Uprooting the Tree

with you on that for some reasons. One of them is Lias Saint Claire, because she's here with me today too. Oh yeah, just looking at y'all looking at each other's eyes, giving that good sister love. And I'm here. I'm like a listener. I'm here for all that you mean. It's so a part of it, I know. But look good. Yeah, it's it's good to feel good, you know what I'm saying. And it's good to feel good about the things that you're doing, like trying to really grasp a greater understanding,

a bigger picture of what it is that you're doing. Now. I've noticed now, and we all noticed We've seen a lot of people marching, a lot of people making TikTok's um and that's no disrespect to TikTok. That's how I say TikTok um um on the front, you know the TikTok they're they're making posts and um. I think initially like social media was to make people more aware of,

you know, things that were happening. Um. A lot of it's become a lot of like celebrity stuff, which is which is fine too, But I'm also seeing people commenting and showing the kind of interactions that they have with police. And as of late, I've noticed that it's it's white people, black people, Latina people. It's all kinds of people having

really harsh interactions with the police. White people you show yes because according to Ben Craft, and they ain't in the ones that's getting attacked out in these streets, but they are attacked. Now we're going to say this, there's a difference which police. But I'm just saying that there everybody is getting the business. A lot of people are getting the business when it comes to a traffic violation.

Not everybody. It doesn't equal death for everybody, but damn it, right, it does for some the more that we see that it's a problem across the board, the wars, and see that the institution itself, even though it should be enough, it should be enough what they're doing, just you know, us killing us. You know you got a little bit. You shouldn't need it shouldn't need to be universal. Well, unfortunately it does. People to make a stand. And you

know what's crazy. I keep saying their name, but because they've been on TV a lot in the last couple of weeks because of the loss of Tyree, the murder of Tyree. But that's what all the activists are saying, is that exact thing they're like, because white people aren't affecting and murdered the way they are, we're not having any change. And that's the only way until they start looking at us as being them, Uh, we won't have

any change. For me, I think it's probably more like, how how big are we willing to dream about this? What are we willing to sacrifice in order for these things to change? And how big are we willing to dream about what we want to see it be other

than what it is right now? Like? And and what I mean by that if I'm just need to be more specific, is like, are we got to start thinking beyond reform and we also have to start thinking about what are the things that we're willing to lose in the meantime and sacrifice in the meantime for a much larger, more radical change, And asking for what depends on what you're asking for, What I got to sacrifice to, It depends on what. I mean. I'm really not sure. I mean,

I don't know. I mean, that's right, I'm not sure. There's a number of things. I mean, we're talking if we're talking about police violence, right, It's been a very intense conversation around the abolition of police, the abolition of prisons, and this gets to be an interesting topic, particularly when you start talking about activist groups where you got some groups who are primarily made up of black people who have lost family members to gun violence and the gun

violence that did not come from police. So you have that argument of well, what do we do with someone who shot my cousin, or what do we do with somebody who raped somebody or or assaulted someone that I love, And then to have a conversation about our individual interactions with these systems and the systems overall, if we really talk about how people interact with these systems, they are primarily negative, and they are primarily deadly for black people

and negative for all people really and anyone who's poor when we're when we're talking about injustice, I did not mean to slight in any way your knowledge systs at all. I'm saying that when we're talking about injustice, it is a deep a tree with very deep roots and long branches and many charms. My perception of injustice, or even cutting down a tree, is that you trim things branch by branch or when you when you cut it directly wrote that bitch, if you really want, you can do

that as well. You can absolutely do that as well. But when you can do it like that, you're going to have a lot of mess. You're gonna have a lot to clean up. Sacrifice when I'm talking about, you're gonna have a lot to clean up. You'll be cleaning up just as long as you're dealing, as long as you've been chopping down the tree, if not longer, you're gonna clean up way longer when you cut. When you cut injustice, because think about my branch, I hear that's the right way to go, jil. I hear you. I

hear you. I hear you to my core. But I'm telling you, we've been talking reform since reconstruction. It's twenty twenty, motherfucking three. Yeah, but you'll get up murdered in the streets. And that's true. And that's true. However, you do want to get props to when there has been reformed and there have been progress due to people's hard work, blood, sweat and tears, because like, we ain't even getting here to where we are, even though it seems it feels

like it's a fucked up time. I mean, there was a time when ship was even more fucked up and different with others, I think and those folks cut down branches have a have a feeling that when we get to this moment that we think that by talking about the possibility of uprooting, I think we think that that somehow means that there's I'm not trying to say there's no respect for work that has been done in a sense.

We are in a sense. In a sense we are because we're all talking about uprooting the tree right the whole trie we're talking about it. And then obviously there's different ways to uproot it. But to speak specifically about this, I'm going to say that there's a guy name M. Khalil, and Khalil puts poison at the bottom of the tree every Thursday, okay. And there's Um the gardener who comes and grabs some of the leaves and he gets it

all so we can see how many are falling. Now there's somebody else who lops off branches at a time. But we're saying that in any protest or in any involvement of destroying or uprooting injustice, it takes a lot of people moving in a similar direction. Layah was saying, we were talking earlier about how Al Sharpton is at these things. He's always at these things, and most of us are like, what are you dumb job? And lat hit hit us with it, hit us with it? Would

you would you say? Yeah? Well, I said, you know, we had a we had Alice and gustrowing questions Apreme one day and I asked, we talked to him about the things that all of us blacks me thinking like what do you really do? And he was saying, you know, the cameras, he said, people think that I chase the cameras, but you know that if I didn't go, they wouldn't come. So a lot of times families call me because they want attention made to what's going on, to what happened

to their loved ones. And then he acts kind of like as a representative of us, right, he goes there, he loves on them. I don't know if you watch what he did at Tyrese's funeral, but he serves as us. He loves on the family. He makes sure y'all know that I'm here today and I will be here tomorrow.

Like he continues to bring these things up. So he has a purpose, but it may not be with y'all think, and I think that everybody doesn't understand activism in that way, and that it's a formula and a plan in different pieces. Just like you said, this tree, it's a tree, just

like Ben Crump. Ben Crump is a part of this tree, right, and Al Sharpton talked about the fact that Ben Crump is a person who brought out into Trey Vaughn Martin right as a young lawyer, and so this relationship grew, and so now Ben Crump is a man who because we can't get these officers process hute it like they should be because we can't take money out of their pockets. Ben Cropp is going to get money for these families

that have lost their loved ones. That's what he's doing, and you're gonna know what's going on, and that's what they do. So I think that as a community and a family, sometimes we just need to remind ourselves of like we all serve different purposes and the struggle that we're going because we put a lot of weight on a person. Yeah, we put a lot of weight on a single person. While you're just posting who literally has

a single job to do, just one. You know how much easier it is to clean your to clean your room when all your friends help. Everybody's got a job to do, instead of been taking you two hours to clean up because you guys had you know, you've had pillow fights and you've been eating popcorn and whatever else and got soda cans or whatever around. When everybody participates and helps clean up, the room gets cleaned and we're moving on to the next space to do a new thing.

I think that the problem that we're having is that we're putting a lot of pressure on a single being a single person when it really and truly takes all of us, y'all. Some scientists right now is teaching those termites or glaze in this tree and a certain chemical that makes the termites go crazy. It's it's a bunch of people that's just working and you may not know all of them. But when there are leaders, hopefully what

a leader does is delegate authority. Yeah, so you give people jobs to where where their greatest strength is and stay off to social media talking about it. You gotta stay off. Things that are done are typically done in the dark. Not everybody our ship and how we're moving. Okay, okay, I okay, more real talk after the break. But I think there's a misunderstanding. I think in general, the way

that organizing spaces work. I think the kind of general public feels, you know, enthralled by the stories of the charismatic leader and the person who's giving the speeches and delegating the responsibility and things of that nature. I think we do forget somehow what the real kind of you know, work of organizing is always collective, because that's kind of how we as Africans just operate, and we operated that way even when on the outside in the media, it

looked like there was this kind of singular leader. I feel like we have always kind of functioned in this multi tiered, multi ways of attacking an issue way that whether it's in a radical space or quote unquote assimilation in space, whatever, if you're organizing, you're organizing. And I think organizing looks different behind the scenes than it does

to the general public. And I remember watching the movie Selma, and one of the one of the the scenes that I really appreciated was the depiction of those kind of like war room moments during the civil rights leaders where you can see that there is a group strategy going

on here and we're gonna do this. We're gonna go here and do vote a registration, and we're gonna go here, and we're going to march, and we're gonna sit in on this day, and then on this day we're doing this, and these things are happening simultaneously, and this person is going down south to do some research, and this person is doing blah blah blah blah, and that this this doesn't undermine the brilliant minds that are that are involved in this kind of group project, and many of you know.

I remember, you know, when when Oprah first became like a billionaire, you know, and it's just like, well, somebody need to call Oprah. Remember, you know, somebody needs you need to call y'all need to call Oprah airplane. Yes, down here, you know. And not saying that. I not saying that those kind of thing didn't happen, because, um, you know, there were definitely some people known for that type of work. You know, Um was my man, I'm

having a brain for it. He's um so fine, honey an actor day Oh oh, Harry Bella cont Harry, you gotta call a ninety year old? Fine? Yes he is, baby, But if you go back to the old footage, it'll do something. Yes, we said, but you know, I'm horace. I couldn't do this. But what But again, yes, there were people who called in the private planes. You know what I'm saying. There are people at the money. But that is also yet another tier. Yes, that's also another tier,

funding quiet, funding of radical movements. These are all the things. So I don't know. I mean, I agree with Jill and that we can't always tell what's happening, but I also think we aren't. There is quite a bit of organizing happening as we speak, and is not being talked about on Front Street. That is being done in a

very grassroots way. And you know, the thing that touches my heart and talked about it a little earlier, is that with all of this effort and constant and consistent effort, we are dealing with a really monster of us, them and we and and there's the age old kind of conversation as to you know, what is the end result? Is the end result? Because for some people, Jill, they don't actually want to uproot the tree. They want to paint the leaves. You know what I'm saying. They don't

really want to up with the tradition one. They just want to have an area where they can get the shade. They just want that area where they can't get the shade, y'all. I'm just listening to Well, luckily, well not luckily, not luckily at all. Oh, there's a lot of trees in the garden. So it seems to me that you have to find the tree that gets on your nerves the most, find the one that gets on you maybe, you know, it's like trying to how do you eat an elephant? Right?

It's it's it's like because this tree has the you know, makes the biggest mess and has the funk. You know those little stinky things. You remember, those stinky things you stepped on in Philly they fell off the tree. Oh, just because that you know, that tree might get on your nerves a lot. This one over here that is um keeping, keeping North Philly kids mentally enslaved. This thing over here that doesn't supply the kind of books or

environment that is needed. This thing over here, maybe that tree is the one that gets on your nerves the most. Or the fact that you know somebody's trying to mess with with your with your ovarians, you know, on your nerves. I'm saying as a society, somebody else that that gets on their nerves too, as a society, as a people, we gotta find a thing that gets on our nerves and be a portion in the destruction and the uprooting

of that tree. It's just so many things. There's a lot, but if we don't focus on one thing at a time, I mean, it gets crazy. You do have to find your ministry. Amen, come on my home. Cross texts me this morning, and she's just like I think people are not realizing how fast this election is going to get here.

And I said, yeah, and and here do it. I'm starting to get and um, you know, when I think about this kind of massive elephant that we're talking about today, which is really just kind of like that overarching white supremacist capital capitalism, you know, crazy like the way another one, it's like, um, you know, when we think about this, this whole thing, I kind of you know, get back

to the whole idea like small group communications. My sister um started out in college doing HR and marketing and then she moved to like small HR and small group communications, and as like what is that? You know, when I started to understand that kind of mastering the needs of people where they are is really an important conversation. And so it gets into that kind of local government thing.

How are how keyed are you into the needs of your neighbors the p and what kind of aid and what kind of voice are you giving to the spaces that you actually take up? And that not that there aren't huge overarching issues that we have to address, but I'm not sure if all of us are are deeply invested in the small group are we really invested in the ten blocks that we live on now like we should be most of us are. I know, I'm not. Let me just I am not. I want to be.

I've been. I've been thinking out loud. I'm not. And if you are not able to answer the simple question of what is the most important thing to the people who live to your left and right, the people you're actually sharing space with, If you can't answer that question, or if that question is not relevant to you, I about to say, that's just because when you don't care because they don't look like you and they're not you know, if that question is not relevant to you, then it

begins a conversation about how you're going to engage, Like I really you know what I'm saying, because the big thing is a lot to it's a lot to swallow. I was in a spa a week ago and I ended up in the spa with this this this white lady and she's asking me questions and I was like, well, what do you do? Because she's all in my business make up less, but I'm like, well what do you do? She's, Oh,

I'm an environmental scientist. Who's that? She said? Yeah, she said, you know the problem is not she said, the problem is actually not climate change. She said. Climate change is real, she said, but what average person to get wrapped their mind around that. You know, they're gonna vote for the candidate who says they're against it, she said, But you know, a lot of that that's going on is so much

bigger than the experience of the everyday people. Y'all should go on to these meetings and figuring out why they're building buildings and it's that going to affect your groundwater? She was like, that's the environmental stuff that that y'all need to be concerned about. Is what is happening in the ten to twenty blocks around your home, the twenty

blocks around your kids school especially. Yeah, she was, most people have no idea what the developmental plan is for their community, that that's being decided five years before you see a single construction vehicle. Yeah, I got Living in California has made me way more locally aware. It's kind of an interesting advantage because you vote for everything. But you are I totally agree with you, Adrian. You are

so right. My girlfriend was just complaining the other day that the city was coming they were gonna tear up the pipes in the block to refurbish them. And she's like, that means that we're not gonna have water for you know, like maybe two or three days. And we got to stop this and you know, making phone calls and stuff. And I was like, so you you don't want healthy water in your house? Do you want the old pipes that have been around since who knows who um filtering

your water system? You want that? It's it's like, oh, just taking a taking the picture and making it to puzzle pieces, and then everybody grabbing a puzzle piece, finding your partner and coming together to make the bigger picture. We're talking about how to organize in such a way that your your energy towards injustice is effective productive, you know, just for the average person. We only know how to

either romanticize or demonize the activists. Oh, we want the activists to shut up because we don't want them over correcting us. But we want them to show up when shit goes bad. Are we're gonna blame them for why things never change right where he at, why he income or he just says they too sensitive. You know, at the end of the day, the activist, the person who is active, must be you. It is it is us as you and me. At the end of the day,

nobody's coming. There's no calvary. You know what I'm saying, there's no calvary. If you or I have not invested in it, then what so I my same girlfriend who texted me, she was like, what are you thinking about in terms of like your top three things that you types of like legislation that are on your mind, Like what's your top three things that you really need to see changed? Okay? And I had six? Did she say after you give them? Did she say something else? Did

she say give you like, well, she didn't. She didn't. But I think it was an important exercise to think about it, because you're just saying there's a lot of trees in that in that garden, But do we all really think about like what is the most important thing to me? M Like, what is the thing that's like sitting on my spirit? But if you think about it in a legislative way, that that list will get longer and longer. Like you said, she asked you for three,

you gave her six. I think that would happen because you'll be like, well, I want to get paid equal, I want to get paid fairly. Uh. I want to be able to be happy, to have rights over my body, for the police officers not to be able to kill black people, huh anybody. I want for people to be able to get the education, a full education. I'm already

in four like you just you know. But but but again, the discipline of saying what is most important to me, and then kind of moving in the ideas of like or what does it look like for me, What does it look like for me to show up in the space around me to help that to happen? What does that look like for me to in the community where I live, in my own home? Even first, what's my own body? Because so much of the care and the anti racist work that we gotta do is in our

own bodies, you know, taking care of ourselves. You know, I'm saying those are That's that's the where it starts. But then the extension of that goes into your neighborhood and then into your city, into your state, and the into your country. The decompression of it all. That's why I posted that Al Sharpton on that treadmill at five am in the morning, because that is because that is where the work begins. Because in Al Sharpton who dies before his time because of heart disease, which is the

number one killer okay of black people. Yes, yes, you know that. What is that? Then? Then how does that help us to lose a soldier? Yes, but however you feel about them? Yea, you know what I'm saying. So the body, the body is first, and then and then it goes outward. And again, this is a working and moving conversation. I'm not an organize, Okay, I'm just abroad. You need an organizer, somebody who has a big picture, who can who can really and and be all. They're

easy to find, are they. So there's always somebody organizing in your community always, And we got the Google now, so there is always somebody organizing. So that's a step. That's a step running an organizer locally. Okay. Yeah, we're gonna take a quick break and then we'll be right back. Okay, I want to hear my list. My list number one free healthcare to free college. Three fully funded public schooling, for abolition of prisons, police with the investment in community healing,

housing and employment. Five comprehensive recovery plan for the pandemic, and six reparations that's why I live in California because that last one on your list. You know, it's funny. I was talking to a group of DC people the other day and it was like, I mean, y'all ain't

gonna get nothing about that reparations. I said, you know what the point is that my governor started the process, right, and you live in a black city with the bush mayor with okay, and you still being taxed and you're not even without being a state who So I'm gonna need you to leave my governor newsom we over here with the Crown Act. Okay, all right, Okay, I love DC. That's my that's oh yeah, no, no, no, no, all day every day, I don't think every day. You can

check your boob, you can check your book. Yeah yeah. So you find the tree that irks you sold the most in the garden of injustice, and then you find an organizer, okay, or or you become one you or you become one. Hey. Now, so you have a specific reason, um that you don't like this thing whatever that uh injustices um, and you the organizer and yourself, I'm just I'm just throwing shit out here, y'all. Listen, it's organizations, it's people doing work. Always if you want to do work,

I firmly believe it's only about you deciding to do work. Yeah, but it's so much easier to just go to my Instagram and just like repos ahead that I can really just says, I don't know, y'all. Sometimes I feel like we're hard on each other about that. I know I'm us like, oh, y'all just posting and I don't know. I don't know, y'all. I feel like social media my retort is actually to the people who comes out. It has helped. It definitely does. It's a part of it's

another part of that process. I was making a bad joke for the people who actually attack people that in these streets doing these things, you know what I'm saying, Like the ones who ain't in the streets doing these things, and you just posing. That's what I do because I know I'm not in the streets like I should be. Can you ride out? You know what I'm saying, I'm seeing that every little thing. Um, I'm won't say every

little thing, but all the little things add up. If you're trying to, you know, uproot a tree, So you need someone that's going to organize all the things right. And then you have to find specific people who want the same thing. They want this tree up rooted, find specific people to do specific things for the bigger picture. So I would say the organizer would have the biggest picture, I guess, or the organizers I think they always do.

But I think I think they always do. Here's here's the thing I want to keep in mind again, and this is not to confuse further confuse a very you know, complex situation any further, but I do want us to keep this part in mind. All Black people are not the same. All black people don't think the same, and this will show itself up in organizing spaces if you really talk to organizers, which we should have somebody on

here who really does this work. But in organizing spaces, I've heard different people vent about even in spaces that are dedicated to liberation have to be checked, vetted and

rework sometimes, you know what I'm saying. So even in those spaces, to romanticize the organizing spaces is important not to do that because even in those spaces it will not be perfect because we're all dealing with the constant onslide of what these systems do to us, and so there will be people who look at it like this is what we should do, and then you go on

this other side. A good friend of mine and he's been on the show, Josh Meyers posted the other day a letter from Carter G. Woodson, who turn down an opportunity to work with w eb D Boys and yes because some of his work at the time was being heavily funded by white people. Oh yeah, I remember it was like the original b So this is important. This is so important for us that our ancestors didn't always agree. Malcolm and Martin Hello, you know, I mean, but it's

it exists and it's dalid. You know, they didn't always agree be but you know, the attempts, the ongoing strategy, the willingness to grow and evolve. Our leaders evolved in their lives. A twenty five year old w eb D Boys is not an eighty year old e w Ebdu Boys. You can't quote a twenty year old or twenty five year old D Boys and think that you'd have said something without then knowing and understanding his thinking in his

politics fifty years later, which is quite different. Same for Malcolm, same for Martin just shorter lives sounds like a counsel of ethics, and that council of ethics would have to be multi generational. Hum to not overmind the situation, but keep in mind, because you're not easy, we can get off track. Yeah, it's keep in mind the keep in mind the focus of this thing. It's like something else is gonna come up. We're like, you know, people have hdh D. Sorry sorry sorry, probably I probably I gotta

be because you know squirrel. Um, So like oh look, oh there's bird flag? Would you say? You know, I'm I'm very much an artist in that way too. So like, okay, so you need an organizer or organizers, you need someone a council of ethics that could be three people or or you know, I think three is a good number, um,

because it's it keeps it pretty simple, keeps it simple. Um. I think that that all three would have to agree, you know what I mean, Like if we trust them, then all three would have to agree of our whole break race or is this it locally? Each I'm safety each tree, each tree, each issue, each issue, each thing, And that's that's the thing that gets on your soul. If I guess you so much that you want to put your energy into destroying that thing and destroying that

particular that tree right there. Okay, so you need some organizers and you need a council of ethics. I feel like I honestly, I ain't gonna lie to you. I just think the world is I think organizers are like apples on the tree. There's so many people out here doing work. Yeah, they're easy to find, Yeah, they're easy to your point about I'm not saying I'm just saying that, yeah, yeah, I know. I'm not saying that that they don't exist.

I'm saying that if you're listening or within listening ears and it's something that's really troubling your soul about a particular thing, you go and find and be of service, do the thing you might be. You might be the you know, the ant that's that's dropping in you know, poison. I'm just you know, I'm just saying, you know, it takes it takes an army of ants, you know, to to create a colony. You know now that if you get rid of one, it doesn't mean that the train

of ants is gonna stop moving. You know. It's like we've play so much, so much weight on a leader, and the weight is like, you can't have any flaw, laws or faults, you can't be a human. You have to you got you remember and you know you're not. You don't have space. So the whole leader thing is is is not going to work. It is to me, I really feel like it's more of a council, a tribunal of you know, a group of people that don't like this particular injustice and some say we have that.

We are just trying to tell anybody within listening ears who is not found a thing, you know, a found a thing to be a part of it really is community, then find the thing. Come on if you're right. I mean also to like um, what I think like you might be referring to is you remember um. At the height of BLM Black Lives Matter movement, there was a lot of critique around it for not having a centralized leadership and the fact that really what it was at the end of the jay was a rallying cry and

then was forced into becoming an organization. And one of the things that it was in terms of it's it's kind of rushed into that space was saying we're not having centralized leadership. This is about people kind of taking this overall rally and cry in these points and making it happen locally in their own spaces. And but now to do right now we do? It's at least three people who claim to be like along with Patrice Colors, there were the founders, right, but I think they were

the founders. But you know, there's, like I said, they came under fire for not having this kind of you know, centralized leadership. So we do have to work on ourselves. I think one of the things that I found that the process that I go through sometimes is making sure

that I'm not in my own way. You know. Sometimes there's always this feeling like I might be dragging some sort of kind of outdated thinking or some thinking that's blocking me from being a real service to people in the spaces that I want to take up because of

my way of thinking. If I'm a person who feels really you know, invested in that kind of leadership, and it's not there, and it is deeply communal because even we can look at like, you know, I guess our kind of our indigenous brothers and sisters, and how the different kind of Native nations worked. Some of them were were power was spread out amongst people differently. Sometimes leadership had to come through the woman's lineage. So there's lots

of ways to Skinner can't feel. But you know, I just like try to keep mind I'm not dragging anything into the space that's going to keep us from moving forward, just because I'm just really focused on it happen to be a certain kind of way, you know, Like for example, I'm sure there's some spaces that people feel like leadership has to be male or you know what I'm saying. You know, our religious spaces used to be really centralized

for where we would be working on these issues. Yeah, and in some churches and still to this day, women are not allowed to be in leadership. So you find an organization or something that you believe in, but the leadership is not there. You have you, I guess you have a choice. You can continue to follow it and see where it's going. And if if you don't like where it's going, either talk to the people around you,

I suppose, or find something else to do. It's always something, it's always something has something else to do, It's always something else. I'm like I was sitting here looking. I'm like, let me see what the National ash and network got going on on their little things some resources, Like I'm not checking it because I'm not checking it. I'm not checking it daily. No, I'm not checking it daily. I literally this is the first time I've ever been here.

I was like, to your city council meetings, Do y'all go to those? I say, some meetings that become national news. I feel like I definitely need to, But now I haven't gone yet. Yeah, I'm saying I will get into a book and to two point two seconds, but I don't I should go. I'm just trying to get it. We're all we've all got issues and pass and stuff. We all have stuff, and I feel like sometimes the

stuff gets put in front of the forward movement. And I know, like we were talking a lot of people we were talked earlier about assholes now and how at some point you got to realize that you're an asshole. Yeah, and you had that point have a choice to continue being an asshole or you could go to therapy figure out why you are like this because it doesn't serve anything or doesn't serve anyone. For it's greater good. Yeah,

that's that's what I'm talking about. Like when you're following a particular path because you think that that it's going to lead you somewhere. But you've been doing this thing, the same thing for twenty years and nothing is happening, nothing is happening. Then you have an obligation, I would think, to yourself to make a different choice, to go a different path. And we easily like this is just from

my perspective, and I've seen it in myself. I will leave the thing and go to the thing that's just like the last thing. It's been a big deal that I left the thing, but I left the thing for the for the almost damn near the last thing in the same skin. Yeah, you know. But that's why the self awareness piece is important. Like we talked about it at the top of this conversation, like what are you doing to um, like decolonize the self first? You know,

like what are you? What are you doing? You know that that's really important word and sometimes can end up being your singular work. Okay, So let's just sometimes that can be your work. That's hard work for us, and for us it's important because we have a platform. So the moment that we work on decolonizing ourselves and we start talking and using that platform and we're putting that kind of messaging out that makes the work, the self

work that we do that more impactful. Man. Okay, So just imagine you've got a group of people who are thinking along the same lines, trying to get rid of this particular tree, right, a particular one, and then they have people come in for just I'm just saying, like a meeting or something. I don't know what to call the thing, but they have someone come in to talk about decolonizing your mentality, like continuously fueling. So because anybody and everybody can get lost, it's so easy to do

very and essentially they already are lost. So there's a level of education that has to be provided and options provide it because we're all just people, right of course. Yep, I'm listening. I don't know if anybody's taking notes. I'm sorry, I'm feeling this shit. Okay, So you need an organizer of ethics, you know, a different generation of people. I'm just there's many ways to do this thing. I just

I just want and um encourage you. I love that your mind is circle back to solution based thinking you know. And and again, if you're organizing, you're listening to this and you're thinking like, bless bless their hearts. I love it.

I love that because everybody has to start in a space of newness, in that place where it is like if you're moving into a different way of thinking in your mind, you know, and you have access to other people, it is your journey is as important as somebody who may be a little bit further down down the road. You know what I'm saying, because who you are in the circle of people that you're in is that's that's a group of important people will come out of that

group can be life changing, transformative. Even so, you can't don't underestimate where you are in this process, you know what I'm saying. If this is something that you're not if this is something that we're talking about right now, and it's just like, oh, I'm so above this, I'm beyond this. I've already I've been doing this twenty five thirty years. Fool. If you've never thought about it before. Cool.

Everybody is kind of like in a different space in that journey and that's okay, And that the moment that you start thinking about it. The moment you start really working out in your head, you are already changing the room. You're already changing the space, You're already impacting the people around you. I just, I really am a firm believer in that because I'm just you know, I find a lot of liberation and being the dummy in the room. I don't like being the person in the room that

knows the most. I want to be the person in the moom that knows the least because I want to learn something. When I leave, I want to be enlightened. You know what I'm saying, And I mean ultimately, that's why I enjoy talking to you guys, because when I walk away from it, I'm like, yeah, we do that for you girls. Shut up. I'm like you just say I thought she was the one doing it, Okay, No, and you know better and you do it for me,

like yeah, and you know, I know, I know. More conversation after the break, everybody is really gifted and thoughtful about what's happening, you know, around us, and we are formula as well, ladies. So we are formula as well when we talk about you know, activism and how everybody serves a different I feel like, that's us too. We are are voltron, right, It's like voltron basically that's what that's what it takes. It takes ron, it takes kind of so so anybody exactly listening this is this is

just to get you excited. If you've already been active, and you've already been working on changing the system, and you know, maybe you feel tired, maybe you do need to take a break, Maybe you need to need a moment ago and and get in some hot springs and okay, huh and the nature the rest of us need to tap in the yeah, because people are exhausted, Jill, They

really are. I saw an interview with Angela Davis and she talked about they ain't know nothing about no self care as active and during their time has a very new concept. But I'm gonna tell you something something I have really learned by watching just on the outside looking in, watching some of the work around like mutual Aid within the LGBTQ community. It is inspiring because it's a keepist, simple,

stupid thing. You know what I mean. You know what I'm saying, who is in need, who has something to give to who is in need? But more than anything is what are the needs of those who are around you? What are your needs? And what are the needs of those around you who have less? Who have less? Uh, you know, accessibility to things or whatever the case may be. I follow a guy Instagram and literally his entire account is mutual aid requests. I think that's powerful is that

his name is Freedom John. Now, what is mutual aid alone aid? And it's basically it's it's it's some regular church community shit. So and so gotta move and they got three kids and they gotta move. They about to get kicked out their apartment. They need money to move. All right, cool? Who got what? We're gonna drop off an envelope? You remember the envelope like the Red Parties, Like, yes, mutual aide. It is this black woman's opinion that that is a time it is is though that So it's

like go fund me like a new mutual aid. People use it as so fund me is mutual aide. It's been demonized because of different things that have happened, you know, and people feel like, ex what, people are lazy or they're not doing what they're supposed to do when they just depend on go fund me. And I'm not saying it ain't no people out there that's you know, less than kosher about what they're trying to do. However, the idea of community giving and community support is not new.

It's super super you know, you know, you've been doing it for a long time, and you know again it helps us to make it bite sized. What we like at Jadi L Yes we do. We like a bite size okay, and it's bite size. It's a bite size you know, response and an immediate and direct response to need. And it's not the only thing you do again, multi tiered shit is the way we have always operated. This is our actual history. I'm not, you know, reinventing any

wheels here. This is something our ancestors have done never. We always didn't have the names for these things. It's so funny now today we have the verbiage for it, like we have the name. It's a thing, you know, trauma. It's not funny, is there funny at all? Because that's what happens when somebody steals your language income jail. I'm just saying, I chance for my lemon water. That's what happens.

Sound like the spirit of Stephanie Mills, just jail. Imagine imagine that I could I could call across a room, you know, or or across a yard or across a field, and and um say a word that not only takes you to a place mentally, that takes you to a feeling that gives you a strength and remind you who you are. Yeah, you're not allowed to say anything. Don't speak your language, kill you. No, that's why we now. All we have left is our our mmmmmmmmmmmmm mmm mmmmmmmmmmmm

mmmm that's what we gotta left, and we're bad. We could look at that, all of that, all of that, Yeah, and we and see strangers when women who are strangers to you doing it, and you know what's going on, so maybe we just Yeah, that was a moment. I just realized we still have that powerful. It made me happy to feel that. It's a little joy. That's us. That's what we do. You're talking about people who truly take absolutely nothing and just create. That's that's We're very

powerful people. And when we focus, we may not get everything that we want to get done on our lists. You know, we might not be able to check everything. But go on and check something. It'll feel good. And maybe maybe he might want to check something else, and then something else. I'm going to a meet me. You are powerful and when you and when you decide, you

make a decision. Man o man. I would just want to say thank you to everybody who is um making strides and using whatever acts, whatever saw, whatever's knife, whatever sin, whatever pencil, toe, nail clip, whatever it is that you're doing to cut down the tree. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much. And for anybody who hasn't decided on what tree they want to tear down, just know that when you do go for it, go hard in

the paint. And sometimes that means those things that you do hard in the paint won't be noticed, not yet, not yet. But when you do good, you get good. That's my firm opinion. Like a paver, Papa takes part. Maybe when it's like you know Martins said it, I may not get there with you, m but the thing is that I'm responsible for this section of road. I'm putting down these ten pavers. This is my part and

my section, and I want to do my work. Yeah, you know, when you're like if I could just get one, I can just get one, you know, I just be feeling in a pothole, boo. But that's cool too, that's activism. Get the pothhole field saving cards one day at a time, especially in a rough neighborhood, and try and kill your car. What is that? Boom? The whole bottom mouth? Damn. You should like together if you want me to get anywhere? Huh pick continue for me to pay for this insurance.

Stop it anyway, y'all we were half on and half off topic and it goes down just like that. We are having conversations to spark conversation and action not only in your lives but in ours as well. And thank my sisters. Can I can I interrupt you real quick to just say I also want to thank our listeners who stop us in the streets to tell us that they are listening. I'm getting more more those lately. And shout us to Breeze, who is one of our long

time listeners who I'm met in person yesterday. I just want to give love because they think your family. I tell them that all the time. Breeze, Breeze, Breeze, Thank you Barber. Okay, you can walk by the shop in a big window and be like today, I look cute. Her looks eat out the barbertop. It's a it's a whole vibe. I'm sorry, I just said I was, I did, I did, I did? Come back look at it. Tell the people go bye. You come on, we gotta go now. I'm kay bye y'all. Till next time. Peace. How do

you eat an elephant? One? By? It time? Hey? Listeners? Is Amber the producer here understanding where to even start when getting involved in any type of community Organizing can feel really overwhelming, So I want to share with you just a really easy place to start is with ourselves and in our own households. Are your habits and behaviors, upholding your beliefs? Are you contributing to or combating the

problems that you see in your neighborhood? And what ways can you adjust after you ask yourself these questions and make those little adjustments in your day to day life to go deeper. I want to leave you with two articles, one about organizing a movement yourself and another about getting involved in a movement that's already going. I link both of those in the show notes below. Hi. If you have comments on something you said in this episode, call eight six six, Hey Joe, if you want to add

to this conversation. That's eight six, six, four, three, nine, five, four five five. Don't forget to tell us your name and the episode you're referring to. You might just hear your message on a future episode. Thank you for listening to Jill Scott Presents Jay dot m. The podcast j dot Ill is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.