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Speaker 1: Happy Holidays listeners. It's Amber here. The ladies are taking

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Speaker 1: a week off for some much needed rest, but we

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Speaker 1: wanted to share last season's episode about making the holidays

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Speaker 1: your own. In this throwback, Jill, Asia and Laia share

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Speaker 1: their favorite traditions. We know that this is not the

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Speaker 1: easiest time of year for folks, but remember to take

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Speaker 1: care of you. There's power and peace and your divine no.

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Speaker 1: I hope you all get some rest, whatever that may

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Speaker 1: look like before the start of Infuse your days with

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Speaker 1: a little audio, soul food, and catch up on any

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Speaker 1: episode you missed of j dot Ill. We'll be back

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Speaker 1: next week with a special episode to end out Welcome

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Speaker 1: to j dot do a production of What's Up? Everybody?

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Speaker 1: How are you? I hope that you're so good? Thank

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Speaker 1: you so much for checking in with us. Um. This

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Speaker 1: is j do Ill the podcast, and I'm here with

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Speaker 1: my sister friends, my strong powerful woman, Liah Sinclair, strong

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Speaker 1: and Powerful, Damn Straight and Age of Graydon Danceler Booty,

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Speaker 1: whoa I like when I say dance dance That's a

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Speaker 1: nice name. I wish I had more syllables. I didn't

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Speaker 1: get enough syllables. And I'm gonna tell you that my

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Speaker 1: mother put an exclamation point on my birth certificate. You

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Speaker 1: mention that to you, You told me, Yes, So my

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Speaker 1: name is really Jill Scott. That's amazing. It really is, though,

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Speaker 1: Like it really is. I I enjoyed that choice. Your

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Speaker 1: son King, that's a nice name. It is a nice name. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: My nephew's name is King. It's short for Kingston, but

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Speaker 1: we call him King. I saw you had a pretty

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Speaker 1: baby on the Instagram. A that's your knee. She's so beautiful.

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Speaker 1: First of all, my sister in law, my sister in love. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I really do believe that she was brought here to

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Speaker 1: the earth to make pretty babies because she literally has

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Speaker 1: five little girls and they are all adorable. Like she's

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Speaker 1: a little pretty black girl baby making machine. And she

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Speaker 1: her latest one is ah, it's the icing on the cake,

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Speaker 1: her latest one, her latest one. Listen, I'm like Jill,

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Speaker 1: the dam women like them babies, honey is point. Okay,

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Speaker 1: they take the socks off when they're handling them. They

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Speaker 1: take the socks off. Yes, girl, Yeah, you have a

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Speaker 1: really really big family, huh, I do. But the teen

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Speaker 1: my husband is the oldest of six children, and this

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Speaker 1: is his sister who also now has six children, as

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Speaker 1: we have six children. But yes, so they are a

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Speaker 1: lot of cooking. Oh yeah, girl, you know I've cooked

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Speaker 1: every day for bazilion years, but now I don't do

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Speaker 1: it anymore. I'm gonna tell you what broke me, this

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Speaker 1: here pandemic. I cooked every day for about three and

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Speaker 1: finally I just was like, I can't do it anymore.

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Speaker 1: So I implemented finn for yourself night. Oh and I

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Speaker 1: also I also look hashtag like the kids. Okay, give

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Speaker 1: it to um fit for yourself. I'm just shaking my head, yes, sir.

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Speaker 1: And then was also just my older children had to

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Speaker 1: take a certain night to cook. So yeah, a lot

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Speaker 1: a lot of cooking. Can you come from a big

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Speaker 1: family like you? No, it's you know, it's just me

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Speaker 1: up and here. But my mother and my father are

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Speaker 1: both the youngest of their bruise Like, my mom's the

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Speaker 1: youngest of five, my dad's youngest of nine. And yeah,

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Speaker 1: this is it for me. So I adopt people. I

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Speaker 1: got a lot of god brothers and sisters and whatnot.

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Speaker 1: So the holiday times is kind of uh, it's it's

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Speaker 1: more relaxed for you because how many people are showing

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Speaker 1: up friends and family or it depends. Last year we

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Speaker 1: did the whole. A lot of New York folks from

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Speaker 1: my dad's side came down and we had dinner at

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Speaker 1: my mom's house. So that was really nice. But to

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Speaker 1: be honest, shoot, as far as the Christmas holidays and

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Speaker 1: then only child, we cut that out about twenty five

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Speaker 1: years ago after the presidents and we just decided to travel.

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Speaker 1: We do our own things on the holiday. That's delicious.

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Speaker 1: My mama likes so jealous. Yeah, that's nice, So let's

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Speaker 1: go somewhere instead. So now that we started that little tradition,

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Speaker 1: I'm trying to hopefully maybe this year and maybe well

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Speaker 1: don't I don't win. When do you start preparing for

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Speaker 1: the travel? Well, Jill, as a daughter of a flight attendant,

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Speaker 1: do right, I'm like that can vary from mommy, we're

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Speaker 1: gonna we're going this year. We're we're going. Okay, so

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Speaker 1: come three a week before, we're gonna start packing and

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Speaker 1: then and then a couple of days for that, we're

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Speaker 1: gonna pick the flight to see what the low look like. Oh,

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Speaker 1: this fight attended life is real. Yeah yeah, so you Angel,

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Speaker 1: you you gotta you know, cook for a lot of people.

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Speaker 1: Let me tell you something. Thanksgiving was all I mean

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Speaker 1: for years and turkeys, isn't it? Well? No, not, well,

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Speaker 1: it is if we go to family's house, if we

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Speaker 1: go over, we went up. We've gone over to my

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Speaker 1: mother in law's house many times. And then because also too,

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Speaker 1: I have a mother, we have bounced from my husband's

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Speaker 1: mother's house to my mom's house, until finally I had

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Speaker 1: so many kids, I was like, listen, y'all, I don't

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Speaker 1: feel like dressing all these kids, cart and all these

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Speaker 1: kids to go over to somebody else's houses and eat,

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Speaker 1: And then like, what is the leftover situation gonna be? Like?

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Speaker 1: By the time I pack up food from your house,

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Speaker 1: I'd then packed up leftovers that looked like a whole

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Speaker 1: like I cooked. So I was like, no, I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: cook at home. I sit there and feed my children.

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Speaker 1: I said, if y'all want to see these kids, I

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Speaker 1: bring them over for a dessert or something like that.

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Speaker 1: My mother with my mother and my family and my

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Speaker 1: in laws are like a family. They're close to. So

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Speaker 1: my my siblings and my mom are all close to

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Speaker 1: my husband's sibling and mother. So we have a bit

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Speaker 1: of a really good mixture. So we tend to spend

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Speaker 1: time together. And we also have two different religions in

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Speaker 1: our family. That's how I was about because my mother

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Speaker 1: we don't celebrate Christmas because we're Muslims. My mother and

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Speaker 1: please don't get mad at me for cussing and carrying

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Speaker 1: on in this show, like look, y'all can just save

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Speaker 1: the emails now, I cuss um so uh. And my

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Speaker 1: mother's side is Christian, and so typically Thanksgiving over the

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Speaker 1: years would be the time that we would end up altogether,

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Speaker 1: but on on the on the Islamic side, on the

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Speaker 1: Muslim side, we would do eat dinners and that would

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Speaker 1: be that's the time. Add there's two eads a year

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Speaker 1: and a calendar Islamic year, and so we would get

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Speaker 1: together and cook and eat for eat, And then I

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Speaker 1: just thought about that, Asia, you've got a lot of

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Speaker 1: holidays in your bigs, like you got not a hot

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Speaker 1: but traditions. You got a lot of traditions. And that's

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Speaker 1: a lot of traditions. But it's not that you know,

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Speaker 1: it's actually I think really good for the kids because

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Speaker 1: the kids get to just understand about diversity within family

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Speaker 1: and that you know, blood of ties are stronger than

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Speaker 1: cultural ties and that you can still really believe and

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Speaker 1: do what you do and still be able to be

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Speaker 1: respectful of your family and things like that. So I've

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Speaker 1: I've loved over the years that my kids have got

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Speaker 1: an opportunity to do that, and the little extra work

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Speaker 1: is just that, Hey, you know, you gotta have an

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Speaker 1: extra conversation. You gotta keep family on point, make sure

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Speaker 1: everybody is aware, you know, that kind of thing. And

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Speaker 1: even with Christmas, though my children don't celebrate Christmas, they

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Speaker 1: have family members who do so in the past they

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Speaker 1: may have, like you know, sent the kids a couple

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Speaker 1: of dollars or this that of the dog. You're about

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Speaker 1: to say, you the hold you hold Jehovah. So that's

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Speaker 1: I mean, not not now, but you were raised that right.

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Speaker 1: So the first off, first, sorry what I do. I'm sorry, sorry,

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Speaker 1: I'm I'm They're called Jehovah's witness. I'm sorry, I shortened everything.

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry to be called Jehovah and be like me

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Speaker 1: calling aja Allah. Okay, and y'all not a five percent

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Speaker 1: of witness. I got it. Jehovah Witnesshovah, Jehovah. That's a

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Speaker 1: black thing, and it is it is what it is.

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Speaker 1: But they're Jehovah's witnesses, and um, yeah, I grew up

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Speaker 1: as a Jehovah's witness, not because I was baptized as

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Speaker 1: Tehovah's witness, but because that's the house I lived in.

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Speaker 1: And as you know, you know, when you grow up

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Speaker 1: in the house, that's what you do. You do whatever

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Speaker 1: your parents are doing. So I grew up my my

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Speaker 1: mom and my grandmam, and we definitely missed. I feel

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Speaker 1: like I missed out on a lot of stuff like

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Speaker 1: holidays and things until I got old enough to catch

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Speaker 1: the transportation by myself. Once. Once I got old enough

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Speaker 1: to hop on that fifty four and catch the subway

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Speaker 1: and then gone, and I forgot what other bus I

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Speaker 1: cold I don't remember now to to get to Mount

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Speaker 1: Airy where I would go to my aunt's house and

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Speaker 1: she would have Christmas there. So that meant I got

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Speaker 1: to eat the good Christmas food. I got to play

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Speaker 1: oh No all night long and laugh out loud, and

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Speaker 1: my aunt would always get me something God blessed. There

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Speaker 1: was never anything that I wanted, but the fact that

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Speaker 1: she thought of me meant a lot to me. And

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Speaker 1: until I got older and was like Hey, listen, I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna just want you to keep that, like, keep that

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Speaker 1: money in your pocket. You don't have to buy me anything,

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Speaker 1: you know. Um, but the holidays were really, really fun.

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Speaker 1: I thought from not celebrating them to celebrating I was like,

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Speaker 1: this is cool. And then I got older and I

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Speaker 1: was like, wait a minute, wait one minute talking work

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Speaker 1: conversation after the break. So Christmas is I don't know

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Speaker 1: the exact numbers right now, but when I was reading

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Speaker 1: about it, it was like Christmas was seventy of America's

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Speaker 1: economy three and that was a long time ago. That

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Speaker 1: was a long time I don't I don't know, you

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Speaker 1: know what it was then, but that was enough to

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Speaker 1: shake my world up and asked myself, like what am

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Speaker 1: I exactly getting into and why am I doing this? Um,

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Speaker 1: there's the stories, clearly, you know, we've all heard the

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Speaker 1: stories about uh Jesus and Christmas. Um how number one,

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Speaker 1: Jesus wasn't born in December, So who made up December

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Speaker 1: twenty five as his birthdate? And why do we give

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Speaker 1: gifts and all of that? Jack and well it wasn't

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Speaker 1: attempt Okay, So the historical implication of is that, um

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Speaker 1: it was an attempt. I know she would. I was

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Speaker 1: setting it up. We know this answer already, so I

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Speaker 1: don't appreciate y'all set me up as almighty. It wasn't

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Speaker 1: attempt for the king at the time. I want to say.

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Speaker 1: It's probably like Constantine or somebody who was trying to

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Speaker 1: spread Christianity but knew that the cultural and uh, the

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Speaker 1: cultural beliefs of the people where he was we're not

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Speaker 1: right in line with Christianity at the time. They were

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Speaker 1: celebrating winter Solstice and uh something else I want to say,

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Speaker 1: called christ Mass or something like that. And so what

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Speaker 1: he decided to do was allow them to keep elements

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Speaker 1: of their cultural celebrations and mesh it together with Christian

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Speaker 1: tradition so that he could ease the people into celebrating

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Speaker 1: or practicing Christianity. So, um, that's how you get Christmas

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Speaker 1: in December. That's my understanding of it. Nick comes into

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Speaker 1: the conversation. That's not how sat Nick comes into the conversation,

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Speaker 1: but that is how stuff like uh you'le tie greetings

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Speaker 1: and things like that come into play. And um, the

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Speaker 1: like I said, the time period and things of that nature.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, and trees like a Christmas tree. That's when

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Speaker 1: the that's how the Christmas tree comes into play, and

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Speaker 1: garland and um mistletoe and things like that. So yeah,

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Speaker 1: so that's where you have some Christians who over time

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Speaker 1: have actually stopped doing those types of traditions because they

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Speaker 1: understand it it's not necessarily a quote unquote Christian tradition.

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Speaker 1: Ship it's an American at this point in American, but

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Speaker 1: now it's very American because you do find people, like

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Speaker 1: she says, like a part of part of the economy.

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Speaker 1: So people come here from other places and part of

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Speaker 1: their um embracing American culture is to celebrate Christmas. The

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Speaker 1: music is nice, and I have always loved the lights,

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Speaker 1: my children, my little Muslim children. I've always loved the lights.

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Speaker 1: I've always loved the lights, and I've I've always enjoyed

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Speaker 1: the music and the getting together and the smells of

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Speaker 1: it all. I always thought that was so nice. Um,

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Speaker 1: But when I had my son, I think we had

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Speaker 1: Christmas maybe twice, and I just felt wrong. I just

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Speaker 1: I just didn't sit right for me, because you know,

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Speaker 1: we have all of these things, all of these holidays

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Speaker 1: that make money. Really, you know, think about it, I wrote,

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Speaker 1: I wrote cards for Hallmark Father's Day, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day.

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Speaker 1: You know there's as the cards by the way, the

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Speaker 1: you know, I'm just saying every Mother's Day, Father's Day.

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Speaker 1: I was looking at something so Christmas didn't feel right

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Speaker 1: one because I didn't grow up celebrating it. I got

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Speaker 1: a chance to participate in it with my Aunt Shirley.

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Speaker 1: Shout out to Aunt Shirley, who was so beautiful and

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Speaker 1: kind and loving to me. Miss you so much, um um.

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Speaker 1: So I got a chance to experience that. But when

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Speaker 1: I had my own child, I was like, do I

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Speaker 1: really am I really setting him up? You know? Do

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Speaker 1: I want to do? I want to tell him lies? Right?

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Speaker 1: I always wonder how I handled this a parent. I'm sorry,

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Speaker 1: go ahead, you yeah, like you know, it's it's not real,

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Speaker 1: Like do you want to tell a lie? And and

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Speaker 1: not for nothing? The thing that you know, I went

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Speaker 1: around with my mom when she find decided not to

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Speaker 1: do it. I started to think too about how I

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Speaker 1: would have these amazing chris is this become the New Year.

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Speaker 1: My mom was trying to figure out how to rob

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Speaker 1: Rob Peter to pay Paul, and I was like, that's

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Speaker 1: not it's not fair. No. So when I was little,

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Speaker 1: what my mom used to do is she would wait

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Speaker 1: until Christmas was over and then we would go shopping

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Speaker 1: because it was all of the Christmas holiday stuff. And

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Speaker 1: I had gone back to school without doing the then

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Speaker 1: going shopping part. And I came back to school, I

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Speaker 1: had on the same clothes I had on the week,

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Speaker 1: you know, a couple of weeks before that, and all

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Speaker 1: the kids had new clothes. Just was it messed with me? Like, oh,

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Speaker 1: you know, I felt jealous and I felt like I

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Speaker 1: was getting left out of something that I wanted to

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Speaker 1: So I didn't want to do that to Jet. But

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Speaker 1: I also did not want to lie to the kid

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Speaker 1: about these holidays. So I invented it famists fam us

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Speaker 1: fam yeah, faminess. You know. I was like, okay, Christmas,

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Speaker 1: but I was like, faminist family is family is what

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Speaker 1: are the things that I love about holidays or traditional

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Speaker 1: holidays in America? Um? Well, you know, you get together

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Speaker 1: with your family, you you cook with your family, y'all,

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Speaker 1: listen to music, your dance, you play games. You know

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Speaker 1: somebody's gonna you know, play spades or something like we're

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Speaker 1: going to enjoy each other. And I was like that's

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Speaker 1: what this that's what people really are, you know, inclined,

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Speaker 1: that's what they really love to do. It's it's it's

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Speaker 1: the family portion. So it's like, okay, I'm going to

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Speaker 1: create a holiday that is about family. Family. Is the

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Speaker 1: only difference between Christmas and Faminists is it is? Well,

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Speaker 1: it's there's two differences. Instead of putting up uh garland,

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Speaker 1: and we put up the colors of our of our culture.

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Speaker 1: So there's a lot of African flags around the house,

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Speaker 1: and we put up pictures of people we respect and

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Speaker 1: admire all around the house during the during Faminists. Um, um,

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Speaker 1: we we have a tree, but our tree is black.

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Speaker 1: What the hell do you get that from the home goods? Wow? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: we have a black tree and um we put we

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Speaker 1: put pretty much anything we want on the thing thing.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes it's pictures of us, sometimes it's a cante cloth,

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Speaker 1: or sometimes it's African flags depend you know, all over

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Speaker 1: the continent. Um. So there's pictures of people we admire

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Speaker 1: and respect and then there's this black ash tree and

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Speaker 1: that we do do presents, but you have to earn them.

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Speaker 1: And how you earn a gift on Faminists is you

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Speaker 1: have to write a one page essay. It can be longer,

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Speaker 1: but it's a one page essay about whatever you want

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Speaker 1: to talk about, whatever you want to talk about, and

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Speaker 1: then we all sit after dinner. We all sit and

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Speaker 1: listen to one another speak out loud and think out loud.

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Speaker 1: So you know, one year, Jets was about raccoons because

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Speaker 1: we had raccoons in our you know, trash sometimes, and

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Speaker 1: what we found out from his essay was that raccoons

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Speaker 1: have sensories in their hands. You know, they have five

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Speaker 1: digits like we do, so, but they have sensories. So

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Speaker 1: when they touch a trash can, they're like, that is jelly?

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Speaker 1: What else is that? Some onions? And yeah, right, and

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Speaker 1: then he's he's okay. So the essays have to be handwritten,

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Speaker 1: or I mean, they don't have to be handwritten, but

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Speaker 1: it's nice. I prefer them to be handwritten. Once you

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Speaker 1: read your essay, then you get your gift or gifts

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Speaker 1: depending because everybody in Abody can give anybody a gift.

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Speaker 1: But if you don't um, if you don't read your essay,

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Speaker 1: you ain't get nothing. And that's just the way it works.

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Speaker 1: You don't get without giving, and that's just the way

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Speaker 1: it is, so we go from listening to our elders

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Speaker 1: to listening to the children and everybody in between. So

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Speaker 1: we get to our family gets to hear us thinking

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Speaker 1: about whatever we want to talk about. It could be anything,

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Speaker 1: and that is the gist of families. It doesn't have

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Speaker 1: any religious implications. So my mother comes, she's a Jehovah's

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Speaker 1: witness and she's like, you know, she doesn't celebrate holidays, um,

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Speaker 1: but this doesn't have any religious implications. So it's more

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Speaker 1: of a family gathering. It's family is families. So I

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Speaker 1: think it works for any culture, whether you're uh Indian,

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Speaker 1: whether you're Italian. You know, to have pictures of Italian

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Speaker 1: people that you're respecting, to admire all around the house,

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Speaker 1: to have your true red, white and green um. To

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Speaker 1: to sit and listen to your family, you know. Think.

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Speaker 1: So that's pretty much what familis is, and that's what

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Speaker 1: we've been celebrating for the last five years. So last

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Speaker 1: thing is because it's the essays are on paper, I

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Speaker 1: collect them and um keep them in a little famous box.

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Speaker 1: What's not little anymore, but keep him in a famis

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Speaker 1: box and it becomes a family treasure. So I can

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Speaker 1: look back and say okay. In you know, uh, two

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Speaker 1: thousand and and you know twelve, you wrote an art,

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Speaker 1: you wrote an essay about why you don't want to

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Speaker 1: do homework or why you think homework is unfair. You

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Speaker 1: know what I mean? And you get to also see

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Speaker 1: your own hand right here, particularly you know, particularly for

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Speaker 1: the kids that how long does it take to develop

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Speaker 1: a holiday? Jill? Um, I guess overnight if that's what

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Speaker 1: you wanna do. I mean you fai is, how how

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Speaker 1: long did it take you to figure all those elements out? Well?

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Speaker 1: It didn't take long because I've been thinking about it

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Speaker 1: for years, Like what is it that that bothers me?

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Speaker 1: What is it that that doesn't sit well with me?

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00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,840
Speaker 1: That one? This is such a big economic holiday that

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Speaker 1: bothers me? Um too, it doesn't have any basis in history?

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Speaker 1: And why not praise the Lord all year round? Praise

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Speaker 1: Lord's praise Lord all year round. Whomever you decided you

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00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:35,000
Speaker 1: call God based on information that you know, or based

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Speaker 1: on your family and how they've taught you. Praise the

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Speaker 1: Lord all year round. Be grateful for for your creator

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Speaker 1: and creation all year round. But at this time, celebrate

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Speaker 1: family and celebrate family and ask of them to do something,

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Speaker 1: to get something. What I mean, I'm gonna tell you,

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Speaker 1: I know that the being with family part, particularly for

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Speaker 1: black folks, is the pool for all of these holidays,

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Speaker 1: you know, because obviously even the question around whether or

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Speaker 1: not black people should even be celebrating Thanksgiving has come

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Speaker 1: up in my family in the past five years, as

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Speaker 1: we talked about that should we even be celebrating this,

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Speaker 1: especially since I have friends who are who are Indigenous,

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Speaker 1: and they just feel so deeply disrespected by that holiday.

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Speaker 1: And so for us, you know, as we all should

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Speaker 1: feel deeply disrespected by it. Um. But I think also

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Speaker 1: to you know, the idea of being with family for us,

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Speaker 1: that's what resonates it says, Okay, well, I just wanna

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Speaker 1: I'm not even I'm not keyed into all of it.

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Speaker 1: I just want to be able to play bid with

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Speaker 1: and eat some good food and you know, and be around,

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Speaker 1: you know, my extended family. So I can really appreciate

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Speaker 1: being intentional about that, because you know, these are things

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Speaker 1: that keep us together, These are the things that keep

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Speaker 1: us going, and you know, all over the diaspora, but

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Speaker 1: particularly here in America, where it's like what is for us?

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Speaker 1: But I love the fact that in some states and

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Speaker 1: here in Pennsylvania, Juneteenth is now considered a holiday, an

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Speaker 1: official holiday here in the state of Pennsylvania. And for

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Speaker 1: Tina and I rode in the Juneteenth Parade last year,

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Speaker 1: and um, we were the Grand Marshall's dolling yes and

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Speaker 1: c ys and it. And it got me to thinking,

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Speaker 1: I known about Juneteenth a long time, but I had

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Speaker 1: never really been really intentional about celebrating it. Um and

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Speaker 1: uh and again, Um, Black History Month in my household

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Speaker 1: is a very big deal. And I am the only

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Speaker 1: person I know who decorates for Black History. More so,

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Speaker 1: I actually decorate for Black History Month. So when you

384
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,200
Speaker 1: were saying the thing about putting up the pictures and stuff,

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Speaker 1: I was like, oh girl, this is me a Black

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Speaker 1: History mouth, Like this is how I am. Man. I

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00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:01,119
Speaker 1: love the fact that, um, you kind of kind of

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00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,600
Speaker 1: came with your own family traditions. I think that's super

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00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:07,040
Speaker 1: important that even though there's some things cross culturally that

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00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:10,199
Speaker 1: we that we should continue to honor, one of the

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00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:12,520
Speaker 1: real things that I feel like it's important to honor

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00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:15,360
Speaker 1: is those things that become important to your individual family

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Speaker 1: and that um, those are the things you get to

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Speaker 1: pass on from generation to generation, you know, which is

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Speaker 1: why stuff like family reunions are such a big deal

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Speaker 1: in our community and um, you know things like that.

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Speaker 1: Here's one thing I know I made up that my

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Speaker 1: kids and I did UM on Juneteenth, I want to say,

399
00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:48,399
Speaker 1: two years ago, was I decided that I bought a

400
00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:53,960
Speaker 1: very large piece of um, handmade and hand printed UM

401
00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:58,640
Speaker 1: mud cloth that has some cante woven into it as well. UM.

402
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Speaker 1: And this was what I played over top of my

403
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Speaker 1: mother's casket, m Um. And this is you know how

404
00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:09,320
Speaker 1: she was there when when during her service we I

405
00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:12,760
Speaker 1: took that and out laid it out on the table

406
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:16,120
Speaker 1: it was and and what I was telling the kids

407
00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:19,520
Speaker 1: was that, you know, during slavery, obviously we weren't allowed

408
00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:21,119
Speaker 1: to learn how to read, but we used to do

409
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Speaker 1: these things called pit schools where people would escape in

410
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Speaker 1: the middle of the night and dig a ditch in

411
00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:29,439
Speaker 1: the into the ground and get inside the ditch and

412
00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:31,440
Speaker 1: cover it with leaves, and that they would learn how

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Speaker 1: to read at night in these pits schools and these ditches.

414
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Speaker 1: And one of the ways they learned was by writing

415
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:41,760
Speaker 1: into stuff like flour and salt. M And so what

416
00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:44,520
Speaker 1: I did was. I told the kids, I said, okay, here,

417
00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,480
Speaker 1: we're gonna cover our table. This is a um something

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00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:52,280
Speaker 1: to honor our particular ancestors. And you know, my mother

419
00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,240
Speaker 1: is an ancestor now. And I sat out a little

420
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Speaker 1: tray and I said, okay, guys, I put the flower out.

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00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:00,960
Speaker 1: I said, this is our way of honoring how our

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00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:04,439
Speaker 1: ancestors learned before they were free, to learn how to

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00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:07,440
Speaker 1: read and to learn how to have their own self determination.

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Speaker 1: And so I was like, you can write anything in

425
00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:11,840
Speaker 1: a flower that you want. You can write the name

426
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,000
Speaker 1: of an ancestor, you can write a shape my heart

427
00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:16,479
Speaker 1: or whatever your own name, whatever. But this is our

428
00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:18,760
Speaker 1: way that we honor the ways that they learned. And

429
00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:21,600
Speaker 1: so my kids and I did that, and you know,

430
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:24,400
Speaker 1: and that was our That was part of our June

431
00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:31,840
Speaker 1: taking celebration. Yeah. Yeah, we're free. We're free in a lot,

432
00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:37,159
Speaker 1: not every way, but we're not enslaved. Were not enslaved.

433
00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:41,400
Speaker 1: So you have the capacity to come up with whatever

434
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:43,640
Speaker 1: it is that you want to come up and make

435
00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,240
Speaker 1: that a thing for your family. Hey, listen, I think

436
00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:48,359
Speaker 1: in this moment's funny jail, as you were talking about,

437
00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:50,880
Speaker 1: I want to say, right that's about I was about

438
00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:59,120
Speaker 1: to say, that'stivist. I'm sorry, that's that's time field. Oh,

439
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:02,199
Speaker 1: that's and that we have festivals the day before, families,

440
00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:05,200
Speaker 1: festives for the rest of this, festivals for the rest,

441
00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:07,160
Speaker 1: so that you have that the day before. So y'all

442
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:08,920
Speaker 1: do festive that y'all do families. And it is interesting

443
00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:11,080
Speaker 1: because I thought it was a nice tie into quanda too,

444
00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:14,080
Speaker 1: because while you're celebrating your family for one, then you

445
00:28:14,119 --> 00:28:18,800
Speaker 1: start celebrating your culture in your community in the next. Right. Yeah,

446
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,200
Speaker 1: but I tapped out by then. I ain't gonna I'm

447
00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:23,600
Speaker 1: not I'm not even gonna hold you up like comment.

448
00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,000
Speaker 1: I will say, it's a lot to me. I tried.

449
00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:30,280
Speaker 1: I didn't grow up selling it, celebrating holidays or birthdays

450
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:33,800
Speaker 1: for that matter. So I'm gonna apologize now. I'm probably

451
00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:36,800
Speaker 1: not going to remember your birthday unless you tell me

452
00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:40,080
Speaker 1: and I put it in my phone because I I

453
00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:42,760
Speaker 1: I don't remember. I just already told you all. We

454
00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:45,520
Speaker 1: got nine thousand people in our families, so I forget

455
00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:48,480
Speaker 1: my own damn birthday. If the radio didn't tell me

456
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:52,160
Speaker 1: or the Instagram, they're like, it's just guy's birthday. I'd

457
00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:58,080
Speaker 1: be like, oh it is, I'm two under nine again.

458
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,080
Speaker 1: I hesitated to bring up Quansa because I was like,

459
00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:04,800
Speaker 1: I don't you know, people feel different ways about Mr

460
00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:09,160
Speaker 1: Karna Karina, but at the same time, at the fundamentals

461
00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:11,960
Speaker 1: of what it asked of you, of what it really

462
00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:15,120
Speaker 1: boils down to is fucking amazing. And shouts out to

463
00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:17,320
Speaker 1: m two May and all the rest of the elders

464
00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:19,880
Speaker 1: who actually helped make that holiday happen as well, like,

465
00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:24,000
Speaker 1: I mean, you can't deny it, right, yeah, actually don't

466
00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:27,360
Speaker 1: have an issue with the actual principles of And I

467
00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:29,400
Speaker 1: mean I know that people, you know, so many things

468
00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:33,000
Speaker 1: have come out about about um you said about Karina.

469
00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:36,160
Speaker 1: But for me, for me, I do think people who

470
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:39,200
Speaker 1: continue to celebrate Kawanza, I know what their intentions are

471
00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:41,120
Speaker 1: and I and I think it's actually a beautiful time

472
00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:45,000
Speaker 1: for a lot of families and really gives, you know,

473
00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:49,280
Speaker 1: African Americans in particular, an opportunity to connect in a

474
00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:53,000
Speaker 1: way that speaks to who we are here but also

475
00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:56,760
Speaker 1: honors our culture in Africa where we and what we

476
00:29:56,880 --> 00:29:59,240
Speaker 1: brought with us. And I don't think there's anything wrong

477
00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:03,000
Speaker 1: with that. There's nothing wrong with saying Okay, yes that

478
00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:07,600
Speaker 1: I am connected to an absolutely a product of the continent,

479
00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:11,120
Speaker 1: but here we had a specific kind and not just

480
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:13,720
Speaker 1: here but in other places of the diaspora. Experience is

481
00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:17,920
Speaker 1: you know, chattel slavery, which is you know, it's an experience.

482
00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:20,720
Speaker 1: It's it's something that you can't forget. It's something that

483
00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:24,320
Speaker 1: did happen and did affect our ability to be connected

484
00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:27,000
Speaker 1: the ways that in the ways that we were before that.

485
00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:30,000
Speaker 1: So I think it's nothing wrong with you know, as

486
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:34,840
Speaker 1: a community saying hey, let's let's figure out a way

487
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:39,560
Speaker 1: to reconnect. But then also um acknowledge that we are

488
00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:43,240
Speaker 1: a new thing, you know, And I so no problem

489
00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:44,760
Speaker 1: at all with that. I love it. I wish we

490
00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:46,600
Speaker 1: could have more holidays like that, Like we don't really

491
00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:50,479
Speaker 1: have a lot of holidays African American culture wise, do

492
00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:55,320
Speaker 1: or do we am I tripping? I'm like Kwanza Black History,

493
00:30:56,120 --> 00:31:00,320
Speaker 1: Black History June Team, June Team Team. What happens in

494
00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:03,000
Speaker 1: New Orleans and Louisiana? What is it? Um Marti Gras

495
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:06,479
Speaker 1: Mardi Gras. Okay, it's funny. You know, some things are

496
00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:08,320
Speaker 1: taken from us and built in the something else. So

497
00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:10,240
Speaker 1: I totally forget about Mardi Grad that way, because you

498
00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:16,320
Speaker 1: are so right? Uh ok, MRTI grad Junete Kwanza, all right,

499
00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:18,480
Speaker 1: I could use it, just a couple other ones around

500
00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:22,040
Speaker 1: in UM, in Chicago and the Midwest, they have Sweeter's Day.

501
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:27,880
Speaker 1: What's that Sweetest Day? Is um black people's version of

502
00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:35,200
Speaker 1: Valentine's Day? Black Love Day? Or I'll take it all,

503
00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:39,640
Speaker 1: I'll take or a single celebration whatever, Yeah, why not?

504
00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:42,880
Speaker 1: And then of course in in in New York and

505
00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:48,560
Speaker 1: Miami you got Carnival, you got mm hmmm yeah, yeah,

506
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:53,120
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, I forget weekend day parade single to Mayo.

507
00:31:55,560 --> 00:32:00,560
Speaker 1: For other cultures is that who well, don't say this.

508
00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:04,480
Speaker 1: This is this is where we get lost because we create,

509
00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:08,320
Speaker 1: we create holidan. We didn't create holidays, but we celebrate holidays,

510
00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:12,000
Speaker 1: which is just fine. Um. And creating your own holiday

511
00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:15,040
Speaker 1: for your family and making a tradition for your own

512
00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:18,440
Speaker 1: for your family is beautiful. And I think so um

513
00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:23,840
Speaker 1: as someone who participates in it. But here we are, here,

514
00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:30,440
Speaker 1: we are what's up? So she's about to get it.

515
00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:39,120
Speaker 1: It does frustrate the life. Oh it drains my my,

516
00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:43,840
Speaker 1: my life when I see so many of us going

517
00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:49,120
Speaker 1: into debt for Christmas, going into debt for Christmas for

518
00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:54,760
Speaker 1: people who do not deserve this amount of gifting. It's

519
00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:56,760
Speaker 1: shocking to me that we still celebrate the holiday that

520
00:32:56,840 --> 00:32:58,720
Speaker 1: we kind of know there's not really truthful of what

521
00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:00,560
Speaker 1: it is, and we just definitely know that it's a

522
00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:03,520
Speaker 1: big money making day. But we are so in the

523
00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:06,200
Speaker 1: line of this tradition for generations and generations that we

524
00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:11,200
Speaker 1: just couldnot let it go. It's amazing to me, very

525
00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:21,440
Speaker 1: much like Jesus Listen already in Trouble Less about it.

526
00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:24,200
Speaker 1: We said we were going to talk about things, and

527
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:28,680
Speaker 1: we are here to spark conversation. I asked my grandmother

528
00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:33,000
Speaker 1: about that. Listen. I had the same conversation with my

529
00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:36,320
Speaker 1: mother and my grandmother. My question is always this, what

530
00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:42,680
Speaker 1: exactly have um white people that were enslaving folks giving

531
00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:45,160
Speaker 1: them for their benefit. They don't want you to read,

532
00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:48,800
Speaker 1: they want you to speak your language. They didn't want

533
00:33:48,840 --> 00:33:55,800
Speaker 1: you to pray to how you pray, so they've given

534
00:33:55,880 --> 00:34:00,360
Speaker 1: you and the fact that we continue to hold on

535
00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:06,520
Speaker 1: to this. Yes, you know I I do don't I don't.

536
00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:08,520
Speaker 1: I don't know what you're gonna do with this. I

537
00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:12,520
Speaker 1: know this, I know that I love God. I do.

538
00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:15,760
Speaker 1: I do. There's no there's no ifs, ands or buts

539
00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:19,320
Speaker 1: about that. I am so appreciative. I am so grateful

540
00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:23,560
Speaker 1: that I've learned my relationship with you, whope, God. And

541
00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:27,719
Speaker 1: there are so many names, and that's that's your business,

542
00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:45,200
Speaker 1: how you want to deal. I have Uh John three

543
00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:52,520
Speaker 1: on my neck and it is because, um, it says

544
00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:55,600
Speaker 1: for those who don't know, for God so love the

545
00:34:55,640 --> 00:34:58,120
Speaker 1: world that he gave his only begotten son, so that

546
00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:04,839
Speaker 1: whomever shall um believe shall not perish but have everlasting life.

547
00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:08,800
Speaker 1: I'm paraphrasing a little bit, um, but nonetheless, most of

548
00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:12,400
Speaker 1: you know what that is. And I just think that

549
00:35:12,719 --> 00:35:17,120
Speaker 1: we've gotten that confused. For God so loved the world

550
00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:20,439
Speaker 1: that he gave his only begotten son so that whom

551
00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:24,680
Speaker 1: ever shall believe in him. Now, let me tell you

552
00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:28,920
Speaker 1: like this, if I was if somebody asked me to

553
00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:32,400
Speaker 1: save the world by giving my only begotten son, y'all

554
00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:41,560
Speaker 1: will be some dead mother. She'd be dead, she could dead.

555
00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:45,000
Speaker 1: We all be dead, and we're going together my only

556
00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:49,360
Speaker 1: begotten son. I always think, man, that level of love,

557
00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:53,719
Speaker 1: to to love human being so much to give your

558
00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:58,640
Speaker 1: only child for them is massive, and that should be

559
00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:03,399
Speaker 1: respected and appreciated and honored and cherished, if we're going

560
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:06,839
Speaker 1: with the stories to be true. I really feel that way,

561
00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:14,480
Speaker 1: and it bothers me when people don't give our creator

562
00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:17,640
Speaker 1: the credit deserved. For God so loved the world that

563
00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:22,839
Speaker 1: he gave his only begotten son, so that whomever shall

564
00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:29,920
Speaker 1: believe in him, the Creator himself, so whomever shall believe

565
00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:33,080
Speaker 1: in him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Well,

566
00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:37,960
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it's about to unpack. Yeah, it's

567
00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:42,360
Speaker 1: a lot of time, it's plenty. There's a lot to

568
00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:44,640
Speaker 1: unpack there on one of the things that I will

569
00:36:44,719 --> 00:36:47,640
Speaker 1: say this about black folks and there and they're um

570
00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:54,440
Speaker 1: forced or perceived forced because well, after slavery, they were

571
00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:57,719
Speaker 1: forced to embrace Christianity, but a form of Christianity that

572
00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:03,920
Speaker 1: was obviously um twisted and intended to keep them, intended

573
00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:06,880
Speaker 1: to keep them enslaved, you know. But obviously there it

574
00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:11,120
Speaker 1: was that same Bible and that same teachings, those same

575
00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:15,160
Speaker 1: teachings that also spoke to so many enslaved people that

576
00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:19,359
Speaker 1: incited them to riot and rebel, you know, because Nat

577
00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:23,600
Speaker 1: Turner actually believed that God had spoken to him. Harriet

578
00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:26,919
Speaker 1: Tubman said God spoke to me, these are not people

579
00:37:26,960 --> 00:37:31,719
Speaker 1: who read a book or were intellectuals. These were hardcore

580
00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:37,279
Speaker 1: spiritual people. But they also came from very similar backgrounds

581
00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:42,799
Speaker 1: in their africanness. Oh yeah know that they did. They

582
00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:45,600
Speaker 1: actually did so, I mean so, and they had certain

583
00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:47,719
Speaker 1: spiritual beliefs that were passed out. So the reason why

584
00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:51,440
Speaker 1: I say all this is because African Americans have successfully,

585
00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:55,520
Speaker 1: in many ways, many many many ways, merged together what

586
00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:58,800
Speaker 1: they brought on the ships with Christianity in such a

587
00:37:58,840 --> 00:38:02,880
Speaker 1: way that empowers the spiritually that has been at the

588
00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:06,120
Speaker 1: core of their resistance. So if you start to peel

589
00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:08,880
Speaker 1: back the layers of Black resistance over several years, you're

590
00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:14,200
Speaker 1: gonna find a lot of that is what what changes it.

591
00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:17,520
Speaker 1: And not just Christianity, but also with Islam, because when

592
00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:19,520
Speaker 1: you look back at some of the other you know,

593
00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:23,560
Speaker 1: leaders of different rebellions, they had some backgrounds and beliefs

594
00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:27,200
Speaker 1: that were Islamic. And then also to the big Haitian

595
00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:31,360
Speaker 1: Revolution was started with a religious ceremony based in Vodoon,

596
00:38:31,719 --> 00:38:34,239
Speaker 1: which is based in Yaruba. So it's like all of

597
00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:37,080
Speaker 1: this is who we are. We take who we are

598
00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:40,439
Speaker 1: everywhere that we go, we take who we are where

599
00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:43,520
Speaker 1: we go. And so when you talk about just from

600
00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:48,360
Speaker 1: our own background, right, sometimes we don't always know, we

601
00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:51,280
Speaker 1: don't always know that that's what it is. But believe

602
00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:53,360
Speaker 1: you me, that is what it is. And when you

603
00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:56,480
Speaker 1: start talking about holidays, that is where we start to

604
00:38:56,560 --> 00:38:59,440
Speaker 1: get into Okay, well what does this mean or what

605
00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:02,200
Speaker 1: is the mean behind this? So that I'm sure that

606
00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:06,719
Speaker 1: it's not contradictory to what I believe, because you know,

607
00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:08,239
Speaker 1: I hear your voice in the back of my head

608
00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:11,040
Speaker 1: when it comes to these holidays, right, it's it's all

609
00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:16,320
Speaker 1: because of white supremacy. That's not all of them, not

610
00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:19,640
Speaker 1: all of most of the American ones that we celebrate. Well, yeah,

611
00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:22,319
Speaker 1: I mean because it's about capitalism. It's like Jill said,

612
00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:24,320
Speaker 1: this is about people making money and being able to

613
00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:26,880
Speaker 1: make money off of us as as individuals. It's not

614
00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:30,200
Speaker 1: about making life better you know what I'm saying, or

615
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:34,840
Speaker 1: making you more spiritually connected. You know that whenever capitalism

616
00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:40,319
Speaker 1: embraces a thing, but racial capitalism embrace Christianity from the gate,

617
00:39:41,719 --> 00:39:43,360
Speaker 1: there's no way to separate the two. You've got to

618
00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:46,400
Speaker 1: have the conversation, not be afraid to have that conversation.

619
00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:50,840
Speaker 1: It doesn't it doesn't diminish any one person's belief because

620
00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:53,680
Speaker 1: you can find Christianity and Ethiopia way before they ever

621
00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:56,520
Speaker 1: came here. So you can because is everywhere. That's what

622
00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:58,839
Speaker 1: I'll be scared. That's that's why I was scared, always scared.

623
00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:00,800
Speaker 1: That's scared because I did as my grandmother. But it

624
00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:02,960
Speaker 1: was always an interesting point for me because I was

625
00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:06,920
Speaker 1: like as black as my grandmother. What it was I

626
00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:09,719
Speaker 1: always wondered, like the story of Christianity and what I

627
00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:11,480
Speaker 1: knew of it and how it came to Black Americans.

628
00:40:11,480 --> 00:40:14,600
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, that's interesting that we get it

629
00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:16,680
Speaker 1: when we have a habit of taking things and making

630
00:40:16,719 --> 00:40:18,880
Speaker 1: in our own and switching it from a negative to

631
00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:21,400
Speaker 1: a positive. But man, this is a doozy. This is

632
00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:24,279
Speaker 1: a real juzy. I always start. I mean, it would

633
00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:26,640
Speaker 1: be a really good idea to say that Ethiopia was

634
00:40:26,719 --> 00:40:29,640
Speaker 1: never called used. That's true, but the me came down,

635
00:40:29,719 --> 00:40:50,200
Speaker 1: it everywhere, came everywhere, everywhere. Well, you know, the end

636
00:40:50,239 --> 00:40:52,000
Speaker 1: of the day is that I don't know a lot

637
00:40:52,040 --> 00:40:55,000
Speaker 1: of folks who when they hear the world holiday, they're

638
00:40:55,000 --> 00:41:01,480
Speaker 1: thinking a holy day. M hmmm. So and holy day

639
00:41:02,600 --> 00:41:06,279
Speaker 1: can be two different things, and particularly People who are

640
00:41:06,480 --> 00:41:10,439
Speaker 1: very religious are more likely to focus on a holy

641
00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:13,000
Speaker 1: day than a tradition. Traditions for them can come and

642
00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:15,839
Speaker 1: go because the tradition can be started by someone who,

643
00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:20,800
Speaker 1: you know, whatever, but something that's tied into your actual

644
00:41:20,840 --> 00:41:26,440
Speaker 1: belief system. You know, people I know. But then you're like,

645
00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:28,160
Speaker 1: it's not his birthday. It's not a day. It's not

646
00:41:28,239 --> 00:41:30,440
Speaker 1: a birthday. He's not a day. That's different. And then

647
00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:31,880
Speaker 1: you tell us a story about how we all came

648
00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:38,239
Speaker 1: to this day, and it's like, okay, of things. We

649
00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:41,480
Speaker 1: believe a lot of things just because they tell us

650
00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:44,280
Speaker 1: to believe it. And it's a tradition of believing. It's

651
00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:48,239
Speaker 1: not just telling but forcing people got their teeth pulled out,

652
00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:51,959
Speaker 1: um with with pliers and such, people got their feet

653
00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:58,440
Speaker 1: cut off, you know, forcing them to be Christians another

654
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:00,600
Speaker 1: reason which makes it hard, always made it hard for

655
00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:02,759
Speaker 1: a rebellious me to go. So we're just gonna roll

656
00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:04,960
Speaker 1: with this is the truth, even though we was. What

657
00:42:05,120 --> 00:42:08,719
Speaker 1: I would need though for me, UM, what I would

658
00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:15,319
Speaker 1: need is for Christianity to actually do it's its job.

659
00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:19,600
Speaker 1: I needed to do its work. I need UM churches

660
00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:23,759
Speaker 1: to be smaller and black people to be more Um, affluent.

661
00:42:25,239 --> 00:42:27,160
Speaker 1: I see a lot of a lot of big churches,

662
00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:31,480
Speaker 1: and I cannot front with you like it. It bothers me.

663
00:42:32,120 --> 00:42:35,439
Speaker 1: I know, people, Um, you know there's a I've visit

664
00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:37,799
Speaker 1: a lot of different places, you know when it comes

665
00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:41,400
Speaker 1: to religion. So you know, I'll check out a Buddhist

666
00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:44,120
Speaker 1: temple for a while, and I'll go to a Catholic

667
00:42:44,200 --> 00:42:47,440
Speaker 1: church for a while, and you know, just pay attention

668
00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:51,080
Speaker 1: and look around and listen and see what I'm getting. Um.

669
00:42:51,680 --> 00:42:54,960
Speaker 1: And sometimes I say one place longer than others. Um,

670
00:42:55,120 --> 00:42:58,680
Speaker 1: there's a church that I was going to here in Tennessee.

671
00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:02,840
Speaker 1: And I have a friend who was going through some

672
00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:06,880
Speaker 1: hard times, particularly with this COVID and she's worked for

673
00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:10,280
Speaker 1: the church and she's benefited and been there to help

674
00:43:10,640 --> 00:43:14,440
Speaker 1: in so many areas and she needed some help. So UM,

675
00:43:15,200 --> 00:43:18,480
Speaker 1: myself and some others we joined together to to help her.

676
00:43:18,840 --> 00:43:21,080
Speaker 1: And then after that we were like, okay, so you

677
00:43:21,160 --> 00:43:24,240
Speaker 1: know we're in a good a better space, a good space.

678
00:43:24,400 --> 00:43:28,080
Speaker 1: Let's go to the church. And they told her they

679
00:43:28,120 --> 00:43:31,800
Speaker 1: would pray for her, and I was like, wait, ha,

680
00:43:32,840 --> 00:43:35,040
Speaker 1: I'm having a hard time with that. When the pastor

681
00:43:35,200 --> 00:43:40,719
Speaker 1: has you know, a dumb ridiculous, big gass house. Like

682
00:43:41,280 --> 00:43:43,759
Speaker 1: I'm having a hard time. My mom used to call

683
00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:46,799
Speaker 1: her counselment about it, Like that church, you bid, Yeah,

684
00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:51,480
Speaker 1: I just I don't understand why there isn't more um

685
00:43:52,120 --> 00:43:55,560
Speaker 1: like like similar to the Black Panthers where you're supplying

686
00:43:55,840 --> 00:44:00,640
Speaker 1: supplying food and shelter for people, like I don't understand,

687
00:44:01,080 --> 00:44:04,600
Speaker 1: and somebody like, oh my church. I'm just talking about

688
00:44:04,719 --> 00:44:08,359
Speaker 1: as a whole because this is such a part of UM,

689
00:44:08,719 --> 00:44:11,280
Speaker 1: a part of Black people and what we pour ourselves

690
00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:15,120
Speaker 1: into and were pouring ourselves into, not just our faith

691
00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:19,879
Speaker 1: absolutely without question, but we're also pouring ourselves into these

692
00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:25,520
Speaker 1: um these edifices, were pouring ourselves into these these places

693
00:44:26,239 --> 00:44:30,080
Speaker 1: that don't seem to benefit the people as they should.

694
00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:34,080
Speaker 1: There should be more universities, you um, um HBCU should

695
00:44:34,120 --> 00:44:36,600
Speaker 1: not be struggling with the amount of money that comes

696
00:44:36,680 --> 00:44:40,600
Speaker 1: through you know, um churches. The churches are getting bigger,

697
00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:44,400
Speaker 1: but and the the you know, the pool is getting bigger.

698
00:44:44,760 --> 00:44:48,279
Speaker 1: They've got lights like you know, uh, like a show

699
00:44:48,440 --> 00:44:51,920
Speaker 1: like Vega shows that basket comes around. I don't know

700
00:44:52,080 --> 00:44:56,080
Speaker 1: three phone times, you know, I just need it whatever

701
00:44:56,200 --> 00:45:00,279
Speaker 1: it is to actually be a benefit or Yeah, it

702
00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:02,359
Speaker 1: needs to be a benefit to the people and love

703
00:45:02,440 --> 00:45:04,720
Speaker 1: to the churches that are because we know there's not everybody.

704
00:45:04,800 --> 00:45:06,880
Speaker 1: I wanted shot out to the Alphad Street Baptists over

705
00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:09,480
Speaker 1: there in Virginia that's trying to keep their church as

706
00:45:09,480 --> 00:45:12,799
Speaker 1: small as possible with their thirty thousand members and still

707
00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:16,440
Speaker 1: given to their hbc U s and all, but thank you.

708
00:45:18,920 --> 00:45:21,359
Speaker 1: They just added, they just added services throughout the day.

709
00:45:22,120 --> 00:45:25,560
Speaker 1: I had a church once that with the pastor was

710
00:45:25,800 --> 00:45:31,399
Speaker 1: actually a carpenter. That's what he worked. And I love

711
00:45:31,520 --> 00:45:35,560
Speaker 1: that because he could understand it wasn't just a you know,

712
00:45:35,640 --> 00:45:38,600
Speaker 1: an offering, you know that he was living off offerings

713
00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:41,560
Speaker 1: that he was actually working. I just don't think you

714
00:45:41,600 --> 00:45:48,040
Speaker 1: should get without girls, please, Yeah, I think I think

715
00:45:48,080 --> 00:45:55,399
Speaker 1: what happens is that, Um, obviously, you have had many

716
00:45:55,480 --> 00:45:59,200
Speaker 1: conversations over the over the you know, several hundred years

717
00:45:59,280 --> 00:46:02,719
Speaker 1: that we've been in this country in the West, where

718
00:46:02,920 --> 00:46:07,560
Speaker 1: we've we've tackled this idea that black wealth and access

719
00:46:07,640 --> 00:46:10,560
Speaker 1: to money helps us as a community and that's going

720
00:46:10,640 --> 00:46:13,520
Speaker 1: to push us forward. And one of the main places

721
00:46:13,719 --> 00:46:17,800
Speaker 1: where that wealth can be distributed, like you know, is

722
00:46:17,960 --> 00:46:22,120
Speaker 1: typically in church. And so it was especially for black folks,

723
00:46:22,200 --> 00:46:25,160
Speaker 1: you know, and or in their religious institutions period, because

724
00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:28,080
Speaker 1: we've seen this kind of thing happen, you know, across faiths,

725
00:46:28,400 --> 00:46:31,200
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And I think it's a

726
00:46:31,360 --> 00:46:34,000
Speaker 1: good thing to a degree to have a church be

727
00:46:34,120 --> 00:46:38,200
Speaker 1: a base for you know, social um supports and and

728
00:46:38,520 --> 00:46:41,840
Speaker 1: and community supports. But the thing is that the community

729
00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:48,040
Speaker 1: itself isn't just Christian people. So until we have a

730
00:46:48,120 --> 00:46:51,840
Speaker 1: situation where as a community we can have like diverse

731
00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:55,520
Speaker 1: spaces for everybody to come together, you know, and under

732
00:46:55,560 --> 00:47:00,160
Speaker 1: the guise of strengthening the community and giving resources, uh um,

733
00:47:00,320 --> 00:47:04,520
Speaker 1: we'll just be empowering these entities to just get into

734
00:47:04,560 --> 00:47:06,520
Speaker 1: the race of who can raise the most money, who

735
00:47:06,560 --> 00:47:08,920
Speaker 1: can bring in the most membership, who can do X,

736
00:47:09,080 --> 00:47:12,279
Speaker 1: y and z. Until we start really working into coalitions

737
00:47:12,320 --> 00:47:14,120
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. And not that we don't have them,

738
00:47:14,160 --> 00:47:16,759
Speaker 1: because every idea that we could come up with during

739
00:47:16,840 --> 00:47:21,800
Speaker 1: this this podcast, it's been tried. So the thing is

740
00:47:21,920 --> 00:47:26,200
Speaker 1: that I think re re shifting our focus back into

741
00:47:26,280 --> 00:47:30,319
Speaker 1: coalitions is important. I mean, I hate to pull out

742
00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:33,560
Speaker 1: my little history lesson on this one, but we love

743
00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:52,520
Speaker 1: this part. But you know, Denmark VC, who's really famous

744
00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:58,120
Speaker 1: revolutionary and man who planned a revolt, uh slave revolt

745
00:47:58,200 --> 00:48:02,359
Speaker 1: that actually was not successful, but it was used as

746
00:48:02,560 --> 00:48:05,560
Speaker 1: a way to I mean, it sparked a lot of

747
00:48:05,760 --> 00:48:10,719
Speaker 1: change in America moving toward emancipation. So the idea here

748
00:48:10,840 --> 00:48:14,120
Speaker 1: is that when he planned this revolt, he was a

749
00:48:14,920 --> 00:48:19,840
Speaker 1: very devout Christian, but one of his main conspirators was

750
00:48:19,920 --> 00:48:25,480
Speaker 1: a man named Golla Jack and he he um practiced

751
00:48:25,560 --> 00:48:29,359
Speaker 1: African spiritual traditions. And hey, you had a man who

752
00:48:29,440 --> 00:48:32,680
Speaker 1: was a devout Christian who planned a slavery vote with

753
00:48:32,719 --> 00:48:36,680
Speaker 1: a man who was strictly in the practice of African spirituality.

754
00:48:37,640 --> 00:48:40,479
Speaker 1: And I think that this is really really profound because

755
00:48:40,560 --> 00:48:43,360
Speaker 1: what it says is that Black people, no matter what

756
00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:46,160
Speaker 1: we believe, no matter how we celebrate, no matter what

757
00:48:46,360 --> 00:48:50,680
Speaker 1: we how we worship, that we have a combined and

758
00:48:50,760 --> 00:48:54,600
Speaker 1: a unified struggle, and that struggle is against the oppressor.

759
00:48:55,000 --> 00:48:57,080
Speaker 1: And so I think that's really important when we think

760
00:48:57,120 --> 00:48:59,680
Speaker 1: about these kinds of things, that if churches, we can't

761
00:48:59,680 --> 00:49:01,560
Speaker 1: put all the way on just the one church or

762
00:49:01,680 --> 00:49:04,640
Speaker 1: just the churches, the churches have to be not be

763
00:49:04,760 --> 00:49:07,320
Speaker 1: afraid to work with the moss. The moss has to

764
00:49:07,400 --> 00:49:09,879
Speaker 1: not be afraid to work with the church. The church

765
00:49:09,960 --> 00:49:12,279
Speaker 1: had the Moss, can't be afraid to work with the

766
00:49:12,840 --> 00:49:16,680
Speaker 1: with the African spiritualists, you can all of this is

767
00:49:16,840 --> 00:49:18,880
Speaker 1: all this has to come together so that we can

768
00:49:19,040 --> 00:49:22,279
Speaker 1: serve one another, so that we can celebrate family and

769
00:49:22,680 --> 00:49:25,520
Speaker 1: and and and building up community, you know what I mean.

770
00:49:25,600 --> 00:49:29,360
Speaker 1: And that's just my personal little two sense belief. Right,

771
00:49:29,440 --> 00:49:31,640
Speaker 1: if we don't toss, if we don't toss these things,

772
00:49:32,120 --> 00:49:35,239
Speaker 1: we'll always have some sort of critique. We will have

773
00:49:35,360 --> 00:49:38,120
Speaker 1: a critique, and that that will that will maintain that

774
00:49:38,440 --> 00:49:42,040
Speaker 1: there will be a hierarchy and a and ah, you know,

775
00:49:42,160 --> 00:49:45,719
Speaker 1: monopoly within each of these spaces. Somebody will come up

776
00:49:45,800 --> 00:49:48,640
Speaker 1: on it. It just is what it is. I am

777
00:49:48,760 --> 00:49:52,880
Speaker 1: looking to see us bloom and prosper and grow from

778
00:49:52,920 --> 00:49:57,200
Speaker 1: our efforts. And anything that you're pouring into that does

779
00:49:57,320 --> 00:50:06,600
Speaker 1: not blossom is futile. It's dead Earth word word. I'd

780
00:50:06,640 --> 00:50:09,880
Speaker 1: like you to check out how to make a Negro Christian.

781
00:50:10,320 --> 00:50:15,719
Speaker 1: Oh shit, yes, ma'am. Don't get me wrong. You're and

782
00:50:15,960 --> 00:50:18,840
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure that you know some of you are offended,

783
00:50:18,880 --> 00:50:22,840
Speaker 1: and you're probably going to get me wrong. Well that happens.

784
00:50:23,239 --> 00:50:27,560
Speaker 1: I can't do anything about somebody getting me wrong. But

785
00:50:27,719 --> 00:50:30,960
Speaker 1: I do know this that God has been in every

786
00:50:31,120 --> 00:50:35,040
Speaker 1: single instant of my life, every single bit of it.

787
00:50:35,800 --> 00:50:41,120
Speaker 1: He knows me better then I know myself and has

788
00:50:41,320 --> 00:50:47,800
Speaker 1: been a beautiful, beautiful guide and even my foolishness, and

789
00:50:48,000 --> 00:50:53,759
Speaker 1: I am grateful for all of it. How do you

790
00:50:53,920 --> 00:51:00,120
Speaker 1: eat an elephant one by it kind it's produced, or

791
00:51:00,160 --> 00:51:03,800
Speaker 1: eaves back with another resource? Today, Jill brought up the

792
00:51:03,840 --> 00:51:07,160
Speaker 1: book How to Make a Negro Christian by Kamal mckazy

793
00:51:07,200 --> 00:51:10,880
Speaker 1: to Hootie. In eighteen forty two, Thomas Purse published the

794
00:51:10,920 --> 00:51:14,480
Speaker 1: book The Religious Instruction of the Negroes in the United States,

795
00:51:14,920 --> 00:51:20,320
Speaker 1: written by Charles Colclock Jones. Jones owned plantations in Liberty County, Georgia,

796
00:51:20,719 --> 00:51:24,759
Speaker 1: and wasn't enslavor and a Presbyterian minister. He encouraged other

797
00:51:24,880 --> 00:51:28,840
Speaker 1: ministers and enslavers to provide religious instruction to black people.

798
00:51:29,600 --> 00:51:34,160
Speaker 1: In this book, Jones advocated for evangelizing enslaved people, which

799
00:51:34,239 --> 00:51:38,200
Speaker 1: he thought would make them more obedient, intellectual, morally upstanding

800
00:51:38,360 --> 00:51:42,800
Speaker 1: and pliable, Leaving them without Christianity and in ignorance he

801
00:51:42,920 --> 00:51:47,640
Speaker 1: believed would make them susceptible to rebellion. Mcazy to Hootie's

802
00:51:47,640 --> 00:51:50,680
Speaker 1: book How to Make a Negro Christian contains a reprint

803
00:51:50,719 --> 00:51:55,200
Speaker 1: of Jones's works, along with commentary and context around how

804
00:51:55,480 --> 00:51:59,120
Speaker 1: and why Black Americans have come to embrace Christianity on

805
00:51:59,239 --> 00:52:02,360
Speaker 1: such a large scale. The history of black folks in

806
00:52:02,480 --> 00:52:05,680
Speaker 1: Christianity is deep and intricate, but you can start with

807
00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:08,160
Speaker 1: How to Make a Negro Christian. I'll drop a link

808
00:52:08,200 --> 00:52:17,000
Speaker 1: in the episode description and that my children, my sisters,

809
00:52:17,160 --> 00:52:22,880
Speaker 1: my brothers, my friends. That is that. Thank you for

810
00:52:22,960 --> 00:52:27,720
Speaker 1: listening to Jay dot Il, always hoping to spark conversation peace.

811
00:52:30,680 --> 00:52:33,759
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to Jill Scott Presents j dot

812
00:52:33,800 --> 00:52:52,799
Speaker 1: Il the Podcast. This podcast is hosted by Jill Scotty

813
00:52:53,040 --> 00:52:57,359
Speaker 1: st Clair and Age Graden Danceler. It's executive producers are

814
00:52:57,480 --> 00:53:01,040
Speaker 1: Jill Scott, Seawan g and Brian Calhoun. It's produced by

815
00:53:01,120 --> 00:53:04,839
Speaker 1: Las Think Claire and me Eve Steph Coke. The editing

816
00:53:04,960 --> 00:53:08,600
Speaker 1: and sound design for this episode we're done by Taylor Tacoma.

817
00:53:10,560 --> 00:53:13,760
Speaker 1: Hey y'all, y'all, can we pause for one second? One second?

818
00:53:14,000 --> 00:53:22,280
Speaker 1: Hold a couple of years. Hey, hey y'all, you're walking

819
00:53:22,360 --> 00:53:26,799
Speaker 1: too hard on the floor. Sorry, I thought something mouth

820
00:53:26,840 --> 00:53:31,000
Speaker 1: is about to go down I enjoy it every time.

821
00:53:31,120 --> 00:53:35,400
Speaker 1: Now and listen, you know, agea Um. She gott to

822
00:53:35,600 --> 00:53:37,439
Speaker 1: yell at the people that live in there, the people

823
00:53:37,520 --> 00:53:42,120
Speaker 1: she made, and the one she didn't, yelling at them

824
00:53:42,200 --> 00:53:44,560
Speaker 1: every now and then. They told him to shut up.

825
00:53:45,200 --> 00:53:47,360
Speaker 1: They're walking too hard. I don't know what it's like,

826
00:53:47,520 --> 00:53:51,120
Speaker 1: cubment in the heel of their foot. When you figured out,

827
00:53:51,160 --> 00:53:52,760
Speaker 1: let me know what I can tell my upstairs neighbor,

828
00:53:52,800 --> 00:53:56,520
Speaker 1: God Damn. J dot Ill is a production of I

829
00:53:56,880 --> 00:54:01,279
Speaker 1: Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit

830
00:54:01,360 --> 00:54:05,560
Speaker 1: the I heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you

831
00:54:05,719 --> 00:54:15,640
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows. M