was absolutely. 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:58.800 True, that make it seem like it's the worst thing. 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:01.800 The position that that way was very intentional, So it 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:06.560 wasn't just making people afraid, it's making people angry. Let's 0:18:06.640 --> 0:18:09.040 tell them the wrong thing, but let's say it really 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:11.480 loud and really confidently, and they'll just accept it. 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:11.880 Yeah. 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:14.359 Right, they're going to take this from you. 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:16.320 We'll say the rest of it, sir. 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:20.520 They're proposing making it something that you don't have to 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:21.199 go without. 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:25.200 I think this is the same thing that happened with 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:29.040 CRT or better said American History, teaching American history in 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:35.800 school again. I watched at Solano Elementary School in the 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:40.800 fourth grade, Roots all of them. For those who don't know, 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:42.560 there was this movie that came out or it was 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:45.159 like a TV document was in the docu series but 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:49.760 like a TV series. Yeah, five six episodes, eight episodes 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:53.280 something like that. It's called Roots and it starred Lvar 0:18:53.359 --> 0:19:00.439 Burton from Reading Rainbow and star Trek Jordi LaForge my man. Anyway, Kinta. 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:04.399 We watched that in class and I was the kid 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:08.320 who was black on free lunch, you know what I'm saying. 0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:10.959 And I didn't feel bad about watching that. I mean, 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:14.520 it's I had to learn to be proud of it. 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:17.560 But I accepted it. I realized that it wasn't me. 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:19.800 It was a long time. It was fine, you know. 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:22.760 But now what has been sold to the public is 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:25.680 we need to protect our children from these, you know, 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:27.920 these radical thinkers. And so you know we're going to 0:19:27.960 --> 0:19:36.280 get there. But I'll continue, I'll continue. The Syria emerged 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:39.719 from the Marxist argument that people from in a pressed 0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:43.120 class have special access to knowledge that is not available 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:47.760 to those from a privileged class. I think that's absolutely true. 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:50.879 If you don't know what government cheese tastes like, if 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:53.560 you didn't have rats in your house, you didn't have 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:56.439 roaches in your house, There wasn't shooting outside of your 0:19:56.480 --> 0:19:59.320 house two to three times a week. If you ain't 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:02.480 never seen it dead body in the street where you live. 0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:07.600 You can't tell me about Compton because I was there. 0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:11.840 You have no idea what it feels like, what it 0:20:12.000 --> 0:20:17.000 feels like to think at age six, that the important 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:22.680 age is not eighteen, not twenty one, but twenty. The 0:20:22.760 --> 0:20:27.360 important age is twenty. Why is that because the stories 0:20:27.440 --> 0:20:32.440 you hear all the time at age six oh such 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:37.919 and such died he was only thirteen. She was only seventeen. 0:20:39.359 --> 0:20:43.480 He was only nineteen teen teen teen, teen, teen teen, 0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:46.560 So I thought, if I could just make it to twenty, 0:20:47.600 --> 0:20:50.720 then I will have made it. Those of you that 0:20:50.800 --> 0:20:52.880 can't seem to have a big old afar in my hair. 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:56.400 I started growing that afro when I turned twenty years old, 0:20:57.200 --> 0:21:00.240 because I made it. I didn't live in Compton until 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:02.760 I was twenty, but that number stuck with me. I 0:21:02.840 --> 0:21:05.520 didn't start smoking cigarettes when I turned eighteen, never smoked 0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:07.439 a cigarette. I didn't start drinking when I turned twenty one, 0:21:07.520 --> 0:21:10.199 never drink alcohol in my life. For me, the important 0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:13.640 age was twenty. Do you know what that feels like? Then? 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:16.520 How can you educate me? I need to educate you. 0:21:17.240 --> 0:21:22.600 This standpoint theory, the presupposition is that you don't know everything. 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:27.600 I want to read this. The philosophy examines the nature 0:21:27.640 --> 0:21:31.280 and origins of knowledge and stresses that knowledge is always 0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:35.680 socially situated. Sandra Harding Grady where It's due coin the 0:21:35.800 --> 0:21:42.600 term standpoint theory to categorize epistemologies that emphasize women's knowledge. 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:44.680 She argued that it is easy for those at the 0:21:44.760 --> 0:21:47.280 top of social hierarchies to lose sight of real human 0:21:47.359 --> 0:21:50.800 relations and the true nature of social reality, and thus 0:21:50.920 --> 0:21:54.840 miss critical questions about the social and natural world in 0:21:54.920 --> 0:21:58.960 their academic pursuits. In contrast, people at the bottom of 0:21:59.080 --> 0:22:02.320 social hierarchies have a unique standpoint that is a better 0:22:02.560 --> 0:22:06.720 starting point for scholarship. Although such people are often ignored, 0:22:07.359 --> 0:22:10.359 their marginalized positions actually make it easier for them to 0:22:10.440 --> 0:22:14.760 divine important research questions and explain social and natural problems. 0:22:15.119 --> 0:22:18.560 I want to say this, Tony Morrison, the one we're 0:22:18.600 --> 0:22:23.359 talking about all our book span, had a masterful response 0:22:23.480 --> 0:22:26.200 to an interviews like an early nineties interview was a 0:22:26.480 --> 0:22:31.960 white woman interviewing her. The woman asks her, well, will 0:22:32.000 --> 0:22:36.960 you ever write, sorry, will you ever write about white authors? 0:22:37.880 --> 0:22:40.600 Can you ever conceive of a time when white authors 0:22:40.640 --> 0:22:43.359 will make their way into your work? And she says, 0:22:43.400 --> 0:22:46.960 I have done that. But more importantly, you have no 0:22:47.160 --> 0:22:50.920 idea how racist a question like that is to me. 0:22:51.800 --> 0:22:55.560 The interviewer looks perplexed, right, and you would think, well, 0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:57.840 why is she saying? Why has everything got to be racist? 0:22:58.160 --> 0:23:03.720 Here's what she says. Tony Morrison says to her, if 0:23:03.800 --> 0:23:06.560 I was a white author, would you ask me that question? 0:23:06.720 --> 0:23:09.080 When am I going to write about black people in 0:23:09.240 --> 0:23:16.240 my books. Your question assumes that the norm, the status 0:23:16.320 --> 0:23:21.560 quo is white, and therefore, by definition, is racist. It's 0:23:21.720 --> 0:23:25.920 based on race. It's a eurocentric approach. You are the 0:23:26.000 --> 0:23:28.760 center of the earth and I'm doing something that you cannot. 0:23:29.480 --> 0:23:32.679 You don't feel centered in, and therefore somehow you need 0:23:32.760 --> 0:23:35.280 to make it about you. And she didn't say that, 0:23:35.440 --> 0:23:40.160 but that's effectually what was communicated. She was extremely pleasant, 0:23:40.880 --> 0:23:42.760 she didn't raise her nothing. She had to play her 0:23:42.840 --> 0:23:45.320 position rightfully, so she couldn't act the floor on TV. 0:23:45.359 --> 0:23:46.960 I don't think that she would probably not her way. 0:23:47.800 --> 0:23:52.399 But you start to understand where you are in society, 0:23:53.080 --> 0:23:56.120 where you come from, in society where your vantage point 0:23:56.280 --> 0:24:01.719 is absolutely informs your viewpoint. If you've been centered your 0:24:01.760 --> 0:24:07.240 whole life, how can you speak about Compton, California and 0:24:07.359 --> 0:24:09.560 shout out to the D one time, to the motor, 0:24:09.960 --> 0:24:14.560 to the three one three. Right now, it's time for 0:24:14.600 --> 0:24:20.960 the Way Black History Fact? That was Eabie. Today's Way 0:24:21.000 --> 0:24:24.400 Black History Fact is sponsored by the Black Information Network 0:24:24.520 --> 0:24:28.320 Daily podcast Yank This Awful Wikipedia, So you can start 0:24:28.359 --> 0:24:32.240 there if you want to make sure I'm telling you 0:24:32.320 --> 0:24:34.680 the truth not you know, the research is all out there, 0:24:34.840 --> 0:24:36.760 but please read more about these people. We're going to 0:24:36.800 --> 0:24:38.520 bring somebody to life that you may not have heard 0:24:38.560 --> 0:24:43.240 of before. She is the woman who came before Rosa Parks. 0:24:44.160 --> 0:24:46.520 That'll make sense. I'm not talking about Rosa Parks mom, 0:24:46.640 --> 0:24:54.560 talking about the pioneer. Yeah, her name is Elizabeth Jennings Graham. 0:24:55.480 --> 0:25:02.440 I'll read Elizabeth Jennings Graham, Mark eighteen thirty through June fifth, 0:25:02.760 --> 0:25:05.800 nineteen oh one. That means she lived during a hard time. 0:25:07.040 --> 0:25:10.040 It was an African American teacher and civil rights figure. 0:25:10.600 --> 0:25:14.080 In eighteen fifty four, Graham insisted on her right to 0:25:14.359 --> 0:25:18.119 ride on an available New York City street car at 0:25:18.160 --> 0:25:21.640 a time when all such companies were private and most 0:25:21.800 --> 0:25:26.560 operated segregated cars. Her case was decided in her favor 0:25:26.920 --> 0:25:29.879 in eighteen fifty five, and it led to the eventual 0:25:30.000 --> 0:25:33.560 desegregation of all New York City transit systems by eighteen 0:25:33.640 --> 0:25:38.040 sixty five. Graham later started the city's first kindergarten for 0:25:38.080 --> 0:25:42.040 African American children, operating it from her home on two 0:25:42.119 --> 0:25:44.600 forty seven West forty first Street until her death in 0:25:44.720 --> 0:25:49.880 nineteen oh one. By the eighteen fifties, the horse drawn 0:25:49.920 --> 0:25:53.159 street car on rails became a more common mode of transportation, 0:25:53.680 --> 0:25:59.040 competing with the horse drawn omnibus in the city. Elevated 0:25:59.160 --> 0:26:01.440 heavy rail trans insprotation did not go into service in 0:26:01.480 --> 0:26:05.480 New York until eighteen sixty nine. Like the nearly obsolete 0:26:05.560 --> 0:26:08.760 omnibus lines, the street cars were owned by private companies 0:26:08.760 --> 0:26:11.760 which regularly barred access to their service on the basis 0:26:11.880 --> 0:26:16.600 of race. The owners and drivers could easily refuse service 0:26:16.640 --> 0:26:21.159 to passengers of African descent or demand racially segregated seating. 0:26:23.119 --> 0:26:27.000 On Sunday, July sixteenth, eighteen fifty four, Jennings went to 0:26:27.080 --> 0:26:30.880 the First Colored Congregational Church, where she was an organist. 0:26:31.600 --> 0:26:34.440 As she was running late, she boarded a streetcar of 0:26:34.520 --> 0:26:37.639