WEBVTT - Devils Among Us 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:14.720 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to woke f Daily with 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:19.040 Meet your Girl Danielle Moody recording from the Brooklyn Bunker. Folks, 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:24.760 it has been another long, trying week in America, and 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:27.639 I just want us to just take a collective deep 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:35.120 breath in and exhale it out. I have been meditating 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:40.720 so much over the past couple of weeks, and you know, 0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:43.920 for me, you can never meditate, you can never sit quiet, 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:49.200 you can never breathe enough. And I have found once 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:56.400 again myself in this space of swirling where the news 0:00:56.520 --> 0:01:00.720 is just coming at me so fast that I feel 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:04.640 like a turnstile. And in those moments, in those times, 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:08.240 I find that it is really important for me to 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:13.400 be able to take to bookend my day, to start 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:18.720 and finish my day with meditation. Whether it's a minute 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:22.920 that I have to give or twenty, but it is 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:28.320 really important because I have found in this new meditation 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:33.400 practice that while we breathe every single day, and it's 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:36.160 something that we don't think about. If you're not on 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:40.200 a ventilator, for instance, then you're not thinking about your 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:44.440 breath in and breath out. And that has us in 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:52.520 a lot of ways focusing on everything else right that 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:55.560 is coming in. And what I notice is that when 0:01:55.600 --> 0:01:58.480 I can pause, when I have the ability to pause, 0:01:58.560 --> 0:02:01.120 and I think that we should make conscious efforts to 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:07.000 pause every day. That doing breath counts in counting up 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:12.520 to four right exhaling out the same amount for deep 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:15.320 exhale out, and you do that three times in a row, 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:21.080 it really does level set you. It really does actually 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:24.200 allow for your quartisown level to come down, and for 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:28.680 your shoulders to come down, for your eyebrows to come down, 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:34.520 for your body to relax. And what I'm finding is 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:39.680 that each and every day, spending time in Twitter, spending 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:43.679 time watching cable news, reading all of the articles, all 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:46.880 of the terrible things that Republicans are saying, and action 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:50.200 that they are taking, and the inaction from Democrats has 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:54.280 me in these moments where I am literally holding my breath. 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:58.040 I can feel the tension building in my body. So 0:02:58.080 --> 0:03:02.760 I start out today saying that I want us all 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:06.919 in woke af nation to start being a bit more 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:11.519 intentional about the breadths that we are taking. And when 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:17.680 you find yourself getting tense, getting rigid, feeling tight, I 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:20.520 want you to set a timer on your phone for 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:26.880 sixty seconds and just focus on breathing in deeply and 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:32.280 breathing out deeply for sixty seconds. We can all spare 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:36.120 that sixty seconds at the beginning of our day, in 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:38.160 the middle of our day, and at the end of 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:41.080 the day, and then build upon that. And I just 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:45.080 want you all, and I offered that because again, I'm 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:49.160 finding myself back in a place of stress and rigidity, 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:53.040 and I'm trying desperately to fight against that. So I 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:56.560 want to offer that to everyone. Set your timer on 0:03:56.600 --> 0:04:00.920 your phone, sixty seconds. If you can get into a 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:05.560 quiet space, great, If you can't, put in your ear buds, 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:09.960 put on some classical music, some tonal music, just some 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:15.120 ocean sounds, anything anything to block out whatever noise may 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:18.400 be around you. And take that sixty seconds three times 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:22.719 a day, and I promise you you will begin to 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:27.280 feel the difference. All right, So let's jump into the 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:32.159 news of the day once again. Republicans are saying all 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:35.480 of the quiet things out loud. They are making it 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:39.479 clear who they are attacking and why. And while the 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:42.600 media would love for you to believe that you don't 0:04:42.600 --> 0:04:45.200 know what's in people's heart, and we don't know what 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:48.680 any of these bills mean. So let's all fame fucking ignorance, 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:53.640 as if we have no idea why conservative, right wing 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:58.320 radical Christians would be attacking LGBTQ youth in over thirty 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:05.120 states right with their legislation to essentially ostracize transgender and 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:08.800 gender non binary youth from being able to participate in sports. 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:13.400 Let's pretend that we don't understand why Ronda Santis would 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:17.320 roll out legislation that would have you go back into 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:20.479 a version of America where we can't even utter the 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:25.760 word gay or LGBTQ or queer. Joining me today in 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:30.160 conversation will be the new executive director of Glisten, an 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:32.680 organization that has been near and dear to my heart 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:36.840 for a very long time. Began in the nineteen nineties 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:40.159 by a group of teachers to help create more equity 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:45.919 and safety and community in the classroom for LGBTQ youth, 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:51.440 and I have worked with them over the course of 0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:57.160 probably ten twelve years when I was working in LGBTQ 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:04.760 policy specifically, and you know, wanting to bring to light, 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:08.640 really to the mainstream why I had gotten into this work, 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:15.400 how vulnerable this population is, and what's sad is that 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:19.440 I hadn't really checked the metrics, right, the numbers, the 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:22.919 stats of how things have changed over the course of 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:26.920 the last ten to fifteen years. And what I can say, 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:31.000 what was alarming as I was researching for my interview 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:36.240 with Melanie Willingham Jaggers, who you'll hear from in a 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:39.080 bit and I hope you enjoy the conversation, is that 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:45.800 the numbers haven't changed for LGBTQ youth. They are still 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:52.080 over forty percent of homelessness in youth in the country. 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:58.080 They are still in the high percentages of those youth 0:06:58.200 --> 0:07:05.480 that commits suicide, and they are at high risk for 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:11.920 alcoholism and drug use, right, And those numbers haven't changed. 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:15.400 They really haven't changed over the decades. And I'll start 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:19.640 out my conversation, you know, with Melanie in talking about 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:24.240 how I can recall at the beginning the end of 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:28.080 the Bush year as the beginning of the Obama years, 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:34.160 when when excuse me, the it Gets Better campaign was 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:40.160 launched and why was it launched because of the rash 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:45.720 of suicides that were happening of LGBTQ youth in the country, 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:47.760 and they were making headlines because it was like one 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:52.320 after the other after the other and the Obama administration 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:55.720 did a lot. They did a lot during that time 0:07:55.920 --> 0:08:00.840 to hold schools accountable for how they were creating community 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:06.040 and safe environments for LGBTQ youth, particularly trans youth, and 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:09.760 their ability to use the bathroom that associates with associates 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:16.040 with their gender identity. And to think that I was 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:20.360 so excited to be one of the many people that 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:24.280 were on the front lines for those fights that we 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:31.800 had won, and then to now witness the deep backsliding 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:35.319 that is happening right now in such a short span 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:38.920 of time. And I've said this before. We know that, 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:43.360 you know, progress is not linear. It does not you know, 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:48.640 have one range of trajectory which is just forward. Unfortunately, 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:53.440 for every advance that we ever make in society, we 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:57.160 take about eighty six steps backwards. And that is the 0:08:57.240 --> 0:09:02.559 unfortunate case in America. And what troubles me now though, 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:07.079 is that while we went while we may have created 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:11.520 bright spots for LGBTQ youth and youth you know, in 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:14.520 general in this country. I got to tell you, I 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:18.560 wouldn't want to be a tween or a teenager right now. 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:22.600 I actually wake up and I'm pretty happy that I'm 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:28.160 the old age that I am because to have no 0:09:28.440 --> 0:09:35.079 voice and say in the horrible direction that this country 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:38.760 is headed in and just essentially be along for the 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:43.200 ride until you turn eighteen, and then even then you're 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:49.600 not really considered. Your feelings and your thoughts on issues 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:52.360 of the day light, climate change, light gun control, the 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:55.679 things that you're going to take on as your fight, 0:09:56.320 --> 0:10:00.320 you're not even taken seriously. So it's it's a different tical, 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:04.080 I think, place to be in to be youth right 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:09.120 now and to essentially be silenced by virtue of your 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:13.760 inability to vote. But what we are seeing with this 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:18.120 new I guess renewed it's not even new, but a 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:23.720 renewed attack on LGBT youth is that we can't take 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:31.320 our eyes off of our kids because the radical right 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:37.840 uses them like a fucking piniata right, Like, you know, 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:43.000 for a fucking group that says that they are for 0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:47.520 family and for Jesus and for Christianity, they sure act 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:51.840 like some outright motherfucking devils. So let me just say 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:56.360 that fucking clear. And I'm really tired too of us 0:10:56.520 --> 0:11:01.439 using language like conservative as if to say that believing 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:07.080 injustice and equity is something that is left leaning and 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:12.280 so outside of the field of imagination. Right, They're not conservative, 0:11:12.480 --> 0:11:15.960 they are not God fearing. Right, they are actually evil 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:19.480 individuals who could give a fuck about kids. What they 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:23.679 want is assimilation. What they want is for queer people 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:27.040 to feel shamed and to be ashamed of themselves so 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:30.440 much that you would never dare utter the word gay 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:35.320 or queer, or trance or non binary. Right, it's disgusting, 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:38.360 and I want us to be honest and call it 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:43.560 out for what it is. This isn't religious freedom, it's bigotry. Right. 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:47.160 You don't get to use your Bible to dictate to 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:51.080 others how they should fucking live. You know, we are 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:56.920 a country that is filled with lies about separation between 0:11:57.000 --> 0:11:59.360 church and state. There is none. Have you ever seen 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:03.400 a president sign off from conversation with the American people 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:06.480 and not say God bless you and God bless troops. 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:09.760 If in fact we did actually have real separation, then 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:13.640 that wouldn't be your sign off, right, be good luck, 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:17.880 you know, My thoughts are with you, high vibrations to all, 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:20.080 whatever the fuck it is. But the fact that we 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:24.400 tie God into everything in this country then allows for 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:27.680 these bigots to have a leg to stand on when 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:31.640 they don't when they should not. Right, And this again 0:12:31.720 --> 0:12:34.839 the lie that the right is spreading right now with 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:39.120 regard to quote unquote parental control is just another euphemism 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:45.440 for bigotry and discrimination, but now allowing those bigoted parents 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:48.040 to be able to sue. If you don't want your 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:52.600 kids participating in the expansion of their minds right into 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:56.000 the freedoms and liberty of what it means to learn 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:58.760 and become a global citizen, then maybe you should fucking 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:01.560 pull them out and they should be homeschooled. But I 0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:05.520 know that not one parent should be able to dictate 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:08.520 what it is that their kids learn or don't learn, 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:13.280 right like, unless it is violent, unless it is dangerous. 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:17.160 Where's the problem here? I thought that I think that 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:22.520 we have lost our understanding of what the function of 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:27.160 public school and schooling in general, regardless of what manifestation 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:29.960 it comes in, what the purpose of it is. It 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:33.840 is not a babysitting system for your kids. It is 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:37.840 not a factory that you put them on the line 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:40.000 and you know, you stamp them and give them the 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:44.319 good housekeeping stamp that okay, you've gotten a diploma. It 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:48.120 is to create critical thinkers. It is to create change makers, 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:51.120 people that are curious about the world around them and 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:55.000 then feel empowered to do something about it, right like, 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.560 And that's the thing that is lacking so deeply in 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:02.560 the United States right now, which is a curiosity. There 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:05.439 is such a regression in the way that we are 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:10.160 thinking and examining ourselves and our culture and our society 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:14.240 that it is evident that these rapid Republicans do not 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:16.839 want you to think critically. They don't want you to 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:20.640 think at all. They want you to assimilate and shut 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:24.840 the fuck up. And you know, in my conversation with Melanie, 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:29.760 they will talk about how, you know, just the mere 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:33.560 presence of queer people, of queer people of color, of 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:38.000 people that you know live at the intersections of multiple identities, 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:44.720 how we are a direct affront right to their design 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:49.040 and their ideals of what America should be. Right. And 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:51.560 I think that that is important, right And that is 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:54.120 why I say to stand firm in who you are, 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:57.280 but to also take respite at times, because the battering 0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:01.560 ram that is American culture in society right now is 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:04.720 a fucking lot. And so in this conversation that I 0:15:04.760 --> 0:15:07.360 have coming up next with Melanie, we will talk about 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:11.240 how youth are feeling in these times. And if you 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:14.240 have kids, or you are a teacher, or an administrator 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:18.280 or a caretaker, please do comment in the comment section 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:21.080 and let me know what are some of the conversations 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:25.560 you are having with you with your own children or 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:30.920 children that you take care of or love. I would 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:35.200 love to hear how they are feeling about the climate 0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:38.840 that they are living in and if there is a nervousness, 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:41.920 if there is an anger, if there is a frustration 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:45.800 that is there. So coming up next, friends, on this 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:49.680 Good Friday, is my conversation with the new executive director 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:57.920 of Glisten, Melanie Willingham Jaggers. Folks, I am very excited 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:01.120 to welcome to Okay f Daily were the very first 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:07.560 time on their inaugural week of becoming the new head 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:14.760 executive director of Glisten, Melanie Willingham Jaggers the first black person, 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:19.800 first non binary person to run Glisten, an organization that 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:22.640 was founded by a group of teachers back in the 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:29.720 nineteen nineties to really help LGBTQ youth be able to 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:35.240 feel pride in themselves and in their community going to 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:37.440 school in k through twelve and kind of building out 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:43.320 curriculum that is inclusive and equitable. So Melanie, first, congratulations 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:47.560 on your appointment and your new position. I know that 0:16:47.600 --> 0:16:51.680 you joined Glisten back in twenty nineteen. How are you feeling? 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:56.800 Thank you so much. I'm feeling great. It is I've 0:16:56.800 --> 0:16:59.040 been at Glistened since twenty nineteen, so it feels good 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:01.200 not to be the new guy, but I absolutely feel 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:03.000 like the new guy. I woke up this more. I'm like, 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:05.480 oh wow, the world knows I'm an executive director. Let's 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:07.960 go have a great day. So I'm feeling good. Thanks 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:11.600 for having me on. So you know you're coming on 0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:16.280 at a really I don't know how to describe it. 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:19.639 You know, some would say terrifying, some would say awful, 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:22.480 some would say apocalyptic. I say all of those things 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:27.240 time in our culture. What does it mean to you? First, 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:31.719 before we delve into LGBTQ youth and people in general 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:36.400 being placed back in the crosshairs of conservatives, what does 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:39.440 it mean to you to be the first black person 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:43.040 appointed to this role? And how and how, if any way, 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:49.000 does that affect your perception, positioning, and vision for where 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:54.600 we go with this organization. Yeah, absolutely well. Absolutely, My 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:57.320 identity informs kind of how I enter spaces and how 0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:00.640 I move through them. So I feel really lucky, fortunate. 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:02.879 I know all the hard work that has gone into 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:05.600 preparing Glisten for a leader like me, and the work 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:08.680 that I've done at Glisten since twenty nineteen. And here's 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:11.560 what I would say, is that you know, at the 0:18:11.560 --> 0:18:14.040 heart of what I bring and at the heart of 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:16.719 what I believe and why I'm at Glisten is that 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:21.760 education is fundamentally capable of being a liberating experience. Right. 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:25.119 We are literally able to go in put young people 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:28.440 at five years old into a system, take them through education, 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:32.680 and have them come out more whole at eighteen, more 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:34.960 connected to the people around them or connected to the 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:38.000 world around them, and ready to engage powerfully in a 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:41.640 multiracial democracy. That's the purpose of education, right. What does 0:18:41.640 --> 0:18:45.000 it mean to to fully educate people in order for 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:49.600 them to participate knowingly, wisely in a democracy. That's why 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:53.360 education is important. The other piece is that education has 0:18:53.400 --> 0:18:55.760 to be a liberated space, right. It has to be 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:59.040 free from harm, but also full of what each learner 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:01.840 needs in order to be successful. The moment that they 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:04.760 walk into or move into that school, in that school 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:07.440 building and are as a part of that school community. 0:19:07.480 --> 0:19:10.520 So that's the that's the purpose, right, school should be 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:13.720 liberated and liberating. And we know that the future of 0:19:13.720 --> 0:19:16.879 our democracy, the future of our country, the future of 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:20.800 the world, you know, us collectively depends on us all 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:25.040 being educated and us having access to education. So to me, 0:19:25.320 --> 0:19:28.280 it is not at all surprising, right that conservative forces, 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:31.760 anti democratic forces, people who are who have always been 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:35.200 interested in controlling and destroying people who look like us, 0:19:35.359 --> 0:19:37.639 people who could not be controlled to the extent that 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:40.680 we can't be commodified and generate and generate money for them. 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:44.520 Of course it does. It fits completely into the existing 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:48.560 frame of banning books of you know, don't say gana 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:52.360 classroom of parents have the right to to tell an 0:19:52.480 --> 0:19:55.320 education system what their child should and should not learn, 0:19:55.600 --> 0:19:58.719 versus being fully educated to be It's all part of 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:02.679 a coordinate an attack right by extremists who are deeply 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:07.760 anti democratic UM and deeply anti UM, anti lgbt Q 0:20:07.920 --> 0:20:13.560 plus right because fundamentally, because queerness disrupts this idea and 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:18.040 the lie right of white supremacy, it disrupts and UM 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:22.720 and uncovers the falsehood of the gender binary. UM. It makes, 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:26.159 it shows, it makes a mockery of UM. It shows 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:31.080 the beautiful diversity that exists in the world. UM and 0:20:31.080 --> 0:20:33.520 it and it takes away, it ships away the lie 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:35.800 of you can of only one thing is right, and 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:38.440 it really lets all of us be exactly who we are. 0:20:39.359 --> 0:20:43.240 You know, you said so many, so many important things, 0:20:43.280 --> 0:20:47.160 And I want to circle back to the top where 0:20:47.200 --> 0:20:51.440 you talked about education and our schooling system being of 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:55.560 free and liberated space, because that is the complete and 0:20:55.640 --> 0:21:00.280 total opposite right of how our public education system has 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:04.439 actually functioned. It's the reason why we've had charter schools, 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:08.480 in private schools, Catholic schools and the like to make 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:13.840 sure to ensure actually a very narrowed curriculum, right, and 0:21:13.920 --> 0:21:16.919 the points in that you connect with regard to how 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:21.240 our society develops. I have often said as a former 0:21:21.359 --> 0:21:25.399 educator myself, I taught elementary school, first and second grade, 0:21:25.640 --> 0:21:30.800 and I can say that one of the biggest proponents 0:21:30.920 --> 0:21:34.679 of white supremacy and patriarchy is in fact the public 0:21:34.800 --> 0:21:38.840 education system. Because there are black and brown people in 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:41.719 low income people who don't have the ability to just 0:21:41.800 --> 0:21:45.560 pick up and put their children any place that they want, right, 0:21:45.760 --> 0:21:49.840 so they are then beholden to a system that decides 0:21:49.920 --> 0:21:51.919 what it is they should and shouldn't learn, how they 0:21:51.960 --> 0:21:55.920 should feel themselves valued or devalued in the eyes of 0:21:55.960 --> 0:21:58.200 what is in the text that is in front of them. 0:21:58.680 --> 0:22:02.600 And so, with those things being true, how do you 0:22:02.680 --> 0:22:09.440 think that we go about creating a conversation that is 0:22:09.760 --> 0:22:15.920 showing the blatant differences in how conservatives or and I 0:22:16.000 --> 0:22:18.760 don't even like to call them conservatives, how right wing 0:22:18.880 --> 0:22:25.440 radicals see public education versus how we need to combat 0:22:25.480 --> 0:22:31.880 that message and explain, right, two parents, two caregivers, what 0:22:31.960 --> 0:22:35.880 a public education, what a free and liberated public education 0:22:36.240 --> 0:22:39.560 actually should be and look like, and how it connects 0:22:39.560 --> 0:22:43.720 back to our society. Yeah, there's so much in there. 0:22:44.440 --> 0:22:46.639 I would start off by saying, you know, this is 0:22:47.359 --> 0:22:51.040 you know, it is the vision I've set, the vision 0:22:51.040 --> 0:22:53.480 that we hold that we're working toward. A glisten is 0:22:53.600 --> 0:22:56.880 very far away because it's transformative, right, because we see 0:22:56.920 --> 0:23:00.320 a system that is broken, that is not serving any 0:23:00.359 --> 0:23:02.720 young person fully to the to the extent that it 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:04.800 that it needs to. And I think that this is 0:23:04.800 --> 0:23:08.520 around education completely and totally right, not just public schools, 0:23:08.760 --> 0:23:12.119 then differentiating them from charters or private or religious and 0:23:12.119 --> 0:23:15.560 parochial schools, but really thinking about what is the job 0:23:15.600 --> 0:23:18.840 of education and a multiracial democracy, what does it need 0:23:18.880 --> 0:23:21.600 to um, what does it need to achieve? And building 0:23:21.720 --> 0:23:25.440 from there, right, that's the that's really the vision. And 0:23:25.480 --> 0:23:27.320 again you said so much, so please pull out the 0:23:27.600 --> 0:23:29.720 question if there's a specific question you want me to answer, 0:23:29.760 --> 0:23:31.600 but I would just say that, you know, the work 0:23:31.640 --> 0:23:35.840 of transformation is really around centering this education at the 0:23:36.000 --> 0:23:38.280 at the heart of our democratic project, right at the 0:23:38.280 --> 0:23:40.960 heart of our civil of our civic and civil participation. 0:23:41.440 --> 0:23:44.680 And of course again, of course the folks who are 0:23:44.680 --> 0:23:48.240 only able to stay in power given a small given 0:23:48.240 --> 0:23:52.280 a small voting block, given a small giving predicated on 0:23:52.640 --> 0:23:55.040 the more people you can exclude from voting, of course, 0:23:55.040 --> 0:23:57.359 they are going to have a very different idea than 0:23:57.440 --> 0:24:00.320 you and me of what of what an education said 0:24:00.840 --> 0:24:03.960 should accomplish. And frankly, their vision for what education should 0:24:03.960 --> 0:24:06.360 accomplish is winning right now, right, it's on the march. 0:24:06.440 --> 0:24:08.560 Oh yes, oh, this is what we you know, we're 0:24:08.560 --> 0:24:10.440 seeing these don't say gay bills, or we're seeing these 0:24:10.440 --> 0:24:12.959 no promo homo laws or we're seeing, you know, banning 0:24:13.000 --> 0:24:17.639 of books that reflect gender expansive young people as central 0:24:17.720 --> 0:24:21.080 characters being called in decent It's like, well, actually, this 0:24:21.160 --> 0:24:23.560 is the this is their vision for what their world, 0:24:23.600 --> 0:24:25.399 for what their democracy will look like, and we have 0:24:25.440 --> 0:24:27.960 a different vision, and that's what we're fighting for. I'm 0:24:28.000 --> 0:24:30.840 pretty sure that is not what democracy looks like. It's 0:24:30.880 --> 0:24:34.679 pretty much what you know, dashism and authoritarianism looks like 0:24:34.760 --> 0:24:37.280 when you know, you go into the library and there 0:24:37.280 --> 0:24:40.680 are a whole sections that no longer hold any books. Um. 0:24:41.280 --> 0:24:44.080 So I mean that that literally, that's the reality that 0:24:44.320 --> 0:24:46.840 that we're marching into. And you know what I was 0:24:46.880 --> 0:24:53.639 looking through, um the your your announcement. And I'm looking 0:24:53.680 --> 0:24:56.840 back and I've been thinking on the show back to 0:24:57.040 --> 0:25:01.920 the early two thousands when in the headlines were the 0:25:02.080 --> 0:25:07.600 rash of suicides by lgbtqu This is at the beginning 0:25:07.760 --> 0:25:10.159 of the end of the Bush years, beginning of the 0:25:10.200 --> 0:25:13.480 Obama years, where it was almost like four a month, 0:25:14.400 --> 0:25:18.119 every single week there at least two or three. And 0:25:18.160 --> 0:25:20.840 for every two or three major headlines, of course, there 0:25:20.840 --> 0:25:23.440 were many that we never know of young people as 0:25:23.520 --> 0:25:28.360 young as five six years old committing suicide, right because 0:25:28.400 --> 0:25:31.720 of bullying. Then all of a sudden, bullying right and 0:25:31.840 --> 0:25:37.480 anti lgbt sentiments became a focal point for the administration. 0:25:37.600 --> 0:25:41.520 What are we doing to ensure a safe learning environment 0:25:41.560 --> 0:25:46.120 for all children? Is it crazy to you that at 0:25:46.119 --> 0:25:49.520 the beginning of this new century we were in this 0:25:49.600 --> 0:25:52.800 place where it was about expansion and now here we 0:25:52.840 --> 0:25:56.000 are twenty twenty two, but twelve some eidy years later, 0:25:56.640 --> 0:25:59.000 and now we're in a place where we're going back 0:25:59.119 --> 0:26:02.680 to don't say, We're going back to donnask, don't tell, 0:26:03.080 --> 0:26:06.040 and we're making our kids that political football. I mean, 0:26:06.320 --> 0:26:10.920 is that shocking to you? Or was it inevitable? Yeah? 0:26:10.960 --> 0:26:12.960 You know, I think a lot of things. Um. I 0:26:13.000 --> 0:26:17.040 was working with LGBTQ plus homeless and runaway youth in 0:26:17.119 --> 0:26:20.840 that time, like two thousand and nine, ten eleven, and um, 0:26:20.840 --> 0:26:22.600 there was a young person who I knew in love 0:26:22.640 --> 0:26:24.240 and was very close to, who was part of the 0:26:24.240 --> 0:26:27.000 program I worked in, who also died by suicide in 0:26:27.040 --> 0:26:31.520 that time, And you know, it's it was heartbreaking, um, 0:26:31.560 --> 0:26:33.959 And it was It really was a was a turning 0:26:33.960 --> 0:26:37.720 point in my work life because I understood for the 0:26:37.760 --> 0:26:40.400 first time both how the little thing I was doing 0:26:40.440 --> 0:26:42.879 as a life skills coordinator in the South Bronx, helping 0:26:42.880 --> 0:26:45.439 people get their you know, documents that their parents had 0:26:45.440 --> 0:26:47.520 destroyed because they were angry that they were gay, getting 0:26:47.520 --> 0:26:50.880 those replaced, getting folks you know, housing, teaching young people 0:26:50.960 --> 0:26:53.240 how to do laundry for the first time, etc. I 0:26:53.320 --> 0:26:56.480