- 3 weeks ago
Shortly after the election where a white nationalist president defeated the nation's first Black woman Democratic presidential nominee, memes flew across the internet of Black women sipping wine while the nation burned down. The memes felt cathartic -- we had voted against Trump at the highest rates of all groups. But we also knew it would never happen. Black women understand more than anyone the costs of sitting it out, and yet we are so weary of being asked again and again to save this country from itself. This dynamic panel of some of our most beloved and searing public voices will speak to the heartache and resilience of being a Black woman in a country that doesn't love us.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:04How are y'all feeling?
00:07Y'all not feeling good?
00:09Come on, New Orleans.
00:11Okay.
00:12Look, we are in the United States of America right now,
00:15and we are in a black women's space,
00:17so I think we need to feel a little more enthusiastic
00:19about being here and being amongst each other.
00:24That's all the black joy we got going on here?
00:26Right.
00:27Come on, show us some black joy.
00:29Boy, we are in essence.
00:32All right, now.
00:33I know it's hard to feel joy right now,
00:35but we have to protect our spaces
00:38and be in a space of affirming each other right now.
00:43So I'm Nicole Hannah-Jones.
00:45I am the nonfiction author's curator
00:48for Essence Festival this year,
00:50and I, oh, thank you, thank you.
00:52Yes!
00:55I'm the cheerleader up here.
00:57Can you tell?
00:58When I got the opportunity to curate sessions,
01:01the first thing, of course, I thought about
01:03was the state of black women in this country.
01:06It's never been easy to be a black woman.
01:09Since 1619, black women have had a unique struggle,
01:14but we are now in a very particular moment
01:17where not only is black America under attack,
01:20but black women specifically.
01:22We know that some over 300,000 black women
01:28have lost their jobs under this current administration.
01:32We know that many of the fields that we as black women
01:35care most about in our careers
01:37have been the fields that have been targeted
01:38by the Trump administration.
01:40And then we have, you know, just the everyday lives
01:43of us trying to be mothers and partners and bosses
01:47and just everything that we're trying to do.
01:49And so I curated this panel
01:51because there was no one I would rather hear from
01:54in this moment than these two.
01:56And then, of course, our sister Tiffany Cross
01:58when she comes with it.
02:00So I want to start, I'm going to start with you, Michelle,
02:04because you were one of the early kind of canaries
02:08in the coal mine of this new administration.
02:10We all know Michelle from her amazing work on CBS,
02:15telling so many of our stories in such a powerful way
02:18and always, always featuring black women
02:21and other marginalized people in your storytelling.
02:25And when CBS was bought out,
02:27you were one of the first people that they let go.
02:31Well, I was among 100.
02:34I understand, but we don't care about them other people.
02:36Okay, well.
02:37No, I'm playing, I'm playing, I'm playing.
02:38I'm playing, I'm playing.
02:39But no, so not only was I, but they targeted my show.
02:43So my show under, for financial reasons,
02:48they fired all but three or four people
02:53or laid off people from the staff.
02:56And all of this is documented.
02:59Essentially, our show that was so good
03:02at crafting stories about America and the world,
03:05the way it actually looks and feels,
03:09that was CBS Saturday Morning.
03:11And I guess that was no longer
03:14what they wanted to see happen.
03:17For me, the writing was on the wall and still,
03:22and I think this happens to a lot of us,
03:24still, I was a little shocked
03:27because the show was doing well
03:29and we had a following and all the things,
03:32you know, we were under budget
03:33and we made a difference.
03:35And people knew who we were.
03:37We were sometimes beating the Monday through Friday show.
03:40So I say that in the respect that it was not,
03:45it did not feel right,
03:47but I left there with dignity.
03:50And that's the first thing we have to show
03:52because that is what we have and that is what we do.
03:56And I also left with my posse in full view.
04:02Okay, I strutted out of that building like a badass.
04:07And I then put it up on social media
04:10and let everybody know
04:12that I wasn't going out quietly.
04:15But I don't know if the question was,
04:18yes, I was one of the first in that round.
04:21Well, you didn't let me ask the question.
04:23Oh, I didn't?
04:25Sorry, I'm used to asking the questions.
04:28She really likes me
04:30because I taught her how to pose
04:31and the first time I interviewed her.
04:33That's true.
04:34She did tell me, teach me how to pose.
04:36But I think what I wanted to get at,
04:40and you did start to touch on it,
04:42was we know as black women
04:44that we're often blamed for our economic conditions, right?
04:48That we just need to be educated.
04:50You need to work harder.
04:52We've been told by this administration
04:53that we are DEI hires,
04:55that we didn't earn our positions.
04:57And yet, you know,
04:58Tiffany's show had consistently high ratings.
05:01Joy Ann Reed's show had consistently high ratings.
05:05Your show had consistently high ratings.
05:07And so we know the cancellation
05:08was never about your professionalism and your success.
05:13And so many of us,
05:14I don't care what type of job you have,
05:16we understand what it's like to do everything right,
05:19everything they tell us that we're supposed to do,
05:21but in the end, we're still expendable.
05:23So I just wanted you to speak a little bit
05:25about that experience as a black woman
05:27in this country right now.
05:28At least they used to try to hide and pretend.
05:30The pretending is over, which is good.
05:33We know our, you know,
05:33our enemy is making the stakes very clear.
05:36But it's very hurtful to have,
05:38in such a public way,
05:39when you know you've done your job well,
05:41to be dismissed in that way.
05:43And I would just love you to speak to that a little bit.
05:45And then I'll get to you, Jamila.
05:46So I always knew that the day would come,
05:51but I had always planned
05:52because I was one of these people
05:55who made sure that I was in all of the things,
05:59like all of the platforms.
06:01Like I started their streaming service.
06:05I was one of the 12 people to watch in 2012,
06:09along with the then president and CEO of CBS News,
06:14the then president of their division on tech,
06:20John Oliver,
06:22and the guy from Meet the Press at the time,
06:24what was his name?
06:25Well, anyway, there were only 12 of us
06:27and there were like three women,
06:28and my face popped up in that.
06:31So obviously I meant something.
06:35You know, Emmy Award,
06:36three-time Emmy Award winner,
06:38you know, two-time Gracie Award winner,
06:40Edward R. Murrow Award winner,
06:42New York Times bestselling author.
06:45I mean, all of these things have Q associated with them.
06:49When I say that,
06:50they measure the quotient of your popularity
06:53and your ability to engage audiences.
06:57So that's what they say they want.
07:00But I've always known that,
07:03you know,
07:04we are constantly being gaslit.
07:07So I want to turn it over to you
07:10because the transparency now,
07:12I think for everyone,
07:14is alive and well.
07:15Michelle.
07:16Oh, I'm sorry.
07:18No, I'm playing.
07:19Look, we can have discussion.
07:21We're sisters up here.
07:22We can have discussion.
07:23I don't want to hog the mic.
07:25No, it's okay.
07:26She's wanting to interview
07:27because that's your journalist.
07:28That's what you do.
07:29But we're all journalists up here, actually.
07:31I want to come to you, Jamila,
07:34because your new book
07:36writes about what is the avatar, right,
07:39of conservatism in this country,
07:42is that single black women, right,
07:45are the cause of all of the problems
07:47of our culture and our society.
07:49And you wrote a book
07:51to try to reclaim this position.
07:54I would love you to talk a little bit
07:56or as much as you want, right,
07:58about why you wrote this book,
08:00why we need the presence,
08:02the more public presence
08:04of single black womanhood
08:06in spaces like this
08:07where we know there are a lot of black women
08:09who are having that exact same experience
08:13and why that particular identity
08:15feels so under attack right now.
08:20Hello.
08:21Can you hear me?
08:21Okay.
08:22My book, Black Single Mother,
08:24out now, available in the bookstore,
08:27is the result of a lot of years
08:30of inner work for myself
08:33as the child of a single mother
08:36and now a second generation single mother, right?
08:39I've been a writer for a long time.
08:41I've had publishing companies
08:42interested in getting a book for me
08:44for a long time,
08:45and I couldn't figure out
08:46what I wanted to write about, right?
08:48My work has been around feminism
08:50and pop culture
08:51and parenting and family to some extent,
08:53but I was afraid that if I wrote a book
08:56about black single motherhood,
08:58one, I would have to deal
09:00with all that comes with it, right?
09:03And the stigma and the shaming
09:05and the assumptions,
09:06which I certainly have,
09:08and it's been such a fight
09:09to get this book into spaces
09:11that you would be so sad to hear
09:14are not embracing this book, right?
09:16Because it's about black single motherhood.
09:18Spaces that are led by black single mothers
09:21are afraid of talking about black single motherhood.
09:24So I didn't want to deal with the shame.
09:26I didn't want to deal with the stigma,
09:27but I also was afraid
09:28that if I put this down in a book in this way,
09:32because it's one thing to,
09:33I've talked about it on social media.
09:35I've written about it in articles,
09:37talked about it on podcasts,
09:38but if I wrote a whole book about it,
09:40I felt like I was going to make myself
09:42a single mother forever.
09:44That somehow I was writing a spell for my life
09:47and that's who I would always be.
09:49And in the process of writing the book,
09:52I realized, one, that's ridiculous,
09:54but two, what if I am a single mother forever?
09:59That's not doom.
10:00That's not failure.
10:02I have a beautiful, wonderful family
10:04and we are enough,
10:05whether it expands to include a partner for me
10:09in the household or another child
10:11or nothing at all.
10:13I've built a beautiful family with my daughter
10:16as well as with her dad and stepmom and brother
10:19and our extended family, right?
10:21We've navigated co-parenting in such a beautiful way
10:24and I wanted to share that with people.
10:27So with that, I just,
10:28I think that we have to be honest about the fact
10:33that black single motherhood
10:35is nothing to be embarrassed of.
10:37It has been an integral part of our story
10:39since we got here.
10:40Our enslaved ancestors very rarely had the option
10:45to decide who their partner would be.
10:47Who would they do life with, right?
10:49That's not something enslaved women were doing.
10:51And many of them,
10:52whether they'd born children or not,
10:54were single mothers.
10:55They were mothering children
10:57that were on the plantation.
10:58Someone has to look after this baby.
11:00He don't got no mama, right?
11:02And so this is something that we should be proud of.
11:05I went into this book wanting to restore dignity
11:10and or bestow dignity upon black single mothers
11:14and give us our flowers
11:15and tell people that we deserve more than what we've gotten.
11:19But I have been so radicalized
11:21since publishing the book
11:23and being on tour and going across the country
11:26and talking to people about it.
11:27So it's like I went from
11:29I want to defend black single mothers
11:32to actually I think black single mothers
11:34are superior beings.
11:36I think we are the most essential members of the community
11:41and that black America will fall apart without us.
11:46All right.
11:47And we'll welcome Tiffany Cross to the stage.
11:51So sorry.
11:52I'm so tardy.
11:53Hi, everybody.
11:55I said you were on CP Time.
11:57Oh, you know, I was on Joy State.
11:59She was over there talking about you.
12:00So I was doing Joy Show.
12:02She said, please apologize to Nicole for me.
12:04That's OK.
12:04I started this on European Time.
12:06So we forgive you.
12:07We forgive you.
12:09We're just being anti-colonial right now.
12:11It's all good.
12:13But welcome.
12:15I actually named the title of this session
12:17after your book.
12:19Love Me, right?
12:20And I was telling Michelle that in some way she was a canary
12:25in the coal mine.
12:26But you were whatever comes before the canary, right?
12:29So, of course, your show, which, again,
12:33was a very popular show that provided the audience
12:39with something that you couldn't find elsewhere
12:41on television news, was canceled really
12:44at the height of its popularity.
12:46And we can't blame this on the second Trump administration.
12:52And so in some ways, you were the precursor
12:55of showing how already tired people
12:58who were allegedly our allies were
13:00of centering black stories and black narratives.
13:02So I would love for you to talk a little bit
13:05about kind of the impetus for the book.
13:07And what's the message that we as black women,
13:10as we get ready to commemorate the 250th anniversary
13:13of the country that was founded by enslaving our ancestors,
13:17how we should be thinking about this moment?
13:19Well, thank you, Nicole, for pulling together this panel.
13:22Thank you all for coming.
13:23I'm honored to share the stage with you, Michelle.
13:25You look gorgeous.
13:25I saw you earlier.
13:27And, you know, I love your book.
13:29So I had the opportunity to hear about her book
13:31because we share an agent who asked me to blurb it.
13:33So congratulations to you on your book.
13:36I feel in good company to be here.
13:38And, yeah, thank you, Nicole, for the question.
13:41It's really, I think in this moment in time,
13:45we are righteously pissed off.
13:48But even beyond being pissed off,
13:50I know for me, I was heartbroken.
13:52I was heartbroken.
13:54And it seems like every time we talk about black women,
13:57we're talked about in these monikers.
13:59You know, we're the backbone of America
14:01or the backbone of this political party
14:03or we're the 92%.
14:04And I know for a long time, but especially after the election,
14:08I didn't feel like any of those things.
14:10I felt like I'm a whole-ass human being
14:12with a broken heart right now.
14:14And I want to take a step back from the group project
14:17of trying to save something,
14:19people who don't want to be saved.
14:21And at this point, I don't know how to co-create something
14:23with people who do not see my humanity.
14:26And so when I showed up every day on my set,
14:29I did so with you in mind.
14:31I did so, I imagined a world
14:33in which we could have truthful conversations
14:36the same way they have little colloquialisms
14:38they drop on their show.
14:39I wanted to have that on my show.
14:41The same way, this is how I speak.
14:43I'm not code switching.
14:44We should be able to reflect our own lived experience
14:47the same way they do.
14:48And in a space that centers,
14:51constantly centers whiteness,
14:53centers white comfort, centers white perspective.
14:56And when you look at the landscape,
14:58even before this administration,
15:00only 6% of reporting newsroom staffs were black.
15:03When you disaggregate that,
15:05that means even less are black women,
15:06even less are black men.
15:08I'll take a moment of privilege
15:09and shout out Jelani Cobb,
15:11dean of Columbia Journalism School.
15:14An amazing figure,
15:16an important figure in journalism today.
15:17Thank you, Jelani, for all the important work.
15:19He'll be on the panel later this afternoon.
15:21Oh, good.
15:22I'll come back and see you then.
15:23But I wanted to,
15:25I had to take to the page
15:27to reflect our story.
15:29And there's a lot of brilliant minds,
15:31like the women I'm on stage with,
15:33who do wonderful reporting
15:35and deep dives into history.
15:39I wanted to take a moment to explore love.
15:42Because love is really at the root of our survival.
15:45I don't know y'all in this room,
15:47but I know every one of y'all.
15:49I can show up to anybody's house in here on Thanksgiving.
15:51I know what the menu's going to look like.
15:54I know the questions to ask,
15:55like who made the potato salad,
15:57who we rocking with.
15:58That's community.
16:00That's love.
16:01And what you were talking about,
16:02being responsible.
16:03I don't have children,
16:04but I've mothered children.
16:06And when you say,
16:07if a baby walked in here right now,
16:10that baby is the safest baby right now.
16:12Like, whose baby is this?
16:13He's going to be loved.
16:14He's going to be cared for.
16:16There's something magical about that.
16:18And so I wanted to write something
16:19that reminded us of who we are.
16:22Because as angry as I am,
16:24it's particularly,
16:25I live in D.C.
16:26and I'm surrounded
16:27by these ignorant ass,
16:29ill-fitted ass people
16:30who walk around my neighborhood
16:32with the temerity,
16:33the temerity to be wearing
16:35this new Klan uniform
16:36at the nation's capital
16:38where hundreds of thousands of black women
16:40have been sent to the bread lines.
16:42And I walk around there like,
16:43I dare you to say one thing to me.
16:46And I think we all need
16:47to have that attitude again
16:48because that is our community.
16:50They need to understand,
16:51you didn't mess with her.
16:52You mess with us every single time.
16:55And that's the energy I'm on
16:56and I want it to center
16:57that righteous anger,
16:58but rooted in love
16:59of what we're going through.
17:01And I don't know,
17:02Nicole, honestly,
17:02with this 250,
17:03I don't know how to co-create what's next.
17:05I really don't.
17:06I don't have an interest in it even.
17:08But I think we have to start to consider
17:09how do we build shelter for ourselves.
17:12I don't care so much
17:13about the bones of this democracy,
17:15but I care about you.
17:16I care about you.
17:17I care about you.
17:18I care about your children.
17:19And if we are the hope
17:21and dream of the enslaved,
17:22if somebody had to pray
17:23to envision us right here, right now,
17:26what are we sowing into the seed
17:27and the culture right now
17:28that generations from now,
17:30they can say,
17:31this is what we did.
17:32This is how we stood
17:33in a moment of time
17:34in our humanity.
17:35So it's rooted in love.
17:36I told Nicole this,
17:38but the first month of publication,
17:39my book sold over 10,000 copies
17:41across all platforms.
17:43It's such a huge feat.
17:45So thank you to everybody
17:46who's bought the book
17:47and DM me.
17:48I'm thirsty,
17:48so I look at my DMs
17:50and look at what y'all say about it.
17:51And so I really appreciate
17:53all the support
17:54and honor to share the stage
17:55with you luminaries up here today.
17:57Right.
17:58Thank you so much.
18:00I mean,
18:01we talk a lot about this, right?
18:03The burden that black women carry.
18:07I came out of last election
18:10extremely anger,
18:11anger, enraged,
18:14despondent,
18:15and sick and tired of
18:17every four years,
18:19black women are told
18:20we have to save democracy.
18:21And then as soon as we do it,
18:23we get dropped like a bad habit, right?
18:24We know the pattern.
18:26And yet I remember
18:27after this last election
18:29when so many of us
18:29felt betrayed
18:30by the choices of other women
18:34who are not black
18:36who voted for this.
18:38And men too.
18:40And men, but...
18:41And people in our community
18:43who voted by not voting.
18:45Lots, right?
18:46Like we,
18:47many of us
18:48were betrayed
18:50who put so much into
18:51trying to save the country
18:53not for a particular
18:54love of country
18:55but for a love
18:55of our own community.
18:56We understand
18:57if this shit burns,
18:58we all burn.
18:59Like we know that.
19:00So y'all remember the meme
19:01that came out
19:02and the black women
19:03were sitting on the building
19:04drinking wine,
19:06watching,
19:07everything burned down
19:08and it felt cathartic
19:09and we needed
19:10a moment of catharsis.
19:12But we also knew
19:12we weren't going to do that for long.
19:14We don't have the ability
19:15to do that for long
19:16because whatever America
19:17plans to visit
19:18on the people
19:19it says it cares about,
19:20we know we're going
19:21to suffer the most.
19:22So I would want
19:24all of you
19:25to answer this question
19:26just to talk about
19:27kind of
19:28what is the state
19:29of black women right now
19:31and what are we called to do?
19:32Because I don't believe
19:33we should any longer
19:35be the sacrificial lamb
19:37but at the same time
19:38our communities
19:39are the first
19:40that are going
19:40to be sacrificed.
19:41So what is the state?
19:42And we can just
19:43start at the end
19:44and come this way.
19:46Again,
19:47I'd say that right now
19:48the responsibility
19:49of black women,
19:50I had this conversation
19:51with Michael Harriot
19:52and he was saying
19:54black men
19:55tend to tell
19:58their children
19:59and people
19:59what to do
20:00but black women
20:02show people
20:03how to be
20:04and I think
20:05that's important
20:06right now.
20:07I know there's
20:08a lot of anger
20:08but I do want to call us
20:10to remember our humanity
20:11and remember
20:12who the true enemy is.
20:14So I even hear you
20:15about people
20:16who didn't vote
20:17in our community.
20:19I have a lot of grace
20:20and empathy
20:20for those people
20:21because you're asking me
20:22to believe in a system
20:23that has consistently
20:25harmed me
20:25and I have not seen
20:26any evidence
20:27and I don't believe
20:28in elitism
20:30or classism
20:30that's all rooted
20:31in white supremacy
20:32so I understand
20:33the person
20:33that is on the corner
20:34of my street.
20:35Hi Nikki!
20:36I understand the person
20:37that's on the corner
20:37of my street
20:38that's hanging out
20:40you know
20:41selling loose
20:41like he is me
20:42and I am him
20:43like there's no difference
20:44in us
20:44and we're saying
20:45believe in this system
20:47and go out and vote
20:48and it'll change
20:48and we have to change
20:49our tune
20:49and say we're not
20:50asking you to believe
20:51in this system brother
20:52we're asking you
20:52to believe in you.
20:53We're not asking you
20:54to believe in this system sister
20:55we're asking you
20:56to believe in you
20:56so at this moment
20:57I think we have to focus
20:59on how to be
21:00and I'll quickly Nicole
21:01I don't know
21:02if you heard this
21:03but a lot of people
21:04when we saw
21:04the ICE deportations
21:05and people being
21:06carted off to Seacott
21:07and they were saying
21:08well that's who
21:09they voted for
21:09so I'm minding my business
21:10there was no curiosity
21:12about well let's break
21:13down that data
21:13and see actually
21:14what that data looks like
21:15one they're an
21:16undocumented immigrant
21:18they cannot vote
21:19but let's remember
21:20our humanity
21:21we cannot let them
21:22turn us into monsters
21:24we have to give a damn
21:25about people
21:26they are not our enemy
21:27we have to
21:28I don't know the numbers
21:29that we can win
21:30with just us alone
21:31so trying to find safety
21:33among each other
21:34and then coalition build
21:35with the people
21:36who did vote with us
21:38who did ally with us
21:39I can co-create something
21:40with those people
21:42a lot better than I can
21:43trying to win this fight alone
21:46I think black women
21:48in this moment
21:49are in a deep state
21:50of both contemplation
21:53and rage
21:54because set against
21:56the backdrop
21:57of the collapse
21:58of empire
21:59and watching the country
22:00fail us over and over again
22:02are the tensions
22:03that we are feeling
22:04with our own men
22:05which for many of us
22:07have a more tangible
22:09impact on our day-to-day
22:11experiences
22:11right
22:12these are our brothers
22:13our fathers
22:14our partners
22:14our bosses
22:15right
22:16and so
22:16I think for the first time
22:18this mass of black women
22:21is considering
22:22what gender means to us
22:24how we've been subjugated
22:26even within our own people
22:27right
22:28feminism among us
22:30has been deeply unpopular
22:32for a number of reasons
22:34until the past
22:3515 or 20 years
22:37right
22:38now we're having
22:38a more nuanced conversation
22:40about it
22:40and what it means to us
22:41and so
22:42I think that
22:43what's important
22:44is that black women
22:45think about
22:46saving themselves
22:47and not saying
22:49I'm saving myself
22:50because I don't care
22:50about the men
22:51or I don't care
22:52about the white folks
22:53but me taking care
22:54of me and my sisters
22:55is going to prop up
22:57the world for everyone else
22:59right
22:59when our needs are met
23:01the collective needs
23:03are met
23:03so I think it's important
23:04that we
23:05you know
23:06don't feel like
23:08debating
23:09or considering gender
23:10is not painting
23:11the walls
23:12while the house
23:13is burning down
23:14the house is burning down
23:15but those walls
23:16still need to be painted
23:17because you got to live
23:18in that house
23:18until it burns down
23:20so I have a minute
23:21I don't know
23:22how I'm gonna do it
23:24but
23:26the engineers
23:27and the architects
23:28of 2025 project
23:31we know it well
23:35they did their research
23:36and they did their research
23:38and they did their research
23:39on who is
23:41the central
23:43strength
23:45configuration
23:46of the black community
23:48and it is us
23:49it is us
23:51okay
23:52it's called
23:53the matrifocal lens
23:55okay
23:56and that's what they targeted
23:57they targeted us
23:58we go about doing our business
24:01and have
24:01since the moment
24:02we landed
24:03or actually
24:04since the moment
24:05and I'm borrowing
24:05from Malcolm X
24:06Plymouth Rock
24:08landed on us
24:09okay
24:09so we have been about
24:11the business of what
24:12creating
24:13the business about
24:15protecting
24:16the business about
24:18getting on
24:19and surviving
24:20that's our business
24:21and we do it
24:22from an economic standpoint
24:24we do it from a
24:25civic engagement
24:26and political standpoint
24:27we do it
24:28from the sense of
24:30oh girl
24:30I got you
24:31that's what we need
24:33to be focused on
24:34because every single
24:36new business
24:36that is cropping up
24:38in this country
24:38the highest percentage
24:40are who?
24:42us
24:44small businesses
24:45who?
24:47us
24:47so ladies
24:49let's just get back
24:50to the work
24:51of taking care
24:52of our business
24:52the business
24:53of
24:54the bottom line
24:57money maker
24:57the business
24:58of
24:59the bottom line
25:00taking care
25:01of our community
25:01and
25:02I didn't even have
25:03a minute
25:04give me a minute
25:04I'm gonna finish
25:05this point
25:06do you want me
25:07to finish the point?
25:08because I am like
25:09hyper focused
25:11and
25:12that's what we need
25:13to do
25:14and I am
25:16really
25:17very
25:19proud to be
25:19sitting up here
25:20with these ladies
25:21sis
25:22you did a hell of a job
25:23and I'm so proud
25:25of you
25:25Nicole Hannah-Jones
25:27I am so proud
25:29of your responsibility
25:31and your engagement
25:33in this moment
25:34that is Essence
25:36thank you
25:37okay
25:38thank you
25:39I just
25:40before
25:41before we leave
25:42I just want to say
25:44you know
25:44black women
25:45we have power
25:46we have
25:48so much power
25:49and I want us
25:50to walk away
25:51from this panel
25:52walk away
25:53from this
25:54weekend of restoration
25:55understanding
25:56our power
25:57because they understand
25:58our power
25:59there's a reason
26:00why they begin
26:01the attack
26:01on democracy
26:02with black women
26:04whether
26:04I want y'all
26:06to understand that
26:07when you look
26:08at how black women
26:09vote
26:09we don't vote
26:10our aspirations
26:11Joe Biden
26:11was nobody's
26:12preferred candidate
26:13right
26:14but what we do
26:15is we
26:15we vote to protect
26:17we are the protector
26:18of not just
26:19our household
26:21and our communities
26:21but of this country
26:23where we live
26:25this is our native land
26:26so we have to fight
26:28alongside
26:28as many allies
26:30as we can
26:31I want us to understand
26:32the layoffs
26:32and targeting
26:33of black women
26:33specifically
26:34is economic
26:36destruction
26:36because we know
26:38we're often
26:38the income earners
26:40in our household
26:41we know that
26:42we're the ones
26:42that vote for community
26:43at the highest rates
26:44that we vote for
26:45social programs
26:47we vote for public programs
26:48so we have a tremendous strength
26:51that they recognize
26:52I just want us to recognize it
26:54just as much
26:54so thank y'all
26:55for joining me on this panel
26:57leave here with your power y'all
27:02oh oh are y'all signing
27:04okay
27:05also
27:05there will be
27:07I don't think Michelle's books
27:08made it
27:08give my book
27:09sadly
27:10but Jamila and
27:11Tiffany
27:12are signing books
27:13so please
27:14purchase their books
27:15support black authors
27:16and they will sign them
27:18for you while they're here
27:18thank you all so much
27:20I'll get a quick shot
27:20I've got a quick übring