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Activist, author Donna Brazile addresses why the social and political climate is all so emotional and why emotional fatigue shouldn't mean not finishing the race.
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00:00Welcome to Essence Debates Live. I'm Abby West, executive editor of Essence.com, and today I'm joined by Ms. Donna Brazile.
00:10Today we're talking about Black Lives Matter movement and pretty much where we go from here.
00:15You've been pretty vocal, and I want to know from you, what does this movement mean to you? Where is this place in history?
00:21You know, when I first saw the hashtag Black Lives Matter, I stopped before retweeting it.
00:28And the reason why I stopped is because I wanted to really understand or at least look at what they were commenting on.
00:39And there were three prominent, I believe, very prominent, distinguished women.
00:44And I wrote down their names, Alicia Garza, Patrice Cullors, and Opal Tometi.
00:49And this was in the aftermath of when Trayvon Martin was brutally murdered by, as you know, George Zimmerman.
00:59And I made the decision to retweet it to my followers and said, this hashtag matters.
01:05And little did I know at the time, what these three women created was not just a moment to capture something that was very painful, something that was tragic.
01:18But what they captured was, in my judgment, a movement that could empower, empower individuals, empower communities to begin to speak up and to raise our voices collectively to say, we have to stop the violence.
01:36We have to stop the violence of Black lives in this country.
01:40And not just, you know, Black men, but Black women, Black people.
01:47There's no, you know, what I call, there's no religion.
01:51There's no political affiliation.
01:53There's no sexual orientation.
01:56There's no demographic issue.
01:58It's Black Lives Matter.
02:00And that's what I like about it.
02:01It's simple, but yet very profound.
02:03It's a conversation that's got a lot of people emotional.
02:08And I had an occasion to see a video of you on CNN not too long ago discussing the president's podcast and, you know, the conversation around his use of the N-word.
02:17And you became very emotional talking about young men in your lives and what this means for them.
02:22Do you think this is going to be helpful for them moving forward?
02:24You know, when I came back home from vacation and while on vacation, I received the news, like everyone else, that there was a shooting at Mother Emanuel.
02:36As an activist and organizer, I've been to Mother Emanuel.
02:39I've organized events there.
02:40I've organized an advanced political candidate stay over the last 20 years.
02:46I know Clem.
02:47I know that family.
02:49I know the history.
02:50And so I got back home, and I was distraught personally, emotionally, and I didn't know what else to do.
02:59But I called my brother, my youngest brother, Kevin.
03:02My brother Kevin would be here in New Orleans had it not, you know, been for Hurricane Katrina.
03:08Kevin has four boys, four sons, three of them at home, ages 4 to 16.
03:14And I started thinking about my dad when my mother would say we couldn't use the N-word because she said that's what they call your daddy at work.
03:23And as I was saying that to Wolf Blitzer, it dawned on me that my brother Kevin is having this conversation with his boys.
03:30And they're in South Carolina, and I just couldn't hold it.
03:34You know, three days later, I went to Facebook just to check in, and my nephew was at the state capitol protesting the flag.
03:45I said, oh, hell, now he's an activist.
03:48Running in the family?
03:48It's running.
03:49And then my niece just emailed me.
03:52She's on Facebook protesting Jefferson Davis Parkway where she grew up.
03:56And I'm like, she wants the name to come down.
03:58She wants the statue to come down here in New Orleans.
04:01And I'm like, okay, now I have activists in my family.
04:04I'm proud of them.
04:05I'm proud of the movement.
04:07I am, you know, it's like I feel like a godmother to the movement.
04:11You know, I'm sure there are others who feel like, who believe that they had a role in helping to inspire this generation to act.
04:20I hope we inspire an entire generation to take back our communities, to go out there each and every day of their lives,
04:28and to use their power to make this a better place for all people.
04:33With this increased activism, do you think it's going to have an effect on the upcoming election?
04:38I hope so.
04:39Let me tell you, the dirty little secret in American life today is that in 2008, we changed the mold of what leadership looked like in this country.
04:48No longer is, you know, one size fits all.
04:51White males apply.
04:53It is now anyone can apply to be a leader.
04:57Anyone can serve.
04:58Anyone has any person who wish or desire to lead can lead.
05:02We broke the mold.
05:04And this generation did it.
05:06My generation, what we did, we went out there and we did voter registration.
05:09I started here, right here in Louisiana, right here in New Orleans.
05:12We did voter registration.
05:14Back in the day, we were empowered to elect the first black mayor.
05:18You know, Ernest Dutch Morial.
05:21We were named this wonderful facility.
05:24We were empowered to get Sidney Bartholomew.
05:26We were empowered with Avery Alexander set in.
05:29We were empowered.
05:30But now this generation put Barack Obama in the White House.
05:33How do you go back and sit home and say, well, hell, I can't do nothing?
05:37How do you go back and tell your family that you don't have the power to change this country?
05:42You can put Hillary there if you want to.
05:44You can put Bernie.
05:44Well, God forbid, if you want to put Donald Trump, hell, go ahead, right, please.
05:49But the point is, is that they have the power.
05:53And if they don't believe they have the power, then why don't they Google Voting Rights Act?
05:58Because since 2008, there's been an attempt to restrict, to remove, and to even block certain people from voting.
06:07Because they use their power to put Barack Obama in the White House, they are afraid that they will use their power to put someone else who looks like them, who will speak for them, will represent them.
06:20Use your power.
06:21Don't give it up.
06:22Don't lose it.
06:23Don't resign to the fact that you don't have it.
06:27You have it.
06:27Use it.
06:28Turn this country around each and every day.
06:31I'm looking forward to 2016.
06:33Because if they use their power, hell, I might retire myself one day.
06:38I don't know.
06:39And go back to being an actress, you know, part-time.
06:42But you love.
06:44You know you love doing it, don't you?
06:45Oh, I do.
06:46I love stirring the pots.
06:47So what do you think the protests will actually contribute to the conversation?
06:55Some people believe that, you know, it's not as effective as really organizing for political change.
07:00When they're drawing this parallel, the Civil Rights Movement, do you see it more in that vein?
07:05No, I don't.
07:07I don't.
07:08You know, the Civil Rights Movement was a very important, what I call, extension of another movement that was already transforming the country.
07:21In many ways, we never finished fighting the Civil War.
07:25But the Civil Rights Movement became that similar moment when people decided that they did not want to live in a country where they were separated based on their race.
07:35They were limited in terms of the opportunities based on their race, that they couldn't get ahead because of their race, they couldn't vote because of their race.
07:43That was the moment, and they tore down those walls.
07:46Dr. Cain reminded us never to look at the barriers but see the opportunities and seize them.
07:51This is another generation.
07:53This is a generation fighting yet a new Civil Rights, a new movement for equality, for inclusiveness, for opportunities so that we can take people from the outskirts of hope and bring them within the circle of opportunity.
08:04This is a new movement because they had to fight economic inequality.
08:09Dr. Cain believed in the beloved community that we could all have access to resources and access to things that would empower and enrich our lives.
08:17And yet, his dream was cut short, not just by his assassination, but by people believing that we took down the symbolic, what I call, view of segregation.
08:26But we never did the substance because that's why we have so much wealth inequality.
08:30So I think this movement is really, it's about empowerment, it's about being inclusive, it's about transformation, and it's really about ensuring that lives matter.
08:42Now, you know how, I think it's important people understand their power, that they have power in their lives, that God gave all of us.
08:49Even if you don't believe in a God, then believe in a spirit because if you thought, well, anyway, that's, I'm in Louisiana.
08:55And I can always go there.
08:56I'm going to go there.
08:57But you've got to believe that you have power, the power to change the world, power to make a difference, power to become fully who you are in the present moment.
09:07And this movement, I think, captures that.
09:09When I, one day I was leaving my office, I teach at Georgetown, I was leaving my office to go to work, and I live, well, I don't live, I work two blocks from the White House.
09:21And I was inconvenienced by the movement, and I was so excited.
09:25I emailed my class and said, unfortunately, I am being detained because black lives matter, period.
09:32I got to work three hours later, and I was, but you know what, they sat down right near the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue and shut the city down during rush hour.
09:45And I was like, God bless you.
09:47I wish I, I wanted to make them gumbo and some etouffee and jambalaya and bring it out.
09:52But you know what, they were so focused.
09:54I was so proud of them.
09:56I was proud when I heard that I-95 in the Miami corridor was shut down.
10:01I was proud that the Brooklyn Bridge, yes, I'm proud.
10:05I understand tactics and strategy.
10:07I'm proud of the fact that they are building an inclusive movement for justice and equality for all.
10:14And to preserve and protect black lives, that matters.
10:19Before we wrap up, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about something that's not getting a lot of press, or it's bubbling up.
10:24The pervasiveness of black churches being burnt in the South, particularly.
10:29It's, I think it's up to like eight or nine in the last couple of weeks.
10:34Yes.
10:34And, you know, some are being ruled accidental or, you know, acts of nature or something.
10:40Can you believe that God is coming around with lightning strikes to strike these churches down?
10:45Really?
10:46I know, I've heard that, and I understand that you have to distract us because there's no theory yet as to why these churches.
10:54Back during the Clinton administration in 1993, 1994, 1995, all the way, there were a similar incident that happened.
11:04Two things.
11:05One, the government must do everything in their power to ensure that there is no conspiracy to burn down these churches.
11:11We know, as President Obama said during the funeral services, that black churches have been soul-saving stations for the black community,
11:18others who are seeking freedom and, of course, a place.
11:23So we've got to make sure that the ATF, FBI, and others continue their full investigation.
11:28And I would hope, and I believe President Obama and the Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, will continue to pursue that.
11:37Beyond that, we need to, as a community, make sure that we have what we call the watch, the watch group.
11:46Now, back in 1995, 1996, the AME Church, the AME Zion Church, the Church of God in Christ, all of the denominations got together,
11:55and they formed watch committees, and people were literally assigned to watch the church.
12:02And I think we can afford to do that in the 21st century, to watch our churches.
12:07Our churches have sustained us.
12:10They've inspired us.
12:11They've empowered us.
12:13And when we walked in some Sunday mornings and needed just to have our batteries recharged, we've been recharged.
12:20And what's two hours?
12:22I'll take the first ship.
12:24You come in 11 o'clock at night.
12:26You don't feel like going home.
12:27Say, I'll take the first ship.
12:29And then, of course, 6 o'clock, I'll take the second round.
12:32We have to watch our own churches.
12:34But the government should also do their job.
12:36And, yes, this episode, another episode in history of burning on our churches, deserve our full attention and our full recognition because the church is the most independent outside of black businesses and black newspapers and black publications and others.
12:53The church is independent, and we need that church to survive and to thrive during times like this.
13:02The shooting in Charleston, the fires, it's been said it's sort of damaged the psyche, our collective psyche.
13:07They know that we're feeling a little fatigued.
13:09What do you hope will come out of this?
13:13Well, you know, there's a scripture that says, do not grow weary and doing good, for in due season you will reap a harvest if you don't give up.
13:19There's a moment in all of our lives and in every generation where you have to seize it.
13:26And the confluence of all these events, the shootings, the murder of innocent black men, of innocent black women, of innocent people of color, the murder period, the large number of unemployed youth in our society, the growing wealth inequality in our society, climate change.
13:48These are all issues that demand our time and our attention, and we cannot grow tired and weary.
13:54We have to continue to battle.
13:56I'll say one last thing.
13:57I was reading this morning.
13:58I read scripture because I'm one of these.
14:00I'm Catholic, but I like the Bible because I work for so many preachers, but I love the Bible as an organizing tool.
14:06And I was reading Paul's letter to Timothy.
14:09Paul was in jail in Rome.
14:11It was like when Martin Luther King was in jail in Birmingham.
14:13And he wrote to Timothy.
14:15He said, I have finished the race.
14:18I have finished the race.
14:21And he passed that baton on.
14:23I kept the faith.
14:25And in many ways, Paul's letter today is more instructive to this generation than ever before.
14:32Paul finished his race.
14:33He kept the faith.
14:34But this new generation now must run the race to eternity and keep running the same way that the Pauls of our generation, the Pauls of previous generations,
14:43and the Canes and the Roses and everyone else.
14:48That's why Alyssa, Alicia, Patrice, and Opal, they deserve our praise for igniting this movement.
14:57And now we must make sure that it's not just a moment, but a movement that will last and help us finish the race.
15:04Ms. Donna Brazile, thank you so much for joining us today.
15:07Thank you for your insight and for your passion.
15:09And we really appreciate you.
15:10Can I say thank you, Essence, for coming back and back and back to New Orleans all these years and for believing in our recovery.
15:18Thank you, Essence.
15:19That's what we do.
15:20We love New Orleans.
15:21We love you.
15:23That's it for this segment of Essence Debates Live.
15:24Please join us for more on Essence.com.
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