Feel It Friday

and just all of the anger and frustration. Today, however, I'm not feeling the blow off steam so much as we're going to refer to today as feel it Friday, because I have a lot of feelings that have been coming up for quite some time, and I want to share them with all of you. So first off, let's start with the political stuff, and then I'll go into what is conjuring up these thoughts and these feelings that

I'm having. But basically, so to provide a summary of the week, the Republicans have no idea what it is that they are doing right. They have no desire to actually lead this country. They have no desire to offer

anything to the American people. You all know this. Mitt Romney has recently announced that he is not going to seek reelection and at the age of seventy six that he feels like it is time for him to move on, and signaling and stating that he believes the same should be true for both Joe Biden and Donald Trump, because they're not offering the American people anything, particularly as it comes to climate change, which is an issue that has

become significantly important to the youth of this country. Gen Z and Alpha and others right that will come behind them because they're going to be the ones that deal with the fact that the older generations that are still in power, that refuse to give up power, who are Octinagerians, are not going to do anything about climate change. They actually don't care. And while I disagree strongly with Mitt Romney when it comes to Joe Biden, because I think that Joe Biden, I have no idea why this man

wanted to be president of this nation. To be honest, he is a public servant to the core of his being. And to think that from the age of twenty nine until now as he is in I guess right he is like seventy nine or eighty that he still has a desire to put America first. And that's wild because I think that Honestly, Joe Biden is probably truly the

last of the real statesmen. And it was funny because Joy Read the other day was showing clips of Biden throughout the years as we're also I'm going to pivot for a moment to the impeachment inquiry. Is that Joe Biden has lived his life in public service in front of cameras since he came, since he was sworn into the Senate. Joe Biden up until he got a book deal because he was vice president to the nation's first black president, had I think a net worth, she said

of like thirty thousand dollars. Now it's fifteen million, because he was able to sign really lucrative book deals. Right, Joe Biden, unlike Donald Trump, never used his position to grift to enrich himself or his family. He literally did the job because he cared about the people of Delaware and he cared about this country. It's why Barack Obama chose him to be vice president of the United States, because he was one of the last great statesmen. And there was this picture that she put up, and it

was of a younger Biden sitting next to Ted Kennedy. Now, for those of you who you know, maybe too young to remember or you know have forgotten. Ted Kennedy was referred to and given the name of Lion of the Senate. I had, through the course of my career on Capitol Hill and in Washington, d C. Before his passing, had the incredible opportunity to listen to this man in real life,

to shake his hand, to ask him questions. And Ted Kennedy was an incredible statesman who, while had a really wealthy, privileged upbringing in his youth right that you know was wayward, dedicated the rest of his life to democracy and doing right.

And so when I saw this picture of the two of them side by side, I kind of got choked up because those days are so far gone, you know, of looking at people who hold the importance and the responsibility that they've been given to do right by this country.

And for all of the deep wounds and pain that we experience regularly racism, sexism, white supremacy, capitalism, right greed, what has always made America has been the will and the passion of a few right names that you know as household names, and others you will never know, who dedicated their lives to working behind the scenes in order

to try and perfect this union. And so when Mitt Romney comes out and says something so blatantly false about a man that has dedicated his life to public service and in his last years is not thinking about sitting up in his home in Delaware and being able to enjoy, frankly, the fruits of his labor. No, instead, he is using his last breaths and days or years in trying to

restore America to what it once was. And that, I think is something that we just kind of gloss over because we've been so deeply scarred over the last several years in believing that those that are in these positions, whether they be at the state, local, or national level, whether they bear the title of senator or representative or Supreme Court justice, that they're just in it for the grift, that they're just in it for their own egos and self interest. And the fact is is that that didn't

used to be the case, right Like it wasn't. You didn't enter into public service to get rich, right Like everybody fucking knows that. Trust me, if I knew, if I could, right, I don't have many regrets in my life. And I'm gonna be really honest, I don't have many regrets in my life up until this point, thank God. Right, However, if I could do things a bit differently career wise, I would tell you that I would have spent my formative professional years in corporate America making money, and my

later years right turning to the public good. Because knowing just how your voice is elevated, progress can be accelerated, and you can get into rooms and spaces that you would never have been able to without that certain level

of wealth. I absolutely would have made different choices, right, And I have no I know many people who have spent the last twenty some odd years of their lives working in corporate settings, making as much money as possible, being financially stable in a way that has afforded them buying homes and all of these things. And instead, for me, the goal had never been to be wealthy. I was just like, I'm working for the public good. You know,

I am working on Capitol Hill. I'm working as a lobbyist for nonprofit organizations, not like fucking you know BP oil, right Like I'm working in this as a teacher. I'm doing education policy. I'm not doing the sexy like you know grift of it all, And so you can forget, given where we have been over the last several years, that that's not why people entered into public service. It

hasn't honestly been until Donald Trump, right like. Sure, you have those legacy candidates like the Bushes, right who that's just your birthright because your daddy was president, you should be president too. But all in all, it was people, largely men, right all men. Yes, we have had women

fight for the presidency, but none yet have won. So you've had these men that came from legacy families and some using their privilege, their name, and their wealth to advance equity, not going into the job as a cya, as a coverer ass And so when I think about, you know, my feelings around Mitt Romney's announcement are that Mitt Romney has been part of the problem for so long.

The man is so fucking spineless, right like. And the fact is, if you ever watched the documentary which I highly encourage people to watch the documentary mit on Mitt Romney and his failed bid in twenty twelve for the presidency, he didn't have what it takes to be president, nor did he actually really want to be and when he had the opportunity time and time again to really like be a force and use his power, he was very

milk toast about it all. So for the you know the audacity of him to come out now and put Joe Biden and Donald Trump in the same boat and say, oh, you're old and you should retire because you're not doing anything worthwhile, I'm like, have you been paying attention to what your party has been doing or no? And the reason that you're running not running for reelection, I'm sure it is not just because, oh, you've decided that you're too old. It's the fact that you'd no longer share

the same ideals and values of the Republican Party. And I would have thought more of his statement about his you know, not seeking reelection if he were to tell the truth about why he's not seeking reelection. So Mitt Romney missed me with it. As it pertains to this sham uh impeachment trial, it's not even an impeachment trial because let me let me pass. Let me restate this, the sham impeachment that is being led by Marjory Taylor

Green and others is nothing more than a sham. And Kevin McCarthy did nothing more than succumb to the whims of the people that are actually controlling the speakership. Matt Gates recently this week did MSNBC and join Ari Melbourn's show to essentially trash Kevin McCarthy, and it's probably the most honest statement that he's ever said, where he was just like, Kevin McCarthy has no power and he's not really the speaker and you know, let me tell you

all of the reasons why. And so he can't even pull together a vote, which is what normally would happen in these type of proceedings because it would fail. So he's just directing his committees to go on a wild goose chase because guess what. There have been multiple investigations into the bidens at the behest of Donald Trump when he was President of the United States, and guess what

they came up with nothing? Right, So you want to talk about, you know, nonsense and watch the corporate media followed the same you know, rabbit hole path that they did in twenty sixteen and in twenty twenty, you know, great Kristen Welker, Kristen Welker, who is now the new host of Meet the Press has decided that her first interview is going to be with the twice impeached sexual assaulter facing four indictment charge four indictments and ninety one charges.

That that's going to be her first interview to what give Donald Trump another legitimized space so that he can spread lies? Miss me with it, right, it's a ratings grab, that's what you want. You don't care truly about democracy. And if you think that you're going to be the reporter of all reporters that's going to get Donald Trump to tell me the truth, move your ego aside, and actually, you know, clear out your rose colored eyeglasses because that's

never going to happen. So, folks, I come to the reason why today for me is not fucking Friday, because I'm really starting, you know, down a path and a journey of what is actually helpful in this moment, in this time. You know, I started WOKF six years ago because of the rage and the anger I felt and the betrayal that I felt at the hands of white Americans that voted for Donald Trump in the first place.

It was a huge for me, kick in the gut and like knife through the heart the morning of the realization around that election in twenty sixteen, and ever since then, I have been spending every day screaming into a microphone, trying to desperately wake people up to their power and their purpose and create a space for just shared rage and grief. And what I realize is that, like while six years ago that was incredibly needed, it was needed

for me. I needed the release, frankly, uh when I started the show because I needed to feel like I wasn't crazy and that I wasn't alone in my grief at how this country just continues to just show itself, you know. And it's disappointing when you come from a place of wanting to be of service, of wanting to pick up you know, the mantle, the baton and you know, use your life as an opportunity to advance justice and equity.

But I got to tell you that, like, I'm at a stage in my life where I am doing a deep reflection on what my purpose is right because rage, raging at the machine day in and day out can't be it. Because if this is the end of the American project right as we know it, if we are just you know, finding ourselves kind of searching through the rubbles of what we thought this country was. I don't want to be standing in the middle of the mess.

I don't want to just be putting a lens on what we already know is really horrific, right, And so I'm at a place truly where I'm trying to have deep reflection about what my offering is in this moment. And I know that the twenty twenty four election cycle is going to be probably the most excruciating, devastating, heartbreaking and violent times in modern history that we've ever seen.

And I state that, and I know that it's true, and I'm scared, you know, frankly, and I'm not too you know, like a shamed to say, so, I'm scared. I'm scared. For like, the other day, there were, you know, sounds going off outside of my window, and I was just like, it's not the fourth of July, it's past Labor Day, Like, what are these sounds? And you know, of course it ended up being fireworks, but that for a moment, I'm just like, is this an attack? And if it is, where the fuck am I going? Right?

And how quickly am I getting there? My family lives on an island right like, and so are they coming in?

Am I going like, just all of these thoughts started going through my head and again thinking about how these things can change in the blink of an eye, and none of us, no matter how educated we believe ourselves to be, are prepared emotionally, mentally or physically for what I believe are extraordinary shifts that have been happening that are going to continue and accelerate over the next year.

So again I say to you that I have a lot of feelings on this Friday, and a lot of deep reflection and work that I am doing internally to really understand what this next year, how I want to be of service right, and what I intend to offer you all of you, all of you that are watching this video and listening to the show and share it and repost. But I will tell you that I'm currently reading, because I am reading like eighty six books right now.

I'm a I'm a person that reads multiple books at one time, and I'm reading the book called The Four Pivots, Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves by Sean A. I believe it's gin Right, doctor Ginright, and I got hip to him through Brene Brown's podcast that she ended called Unlocking Us.

And because I'm still going through episodes that I did not listen to because I started the podcast her podcast series after it ended, and there's so many great people who she interviewed on there, just people that I would have never known. And I'm just started reading this book, and you know, I encourage you all if you want

to join me in reading it. It's really incredible. I'm just like forty pages into this two hundred and thirty page book, but it's really eye opening, and it is in fact serving as a mirror to where I find myself in this moment of rage. Can't be the answer because it's not. It's not sustainable. And so the question then is then what right? Then? What and how and

where and with whom? So you'll hear me over the course of you know, the weeks, the months, the year, sharing with you the reflections that I'm having and taking in because we're being challenged in so many ways. And what I know for my own mental health and emotional wellbeing is that the kind of anger, rage and grief that we all share is not sustainable. Right. And if rage and grief and anger alone were the emotions that were necessary for change, then we would have changed a

long time ago. And so the question that I'm asking myself and I'm asking all of you to reflect on it is if it's not that, then what is it right? Then? Where are we landing? And how can we get there together? So that is it, my dear friends, for me on this Friday, this feel it Friday, as opposed to a

bucket Friday. Tell me how you're feeling and reflecting on this conversation and if you find yourself in the same space where you're just you've exhausted yourself and your level of rage and outrage and just ability to be moved in that kind of way, and what you may be thinking about in terms of how you want to engage in this next cycle that we're going to be in, and how you're feeling about this moment. So, if you're watching this as one of my amazing Patreon supporters, do

comment under the video. For everyone else, hit me up on social at D two cents d E two ce n t s on Threads and the artists formerly known as Twitter, and let me know what you're thinking, all right, Both as always power to the people and to all the people power, get woke, and stay woke as fuck.