June 17, 2021 • 26 mins
To celebrate Juneteenth and the one-year anniversary(!) of HELLO SOMEBODY, Senator Turner asks us to reflect on what motivates us to be free, how we are defining the word “freedom” in the 21st Century, and the symbolization of Juneteenth and the emancipation of enslaved people in the confederate states. Settle in for this solo episode where SNT embraces you with a personal message of renewal, recognition, and celebration.Links:
Activist Opal Lee’s campaign to make Juneteenth a National Holiday in 2021
https://www.change.org/p/united-states-congress-make-juneteenth-a-national-holiday-in-2020Ava DuVernay’s documentary film 13th: http://www.avaduvernay.com/13thLangston Hughes' poem "Mother to Son"
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47559/mother-to-son
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Hello Somebody, a production of The Black Effect
Podcast Network and I Heart Media. Before we begin, I
want to give a special shout out to my team.
Thank you, Sim Tiffany, Sam and the team over at
Good Juju Studios, Erica England, Pepper Chambers, the Hot One,
and my social media team, Hello Somebody, Hello Somebody family, Mr,
(00:55):
is yours truly coming to you today. You know I'm
signing a little but I hate when I sigh, and
I kind of know why. But in some ways, you know,
it's just a heaviness. I always say that when I'm
gonna say so much more so the heaviness right now,
it's really a reflection more more than a heaviness. Let
(01:16):
me just say I am in a very reflective mood.
I know it's been a while since I've done a solo.
I've had the opportunity to interview so many fascinating people.
I hope that you are enjoying those episodes. And at
this particular moment, I thought, let me go into the
Hello Somebody family and let's talk about some stuff, especially
(01:37):
since we're coming up on a year since Hello Somebody
made its debut. Yes, many of you may remember and
thank you all those of you who were with me
from the beginning and some of the new folks we
have here right now and the Hello Somebody family. But
it was June tenth of a twenty twenty when the
(01:58):
first episode debuted. Here we are coming up on June
tenth in one, so first episode of the show of
Hello Somebody, and also a historic moment in our nation's
history because June tenth, which is uh short for June nineteenth,
(02:20):
is the day when the federal troops arrived in the Galveston, Texas,
as many of us may know through history, and it's
you know, it's said that Juneteenth is really about the
word spreading across the South that slavery was over. Technically,
(02:40):
it had to do with the signing of the Emancipation
Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln. Slavery was not technically over
because the Mascipation Proclamation was signed before the thirteenth Amendment
to the Constitution. But the Emancipation Proclamation did free slaves
that were not in the Confederate States. So that's a
(03:03):
whole another show, a whole another episode that we should
talk about that because I think a lot of people
truly believe that the Emancipation Proclamation set black people in
total free or enslaved black people free, and it really
did not. The Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham
Lincoln in January of eighteen sixty three, and in that proclamation,
(03:26):
if you go back and read the language, it really
is about those black people who were enslaved in the
Confederate States, right, And the exact language is something like
shall be then, thenceforward and forever free quote end quote.
(03:49):
But that had to do with the enslaved black people
in the Confederate States. There are border states by which
the Emancipation Proclamation did not apply. So if you were
a slave holder in the border states or other rebel
states that were under the control of the Union, the
(04:09):
slaves in those states were not free. And you know,
it's important that we that we recognize that in the
telling of the stories. And you know, the beautiful thing
about history is that there's always something for us to
discover and rediscover and see in different ways, feel in
different ways, talk about in different ways. CS was the
(04:29):
Messa Patent proclamation in eighteen sixty three an important step
by President Abraham Lincoln. Absolutely it was. However, it did
not free all enslaved people, and it did not free
African Americans in totality. It was not until the thirteenth
Amendment to the Constitution. So when we think about the
(04:49):
Civil War from eighteen sixty one to eighteen sixty five
and then the border states that did not see the Union.
South Carolina was certainly the first Southern state to see
the Union and form the Confederate States, but there were
border states that was Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri and
(05:12):
uh and after eighteen sixty three the West Virginia, those
slave holding states did not see the Union, and therefore
the Mancipation Proclamation did not set those enslaved people free. Hello,
somebody on that. They just they didn't. So let's, you know,
have that conversation. Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution is what
(05:36):
freed all enslaved people. And then we know that the
documentary thirteen goes deeper into the other language within the
thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution when we talk about holding
people in prison. And so that's another episode two, and
shout out to Ava du Varney for such a powerful documentary.
But meanwhile, back on juneteenth, June ninth, team so that
(06:01):
is it's a it's a celebration about you know, the
federal troops arriving in Galveston, Texas in eighteen sixty five
and the word spreading that enslaved people were in air
quotes free, and in that moment, the fact that we
continue to celebrate June teams because as well we should.
(06:23):
And I think it's that that celebration is the longest
standing celebration right now for American people. When we think
about June teenth and what it symbolizes and what it
meant meant to our ancestors at that time when they
got the words. You know, there was no texting and
Twitter and Instagram and TikTok and all the other technologies
(06:46):
that we have right now to get the word across
and so the word hit Galveston, Texas. And so we
have definitely been celebrating that for many, many years now,
so we want to, you know, continue to do that.
And so in Texas that was organized and and became
an annual celebration on June nineteenth. And decades and decades
(07:09):
of celebration and prayer and recognition about the importance of
June teenth, and you know, it really makes me think
about Mother opal opal Lee many of you may recall,
and I am so happy that I and other leaders,
(07:30):
people like Diddy and others have really been very supportive
of I call her Mama opal but opal Lee and
her efforts to continue to keep the Juneteenth alive and
a recognition. I mean, she's nine three, maybe ninety four
right now, but she's from Texas and she has campaigned
(07:52):
to make Juneteenth national holiday for many, many years, and
her fight continues. I have been on calls with her,
zoom call calls with her, her and and Ditty, her
and her niece who helps her, and I am so
glad that she is continuing to be a force on
this issue and picking up the mantel. Hey, you know
(08:14):
what else? It shows. It shows that even in your nineties, baby,
if you it is though you've got something else to give,
something else to do, some other assignment that you have
been given, that age ain't nothing but a number. I'm
so inspired by our elders like Mama openly and the
(08:34):
work that she has done. She has she has participated
in marches all across this country, walks to really draw
attention to Juneteenth, and the fact that she is continuing
to fight to make it a national holiday. It's a
beautiful thing that that she is in fact doing that,
(08:54):
and she's seeing her mission and what she has been
called to do to to do that, you know Opal's walk. Yeah,
and it's just it's just something. And I believe that,
you know, she may be playing in something for this
year as well as she has another year. So for
those of you who care about this, please make sure
(09:17):
you look up Mama Opal Lye and join her fight,
join the movement to try to make a Juneteenth a
nationally recognized holiday. She certainly believes that this is something
that will unify the country, and I agree with her,
June Team should be recognized. It was certainly momentous, you know,
for what it was, it was definitely momentous. I won't
(09:38):
take away from that, even though I threw some other
historic nuggets at you, but certainly momentous. And so, you know,
just the role that everybody can play, you know, all
of us have a role to play in being the
change that we want to see in the world. I
talked about that quote so much. You all know how
much I love quotes. Quotes in scripture are just my
(10:01):
love language. What what's your love language. You know, all
of us have something that motivates us. But certainly quotes
do it for me. Scriptures from the Bible do it
for me. Just just that positivity, what what motivates you?
And so in this moment, just thinking about as I'm
saying that everybody has a role to play. We all
have a role to play. And the Mahanta Gandhi quote
(10:23):
that I used so often comes to mind, be the
change that you want to see in the world. And certainly,
going back to Mama open Leaf for just a moment,
she certainly personifies being the change that you want to
see in the world. So back to Hello somebody. You
know the reason why I'm I'm talking about June Teams too,
because in the release of the show a year ago
(10:46):
on June teenth, I was talking about June teenth. I mean,
how can you release a show on juneteenth and not
talk about the historic significance of June teenth? Thinking about celebration, renewal,
record shtion, what things are happening in our lives across
the spectrum, you know, beyond June teenth on the individual level, renewal, celebration, recognition,
(11:12):
what are those things that we can recognize celebrate and
then draw some renewal from June teenth is certainly a
day to reflect on the word getting to enslave people
in Texas that they were free. How can we channel
that same energy and the word getting to us in
(11:37):
the twenty one century that we are free? Now, let's
parse out freedom. Freedom in all of his forms. Free
to be a critical thinker and a free thinking person,
Free to be able to live a life of dignity,
free to think, free to breathe clean air, free to
(12:01):
drink clean water, free to eat clean food, free to
love whom you will free. What does freedom mean for
us in the twenty one century? Yeah, I just I
want you to pause for a minute and just think
about that. And as you think about that, using the
historic imprint that Juneteenth has left for all of us
(12:22):
to follow, whether you are of African descent or have
African descendants or not like directly descendants, because we are
all from Africa. Baby, don't get me started. Don't get
me started about the mitochondrial EVE and DNA and the
fact that Africa is the cradle of civilization. It is
(12:42):
where all life burden from the genesis, the beginning of
life comes from the continent of Africa. So all the
way back at the origins, we are all African. You know,
I'm thinking about Nazi song about black, you know, and
and I think, ain't there some words in there that
he uses about you know we all are black? And
(13:04):
in that way, you know he's he's absolutely right at
the very origins of human kind. Oh yeah, we all black?
So what are you know? What are those things? What
sticks out about June teenth is people got the word,
the word came what's the word that comes forth? Right now?
(13:25):
What's the word? What's the word that motivates you? What
do you need to hear? What do you need to
to know to do the word? Think about that? What
are those life words? How do we speak life? And
didn't act upon it? And it doesn't mean because certainly
we know that life has its ups and downs and turnarounds.
(13:45):
Intrinsically life is not perfect, but life is definitely worth living.
So the the symbolism of Juneteenth and all that it
meant to enslave people to get the world that we
are free. Oh my god, we are free. And we
(14:07):
know that it was turbulent, it was not perfect. Obviously,
Black folks, the descendants of enslaved people, What did that
freedom really mean for them when they had a system
that did not see their humanity free to do what
They didn't own anything, They had no land, The only
jobs that they had ever known were jobs that they
(14:29):
worked for free. You're talking about freedom, forced chadow, slavery.
We know these things so from a deep seated perspective
of hearing that were free in air quotes, and what
enslaved people did with that freedom, even though the mountains
(14:51):
that they had to surmount were so high, because still
dealing with a system that did not want to recognize
not only their freedom but and want to recognize their humanity.
But yet and still they found something to celebrate, even
in the ideal of even with just the glimmer of
(15:13):
light and the glimmer of hope, and all of the
trials and tribulations that came after that, to continue to
chase that freedom, hold on to it tightly, and then
their descendants in the twenty one century still looking for freedom,
(15:33):
like all human beings are. So what what does that mean?
Getting the word that you are free? If somebody was
words to say that to you today you were free,
what would come to mind? Free from what so yeah,
that's why I mean, for you know, starting off saying
that I'm heavy and just in deep thought, I'm blessed
(15:54):
and I'm I'm grateful to be able to have the
opportunity to talk with and two so many of you
who have lifted this podcast, who believe in me as
a leader and as a sister in the struggle, and uh,
for us to be on this magnificent but incredibly hard
journey together, that's it. You know. It does take us
(16:17):
to have moments of reflection, and I hope that you
all are doing that on a regular basis. If you're
not taking moments to reflect and to be grateful, I
want to encourage you to do that. Even in moments
where you cannot see glimmers of hope or glimmers of light,
Even at moments where you cannot necessarily see your way
out of a situation, I do want you to hold
(16:39):
on or find moments where in your life in the
past where it didn't seem like you're gonna get out
of a situation, yet you did. Anyhow, you know you
got the muscle memory for that. We got to hold
onto that, and I know, my god, it is so
hard at times I mean even for me. We are
(17:00):
navigating this world together, and my grandmother used to love
the world show enough. I think there's something about saying
showing up. So navigating the ups and downs and turnarounds
of life show enough will help you to understand what
you're made of, where you come from, what can you endure,
(17:22):
and what can you learn from life's lessons? What is it?
It's always a thing, even at times where we just
don't see it, There's there's always a thing. So I
don't know. June Team just makes me very reflective in
that there's always a thing moment, because there is always
(17:43):
a thing. But I do believe that as we look
at renewal and recognition and celebration, that it is within
that human experience that we must continue to push towards
the high prize and whatever that means for you. For
(18:03):
for some people, it's just being able to have a
moment with their family. For others, it is being able
to have a good job. For others, it is, you know,
taking a walk in a park. For others, it is
just simply being able to survive every single damn Now,
(18:25):
many of you have heard me talk about time and
time again that I want to see moments where the
greatest majority of people in this country and even in
this world are not just in survival mode, because I
don't believe that one can truly truly enjoy life for
the majority of it. You're in survival mode. Now, we
(18:46):
got to move from survival to thriving. And that's why
I pushed so hard in the work that I do
as an activist. Uh, the work that I do is
somebody who has been able to occupy elected positions. The
work that I just as a sister in the struggle
with humanity that I want to see. I want to
continue to work towards getting people from surviving to thriving.
(19:11):
You know, being a survival mode is not fun. You know,
it's very taxing on your mind, very taxing on your spirit.
It is. And so as we take some of the
larger lessons of June teenth Renewal Recognition Celebration, what is
(19:35):
it about getting the word that you are free? Sisters
and brothers, family members and friends. We must study ourselves
for this life's journey. We must do all that we
can to show up ourselves before in fact, we can
help others. We must reflect and recognize what Langston Hughes
(19:57):
said in one of his poems, one of my favorite,
it's Mother the son. Life ain't been no crystal stare,
the mother said to the son. And I'm just going
off of memory, so I don't have this verbatim, but
she said something like life ain't been no crystal stairs,
and taxing it and thorns in it in places where
I have never been, But I's have been a climate.
(20:19):
So don't you give up now? You know? Oh my god,
those words. I just imagine black people when they were
getting the word in eighteen sixty five and in Galveston,
Texas that freedom had come. And even though we pass
out that freedom from our century understanding and all that
(20:41):
we have learned and continue to learn in history. But
doesn't mother the son fit that, don't you give up now?
Think about that. Don't you give up now? That word,
just as it meant something to our four parents in
the eighteen sixty it means something to us in don't
(21:03):
you give up now? Eyes have been a climate, But
don't you give up now? Y'all. You know I'm feeling
this thing. You're all gonna make me just you know,
look up the poem while I'm paraphrasing it and just
go ahead and just read the thing is Langston Hughes
put it out there, because these are definitely words, Uh,
these are words to live by, they really really are.
(21:24):
So let's just go on and do it. Mother to son,
shall we read a portion of this poem while we're
here together, if that's all right with you. Yeah, I'm
just feeling full reflective on Juneteenth and just reflective of
life in general and just the blessings that come with it,
even with the struggle. So let's go ahead and end
(21:44):
our little reflection on Juneteenth with mother to Son by
Langston Hughes well Son, and we could put daughters in
there too, well Son, I tell you life of me
ain't been no crystal stare is at accent it and
splinters and boards torn up and places with no carpet
(22:05):
on the floor. Bear, But all the time eyes have
been a climbing on and reaching landings and turning corners,
and sometimes going in the dark where there ain't been
no light. So boy, don't you turn back, don't you
sit down on the steps, because you'll find it's kind
(22:26):
of hard. Don't you fall now? For I still going, honey,
I still climbing, and life for me ain't been no
crystal stare. You better go ahead on Langston Hues, You
better go on head mother to son, mother to daughters,
mother to friends, families, daddies. That we can put all
(22:48):
kinds of stuff on that poem that lengths and he
was laid the foundation for so on all that we
are doing and pushing forwards, we reflect on June tenth,
let us remember that life ain't been no crystal stare.
We must keep climbing. We must keep pushing onto the
high mark, to the prize, however we define it in
our lives. We're gonna keep on climbing. We're gonna keep
(23:11):
on pushing, we gonna keep on reflecting, We're gonna keep
on learning. We will keep on loving, we will keep
on embracing, we will keep going higher. So Hello somebody, family,
Oh oh we I love y'all so very much again,
Thank you, And it's such a wonderful time to celebrate
not only this one year anniversary of Hello Somebody, but
also a reflecting on the historic significance of June teenth.
(23:36):
I'm right with Mother Opal and we the United States
of America definitely need to make June teenth a national holiday.
Won't you join the fight to make it a national holiday?
All right, I'm sending you love, light, peace. Let's keep
the faith and let's keep the fight until next time.
Hello Somebody. W h M, Yeah, Hello Somebody is a
(26:20):
production of I Heart Radio and the Black Effect Network.
For more podcast from I Heart Radio, visit the I
heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or whatever you listen to
your favorite shows.
Welcome to Hello Somebody, a production of The Black Effect
Podcast Network and I Heart Media. Before we begin, I
want to give a special shout out to my team.
Thank you, Sim Tiffany, Sam and the team over at
Good Juju Studios, Erica England, Pepper Chambers, the Hot One,
and my social media team, Hello Somebody, Hello Somebody family, Mr,
(00:55):
is yours truly coming to you today. You know I'm
signing a little but I hate when I sigh, and
I kind of know why. But in some ways, you know,
it's just a heaviness. I always say that when I'm
gonna say so much more so the heaviness right now,
it's really a reflection more more than a heaviness. Let
(01:16):
me just say I am in a very reflective mood.
I know it's been a while since I've done a solo.
I've had the opportunity to interview so many fascinating people.
I hope that you are enjoying those episodes. And at
this particular moment, I thought, let me go into the
Hello Somebody family and let's talk about some stuff, especially
(01:37):
since we're coming up on a year since Hello Somebody
made its debut. Yes, many of you may remember and
thank you all those of you who were with me
from the beginning and some of the new folks we
have here right now and the Hello Somebody family. But
it was June tenth of a twenty twenty when the
(01:58):
first episode debuted. Here we are coming up on June
tenth in one, so first episode of the show of
Hello Somebody, and also a historic moment in our nation's
history because June tenth, which is uh short for June nineteenth,
(02:20):
is the day when the federal troops arrived in the Galveston, Texas,
as many of us may know through history, and it's
you know, it's said that Juneteenth is really about the
word spreading across the South that slavery was over. Technically,
(02:40):
it had to do with the signing of the Emancipation
Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln. Slavery was not technically over
because the Mascipation Proclamation was signed before the thirteenth Amendment
to the Constitution. But the Emancipation Proclamation did free slaves
that were not in the Confederate States. So that's a
(03:03):
whole another show, a whole another episode that we should
talk about that because I think a lot of people
truly believe that the Emancipation Proclamation set black people in
total free or enslaved black people free, and it really
did not. The Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham
Lincoln in January of eighteen sixty three, and in that proclamation,
(03:26):
if you go back and read the language, it really
is about those black people who were enslaved in the
Confederate States, right, And the exact language is something like
shall be then, thenceforward and forever free quote end quote.
(03:49):
But that had to do with the enslaved black people
in the Confederate States. There are border states by which
the Emancipation Proclamation did not apply. So if you were
a slave holder in the border states or other rebel
states that were under the control of the Union, the
(04:09):
slaves in those states were not free. And you know,
it's important that we that we recognize that in the
telling of the stories. And you know, the beautiful thing
about history is that there's always something for us to
discover and rediscover and see in different ways, feel in
different ways, talk about in different ways. CS was the
(04:29):
Messa Patent proclamation in eighteen sixty three an important step
by President Abraham Lincoln. Absolutely it was. However, it did
not free all enslaved people, and it did not free
African Americans in totality. It was not until the thirteenth
Amendment to the Constitution. So when we think about the
(04:49):
Civil War from eighteen sixty one to eighteen sixty five
and then the border states that did not see the Union.
South Carolina was certainly the first Southern state to see
the Union and form the Confederate States, but there were
border states that was Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri and
(05:12):
uh and after eighteen sixty three the West Virginia, those
slave holding states did not see the Union, and therefore
the Mancipation Proclamation did not set those enslaved people free. Hello,
somebody on that. They just they didn't. So let's, you know,
have that conversation. Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution is what
(05:36):
freed all enslaved people. And then we know that the
documentary thirteen goes deeper into the other language within the
thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution when we talk about holding
people in prison. And so that's another episode two, and
shout out to Ava du Varney for such a powerful documentary.
But meanwhile, back on juneteenth, June ninth, team so that
(06:01):
is it's a it's a celebration about you know, the
federal troops arriving in Galveston, Texas in eighteen sixty five
and the word spreading that enslaved people were in air
quotes free, and in that moment, the fact that we
continue to celebrate June teams because as well we should.
(06:23):
And I think it's that that celebration is the longest
standing celebration right now for American people. When we think
about June teenth and what it symbolizes and what it
meant meant to our ancestors at that time when they
got the words. You know, there was no texting and
Twitter and Instagram and TikTok and all the other technologies
(06:46):
that we have right now to get the word across
and so the word hit Galveston, Texas. And so we
have definitely been celebrating that for many, many years now,
so we want to, you know, continue to do that.
And so in Texas that was organized and and became
an annual celebration on June nineteenth. And decades and decades
(07:09):
of celebration and prayer and recognition about the importance of
June teenth, and you know, it really makes me think
about Mother opal opal Lee many of you may recall,
and I am so happy that I and other leaders,
(07:30):
people like Diddy and others have really been very supportive
of I call her Mama opal but opal Lee and
her efforts to continue to keep the Juneteenth alive and
a recognition. I mean, she's nine three, maybe ninety four
right now, but she's from Texas and she has campaigned
(07:52):
to make Juneteenth national holiday for many, many years, and
her fight continues. I have been on calls with her,
zoom call calls with her, her and and Ditty, her
and her niece who helps her, and I am so
glad that she is continuing to be a force on
this issue and picking up the mantel. Hey, you know
(08:14):
what else? It shows. It shows that even in your nineties, baby,
if you it is though you've got something else to give,
something else to do, some other assignment that you have
been given, that age ain't nothing but a number. I'm
so inspired by our elders like Mama openly and the
(08:34):
work that she has done. She has she has participated
in marches all across this country, walks to really draw
attention to Juneteenth, and the fact that she is continuing
to fight to make it a national holiday. It's a
beautiful thing that that she is in fact doing that,
(08:54):
and she's seeing her mission and what she has been
called to do to to do that, you know Opal's walk. Yeah,
and it's just it's just something. And I believe that,
you know, she may be playing in something for this
year as well as she has another year. So for
those of you who care about this, please make sure
(09:17):
you look up Mama Opal Lye and join her fight,
join the movement to try to make a Juneteenth a
nationally recognized holiday. She certainly believes that this is something
that will unify the country, and I agree with her,
June Team should be recognized. It was certainly momentous, you know,
for what it was, it was definitely momentous. I won't
(09:38):
take away from that, even though I threw some other
historic nuggets at you, but certainly momentous. And so, you know,
just the role that everybody can play, you know, all
of us have a role to play in being the
change that we want to see in the world. I
talked about that quote so much. You all know how
much I love quotes. Quotes in scripture are just my
(10:01):
love language. What what's your love language. You know, all
of us have something that motivates us. But certainly quotes
do it for me. Scriptures from the Bible do it
for me. Just just that positivity, what what motivates you?
And so in this moment, just thinking about as I'm
saying that everybody has a role to play. We all
have a role to play. And the Mahanta Gandhi quote
(10:23):
that I used so often comes to mind, be the
change that you want to see in the world. And certainly,
going back to Mama open Leaf for just a moment,
she certainly personifies being the change that you want to
see in the world. So back to Hello somebody. You
know the reason why I'm I'm talking about June Teams too,
because in the release of the show a year ago
(10:46):
on June teenth, I was talking about June teenth. I mean,
how can you release a show on juneteenth and not
talk about the historic significance of June teenth? Thinking about celebration, renewal,
record shtion, what things are happening in our lives across
the spectrum, you know, beyond June teenth on the individual level, renewal, celebration, recognition,
(11:12):
what are those things that we can recognize celebrate and
then draw some renewal from June teenth is certainly a
day to reflect on the word getting to enslave people
in Texas that they were free. How can we channel
that same energy and the word getting to us in
(11:37):
the twenty one century that we are free? Now, let's
parse out freedom. Freedom in all of his forms. Free
to be a critical thinker and a free thinking person,
Free to be able to live a life of dignity,
free to think, free to breathe clean air, free to
(12:01):
drink clean water, free to eat clean food, free to
love whom you will free. What does freedom mean for
us in the twenty one century? Yeah, I just I
want you to pause for a minute and just think
about that. And as you think about that, using the
historic imprint that Juneteenth has left for all of us
(12:22):
to follow, whether you are of African descent or have
African descendants or not like directly descendants, because we are
all from Africa. Baby, don't get me started. Don't get
me started about the mitochondrial EVE and DNA and the
fact that Africa is the cradle of civilization. It is
(12:42):
where all life burden from the genesis, the beginning of
life comes from the continent of Africa. So all the
way back at the origins, we are all African. You know,
I'm thinking about Nazi song about black, you know, and
and I think, ain't there some words in there that
he uses about you know we all are black? And
(13:04):
in that way, you know he's he's absolutely right at
the very origins of human kind. Oh yeah, we all black?
So what are you know? What are those things? What
sticks out about June teenth is people got the word,
the word came what's the word that comes forth? Right now?
(13:25):
What's the word? What's the word that motivates you? What
do you need to hear? What do you need to
to know to do the word? Think about that? What
are those life words? How do we speak life? And
didn't act upon it? And it doesn't mean because certainly
we know that life has its ups and downs and turnarounds.
(13:45):
Intrinsically life is not perfect, but life is definitely worth living.
So the the symbolism of Juneteenth and all that it
meant to enslave people to get the world that we
are free. Oh my god, we are free. And we
(14:07):
know that it was turbulent, it was not perfect. Obviously,
Black folks, the descendants of enslaved people, What did that
freedom really mean for them when they had a system
that did not see their humanity free to do what
They didn't own anything, They had no land, The only
jobs that they had ever known were jobs that they
(14:29):
worked for free. You're talking about freedom, forced chadow, slavery.
We know these things so from a deep seated perspective
of hearing that were free in air quotes, and what
enslaved people did with that freedom, even though the mountains
(14:51):
that they had to surmount were so high, because still
dealing with a system that did not want to recognize
not only their freedom but and want to recognize their humanity.
But yet and still they found something to celebrate, even
in the ideal of even with just the glimmer of
(15:13):
light and the glimmer of hope, and all of the
trials and tribulations that came after that, to continue to
chase that freedom, hold on to it tightly, and then
their descendants in the twenty one century still looking for freedom,
(15:33):
like all human beings are. So what what does that mean?
Getting the word that you are free? If somebody was
words to say that to you today you were free,
what would come to mind? Free from what so yeah,
that's why I mean, for you know, starting off saying
that I'm heavy and just in deep thought, I'm blessed
(15:54):
and I'm I'm grateful to be able to have the
opportunity to talk with and two so many of you
who have lifted this podcast, who believe in me as
a leader and as a sister in the struggle, and uh,
for us to be on this magnificent but incredibly hard
journey together, that's it. You know. It does take us
(16:17):
to have moments of reflection, and I hope that you
all are doing that on a regular basis. If you're
not taking moments to reflect and to be grateful, I
want to encourage you to do that. Even in moments
where you cannot see glimmers of hope or glimmers of light,
Even at moments where you cannot necessarily see your way
out of a situation, I do want you to hold
(16:39):
on or find moments where in your life in the
past where it didn't seem like you're gonna get out
of a situation, yet you did. Anyhow, you know you
got the muscle memory for that. We got to hold
onto that, and I know, my god, it is so
hard at times I mean even for me. We are
(17:00):
navigating this world together, and my grandmother used to love
the world show enough. I think there's something about saying
showing up. So navigating the ups and downs and turnarounds
of life show enough will help you to understand what
you're made of, where you come from, what can you endure,
(17:22):
and what can you learn from life's lessons? What is it?
It's always a thing, even at times where we just
don't see it, There's there's always a thing. So I
don't know. June Team just makes me very reflective in
that there's always a thing moment, because there is always
(17:43):
a thing. But I do believe that as we look
at renewal and recognition and celebration, that it is within
that human experience that we must continue to push towards
the high prize and whatever that means for you. For
(18:03):
for some people, it's just being able to have a
moment with their family. For others, it is being able
to have a good job. For others, it is, you know,
taking a walk in a park. For others, it is
just simply being able to survive every single damn Now,
(18:25):
many of you have heard me talk about time and
time again that I want to see moments where the
greatest majority of people in this country and even in
this world are not just in survival mode, because I
don't believe that one can truly truly enjoy life for
the majority of it. You're in survival mode. Now, we
(18:46):
got to move from survival to thriving. And that's why
I pushed so hard in the work that I do
as an activist. Uh, the work that I do is
somebody who has been able to occupy elected positions. The
work that I just as a sister in the struggle
with humanity that I want to see. I want to
continue to work towards getting people from surviving to thriving.
(19:11):
You know, being a survival mode is not fun. You know,
it's very taxing on your mind, very taxing on your spirit.
It is. And so as we take some of the
larger lessons of June teenth Renewal Recognition Celebration, what is
(19:35):
it about getting the word that you are free? Sisters
and brothers, family members and friends. We must study ourselves
for this life's journey. We must do all that we
can to show up ourselves before in fact, we can
help others. We must reflect and recognize what Langston Hughes
(19:57):
said in one of his poems, one of my favorite,
it's Mother the son. Life ain't been no crystal stare,
the mother said to the son. And I'm just going
off of memory, so I don't have this verbatim, but
she said something like life ain't been no crystal stairs,
and taxing it and thorns in it in places where
I have never been, But I's have been a climate.
(20:19):
So don't you give up now? You know? Oh my god,
those words. I just imagine black people when they were
getting the word in eighteen sixty five and in Galveston,
Texas that freedom had come. And even though we pass
out that freedom from our century understanding and all that
(20:41):
we have learned and continue to learn in history. But
doesn't mother the son fit that, don't you give up now?
Think about that. Don't you give up now? That word,
just as it meant something to our four parents in
the eighteen sixty it means something to us in don't
(21:03):
you give up now? Eyes have been a climate, But
don't you give up now? Y'all. You know I'm feeling
this thing. You're all gonna make me just you know,
look up the poem while I'm paraphrasing it and just
go ahead and just read the thing is Langston Hughes
put it out there, because these are definitely words, Uh,
these are words to live by, they really really are.
(21:24):
So let's just go on and do it. Mother to son,
shall we read a portion of this poem while we're
here together, if that's all right with you. Yeah, I'm
just feeling full reflective on Juneteenth and just reflective of
life in general and just the blessings that come with it,
even with the struggle. So let's go ahead and end
(21:44):
our little reflection on Juneteenth with mother to Son by
Langston Hughes well Son, and we could put daughters in
there too, well Son, I tell you life of me
ain't been no crystal stare is at accent it and
splinters and boards torn up and places with no carpet
(22:05):
on the floor. Bear, But all the time eyes have
been a climbing on and reaching landings and turning corners,
and sometimes going in the dark where there ain't been
no light. So boy, don't you turn back, don't you
sit down on the steps, because you'll find it's kind
(22:26):
of hard. Don't you fall now? For I still going, honey,
I still climbing, and life for me ain't been no
crystal stare. You better go ahead on Langston Hues, You
better go on head mother to son, mother to daughters,
mother to friends, families, daddies. That we can put all
(22:48):
kinds of stuff on that poem that lengths and he
was laid the foundation for so on all that we
are doing and pushing forwards, we reflect on June tenth,
let us remember that life ain't been no crystal stare.
We must keep climbing. We must keep pushing onto the
high mark, to the prize, however we define it in
our lives. We're gonna keep on climbing. We're gonna keep
(23:11):
on pushing, we gonna keep on reflecting, We're gonna keep
on learning. We will keep on loving, we will keep
on embracing, we will keep going higher. So Hello somebody, family,
Oh oh we I love y'all so very much again,
Thank you, And it's such a wonderful time to celebrate
not only this one year anniversary of Hello Somebody, but
also a reflecting on the historic significance of June teenth.
(23:36):
I'm right with Mother Opal and we the United States
of America definitely need to make June teenth a national holiday.
Won't you join the fight to make it a national holiday?
All right, I'm sending you love, light, peace. Let's keep
the faith and let's keep the fight until next time.
Hello Somebody. W h M, Yeah, Hello Somebody is a
(26:20):
production of I Heart Radio and the Black Effect Network.
For more podcast from I Heart Radio, visit the I
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