- 1 week ago
Angela Rye, Luvvie Ajayi, April Reign and April Ryan discuss
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00It is my pleasure to introduce four of the powerful women from our Woke 100 list.
00:06First up is a woman who thrives at the intersection of comedy, technology, and activism.
00:13She's captured a diverse audience, but as she says, I'm writing for black women.
00:19Along with her best-selling book, I'm Judging You.
00:23Yeah, I know you got your copy.
00:26She co-founded the Red Pump Project, which raises awareness about HIV-AIDS.
00:32Please welcome Lavi Ajayi.
00:47You clearly got some fans.
00:49Now, our next panelist is an attorney, advocate, and political strategist.
00:59Along with serving as CNN commentator and an NPR analyst, she is principal and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy firm Impact Strategies.
01:09Most important, she never hesitates to speak up when it comes to issues concerning our community, and she'll do it so today as well.
01:18Welcome, Ms. Angela Rye.
01:20Now, listen.
01:34In 2015, the list of Academy Award nominees was severely lacking in diversity.
01:41April Rain responded with a hashtag that set the internet ablaze.
01:45Hashtag OscarSoWhite went viral and sparked a national conversation about the shortage of representation of marginalized communities in Hollywood and beyond.
01:57An attorney-turned-managing editor of Broadway Black, she's determined to make change where race and politics meet pop culture.
02:05Welcome, Ms. April Rain.
02:06And our fourth panelist is a woman who we know can hold her own in any press room, any press room, and she has for over 20 years.
02:27As the White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks, she ensures that issues related to our community are treated as a priority.
02:37And as we've all seen, she keeps Sean Spicer on his toes.
02:43Along with her role as a CNN political analyst, she's the author of The Presidency in Black and White and At Mama's Knee, Mothers in Race in Black and White.
02:51Ladies and gentlemen, Ms. April Ryan.
03:06Clearly, we have a very enthusiastic crowd for you guys today.
03:10So let's jump in.
03:12Ladies, really, I am just so honored that each of you are a part of the May cover story.
03:17So I want to thank you for being here with us at the Empowerment Experience.
03:21And I want to start by asking you, each one of you, what does woke mean to you in 2017?
03:28Woke means to me speaking up even when it's difficult.
03:32Speaking up about the issues happening in the world that's happening with our neighbors, not just with us.
03:37So, yeah.
03:39I believe woke is about a state of mind.
03:43It's not a new concept.
03:45We just started calling it something new because that's what black folks do.
03:48But I think W.E.B. Du Bois said it best, right?
03:51It's about a double consciousness, but it's consciousness most of all.
03:55And I think that's what it's really about.
03:57It's applying that consciousness to real action.
04:00For me, staying woke means making sure that you're tuned in to your community,
04:05that you are doing everything that you can to not only educate yourself, but to bring someone else along,
04:12to ensure that we all have the same information.
04:16It's not enough to be woke on your own.
04:18You need to help someone else along to also get woke.
04:21What woke means to me is knowing what affects you, knowing how to smell it, breathe it, swim in it, eat it,
04:35understand that you are a part of the dichotomy of this nation, and you're on the table.
04:42And as Shirley Chisholm would say, you know, if there's not a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.
04:47And I believe that's what woke is.
04:52That's really powerful.
04:53Okay, so April, has your definition of woke changed over the years?
04:58Has that always been your definition, or has it evolved?
05:01It has been my definition, but it has increased over the last couple of days.
05:11But no, that has been my definition.
05:15I grew up with a mother and father who always taught me to understand that I was a black woman in this nation,
05:26to understand my position as what they think I should be and what I could be.
05:33And knowing that, understanding what I was taught, I also understood that was for everyone.
05:39But in these last couple of months, we've seen more challenges.
05:45And I think it's more incumbent upon us as media to make sure that those who listen, read, or watch us,
05:54that they know the stakes are high and that they are affected, and that they are part of the equation.
06:00They meaning all of us.
06:02All of us.
06:03All of us.
06:04From the rest of you ladies, I'd love to hear from each one of you about that.
06:07Has your definition of woke changed, evolved, grown, been turned on its head in the last couple of years?
06:15I think it's just intensified for me.
06:17So the definition hasn't changed, but there is more of a sense of urgency, right?
06:22And April Ryan won't say it, but I'll say since November, it's been much more difficult and much more important for us to stay woke
06:32because we all we got, you know?
06:35And so we need to ensure that we, again, are doing everything that we can.
06:40What I see, which is really encouraging, is that we're building tighter communities than we had.
06:48You know, I think for eight years, boy, we were loving life, you know?
06:52And now our man is gone.
06:56And, you know, and so we have to rely on each other, I think, more than we have in the past.
07:03And for me, I'm actually really getting frustrated with this concept of stay woke
07:08because I don't know what that means anymore.
07:12When you talk about everything that's happening and everything that's at stake,
07:20if you look at the fact that just this week, this news about this commission on election integrity, right,
07:28that this president is standing up, this president wants to talk about election integrity, right?
07:35They don't want to talk about the 21 states that Russia influenced,
07:39but they want to talk about election integrity, and that commission wants to dig into how you voted,
07:45how you registered, whether or not you've ever committed a felony.
07:49We have Jeff Sessions as the attorney general, someone who wants to prosecute marijuana offenses
07:54after Barack Obama worked diligently with the Clemency Initiative, Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch.
08:00They want to undo black progress.
08:03So I don't give a damn if we're woke and we're not doing anything.
08:07So we need to be woke.
08:10We need to act woke.
08:12But it's time out for faith without works.
08:15We know faith without works is dead faith.
08:17We have to work woke.
08:19Preach.
08:19So don't just stay woke, work.
08:22Okay.
08:23Don't have me talk after Angela.
08:24I just, I can't even.
08:27You're going to have your moment on the next question.
08:28I'm over here like, yes.
08:32But seriously.
08:33I mean.
08:34Come on, Negro spiritual.
08:37Come on.
08:38That's April on mama's knee over there.
08:40Yes.
08:42Yes.
08:43I mean, so the idea of woke, like, for the last couple of years, people have been saying woke, right?
08:48Yeah.
08:49And then white people started saying it.
08:51It's in the dictionary now, lovey.
08:53And we was like, that wasn't really your word.
08:54But okay, I'm going to let you have it for a hot second.
08:57And then November 8th happened.
08:59And we found out 53% of white women voted for homeboy.
09:01And we were like, oh.
09:05So it couldn't be just the people who were calling us all types of names who voted for him.
09:10It was the people who, you know, were like, oh my God, I love black people.
09:14I have a black neighbor.
09:15Yes.
09:15So kind.
09:17It's the people who were like, oh, I have no problem with my kid going to the school where the principal is black.
09:23But I'm going to write a letter to the principal and say we shouldn't have Black History Month.
09:28Yeah.
09:30You know what I mean?
09:30And so the idea of woke, I think people start giving themselves way too much credit.
09:35Because in that moment, they're like, oh, well, I'm a good person.
09:39I'm woke because I happen to finally understand that privilege is a thing.
09:44Right.
09:44And then their actions didn't lead to it.
09:47So I kind of want to pull that word back to be like, no, no, no, no, no.
09:52And reclaim it and be like, no, y'all can't use it.
09:56Because it's clear.
09:57Like, numbers tell us that all these woke people ain't really woke.
10:01Because if woke means doing the things that make sense, that shows that you love black people, that shows that you find the humanity in people, you want to protect it.
10:09Y'all ain't been woke.
10:10Yeah.
10:10Yeah.
10:11Yeah.
10:11So, okay, that's some heavy stuff there.
10:17That's some heavy stuff there.
10:19So given that, how difficult is it to, and we're going to use the word woke.
10:25How difficult is it to stay woke in an environment where people are constantly trying to stifle your voice?
10:33I mean, all of you have experienced it.
10:36So talk a little bit about that.
10:38You know, how you keep rising above that?
10:42Because it's like a daily, weekly, and intentional thing.
10:46It's a daily thing for me.
10:48I have to leave the briefing room and take a walk now after I shake my head and pull some folks together for a meeting.
10:56But, you know, to stay woke, you know, I am part of the community.
11:04I mean, you know, we have arrived, I guess you would say.
11:07We are here at Essence in New Orleans having a good time buying things, going to see Diana Ross tonight.
11:13You know, some of us are wearing our red bottoms today and driving our Benzes.
11:18But you know what?
11:21Cousin Jamal is in jail.
11:22Oh.
11:26Sister Shaniqua is on drugs.
11:31Aunt Susie didn't get her welfare check.
11:37If you are part of the community and if you care about people, it's about people.
11:41It's not about party.
11:42It's not about race.
11:43It's not about gender.
11:43It's about people.
11:45The condition of people.
11:46A condition that has been going on for hundreds of years since we were brought into this country on the bottom of ships,
11:54ripped from Africa.
11:56So staying woke, you know, when I see my daughter and I send her off to that little prestigious school that she attends because I want her to have a life chance,
12:06not saying that the other kids won't have life chances, I let her know they're before the grace of God.
12:13I let her know when we go to the church in the hood, when we go get our hair done in the hood, you know, we are part of the community.
12:20And giving you an example, the place where Freddie Gray, the funeral, I frequented that church, where the rock throwing happened in Baltimore.
12:30That strange mall no one could name where the rock throwing also happened, I got my driver's license at Mundarman Mall.
12:40I was going to piano lessons on that side street of Mundarman Mall.
12:49And the hairdresser tells me today, if you want a wig, go to Mundarman Mall and go get one.
12:53And so what I'm saying is, we are not so far removed.
12:59We are not so far removed, even being here, that we can't feel the condition as soon as we step out of this convention center.
13:07And remember, this building and the Superdome, during George Bush's years, Katrina, we were walking the halls.
13:17I said, our people were in this room, in this building.
13:20So don't ever forget, I don't care how many commas and zeros you have behind your name.
13:28Don't ever forget, that could be you.
13:29We were backstage talking, the idea of having our voices stifled, and I said, well, I ain't got no job, so I can say something.
13:41For those of us who are on the outside, who can control our names and the way we can move in the world in very strong ways,
13:49like, I don't have a boss to report to, so I'm able to use my voice in ways that maybe April can't say, but I'm going to say it for.
13:55You know what I mean? Because April got a job to get. Yes, please, from the inside, work.
14:02All of this, like, fighting the system doesn't look just like one person on the inside or one person on the outside.
14:06It's a combination.
14:08So for me, I feel like it's an obligation in the space that I'm in to speak up and say the things that others might not be able to say
14:14because they have something to account for.
14:16So if I can't say it, you know, in this place where I am, where I built my own website,
14:20nobody's going to fire me if I said something that you don't like, then what is everyone else doing?
14:25What am I putting on the line?
14:26We have to be able to put something on the line and be able to go outside of ourselves
14:29and step out the comfort zone and say the things that matter.
14:34Vanessa, you know, I'm constantly astounded by the number of people who are like,
14:39how do you do that?
14:41And you said it.
14:42It's like, you know, we're just using our voices.
14:46We're just using the platforms that you all afforded us, right?
14:50There would be no CNN or before CNN, MSNBC for me if it wasn't for Roland Martin, who's sitting right here,
14:57making sure that we have platforms, making sure that we can use our voices.
15:01We wouldn't be sitting here if it wasn't for magazines and publications like Essence that keep us informed the way we need to be informed.
15:08So you all, we don't have it that we're not just getting off the bottom of the slave ship.
15:13Yes, we are oppressed.
15:15Yes, there's racism.
15:16Yes, our kids are dying, but this is not slavery.
15:19This ain't sharecropping years.
15:20We have it a hell of a lot easier than our ancestors did.
15:23And so any time you start feeling like you have it tough and you don't know if you have the energy or the strength
15:29or the psychological, you know, willpower to stay woke, remember what preceded us.
15:34And remember that we don't want to go back.
15:36Angela, I want to say one thing.
15:38Because I wouldn't make it.
15:38I don't have the survival skills.
15:39We won't go back.
15:40And that's the thing.
15:41We won't go back because we're woke.
15:43Yeah, that's right.
15:43But let me say this, though, and I see it every day when you have Jess Sessions reviewing consent decrees.
15:50And you just talked about stiffening sentences for crack cocaine versus powder cocaine.
15:56And he's the one who prevented the one-to-one disparity.
15:59They had, it was a, maybe we'll explain it really fast.
16:03Crack cocaine versus powder cocaine during the Clinton years, if you, it's considered a black drug to do crack.
16:09Powder is white.
16:11So crack got a hundred times the sentence than the powder cocaine.
16:18That's doing, it was a hundred-to-one disparity.
16:20They've tried and tried over the years.
16:22Obama, President Obama tried to bring it down one-to-one.
16:25Jeff Sessions is the one who stopped it.
16:28And it's now 18-to-one.
16:30So it's a different face.
16:33They're trying to roll things back.
16:34ACA, we are the ones who are affected.
16:37Who has pre-existing conditions?
16:38I mean, I'm a walking pre-existing condition.
16:41I had a baby.
16:42You know?
16:43Seriously, C-sections are a pre-existing condition.
16:46So they are doing it in different ways.
16:48We've got laws, but now it's about the heart and the mind.
16:51Okay.
16:52So I'm going to ask this question, and I'm going to ask April Rain to jump in.
16:57You know, with all this quote-unquote fake news and the ever-changing news cycle,
17:06I mean, like you could go to bed, it could be one thing, and you wake up in the morning,
17:10and it's like totally something else.
17:12How do you stay?
17:13I mean, how do you stay on top of it?
17:15Like, what are some of the tools?
17:16What are some of the ways that you fight through this, really this onslaught of news and information?
17:23We'll start with you, April, and then anybody can jump in.
17:25As you say, the news is ever-changing, right?
17:28And it's a 24-7 news cycle.
17:32And so social media is where I get my news, because you don't wait until 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. or 11 p.m.,
17:40because by the time that news comes down the pike, it's already changed.
17:44It's been emphasized, de-emphasized.
17:47Trump has tweeted something, and so who knows what's going on.
17:51But social media is the most current.
17:54I mean, I found out about Mike Brown dying from Twitter.
17:59And it's documented that there were 1,000 tweets about him dying on that street in Ferguson
18:05before any news media picked it up.
18:09And so especially for us, because we need the stories that may not be reported as often
18:15as they should be in the mainstream media, social media has to be the way to go.
18:21And you pick the platform that you choose, but that's the way that I ensure that I stay current
18:27because things change so quickly.
18:30And you've got to be able to respond.
18:32You know, Angela hears something, and then she's on TV in an hour discussing it.
18:36So she's got to make sure that she's staying current.
18:39And we all have a responsibility to do that, to make sure that we have the best information,
18:46the best weapons in our arsenal, to be able to fight against injustice and oppression.
18:52You know, have the stats that April is giving you, and where do you get that?
18:55So you start there on social media, and then you say, hey, this looks interesting.
18:59Let me go Google it and get more.
19:02I love that.
19:03I totally agree.
19:04And first of all, if you all aren't following April Rain, like, just whether you're talking
19:08about shade or celebrity news or a good review on a movie or activism, like, that's it.
19:15So thank you for what you do there.
19:16But I also think it's just so important for us to realize that we also have a responsibility
19:22for what we tweet, what we share on Facebook, what we post on the Gram.
19:26I stay—my parents are going to be so mad at me, but I have to tell you all this.
19:29I stay telling them that they just reposted something on Facebook that's wrong.
19:33Like, this is not right.
19:35Like, there was not an officer that shot a black man in the face, and then they found
19:39out he would really have blackface on.
19:40Like, that didn't happen.
19:42You know, like, it's on Snopes.
19:43Look at Snopes.
19:45But my—it really did happen.
19:47My mom is going to kill me.
19:48But I think that we have a unique obligation, whether your platform is five people or it's
19:55five million people, to make sure that we're keeping it real.
19:58There's a company right now called Served Fresh, and they have a T-shirt that says—and
20:02a sweatshirt—alternative fact checker.
20:05Yeah, that's all of us.
20:07So even if you don't have this shirt, I need you to wear that in your mind.
20:10Recognize that we all have that responsibility.
20:12This administration is a lot of work, but it's not going to get any easier with his typo-ridden
20:16tweets.
20:17He's going to keep lying.
20:18So we got to be alternative fact checkers.
20:24You know, I think what we haven't really touched on yet is, I mean,
20:28obviously, you ladies are very outspoken.
20:30You have no issue with speaking your mind.
20:34But I can imagine that you go into spaces where they're not used to black women being
20:40this forthright, this pronounced.
20:44I can imagine, imagine that that happens.
20:47So let's talk a little bit about that.
20:52Just talk a little bit about, you know, kind of like the conscious and subconscious and unconscious
20:58biases that you feel you have to deal with in the space that you're in.
21:05And, you know, and how do you, no, really, because we all, I mean, whether you have a platform
21:10like all of you or whether you're in the workplace and in spaces where you may be the only, you
21:17need to know how to deal with that in a way that keeps you intact and whole, right?
21:22So let's share some of that.
21:25Share some of that.
21:25You got to talk about the Spicer thing.
21:27Come on.
21:28Don't shake your head.
21:29Come on.
21:30Okay.
21:30Okay.
21:30Okay.
21:33Everybody go.
21:34All right.
21:35So in Washington and Roland and Angela and Vanessa can attest to this.
21:41It's a white male dominated town, be it the body politic or be it the press.
21:46White male fraternity.
21:48And then when you get a black person coming in and then a black female coming in, I mean,
21:55think about it.
21:56Men talk to men in that town.
21:59Even when President Barack Obama was president of the United States, it was still a white male
22:04dominated town.
22:05And they let him know and the world know they didn't want him there.
22:10So imagine if they're doing that to him.
22:12So what you saw that wonderful day, was it February?
22:18I don't know.
22:18I don't know.
22:19Whatever.
22:20It was, oh, it's Black History Month.
22:22It was Black History Month.
22:24Oh, wow.
22:26Thank you, Roland.
22:28That was an atrocity.
22:30Black History Month.
22:31So, when you walk into a room sometimes, they're like, oh, they want to size you up.
22:40And when you're not speaking the same language or you're accepting the same things and you
22:46challenge the status quo, you're viewed as a militant.
22:49You're viewed as an outsider.
22:52And it's real.
22:53And they somewhat ostracize you.
22:56And I've been ostracized for 20 years, but guess what?
22:58I don't care.
22:59And it started, it started during, and many of you will remember, remember during the Obama
23:11years when the Salahis came into the White House and Robert Gibbs said something crazy
23:19off the wall to me.
23:21He apologized, and this was during the briefing, a televised briefing.
23:24It went viral as well.
23:25He apologized to me in the green room of MSNBC in front of people and told me that he had
23:32to make me look crazy to be loyal, yes, to be loyal to his social secretary, who ultimately
23:42lost her job.
23:43Wait, say that again?
23:44He admitted that he threw you under a bus, basically.
23:48Yes.
23:48I'm putting this in my next book.
23:50I can't give all of it, but.
23:54So, with that, being a person that takes in and remembers stuff, I said, okay, so that
24:02faithful day in Black History Month, when I'm asking this question, I don't, and it was
24:08just about Russia.
24:09How are you going to change the image of this administration?
24:13It was so nothing, and then he starts talking about Russian salad dressing, and I'm like,
24:17that's trite, and then he says, and I just dropped my head, said, stop shaking your head.
24:22I was like, what?
24:24And I didn't shake my head at first, but what you saw was stuff that goes on away from the
24:32cameras.
24:35You can clap.
24:36Washington is a different animal.
24:44When you bring up issues about Black people or the underserved, they don't hear it.
24:50Just look at what happened in Katrina.
24:52Just look at what, look at the issues with police-involved shootings.
24:56How many people have been convicted of these shootings?
25:00This is real.
25:02So when you are in a room, when Angela is forceful, you know, they want to peg us as
25:08militant, oh, she's just out there, angry, ghetto, whatever.
25:12You can call it whatever you want, or when Roland's doing some, oh, you know, they want
25:16to discredit you, but the issues are real.
25:20And as long as you continue to hit it with fact and know what you're saying, and after
25:25that Sean Spicer thing, I went home, I was upset, and that day I was upset, because I
25:30talked to a couple of people, they said, don't you quit.
25:32You stay there.
25:34And that night, I got a call from Ryan Williams from NBC.
25:38He said, do you realize Hillary Clinton came up?
25:40I said, what?
25:42And that made me know I was doing something right.
25:45Stay in that white male dominated.
25:48But April didn't say that she also got shaded by the president, who told her that she should
25:56set up the CBC meeting with her friends, and see what y'all don't understand, and yes,
26:01I'm going to do this, this is empowering, this is going to be empowering, because it's
26:04the truth.
26:05All of our skin folk ain't our kin folk, Omarosa.
26:11All him.
26:12That's what that was about.
26:12The Honorable.
26:13I'm going to stand up to that, too.
26:14Preach.
26:14I'm going to stand up to that, too.
26:15Now she's standing up.
26:16Look, preach.
26:17Yeah.
26:18So.
26:18The Church of Angela Rock.
26:20That's what that was about.
26:21So the Robert Gibbs thing fell right into place with the Trump thing.
26:24So if any of our folks.
26:26And then before that, the Omarosa fight.
26:28That's what I'm saying.
26:29He's shaded her like that because of Omarosa, who is not even sitting in the White House.
26:34She sits in the executive, the EEOB building.
26:37Omarosa, who was.
26:37She has no seat at the table.
26:39And she keeps putting us on the menu.
26:41I'm off topic.
26:42I was like, that's a whole other panel right there.
26:46But you know what, though?
26:47A whole other panel right there.
26:48But you know what, though?
26:49Can I hear another little amen?
26:51I was at the DNC, and she walked by us.
26:55And I was like, I'm at the Democratic.
26:57Did I turn to the RNC?
26:59Omarosa, who was campaigning for Hillary?
27:01Now, here's what happens when you're in spaces where sometimes you're the only black woman.
27:06You see another black woman who insists on acting like you don't exist there because they want to make sure nobody realizes they're black.
27:14And that's the piece.
27:15I'm in a lot of rooms with tech dude bros a lot.
27:19You know, like I'll be the only woman in the room, or I'll be the only black woman.
27:23And in those spaces, I have two choices.
27:27I can either try to act like them, or I can just be myself unapologetically, right?
27:34It's always best to be myself because they might not like you even if you try to act like them anyway.
27:40So who has the time for that?
27:42If they're going to dislike you, give them reason.
27:45Breach, this is truth up in here.
27:48I need this today.
27:50So a lot of times...
27:51My God.
27:54Okay.
27:55Jesus.
27:56He's real on the main line, hallelujah.
27:59A lot of times when I'm in these rooms, what I try to do is be myself plus 10.
28:04So I'll wear a black fist up t-shirt in a room, or wear a shirt that says Black History Year, or say 10, no chill.
28:12Because if you're going to be uncomfortable by my presence, let me give you a reason.
28:18But while I am there, I will do what I said I'm going to come to do.
28:23I will over-deliver.
28:25So you might not like me, but you know I know my shit.
28:31Mic.
28:32Mic drop.
28:35Mic.
28:36I drop.
28:41So, okay.
28:42April, you got to get in on me.
28:43April.
28:44April Rain, you got to get in on me shenanigans.
28:47You got to get in on me shenanigans.
28:47Wait, where is the tambourine in the praise booth?
28:50Let me tell you.
28:51Wait.
28:51Woo!
28:52But look.
28:53But you know what, Vanessa?
28:54It is sad.
28:55It is so close.
28:57And you know, this is sad.
28:58Sometimes we don't, as women, talk to one another about the same ills that we're going through.
29:03And it feels good to be, whoo, validated, vindicated.
29:08Girl, I'm telling you.
29:11So, somebody's going to get free today.
29:13Okay.
29:15Already got free.
29:16All right.
29:17We should have had this on Sunday, right?
29:23Are y'all feeling this like we're feeling it?
29:26No.
29:27Wait, Vanessa's like, it would have been church if y'all wasn't cussing.
29:30It's all love.
29:30It's all love.
29:31So, this definitely should have been a Sunday conversation because we are definitely going
29:34to church today.
29:34This needs to be on Oprah's Super Soul Sunday.
29:37Let me tell Oprah.
29:38Yes.
29:39Okay.
29:39All right.
29:40All right, ladies.
29:40It's taking me there.
29:42So, the only thing I want to say is we operate from a place of privilege, right?
29:48We are all very secure in our positions.
29:51Lovie, as she said, you know, she's our own boss.
29:53So, she doesn't have to worry about getting fired.
29:56Everybody in the audience isn't there yet.
29:58So, what do you all do?
30:00Okay?
30:00Because you're going into that job interview and automatically they're calling you the
30:04angry black woman or your name has too many vowels in it.
30:08Hello, Condoleezza Weiss.
30:09Hello, Oprah Winfrey.
30:11Hello, Barack Obama.
30:12But your name is Shaniqua and so automatically they're turning your resume over.
30:16Okay?
30:17So, what do you do?
30:19I have got a big mouth and I will use it.
30:23I am a strong black woman and you will know when I walk in the door.
30:26But this is the language that you use.
30:29Hi, I am solutions oriented.
30:34Some people feel that I am too direct, but I want to help you solve your problem.
30:40Hear how I flipped it?
30:43Wait, y'all.
30:44Did y'all hear that?
30:45Were you listening?
30:46She is giving you gems right now.
30:48Listen up.
30:50Hi.
30:51You and I had a conversation about that thing over there.
30:54Let's figure out how to get to the bottom line.
30:57I have three things in mind already.
30:59You may call me angry, but I am passionate about helping you get to your goal.
31:08Flip the script.
31:10Flip it until you get to this position and then you say what the hell you want to say.
31:15As you go in, two times better or three times better?
31:24Four times is good.
31:26Four times is good.
31:26Ten times.
31:27Ten times better, yeah.
31:28All right.
31:28We're going to switch gears just a little bit because I really want to hear from each one of you about self-care.
31:33You can't do this work.
31:35You cannot do this work without taking time for yourself.
31:39So I really want to hear from each one of you what you do to stay grounded and to feel whole.
31:47So in this whole resistance thing that we're talking about, I have been extra intentional about finding joy every single day.
31:54So as I read all these things that's happening in the world and it's all a dumpster fire, I'm like, okay, I just read this thing that really kind of had me hitting the wall.
32:04My job now is to find something that's going to bring me joy.
32:06It might be videos of cats acting a fool.
32:08It might be babies smiling.
32:10It might be me just surrounding myself with black women who have been my village, who have been my saving grace.
32:17That's one.
32:18And two, therapy.
32:20Talk about it.
32:21Yes.
32:21Talk about it.
32:22Talk about it.
32:22We got to get our toolbox together beyond, and I pray, I'm a lifelong Christian, so Jesus is part of this toolbox.
32:32But I don't hear Jesus when he talks back to me.
32:34I need somebody else.
32:36I go to therapy.
32:37I think it's been important for me to just have once a week a place where I can go to talk about what's going on with me.
32:44And I think that's really important because a lot of times we think we just need our friends.
32:49We just need to pray.
32:50Sometimes we just need a therapist, and that's okay.
32:55Amen.
32:57So, for me, self-care can be different things at different times.
33:03It's just incredibly important that I ensure that I am doing it regularly and consistently, and I don't feel guilty about it.
33:14Because I think as black women, let me say this to you, you are not superwoman.
33:20You're not.
33:21And you have to replenish the well before it runs dry.
33:27Because you cannot save the village, you cannot save your family if you are not saving yourself.
33:34So, what do you do for self-care?
33:37And again, I'm talking to you all.
33:39So, for me, self-care may be a new pair of shoes, okay?
33:43Or it may be a vacation somewhere.
33:45But there are also times when self-care for me means turning my phone off, and I am addicted to my phone, but turning it off and going and sitting outside on my deck and just listening to the birds.
33:58You know, sometimes self-care may mean reading a book, which sounds like a luxury.
34:03You know, actually sitting down with the book and taking the time to do that.
34:08Or hanging with friends and getting boozy drunk on Sunday, you know, with your girls.
34:13Whatever the case may be.
34:14But figure out what that thing is for you that makes you feel full and whole again.
34:20And then do it regularly, and do not apologize for it.
34:24If you've got small kids, get yourself a group of women that you can trust.
34:29Yay, third Sunday is my day.
34:31I'm done, no kids in the house.
34:33Second Sunday is your day.
34:35I will take your kid in for the day so that you can have your moment.
34:39Find it, figure it out, and do it.
34:43For me, I love talking to my friends.
34:48And recently, I realized just how impacted by this PTSD situation I was because, yeah, I was talking to my best friend on the phone, and we got into an argument that came out of nowhere.
34:59And it escalated.
35:00It escalated.
35:01We haven't fought like that since we were in college.
35:03So I called her the next day, and I was like, I'm really sorry.
35:05I think I was impacted by what happened with Philando Castile.
35:09Right?
35:10And it's just like sometimes you're just like, wow, I have to check myself.
35:13So to Levy's point, if I would have kept using my Talkspace app, maybe it wouldn't have gone there.
35:19I need to get back on that because I think that the therapy piece is right.
35:22The other thing that's one of my favorite things to do, and it also is a gut check for me often, I talk to my parents every single day.
35:29My dad multiple times a day.
35:31In some ways, we're twins in the mind, and sometimes we're not.
35:35But I love talking to them because it keeps me grounded, and it keeps me centered and focused on my mission and what really matters.
35:41And so I don't know who those folks are for you, but make sure your village, you're constantly going back to your village, to your core, to your hometown, to reconnect with what really matters.
35:50I think particularly in these dangerous, treacherous, and evil times.
35:56For me, self-care is something that is very critical for me because you can get caught up in this new cycle.
36:07And right now it's 24-7.
36:09I mean, it could be the president tweeted today.
36:12It could be this.
36:13It could be that.
36:13It could be whatever.
36:14And I have now learned to say it's okay to put the phone and the TV away.
36:21I spend more time with my children.
36:24We have fun together.
36:25We go doing pottery, painting pottery, making pottery, planting in the garden, you know, mindless things.
36:33I am a lover of crazy, funny movies.
36:38I will lay in the bed and watch a movie.
36:40I'll have my own marathon session.
36:42And one of the things my girlfriend, and that's another thing, girlfriends, they are my therapy session too.
36:49Because I have good, you have to have those good ride-or-die friends who will, yes, who will tell you when you're right and when you look cute and when you're wrong as the day is long.
37:02And not afraid.
37:02And it's okay.
37:03And they do it in love.
37:04And I thank God for them because I'm 50 this year, and it took this long.
37:10You look good, girl.
37:11Yay!
37:12Okay.
37:14And that's another thing.
37:15I'm going to celebrate.
37:17As you should.
37:19Bishop Jake said we have to celebrate ourselves.
37:21And many of us don't.
37:23We work so hard.
37:24But this is one thing I also like to do.
37:27Savor a good cup of tea quietly by myself.
37:30And sometimes when the kids are crazy and you only have a moment to yourself, go to the store and buy a piece of cheesecake.
37:37And if you're diabetic, find something.
37:40Get a piece of cheesecake.
37:42Put some bubbles in that tub and sit in that tub for about an hour until you prune up eating that cake and a candle.
37:50I'm telling you, it works.
37:51Once you come out refreshed, oh, how's life?
37:54Yes.
37:56You feel good.
37:56And so that's my – and Jesus, Jesus, a good gospel song.
38:02Let me tell you something.
38:02And driving two hours each way to work.
38:05You know I love my job.
38:07Listening to gospel music because some days – what is it?
38:12Yolanda Adams, this battle is not yours.
38:14It's the Lord's.
38:15Yes.
38:16So, yeah.
38:18All right, ladies, we are running out of time.
38:20But before we leave this place – I know, that was 45 minutes ago, I went like that.
38:26But we can't leave this stage without each one of you telling young people in this audience what they should do.
38:34One thing they can do to stay woke, engaged, not give up, not feel that the world is against them, find their voice.
38:43You start.
38:45Anyone can start.
38:46One thing.
38:51Okay, so if you go – I'm going to shout myself out for just a second.
38:55If you go to my Twitter page, which is Reign of April, R-E-I-G-N of April, my pinned tweet right now are my five mantras that came to me last year.
39:06And since I can only do one thing, it will be know your worth.
39:11And I need you to hear me.
39:14I need you to hear me.
39:16Ladies, know your worth.
39:20Okay?
39:20So when Brumman is whispering in your ear and he's got the beard and he's 6'2", you feel me.
39:29But he's not working on that path to progression that he should be.
39:37Know your worth.
39:38Brothers, when you're out here and you're grinding but your girl only wants to flex for the gram, know your worth.
39:50I'm going to do both sides.
39:52Y'all can get mad if you want to.
39:53But know who you are as black people.
39:57Okay?
39:58Know that we started all of this.
40:00We are going to be here when everybody else is gone because we have seen how we overcome every single time.
40:09Okay?
40:10So know your worth and step proudly in it.
40:15April is absolutely right.
40:20But throughout history we've seen it's young people who've created the movements.
40:26The civil rights movement, one of the most successful movements in this nation, which the blueprint is used by so many other groups.
40:34Young people started that.
40:35You know, during the Obama years, we saw many countries have unrest.
40:43And who led those movements?
40:45Young people.
40:47Young people, I encourage you today.
40:49Know your worth but also understand the dynamics of everything that's going on.
40:55It affects you today, tomorrow, and into the future.
40:59And it also affected you yesterday.
41:01But I encourage you, and I'm going to leave you with something that Harry Belafonte told me.
41:06He said that when he was young and he was walking with Dr. King and Paul Robeson, and he talked to W.E.B. Du Bois.
41:14W.E.B. Du Bois said this, you know, times like this are some of the greatest times.
41:19And he said because it effectuates change through radical activism.
41:26And radical activism only happens if there is a dis-ease.
41:35If you don't feel the pain, it's not going to happen.
41:38And a lot of times, the ones that feel the pain are our young people.
41:41So, young people, you have a lot of weight on your shoulders.
41:44We're counting on you because you're the next generation who's going to create the next generation of leaders.
41:50And right now, we are looking to you because times are tough.
41:54The stakes are high.
41:55So, it all depends on your level of dis-ease.
41:58Young people, if you're content, we won't see change.
42:02But if you are at a dis-ease, I believe in you.
42:07For me, what I think people need to do is you got to know who you are.
42:18I'm sitting up here as an African kid who came to this U.S. and ended up.
42:23Yeah, shout out to African people.
42:25Hey.
42:25Hey.
42:26Okay, had to do it.
42:27I was able to be this person because I always firmly had my feet on the ground.
42:34I always knew whose kid I was and I always knew who I answered to and what I answered for.
42:39And it was my guiding star.
42:40And right now, in generation social media, you're seeing what's happening on Instagram, you're seeing Facebook, you're seeing Snapchat, and it can move you.
42:48Always know who you are because it will keep your feet planted and keep you knowing what your values are, what you're going to fight for.
42:54Because we are going to depend on you because, listen, this fight that we're in is a multi-generational fight.
42:59I feel like those who know who they are are going to be the ones who are able to lead and going to be able to tell us where we need to go next because I'm aging out.
43:10I know, I'm old, sorry.
43:12Yeah, sure.
43:13Like April said, young people run movements.
43:17So we're going to be looking to you to tell us what we need to do.
43:20And, again, it comes to knowing, like, what is important to you.
43:24My core values, justice, honesty, and shea butter.
43:26So, I'm just saying.
43:32So, April and Levy said it, but I really, I'm tired of sitting in spaces where we're asked to tell young people what to do or to advise you when you all have been telling us what to do.
43:46So I would urge you to continue to tell us what to do, to urge you to continue to be woke, which is where I started, to continue to act woke.
43:54If it wasn't for young people, there would be no Black Lives Matter hashtag.
43:58If it wasn't for young people, we wouldn't have been talking about mass incarceration during this last election.
44:03If it wasn't for young people, we wouldn't continue to spread the word about police violence and excessive force.
44:09Young people, you tell us what to do.
44:11This is your movement.
44:13You run it.
44:13It's not just about staying woke.
44:15It's time to act woke.
44:17All right, ladies.
44:19Thank you so much.
44:20We have your back.
44:22Know this.
44:23Let's show it with a round of applause.
44:25Stan.
44:28Stan.
44:29Stan.
44:29Stan.
44:29Stan.
44:29Stan.
44:30Stan.
44:30Stan.
44:30Stan.
44:31Stan.
44:31Stan.
44:31Stan.
44:31Stan.
44:31Stan.
44:31Stan.
44:31Stan.
Comments