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2 year Anniversary Show: Podcast Journey, Election Reflections & Hope image

2 year Anniversary Show: Podcast Journey, Election Reflections & Hope

E181 · Unsolicited Perspectives
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In this special anniversary episode of Unsolicited Perspectives, host Bruce Anthony celebrates two years of the podcast, reflecting on its journey from humble beginnings to reaching over 14,000 YouTube subscribers. What started as a personal outlet born from an impulsive need to share his thoughts has grown into a thriving platform, thanks to the support of a dedicated audience. 

Bruce takes listeners behind the scenes, sharing candid stories about the podcast’s origins, the challenges of starting with basic equipment, and his drive to keep pushing forward. Alongside these reflections, he addresses the recent election results with a mix of disappointment and resilience, openly discussing his reactions to Donald Trump's re-election and its implications for American society.

Despite the current political climate, Bruce encourages listeners to stay hopeful and active. Drawing on historical figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and cultural references like Star Wars, he highlights the enduring power of unity, community, and continued activism at the local level. This episode is both a celebration of the past two years and a call to action, reminding us all of the importance of staying engaged, hopeful, and committed to positive change.

Tune in for a heartfelt conversation on resilience, hope, and the power of community as Bruce looks back on two transformative years of Unsolicited Perspectives. #election2024 #stayresilient #hopeinaction 

#kamalaharris #unsolicitedperspectives 

🔔 Hit that subscribe and notification button for weekly content that bridges the past to the future with passion and perspective. Thumbs up if we’re hitting the right notes! Let’s get the conversation rolling—drop a comment and let’s chat about today’s topics.

For the real deal, uncensored and all, swing by our Patreon at patreon.com/unsolicitedperspectives for exclusive episodes and more. 

Thank you for tuning into Unsolicited Perspectives with Bruce Anthony. Let's continue the conversation in the comments and remember, stay engaged, stay informed, and always keep an open mind. See you in the next episode! 

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to Unsolicited Perspectives

00:34 Celebrating Two Years of Unsolicited Perspectives

01:22 The Impulsive Start of the Show

05:19 Growth and Audience Engagement

08:20 Personal Reflections and Thank You

15:53 Discussing the Presidential Election

25:12 Trump's Controversial Policies

25:51 Election Day Reactions

26:45 Analyzing the Election Results

29:35 The Fear of Losing Power

39:18 Emotionally Coping and Supporting Friends

42:42 A Message of Hope

51:17 Final Thoughts and Farewell

Follow the Audio Podcast:

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unsolicited-perspectives/id1653664166?mt=2&ls=1

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/32BCYx7YltZYsW9gTe9dtd

www.unsolictedperspectives.com

Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io

Produced By White Hot

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Transcript

Introduction to 'Unsolicited Perspectives'

00:00:10
Speaker
Welcome. First of all, welcome. This is Unsolicited Perspectives. I'm your host, Bruce Anthony, here to lead the conversation in important events and topics that are shaping today's society. Join the conversation and follow us wherever you get your audio podcasts. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch our video podcasts. Rate, review, like, comment, share, share with your friends, share with your family. Hell, even share with your enemies.
00:00:32
Speaker
On today's episode, we're celebrating two years of unsolicited perspectives. I'll be talking about the election, and then I'll be talking about hope. But that's enough of the intro.

Reflecting on Two Years of Podcasting

00:00:44
Speaker
Let's get to the show.
00:00:49
Speaker
Ladies and gentlemen, today, November 8th, is two years to the day that I launched the show, this podcast. And I am going to get into the election. I'm filming this on two separate days. I have not looked at the results yet. I haven't been able to bring myself to do it.
00:01:15
Speaker
I will look at the results and I will talk about that tomorrow when I record the other part of it this episode. But allow me to be a little self-absorbed, a little self-indulgent, and also thank you, the audience. I am an impulsive person. This is a good and a bad trait about myself.
00:01:37
Speaker
As you guys have listened and watched for however long you've been following us, I slowly but surely have been opening myself up to let you know who I am as a person. I'm not typically that open. People close to me will tell you I don't really share the the stuff that's really inside of me. But on the show, I i have.
00:02:01
Speaker
And the show was started because of an an impulsive movement. it Yes, I had been thinking about doing something as far back as 2005 when I recorded an internet radio show for the wrestling company that I co-owned with two other gentlemen. And I thought to myself that me and my brother and sister would could do this because of our personalities. Call it hubris.
00:02:29
Speaker
call it whatever you want, but I thought that the three of us have something to say, one, that's fairly intelligent, unique perspectives, and kind of engaging because we're all humorous. I am The least humorous out of all three of us, my sister is the next in line, but my brother is actually the funniest. And no, he will never come on the show. And I understand that. This is not his cup of tea. Me and my sister are the ones that will put ourselves out there and and make ourselves visible. My brother likes to play in the background, but no doubt about it. He definitely helps with the show by giving us ideas and things of that nature. But I'm impulsive. This started,
00:03:19
Speaker
Because I was going through something personally and no, I'm not going to share what I was going through personally, but I was going through something personally and I needed an outlet. I needed something to occupy myself while I was dealing with my personal issues and It just kind of dawned on me, why don't I just start the podcast? Let's just do it. So I bought this rinky dink equipment from Amazon and I called my sister up and I said, hey, I'm going to do this podcast. Will you do it with me?
00:03:52
Speaker
And the first she was like, I don't know about this. And I said, OK, well, my idea is that you do a show with me once a week for only an hour, 45 minutes to an hour. That's what I said. 45 minutes to an hour, you do a show with me once a week. And I'll do another show on another day of the week that will either be just me giving my you unsolicited perspectives, my unique thoughts,
00:04:16
Speaker
ideas about life and things that are going on. Or I'll do interviews, because I'm really fascinated by people, especially people who are not like me. I love to learn about people and where they come from and their culture. And that's just who I am. And my sister said, OK. And as she said repeatedly on this show several times, she didn't think that it was going to last that long. She doesn't really understand. She understands her brother.
00:04:46
Speaker
but not that ambitious side of me. Once I start something and I set a goal, I become incredibly obsessive about accomplishing that goal. Am I really good at being introspective and and recognizing the journey of accomplishing the goal? No.
00:05:05
Speaker
There's always a new goal to accomplish. I'm i'm working on that. But I'm impulsive. I started this show on an impulse. And two years later, here we are. And it's really because of you.

Commitment to Integrity in Content

00:05:18
Speaker
We've grown in a span of a year and a half from zero YouTube subscribers to, I don't know, the cor over 14,000.
00:05:31
Speaker
And I don't know where we're going to end up in a year. We can't end up anywhere between 15,000 and 20,000 subscribers by the end of this year. We had a little over a thousand at the beginning of the year to jump basically a thousand subscribers on average a month. It's pretty cool. Now, are there people out there that are jumping higher? Yes, I don't compare myself to other people. There are other people out there that had different ah It's different things that they talk about, right? What I talk about, what my sister talk about, and the people that I interview sometimes are going to ruffle some feathers. Not sometimes, a lot of times. They're going to ruffle some feathers and it's going to turn people off because these are the conversations that people oftentimes don't want to have because they're uncomfortable. I lean into the discomfort. One time,
00:06:18
Speaker
my goddaughter asked me because she came to visit me. And after my divorce, I moved away from the the city that that me and my ex were living in for about six, seven months. And then I moved right back into the first community that we moved into when we got engaged. And my goddaughter was like, why would you do this?
00:06:42
Speaker
You are in the process of getting a divorce. Obviously, you know it was the right thing to do, but not something that you necessarily wanted to do. Sometimes the right thing to do is not necessarily the thing that we want to do, but the thing that we know that we have to do. And my daughter asked, why? Why would you move back to the community where you're constantly reminded of the life that you used to have? And I said, sometimes you got to put yourself in the fire.
00:07:08
Speaker
That's, to me, the way I heal and move forward with things. So I threw myself into this fire and didn't really have a clear plan of where I was going to go with this. Remember, we started with just audio. The first 11 episodes, 9, 10, 11 episodes, is strictly audio. And then I had the crazy idea, yes, I want to go on YouTube. I want to do video.
00:07:36
Speaker
and I researched it and I you know got some equipment and told my sister, okay, this is what we're going to do now. We're going to do video because I want a video and audio platform. I want to reach as many people as I possibly can because by throwing it out there and trying to reach as many people as you possibly can, maybe you affect somebody. Maybe you help somebody. But once again, it was all started on an impulse.
00:08:01
Speaker
and then throwing myself into the fire. And like I said, I'm an impulsive person. Sometimes it works out for me. Sometimes it doesn't. I don't regret who I am. I like who I am. I really, it took me a long time in my life to like the person that I am. And the reason why it took me a long time is because I necessarily didn't like the person that I was.
00:08:26
Speaker
I was bigoted. I was homophobic. I was transphobic. I'm talking about in my younger years. And over the last 20 years, there's been growth. There's been growth because of my interests and people to ask questions, to have these conversations, to learn, to realize just how ignorant I was. If I can do that personally, maybe by bringing people on the show or talking about it with my sister or just talking about it when I'm on the show by myself,
00:08:55
Speaker
I can help another person grow. It doesn't have to be this mass thing where I'm moving the people. That's not my goal. My goal is to help people, however many, however many few. Just give your different perspective.
00:09:17
Speaker
And the hubris in me believes that I have a way to connect with people to think that i to just get them to think. Just get them to stop and observe and look at another perspective.
00:09:32
Speaker
And so two years, man, not a lot of podcasts make it that long. And it's really, you know, I i i said but the number for YouTube. It's also the audio, the audio podcast all over the world. This is extremely overwhelming for me that people actually want to listen to me, want to watch me because they think they that I have something to say, whether they agree with it or not.
00:09:57
Speaker
They want to at least listen and watch to hear what I say or to hear my perspective on something or my sister's perspective or the people that I interview. their perspective, and that's kinda dope. And I don't know where we're gonna be in two years. This is what I can promise you guys, the audience. This is what this is the one thing that I can promise you guys, the audience. This is my show. I make the decisions. It will always be that way. I will never be influenced by outside factors, no matter if they're investors or there are other platforms that are going to be showing the show. I will not sell out.
00:10:35
Speaker
I am going to do the content that I want to do. I am going to continue on to do it with my heart and nobody is going to change it about me. It doesn't matter how much money you throw at me. I am principled in this regard.

Reaction to Trump's Reelection

00:10:50
Speaker
I am not going to change or compromise who I am as a person.
00:10:55
Speaker
just for money damn sure not for fame because i don't want to be famous and i know this sounds hypocritical you're like bruce you have your own show you put yourself out there of course you want to be famous no i don't no i do not i want my private life, okay? No, I do not want to be famous. i don't want I like being able to go places and people don't know who I am. I specifically seek out places where people don't know me. I will find bars and restaurants where I don't know the bar tips and stuff and like that just only because I've lived in this area for so long that
00:11:31
Speaker
um kind of people know me just be not from the show, just from living in the area for so long. And I used to be in the restaurant industry and I've done other things and fitness and things like that. So I know a lot of people.
00:11:45
Speaker
in this area, and it's sometimes difficult to go someplace, because I don't really want to have a conversation. What I want to do is people watch and then decide if I want to have a conversation. I don't really like people who like initiating conversations with me. I'm kind of selfish like that. I just want to talk when I want to talk. And no, so it's not about becoming famous at all. At the heart of me, the Superman complex, I just want to help people. I just want to help people. And my hubris thinks that I can.
00:12:15
Speaker
But I have the humility to say thank you. Thank you for giving me the encouragement to keep going. Thank you for giving me the encouragement to open up. Thank you for giving me the encouragement to consistently learn and be myself. So often people will try to hide who they truly are. I i am who I am. I don't hide who I am.
00:12:44
Speaker
i won't I won't do it. I like me. I'm comfortable with me. And doesn't everybody want to be comfortable with themselves? Doesn't everybody want to be safe in themselves? And you guys, the audience, you've given me that gift. This, starting on the impulse, starting on the whim, I've learned, I've grown.
00:13:09
Speaker
not just with my sister, because we have grown together, learning more about each other. Our relationship has gotten even tighter, and we was tight before this. So our relationship has gotten even tighter. And the interviews that I do, the people that come on here that teach me things, I bring people specifically on to talk about specific things because I'm interested in the topics that they're coming on to talk about. And I want to learn about that topic, and I want to share that knowledge that they have with you, the audience, because I'm going to assume that if you're listening or watching the show, that you wanna grow and learn as well. I'm going to assume that if you listen to watching and watching to the show, you've had the same temperament in life as far as trying to become a better person,
00:13:58
Speaker
that I do, that is the reason why you watch or listen. Or you could just hate, watch, and listen. I mean, that's also a possibility. I do those things as well. But no, I am forever grateful, forever humbled that you guys listen and follow and share with your friends, family, and hell, even your enemies. Like, you guys really do when i and I get that.
00:14:24
Speaker
for every troll or butt or just angry person that sends me a comment and there's a lot. If it's 10 to one, if it's 10 bad comments to that one good comment, I know that that one person I just gave a perspective to that maybe they didn't think about.
00:14:47
Speaker
And in that regard, they're learning and they're growing. And that just brings nothing but joy to my heart. It really does. So with all this long-winded intro being said, I truly, truly want to thank you. I truly, truly want to thank you for rocking with us.
00:15:09
Speaker
And we gonna keep going. Because I'm gonna start this thing now. And I keep moving the goal post. I don't typically do that in my life. Typically I said set a goal. I accomplish that goal and it's on to a different goal and something completely different. I keep moving the goal post for this podcast. And we're gonna continue to keep moving that goal post.
00:15:30
Speaker
And I'm going to continue to keep shattering my wildest dreams of what this could be. And it's shattering all because of you. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
00:15:53
Speaker
Okay. Let's get to the presidential election. So, as I said, I recorded the first segment yesterday, which was Wednesday, the day after the election when it was announced that Donald Trump had won reelection or he's going to be the 47th president. I don't know if it's actually reelection, but regardless, I took the day off yesterday. I knew that I was gonna be taking a day off yesterday, months ago. If you've been listening and watching this show, you know I had every intention on taking the day after election off because if you've been paying attention, the election has been on our minds for the last three months. And I had been telling my sister and anybody who would listen what the outcome was going to be,
00:16:50
Speaker
I didn't know if I was just saying that because I believed it or because I was trying to tamper my hopes that I wouldn't be let's let down. It was probably a little bit of both. But I remained steadfast in the belief that there was no way in the hell this country was ever going to elect a black woman as president.
00:17:17
Speaker
And I didn't really get into the specifics of why I just kept making that very specific statement that this country was not going to elect a black woman to be president. I'm going to get into why I said that, but I want to talk to everybody out there that's heartbroken. And in the third segment, you know, I put on my writer's hat and I wrote a little essay that I'm gonna read to you guys that will hopefully make you feel a little bit better. But I understand the pain that everybody's feeling, I'm feeling it too. It was legitimately hope that was surrounding Kamala Harris and it felt like the bad guys won. And in this round of this fight, they did win.
00:18:14
Speaker
heavily. They have control of the House, the Senate, and the presidency. they are There's a conservative Supreme Court. They got executive, legislative, and judiciary branches of the government. I don't know what's going to happen over the next four years.

Fear and Support for Trump

00:18:32
Speaker
I have no clue. But I did know that he was going to win this election. And I know that hurts a lot of people when I say that.
00:18:45
Speaker
And it hurts me to have to say that. But I'm cursed with something. And i and this is gonna sound, this is gonna come off as me sounding, I don't know, conceited or what have you. But I'm cursed with the knowledge of history. And what I mean by that is, thinking out there really hard, has there ever been a time America has done the right thing willingly?
00:19:14
Speaker
Willingly, think about that. There has been a fight for civil rights since the foundation of this country. Some marginalized group has been fighting for equal rights, whether it be black Americans, whether it be women, whether it be Asian Americans, whether it be Latino Americans, Irish, Italian.
00:19:38
Speaker
ah What am I forgetting here? Native Americans, Native Americans, right? And people of the LGBTQ plus community. And every time people gain their rights, it was a fight because this country does not believe in equality. It doesn't. It's a capitalistic company, a country, yeah company, right? The US is a capitalistic company.
00:20:09
Speaker
They were teaching us in the 80s, greed is good.
00:20:16
Speaker
So no, I did not believe that this country was going to do the right thing willingly. They have to come dragging along. And I know what a lot of people are gonna say. People are gonna give instances where the country did the right thing willingly. And you guys might start with the American Revolution.
00:20:37
Speaker
that America did the right thing willingly. I'd contend that the colonies actually were wrong in that. Let me explain. The British had financed the Seven Years' War, which included the French and Indian War, the War of 1812. The British and the French fighting each other. The colonies was in between. And most of the time, colonies was on the British side.
00:21:03
Speaker
and And then they would turn. Sometimes they'd be on the French side. Then they would turn on the French. And that's how you got the French-Canadian war. I mean, it was a lot of it was a lot of turning by the colonies going back and forth joining sides. But the British had funded seven years worth of war. And they were like, yo, y'all going to have to start paying your fair share. So we going to put these taxes on sugar and stamps.
00:21:26
Speaker
we're gonna put these taxes on y'all. And the colonies had a bit of a point by saying, yo, you guys are taxing us and we don't have no representation in the parliament. But the British is like, we funded you guys to even get there in the first place. So we're going to pay for your wars. Fund you to get there, pay for your wars, and you wanna see at the table too? What are y'all bringing to the table? It got the colonies their freedom,
00:21:57
Speaker
But technically, the colonies were in the wrong, okay? So there's that. Another example people regard to at me. What about World War II? I've already explained this. What about it? What about it?
00:22:12
Speaker
american and All the American men joined the war effort and in women helped out on the steels. No doubt about it, I give a lot of credit to the men and women that joined the fight. The men going off the war, the women holding this country down, which by the way, don't women often do, right? But to say that America did the right thing,
00:22:39
Speaker
They would be wrong because what America did was defend itself. America was attacked, so America joined the fight. If America had done the right thing, they would have joined the fight before the attack had ever happened because the right thing would have been is to contest Germany and the Holocaust. But America wanted to stay out of it. They wanted to stay out of it until They were attacked. So no, they didn't do the right thing. and Another thing that and people might say, were they elected Barack Obama? All right. Okay. But they fought like hell to get him out of our office. Go back and do some research of the election of 2012.
00:23:30
Speaker
There were so many people that were so ah sure that Obama would not get reelected, would not have a second term and that Mitt Romney was going to be the man. And when he got slaughtered, they were legitimately rejected to the point where somebody like Donald Trump could rise up and become president. This country has never done the right thing willingly.
00:23:59
Speaker
Notice the the choice of words I'm using there. Willingly, they have never done the right thing. They fought against every group of people who have seeked equal rights in this country. And they just did it again. They just did it again. They just told of women, you don't have control over your body. We have control over it. And guess what? There wasn't all many. It's a lot of women, too.
00:24:30
Speaker
So we can't say this is all men. You could be upset of men. you Look, you could be upset of white people. You could be upset of men. You could be upset of women. You could be upset of black men. You could be upset of Latino men. You could be upset at all of them because all of them had a hand to play and what happened on Tuesday. With Trump being elected for a second time. They all had a hand in it. They all had a hand in upholding white supremacy.
00:25:01
Speaker
They all had a hand in upholding misogyny and patriarchy. Also, in racism, Trump is already talking about how it don't matter if he was born in this country when he takes office, from here on out, he's going to deport you. You don't even have birthright citizenship anymore if your parents aren't legally from this country.
00:25:31
Speaker
Look at how crazy that is. He's saying he's gonna do stuff on day one. You ask for it. The people that voted for him, you ask for everything that's coming. And you got it. You got it. So on Wednesday, I took the day off. I didn't pay attention to their election results. I knew what was gonna

Managing Post-Election Emotions

00:25:55
Speaker
happen. I had this overwhelming, just,
00:25:59
Speaker
anxiety just surrounding me like a cocoon. I knew what the results was. So I took the day off, slept in a little bit, woke up, hit the gym, had a nice brunch, made myself a little champagne, created a Sunday fun day on a Wednesday. Watched the new Penguin episode. It's a good show on HBO Max.
00:26:29
Speaker
And at about five o'clock, all I did was turn on my Amazon Firestick, and it told me Donald Trump has been elected to be the 47th president. What I was surprised about is how overwhelmingly he won the election. There was no swing state. He won them all.
00:26:51
Speaker
Which, I don't know you know. I hate to be like a Trump trump person, but it the math doesn't make sense to me. How did Kamala Harris lose 15 million people that had voted for Biden? Because they didn't go to Trump, because Trump had a less number of people that voted for him this time around.
00:27:14
Speaker
How did they they're there there would be a less turnout when there was record turnout for early voting? This math ain't math, then. Something could be afoot. McConnell already conceded that he's going to be the next president. And we got four years of this BS that's coming. And I understand how you feel.
00:27:39
Speaker
You're dejected. You're disappointed. You're angry. I was disappointed because I was hoping, I was hoping that I was wrong about America. And unfortunately, history has told me over and over and over and over again, America will always do the wrong thing.
00:28:04
Speaker
Always, they never do the right thing willingly. It always comes with a fight. And that's what we're in right now, is a fight. This wasn't a knockout blow. We lost a round. It hurts. It was some painful punches that were being thrown for us to lose this round.
00:28:27
Speaker
because Kamala had built a strong coalition that didn't make sense that would lose in this way. And I understand your confusion, because I'm confused as well. But she conceded. There's going to be a peaceful transfer of power this time. And we're going to see what hell that we're going to be living in for four years.
00:28:50
Speaker
And I know people out there are just like, I don't want to deal with this. And if I'm rambling and going off, I had no plan of what I was going to say. This is strictly off the dome and from the heart. I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed. ah There's no other way to explain this. I can't understand.
00:29:16
Speaker
how people can't see past this con artist. Then I come to the realization. I know exactly why. I know exactly why white people vote for Donald Trump. And for all my white people listening, you might not think this is what it is, but subconsciously, it's a fear. It's a real fear.
00:29:48
Speaker
White people are starting to lose their power in this country, just from the mere numbers standpoint. There are more and more people that are coming in this country and becoming American citizens and populations that are growing that are non-white. And though you still hold the purse strings as the richest people in this country, by and large,
00:30:13
Speaker
There's some people of color that are catching up with you financially, that are catching up with influence in the government. And a slip of power hurts.
00:30:28
Speaker
Nobody wants to give up power. It hurts. And you might be thinking, so what? If white people lose power, what's the big deal? Know what I'm saying is generally speaking, not every white person is like this. I'm talking about from the founding fathers to now, everybody that clicks that little box, that checks that little box that says white, generally speaking, or conquers,
00:31:01
Speaker
sort of, right? They want to attain more.
00:31:08
Speaker
Their way of attaining more sometimes is by subjugating, most times subjugating somebody else. They know this to be true, whether they want to admit it or not. That's been the hallmark of the birth of this country, to build this country on somebody else's back, with your foot on their neck.
00:31:33
Speaker
What some, not all, but the majority of the white people that voted for Trump feel and fear is that if they were to lose power, the people that then become in power would treat them the same way that they've treated everybody else for generations. And that's what they fear. They fear themselves.
00:32:00
Speaker
They fear the actions of what they do from other people towards them. Are you following me here? That's what they fear. Here's the reality. Let's just take what was the largest minority group in this country, Black Americans. Black Americans are some of the most welcoming people that you will ever meet.
00:32:29
Speaker
There are ongoing debates and black Twitter and black barbershops and black booties beauty salons of who is invited to the barbecue. What that means is what non-black person is allowed to the barbecue. And we are consistently inviting white people to the barbecue. Oh, they're cool. They all right with me. They can come to the barbecue. We are a welcoming people. Dylann Roof was welcomed in that church before he shot him up. I had a friend of mine that had to get off the Metro at Anacostia because of where she worked. White woman. Older white woman from San Francisco. And she had to walk through Anacostia. Anacostia is a predominantly black
00:33:18
Speaker
poor-ish or poor neighborhood. From the outside looking in and what society tells you, you should be deathly afraid walking in that neighborhood because you're going to get robbed or raped or something because that's what black people do, right?
00:33:36
Speaker
Ten years, she'd go off that Metro and walk to the office. Nothing ever happened to her. As a matter of fact, there were more than a few times that she was walking in the rain or snow, and people would pull over the side of the road and say, hey, are you going down to the offices? We could give you a ride. The people that lived in that community, black people are welcoming people. Latino people are welcoming people. Every minority group will accept you in.
00:34:05
Speaker
We're not going to do to you what you've done to us if we gain power. That's not in our makeup. We don't try to subjugate or put our foot on another group's neck. That's not who we are. You got nothing there if you lose power. You're going to be accepted and welcomed into whatever community comes from whichever group gains that power.
00:34:34
Speaker
This is the truth. You got nothing to fear. But your fear led you to vote for a con man convicted felon.
00:34:45
Speaker
Religious people out there, the religious community voted for a man that's been married three times but by three different three different women, cheated on them all. Can't quote not one verse in the Bible. But as the savior,
00:35:04
Speaker
That's what they say that he is, and so they got his vote, even though there is nothing godly about him at all. Why? Why? For those that are white, it's to maintain white supremacy. For those who are non-white, it's to maintain male supremacy and to be close to white supremacy.
00:35:31
Speaker
Because if you get a little, you get some qualms from that white supremacy, you could have a good life in this country. A real good life. And a good life is enticing to certain people, no matter what they have to give up to get it. So this is where we are. And this is a disappointing loss. It is. It is a disappointing loss.
00:35:58
Speaker
We didn't get four your four years of Joe, right? We did get that. And before that, we had eight years of Obama. So look at the scorecard. We lost this fight, but we ain't losing. And if you're angry and you're disappointed and you're upset, that's okay. Beat all of those stacks. Hold on to it. Embrace it. because Because that will lead you
00:36:30
Speaker
to hope. That'll lead you to the next round. That'll lead you to the next fight. And make no mistake about it, and we're in a fight. But when we win, it'll feel that much sweeter. So lean into your emotions. Embrace it. I know it's hard to do,
00:37:00
Speaker
But even give those people that voted for Trump, grace, they're under a spell. We've all seen people under a spell. We've all seen people in abusive relationships that stay in a

Essay on Hope and Resilience

00:37:10
Speaker
relationship. Everybody in the world could tell you it's a bad situation to be in, but they stay in it. Hell, we've been in bad situations, bad relationships, where people have told us, you need to get out of this relationship and you don't listen. That's what they're in.
00:37:28
Speaker
for various reasons as I've laid out. And yeah, it's real tough to give somebody grace when they are actively voting against you as a person. But like I said, you gotta understand they're under a spell, an evil, evil spell that only reality will snap them out of. And when that reality does snap them out of it,
00:37:59
Speaker
we can move on to a brighter day. But the most important thing is hope. And I'm going to get into hope next.
00:38:17
Speaker
If you're listening and watching, this show is not as organized as it typically is, which is weird. This is a celebration of two years of this podcast. So it should be organized, but life is chaotic right now. And I've got a bunch of different emotions going through me. So I'm giving you guys the best show that I can give you in this time. So please forgive me if this this show is not on par of what I normally produce for you guys, but do know
00:38:51
Speaker
that this is one of the most heartfelt episodes. And one of the episodes is near and dear to my heart because I'm letting it all out on the table. I'm letting y'all feel. I'm letting y'all see me. And I went back to the writing board. It's been a little while since I've written an essay.
00:39:14
Speaker
And I needed to just sit down and write to deal with my emotions. Journaling has helped me in any time I am in a Crisis is a really strong word, but anytime I'm in my my my my head, right? Like my anxiety is high and and I need to write, to let out in words what I'm feeling. And it doesn't really need to make sense to anybody else, but it makes sense to me. And as I'm writing my feelings down, flashes of Star Wars, seriously, Star Wars kept coming to me.
00:39:57
Speaker
And it's, you know, the trilogy of New Hope Empire starts strikes back, returning to Jedi. like All of it is built upon this rollercoaster of emotions that these Jedi and the Rebel Alliance are going through in fighting this evil empire. And I felt like there were so many similarities between what we're dealing with and what I consider the Trump party. I don't consider it the Republican party anymore.
00:40:23
Speaker
I consider it the Trump Party. Trump has taken over the Republican Party. They can even change their name and come up with a new, like, a little mascot. Like, it's no longer the Republican Party.
00:40:35
Speaker
But the word that kept coming is a word that Obama ran on and a word that Kamala used a lot, and it was hope. Hope.
00:40:46
Speaker
And I wrote something to a good friend of mine because I knew that she was going through it. She helped out with maintaining election laws in Virginia. um She is campaigned. She is fully invested. And she has children that are going to be affected by some of these discriminatory laws and policies that this Trump administration wants to implement during his next term.
00:41:16
Speaker
And I sent her a funny, yeah, inappropriate meme, meme, but funny. to get her to to smile and some words of encouragement. And the basic premise of the message that I sent her was just about hope. And as that word kept popping up in my head and as I was writing furiously, whether I was journaling or sending out messages to people who I knew were going through it, some had contacted me and just like, what are we going to do? And I'm just like, everything's going to be OK. You've got to have hope.
00:41:50
Speaker
Because as I knew what the outcome would be, I also know the resilience of marginalized groups in this country. And they get the quality that they search for. It takes a while. It's a fight. But eventually they get it. So I'm sending out all these messages of hope. And I just said, you know what? I'm going to write an essay. I don't know how good this essay is.
00:42:21
Speaker
It's been a long time since I tried to do something professional. And I, you know, not the greatest at a grammar and punctuation, but luckily I'm just reading it. And it's my own writing. I don't know if I'm going to post it ah for everybody else to read, but this is my essay and it's just titled, Hope. In the aftermath of this presidential elections,
00:42:44
Speaker
Emotions are clearly running high, and that's okay. Lean into that pain, lean into the discomfort. It is in that pain and discomfort that you will sharpen the iron to continue to fight because you remember the pain that you felt. It's easy to feel disheartened, but it's important to remember that hope is a powerful force that can guide us through challenging times. As Yoda, of course I was gonna make Star Wars references, wisely said,
00:43:12
Speaker
Do or do not, there is no try. The sentiment reminds us that our actions and attitude shape our reality, even when the outcome isn't what we hoped for. Resilience is the ability to bounce back from adversity, and it's a quality that has defined many great leaders and movements throughout history. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, we must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope. This quote encapsulates the essence of resilience, acknowledging setbacks while maintaining a steadfast belief in a better future.
00:43:54
Speaker
In these times of venomous political division, it's critical to remember that we are all strong together. Once again, as Star Wars teaches us about the power power of unity and collective strength, just as the Rebel Alliance came together to fight for a common cause, we too can find strength in our communities and work towards shared goals.
00:44:18
Speaker
A multi-coalition can defeat the empire together. As Helen Keller famously said, alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.
00:44:32
Speaker
Change is inevitable. It's a part of life. And elections are a testament to deny to the dynamic nature of our society. While it can be difficult to accept change, it's important to it's important to embrace it as an opportunity for growth and progress. Mahatma Gandhi once said, be the change that you wish to see in the world.
00:44:55
Speaker
This quote encourages us to take proactive steps towards creating the future we envision, regardless of the election outcome. Adversity often brings out the best in people, inspiring acts of kindness, courage, and determination.
00:45:13
Speaker
We can find inspiration in our own lives by focusing on the positive impact we can have in our communities. Because true change starts at the local level. It's not about showing up every four years. It's about showing up every day. Winston Churchill famously said, success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.
00:45:39
Speaker
While the outcome of this election may not align with our hopes, it's important to remember that hope itself is a powerful force. By embracing resilience, unity, change, and inspiration, we can navigate the challenges that come our way and continue to work towards a brighter future.

Encouraging Local Political Involvement

00:45:57
Speaker
Let this be a reminder that hope is ever-present, guiding us even through the darkest of times. To quote Harvey Dent from The Dark Knight,
00:46:07
Speaker
The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming. This quote is a powerful reminder that even in the toughest of time, there is hope and a brighter future ahead. I hope these words bring you some comfort and inspiration. Remember, hope is a powerful ally in any journey. I just want you guys to take that take that in and realize that The fights for quality in this country are never going to be easy. The fights for being righteous and for believing in communities and people is never going to be easy. Nobody likes change.
00:47:03
Speaker
Even if that change is healthy, whole body likes change. It's never gonna be easy. But that just means that when you win the fight, the joy of overcoming all that adversity will be so much more sweeter.
00:47:23
Speaker
I don't know what the next four years are gonna bring. Am I scared? Scared isn't the right word. Worried. But like I told my friend, sometimes people gotta be punched in the mouth to realize that they're in a fight. This was a hell of a punch in the mit and a mouth, but we've been in a fight and we can't just show up every four years and we can't just show up at the midterms. We have to start at the local level. You don't want the school to ban those books, run for the school board.
00:48:01
Speaker
You don't want ah cities to not allow abortion clinics, run for city council, run for state government, being involved in those runnings and in those campaigns. Be a part of the solution every day. Not just every four years, every two years. I'm not blaming you. I'm not blaming you.
00:48:28
Speaker
So listen to my words clearly. I'm blaming nobody. I'm not even blaming the Trump supporters. Because like I said, sometimes yeah I get punched in the mouth. Sometimes it's all right for something bad to happen to people so they wake up. There's a lot of people that voted for Trump that were misguided in their decision and didn't realize that they were voting against their best interests. And they're going to find out real soon.
00:48:57
Speaker
Yeah, my dad used to say a hard head, make a soft behind. They're hard heads. The ass is gonna be a little tender over the next four years. They're gonna realize, they're gonna see, just like some people saw after January 6th. I know it doesn't seem like it right now, because the victory was overwhelming. I know it doesn't seem like that right now, but take this into consideration.
00:49:26
Speaker
He got millions less votes this time. The person that he was running against only had three months to put an entire presidential campaign together and had him on the heels the entire time. A relatively unknown even though she was vice president. The head to combat a min administration that hasn't looked on favorably right now, that had to combat people not knowing who she was and had to allow everybody in so to show who she was and also give you policy in 90 days. She made it a fight. I know it doesn't seem like that, but if you break down the numbers and you take Jill Stein out of the equation, she wins those swing states.
00:50:23
Speaker
She lost by 1.1% in many of the swing states. It was close. It was right there. So yes, it looks overwhelming right now. And it looks like it's a forehead esteem of Trumpism that is heading all the way. But I'm telling you, that train is starting to slow down and we can speed up the process by being involved and fighting.
00:50:52
Speaker
Pain, discomfort, like I said, sharpens that iron. Let's bring out our swords and let's fight. That's what we gotta do. This ain't gonna be easy. It was never gonna be easy. Time to get our hands dirty.

Gratitude and Future Plans

00:51:12
Speaker
With that, ladies and gentlemen, I wanna thank you for two years. It's gonna be two years and more.
00:51:20
Speaker
But two years of doing this show, two years of you guys listening and watching, and I appreciate it. I'm humbled. Like I said, I am humbled that y'all think enough of me that anything that I say has any importance.
00:51:38
Speaker
And a few people that let me know that they learned something, I guess it's a little bit more than a few people. But y'all know what I mean. Clamp that fills my heart with nothing but joy and love. I got genuine love all of y'all out there. Even them dumb ass Trump supporters. But you know, hey man. Yeah, I love the ignorant too. preach They and just don't know what they don't know. That's the reason why they
00:52:31
Speaker
our podcast wherever you're listening or watching it to it. Pass it along to your friends. If you enjoy it,
00:52:43
Speaker
And for all those people that say, well, I don't have a YouTube. If you have a Gmail account and you have a YouTube, subscribe to our YouTube channel where you can actually watch our video podcast. But the real party is on our Patreon page. After Hours Unsensored and Talking Straight-ish After Hours Unsensored is another show with my sister. And once again, the key word there is uncensored. Those who are exclusively on our Patreon page jump onto our website at unsolicitedperspective.com. For all things us, that's where you can get all of our audio,