WEBVTT - Why Are White People Afraid of Black History? | Angela Rye SoloPod 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.720 Native lanmdpod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:05.080 Reason Choice Media. 0:00:05.559 --> 0:00:11.479 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, welcome, Welcome, Hey, everybody, welcome home. 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:15.240 I am your host of Native lampod this solo pod. Anyway, 0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:19.319 Angela Rai and today I sound happy, But I ain't 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:25.040 that dog unhappy because let me tell y'all this right 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:29.760 here is the Trump administration's executive order called Restoring Truth 0:00:29.880 --> 0:00:32.920 and Sanity to American History. Now, what I want to 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:35.199 talk about today is the fact that this actually is 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:38.000 not a new approach. What the Trump administration is doing 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:40.480 is what white folks in this country have been doing 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:43.040 a long time. Y'all. There's nothing new under the sun. 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:46.680 The Bible says that, and so does our history. If 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:49.640 we are allowed to continue to see that history. 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:50.720 What's happening in. 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:53.680 This administration right now is mass erasure. 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:56.800 And here's the thing. Some people say, Oh, I didn't 0:00:56.800 --> 0:00:59.720 know what was going to happen. Why would they do that? 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:02.320 What's the harmon knowing our history? 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:05.480 I'm so glad you asked those questions. Here's the thing. 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:08.080 There's a little thing that we've talked about on this 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:14.040 podcast multiple times called Project twenty twenty five. It is 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.640 all there, and if you can't find it in Project 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:21.559 twenty twenty five, I dare you to google Project twenty 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:24.759 twenty five and the Smithsonian. I dare you to google 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:27.960 Project twenty twenty five and the National Park Service. You 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:30.840 might be wondering, what the hell does the National Park 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:33.520 Service have to do with this? Again, I'm so glad 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:36.880 you asked. We're gonna get into all that today and more. First, 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:40.160 I want to just address this fact. Does the Project 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:43.240 twenty twenty five address the Smithsonian in and of itself? 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:44.959 No, but the. 0:01:44.840 --> 0:01:49.120 Heritage Foundation, which is the holder of Project twenty twenty five, 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:53.000 the convener of Project twenty twenty five. How the authors 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:56.720 of each section came together for Project twenty twenty five. Well, 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:00.160 they have on their website in an article reference and 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:04.440 Seeing sixteen nineteen and other things that what is going 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:07.720 to destroy the fabric of this country is something called 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:09.639 woke indoctrination. 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:13.320 What the hell is that? Do y'all know? Neither do I. 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:16.720 I have a feeling it has something to do with 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:20.520 this teaching people black history, just something to do with 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:22.840 the books they think should be banned, books like the 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:26.800 sixteen nineteen project, which the Heritage Foundation talks about in 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:29.160 an article on their website. You should google that two 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:32.680 Heritage Foundation sixteen nineteen project. Why am I telling you 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:34.920 all to go and look at what the enemy is doing? 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:37.000 Some of y'all might be saying, why are you call 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:39.200 them the enemy? Because anybody that's trying to erase you 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:41.680 still kill and destroy who you are the legacy of 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:44.320 your people in this country. I'm pretty damn sure their enemies. 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:46.440 So why am I telling you to go look at 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:48.840 what the enemy's doing? How are you going to prepare 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:51.399 for the fight ahead if you don't know what's coming? Right, 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:54.400 there's only one way to prepare for the fight ahead. 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:58.640 These folks put their playbook, they put their strategy on 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:01.880 their website for all this. They typed up nine hundred 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:05.560 something pages about the direction that they think the country 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:07.800 should go in in Project. 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:09.600 Twenty twenty five, So we should utilize it now. 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:12.880 I want to bring this up because just last year 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:16.920 or over I'll say last two years, you all saw 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:21.320 elected officials from both sides of the isle, and we 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:23.280 didn't have time to pull these clips. But maybe we'll 0:03:23.320 --> 0:03:26.400 do it on the back end from both sides of 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:31.640 the Isle who cannot say that America is a racist country? 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:32.359 Do you remember that? 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:35.680 And it was really frustrating to a lot of us 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:38.160 because we're like, well, what country are you living in? 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:42.080 Because clearly this country has racist history, It's rooted in 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:45.480 racist history. You built your whole economy on the backs 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:46.440 of enslaved people. 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:50.320 Clearly there's racist history. And clearly when you look at. 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:54.160 George Zimmerman who killed George Floyd, I'm sorry that was 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:58.600 a Freudian slip, George Zimmerman who killed Trayvon Martin, George 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:01.240 Floyd who was killed by Derek Shavin. 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:02.840 The many other ways in. 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:07.560 Which vigilantes and the process by which vigilantes operated under 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:08.760 the slave trade. 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:10.000 Still exists to this day. 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:13.880 Right when you look at that, you know that racism 0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:15.680 is still alive and well in this country. When you 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:19.040 look at the disparities in pay between black and white 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:20.240 income earners. 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:22.200 You know that racism is still alive in this country. 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:25.320 When you look at the number of contractors, whether on 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:28.920 the local, state or federal level, and how much black 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:33.800 and brown participation of people of other ethnic backgrounds, the 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:36.880 lack that exists there, the lack of access the lack 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:41.560 of process and the lack of fairness and equity, equitable outcomes. 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:44.200 In those spaces, you know that racism is still alive 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:49.000 in this country. When you look at the publications, newspapers, 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:52.039 media outlets, you know that racism is still alive in 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:54.840 this country. It may be uncomfortable, it may be something 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:56.719 that you want to look away from because it is 0:04:56.800 --> 0:04:59.680 painful for you to see the obvious. But we're not 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:01.799 going to that you turn away, not on this podcast. 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:06.000 So what I want to get into today is the 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:10.599 fact that they actually put us in harm's way by 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:13.800 not being able to say that America is a racist country. 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:17.520 Because what's happened as a result is Donald Trump's administration 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:21.120 has been able to wrap. 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:22.880 Certain words woke. 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:28.240 Uh, what's let me tell you what a Western foundations? 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:31.040 What else do they have in here? We're going to 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:34.200 go into this things around oppression. Any of those words 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:37.839 are harmful to them, so they try to to to 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:42.680 use something different. They would rather frame it as woke indoctrination, 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:48.960 so they are offended. For example, this is the executive 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:52.239 order called Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History. 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:54.320 Right, they have. 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:58.960 On their uh in this executive word on page TEO 0:05:58.960 --> 0:06:03.839 of this exact executive order. For example, the Smithsonian American 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:08.760 Art Museum today features the Shape of Power, Stories of 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:13.760 Race and American Sculpture and exhibit representing that societies, including 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:18.880 the United States, have used race to establish and maintain 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:22.120 systems of power, privilege, and disenfranchisement. 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:24.400 Right this exhibit says. 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:27.960 The exhibit further claims that sculpture has been a powerful 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:32.479 tool in promoting scientific racism and promotes the view that 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:38.960 race is not a biological reality but a social contract construct, 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:41.600 stating race is a human invention. 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:50.960 Now, they would have you believe that these quotes are 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:52.279 not true. 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:58.159 They would have you believe that centering race is a 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:01.080 divisive tactic, which is what they say right above that 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:05.920 they would have you believe that in order to foster 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:09.800 unity in this country and a deeper understanding of our 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:13.280 shared past, that means that we have to get rid 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:17.840 of what causes people shame, or what causes people guilt, 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:20.080 or what causes people humiliation. 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:24.360 But we have to come to terms with the fact that. 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:30.960 Slavery was an awful institution, and it is the reason 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:33.840 that many of us are here in this country today 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:38.240 because our ancestors were forced here right in the belly 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:42.560 of slave ships in the Transatlantic slave trade in America 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:45.520 was one of the places. The United States of America 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:48.679 is one of the places where enslaved people were brought. 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:52.680 But that's not the only place. The Caribbean, Brazil, the. 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:53.800 UK, etc. Etc. 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:58.760 Now, what I think is important for us to kind 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:03.520 of dissect here is why is it that what does 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:09.680 not feel good to white folks generally, particularly in this administration, is. 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.440 Worth rewriting. Right. 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:16.720 We know that if they can destroy our history, they 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:21.960 can destroy the legacy of our people, the remembrance and 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:25.680 the memory of our ancestors. That is how you destroy things. 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:28.680 And here's what I really think is beneath this there's 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:32.520 a bill that has been introduced in the United States 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:38.000 House of Representatives every year since I'm gonna tell you 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:40.640 the year. But that bill is a reparations bill. 0:08:42.720 --> 0:08:43.960 Congressman Conyers. 0:08:44.000 --> 0:08:49.559 Congressman John Conyers began introducing the bill, I believe in 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:51.400 the late nineteen eighties. 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:52.400 I was trying to pull. 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:56.559 This yes in the late nineteen eighties, and nineteen eighty 0:08:56.679 --> 0:09:00.000 eighty nine is the first year the Congressman Knyer's entroduce 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:04.240 HR forty. This bill was merely designed to establish a 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:12.120 commission and to study the DISASTERIX disaster disastrous impacts of 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:16.800 the Transatlantic slave trade and the institutional slavery in the 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:17.679 United States. 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:22.079 Here's what I believe is happening. I don't believe that. 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:28.920 This executive order that Donald Trump signed at the end 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:31.160 of March on March twenty seventh, I don't believe that 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:34.880 they're only doing this to absolve themselves of white guilt. 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:39.080 I don't believe that they want to get rid of 0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:44.920 artifacts in certain language in the Smithsonian and all of 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:48.280 its properties because it makes them feel bad. 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:53.080 I think that it's far more sick in its intention. 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:08.960 I believe that if they can reframe slavery, if they 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:15.239 can reframe the impact of institutional racism and systemic racism 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:19.360 in this systemic oppression in this country, that there is 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:23.800 that's a way for them to destroy any argument that 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:28.360 has worked on the local, state or federal level for reparations. 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:31.120 I believe it is that that it's that sick. They 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:36.000 don't support reparations because the only people they support receiving 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:40.280 handouts are rich, rich billionaires. Right, That's what we're seeing 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:45.040 consistently across the board from this administration that nobody that 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:48.080 has given anything to this country and was not paid 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:49.800 for it should be taken care of. 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:51.959 And to that, I do want to say this too. 0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:54.240 A lot of people think that this executive order is 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:56.520 just about what we call the Black Sonia, the National 0:10:56.600 --> 0:10:58.640 Museum of African American History and Culture. 0:10:58.880 --> 0:10:59.880 It's not this. 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:03.400 This is about all Smithsonian properties. That's twenty one museums 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:09.960 and it is the world's largest institution of museum education, research, science. 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:13.320 It is the world's largest. They want to destroy all 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:16.199 of that. So they're using race as one of the inroads. 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:19.280 But that's not the only in road. And this isn't new. 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:21.600 I want to go to this clip because I think 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:25.160 it's important for you all to understand where are some 0:11:25.200 --> 0:11:27.560 of this now we're originated, but the fact that it 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:30.440 didn't just pop up with the Trump administration. 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:31.560 Let's roll this clip. 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:35.280 As we mentioned talking points memo, Michelle Obama referenced slaves 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.200 building the White House and referring to the evolution of 0:11:38.240 --> 0:11:41.640 America in a positive way. It was a positive comment. 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:46.960 The history behind a remark is fascinating. George Washington selected 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:49.920 the site in seventeen ninety one, and as present, laid 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:53.280 the cornerstone in seventeen ninety two. Washington was then running 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:58.120 the country out of Philadelphia. Slaves did participate in the 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:01.400 construction of the White House. Record show about four hundred 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:05.600 payments made to slave masters between seven ninety five and 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:10.880 eighteen oh one. In addition, free blacks, whites, and immigrants 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:13.600 also worked on the massive building. There were no illegal 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:16.120 immigrants at that time. If you could make it here, 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:20.000 you could stay here. In eighteen hundred, President John Adams 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:24.000 took up residence in what was then called the Executive Mansion. 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:26.839 It was only later on they named it the White House, 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:29.960 but Adams was in there with Abigail, and they were 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:32.800 still hammer and nails. The construction was still going on. 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:37.040 Slaves that worked there were well fed and had decent 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:41.280 lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:44.000 in eighteen oh two. However, the FEDS did not forbid 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:48.800 subcontractors from using slave labor. So Michelle Obama is essentially 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:52.199 correct in citing slaves as builders of the White House, 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:54.760 But there were others working as well. 0:12:56.880 --> 0:12:57.120 Chow. 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:00.440 What like the fact that we're talking about it, and 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:04.200 this was a big thing when it came up. Originally, 0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:07.600 it was a big thing because he said, well, you know, 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:11.280 they were well fed, well fed, and there was decent 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:15.000 lodging for enslaved people. 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:20.360 Right, that's insane. We're talking about people who were brought 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:21.320 to this country back force. 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:24.360 He also said, if you know there were no illegal immigrants, 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:26.280 if you could make it here, you could stay here. 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:28.960 And I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:30.840 that what he's saying is at that point there was 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:34.680 no immigration policy, and certainly there was no repercussion for 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:37.920 those who chained people into the belly of a slave ship, 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:41.120 slave ship to force them to come here and force 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:45.880 them to work for free for centuries, for centuries. Right, 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:50.280 we don't need to talk about reframing this as hired 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:54.600 slave labor. There was no such thing. Slave enslaved people's 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:59.920 masters were the ones receiving the benefit. He's talking about subcontractors, 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:03.960 there's no subcontractor if you're not paid. I mean, well, actually, 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:06.360 if you look at how some of these federal prime 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:09.920 contractors work now and their subcontractors, yes, some of them 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:12.680 don't see payment. And if you look at Donald Trump's history, 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:15.840 certainly some of his subcontractors, even some of his overall 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:19.560 contractors didn't receive payment. So maybe that's just also a 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:22.120 vestage of slavery. But I think the one thing that 0:14:22.160 --> 0:14:24.880 we do have to acknowledge here is that there is 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:28.080 a rewriting of history that's been taking place for a 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:33.040 long time to compensate for the guilt that white folks 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:35.520 feel when you talk about the slave trade and when 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:39.920 you talk about the institution of slavery. Now, the thing 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:42.880 that I want us to recognize as we wrestle with 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:47.080 what happens with the Smithsonian next, is there's a black man, 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:50.520 the first black man in history, who's running that museum 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:54.120 or that museum property. Again, we talk about Smithsonian as 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:56.800 twenty one museums plus plus all of the other things 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:59.840 that they occupy as the world's largest entity of its 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:05.400 hid Lonnie Bunch is not safe from my vantage point, 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:09.360 and I'm saying that because you know, we're in a 0:15:09.400 --> 0:15:15.160 situation where they are attacking people. They've fired people from 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:18.680 the EEOC that had terms that extended beyond that firing. 0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:24.280 Sure folks can be taken to court to address the 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:30.360 issues in those firings. The fact that they're illegal. But 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:34.880 this administration, as we all know, doesn't care about doing things. 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:35.480 In a legal way. 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:35.920 Right. 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:43.200 This is not about mining minding the law. We're the 0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:45.720 only ones that have to mind the law. The administration 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:49.520 does not have to follow the law, and we need 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:50.960 to be holding them accountable to that. 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.000 But I think we need to also be clear about that. 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:58.360 Now that said, I want to turn our attention briefly 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:00.200 to because I don't know what the outcome will be 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:05.720 with the Smithsonian properties. I'm hoping that Lonnie Bunch will 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:07.760 be safe, but I'm very clear about the fact that 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:11.520 a very qualified black person in any role to this 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:16.560 administration threatens their argument about DEI, and they are attacking 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:21.840 things like science, like access to education, like employment, like 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:26.360 the cost of goods, and certainly black labor, when black 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:30.200 people have demonstrated that they actually are extremely excellent, deserve 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:32.240 to be in those roles and probably should have been 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:37.000 promoted long before they actually were. They are replacing qualification 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:45.239 and quality with nonsense, with the type of tiplel say nonsense, 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:48.960 the type of people that put military strike plans in 0:16:49.000 --> 0:16:50.320 a dog gone signal threat. 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:52.160 That is what we're dealing with right now. 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:55.960 So let me just turn briefly to a place where 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:59.760 there was an attack and folks won on this attack. 0:16:59.840 --> 0:17:02.600 It's the National Park Service. So you I think you 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:05.240 all know. But every day I wear this chain. This 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:10.439 is Harriet Tubman on my necklace. Harriet Tubman to so 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:11.080 many of us. 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:12.959 I dared not just say just black folks. 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:17.040 But when you talk about the undergrown, under underground railroad 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:17.720 and what. 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:20.440 She means to our community, to this country. 0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:24.560 You know, the type of person that that John Brown 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:29.040 could confide in around military plans and battle plans, the 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:32.400 type of person that would go nineteen times to get 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:36.159 three hundred people, three hundred black folks. The type of 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:39.560 person who would say, you know, there are a lot 0:17:39.600 --> 0:17:41.200 of folks where you. 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:43.159 Know they're running, they run, they might be running. 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:49.119 You know, uh automotive service, you know the train and 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:51.119 her train. She said her train never went off the 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:55.480 tracks and she never lost a passenger figuratively speaking of course, 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:58.119 for those of you whose history has already been so arrased, 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:01.719 you don't know, the underground railroad isn't actually the train tracks. 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:05.640 And so the thing that I think is important now is, 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:12.480 you know, the National Park Service removed references to Harriet 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:16.520 Tubman from the Underground Railroad page. And there is a 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:18.240 victory on the other side of this, But I want 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:23.280 to tell you it says that the new page did 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:30.080 not mention until slavery until the third paragraph, and that 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:34.480 there was there were references to the Fugitive Slave Act 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:38.560 of eighteen fifty that were removed completely from the pages, 0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:44.879 that that Harriet Tubman is not a central figure in 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:48.640 the Underground Railroad and a quote from her and her 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:53.959 picture being taken down is remarkably it is. It is 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:58.000 the textbook definition of a rasure right. And so what 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:01.800 I want to say is the victory around this is 0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:05.080 the National Park Service put it back. 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:07.959 And why am I bringing that up to you all 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:08.520 right now? 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:10.600 I think it is so important for us for us 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:13.600 to understand as we get hit on every side. We 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:18.000 get hit in our history, we're getting hit in our 0:19:18.040 --> 0:19:22.320 present day experience, and we're getting hit on what is accessible, 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:25.639 attainable and viable for future generations. 0:19:25.680 --> 0:19:27.840 We're literally getting hit on every side. 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:31.720 As we consider that, I want us to think about 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:35.560 how important it is to wage a fight back. It 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:39.440 may be y'all that some people have to fight there 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:42.080 may have you know, Black people love a committee, especially 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:47.359 Black church folks, especially Black church Baptist Church folks, and so, 0:19:47.480 --> 0:19:49.439 and that is not shade in this moment is actually 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:51.879 a compliment because this may be a moment where we 0:19:51.920 --> 0:19:54.719 need to divide up into committees to take on the labor. 0:19:55.119 --> 0:19:58.760 Somebody needs to be focusing on the attacks on future generations. 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:01.280 Some folks need to be focused on what the attacks 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:04.480 are in the present and how we stave off. 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:05.399 Any additional harm. 0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:09.240 And some people will need to focus on what has 0:20:09.280 --> 0:20:12.960 to happen to main sure maintain our security and our 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:17.840 history from a safety and security standpoint. Who can take 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:20.760 on the fight for our history, who can ensure it's 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:24.800 not just the Black Sonian under attack, it is all 0:20:24.880 --> 0:20:27.320 of the Smithsonian property. So this should be a rainbow 0:20:27.359 --> 0:20:31.480 coalition fight, Like, like, at what point are you going 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:34.320 to stop saying we're gonna wait for the fight to 0:20:34.400 --> 0:20:39.720 take us on. Personally, it has women are seniors. If 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:42.480 you buy any products, it's on you. If you work 0:20:42.480 --> 0:20:44.680 for the federal government, it's on you. If you work 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:47.679 for a quasi governmental agency that means kind of a 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:51.280 public private split, it's upon you. If you are a student, 0:20:51.359 --> 0:20:54.840 it is upon you. If you are a researcher, Let's 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:57.960 say you're in a PhD program where you need access 0:20:58.000 --> 0:21:03.040 to federal websites for data collection, it's on you. And 0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:07.160 if you're an art curator, collector donor, it's on you, 0:21:07.640 --> 0:21:10.760 right And there are so many other spaces, veterans, folks 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:14.680 who rely on any type of what they call entitlement 0:21:14.720 --> 0:21:19.400 program but snap benefits or Medicare or medicaid, any type 0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:22.160 of need, access to healthcare that you need, it's upon you. 0:21:22.560 --> 0:21:24.920 And so now is the time for us to be gathering, 0:21:25.000 --> 0:21:28.080 coming together out figuring out what our next steps and 0:21:28.119 --> 0:21:31.520 our response must be in this environment, because it is 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:35.000 so treacherous and so dangerous, and it is only going 0:21:35.040 --> 0:21:40.000 to become more so the less we challenge them. And 0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:42.160 so I invite you into the fight. I will tell 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:45.520 you a little bit of breaking news on here. It 0:21:45.600 --> 0:21:48.800 is not public yet, but we are announcing our State 0:21:48.840 --> 0:21:51.200 of the People Tour, and the State of the People 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:53.680 Tour is going to begin in ten cities. We're starting 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:57.199 off in Atlanta, Georgia on April twenty six, and we 0:21:57.400 --> 0:22:00.639 are saying we've got to come together, We've got to 0:22:00.680 --> 0:22:04.120 fight together, we got to be in coalition together, national 0:22:04.160 --> 0:22:09.000 partners across the board, from NAACP to NCNW to National 0:22:09.160 --> 0:22:17.560 Urban League, Africanamerican Mayors Association, across the board, Advancement Project. 0:22:17.640 --> 0:22:20.560 There's so many at the table so that we can 0:22:20.600 --> 0:22:24.000 get this right, the D nine right. We're doing this 0:22:24.160 --> 0:22:28.080 all together, the faith community, our young folks. We're working 0:22:28.119 --> 0:22:30.800 all together to ensure that our basic needs can be 0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:33.639 met and that we know how to fight in this environment, 0:22:33.920 --> 0:22:37.080 fight to preserve ourselves, to survive, and to get to 0:22:37.119 --> 0:22:39.879 the point of thriving. As we go on this tour, 0:22:40.960 --> 0:22:43.920 we're releasing black papers every week that will become our 0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:47.280 Black Agenda, or our Freedom Agenda, or our Project twenty 0:22:47.320 --> 0:22:47.880 twenty five. 0:22:48.200 --> 0:22:49.520 We need all hands on deck. 0:22:49.600 --> 0:22:51.240 So I want you all to reach out to us 0:22:52.040 --> 0:22:56.399 at STATEOFTHEPPL dot com, Stateadthepeople dot com, State of the People, 0:22:56.560 --> 0:22:59.800 State OFTHEPPL dot com. Though remember that I keep messing 0:22:59.800 --> 0:23:02.960 that up, because that is where you can sign up 0:23:03.000 --> 0:23:07.359 to participate, to volunteer, to host a workshop, all the things. 0:23:07.400 --> 0:23:10.160 We want to see you involved, and we definitely want 0:23:10.160 --> 0:23:12.240 to see you in a city near you. So this 0:23:12.320 --> 0:23:15.840 is our love letter to y'all State of the People. 0:23:15.840 --> 0:23:19.199 There are local organizers doing the Doggone thing in each city, 0:23:20.000 --> 0:23:22.679 and we're so excited to work with groups on the 0:23:22.680 --> 0:23:26.440 ground who've been doing this work. And we're also thrilled 0:23:26.840 --> 0:23:30.560 about the opportunity to come together, do something all together 0:23:30.720 --> 0:23:33.119 and make our work that much more impactful. 0:23:33.160 --> 0:23:34.320