Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
16: Make Me Wanna Holla
60 Plays4 years ago
Seeing Black people being killed in the streets, often at the hands of white police officers who face no consequences, has become more than tiring. More than stressful. More than heartbreaking. We have to find a way to extend the fight beyond social media. Mindful Musings is now Geneva Says - more at brittanygeneva dot com.
Recommended
Transcript
Opening Excuses and Campaign Talk
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello, hello, it is.
00:00:03
Speaker
Brittany Geneva back with another episode of Mindful Musings. Look, you know, I start every episode with my excuses about why it's taken me so long. You guys, I mean, you guys have seen, I like launched a whole campaign for public office. I'll get into that more in a minute, but you know, I've been a bit busy, but I could not,
Reflections on Systemic Racism and Injustice
00:00:33
Speaker
not do this episode today just based on all of the absolute madness that's been happening over the past
00:00:46
Speaker
few weeks and really the past whole life, you know, of being black in America. But obviously, in particular, we're thinking about the deaths of Breonna Taylor and of Ahmaud Arbery and of George Floyd and seeing how those came about, feeling how unbelievably familiar those things feel.
00:01:12
Speaker
and just trying to wrap our head around the fact that we currently have someone in office who is not only completely uncaring to those things, but has actually created an environment to allow those things to flourish and has created an environment that actually is promoting and encouraging violence and hatred against black people.
00:01:39
Speaker
the perfect storm of absolute chaos and hatred and racism.
00:01:46
Speaker
that has led us to where we are now, not to mention, you know, just trying to survive a global pandemic that is disproportionately impacting black people because of the systemic racism that has been put in place that has unfortunately led to many black people having the underlying conditions that exacerbate that disease.
00:02:14
Speaker
So, you know, it's just been a little rough past few weeks, past few months, past few decades and centuries of life. And one thing that I can't help but just keep focusing on and going back to is how familiar this is. I remember
Personal Memories and Media Response
00:02:43
Speaker
like it was yesterday, actually, when Trayvon Martin was killed. I remember the feelings I had, the ways I reacted, the things that I said and the things that I expressed and the journal entries that I wrote and the tears that I cried. I remember
00:03:10
Speaker
Michael Brown I remember Eric Garner I remember when I was in news for anybody who doesn't know I started my career in journalism and I was in news from 2010 to 2014 so I covered each of the men that I mentioned I covered each of their murders because that's what it was regardless of whether or not someone was convicted and
00:03:34
Speaker
I was in the newsroom. I was the one that told my executive producer, we need to be covering Trayvon Martin more because it is a firestorm on social media that is being almost completely ignored by mainstream media. And she doubted me until we finally took there was a live event or a live press conference or something that she decided to run live. And it was the highest rated portion of the day.
00:04:02
Speaker
So then she said, oh, people actually care about this. Of course she was white. I was the one in the newsroom writing the A block for anybody who doesn't know that's the top of the show. The A block of every newscast focused on Michael Brown. So I was like deeply entrenched in the news for weeks because I had to write the top story every night. I was in the newsroom when Eric Garner, when Eric Garner's
00:04:32
Speaker
killer was let free, not indicted by the grand jury. And I burst into tears in the middle of the newsroom. And anybody who knows me knows I do not express emotion in that manner. Like I defy anybody to tell me if they've ever seen me cry because I just don't do that openly. I do not
00:04:57
Speaker
I just don't. And for better or for worse, my therapist and I are working through that, but I don't express emotion like that in a way that people can see. So the fact that I felt that emotion so strongly to the point where I could not hold it back at work, like literally sitting next to my boss was something
00:05:22
Speaker
that just completely overwhelmed me and that's actually part of the reason why i left news because i was like this is too taxing on my nerves so i i remember all of the feelings all of the emotions all of the anger all of the protests all of the hashtags all of the moments and of course i named those three because
00:05:44
Speaker
You know, it's very significant just in my story of having covered them, but there are too many to name, too many Freddie Gray's, too many Atatiana's, too many Sandra's, like there are so many people to name that I can't even give each of them the time that they deserve.
00:06:05
Speaker
But the point is each time we as a people have the same reactions which are very reasonable.
Looting as Protest: A Perspective
00:06:14
Speaker
We are outraged on social media. We are posting. We are protesting. We are marching. We are sometimes looting, which I am perfectly okay with. Let me just take a detour right now to say that I agree wholeheartedly with Martin Luther King. Looting is the voice of the unheard and that is frustration coming out and that is anger coming out. And if you don't want your target to be looted, stop killing black people. Problem solved.
00:06:43
Speaker
And Fuck Target, a multinational corporation that has insurance on top of insurance to cover every single property damage that was made. So I could give two entire less fucks about Target and anything in there, as long as the employees are able to collect some unemployment now because they can't work there.
00:07:03
Speaker
Who cares? Who the fuck cares about a Walgreens, a Target, a CVS, whatever the fuck got messed up? I hope somebody got in there, got a few items that they needed, and the point was made. That if you want to keep you, the state, the government, the police, want to keep disregarding black lives, then fuck it. I'll disregard this fucking...
00:07:24
Speaker
store and take my flat screen TV. I don't give a fuck loot because I will never care about a piece of property more than I care about a life and certainly more than I care about a black life that was snuffed out for absolutely no reason whatsoever. So loot away. I do not care. And if looting bothers you more than the murders of black people, that tells you all you need to know.
00:07:54
Speaker
And if you are black and you are coming down on looters, I encourage you to get rid of that thing in you that's still subscribing to some respectability politics. Because whether or not we loot is not going to impact our outcome. Had we not ever looted, things would still be the way that they are. So it's really not helpful to try to fall in line because we're still getting killed in the street every day by police officers who are not
00:08:24
Speaker
getting punished. So I think about this constantly.
Frustration and the Need for Systemic Change
00:08:29
Speaker
I am filled with frustration because I'm so active.
00:08:35
Speaker
You guys know I have always volunteered in some capacity. When I was in Atlanta, I volunteered for an organization that tried to get wrongfully convicted people out of jail. I now am an extremely active volunteer with the Urban League focused on economic development and civil rights. I have always
00:08:58
Speaker
Done some level of community service some level of just trying to help people out because I've been so blessed I feel like Who what type of person am I am I to be as blessed as I am and not give back in any possible way that I'm able so I I
00:09:18
Speaker
do so much and I still fucking sometimes feel like, for what? I literally sometimes feel that way and it's so difficult to acknowledge that and and angers me and hurts me to even think about it because I'm like, I don't even know what to do to impact this thing that's happening every single day.
00:09:43
Speaker
In 2013, the Trayvon Martin, you know, emotions and reactions are the exact same as the 2020 George, George Lloyd reactions. There's like all these years passing and no improvement. Oh, we finally have body cameras. Okay. They just turn them off or ignore them. You know,
00:10:09
Speaker
There's so much more accountability now. We see things, you know, these officers know that now they're under a microscope, but they don't care because the wall of blue and like all of the systems in this country are set up to protect them, to protect the gang of police officers, because that's what they are. They're a fucking gang who goes around killing people with absolutely no punishment whatsoever.
00:10:31
Speaker
I, for me personally, I'm far more scared of them than any actual, you know, than any gang that would actually be identified as one that might be, you know, around my neighborhood. I ain't never been bothered by nobody around here, you know? But the police scare me a lot more. So that's a gang in my opinion. And they have been completely insulated from any type of punishment. And I literally am like, what can we do?
00:11:00
Speaker
I don't want to disrespect social media outrage. I don't want to disrespect hashtag activism because it does have some effect in the short term to cause an arrest or cause a charge or cause a firing in that moment. And I don't disrespect what that means. It's something and it matters. But what can we do that's actually a long term change?
00:11:29
Speaker
What can we do that actually seven years from now? Well, I'm not going to be having the same thoughts and feelings that I was having seven years ago around Trayvon Martin. Like what, what can we do that's actually going to move our situation forward? And that is a question I ask myself every day and
00:11:54
Speaker
That's why, part of the reason why, even in my, again, my small ways that I try to find to give back, part of the reason why I did decide to run for this position.
Running for Office: A Personal Decision
00:12:06
Speaker
If anybody didn't already see, I'm running for advisory neighborhood commissioner, which is a super duper local elected position in DC. And basically your job,
00:12:20
Speaker
should you win is to represent your neighborhood in any decisions that are being made. So if they're going to bring some new development here or some type of service comes to the neighborhood, making sure that the people's voices are heard, making sure that the people's needs are met if more resources are needed here, calling the people to make sure, hey, we need more XYZ.
00:12:49
Speaker
because I'm hearing this directly from my constituents. And part of the reason why even at such a small local level, I decided to do it is because the person who asked me to do it basically told me about how he and his organization were motivated by Trayvon Martin, by that situation, by the exact same feelings I have and had at that time and still have that
00:13:18
Speaker
Not enough is changing. And he told me our goal ultimately is to cultivate a group of amazing candidates for future political office who will get into the situations to actually be able to change policy and change legislation.
00:13:42
Speaker
At the end of the day, I can't think of any other way that's actually going to be able to drive a lasting change, not just a change today to get one officer arrested, but a change long term to potentially change the way officers are hired and trained and change the way the system is set up so that officers and district attorneys aren't so closely linked so that district attorneys can be unbiased
00:14:11
Speaker
in considering whether to charge them so that there are a whole new set of accountability and eyes on officers to make sure that they can't just run around and kill people freely on camera and still not get arrested.
00:14:29
Speaker
Outside of policy, outside of laws being made, what else can we do? I literally would love to know if anybody has any other thoughts. Share them with me, please. But from where I sit, the only solution that I can possibly think of is policy, is legislation, is a law.
00:14:52
Speaker
And the only way that those types of changes can be made is if people who are angry and people who are tired of it like me get into the system and try to impact it. Now look, as an ANC,
00:15:09
Speaker
I won't be changing one law in the District of Columbia. But shit, who knows if I move up to being a member of the D.C. council or if I move up to being a U.S. representative for D.C., even though they're not always voting members, whole nother issue, taxation was at representation. But as and even in the fight for D.C. statehood, which actually does go away toward helping D.C. be able to participate in more lawmaking,
00:15:39
Speaker
Those are the types of things that can actually make lasting change.
00:15:47
Speaker
I'm meditating on that. I'm thinking on that and praying on that. What does that mean for my life? Because I am a firm believer that things that fire you up and things that make you extremely angry and things that make you emotional are placed on your heart are things that God puts in you because he doesn't want you to ignore that feeling and that calling.
00:16:14
Speaker
And for years, for almost a decade now, I have been fired up about this at level 10. I've never calmed down. I've never been OK. Each instance is a brand new instance of, what the fuck is this? I'm pissed off.
00:16:36
Speaker
And what I mean, I need to do something like what what can I do other than be angry?
Policy and Legislation for Change
00:16:43
Speaker
Because just being angry and tweeting about it is not going to make a lasting change. And I am trying to figure out how to make a lasting change.
00:16:53
Speaker
So I think about this all the time. There was a time in my life when I was even considering going to get a master's in public policy so that I could potentially have more impact on policymaking. And I didn't obviously did not do that. But it's something that always sort of lingers in the back of my mind. And I just don't.
00:17:20
Speaker
I don't know how else we can do anything except from a policy standpoint. And if you don't want to be a policymaker, because obviously that's a whole life commitment, what else can we do to encourage policy? Is it supporting, like how can we support the policymakers that are already in positions to be able to help us? How can we
00:17:43
Speaker
make sure to remove the policymakers that are not trying to help us. Like what can we do that keeps coming back to policy and legislation that actually makes a lasting impact?
00:17:59
Speaker
That's the kind of stuff I wanna start thinking about more. I want us all to start thinking about more because that's the only answer. That's the only answer that seems realistic. I mean, the other answer would be like, look, we just don't need to pick up and move our ass to Ghana and start over there or find a new place to make a black Wall Street and see if we can keep the white people out. I mean, I don't know how realistic those things are, although I am willing to entertain the conversation.
00:18:28
Speaker
But what else can we do?
Economic Strategies for Social Change
00:18:32
Speaker
I was having a conversation with my friend yesterday thinking about one way to at least get more respect on our, you know, some put some more respect on our name as blacks to really figure out how we can better mobilize our economic power. We have such extremely important buying power and
00:18:57
Speaker
are withdrawing our support from any company or any product would fuck up the product. So what can we stop doing? What can we stop buying? What can we stop supporting and make our voices heard that way? Somebody tweeted today, what if we stopped celebrating July 4th and only celebrated Juneteenth? And I fuck with that the super duper long way.
00:19:22
Speaker
And I love July 4th, just from a barbecue and fireworks, like two of my favorite things. But I would happily skip both of them if I was joined by my brothers and sisters across the nation to not buy into or support a holiday that celebrates a country that kills us. So what if
00:19:46
Speaker
We didn't what if we had some type of economic blackout or social media blackout or something on July 4th and instead poured all of the energy into Juneteenth and did something on that day to show that that's where we're going to put our energy. So I'm thinking about these things all the time, just trying to think through what can actually make a little bit more of a lasting impact and what can make our voices
00:20:14
Speaker
more heard beyond social media because again I don't want to belittle social media it is vital but I am concerned that social media tends to be where we stop it is a lot of talk and a lot of hashtags and a lot of posts and a lot of Martin Luther King quotes and a lot of videos from
00:20:33
Speaker
Malcolm X, both of which I posted in the last few days, so I'm including myself, a lot of posts, and then it stops. And I am desperate. I am beyond desperate to figure out how to get past social media.
Beyond Social Media: Action for Reform
00:20:51
Speaker
That is literally like keeping me up at night, literally. How can we get past social media activism and hashtags?
00:21:14
Speaker
of Michael Brown. It is a carbon copy of things that we have already experienced. The same situation, the same thing caught on camera and nothing is done. The same lack of arrest being made, the same looting, the same visuals, the same bullshit. So that means the last time it didn't, we didn't solve anything. The last time this happened and all we did was get on social media, it actually didn't change anything.
00:21:27
Speaker
is not enough, nothing is changing.
00:21:43
Speaker
We have to figure out how to do something beyond social media, or else we can be assured that next year and the year after that and the year after that, that the same shit is going to continue. The same shit is going to be happening. No matter who the president is, no matter who is in the Senate, no matter who is in the House of Representatives,
00:22:06
Speaker
If we stop our action at social media, we will not win. We have to dedicate ourselves as a people to figuring out what else there is that we can do. It is incumbent upon us to put our heads together and do more than tweet.
00:22:33
Speaker
It just is. It's not fair, but it just is. And I hear everyone and don't disagree with everyone saying it's not up to only black people to fight this fight. Every single person who claims to be an ally of blacks needs to be involved in the fight. But one thing I keep learning over and over again is that I cannot rely on anyone but myself.
00:23:04
Speaker
I will not rely on white people because they are not reliable here. So I will not rely on them to fight our fight. Should they be alongside us? Absolutely. But will I rely on them to be? Absolutely not. What can we do as a people? We as black people have enough collective power to do something ourselves. So what is that thing going to be?
00:23:30
Speaker
We have to figure it out. We have to figure it out now. It is, it cannot be tomorrow. We have to figure it out. So I have all these ideas and these sort of thought starters and things that I've thrown out, but I'd love anybody else's thoughts on like how to build on that. What can we do beyond social media? It's policy to me, it's some type of
00:23:56
Speaker
you know, blackout or economic, you know, something that shows our impact, things that really go deeper than talking. So.
00:24:08
Speaker
Oh man, I'm way over time.
Episode Wrap-up and Future Content
00:24:10
Speaker
24 minutes. Oh my God. Thank you guys for sticking with me. You know, I try to max out at 20, but obviously this gets me fired up and I could probably talk for 24 more minutes, but I will spare you that. So I had to get off my chest lately. I'm like, dang, my podcasts aren't even funny anymore. Like I used to come on here and be cracking jokes. You know, I used to get on here.
00:24:33
Speaker
Now I'm just on here angry every week. So I'm going to try next week or not next week. I mean, guys, let's be realistic. Next time I do a podcast, I will try to see if I can infuse a little bit more light into it because I don't want them to all become like very heavy. So but I just had to get this off my chest. I hope you can understand. I think you can understand given everything that's going on.
00:25:01
Speaker
So again, this is Mindful Musings. I'm Brittany Geneva. Please connect with me online, Brittany underscore Geneva. And I would definitely love to continue this conversation. And I will talk to you again soon.