Civic Cipher 010122 What are Some Positive Outcomes for Black America From 2021? (Part B)

wait to share them all with you. But first, like we always do at this time, let's discuss how to become a better ally, shall we?

Advancement of Colored People. Granted, it's an old term, but it's an old institution, and they are the largest and most influential civil rights organization in the nation via the work that they do. Advancing political, educational, social, and economic equality for Black people in the United States depends on the generosity of supporters like you, and what you can do to become a better ally is head to NAACP dot org slash donate and you can make a fifteen

dollars donation to continue challenging in justice across America. At present, they're trying to reach a one hundred and fifty thousand dollars goal and your help would be appreciated, So please consider again making that fifteen dollars donation to the NAACP to help bolster the fight against inequality and to protect voting rights, which is very necessary, especially in marginalized communities and communities where they're more susceptible to gerrymandering, and the

value of the individual will vote is diminished. If you believe in becoming a better ally once again, visit na A cp dot org slash donate.

We have it up on our Instagram and it's one of our more viewed videos on our YouTube page and on and on. But it's just a lot of engagement for those who don't know. Zara, Mimi, and Mustani are

all students at Arizona State University. They, Zara especially and I believe Mimi as well, worked with Arizona State to create a multicultural center, a space where they could be protected from a lot of the I'm not a student at ASU anymore, I did go to school there, but you know, they wanted a space where they could share black ideas and have black conversations and not feel that feeling that a lot of times non white folks have in the presence of white people in this country, where

you feel like your things are alien, your things might be ridiculed. You know, they wanted a safe space where they could have black convers stations. Imagine two Spanish speaking people having a conversation in Spanish, their native language, that they have their jokes and you know, their idioms and so forth. You know, when you're having that conversation in front of a non Spanish speaker, you might feel like you're offending that person or otherwise they might take issue

with it or something like that. So this is kind of the idea behind us. Anyway, they worked with the university creates this multicultural center and began using it and it was I think a few days old when some white students entered into the Multicultural Center. There were other white students there, of course, because it's not an exclusive place. It's just a place that kind of fosters culture other than you know, white American culture, you know what I mean.

But these specific white male students came into to the Multicultural Center and they had some inflammatory language affixed to their person in the in the form of their clothes and to their laptop. And I believe one of the things said police lives matter, which in that space is very very much insulting that that phrase police lives matter only exists because the phrase black lives matter exists and didn't exists to challenge that in the legitimacy of it.

And there was some There was a Bass Pro Shops hat, there was a Chick fil a cup. You know, these like sort of dog whistle you know, coded racist things or coded conservative will call them. You know, they might not be racist, but very conservative things. And then one of the other student he had a like an anti Joe Biden shirt. And if that were it, that would have been maybe enough to just stay under the radar.

But they were actually pointing the laptop and kind of doing that mean stare thing and making gestures at the black women in the center to try to entice them to engage. In other words, they went there looking for a fight. This is the story that was told to me that I do believe is true because I do know these women because they've been on the show before they went viral, and after Zara got involved, it got heted. And if you know Zara, you know exactly what I'm

talking about. And if you don't know Zara, get to know her. I promise you need some of that in your life. But she came up like Queen Latifa and set it off, and the video of her engaging these white male students ended up going viral. As I mentioned, and as it turned out, the one of the students, one of the male students, was very connected and they put together a masterful campaign to get all of the girls suspended from school, which meant that Zara would not

get her doctorate that she'd been working on. She's working on her dissertation, and that Mimi, I believe she's also a PhD candidate as well. She wouldn't have been able to complete her degree, and Mustani was going to be kicked out of school as well, and otherwise this kid's parents would stop donating to something like that, right, is

what got back to me. Well, after initially just kind of sweeping it under the rug, the school actually went back and engaged the three women and says, hey, look, we're going to have to have a trial, and if you're found to not be within compliance of your student ethics whatever, we're going to have to get you kicked out of school. So they all had to get lawyers and it became this whole thing. And what I did

was she got the community involved. She came up here and she shared her story and a lot of you, our listeners, really helped to support her. I believe they had like six thousand letters written something like wow on their behalf to make sure that they stayed in the school. And the outcome of that, which is why we're sharing it on our year end episode of positive outcomes, is

that they were allowed to stay in school. The school said we all we want you to do is write a letter of explaining what you did and why you won't do it again. And all three of the girls women, all three of the women said, I'm much older than them. They're in college and you know, so I mean nothing when I say girls, but they are women. All three of them said, now we're not writing that letter and

they're still in school. And I love that, so so yeah, just to I'm happy to be able to share an outcome like that.

our principles. We felt like a show like this was necessary at our old radio station where we worked, and they said the exact words were, I don't want to do a black show and it was a hip hop station, and that felt very hurtful, and especially in a time when it was necessary for us to have conversations. This is necessary for us to communicate and to share information. Where's the next protest? What does defund the police mean? You know? Those sorts of things have what is critical

race theory? Those sorts of things, And so again we applaud to people standing up for their principles. Unfortunately, we were able to stand Zara, Mimi and Mastani and we're very happy with that outcome. Speaking of critical race theory, I will say this that on our best day, we're

neck and neck. But you know, there are a lot of people that oppose the teaching of critical race theory, and they're just really good on the other side at marketing fear and people lap it up to be afraid of telling the truth in school, it seems, and the way they reform it is like, no, they're going to teach your children to hate themselves and be embarrassed about their history. And that has never been what it is

been about. That's not that I'm no more embarrassed of my legacy at having come from slaves, then your children would be embarrassed about learning that they may have come from slave owners. Right, it's a very distant past for all of us, you know, on the schoolyard, we're all friends.

At least that's what it was at all the schools I went through my whole life, and I went to school for nineteen years because I have a master's degree hanging on my wall, and I don't know how long you went to school, but that's long enough to know difference. I went to school in different states, in different cities, I moved around. I got it right. But the fact that this country had to have a conversation about it

I believe that that's a positive outcome. And granted, we don't have fear in our arsenal, or rather, we don't use fear as one of our tools to accomplish what it is that we want as black people. We just don't really move like that. That. That's not to say there haven't been examples of that, you know, But even those examples, I don't believe they were based in fear.

we took to the streets. You know, you can bring up, you know, examples of riots if you will, when the outcomes were just so blasphemously disrespectful that people were just enraged. But even then, we didn't take arms against people right, you talk about the destruction of property. We understand these things are criminal. We didn't take to the streets with

weapons and shoot and kill and and physically fight. And even in the instances where violence occurred, it was as a reaction to, again, the destruction of property and laws being broken. I'm not going to, you know, pretend that everything was done in a way that was vanilla and civil and benign. But there's I think there has always been this fear or this expectation that one day we'd rise up and try to burn this thing down. And

that's just not our goal. We literally just want to exist and prosper and thrive in the way that this country has promised us. We should be able to, that's all. And being denied that at every turn for what feels like a thousand years is exhausting. Sure, sure, absolutely, But at some point our history and our record shouldn't matter. Yeah. We have been on the receiving side of the beatdowns for the entirety of the country's history.

will specifically cause children hunh who don't even have concepts gelled in their mind yet kindergarteners are going to learn to hate themselves because of something that happened a billion years old.

he said it, you know, obviously he's smart. I mean, it's a male thing too, and I'm not going to say that we don't have those type of tendencies because we're men as well, but you know, we appreciate it. But we have this show so that we can tell our own stories. We can we can speak our own truth, and that we can decide what path we're going to use to go forward. And you listening to our voices.

We like to count you as allies, and we hope that our Black conversation in your presence helps to give you a glimpse into what life is like beyond your capacity to just imagine. And so very grateful for Bill Mahr. But you know there's something, there's a point when you just can't do anymore and you have to let those who at least feel like they know better, you know, or have lived that life, you know, be self determined. And so here we are. It's going to be a

weird transition here. But but one of the positive things that we can look back on this year is, you know, this year, we a lot of our Asian brothers and sisters really had to and are still having to deal with some very heavy stuff. You know, these these attacks and these seemingly unprovoked random attacks on their bodies. People losing their lives, Elderly Asian people losing their lives. It's

been very hurtful and disgusting to see. And I will admit that we see black people commit crimes against Asian people. We do see that, and we condemn that the same way we condemn anything else that is awful. And we would never that's just not who we are as people. And to that end, we've invited folks up on the show to have conversations about them. You know, real quick, we want to give a shout out to uh Lisa's son who came up on the show a couple of times.

never get that word right, enacted to protect them specifically. Granted, we all wanted it, you know, and we're not going to back up off of that, but to know that there was something that was written down formally by this country to protect them and to protect their liberty and their well being, that feels special, and that feels like an accomplishment that we as a country have been able to celebrate in this past year, and so wanted to

take a moment to mention that as well. You know, we talked a lot about the voting rights initiatives, the John C. Lewis Voting Rights Bill, I'll call it. I don't know the exact name, but it was something like that Lewis right, that passed the House, I think it's they're still working on getting it through the Senate or something like that. But as we mentioned earlier, you know, there's a lot of folks really helping the campaign that

especially the NAACP. Once again, if you would like to make a donation toward that end, visit in DOUAACP dot org slash donate and you can do just that. But very proud of all of us working together to try to protect our right to vote and to not let it be taken away from us based on based on falsehoods by one person whose pride couldn't suffer, you know, the loss of an election whose whole empire is built on him being a quote unquote winner and people support

him based on that. So you know, obviously there's there's a lot of weird stuff at play there, but you know, again, voting rights, we look at that as something that we

came together and celebrated. The twenty twenty census results came back in twenty twenty one, and we were able to discuss that and able to have some meaningful conversations about the population shifting and what it must feel like to be a white person and a time when you know the world is changing around you and being able to empathize and maybe understand some of the frustrations on the right and folks that feel like they're losing their place

in the world, and hopefully provide some comfort. Like you mentioned earlier that hey, we're all on the same team. You know, we don't want revenge, you know, that sort of thing. And we were able to talk about cancel culture as well a couple of times on the show and how it is necessary, but how it can also be too much. So those are some of the things that we're very happy that we've been able to talk

about on this show. And of course, above all us, we're very happy that you've tuned in and you've helped the show grow by donating, by sharing content, by whatever it is that you've done. You are kind of the battery in our backs.

Belle Hooks, who passed away in December. And you know, a title of one of her books that came out in the eighties borrowed a line from Sojourner Truth, and Q mentioned that we should dedicated Way Black History Fact to her, and that's what we will do right now. So allow me to read a former slave. Sojourner Truth became an outspoken advocate for abolition, temperance, and civil and women's rights in the nineteenth century. Her Civil War work earned her an invitation to meet in Abraham Lincoln in

eighteen sixty four. Truth was born Isabella Bamfrie, a slave in Dutch speaking Ulster County, New York. In seventeen ninety seven, she was bought and sold four times and subjected to Harsh's physical labor and violent punishments. In her teens, she was united with another slave, with whom she had five children, beginning in eighteen fifteen. In eighteen twenty seven, a year before New York's law freeing slaves was to take effect, Truth ran away with her infant Sophia to a nearby

abolitionist family, the Van Wagner's. The family bought her freedom for twenty dollars and helped Truth successfully sue for the return of her five year old son, Peter, who was illegally sold into slavery in Alabama. Truth moved to New York City in eighteen twenty eight, where she worked for a local minister. By the early eighteen thirties, she participated in the religious revivals that were swooping the state and

became a charismatic speaker. In eighteen forty three, she declared that the spirit called her to preach the truth, renaming herself sojournal Truth as an itinerant preacher Truth met abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglas. Garrison's anti slavery organization encouraged Truth to give speeches about the evils of slavery.

She never learned to read or write. In eighteen fifty, she dictated what would become her autobiography, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth, to Olive Gilbert, who assisted in its publication. Truth survived on sales of the book, which also brought

her national recognition. She met women's rights advocates including Elizabeth Katie Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, as well as temperance advocates, both causes she quickly championed Almost Done Hang with me An eighteen fifty one, Truth began a lecture tour that included a woman's rights conference in Akron, Ohio, where she delivered her famous Ain't I a Woman's Speech? And that's where Belle Hooks got the title from a book teach.

In it, she challenged prevailing notions of racial and gender inferiority and inequality by reminding listeners of her combined strength, Truth was nearly six feet tall and female status. Truth ultimately split with Douglas, who believed suffrage for formally enslaved men should come before women's suffrage. She thought both should occur simultaneously. During the eighteen fifties, Truce settled in Battle Creek, Michigan, where three of her daughters lived. She continued speaking nationally

and helped the slaves escape freedom. When the Civil War started, Truth urged young men to join the Union cause and organized supplies for black troops. After the war, she was honored with an invitation to the White House and became involved with the Freedmen's Bureau, helping freed slaves find jobs, build and build new lives. While in Washington, d she she lobbied against segregation, and in the mid eighteen sixties, when a streetcar conductor tried to violently block her from writing,

she ensured his arrest and won her subsequent case. In late eighteen sixties, she collected thousands of signatures on a petition to provide former slaves with land, though Congress never took action. Nearly blind and death toward the end of her life, Truth spent her final years in Michigan.

to love. Part of that comes from me being nurtured by a powerful woman, doctor Westernberg, doctor Camilla Westernberg, who's again a frequent contributor to the show here and also my teacher when I was in college, who took the time to really help me. I was in a really difficult time in my life and she took the time to help me, and she put me in front of all these books and she taught me all these names.

And eventually we're going to talk about Angela Davis because she's the one in my mind, she's the one that really got me. But it does feel like if it's an honor to be able to share this on the way Black History fact, and it does feel like absolutely we can be doing more, And if she were sitting here right here with us, I'm sure she would want us to do more then, you know, talk an hour a week, which we do. But you know, when the story of our life is told, hopefully our contribution will

be more than what we've done. It might never be as much as what she's done, but you know, everybody needs heroes, and we're glad that we have her as ours. And maybe, just maybe we might be some heroes to some folks that come after us. But there there's a tremendous amount of humility and honor that comes in to be able to you know, bring stories like this back up and make them live one more time on this

radio show. And I think, above all else, it really matters that you take the time to listen to us, whether this be your first time listening, or you listen every week, whether you download the show, whether you on YouTube or whatever it is, however you consume this, it really does matter. It really it feels very special, not just to the programmers but to the actual listeners. We can't thank you enough for another year and for another opportunity to share time and space and ideas with you.

Our brothers and our sisters, and with that said, that's going to do it. Thank you for twenty twenty one everyone. Once again, I'm your host rams this job and I go by the name q Ward. Yes, indeed, please hit the website civiccipher dot com. You can go on there and submit any questions that you would like us to answer. Of course, you can submit topics for us to discuss. The show is growing largely because you've donated money. Money does help the show grow and it will continue to

grow with your donations. Not only can we donate to the NAAC three, you can donate to Civic Cypher on our website civiccycer dot com. Plea sure, be sure to follow our social media. It's all at civic Cypher and download this in any previous episodes that you're going to check out and until next week y'all pa ma.