Fighting the Good Fight

country was designed. This week on woke F Daily, I was joined by Jim Freeman, author of Rich Thanks to Racism, a new book in which he talks about America's uber wealthy and how they have profited off of our racist institutions and continue to do so on a historic scale during a global health pandemic infused with renewed uprisings for racial justice. We talked for half an hour about how for profit racism persists in the education, criminal justice, and

immigration systems. If you want to hear the full in depth conversation, head over to Patreon dot com slash woke AF. In his book, Jim talks about the concept of strategic racism, the idea that racial inequities are baked into our systems by design in order to make the wealthy even wealthier. I asked Jim to talk about how the fight for racial justice isn't just about educating people, but directly challenging

our institutions that uphold and profit from racism. It's very exciting that there are a lot of people now, particularly after last summer, who started to recognize the urgency to end systemic racism. And it's very exciting that lots more people are joining this movement, joining these efforts. I mean, I think the movement that's being built right now can

finally achieve that goal. But I wrote the book because there's very little understanding of what and who stands in the way of that, and it's a lot of these dynamics that you're talking about, right because I wanted people to understand that the biggest reason why systemic racism persists is that these dynamics pre COVID and during COVID, which are so devastating for so many people of color and so many communities of color, are for a lot of

large corporations and Wall Street banks enormously profitable. They are the biggest reason why we have these deeply unjust policies on the books, and they're also heavily invested in preserving and expanding racial inequities, which I refer to as strategic racism. So the book is really intended to give people a roadmap of what it's going to take to truly dismantle systemic racism, because while it's very doable, there's still not enough people supporting racial justice efforts and far too many

people opposing them. And as you say, a lot of those people are getting even more wealthy and more powerful as a results of this global pandemic. I mean, we're looking. One of the things that come up for me is a recent headline Jeff Bezos, right, is now worth one

hundred and forty three billion dollars. And in the headlines, right, are the workers that work in the Amazon factories, right, that have been working around the clock to ship us all our packages so that we could work from home, who don't have proper healthcare, who don't have the ability to sue their employer for unhealthy work environment. And yet

he's becoming the richest and richest and richest. I mean, he's going to probably reach at some point a trillion dollars in net worth, and yet the people that work for him can't afford to put food on the table. We see these stories and we kind of just shrug Jim about it, like we get mad, and we're mad, and we're on social media for a day or two, and then we all go back to business as usual.

How do you sustain you think the outrage and the attention where the attention needs to be due, which is that we have a very wrong sized capitalistic structure that is based on racism and injustice and ensuring that some people stay on the bottom while other people stay on the top. How do we sustain the attention and the outrage. Well, I think a big part of it, I mean, you're

absolutely right. I mean I think a big part of it is exposing the full circle of that injustice, right, because there are a lot of people who are starting to recognize the injustice of what of what you just said. There are a lot of people who have for a long time, obviously, but more and more people are recognizing

the injustice of what you just said. What I think people didn't have much understanding of is how not only are billionaires like that making a tremendous amount of money off of people who aren't being paid a living wage, who can't pay for, you know, all the things that we take as given for meeting people's basic human needs. Not only are they doing that, they're then taking their money and reinvesting it in strategies to further oppress those people, right,

and particularly communities of color. And most of the time that's done in secret. It's not done in public view. Like they're not passing all these criminal justice policies with their name on it, right, They're not passing all these

immigration policies with their name on it. Right. They're doing this mostly in secret through organizations like ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Counsel, And so they're making money off of us, or they're taking the money that we give to them for the products that we need to survive, and then they're using that to make our lives harder on the back end. So I think there's a lot of strategies and tactics that we need to employ to, like you say,

sustain the outrage. What I hope that this book contribute was shedding some light on what that looks like and how that contributes to systemic racism. In particular, you know in your book, Rich thanks to you look at three particular areas of focus. You look at our education system, criminal justice, and immigration. Walk me through those three and why those three were chosen, as I mean, obviously they should be. I talk about this unwoke a of all

the time as a former educator. I say that there is no better mechanism to support the consistency of white supremacy without the public education system, without us telling kids who is important, who is not, who is worth studying, who is not, what is considered classic literature, what is not right. We are purposefully educating under the guise that racism will die out with generations. And if that were the case, it would have died out hundreds of years ago.

So why did you look at these particular areas and what do they show us about how racism is exacerbated and how the ultra wealthier profiting off of it in these particular areas. I focused on those three areas in particular because you know, there may not be a more significant racial justice issue in the US right now than the massive overinvestment in the criminalization of people of color, alongside the dramatic underinvestment in the systems and strategies that

would create healthier, safer, and more equitable communities nationwide. Right, So, on those three issues, you know, we've dramatically expanded the criminal justice system, made it the catch all solution for an enormous variety of public health and safety issues, and

particularly within black and brown communities. Then we took that same approach, that same destructive and ineffective tough on crime approach, and we exported it to the immigration enforcement system while implementing a variety of cruel and discriminatory policies targeted undocumented folks. And they, meanwhile, like you say, We've never in the entire history of our country been willing to create a truly equitable education system. We've never been willing to put

youth of color on equal footing with white youth. So the harm caused by each of those within communities of color is astronomical. But what they also share in common is that the ultra wealthy are heavily invested in maintaining and even exacerbating those inequities. So if you follow the money behind all the public policies that create those systems, what you soon find is that you wind up coming back to the network that the Koch Brothers created of

billionaires and multimillionaires who are investing in those systems. You find organizations like ALEC with large corporations and Wall Street banks that are, like I said, pushing these policies, usually secretively, and those two groups in particular have made huge investments in think tanks and advocacy organizations and media outlets that have been very, very successful in advancing that agenda. But then what I also want to do is break down why,

like what's the strategy behind it? And I obviously spill a lot of ink about this in the book, but the short answer is because it's all those things are economically advantageous for them. I refer to them as racism profiteers. They make money off of mass incarceration through the prison industrial complex and those dynamics, but a variety of others too that before writing book I wasn't even aware of. They also make money off immigrant attention. They make money

off of school privatization. That's one layer, But another layer is they pay less in taxes when we as a society choose to dehumanize people rather than meeting their basic human needs, which is a big part of all those systems, and I would also say that systemic racism is extremely effective at controlling us, at dividing us, at causing us

not to recognize our common interests. So all of those dynamics help them maintain their political and economic power in troubled times like these, it is important to know how to relax, unwind, and take a breath. Easy to say those things, but much harder to put them into practice in our lives. So I went to the best expert

I know. My mother, Shirley Newton, is the owner of Essence of Yoga studio in New York, and after years of being on the air, she finally agreed to join me to share her wisdom with the woke AF family. Even ten minutes of my mother's many nuggets should be enough to inspire and enlighten you. But as always, if you want to hear every minute of our extensive chat, and I highly recommend that you do, please check out our Feel Good Friday Conversation on woke af Daily's Patreon.

Five dollars get you five new shows a week and access to hundreds of existing shows, including this one at patreon dot com slash woke af For now, here's my mother Shirley Newton getting started by talking about how we need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. I think that a lot of people and you tell me if this is true with the students that you've seen throughout the years, which is that people are afraid think of their authentic selves and people are afraid of quiet. I know that

I was before the pandemic. You used to tell me that I was on a hamster wheel all the time and that I needed I needed to stop doing such aggressive cardio and really needed to breathe and sit. Why do you think that people are afraid of the quiet? And what do you say to people who are afraid of the quiet? So what do we do when we're afraid? We try to run away and physically run away, emotionally runaway, spiritually run away because we don't want to face what

the quiet is going to bring to us. So, when you're in a yoga class or one of the most challenging poses I find for students is say Shavasna, which is the rest pose. When you have to lay there for five or ten minutes in stillness. It becomes really uncomfortable for some students because when you sit there there's no place for you to go. You have to be still. And when the stillness comes, then like everything reveals itself

to you. Maybe you are dealing with something and you really do not want to face it, but when you're still with yourself on your yoga mat, it reveals itself to h to you. There's no place for you to run, so you have to face it. So it's important, and I say to my students, it's important when you're in a pose and you're starting to feel a little bit of discomfort, as long as you're not feeling pain, but it's discomfort. And what I qual it, I put little

words on it. I qual it heighten awareness. When your awareness of the sensations in your body is heightened, sit in it. Feel it because you're going to learn this technique on your yoga mat that you don't get out of her pose just because I'm feeling some burning sensation here, not pain. If you're feeling pain, get out of it, that's important. But when you're feeling that discomfort, sit in it because this is where you're going to learn the tools on your yoga mat to take in your daily life.

So when you're feeling uncomfortable in an uncomfortable situation with a cowork or the family member, set face set because it communicate. It's really important because it's hard. Yeah, hard doesn't mean it just means which hard do you want to deal with? Ignoring your feelings is hard too, because it's going to manifest someplace else. Yes, So ask yourself, which of the heart do I want to deal with?

Do I want to deal with the hard communication and the hard sensations that I'm feeling right now in my muscles so that I can build strength and release physical toxicity. Do I want to deal with that hard? Or do I just want to run away and be a hamster on on that wheel with no tools to help me. How do you deal and stress? We all know how stress reads havoc on your immune system, and that's what we're all trying to do to reduce the stress hormones.

So sleep is another key important part of our wellbeing and our wellness. So sleep, movement, movement, and I think it is so underestimated about movement, physical movement, mental movement, spiritual movement really important because if we don't move our physical body, all the systems eventually starts breaking down. So you're either going to pay attention take care of your wellness so that if you don't, you know, you will be forced to take care of your illnets or your illness.

So take the time, make time to take care of your wellness so you're not forced to take care to make time for or illness. And there's a quote out there like that, it's really really important that we move and there is no perfection in yoga. There's no perfect

pose because there's always another level, so we're all. I approach my practice and I share this with my students, always approach my practice as a beginner, so that you have this open space that you can just receive because there's so much for us to learn about ourselves, and we may get stuck and those energetic layers and you know, sit and examine and assess why am I stuck here? What lessons do I need to learn so that I

can move on. One of the things mom is I think that for me, and I always offered this on the show. I've been sharing more so of my journey into wellness right into fullness over the past year, and I think that for a lot of ambitious people, you get sucked into what we refer to as grind culture right where you are just continually grinding. We talk about

the hamster wheel, where you're continually moving. But when you're talking about movement, you're talking about purposeful, connected, mindful movement as opposed to just busying yourself with moving. So I just want you to talk about just a little bit of the difference between moving to be busy and mindful movement. Yeah, so moving to be busy, it's like trying to use that constant. My calendar is full. I don't have time for this. I don't have time to take care of myself.

So everyone has to work, and you know, because you work to make the money so that you can take the yoga class or whatever. Right well, unless you're but there's a thing called balance, and you can't have a take a look at your calendar and if there's no empty spaces there, then something is missing. Our whole life

is built around balance. So one of the things I was having a conversation with the students because we have a twenty one day challenge of yoga going on right now, and I say to them, ask yourself, if you're saying that I can't do this because I don't have time, I can't go to a yoga class. I can't take care of myself because I don't have time. If you approach it with that mindset, you're setting yourself up for failure.

You have to approach your well being as I must make time for wellness, must make time to take care for myself, not if I have time, I will unroll my map and take a yoga class. It is something that you must approach that I will make time for, not because I'll do it because I have time. You have to create the time. And another important thing I say to my students also think about this for just ask yourself with the challenge that we're doing, close your eyes here for a moment. And I did this in

class last night, and ask yourself. Have I worked for someone for twenty one days out of any given month in my whole life? Have I ever done that? And I said, just sit for a moment and just ponder on that. Have I worked for corporation? Have I worked for someone else for twenty one days in any given month out of my lifetime? And they all everyone had a smile, and I said, now ask yourself. Think if

you're being your whole being here as a corporation. And you are the CEO of this corporation, and you want to have a sustainable corporation, right, a sustain a lifestyle to get through all the different stages of your life. So if you do, if your corporation is not sustainable, then what will your life be. So you go to work, to work for someone else corporation so their business is sustainable, but you must do that for yourself. You have yourself

a priority. You are the CEO of this corporation. Your physical,

your emotional, and your spiritual being is your corporation. You are the CEO, and you must allow this corporation to be sustainable, treat it well so it's sustainable through all the stages of your life, when your twenties, your thirties, your forties, your fifties, your sixthies, like cheese in So you know, I think that that's so important, and it's one of the things that I've learned most from you, so many different lessons obviously throughout like my entire life,

but making yourself a priority. And I will tell people a story about the fact that I used to grow up eating dinner at eight or nine o'clock at night because and people were like, well come over for sleepovers and be like, why y'all eating dinner at nine o'clock at night? And it was because my mother was a teaching a spin class or our step class, or you know, she needed to go to the gym after her work day, and so that's what she did. And it was always recognizing.

And I think that I'm going to ask you to say this especially for caregivers, for parents who either have children or they are carrying caretakers for their elderly parents. You know, you always made yourself a priority so that Nicole and I could grow up seeing ourselves as a priority. A lot of people are still stuck in martyrdom where they feel like they have to sacrifice themselves for their

kids or for their parents. So can you speak to that about like the importance of making yourself a priority even when you have kids and elderly parents, both of which you have found yourself. You know in that you cared for you know, my grandparents, You cared for Nicole and I and like and other stranger friends and things like that. How did you manage that? So, Daniel, you know how mother has all these sayings, all of them that I share with my students and I share with

my family. Remember this, you cannot pour from an empty cop Okay we say it on woke app and I credit you all the time. Another analogy that you can use. And I say this to my students that I keep saying that because this is what I do is to

help people understand the importance of their well being. And one of the things that we should realize, like when you're caring for your family and you're getting you, you will have some inappropriate outbursts or you're just lashing out at the kids or your spouse or your partner or family member and they're looking at you. Where's this coming from? And I will tell you a little secret. That is

coming from built up resentment. Because you have given so much of yourself and you have not taken anything back. So it is really important to refill your cup. I say to my students, think of this like every Friday morning, I do a restorative your class and I call it this is a class that you come back to to redeposit in the ATM machine. Because think of your being, like everyone is taking your taking withdrawing from your ATM machine, the physical being, the well being, your spiritual being, your

emotional being. You give it to your job, to your family members, and your friends, and they keep depleting you all week of that energy. When do you take the time to make a redeposit in your bag? And that is what the resort of yoga class is all about on a Friday morning, is redepositing in your energy bang so that you can pour from that cup that's fall.

You cannot pour from an empty cup. I've been repeating that saying from my mother to my woke A family a lot this week as we deal with so many tragic, unnecessary stories of violence and death unfolding. It's okay to not be okay, it's okay not to watch all the videos, read all the stories. You need to take time to fill your cup. So this weekend or whenever you have the time after you're listening to this, please take time to take proper care of yourself physically, mentally, spiritually. You

need it and you deserve it. If you like today's conversations, I do hope to see you in the comments and DM's over at woke AF Daily's patreon at patreon dot com slash woke AF. Until the next time you hear my voice power to the people and to all the people power. Get woke and stay woke as fuck.