Teenage Voices in a Digital World with Umi Mshaka-Morris and Ziyada Ahmad

Join us as we spotlight the vibrant voices of Umi Mshaka-Morris and Ziyada Ahmad to illuminate the complexities of the teenage experience in today's digital age. Our conversation takes us through the labyrinth of teenage social dynamics, with smartphones opening up new worlds of communication and connection. Yet, we also reminisce about the past and explore how the digital divide shapes the way young people experience freedom, socialize, and view school as a social hub. Umi and Ziyada offer firsthand accounts of navigating restrictions like malls banning unaccompanied minors and balancing digital interactions with real-world connections.

Our discussion takes a deeper turn as we scrutinize the stereotypes and internalized discrimination that still pervade marginalized communities, often perpetuated by casual jokes and language. We reflect on how these prejudices impact teenagers' education and social development, blending personal growth with societal expectations. Umi and Ziyada share their dreams and pursuits, from fashion design to psychology, providing a candid look into their worlds. We even touch on how media narratives shape perceptions of mental health and LGBTQ+ relationships.

In a world where social media and stereotypes loom large, the episode underscores the importance of personal well-being and self-assuredness. We explore the nuances of teenage romances and the ever-changing landscape of parent-teen relationships, flavored with humor and sincerity. The cultural significance of figures like Kamala Harris and the nuances of celebrity culture also enter our discourse, highlighting the broader societal shifts and personal challenges faced by today's youth. Through candid conversation, Umi and Ziyada give us a window into their aspirations and challenges, painting a vivid picture of a generation poised to impact the world.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to a Cross Generations where the voices of black
women unite.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm your host, Tiffany Cross. Tiffany Cross.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Tiffany, We gather a season elder, myself as the middle generation,
and a vibrant young soul for engaging intergenerational conversations, prepared
to engage.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Or hear perspectives that no one else is having. You
know how we do? We create magic, Create magic.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
Hi everybody, I'm Tiffany Cross, your host of Across Generations,
and I have to say today might be my absolute
favorite episode of Across Generations. I think we have so
much conversation around an elder, a younger and me. And
I know a lot of my friends are raising teenagers.
I know a lot of you might be raising teenagers.

(00:52):
Some of you out there might be teenagers who tune
into the show. And so I thought, why not invite
teenagers on? Instead of talking about them, let's end invite
them to the table. So that is what we are
going to do today, an unfiltered conversation with two very
dynamic young women who have a lot of thoughts and opinions.
And I'm so thrilled to get into this conversation. So

(01:12):
let's just get right into it. Today we have Umi
Amshaka Morris. She is a passionate advocate for youth empowerment
and community engagement. And joining her is Ziada Ahmad, but
I'm gonna call her Z for the show. She is
a talented, inspiring teen who's making waves in both academics
and social justice. So we're gonna dive in with them

(01:35):
and their world and see what the next generation has
to say. Hi, girls, Hello, I'm so happy you guys
are here. So we were chatting a little bit before
we started rolling. I was telling you guys that we
are just like super unfiltered today because I want to
hear all about you and everything going on in your world.
But you guys can totally ask me questions, and we

(01:55):
just want to get into it.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
All right.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
I'm going to start with Well, first I should tell
the people how old you are, okay.

Speaker 3 (02:02):
So I am fifteen years old, okay, I'm Umi, and
I'm thirteen years.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
Old thirteen okay, and you're in the eighth grade, eighth grade,
tenth tenth grade, okay, eighth grade and tenth grade. So Umi,
I'm gonna start with you. Tell me for you, what
is the most exciting thing about being a teenager these days.

Speaker 3 (02:23):
Honestly, I think it's all the opportunities that we have.
I think it's very different to how it was back
in the day. But there's a lot of extracurriculars that
you can do, and there's also easier ways to communicate
with friends, which makes it so much easier to have
a great social life.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
So I didn't even think about that. That's so true
because you guys have smartphones. Yeah, okay, Can I just
remondiance a little bit and tell you so when I
was a teenager, not only were there not smartphones, there
were not even cordless phones. There was like in the
wall phones that you had, And the most embarrassing thing,
like I'd be on the phone, sometimes with my girlfriends,

(03:01):
but sometimes with like a boy.

Speaker 3 (03:02):
I like, wasn't it like you're you could like channel
into the phone.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yes, channel into the phone.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
When you say channeling to the phone, let me say
what that was your mama picking up the phone, Like,
get off the phone. I told you no more phone
calls after taking I mean so embarrassing. You could be
in the middle of trying to be cute and flirt
and your mom just clown you on the phone awful anyway,
So yes, I didn't even think about the whole smartphone divide.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
I love it. Okay, So what's the most exciting thing
for you?

Speaker 3 (03:30):
It's like, you know, you have like more freedom. You
can like go outside more, hang out with friends.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Go to clubs.

Speaker 3 (03:38):
You just have like all these opportunities to go outside
and like you know, like let me say, social, socialize exactly.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
So that's interesting you say that, because I would think
it seems like with a lot of teenagers everything is
on the phone.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
So when you say go outside, like what are y'all like,
do you actually write? What does that mean?

Speaker 3 (03:56):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (03:57):
Sorry, either ones.

Speaker 3 (03:59):
I mean it's a mix of both, because a lot
of like places outside or like cracking down because teenagers
are kind of crazy. So like the malls that I
usually go to after school with my friends are like
if you're under eighteen, you can't come here without parental
like really permission. And so that's why a lot of

(04:20):
people have kind of resorted to phones because now we
don't really have a safe space besides school. But I
think even with that, school is like a really big
part of social life. In my school, there's a lot
of clubs after school and a lot of different like things.

(04:40):
We have events like almost every week. It's really fun.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
I'm struck by you saying you don't really have a
safe space outside of school, because that's true.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
I used to go to the mall with.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
My friends, and I mean, I guess teenagers have always
been kind of crazy to use your language, but it's
really just like growing up kids, right exactly. So how
does that make you feel when you know the mall
is like you can't come in you're not over eighteen.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
It's so interesting.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
One of my friends, we're doing a group project in
English and we're like looking at conflicts around teenagers, and
her conflict is like malls and stores and like places
saying no children. And I think it's really confusing because

(05:30):
I feel like taking away something doesn't stop it from happening.
It just makes it more unsafe, right, And so like
not having kids be able to like be kids outside
of school, I feel like it's going to do more
harm than good.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
Yeah, I agree with you with me, I don't know
how because the malls may not have liked us, but
that was our hangout. You know, that's such a part
of teenage life. So I wonder why that is. We'll
have to look into that. And when you said, like, oh,
you can go to clubs, I was thinking clubs talk
about But now I think I may misunderstand you. But
what do you mean when you say you guys can
go to clubs.

Speaker 2 (06:04):
Like after school club?

Speaker 3 (06:05):
Yea, honestly yeah. But like when I do go outside,
I think it like depends on who you're hanging out with.
Like when I'm like on my phone, it's like more
like I don't really like know that person. It's just
like I'm just gonna be on my phone talking to
probably like my other friends from time to time.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
But if it's like one.

Speaker 3 (06:22):
Of like my best friend, yeah, it's just like, oh
my god, we're gonna like talk for like a good
hour or two.

Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (06:28):
Just walk around outside and just like I like live summer,
like we call it's like called Broadway, and they they
have like all these like food stores and like like Rainbow, Fluffy's, McDonald's,
all of that. It's like amazing for us because you know,
I like live right next to it and like we

(06:49):
all do, and like we're just all hanging out everything.
I feel like that's like a perfect time for us
to just like not be on social media. Yeah, it's
like perfect.

Speaker 1 (06:57):
I actually love that because I mean that's I kind
of think that's what a lot of younger people miss
out on because when I was younger, we were, like
I said, there were no phones. You know, we were
when we were outside. We were outside, you know, we
were with each other. And when I see a lot
of young people together a lot of times it is
like the selfie generation and like everybody's on, you know,

(07:19):
their phones all the time. So I think it's great
that you guys are present and with each other. Okay,
So when you're hanging out by Fluffy's and McDonald's and
all that, what are you guys talking about?

Speaker 2 (07:29):
Okay?

Speaker 3 (07:30):
So usually it's like about boys, like my friend's relationships
and everything. Yeah, I'm like, I give them like my opinions.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
Ooh, and what are some of the issues they're having
with these boys?

Speaker 3 (07:42):
It's great they're not like giving the same energy towards them,
like somebody loves the other person more than like the
other bide. It's the epidemic of like nonchalantness.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
Yeah, exactly, the epidemic of nonchalantness. I should say, before
we started Umi has already told me that she could
be the adult for the conversation, And you're doing an
amazing job because I want to hear more about this
epidemic of nonchalantness. What so one person is typically into
the other person a little more? Is it typically the
guy or the girl or can get the girl and

(08:15):
leaves more into the guy.

Speaker 3 (08:16):
Yeah, and recently like they've been all over the place
now I think.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
They broke up.

Speaker 3 (08:22):
Yeah, Mixick knows it's been really bad my other friends.
It's like right now for like high school, it's more
about like trust issues honestly, like with the cheating and everything. Yeah,
you know, it makes honestly me scared to be in
a relationship with anybody because like it's like, what's going
to happen If that happens to me, Like I'll be

(08:43):
extremely hurt.

Speaker 1 (08:44):
Of course, Well, you said that you give advice, so hypothetically,
if I wanted some advice about these trust issues and
being into one more than the other, what advice would
you give me?

Speaker 3 (08:54):
I would say, talk it out with them, because a
lot of people like they keep that inside and then
like just bottles up inside of them and they just
you know, shut down. Completely, and I feel like like
that's like the only thing I tell them because like
my friends usually don't talk it out with their partners,
so it's like, okay, just like relax.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
Calm down, and yeah, just talking to that. Yeah, I
totally agree with that.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
I feel like we as teenagers need to break the
cycle of like not communicating because my friends. It's and
it's not even just my friends. I've noticed with a
lot of people in my school when they have an
issue with somebody, they go to other people, and they
go to other people and they say, oh, well this
is happening and I don't like it. And sometimes I'm

(09:43):
that person and I go, well, I'm not them, so
why are you telling me this? I feel like you
need to go to them because now you're like, oh,
I'm sending these signals and it's just you like not
talking to them, And I'm like, well, is that really
a signal? You need to like be straightforward with that. Yeah,
communicate that is actually happening to me right now. They're

(10:05):
both my friends, and like he will tell me their situation,
and like I hate that so much. It's just like
why are you telling me you have like like my
friend is your girl, like you have another me exactly,
and like you see each other almost every day, and
it's like you're telling me, so I usually like tell
her what he tells me. So yeah, so they could

(10:27):
figure it out and like sometimes like she actually would
tell me too, or like her other friend. And it's
like I feel like that's like the only problem right now,
because I feel like that, like the trust issues, it's
like really not there in this whole generation, yeah, because
now you get caught in the middle and you have
to go to both sides and get the opinions, and
then like all of that could have been avoided if

(10:48):
they just went to each other instead. Right.

Speaker 1 (10:50):
So, when I was younger, there were definitely homosexual relationships
in school, but it wasn't as like prevalent. You know,
it's still kind of a secret. How is it today,
Like at your school is like out and open our
parents know.

Speaker 3 (11:05):
I think it's pretty open. Honestly. I can probably not
name more than three straight people in my school really, Yeah,
And I think maybe it's just the circumstances of where
we are right now, but I think it's gotten a
lot better. But the only difference between the homophobia issue

(11:27):
is that instead of it being like a straight person
hating on a gay person, it's just a gay person
hating on a gay person for being gay.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
Really, I don't know what that means.

Speaker 3 (11:36):
It's like when people black people use the N word,
but like use the hard R towards another black person.
It's like, you're not being racist, but you're perpetuating the stereotypes,
and you're saying it in the way that a white
person would say it, right, And it's usually taken as

(11:57):
a joke, but I feel like, honestly, it shouldn't be
because if you allows your friend to call you that,
then who's to say that. What's the difference between them
and like a Hispanic person saying that to you? And
it just keeps going in that cycle of when.

Speaker 2 (12:15):
Does it stop? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (12:17):
And I think it also it begs the question are
you internalized? Like do you have racism internalized? Like when
I see my friends, they see like boys wearing like
ski masks and Nike texts are always like, oh, they're
ghetto and whatever, But like what do you mean by that?

Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, well, what do you when they say that? I mean,
what's your reaction to that?

Speaker 3 (12:41):
I fear I'm a part of the problem, but really
why because it's it's so lighthearted that it's like we
know we're joking, but also it's just the back of
my mind that's like it doesn't sit right. We're like
feeding into yeah, the stereotype right types about us that
we bought it any anything similar, and you're honestly, it's

(13:05):
like almost the same thing technically.

Speaker 2 (13:07):
I feel like.

Speaker 3 (13:07):
She's getting to like the point where it's going to
turn out be a bit worse. In high school and
like you know, all these different types of stories and everything,
it's like everybody be cursing at each other and they
think it's normal now, like like completely normal, and like
you know sometimes you know, it was just I don't know,
not to sit right with me. It's not funny, and

(13:28):
it's like you know sometimes my friends do it, but
we all know that's like you know, it's like right now,
it's like really immature. Yes, it's like you know, nobody
could like just like talk normally and like I don't
even know. It's just so bad. Yeah, and like the
hood thing, Yeah, it's like everybody like sagging their pants
and everything. It's just like everybody's just so really different

(13:52):
now and it's like, you know, I don't understand like
why they do it or like why it's like even
like like they could do this in school, like yeah,
usually like some of the teachers they let them talk
to them like that, and it's like really bad, really
they cart said the teachers thinkers with the teachers exactly
the teachers, I mean not really. I'm kind of getting

(14:15):
into that position where it's like some words are allowed
to say yeah, but like usually it'll be like a
language and then nothing really happens.

Speaker 2 (14:26):
Yeah. Well, I'm just curious what are the words that
are allowed to say.

Speaker 1 (14:32):
We're remember guys, so you can tell we can weep
it out if it's too bad. But I get if
it's allowed to be said in school, I feel like
it can't be.

Speaker 3 (14:40):
Too It's just like I feel like it's also like
I'm going to be a nerd right now, but all
linguistic things on the internet, there has been like kind
of variations of curse words like A instead of ass.

Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yeah, so when you say that, it's not as like ah,
like right right yeah, so like and.

Speaker 3 (14:59):
It's also this will kind of those things like I'm
not going to get into it because then I won't stop.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
But it's okay.

Speaker 1 (15:08):
Well then, because when I was growing up, like we
couldn't even say dang those two close the damn you know,
so we would.

Speaker 2 (15:14):
Get in trouble.

Speaker 1 (15:15):
So when you were saying that, I thought, but I
didn't even think about like the shorthand and texts that
is made swearing like initials yeah, like I one I
would think of that came to mind when you were
saying that. It was like crazy.

Speaker 2 (15:28):
Afy, like yeah, yeah, so those are kind of allowed,
yeah in yours.

Speaker 3 (15:34):
And sometimes like if they're really brain rotted, they'll just
say like the initials.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
Mm like a F yeah exactly.

Speaker 3 (15:44):
I get what you're saying, and it's not necessarily a
curse word, but it's also not appropriate. Right, But I'm
being a little stuck up right now. It's not that serious.

Speaker 1 (15:52):
Yeah, I wouldn't call it stuck up, but I appreciate
your perspective on that. So you guys are have gotten
into some of the challenges. What is the most challenging
thing about being a teenager now right now?

Speaker 3 (16:03):
Maybe like thinking about college honestly, and like you know,
your education because you're going through like drama at the
same time and it's like it's like always like in
the way, and like you know, it comes in your
head every time, like you're trying to work and you're like, oh,
what am I going to do? Yea, like how am
I going to fix this? And it's like that's why

(16:24):
I don't want to get a relationship either, because you
know it might also you know, affect my education wise wisely,
and it's like, okay, I'm just going to back off
with the relationships, and right now my education is it's good.
It's just like the drama's like really there right now,
like with all my friends breaking up with their boyfriends

(16:46):
and everything. So it's like not really like a hard
time because like I'm not going through anything, but you know,
I'm just worried for my friends and how they are
going with this.

Speaker 2 (16:54):
I totally agree.

Speaker 3 (16:55):
I feel like, not to generalize, but this generation doesn't
really take education seriously really unless I mean I have
like most of my friends do take it seriously and
they have good grades, but like when I look outside
that bubble, it's like, oh, I got a sixty and
I don't really care.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
It's like, well, this year is.

Speaker 3 (17:14):
Kind of the important one, so I don't know why
you're acting like it's.

Speaker 2 (17:18):
Still fourth grade. Why do you think they don't take
it seriously? I feel like I just I feel like
they don't care.

Speaker 3 (17:26):
And it's not like they're like I will always have
some sort of out somehow. Yeah, I agree, Like my friends,
she's talking about like not going to college and everything
like that. I know it's crazy, but like I'm pretty
sure she will change her mind because you know, like
the jobs and everything that's gonna come up soon. So
like I don't really know. It's like how to explain it.

Speaker 2 (17:50):
I think like kind of.

Speaker 3 (17:53):
Normalize like not having a plan, and that's okay in
most cases, like you don't have to have everything planned
out from like your fifth birthday to your twenty fifth,
but it's like it comes to a point where it's
like it would be beneficial for you to have a
plan here. But I feel like sometimes it's like the parents,

(18:14):
it's like, yeah, they're they're too because like my friend right,
her mom is like not really supportive of like like
what she wants to do or anything like that, and
like I honestly feel bad because she like likes to
take pictures and I was like, you should do a
photography class, and her mom's like, no, don't do that.
It's just like a waste of your time. And I

(18:35):
just be like, do what you want to do. Yeah,
because when your mom sees that, she's gonna know, like
and support you when you make that decision. And you know,
she just loves her mom so much, she's not doing it. Yeah,
and I honestly like feel really bad for her.

Speaker 2 (18:48):
Yeah. Yeah, but you guys are it sounds like you
guys have somewhat of a plan. Yeah. Yeah, but what
do you want to do?

Speaker 3 (18:54):
So right now, I'm taking fashion designing class and I
want to like make clothes in the future. Right now,
it's going like really good. It's just like the key
terms and like everything you have to know, it's like
kind of like a little hard for you. But the
sewing and everything is like really easy because I've been
like drawing since I was like five, and like you know,

(19:17):
I like drawing clothes, and I knew that. I was like, Okay,
I want to start making clothes. So that's fine, So
you sketch, Yeah, I sketch.

Speaker 1 (19:26):
It's I mean honestly, because I'll tell you, I meet
so many people, like young women in college who say
they want to pursue fashion, and then I asked, like, well,
you know, do you sketch? Do you see like, and
they don't do any of it, and so sometimes it
feels like you're just chasing like the surface imagery of
being in this cool industry and they're not taking classes

(19:49):
and learning it. So the fact that you're learning your
craft something that you want to do, I think that's
pretty awesome. And you're definitely in a city for it, Yes,
experience it. Yeah, that's amazing, thank you. I mean, some
people they don't really have to sketch or anything. Sometimes
it just like comes to them and it's like, you know, you.

Speaker 3 (20:07):
Don't really have to know how to do all of that,
but like I feel like it would become like really
easier if you like know how to sketch yeaheah, and
like figure that out.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
That's super cool. What do you want to do with me?

Speaker 3 (20:19):
I have a couple of choices. I think my career
path changes every like three months. Yeah. My number one
is that I want to study psychology, specifically forensic psychology,
because I feel like the media has like portrayed a
lot of people with illnesses as crazy or that they

(20:40):
don't deserve to live, and I think that's something that
we need to change in our society. Of course, people
with illnesses can be horrible people, but that doesn't mean
that all horrible people have the illness. And so that's
my number one, and my number two is I'm currently
in theater club in my school and I'm planning on

(21:03):
kind of pursuing that a little bit more seriously in
high school. I don't really want to do musical theater
more like just on stage, and like TV and movie
is kind of like weird for me, but really yeah stage, yeah,
Oh interesting. What are some of the things that you're
watching right now?

Speaker 2 (21:24):
Okay?

Speaker 3 (21:25):
I think a show that I just got into recently
was Hardstopper third in Canada. It's a British TV show
about gay teenagers.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
Really yeah, and what made what struck you about that?

Speaker 3 (21:39):
It just looks very lighthearted on a surface, it's kind
of keatsy and it's like one of those shows where
it's like, oh, this is actually pretty good representation. It's
not like stereotypical or crazy and unrealistic. One of the
things that I look for in my teenage shows is like,
how do they text? Because I feel like sometimes they're
like just throwing in buzzwords and I'm like, yeah, do

(22:01):
you know what you're saying.

Speaker 2 (22:01):
You can tell it's not authentic.

Speaker 3 (22:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (22:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (22:04):
And the creator of the books and the director of
the show, she's like twenty nine, I believe, so not
so far away from the gen z.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
Yeah, that reminds me because she's watching the show that
has a lot of gay teenagers. And we didn't talk
about at your school, are there a lot of like
same sex couples and how do your friends feel and
talk about them?

Speaker 3 (22:26):
It's like so confusing because sometimes like my friends will
act like it, but then they're not, like, you know,
gay or lesbian or whatever. It's like really confusing, but
everybody actually accepts each other, like we're all friends, Like
if one of them does turn gay or lesbian, you know,
we're all like going to be there for them. And honestly,
it's like it's not like as like you know, crazy

(22:49):
in middle school, but like high school, it's like it's
actually completely normal now. It's like people like even the
teachers like they would sometimes like as like you know,
what your sexuality and they say like like you know,
you can say like any sexuality you want, and like
it's nice and all, but you know we still have
you know, the homophobics. So yeah, it's like but that's

(23:13):
like it's like nobody's really homophobic anymore, which is a
good thing. Yeah, and like you know, yeah, that's pretty
much it. How many do you have any friends outside
of your race? Do you have any non black friends? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (23:26):
Are most of your friends outside of your race? Yeah,
we're all like mixed.

Speaker 3 (23:30):
Yeah, like all of like we are all mixed, so
you know, having like white friends or Hispanics. They're they're
actually amazing. It's like you know their parents, you know,
like I feel like their parents raise them. Well, you know,
nobody's like really racist anymore. But you know sometimes you
know people that are like not black, you know, say

(23:50):
that and work. Yeah, how do you handle that? That's
the boys. They the boys will handle that. We all
just you know, they usually just fight. Yeah, yep, I
was gonna say, yeah, they do not say nothing. They
would just fight them until it's like they say like
sorry whatever, it's it was a big fight. Yes, there

(24:13):
are a lot of fist fights at my school mostly,
and it's always about boys.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
That's that's the whole reason just about boys, like our
girls fighting about what are boys fighting? Oh? Girls?

Speaker 3 (24:27):
It's usually girls fighting over boys, yep. And why like
what leads to the fight? I feel like because of
jealousy honestly, Like sometimes there would be like this girl
best friend and like they they would be like, oh,
you know, you're talking to her more like more than
me and stuff like that, and then all of a
sudden they would go to the girl best friend. It's

(24:48):
like never her fault, and then it's just like this
whole big deal, and like they would just be fighting
in front of McDonald. There was this one fight this
mom was fighting her friend. I mean, I mean this
mom was fighting her daughter actually because she was I
think the daughter was bullying this seventh grade girl and
she was like a freshman. And then they just started

(25:11):
fighting and the brother was there watching them and he
didn't know what to do.

Speaker 2 (25:14):
The mom and the daughter are fighting each other. Yeah,
in front of McDonald's. Oh my gosh, that sounds violent.
It wasn't like a bad fight. She was just like
dragging the mom on the floor and everything like, yeah
the daughter won. What oh hid?

Speaker 3 (25:30):
I would not take that amount of disrespect to heaven.

Speaker 2 (25:32):
It was right. It was really bad.

Speaker 3 (25:35):
And I think the daughter did not go home, like
she was wearing the same clothes. Everything was the same
the next day she came to school. I don't know
how it is right now, but that's all I know.
And like I would say, fights are like normal in
my school. It's just like you just never know when
it happens.

Speaker 2 (25:51):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (25:52):
So, yeah, you talked about like a lot of what
your friends are going through and how that drama impacts you.
What are some things that you personally are going through
right now.

Speaker 3 (26:02):
I was going through this like relationship thing.

Speaker 2 (26:05):
Yeah. So we're gonna call him see for now.

Speaker 3 (26:07):
Okay, Okay, so me see, we met like from my
cousin because you know, they both played basketball together. And
I met him, and you know, he's like really nice
and sweet.

Speaker 2 (26:18):
How old is he? He's a junior, so I think
he's like sixteen. Okay, And when you met to your cousin,
this means like your cousin introduced you.

Speaker 3 (26:25):
Guys, Yeah, something like that. Like he was like, oh yeah,
I know c and all that stuff. I was like, okay,
that's cool.

Speaker 1 (26:31):
But is that how you meet like in person or
is it like sliding in the DMS.

Speaker 3 (26:35):
Oh you know, so no, we just met in person, Okay,
and then like he recently just came to my school
because like my dad knows his dad. They all grew
up since high school. So you know, he was like
his dad was always in you know, watch out for
Zee and everything like that. Okay, and now, hm, how
to explain this. It's like we both like each other,

(26:58):
right and you know we've you know, we're never like
on our phones when we're with each other, just like
me and him just talking.

Speaker 2 (27:06):
Amazing. Yeah, No, I'm not.

Speaker 3 (27:08):
I am like a social media girl, but it's just
like I'm not like you know, like texting people. I
just mostly me like on tiktoks, you know, like what
the trend is and everything. And when I'm like talking
to him, you know, I love him and everything is
just like you do you love him? Yeah, it's just
his personal It is honestly amazing. It's like not like

(27:29):
these guys right now. And you know the thing is,
I don't think like I'm ready for a relationship. Yeah,
so I like kind of turned him down on that,
and I was like, maybe it's just better for like
friends for now, and like, you know, maybe becomes something
more maybe like later on after you know, all this
drama and everything like dies down, and he didn't really

(27:53):
take it well really what happened. He was just like,
you know, there's like these things like called notes and
you can see them, and like he was like, she
was like really weird for that and stuff like that.
So throwing stoves, yeah, exactly. So I'm just I was
kind of shocked because you know, I didn't know he
would like take it like that way. Yeah, and then

(28:16):
he like text my friend he was like, you know
why she acting like this and everything. So I kind
of I'm a little sad, but not too sad. It's like, yeah,
I told him I want to be friends, so we
might try to work things out.

Speaker 1 (28:29):
Yeah for now, I you know, honestly, not that you
ask my advice, but I'm gonna say it. I think
it's really great because you know, if he likes you,
then he'll be patient, you know. And I think it's
really awesome that you were like, I'm focused on me
right now, and you know what you're ready for and
what you're not ready for. And I just when you're
talking about like some of these other girls who are

(28:51):
more into the guy and the guys into them. I
just think if we like focus on our own goals
and like what you want to do, like the boys
will you know, they will follow. So I just I'm
struck that you are that self assured, you know. I
think that's a really great place to be, and I
hope you always stay that way and see we'll be there,

(29:13):
you know, when you're ready, or you will meet somebody
else who was more patient. You know, you have plenty
of plenty of time, So I think that's awesome. You
were saying that when you guys are together, you're not
on your phone. I think that's awesome too. That's something
that is a big deal to me. My friends who
are like constantly like this, I don't even talk to
them as much because it's like if I'm talking to
you and you're looking down, like I doesn't feel like

(29:34):
you want to precisely, Like, I literally like have friends
I was really close with, Like we just don't talk
as much because when I'm going through something and I'm like, hey,
let's you know, grab lunch, and they're like this the
whole time.

Speaker 2 (29:48):
You know, we're not right.

Speaker 1 (29:51):
So the fact that you guys are so young and
grew up with these phones that you're like, nope, I'm
present with you and we're just focused on each other.
I think that's amazing, you apart I think from a life.

Speaker 3 (30:01):
Yeah, me too, because like you know, he listens to
me where I talk, and I listen to him, and
it's like, you know, we have like little giggles and
stuff like that. Yeah, it's really nice because you know,
this whole generation is always like on social media.

Speaker 2 (30:16):
Yeah, and you know, like we usually are, and.

Speaker 3 (30:20):
It's like, you know, when we text and everything. I
like it, But I just love seeing people in person.
Actually that's just me, Yeah, for sure. I don't think
it's just you. I think it's like it's kind of
like a lost art form exactly.

Speaker 2 (30:33):
I feel like being.

Speaker 3 (30:36):
Present with somebody and like actually having a conversation, not
just like oh look at this, this is funny and
at this it's like so much more productive and so
much better and it actually like helps you build the
relationship like faster. Yeah, and then I could know like
how they feel and see how they feel. It's like
I can never tell them when somebody is serious while

(30:57):
they're texting me. Like that's why I'm like, if I'm
far away from you just like call me, but I'd
rather talk about it in person.

Speaker 1 (31:03):
Yeah, I don't blame you. So I want to get
into some of the social media stuff, but I'm just
curious about See. So when he was like, you know,
let's be serious, like how did he ask you to
be his girlfriend?

Speaker 3 (31:14):
Well he didn't, but like I knew he was going too,
and that's why I did it before he could. And
you know, I said, I'm sorry for like leaning you
on and all that because like, like like I said,
when my friends were going through it kind of scared me.
And like I was just thinking for like maybe like
three or four days about it, and I was like, Okay,
I'm just going to tell him and be honest instead

(31:35):
of like just be with him and just like have
all this overthinking. Yeah, and like I don't know, it's
like I feel so good bad right now, and you know,
I'm gonna have to see it.

Speaker 2 (31:46):
And I don't think you should feel bad. I think
that you. I don't think we should ever feel bad
for making the choice that's best for us, because like
we don't owe that to anybody, you know. And I
think it's great that you learn that at the age
because you'll carry that with you when your twenties and
thirties and forties and beyond that. All you have is

(32:07):
yourself and your life, and that's what matters most, you know.
So I hope that you don't keep feeling bad about it,
because I think we made a really good decision. When
it comes to social media, there's so much data out
there that shows how it has a negative impact on
us and how we view ourselves and each other. Do you, guys?

Speaker 1 (32:28):
I look for me, I'm you know, older than you guys,
And when I look at Instagram, I'm not really on
TikTok a lot, but when I look at Instagram, I
definitely I find myself like in a constant compare mode
and it's like, oh, she looks so thin, I need
to lose weight, or oh I like that just I
want to get that dress, you know, or oh everybody
was at this event and I wasn't invited. It's just

(32:49):
a constant negative feeling and I get more negative attributes
out of it than I do positive. How do you
guys control that impulse? Because you grew up with it,
you know. This is all came about when I was
in my thirties, So I didn't. You know, I'm not
as addicted as I think young people. So how do
you keep disciplined about screen time? I think it's.

Speaker 3 (33:12):
Complicated because I feel like a lot of people generalize
the whole generation and are like, kids are always on
their phones, they're always not listening in class, they're always
not reading, they're always distracting, they're always doing everything. But
when I look around me, I feel like there are
a lot of people who like enjoy doing things that

(33:33):
are not on their phone, and I feel like it's
disrespectful or even just harmful to kind of group everybody
into that one stereotype because.

Speaker 2 (33:43):
It's not true. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (33:44):
I have a book club with my friends. Yeah, we
just finished The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
Oh my god. That book is so scary. Good, it
is so scary. Did you pass a series?

Speaker 3 (33:54):
No, I have.

Speaker 2 (33:55):
Okay, it's very dark. Yeah, but I feel like.

Speaker 3 (34:00):
There are a lot of really passionate and really smart
teenagers out there, and I feel like we're kind of
shut down or not taking us seriously because of those stereotypes.

Speaker 1 (34:11):
Well, you brought up The handmaid, soald I want to
stick with social media, but I want to ask about
The Handmaids Telle first, because everything. Are you familiar with
The Handmaids sound?

Speaker 2 (34:20):
I'm a little bit. I've heard of it.

Speaker 1 (34:22):
So basically, it's like this kind of post apocalyptic society
where like women have no agency over our bodies, ourselves.
It's a crazy dark story, but it mirrors a lot
of what's happening now. And I just as we're talking
about this, I'm strapped because you guys were born during

(34:43):
Obama's presidency, Is that right? Yeah, So I can't even
tell you what a big deal this was for those
of us who grew up with only white presidents, you know,
but now for you guys, like it's totally normalized. How
do you feel about potentially having a black woman as president?

Speaker 3 (35:01):
So, like, I feel like it's going to be like
a historical moment because you know, like we've worked so
hard to you know, become like on top and everything,
and like, you know, our ancestors would be like just
like so happy to see how far we've become. And
you know, Kamala Harris, she's black and also she's Asian too,

(35:21):
so it's like it's like really good for her and
the whole world. Honestly, because it's just gonna change everything
that like that has happened.

Speaker 2 (35:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (35:32):
So Vice President Kamala Harris, her mom is Indian, so yeah,
she's of the APII community as well South Asian and
her dad is Jamaican so black, so yeah, she you know.
I mean, look, I call her a black woman, but yes,
for sure, she definitely has multicultural lineage. But when the
world sees her, they see a black woman, and I'm

(35:54):
thrilled about it.

Speaker 2 (35:55):
It's like it was a huge.

Speaker 1 (35:57):
Deal when President Obama was but there's something about seeing
a woman on this stage poised to lead the country
if she's elected, that looks like us, that gives me chills.

Speaker 2 (36:09):
How do you feel about it?

Speaker 3 (36:10):
In me, I feel like, like, as you said, it's
going to be a historical moment, and I feel like
I'm just imagining how many young black boys were felt
empowered when Obama became president and felt like they could
one day become that, And I feel like it's going
to lift up a lot of young black girls to

(36:31):
be like, it's not this job isn't like a crazy reach.
It's not something that I have to kind of ignore
a little bit, even though I want it because I'm
not going to get there. I think it's going to
be very beneficial for the underrepresented communities like API, and
I feel like it's going to open a lot of doors.

Speaker 2 (36:55):
Do you think she's got to win? I think so, yeah,
me too.

Speaker 1 (36:58):
You both think that, yeah yeah, And your friends fans
are like you guys even talk about me.

Speaker 3 (37:02):
Yeah, yeah sometimes, and you know we all are like
we actually all sometimes look at the debates because they
sometimes be on TikTok, and you know, they make memes
out of it, like the Trump saying they're eating the
cats and they're eating the dah.

Speaker 2 (37:16):
What did you think about that? Honestly, it was just
like a laugh. I don't think. I don't think about it.

Speaker 3 (37:23):
My friends. One of my friends, she's like the smartest
person I know, and we talk a lot about politics
and the state of the world at the moment, and
I feel like it's great that I can have nuanced
conversations with my age and I think that's something that
I want to strive for, like in the future. I

(37:43):
think Kamala Harris is going to win because when I
look around me, I don't see any Trump supporters. Maybe
it's just where I am and even amongst the people
who can't vote. It's like overwhelming majority like for Kamala Harris,
and so that gives me a little bit of hope. Yeah,
for the future. But I guess we're gonna find out
in like a couple months.

Speaker 2 (38:04):
So yeah, we'll see, not gonna I believe.

Speaker 1 (38:07):
I am out loud and proud uping for Vice President
Kamala Harris to become President elect. Kamala Harris. I think
that inauguration is gonna be fire. You need to ask
your parents to bring in a de fever inauguration because honestly,
it's gonna be history. Like you'll never well I won't
say never, but like, we can't bank on being able
to see something like this again. And let you know
what I wanted to tell you when you were talking

(38:28):
about see he didn't get to ask you to be
his girlfriend. But you guys may have heard about this,
but I promise when I was fifteen, if somebody likes
me and they wanted me to be their girlfriend, you
know what they would do right on a piece of
paper for real in past nosing class.

Speaker 2 (38:45):
Will you be my girlfriend? Yes?

Speaker 1 (38:47):
And you would literally check a box. That is how
you became somebody's girlfriend. It was a legit like a
box check.

Speaker 2 (38:56):
I guess that's a version of like swipe and right
or left these days.

Speaker 3 (39:00):
I think the last time I've heard of something like
that was like fifth grade. Yeah, right, right now. Honestly,
it depends like my friend she didn't want nothing too big.
She just wanted like him to ask her, will you
be my girlfriend? And you know, she said, yeah, it's
like I don't want nobody to like make like a

(39:21):
whole big thing, like you have to bring me like
all these flowers stuff animals, like a gift basker in
front of everybody, and exactly, yeah, I feel like that's
kind of a cliche where it's like when you look
into it, it's like I don't know if that's the
best idea exactly.

Speaker 2 (39:35):
Like everybody has to know.

Speaker 3 (39:37):
Then, like everybody all of a sudden like that like thumb,
you know, they're gonna get jealous. And then if it's
complicated and you say no, then like it's like the
worst thing ever exactly, everybody will.

Speaker 2 (39:46):
Start hating on you.

Speaker 3 (39:47):
And it's like, you know, I just like wonder, like,
well the boy ever asked me can I be your boyfriend?

Speaker 2 (39:54):
You know, something like yeah, something like that.

Speaker 3 (39:57):
It's just like, yeah, this generation is just like you know,
I feel like girls get more hatred and like high
school than boys these days.

Speaker 2 (40:06):
I love that. Can I be your boyfriend? H yeah?
I feel like my girlfriend. I like it. I want
to add on to that.

Speaker 3 (40:13):
I think that that's very important because I don't want
to be someone's I feel like we left that in
the eighteen hundreds. I'm not yours, you're not mine. We're
each other's and it's mutual. It's not like, oh, you're
my girlfriend. It's like it's an agreement instead of like
a contract.

Speaker 2 (40:32):
Yeah. I love that. Do you have any romantic interests yet?
Are you? No?

Speaker 3 (40:36):
I would beside celebrities, but the people in my school
are not that.

Speaker 2 (40:43):
Really Yeah, I'm waiting the well, who are your celebrity crushes?
If you want to? Oh you Jackman?

Speaker 1 (40:50):
The new movie was like defo, yeah, okay, I haven't seen,
but also X men.

Speaker 3 (40:55):
I feel like when I saw when I was like six,
I was like, yh.

Speaker 2 (40:59):
I have I've not seen the Hue Jackman one yet,
but I'm like, what were you to dad? Who hate
each other? I have one. I can't wait to see it.
I've been wanting for it. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (41:08):
Mine is Michael B. Jordan, and I feel like that's
very common. I also like Jude Bellingham.

Speaker 2 (41:14):
I don't know who that is.

Speaker 3 (41:15):
It's like a famous like soccer player.

Speaker 2 (41:17):
He's just like, oh so fine.

Speaker 3 (41:19):
Yeah yeah, I don't really like have any like a
lot of celebrity crushes, but those are like like my
top two.

Speaker 2 (41:26):
Okay, what do you guys consider old?

Speaker 3 (41:31):
Okay, okay, Well, so like I feel like right now,
like how do I say? It's like three years apart
right now? Seems like a whole big deal. Yeah, And
like I feel like when you turn like twenty one,
everything like you could do anything you want. You could
dable any yeah, you could date anybody you want. So
I feel like, yeah, I feel like right now, like

(41:53):
the biggest number that's like really crazy is like four
years apart.

Speaker 2 (41:57):
Yeah, so anybody four years older and you consider old? Yeah,
I feel right now.

Speaker 3 (42:01):
We're talking about this in two different ways. I think
she's talking about like dating wise.

Speaker 1 (42:05):
Oh okay, so yes, got it, So dating wise, So
outside of dating, what do you consider old? Not necessarily
as a date, but just like if somebody say, oh,
I'm twenty five, like, is that.

Speaker 2 (42:18):
Old seas No, I feel what's old and old? It's
like sixty, it's not that like, it's not that serious.

Speaker 3 (42:28):
I feel like a lot of people are kind of
scared about aging and whatever, but it's like it doesn't
really matter that much, like right, and then like people
age differently, so it's like I feel like like your
resemblance has like an impact on that, and like I
agree with her, like around sixties that's like considered old,
but you know, I mean it depends honestly.

Speaker 1 (42:50):
Yeah, yeah, I like that sixties and so is everybody
under out of their sixties is pretty young. So we're like,
here's basically you got it. I like that definition.

Speaker 3 (42:58):
It's weird though, because the six greatest in my school
like called my twenty four year old photography teacher old.

Speaker 2 (43:04):
And I was like, well, really she's gon go in generation.
So I was like, now that's crazy. Yeah, that is
a good generation. What's the relationship like with your parents?

Speaker 3 (43:16):
I mean, obviously it's going to be complicated because teenage. Yeah,
but it's pretty good. I think they're really supportive of
what I want to do. I was just talking with
my mom about the theater stuff and wanting to take
it more seriously, and she like immediately started looking into
programs and sleep away camps for it. And I was like,
that makes me feel so seen.

Speaker 2 (43:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (43:36):
Yeah, And my father he's annoying, but I love that.
I agree with that. He's just what's annoying about him,
He's just a nut. I think one of the funny
things about him is like he's an ex vegan, so
he like still has the mentality of a vegan, but
he doesn't act like a vegan. So I'll like ask like,

(43:58):
can you get me some doritos? And he'll be like,
have you seen them under a microscope? Like you just
ate three chickens yesterday? Like I don't know why you're
acting like it was something crazy like fifteen cakes. Yeah. Yeah,
so that's something that's funny. And he's like, you don't
want an apple?

Speaker 2 (44:15):
No?

Speaker 3 (44:16):
Why?

Speaker 2 (44:17):
Yes? I do.

Speaker 3 (44:19):
That's the funny thing. And I think I think my
relationship is just getting stronger as I age. There's obviously
gonna be ups and downs, but I don't find myself
disagreeing with my parents too often.

Speaker 1 (44:35):
Really, that's super awesome. We'll check back in with you
in a couple of years.

Speaker 2 (44:40):
But it might stay that way forever. What about you?

Speaker 3 (44:43):
Me and my dad, you know, we have like that
love hate relationship. It's just like you know, like what
she said, it's like mostly like just about food. I
will always like just eat the junk food. Frison you like,
eat your greens first, like I'm gonna eat them. It's
like it's like, oh my god. But you know he
does support me and anything I do honestly, Like with

(45:04):
the fetching designer stuff.

Speaker 2 (45:05):
He just says, you.

Speaker 3 (45:06):
Know, get aut aaze, like you can do your best
and everything, and I'd be like, I'm trying. I'm trying,
and you know, I feel like education kind of like
that like makes us, you know, become closer and sometimes
you know, makes us become sometimes far apart too, because
it's like you know different. They don't Yeah, like they like,
you know, you like fail something. You know, they get mad.

(45:27):
They don't understand how you feel. So it's like you
like say you hate them, but you actually don't.

Speaker 2 (45:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (45:33):
And you know with my mom, you know she is
honestly understanding because you know, she raised three kids. You know,
like my sisters are way older than me. They're like
thirty now, So she honestly knows what to do. She
let me, like, you know, dye my hair like I
was ten, exactly like she let me do stuff my

(45:54):
sisters couldn't do, and they will always like be like,
you don't let us do that.

Speaker 2 (45:58):
You know I would just laugh.

Speaker 3 (46:00):
And you know, my dad didn't have any kids, so
I kind of understand from him, you know, like why
he's a bit hard on me and overprotective because you know,
all dads are overprotected, but he's more overprotected because he
didn't have no kids.

Speaker 2 (46:12):
I totally agree with that.

Speaker 1 (46:13):
Yeah, yeah, are you closer to one than the other
or equally close to booth?

Speaker 3 (46:18):
It's like hmm, cause like I live with my mom
almost like for like my almost my full life, and
like now I'm certain to live with my dad for
like these few years now, so it's like, you know,
I alviously love like my mom more and like, you know,
my dad is getting there slowly, slowly.

Speaker 1 (46:42):
Well, how has the changement, because like being with your
mom all the time and then now living with your dad,
what's been the biggest change?

Speaker 2 (46:50):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (46:52):
Like me going outside and it's like, you know, I
used to like walk miles down to like the plaza
and my mom would be like, all right, just be
here before, Like you know, Sun said, like I could
just be out all day, all day. But like my dad,
you know, he he does let me go out. It's
just like I just can't go out like where I
want to go, Like if I want to go to
ju Zy City, I can't because you know, it's like

(47:14):
he has to know their parents and everything, and like,
you know, I understand that, but like my mom wasn't
really like that. She would just like, let me go outside,
let me like be what I want to be like
with honestly, And it's like my dad, you know, he
wants to know their parents every two seconds, like who
is this?

Speaker 2 (47:30):
Who is that? You never told me about them? So exactly.

Speaker 3 (47:32):
I feel like my mom, she has a tracker on
my phone. She goes stop me. I think because of
that sort of trust, it's like I can be out
with my friends and I don't have to like get
my mom to call their mom and do all of
that stuff and exchange numbers. I can just be like, Hi,
I'm going to the library with these three people from
this time to this time. Yeah, and She'll be like,

(47:53):
all right, as long as you get on the bus
by whatever, it's fine. Well. With my dad, I have
to ask him like two days in advance, so I
have everything about the person, the parents' numbers, where they live, everything,
And then even when I'm there, he's like.

Speaker 2 (48:08):
No, really a little yeah, but it's it's.

Speaker 3 (48:12):
Gotten better as time's gone on. Like trust, I have
like a couple of places that I'm like, he knows
that I'll be there and that i'll be safe, like
the library or Brooklyn Bridge Park, et cetera. So it's
like it's hit or miss with him, because sometimes he's
just like, no, you should be home. But like with
my mom, it's like, if I want to go somewhere,
as long as I have her number, it's fine.

Speaker 2 (48:33):
Yeah. Are you closer to one than the other?

Speaker 3 (48:36):
Not necessarily. I think I'm just close to them in
different ways.

Speaker 2 (48:38):
Yeah, in what ways? Are you close with your dad?
My dad I like to argue with, yeah, exactly.

Speaker 3 (48:45):
I feel like the debate side with him is like
kind of where we connect because I find that I
hate saying this because it annoys me when other people
say it. But I find that like I'm sort of
an old soul with like the music that I like
and the books that I read. So talking with him

(49:06):
about those things is like I can see different perspectives
and usually he makes me mad, but it's still it's
still great because when somebody makes you mad with an opinion,
if you're like strong enough to look past the anger
and look at the way they're looking at it, it's
like a great exercise. So yeah, with my mom, I

(49:27):
can't argue with my mom because she always works.

Speaker 2 (49:29):
Yeah, it's the music you listen to. What's kind of
the music you listen to?

Speaker 3 (49:36):
You? Okay, So don't get me started. I love the Cure,
the Lame. I love the Cure.

Speaker 2 (49:44):
They're embarrassed.

Speaker 3 (49:46):
They're brit rock pop goths, everything banned from like the eighties.

Speaker 2 (49:50):
Okay, and I'm not the looke. Clearly.

Speaker 3 (49:53):
They're coming out with the new album on November first,
which is why I've been so annoying to all my friends.

Speaker 2 (49:57):
Wow, yeah, the Cure so excited. I'm like, really, Okay,
are you gonna go see them in concert?

Speaker 3 (50:04):
I mean they're kind of like seventy five, so I
don't know, but I'll try.

Speaker 1 (50:07):
I I can't imagine your your parents might be okay
with you going to like, yeah, sure.

Speaker 2 (50:13):
I don't think too many bad things might happen there.
So is that your favorite?

Speaker 3 (50:17):
I guess there's also like Radiohead and the Smiths, and
then like Jeff Buckley, Filonda Apple like those things. I
love feeling Apple.

Speaker 2 (50:28):
Yeah, it was pretty big when I was in Knight.

Speaker 3 (50:30):
Yeah, and then there's a lotus more said, which.

Speaker 1 (50:33):
Is yes, isn't it ironic? She had this song out?
Isn't it ironic? And then in high school? Yeah, so
yeah you are you got you got old soul?

Speaker 2 (50:43):
What about you? What are you listening to?

Speaker 3 (50:45):
So my like music type is all over the place. Yeah,
mostly because I like my friends and my parents. So
since I was young, I would always like, you know,
my parents like always put like Jay z Usher Beyonce,
I mean yo, yeah exactly, And I actually listen to
those songs now just because of them, and you know

(51:06):
the songs I listen to like that are my favorites,
like Sizza Doja, kat Ken Carson and La Chappa, Megan
the Estalia I love her very much, and I don't
really have a favorite. Yeah, it's just like everything's so
good exactly. Yeah, some is like really bad, like they
don't have a meanings. They don't have a meaning to

(51:28):
the songs anymore.

Speaker 2 (51:29):
Yes, do you guys like sexy? Is that even? Like
you do?

Speaker 3 (51:35):
Clear Now, I don't have anything against her besides her
being a Trump supporter, but yeah, some songs they're okay,
it's like, you know, the trendy songs, you know, like
the dances like those are the ones I like everything else.

Speaker 2 (51:49):
Yeah, No, they have no meaning.

Speaker 3 (51:51):
It's just like about boys and drugs and like all
of that.

Speaker 1 (51:55):
Yeah, that's It's kind of how I feel about some
of the music today. But I'm open to being wrong.
But when I listen to like the hip hop for
your generation, even the R and B, it seems very
sexual and like all about you know, like a grimy life.

Speaker 2 (52:11):
You know, it's not. I feel like you just need to.

Speaker 3 (52:14):
Know where to look, because there are a couple of
artists that are like I love Brent Fayaz.

Speaker 2 (52:18):
He's an rm sen that's my y. I don't know,
can you you gotta d M me or text me
these so I can be He's.

Speaker 3 (52:27):
Like kind of tapping into that old school with like
a little bit of you know, new kind of work,
and I like that. Okay, you just have to know
where to Look, there's this I wouldn't be surprised if
you don't know him. But there's this singer name Havi Veda.
He's he's kind of big on TikTok, but he does
like funk R and B songs, and I think he

(52:50):
just deserves a lot more recognition.

Speaker 2 (52:51):
He's great. I'm gonna he get some recognition from me
when we leave.

Speaker 1 (52:55):
You gotta show me all these people off download like
their best stuff, and I'll listen to it.

Speaker 3 (52:59):
I feel like, you know, I feel like social media
makes like everything seems like so bad too about like
you know, these songwriters, because you know, they're always saying
like people are getting demonic now, like all these singers
like I Spider, Beyonce say the Illuminati s.

Speaker 1 (53:15):
Yeah yeah, you hated twenty with that illuminat exactly.

Speaker 3 (53:20):
Like they're making like all these like demonic hand signs
or whatever, and like what they wear like doja cat, Like,
oh my god, that was that was crazy.

Speaker 4 (53:29):
I don't I feel like I'm just gonna she's she
kind of just trolled the media a little bit exactly,
and it's I feel like the I feel like a
lot of people take it seriously, and she kind of
just like gained more traction from that.

Speaker 2 (53:43):
But what do I don't even know? Okay, she catched
up as a demon. She made like this whole demon song.

Speaker 3 (53:48):
I mean the song was good, Like it's like it
didn't even talk about demons though. She was just honestly
trolling it. Maybe you've tried to get like gain more attention.
I feel like that's what it was for, and like
everybody like crazy exactly.

Speaker 2 (54:01):
Wow, Like I never hated her for that because she's trolling.
What are y'all on?

Speaker 3 (54:06):
Like?

Speaker 2 (54:06):
Do you know her? Exactly? She's not serious like ever,
so how interesting?

Speaker 1 (54:12):
Well, you guys make me feel a little lame because
I don't know half few people. But I'm gonna get
cool after we get on set. You'll help me downloads
and songs. This has been such a great conversation.

Speaker 2 (54:21):
Is there anything that we didn't talk about that y'all
wanted to talk about? What are you like?

Speaker 3 (54:27):
Like?

Speaker 2 (54:28):
Oh you let's talk about what do you mean? What
music do you like?

Speaker 4 (54:32):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (54:32):
My music is lame compared to you guys. I do
love Beyonce. Cowboy Parterer. I think was like her best
body of work.

Speaker 3 (54:38):
That like, I keep seeing these white people online for
you page who are like ranking the albums of the year,
And I'm like, why is Cowboy called dead last?

Speaker 4 (54:47):
You?

Speaker 2 (54:47):
It's not for you?

Speaker 3 (54:48):
And that's okay, but you still have to recognize, like
she is an artist and that is a good art.

Speaker 1 (54:54):
It was a beautiful work of al right, because what
do you mean Taylor Swift is on the top Taylor
Swift song. I feel bad, but I know she's a
big deal. In no shade to her. I cannot name
one Taylor Swift song. And I'll tell you what bothers me.
The media and a lot of people treat her like
she's a teenage girl, and I'm like, the woman is
in her late thirties exactly, Like what but we were

(55:16):
treating Beyonce like an adult when she was sixteen, and
so this like I don't know, like we we over
we adulterize our kids, you know, as black kids.

Speaker 2 (55:27):
I just.

Speaker 3 (55:30):
I don't want to get too crazy right now. But
Taylor Swift, she's she's a good music writer. She's a
good songwriter, she's a good guitarist, but like she's not
that good.

Speaker 2 (55:40):
Like it's exactly that's okay.

Speaker 3 (55:42):
Yeah, she doesn't have to be the best artist of
the century.

Speaker 2 (55:46):
The people are like making her seem like she is,
and it's like, you know, that's what everything is like
going crazy, right.

Speaker 3 (55:53):
Yeah, especially so social media going to like in her,
like like they're just pointing out the worst stuff, like
one time, like she like there's not her nose and
like she like rubbed down her skin.

Speaker 2 (56:03):
Everybody's like, oh, you should have liked her from it's
not even that serious.

Speaker 1 (56:08):
And also they don't know these people, right, so what
they're going through and like the celebrity of culture obsession.

Speaker 2 (56:14):
So no, I have another question. What do you think
about the p Diddy thing? Oh my god? Okay, no,
you're asking the right question. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (56:24):
So, when Cassie first came out with her accusations, I
was really disappointed at all the people who were like, oh,
well she stayed and they didn't believe the right all
the things, and I just thought, man, I it's it
is frightening to be a woman and to not be believed.
I think, you know when when when she described that,

(56:46):
and it wasn't just men saying thing yes to other
women are kind of criticizing her and casting doubt.

Speaker 2 (56:53):
And then the video comes.

Speaker 1 (56:54):
Out and it's like it was like a transcript, right,
and I I hope it was a moment for us
all to reflect on how we, you know, receive who
are bold and strong enough to come forward. And then
for young boys, I hope it is a reflection of

(57:16):
how you don't.

Speaker 2 (57:17):
Want to be, how you don't want to behave.

Speaker 3 (57:18):
Yeah, to add to that, I feel like a lot
of people are taking the situation too lightly.

Speaker 2 (57:25):
The jokes are the memes. Yes it's so.

Speaker 3 (57:28):
But it's like, what do you why are you commenting
nice triditty like it's not the baby oil, it's not
that so exactly, it's literally hundreds of people's trauma, so
I don't know why, and.

Speaker 2 (57:41):
Thous tens of thousands of millions of people's And then
they say gets from him, but like people who went
through stuff.

Speaker 3 (57:46):
And then they say, like Beyonce knows something everything that
those are so hilarious. She knows it's exactly like they
always use that song like Beyonce knows everything so bad,
And I feel like it's just and I'm trying to
pin it on another black woman for somebody like yeah,
messing up, that's a good It's like, sure, maybe she

(58:08):
was complicit, but we also need to remember who did it, like.

Speaker 2 (58:11):
Right, and we don't.

Speaker 1 (58:12):
For the record, we don't know anything, you know, like,
there is no solid evidence that Beyonce was I didn't
even know that that was a rumor out there, and
we won't stand for any Beyonce slander on this show.

Speaker 2 (58:24):
I don't.

Speaker 1 (58:24):
I'm not saying that Beyonce's complicit in anything, and I
hate that that's a rumor. But I think that's such
a good point that you make, that the person who
is being charged is the only person that you know
if we talk about it at all, then we should
be talking about so a good question. Well this was amazing, guys,
anything else before we go?

Speaker 2 (58:43):
No, Okay, you guys are so seriously this was my
favorite episode, Like you guys said, yeah, of course. You
guys had so much to say, and I love your
thoughts and opinions.

Speaker 1 (58:53):
And you're so much more sure of yourself than I
was at thirteen and fifteen, you know, I think again,
I hope you know that that See respects your things
and that you know he might be there when when
you are ready, but if not, there's you know, better
for your future. Yes, and I can totally see you
doing forensic psychology and theater. You know, you're actively find

(59:16):
like both of those things.

Speaker 3 (59:17):
Now.

Speaker 1 (59:17):
I love that you guys are comfortable in your own skin,
and it's just been an amazing conversation.

Speaker 2 (59:24):
This is like by far our best episode.

Speaker 3 (59:26):
Honestly, Like I was just so scared and I'm over here, like, Okay,
what am I scared for? Now? Yeah, we're all talking
about like what we're going through, and it's like I'm
over here, like I had to.

Speaker 2 (59:38):
I've like studied like.

Speaker 3 (59:39):
On what I was going to say, and I didn't
and I didn't say nothing that I studied.

Speaker 2 (59:43):
So I was like, Okay, what did I study for?
This is amazing?

Speaker 1 (59:46):
So this isn't scripted, you know, zact want to have
authentic conversation among ourselves. And I think a lot of
young people watching this will feel themselves reflected in your thoughts.
And I think a lot of older people will love
meeting you guys. But I also think the most important thing,
or maybe not the most important thing, but an important
aspect is a lot of parents. We'll hear this, and

(01:00:09):
maybe dads will, you know, think twice on how they
engage their daughters. Maybe moms will hug their daughters a
little tighter. So I just can't thank you all enough
for the service you provide it today, not just to me,
but to our viewers. And you guys are awesome and
I would like us to stay friends and can yeah,
okay perfect. First thing we got to do is get
my music together. As soon as we leave said thank

(01:00:32):
you guys for tuning in. These ladies are amazing. I
got two new friends, and I hope you guys enjoyed
watching this episode of Across Generations as much as we
did creating it. Thank you so much for tuning in.
We'll be back next week with another episode of Across
Generations and I'm your host, Honorary teenager Tiffany Cross.

Speaker 2 (01:00:48):
We'll see you next time.

Speaker 1 (01:00:50):
Across Generations is brought to you by Woolpacker and Woolpacker
Media in partnership with iHeart Podcast. I'm Your Host and
executive producer Tiffany D. Cross Idea to Launch Productions executive
producer Carla willmeris produced by Mandy B and Angel Forte, Editing,
sound design and mix by Gaza Forte. Original music by

(01:01:11):
Epidemic Sound. Video editing by Kathon Alexander and Courtney Deane