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Thoughts on racism in the middle of a pandemic.

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Transcript

Introduction and Historical Context

00:00:00
Speaker
hello fab fam it's your girl baroness brie i want to start off today's episode is going to be a little different i want to start off by telling you that you are love in the weeks since our last gathering so much has happened that i don't even really know where to begin but i'm going to start with black lives matter i just want to state that as a black woman and a mother of black sons that black lives have always mattered my life
00:00:29
Speaker
and the lives of other black and brown people have always mattered. And I'm watching the internet. I hadn't had to step away from social media for the last couple of days because Black Lives Matter is not a influencer campaign. It's not a fashion statement. This is how black people have lived their lives in fear of the police since forever. I have a scale
00:00:57
Speaker
time that shows on my Instagram feed since slavery to modern day how our people have been treated.

Remembering Lives Lost and Taking Action

00:01:06
Speaker
And here we are in the year 2020 still protesting that we matter and it is disgusting.
00:01:15
Speaker
It has to stop and it has to end now because my grandbabies and great-grandbabies should not have to suffer the same indiscretions and issues from the police department that my elders had to protest and fight for. I want to read off just a few of the names of black and brown women and men whose lives were taken from them. George Floyd,
00:01:41
Speaker
Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Botham John, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Samuel Du Bois, Sandra Blond, Walter Scott, and Jordan Davis.
00:01:58
Speaker
These names hold weight and power because their names are called to action for people to demand better from our government, from our police department and our interactions on a day-to-day basis.
00:02:16
Speaker
I know a lot of people are kind of overwhelmed and don't know where to start or don't know what to say and pretty much you need to start with a basic understanding. The phrase you don't know what you don't know no longer stands. Do better. In the age of Google, there's no reason why people can't understand what's going on. You need to make a decision to become an ally
00:02:42
Speaker
or realize that you are part of the problem. People are angry and in pain, and we don't have time to explain to other parties why we're in pain.

Becoming Informed Allies

00:02:53
Speaker
There are many, many books written. Please Google them. In addition, this is a time for us to speak out. When I say us, Black people been speaking out. It's not about just us speaking out. Silence is absolutely damaging to this movement.
00:03:08
Speaker
If you don't know what to say, continue the education and the understanding, but you need to call out racism when you see it and not after the fact. It needs to be happening real time. Additionally, support or possibly not support various organizations that are not supporting this mission. We have people who
00:03:33
Speaker
think that Black Lives Matter is a joke. It's not a joke. Nothing about people dying under the hand of police brutality is fucking funny. Last but not least, I need you to contact your elected officials. Send them letters, send them tweets.
00:03:49
Speaker
Call, leave a voicemail message. Your voice matters. Those people in office work for you. You need to contact City Council, County Council, Town Councilship. I don't know where the hell you live. Call your local elected officials and make them accountable for their bullshit. Their silence and their complacency is why we are where we are right

Political Activism and Change

00:04:13
Speaker
now.
00:04:13
Speaker
We get into these fun little positions of power and the things that make us uncomfortable, they just don't get handled. We have got to call people on their shit. And my last thing is, if they don't want to do it, vote them the fuck.
00:04:28
Speaker
out. If you or someone you know is able and eligible to run for office, do that shit. What's preventing you from doing the thing you are called to do? If all of this anger and rage is inside of you and you want to create change, run for office on a platform where we can support you and let's get the change done because the way we've been doing it ain't working no more.
00:04:57
Speaker
So, in addition to all of the protesting and civil unrest that is currently going on around the world, not just in America, every fucking where, people of color, black people, brown people, are sick of the shits, okay? They are sick of it. There is underlying racism every fucking where. So in the midst of all of that right now, there's a fucking pandemic going on, COVID-19, which is also disproportionately killing black people.
00:05:25
Speaker
And we are outside protesting that our lives matter in the middle of a pan-fucking-demic. That's insanity. This is like you couldn't write this shit for a crazier storyline. We are wearing masks.
00:05:42
Speaker
and trying to protect ourselves from dying while explaining from other assets that we're not to die. This is insanity and its foolishness. Please, please, please register to vote. If you have not registered to vote, you still have time to vote in the November elections.

Beyond Social Media: Real-world Impact

00:06:01
Speaker
i don't care what you say or what you do or how you think your vote doesn't matter you have the accountability to our ancestors to try and make a change fuck the word try to make a change this is the time to create and effect change and we have to do it no sitting on our asses no fake activism on social media fucking do it today and
00:06:29
Speaker
Make sure you get your elders out to vote. Get them to the polls. Offer an Uber ride if you don't have a car. We have the means and the methodologies to get people out in the street. Okay, so in addition to all of that, be safe. Please get tested for COVID-19 if you haven't. Please make sure that you're keeping your family safe as you're able. So many people have lost jobs in effect
00:06:55
Speaker
of COVID-19 and just know that I am here with you.

Self-Care and Personal Growth

00:07:00
Speaker
I am trying to find resources for job training. If you type in COVID-19 and the word free on Google with the keyword of whatever the hell you want to do, you want job training, you want a certificate, you want summer camp for your kids, all of those resources are now becoming available because it looks like we're going to be in the house for a little bit longer. And
00:07:23
Speaker
To address that, the great and powerful Tabitha Brown of Instagram and TikTok fame. I love her so much. She's the lady who says, that's your business. The other night I couldn't sleep and she recorded this little sweet video that said, finish what you started. Everyone said you wouldn't finish.
00:07:41
Speaker
but you need to finish it because that's your business." When she said that, she grabbed me like an auntie by my throat and told me, that's my business, which is why I'm recording this episode right now because I owe all of you an apology for stepping away, but I had to take care of my business, which was get myself back into a healthy therapy routine because I can't create this podcast.
00:08:10
Speaker
and I can't create my writing and my art when I am in turmoil and I was fighting what I needed to be doing because I was filling my time with bullshit that didn't matter. This episode kind of is one of my rededications. It's a vow that I made to myself that I will always create. That I will always be accountable for my actions no matter how uncomfortable they make me.
00:08:40
Speaker
that I owe my fabulous fuckery family my voice so please please please stay tuned to this space please check out my website I'm going to be doing a great job of updating some fabulous distractions for all of you
00:08:57
Speaker
Um, I also have some speaking engagements that are going to be coming up virtually. So watch my IG account. I'm at fab fuckery and at Baroness Brie to talk about mindfulness in the state of COVID and
00:09:13
Speaker
some other back end support resources that could be useful to you. So I just want you guys to know that I am with you.

Emotional Impact and Personal Safety

00:09:22
Speaker
Please feel free to message, email, whatever you need to get you through. I love each and every one of you. Please take your time to care for yourself in the midst of everything that's going on. We have to find peace somewhere in our lives and maybe thinking outside of the box.
00:09:43
Speaker
will give you an opportunity to find just an ounce of peace. I have friends who are doing home improvement projects just so they keep themselves busy. I have friends who have found out that they are good at new items and new tasks that they didn't even know they could do. They're painting, they're writing, they're doing all kinds of dope shit and I can't wait to share it. If you would like to be a guest on the show to talk about anything, please shoot me a message. We'll hook up on that.
00:10:10
Speaker
Additionally, I would like to apologize to guests that I have been unable to record with because I and my systems were overloaded. All of these things that are happening to our people touched me very deeply. And if y'all don't know, I'm an empath. If y'all can't tell, I'm a whiny, criny, sniffly chick. And I'm a thug, though. I'm still a savage. But, you know, I still have feelings. And the Earth's
00:10:37
Speaker
is in hell right now. And our people are dying. 106,000 people, I believe is the number I saw yesterday, have transitioned due to complications of COVID-19. And this is a whole clusterfuck for no fucking reason because of pride of government. And I just want you all to stay safe
00:10:59
Speaker
Know that no quarantine penis is worth getting sick for know that your self-worth is Involuble and I hope you please please please wash your hands stay safe kiss your babies If you haven't don't have any babies kiss your puppies hook a pillow something and know that I'm here with you And I love you all and I'll holla Baron Esprit out