Saying the Quiet Part Loud

have its first Supreme Court justice appointment. Now, normally, in these circumstances, I would be over the moon, right because I would think, oh, my goodness, this is great, we get to add another justice, except for the fact that, oh, that's right, the Trump administration got to add three justices because in the last forty five days of his disastrous presidency, we push through Amy Covid, Barrett Right, and Justice Bryer is one of the loan through three right justices who

still actually believes in the rule of law, believes in the Constitution. And so this is really not a gain for the Biden administration. But what is really interesting about this why I bring it up today because if you remember that candidate Joe Biden said that if he had the opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court justice that it would be a black woman. He would appoint the first

black woman to the bench. Right, now, we know that what both Republicans and Democrats are alike are good for is what their symbolism, right, the things that they say that they will do for black and brown people or against black and brown people, and then the things that they actually do. We're fighting for justice, marching for justice in a variety of ways, for equity, for economic justice,

right for all of these things. And what do they give us maya angeliu on a fucking quarter or Juneteenth as a holiday, anytime that we ask for shit that should just be considered the right thing to do. After hundreds of years of enslavement, you would think, and genocide, you would think that it would be a no brainer.

But no, not in America. So here we are now where Joe Biden is faced with what he said on the campaign trail which a lot of people remembered, which is that if I have the ability to appoint a Supreme Court justice, I'm going to appoint the first black woman. Now for me, if you were asking for who I think the next Supreme Court justice should be, it would

be the brilliant fighter for justice. Head of the end of BLACP Legal Defense fund Sherilyn, who for decades has been fighting for equity and justice right in our legal system, in our criminal justice system. This is a woman that has been on the forefront of some of the most groundbreaking lawsuits that we have seen. And so I hope that if in fact, Joe Biden is putting together his list right of potential Supreme Court nominees, that Cherylyn Eiffel

is at the top of that list. Now we know that in order to get a justice passed you need fifty people, Well guess what it is a fifty fifty person split. And what do we in the Senate and what do we know to be true that there are two fucking agents of the Republican Party that masquerade as Democrats but don't actually vote with Democrats or share our values. So what will happen with this Supreme Court nomination? Who the fuck knows. But I'm sure it'll be a spectacle.

I'm sure it'll be a circus. And I'm kind of fifty fifty thinking that it'll probably be a white man. You know, what makes everybody feel comfortable enough of that? You know, this week, I have seen so many instances of Republicans once again offering up to the American people exactly who they are. And I mentioned this earlier in the week, and I want to bring it up again. There is a clip that had gone viral and I

shared it on Twitter. It is a city council meeting where a black man city council member is completely exacerbated by how he is being treated by his fellow white city council members. And there is an exchange that ended up being going on CNN where he says, I'm tired of being treated like this and like this is not the cotton fields out in the cotton fields, right, and

his white colleague said to him, you should be. So I just want everyone to take a beat for a minute, because thankfully this black man who was so wildly fucking disrespected did not react other than with the disgust. But let me tell you something I wish a motherfucker would because I am reaching my I don't give a fuck limit with racist ass white people thinking that they can

say and do whatever the fuck they want without any consequence. Now, you may not see any consequence in our unjust system, right, But let me tell you something I wish somebody would say something like that to me, because for certain, on that good day, I will be choosing violence a hundred percent.

You think that you can look a black person in the face and tell them that they deserve or should be in somebody's cotton field, and think that you deserve to have a seat as anybody's fucking representative, you are out of your fucking mind. And I think it is past fucking time for the people to let these motherfuckers know that their time is tick ticking up. Because here's the thing. Pressure makes two things, right. Pressure makes two things.

It makes diamonds right if pressed in the right way, and it makes an explosion right in the other form. And what I'm saying is that the pressure that this Republican Party is putting on our democracy, the pressure that it is putting on everyone who is not white or cists or rate or male and conservative and Christian and all of this shit, they are going to go one

motherfucking step too far. And I pray to God that I am on the other side of that line when that foot or body or hand right crosses over, because I have had enough. You know, earlier this week I had the great fortune of being at the co host of my other podcasts. If you have not listened to Democracy Ish, which also comes out on Thursdays with my new co host, hwajahat Ali, I say to you please do check it out. It is a conversation between him

and I each and every week. He is a Pakistani American, Muslim, American full blooded. I am obviously a black queer woman, child of immigrants as well, and we are really spirited conversations about what it means to live in this crumbling democracy,

what it means to be an American. And in WASH's new book that came out this week entitled go Back to Your Country and Other Helpful Tips, his story of what it has been like to live in a brown body, be a Muslim, and grow up in the United States being told to go back to your country when in fact,

this is your fucking country. But Mitch McConnell also said the quiet part out loud this week when he was pressed by a reporter about the rate at which African Americans, black folks in this country vote and all of the voter suppression laws that Republicans have been rolling out since they're spreading of the Big Lie in twenty twenty, and Mitch McConnell says, oh, well, African Americans are vote at

the same pace as Americans. I'm sorry, what And instead of said report, following up and saying so, by your measurement, are you saying that African Americans are not Americans and that Americans no hyphen are white? Because see, that's the kind of investigative reporting that I would like to see. That's the type of no bullshit follow up that I would like to see politicians like Mitch McConnell, like Kevin

McCarthy and others be pressed with. Because you see the reporters that are in these gaggles around them ask them the most bullshit, softball fucking questions, right, Because if it were me, trust and believe, and I had a woke a f MIC in front of that man, I would say, so, what would So to your point, African Americans are not Americans? Is that what you're saying? And that actual Americans no

hyphen or white? Is that what you're saying? And so then to that point, when you use terms like workers right and blue collar and rust belt right and real Americans, who exactly are you talking about and what do they look like? Because mainstream media is complicit is complicit in the spreading of white supremacy. Right, It isn't just about ratings. It's about who sits in the c suite, It's about who's in those newsrooms. It's about what those producers and

editors look like. It's what those reporters look like and their idea of what it means to be fucking neutral in the face of racism and discrimination. Oh, I don't know what he meant. That's your idea of neutrality, bitch, do better. So to every single one of those reporters that were standing around Mitch McConnell and didn't ask any type of fucking follow up, you failed your goddamn job

and your profession. I don't know what you people are doing these days with this softball bullshit as you, oh very goddamn well, that our democracy is hanging on by a thread, and each and every day that we do not use our platforms and our voices to be able to say the quiet part out loud, which is that both parties are failing us. One has the gun at our head, right, and the other one is sitting around

with their heads in the fucking sand. So at this stage of the game, right, you have Joe Biden getting ready to appoint a Supreme Court justice or whenever we're going to see that long drawn out process go. You have the one six Commission sitting around looking for subpoenas and still asking people nicely to show up when they disregard said subpoenas. You got the Department of Justice, oh, looking into right, the false taxes and claims of the

former administration, but not really doing anything. And then you're gonna look around and tell the American people that midterms are coming in a handful of motes months and if they don't vote, then they're the ones that have failed our democracy. I'm just tired of the rinse and repeat of bullshit right, because it's like you try and out damn spot out, but the bullshit stains right that are there are not coming out right, They're actually just growing bigger.

And then everyone is saying, just don't look at the spot right, just like the movie, just don't look up, Just don't look up, don't look at the spot, don't ask any follow up questions. Just let these people pop off with their bullshit and allow that to spread virally and then do nothing about it, which brings me to

Florida today. Later on in the show, we're going to have a conversation with returning guests, the executive director of the LGBTQ Task Force and my friend Kiera Johnson, and Kiera and I are going to get into a conversation about what is transpiring in Florida and why everyone, regardless of where you live at this very moment, should be

concerned with what is happening in Florida. So this week, late last week, and then this week, rond de Santis has decided that he's going to make a pivot from going after any conversations on race, any conversations on racism, you know, anything that are going to make white people feel discomfort. He's going to now make the pivot to go after LGBTQ people. And I want everyone to be paying attention because it's the same playbook that is used

all of the fucking time. You go after the people that nobody gives a shit about first, right, and then you keep taken them off until eventually he comes to your door. Right. It is the Martin Neomohler palm. First they came for so first, Ronda Santis came for black folks and vote of suppression. Then he came for any conversations on race and racism, because God forbid we teach anyone to think critically or look at this country through a lens other than the lens of a white strait

cis gender male. Right, Then he came for that. Now he's going for LGBTQ Americans and Floridians and saying we're not going to talk about anything gay mentioned. Gay people have conversations about sexuality, gender identity, if you are being bullied, if you're being harassed, we're not doing any of it

in the state of Florida. Now he's continuing under the guise of parental control and saying it should be parents' choice if in fact their children are introduced to such you know, horrificness by queer people who are just seeking to you know, corrupt their children and bring them into the rainbow dry a right, because that's what we all

do as gays. It pisces me off. And I said this yesterday if you caught my woke Wednesday, that at the beginning of the two thousands, in the early aughts, in the Obama administration, there was a string of high

profile not even high profile. It was just in the news the suicides of young queer kids who were being bullied incessantly, not only by their fellow students in class, but also by teachers and administrators who did nothing to protect them and probably participated, right, because your silence in that case is violence, right, You are allowing abuse to

continue and you're doing nothing. And from that rash of suicides that we're grabbing the headlines and then all of a sudden people were like, oh my god, what's happening to these kids? Well, what's happening to them is that you are having them exist right in a climate that is hostile and dangerous for them to be who they are, and there is no place for them to look and feel like their life is going to get better, that regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, that their

life in fact has value and is of worth. And so after that, the Obama administration had rolled out federal regulations that essentially would ensure that young's kids would be able to use the bathrooms that associate with the their gender identity, that there would be issues right punishment for schools that did not protect LGBTQ youth folks. This was only fucking you know, ten twelve years ago. And so here we are now in twenty twenty two, and Ron

De Santis is back to don't ask, don't tell. So I keep asking myself how far back are Republicans going to go with their culture war? How far back are they going to drag America? And now folks can say, well, you know, Florida is going to Florida. But Florida right now is the Republican parties lab. They test out all of the policies that once they are back and can all of the gavels in Congress, we'll try and institute nationwide. And right now there are twenty eight states that are

controlled by Republican governors. Twenty eight. So that means that their idea of state control can be about how we turn our public education system back into the white supremacist machine, propaganda machine, where we are using kids once again as pawns in order to feed them a narrative of the America that they want you to know, and then that that they want to not be named. It is happening in Florida, it is happening in Texas, it's happening in Alabama.

It's happening in Tennessee. It's happening in all of these places, and it's going to happen rewear if they are allowed to get the gavels back if Republicans take power, because this time around they will not give it up because they have put in place all of the Trumpers who are now their new electors and their secretary of States who have pledged their allegiance and said, well, if I had been in charge in twenty twenty, my state wouldn't

have certified the election. This is where we are headed. So, like I said, pressure creates two things, diamonds and an explosion. And we ain't cut in anybody's diamond anytime soon. So I want folks to begin to wrap their minds around and prepare for what is coming down the pike. They came for women's rights. By June, the Supreme Court will deside that Roe v. Wade no longer stands, and if it stands, it will be in name only. So they

came for men's rights. They came for your voting rights right by ending preclearance, and that was one of the first things that Chief Justice John Roberts did right, and since then we have over five hundred voter suppression laws now all over this country, and that has just been since twenty twenty. Now they're going after LGBTQ folks again. And if you think that they're not going to come for your marriage certificates right and just fought and one

workplace discrimination cases, they will. So what's next to Santis? Will it be both sides of the Holocaust? Right? Will you want to give equal airtime to the Nazis so that you know those that signed up to be Nazis don't feel any discomfort what we talk about the murder and killing of six million people? How far is this party willing to go? That's the question that we should be asking. And then the question that we should be asking ourselves is how far are we willing to go

in order to make sure that they don't succeed. Coming up next is my conversation with my friend Kiera Johnson, the executive director of the LGBTQ Task Force, to talk about Florida's Don't Say Gay Bill, folks. I am very excited to welcome back to wok Fidaily my friend, the executive director of the LGBTQ Task Force, Kiera Johnson, to talk about you know one of my favorite topics run death Santis in Florida, who is a man on a mission, Kiara.

He is a man on a mission to turn back the hands of time, to put black people in their place, to put gay folks back in the closet, to put women back in a closet. I mean, if you are from a community that it is not mail, that is not straight, that it is not sis, that is not wealthy. Uh Ron de Santis in the state of Florida are coming for you this latest installment of his don't say Gay legislation, which is operating under the guise of parental control right, Um, what do you make of this initial

step that we know is going in the wrong direction. Yeah, Daniel, it's so good to see you. I feel like it's been too long, and thanks for having me on. I I have to tell you like it is. It makes my stomach colonel right when when I see proposed legislation like this and and like you said in the you know, under the guise of parental rights right and protecting children. Um, you know I have two children, my partner and I

raise their child part time. Right, So I'm like the little old woman who lives in a shoe and um, you know, ages four eleven and fourteen, and it is you know, the reality is is that our kids are in school more than they are with us, and it is really important that we can trust teachers and counselors and administrators to create the environments where our kids can thrive. And it's clear to me that is not what's happening here, right.

This is this is about creating a culture of fear and of silence and of hatred, hatred of others and hatred of self. Right. I just it doesn't even seem possible that in twenty twenty two that some thing like this would even be viable. And I do think that, you know, we have to be paying attention, and we have to you know, be talking to our legislators and putting pressure on them so that this falls flat and just is dead out of the water. You know what

upsets me. It was funny. I was up last night just laying in bed, and I find myself doing this just thinking about the Obama years and how very fleeting they were. Right, you know, it was eight whole years. But like you and I said before we started recording, when you're living in this pandemic time. Time is like an illusion, right, it doesn't really mean anything, It doesn't

resonate in the same way. And I have often written about the Obama years being you know, akin to reconstruction after the Civil War, and what would have happened if reconstruction had been able to continue, right, if the leaders that were in charge weren't cowards, right and reconstruct had continued,

what would America look like now? And I think about that after the Obama years that you know, we had this time where LGBTQ youth, we're being lifted up, We're being protected in schools, right we were we were on like the second wave of you know, gay straight alliances and LGBTQ clubs and you know, allowing trans youth to be able to use the bathroom associated with their gender identity and be protected from even administrators and teachers that

are bullies. So can you speak to this type of policy coming on the heels, coming you know, literally biding on the heels during that golden era of the Obama time, when as black queer people, we didn't have to pick what side of ourselves to show up as, where there was a fullness that was available to us in that administration and they saw that and this was at that you know too, if you were remember at the beginning,

kids were committing suicide left and right. It was making mainstream press right that it gets better campaign rolled out in the early aughts because of the descantenses of the world. So can you help us make sense as to what this kind of rollback because those young kids right that were that were young, maybe in middle school at the time, are now voting adults, what this rollback could signal for them?

You know, I, you know, there's there's so much research that is that has come out recently about the importance of having a safe space. Right. So in particular, you know you you brought up suicide rates which are high among LGBTQ youth and continue to be high among LGBTQ youth. And what the research keeps showing us is that it only takes and a counselor right, a teacher, a gay straight alliance to shift the tide right and to keep a child from thinking that the only option for them

is death. Right, and and all of the research is pointing in that direction. And as parents right of young kids of color, right, um, that research is also telling us that that LGBTQ discrimination is also disproportionately affecting LGBTQ color, LGBTQ young people of color, it even higher rates. Right. We're seeing homelessness at higher rates among LGBTQ people of color, We're seeing attempted suicide rates at higher rates among LGBTQ

kids of color. And for us to know that all we need to do as adults is support them and give them a place to be safe, that's it. That's the first step. And we have done so much to create an environment where our kids not can survive. Right. You know, you're talking about the Obama years, and I remember, you know, you know, I did some traveling, you know, in different countries, and I hear, you know, would talk to my friends about being in different countries and how

we were seen as better global neighbors, right, better global citizens. Right. And when I see this kind of you know, this kind of legislation, I'm like, why would we want to turn back time and not show up as the best global citizens and global neighbors we can? Right? It's hard to love what you don't know, right, And if we're supposed to love our neighbors, right, like we can't start off hating them. And you know that's and that's what

this is. This is literally we want to make these kids hate themselves and prevent teachers and administrators from creating environments where again not only that places where they can survive, but where they can thrive. You know, it's so troubling to me because I was a teacher. I taught elementary school for a little bit when I was still living in DC at the beginning of my career. And you know, I can't tell you all of the obstacles to learning

that are present right that. You know, I believe now that many parents have had to be forced into the situation to kind of homeschool their kids, remote learning all of these things. And so, you know, I thought that an appreciation would have developed for what teachers and administrators do every day, eight nine hours a day to care for your kids. That is not the case. Of course,

Americans are lacking, deeply lacking an empathy. But I can tell you that I remember kids like coming to me wanting to just talk, just to be heard, right it could you know, it could be something that seemed so ridiculous to you. But then to watch them leave with just a light on their face, just to know that somebody held them, held space for a second for them.

And I can't think about living in these times right now that are so unstable, right that, like you are telling kids and teachers and administrators to ignore them, to not show up for them, to not like for your children. Right if you were in Florida, they couldn't even talk about you, right like, so we're telling you, like it

is this culture of silence, of despair, right that. I believe that Republicans are trying to say, So the all the things that have been happened, and they have been about acceptance, but this isn't behavior that should be accepted. So now we're gonna go completely backwards into a direction where not only are we not going to tolerate you, but we're going to set up mechanisms to abuse you. And if you are abused, then that's your problem because

the teacher, the parents now are able to sue. Right So, when you hear the responses from Republicans like De Santa saying, oh, this isn't about homophobia, this is about parents having choice about what their kids learn and what's too soon, what do you say to that, to the too soon, too young, you know, pushback that Republicans and quote unquote conservatives always

want to give. But yet our communities are the one that the children aren't allowed to be children, They're not allowed to be young, right, So what does what does you say to that? I say, trust the babies, right, we have to let them show us where they're going, and we followed them, right they I'll give you an example of a story. This is when one of the kids was in elementary school and they you know, they

were talking about their parents. It's playtime, right, They're talking about their parents, and and you know, PJ says, I have two mommies, and so the kids are like, you have two mommies, And another kid says, I have two mommies too, and another kid says, wow, that must be so cool. And then another kid says, I want two mommies, right, And it was like this amazing. Kids aren't too young for that discussion. That's exactly the discussion that they needed

to have, right Like it was. It wasn't a discussion that was thwarted or made political or squashed by adults, right, one of them. One of the most beautiful things that happens in an educational environment is that you learn about yourself, you learn about other people, You learn what it looks like to navigate your own agency in the context of

someone else's right. You start to learn those things, and it's exciting to learn about lent or quanza right, or hair or even what are those numbers tattooed on your grandma's or arm? Right? That is a part of growing up. Right, it's it's a part of learning how to explore with respect, right,

with curiosity, with openness for your fellow human being. And kids show us where they are, They tell us what you know, what questions they have, right, And I think we have to to pretend that by taking all of that out of the picture, that we're doing them a service. Right, Like is just it's just lies. How do we combat this then? Right? Because what we are seeing is that Texas is vying to be the worst right it is. It is the Republicans Petrie dish, it is their their

test place. Right. They go and they push out the most egregious, disgusting, despicable, racist, homophobic, transphobic legislation that they can possibly do. It gets past because every because Republicans own every single mechanism of power in Florida and then it gets copycatted across the country. Twenty eight Republican governors we have, so we're going to see this twenty seven

more times. Right now, we are seeing, you know, in those very red states, an attack against a assault against trans youth who want to play sports, who want to be in community, the with their you know, fellow classmates and can't be and are being pinpointed and targeted right and saying no, you can't sit with us, right, you can't join us. Right. It's a it's a level of ostralization. So what can we do? What can we do to battle this? What will the task force you know, with

your leadership be doing? Because I believe, Kia, that we are headed into a very dark period of America. Like I don't think that people even understand how dark the times are about to get. If you're feeling destabilized, now, what is coming? Right? Um? And so there's a sense of hopelessness. But I know that your work is about transcending that hopelessness, about doing what can be done, lifting what can be lifting, and moving what can be pushed.

I think, um, I think you're absolutely right, And I think we have to remember that the work is at the local and state level, but it's also at the federal level, right, Like, there's there's work for us to do when we have to keep our eyes right open um for opportunities. So one, you know, it is getting harder and harder for parents to participate right in their school districts and and and in you know, in in

theirs their school districts. My mom lives in Texas, UM and she's raising my nephew, and you know, the PTA meetings are in the morning, right, like when she was working, right, So I think that's an example right of how we've you know, parents, We've got to create more opportunities for parents to be able to engage because having right, having PTA meetings in the morning when most parents are working, particularly working class, right parents of color, We are carving

a whole, right, a whole community of voices out of the conversation about what we want for our children in the school. So even as local as school districts and school PTA meetings, right, encouraging our folk to engage right in an active way. And if we pull the camera back, we're talking about the Equality Act, right, We're talking about vote. The Voting Rights Acts, right, this is about increasing civil rights protections for LGBTQ people, for women, for people of color.

The Voting Rights Act is about expanding right access to the right to vote in our democracy for that same right, you know, a group of folks who are often marginalized and brutalized and silenced at the polls. And so while that's in dire wrecked, I actually think moving forward and getting pieces of legislation path like that on the federal level can have a direct impact on what governors and legislators at the local and state level can and cannot do.

I mean, I hear you, And then at the same time, I'm like, not in this Congress, right, not with this president. I assume sure Biden could do what Obama did and pass a slew of executive orders because you've been you know, cut off at the knees, right and no longer have even the allegiance within your own party to get things

passed for your agenda. So, you know, do you think that one of the problems to here is that for so long, because the LGBTQ community, we've had so many successes at the federal level over the last several years that we haven't been really still paying attention to the state and local levels because we've you know, we've gotten marriage, we got you know, you can't fire us from our jobs.

You got you know, a clu like you have these big lifts that have happened, But has that moved our attention and focus to where the GOP now is, which is at your school board meeting, you know, making sure that your kids can't say the word gay. Don't know who Tony Morrison is, Like, don't you know, like don't know anything about mother Teresa, Like because it's controversial, Like, do you think we've gone to one way and not

enough balance? You know, I think we um. I think so many people don't realize how much is still at stake and how vulnerable we still are. Right, so we did get these bills passed, right, which we're critical you know that for our communities, and people see you know shows on TV. Right, we've had a you know, an out gay man run for president, right, Like you've got two queer black women's on a podcast right talking about

politics out loud and proud. And I think sometimes people then they create this narrative that, oh, we're fine yeah, yeah, we've we've broken that ceiling. We're good not realizing that over forty percent of the kids on the street right now identify as LGBTQ. Right that couples who identify as gay, right, lesbian couples can still go to work, be protected on the job, and get kicked out of their homes right like, not like be told by a landlord that we don't

want your kind here anymore. Right now, what we're talking about is, Okay, you've got a stable home, you got a job you can't be fired from, but your children are being taught to shame feeling shamed of you and their communities. There is no one silver bullet. Right. We have to continue at the local state level, keep pushing

at the federal level. But it's also about culture change, right, which is so much about what you're doing is pulling back and saying, hey, the narrative isn't done, We aren't finished. There are far too many of us that are still falling through the cracks, like these young transgender and non binary folks of color who are getting beat up and murdered in the streets. We still have work to do here, and this kind of work that Governor de Santis is

doing is culture work. Like, let's not get it twisted. It's not just policy chain that he is attempting. It is culture change work. He is trying to affect an entire generation by putting something like this, you know on the books, you know, you're so right. And the reality is is that the Republicans and the GOP have been doing culture work for the last forty years, right, like, that is their work. Their work is not actually to strengthen, you know, the economy, to strengthen our agencies or our

social safety nets. It has been to consistently model America after this white puritan religious, white evangelical Christian patriarchy. That's what that's what it is. And they still pick and choose. Right again, love thy neighbor, Oh, but not that neighbor. Oh but not that neighbor. You can hate that neighbor, you can bully that neighbor, you can hurt that neighbor. Right,

but you don't even that's not real. It's not even intended to be in the eyes of spiritual right growth, right or no, no, no, this is this is it is about patriarchy, and it is um nationalism, and it is um, you said it in the beginning. It is an attempt to keep us in our place, yeah, and ashamed and silent. And I think you know, for me, in the space that I occupy, the the work is to do anything but be silent. It is to do anything,

but strength is to do anything. But you know, believe that I am and my life is in my community is something to be ashamed or embarrassed by, something to be hidden. Well, because there's power when we when we rebuke shame. There's power when we refuse to be silent. And that's ultimately what they're afraid of. It's the power of what happens when we refuse to be ashamed and

refuse to be silent. And remember, oh, actually I do have power here, and what happens when I start to combine that in the community, right Like, that's a that is a power. We saw it in Georgia, Danielle. That's exactly what they're afraid of. How do we prevent whatever happened there from happening in any of any of our states? And that's why we're seeing this level of hostility right now against our communities. You know, I will say, as I you know, made the connection between the Obama years

and reconstruction. I just pray that the next one hundred years isn't Jim crow esquire, I pray that the next one hundred years that follow where we are is not that dark and horrific place of outward abuse right towards people who are black, who are brown, who are Muslim, who are trans, who are gay, who are anything, who are Jewish, who you know. I mean, it's just there's just so much, Kiara. I really thank you for the work that you continue to do, for the work that

the Task Force has been doing. And you know, I know, I sadly know that we are going to need your voice now more than we ever have, because I think that what this was, what this is that is happening in Florida is a shot across the bow, is the saying that like you thought you were comfortable, dear queer folks, right like you thought that you were okay, you are not, and we are still coming for you. So it is with great appreciation that I say, I'm happy that you're

a warrior on our side. I am. I'm happy to be on the front lines with you and so many others. We're not gonna take it lying down, and we're gonna keep rebuking his shame and refuse silence. I appreciate you, and I hope you come back soon. Absolutely, that is it for me today. Dear friends on woke f as always, power to the people and to all the people power, get woke and stay woke as fuck.