August 14, 2025 • 20 mins
In this My Legacy Bonus Drop, actress and activist Sophia Bush joins her ride-or-die Nia Batts for a heart-opening conversation on what 15 years of chosen family, activism, and dance breaks have taught them.
- Why exposure—not just education—is a hidden privilege
- The truth about broken systems (and how to outgrow them)
- Years that ask, years that answer—and how to tell the difference
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is my legacy. Welcome to this week's bonus Drop. Today,
Sophia Bush and her rider die Nea Bats share what
fifteen years of friendship have taught them about showing up,
speaking truth, and knowing when it's time to dance it out.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Sophia, I want to start with you. Can you share
a story or a memory from your childhood that gives
us a snapshot of what it was like for you
growing up.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
I've thought a lot about this, and I don't know
if I have a particular story or a single snapshot,
but I think this is something I've been able to
reflect on in our adult lives together, and certainly something
that I've been thinking about as we try to figure
out this sort of one hundred year cycle, and we're
(00:50):
in the world where the same kinds of fear mongering
that took hold in the nineteen twenties, it seems to
be back. You know, how do you understand why even
though humans are supposed to know better And for our
friends listening at home, I'm doing the air quotes thing. Apologies,
(01:12):
I realize you can't see me. I want to understand
why people can so easily be convinced to be afraid
of each other. And I think one of the things
that reflecting on that has taught me to look at
and really be so in awe of in my childhood.
Though I come with, you know, scars and childhood trauma
(01:33):
and all the things everybody has in their own kind
of basket. The luckiest thing I have, and the thing
I think my parents did so beautifully for me, was
they exposed me to so much. You know, we talk
a lot about privilege, especially for white women in a
world that you know is acting the way it did
and that voted the way it did as a voting block. Unfortunately,
(01:57):
my greatest privilege, I believe, is the privilege I was
given growing up the daughter of a father who is
an immigrant, the daughter of a mother whose mother was
an immigrant. You know, the classic Ellis Island story came
on a boat from Italy, sort of beautiful pursuit of
the American dream. And I grew up in Los Angeles
in the eighties, which is such a city that is
(02:19):
a gorgeous melting pot. It meant that in the nineties
and junior high and high school, like you know, I
was in Pasadena by that time, but like exclusively listening
to Tupac and Biggie. I got to, you know, go
to the Taco trucks and go watch basketball games, and
grow up in my dad's art studio, surrounded by a
(02:41):
really diverse, really queer community, where my fabulous uncle Jeff,
who was a makeup artist, was married to this gorgeous
man named Winston, who did drags Diana Ross every Saturday night.
Like I grew up around people who are so beautifully
in what I know now, I was an adult radically themselves,
(03:03):
and I was only ever the better for it. And
I think it's that privilege of exposure and that particular
time where you know, art was just on fire, a
decade after Women's lib began on all these other things.
And I think it's probably even why when Nia and
I were in our twenties and we met at a
(03:24):
conference trying to learn from our elders and make the
world a better place, why we could meet the way
we did, Why I was so excited to hear about
her family's story, her family's American dream, her grandfather, the
postal carrier, who was a union worker, who came from
the kinds of history we all know that so many
(03:46):
black men in his age group came from, and what
he built as a legacy, and what her father built
as a legacy, and what her father taught her as
a legacy, and her mom and her bonus mom and
her bonus dad. Like I think, the gift that my
parents gave to me of loving people for who they
are and their uniqueness is something I didn't even know
(04:08):
how to speak on at twenty, but I know how
to speak on it at forty, and I realize it's
the reason that I am able to have the kind
of friendships and to recognize the uniqueness of this woman
who is my partner in all things, and be so
absolutely enamored with who she is as a person and
(04:32):
champion who she is as a person without the kinds
of jealousy or competition that, to be clear, the early
aughts really tried to give to us women, and it
has just never existed between us. So that's something I
think I've been reflecting on a lot, particularly watching her
become a mother. For me being in a phase of
(04:55):
life where I have young children now in my home
thanks to my partner, I think we're really really reflecting
on what are we teaching, what are we giving, and
what are we permitting based on how we meet the
people in the world around us.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
What a rich answer. And it's interesting because I was
just talking to someone yesterday about just kind of where
we are as humanity and as someone that monitored the
klu klutz Klan and Neil Nazis and skinheads for over
a decade in the nineties. One of the things that
(05:32):
I always tell people is that it's when you start
othering and you lose the humanity and you don't see
humanity in others. That's how we start getting down that
slippery slope of where we are and what's going on today.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
In my opinion, we love it if you could share
this episode with someone who you admire, someone who shows
up for you, who cares about you, who lives their
legacy every day. We'll be back in a moment. Now
back to my legacy, Niah. You have this incredible passion
for activism and changing the world. Was there a certain
(06:10):
moment or person who inspired you along the way?
Speaker 6 (06:13):
Yeah, well, I'm you know, my parents actually met in
law school, so there were both attorneys by trade, and
so I think that you know the law justice systems
and structures, how they work, who they're built to support
and who they are intentionally leaving out was sort of
(06:35):
attention but also sort of a framework that my parents
exposed me to, I think at a very young age.
You know, I also been born and raised in Detroit,
which is a majority black city, and I, you know,
also had a solidly upper middle class background in that
(06:55):
city as well, and so I had exposure to people
that looked like me, that were doctors and lawyers, who
drove nice cars and lived in big houses. And also
I had exposure to every part of the city and
the suburban areas that also had a different set of
resources as well. So the tension between race and class,
(07:18):
and doing so from a place that felt strong empowered
but also privileged to some extent, was something that I
always had to contend with. And my parents were very
clear with me that they worked hard. Their parents worked hard,
and they made tremendous sacrifices to give me the opportunities
(07:41):
and the exposure that I had, and with that comes
the responsibility to do the same thing for myself, for
my family, and for my community. And you know, our
firm union heritage is an homage to my grandparents, and
all my grandparents were in unions, postal workers, police, automotive
and so they were hard working people. And our firm,
(08:06):
you know, has built a reputation over thirty five years
managing money for union pension funds. So this idea that
you know, we are grateful for the hard work that
we you know, have put in that affords us the
opportunity to make deeper commitments to our community was always
sort of a part of my upbringing. And this idea
(08:29):
that even at work, like we work for the people,
we do it for the people. My mom continued to
practice law, and my dad, you know, worked in finance.
But you know, to who much is given, not much
as expected, they used to. My dad would say, to
who much is given, much is required. And the requirement
(08:49):
didn't feel like a burden. It felt like a byproduct
or existed, you know, with having what I understood to
be some relative privilege, you know, compared to others. And
I always grew up in this tension, you know, going
into the suburbs to this you know, this this very
fancy school living in you know, my you know, very
(09:12):
stable neighborhood, and also you know, volunteering or running track
and other you know, neighborhoods and with you know, schools
that may not have had the same level of resources,
but my mom would say, you know, you need to
go and run with those girls because they're the ones
that's going to beat your butt when you get to stay,
because you have to train with the best, right And
(09:33):
so this idea of who is the best and what
can be the best for me never really had any
sort of direct association with sort of what people thought
they had or what you might think people had people have.
It very much was about understanding people, being exposed to
(09:54):
sort of what their challenges were, what their strengths were,
and so I just learned very early to make your
own sort of not judgments, but assessments of people and situations.
And I think that being able to do that at
a very young age certainly led to be being, you know,
(10:16):
a more resolved activist as I grew because, you know,
I understood, you know that these systems are the way
that they are because they were built this way, and
it's not that the systems are broken, it's that they're
functioning and that's the problem. And I think that's that
realization in that space is sort of where Sophia and
I at a very young age, really started to connect
(10:37):
and we understood that even though we were from very
different backgrounds, like we both we were on the same time.
We're like, we understand what's happening here?
Speaker 4 (10:45):
Can we underscore that. I love when Nia, when you
just said that the systems are not broken, they actually
are functioning the way in which they are designed. So
I believe true and also so very powerful.
Speaker 5 (11:01):
And I also want to just commend the two of you,
Martin Andrea for spending your lives and of course your
family's lives to help to bend those systems in such
a substantive way.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
If I, if I may follow on to that compliment
for you both, I'm just I'm gonna go ahead and
call Nia and I out a little bit, because you know,
we are We've we've had the realization, right We look
around and we go, oh god, it's our turn. We're
the adults in the room. We're not like just the
kids following along. And when this, when this came in
and y'all and you all so lovingly invited us on
(11:34):
this show. When I tell you, we were back to
like our fourteen year old selves, and of course as adults,
were like, Oh, this is going to be so exciting,
and we were.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
Like, oh my god, we just lost it.
Speaker 6 (11:45):
We were like, our.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Idols want us to come on their show, and so
you you've given us such it's like our younger selves
can't believe this is happening, and our adult selves are
so honored to be.
Speaker 6 (11:57):
In the room.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
So thank you. Yeah, you and your legacy and your
family and the work you all you all do in
the world truly helps us keep going. And you you
also really gave us a nice, like thirteen year old
girl squeal, So we appreciate the whole gamut.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
Yeah, I'm going to do one thing because you can
totally edit this out also, but I want to go
and get this record that's here because I just think
it's so important to be able to show you. So
we Sophie and I had a business in Detroit and
(12:38):
my dad gave us his record collection, well loaned it
because we played records. But this is one record that when.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
I started to say the homage to Detroit, I was
getting ready to say, yeah, does anyone know the history?
I have a dream. We were We were with Gloria
Steinham yesterday and she had been at the March on Washington.
We were talking about that. But for our listeners who
don't know, yes, one of the very first versions of
(13:06):
I Have a Dream was in Detroit, Michigan, Woodward Avenue,
and that is what Nia is holding, an actual record
recording of this.
Speaker 6 (13:18):
My dad was here and he was sitting in the
audience and he was actually close to the front, maybe standing.
I guess we'll see the photo, but he heard Mahelia
Jackson say Martin tell him about the dream. He goes
in to this portion of the speech that I think
(13:41):
he's working through that was being workshopped for the March
on Washington. But it's such a surreal moment, like my
dad was there and actually heard that. And so anyway,
we we play this record. I have it in my
home now. He's always looking for it SYDB my Shinola
(14:02):
record player made here in Detroit.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
And it shows that there's no such things as coincidence,
and this entire circle, it also, I think speaks to
everything that has been poured into both of you all
and how you all are each taking up the mantle
and doing your part. Correta Scott King always says that
(14:25):
freedom is never She always said that freedom is never
really won. Each generation must earn its freedom, and we
salute both of you all for continuing and doing your
part in that long march towards freedom, because now it
is our turn.
Speaker 6 (14:44):
And I'm crying, I know, I'm just I can't believe.
It's just like what a special in full circle like moment.
I mean, my birthday is January fourteenth, and so MLK
days kind of every January is. It's just like a
very poignant moment about you know, thinking about like what
(15:06):
a recommitment to service looks like. You know, even at
times where it feels like really hard to keep going.
And I feel, you know, like I'm in one of
those moments now where it feels like each other.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
We have to to each other now more than ever,
and that's why we also have this realize the dream
project that the four of us collectively are working on,
which is for we are hoping to ignite a youth movement,
but a movement in particular in this country, for us
to come together, stand together and work together to realize
(15:42):
the dream of Martin Luther King Junior by committing one
hundred million hours of service collectively together by his one
hundredth birthday in twenty twenty nine.
Speaker 6 (15:52):
Wow, that's great. I know it's up.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
Okay, we will definitely be Yeah, we'll be calling you
all back for that. It's going to take all of us.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
This has been such an incredible conversation. You both speak
so beautifully about your chosen family. What's something you've learned
from each other that you couldn't have learned anywhere else?
Speaker 6 (16:15):
Nia you first with Sophia. I don't think there's anyone
I know that can get more done in a day
than she does. It can sometimes like feel like very
chaotic but also exciting, and everything is an adventure. It's like,
(16:36):
I don't know if we're going to be able to
get bagels at seven am and then go to the
flea market and then do a call on the way back,
and then have people over and do all of these
things and be at a meeting. But the stamina that
she has and how fully she shows up for everyone
around her but like consistently is beautiful to watch and
(16:57):
sometimes exhausting to watch, But I joy so deeply watching
her do it, and I just I've never really met
anyone like that who enjoys doing it. And it's just
really fun to be around. And I think also, you know,
life can be really heavy. There's moments that feel sad,
and a lot of our time together is very serious,
(17:20):
just running our business. But it's such a reminder that
you can just like blow in and have twenty four
hours of like full on fun. And I feel so
grateful when we get those days together.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
I love that because I was going to say, You've
taught me two things simultaneously, which is that my desire
to say yes all the way is wonderful. You know,
you really champion that I want to go to the
end of the road and see all the things and
learn all the things. And you've also taught me patience
(17:53):
can go hand in hand with that. I've learned to
not feel like it's such a buyinarrea yes or no.
I've learned to take a breath when I want to
say yes and explore why, and then also analyze what
the calendar already looks like and then figure out what
we can say yes to. And it's really it's really
(18:17):
been so beautiful because I think I have learned to
better assess the fullness of life watching the way she operates.
And I also just love that sometimes. You know. We
were in Austin for almost a week for Southwest and
our schedule was absolutely chaotic but wonderful. And there was
(18:39):
one night where she looked at me and said, I
love you, but I'm absolutely not doing that, and I
was like, got it. And then the next night we
went to see Anderson pac at midnight.
Speaker 6 (18:50):
And I was like, look at that, look at that.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
We're not going to do this, so we can do
this other thing. And you were correct, And I love
that about us.
Speaker 6 (19:00):
Yeah, I think life of the grand adventure and that's
how we've always lived it.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
You know.
Speaker 6 (19:05):
It's like that Larroneil Hurston quote. There's years that ask question,
in years that answer, and we've had these years of
yes where it was this year is about making sure
that we're saying yes to as many things as we can,
and then immediately by the time we got into the
next year, we're like, this year is about learning boundaries
and what we have to say no to. But what's
(19:25):
interesting is like we're always kind of exploring those themes
like together and in tandem, and it leads to a rich,
full life that you know, again can be very very adventurous.
And then you know I'm the person that presents as
an extrovert, but I'm actually an introvert. So like that
dynamic is also like what you're very like experiencing. But
(19:47):
you know, Dan, it's fun and I'm so grateful to
be able to do it with her.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
I can't think of a better way to like end
than that. Sincerely. I just love the tribute between the
two of you there, and I love the quote there
are years that ask questions and years that answer. So
thank you for sharing your legacy with us today.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Thank you for joining us. If you enjoy today's conversation, subscribe, share,
and follow us on at my Legacy Movement on social
media and YouTube. New episodes drop every Tuesday, with bonus
content every Thursday. At its core, this podcast honors doctor
King's vision of the beloved community and the power of connection.
(20:29):
A Legacy Plus Studio production distributed by iHeartMedia creator and
executive producer Susanne Hayward come executive producer Lisa Lyle. Listen
on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
This is my legacy. Welcome to this week's bonus Drop. Today,
Sophia Bush and her rider die Nea Bats share what
fifteen years of friendship have taught them about showing up,
speaking truth, and knowing when it's time to dance it out.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Sophia, I want to start with you. Can you share
a story or a memory from your childhood that gives
us a snapshot of what it was like for you
growing up.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
I've thought a lot about this, and I don't know
if I have a particular story or a single snapshot,
but I think this is something I've been able to
reflect on in our adult lives together, and certainly something
that I've been thinking about as we try to figure
out this sort of one hundred year cycle, and we're
(00:50):
in the world where the same kinds of fear mongering
that took hold in the nineteen twenties, it seems to
be back. You know, how do you understand why even
though humans are supposed to know better And for our
friends listening at home, I'm doing the air quotes thing. Apologies,
(01:12):
I realize you can't see me. I want to understand
why people can so easily be convinced to be afraid
of each other. And I think one of the things
that reflecting on that has taught me to look at
and really be so in awe of in my childhood.
Though I come with, you know, scars and childhood trauma
(01:33):
and all the things everybody has in their own kind
of basket. The luckiest thing I have, and the thing
I think my parents did so beautifully for me, was
they exposed me to so much. You know, we talk
a lot about privilege, especially for white women in a
world that you know is acting the way it did
and that voted the way it did as a voting block. Unfortunately,
(01:57):
my greatest privilege, I believe, is the privilege I was
given growing up the daughter of a father who is
an immigrant, the daughter of a mother whose mother was
an immigrant. You know, the classic Ellis Island story came
on a boat from Italy, sort of beautiful pursuit of
the American dream. And I grew up in Los Angeles
in the eighties, which is such a city that is
(02:19):
a gorgeous melting pot. It meant that in the nineties
and junior high and high school, like you know, I
was in Pasadena by that time, but like exclusively listening
to Tupac and Biggie. I got to, you know, go
to the Taco trucks and go watch basketball games, and
grow up in my dad's art studio, surrounded by a
(02:41):
really diverse, really queer community, where my fabulous uncle Jeff,
who was a makeup artist, was married to this gorgeous
man named Winston, who did drags Diana Ross every Saturday night.
Like I grew up around people who are so beautifully
in what I know now, I was an adult radically themselves,
(03:03):
and I was only ever the better for it. And
I think it's that privilege of exposure and that particular
time where you know, art was just on fire, a
decade after Women's lib began on all these other things.
And I think it's probably even why when Nia and
I were in our twenties and we met at a
(03:24):
conference trying to learn from our elders and make the
world a better place, why we could meet the way
we did, Why I was so excited to hear about
her family's story, her family's American dream, her grandfather, the
postal carrier, who was a union worker, who came from
the kinds of history we all know that so many
(03:46):
black men in his age group came from, and what
he built as a legacy, and what her father built
as a legacy, and what her father taught her as
a legacy, and her mom and her bonus mom and
her bonus dad. Like I think, the gift that my
parents gave to me of loving people for who they
are and their uniqueness is something I didn't even know
(04:08):
how to speak on at twenty, but I know how
to speak on it at forty, and I realize it's
the reason that I am able to have the kind
of friendships and to recognize the uniqueness of this woman
who is my partner in all things, and be so
absolutely enamored with who she is as a person and
(04:32):
champion who she is as a person without the kinds
of jealousy or competition that, to be clear, the early
aughts really tried to give to us women, and it
has just never existed between us. So that's something I
think I've been reflecting on a lot, particularly watching her
become a mother. For me being in a phase of
(04:55):
life where I have young children now in my home
thanks to my partner, I think we're really really reflecting
on what are we teaching, what are we giving, and
what are we permitting based on how we meet the
people in the world around us.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
What a rich answer. And it's interesting because I was
just talking to someone yesterday about just kind of where
we are as humanity and as someone that monitored the
klu klutz Klan and Neil Nazis and skinheads for over
a decade in the nineties. One of the things that
(05:32):
I always tell people is that it's when you start
othering and you lose the humanity and you don't see
humanity in others. That's how we start getting down that
slippery slope of where we are and what's going on today.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
In my opinion, we love it if you could share
this episode with someone who you admire, someone who shows
up for you, who cares about you, who lives their
legacy every day. We'll be back in a moment. Now
back to my legacy, Niah. You have this incredible passion
for activism and changing the world. Was there a certain
(06:10):
moment or person who inspired you along the way?
Speaker 6 (06:13):
Yeah, well, I'm you know, my parents actually met in
law school, so there were both attorneys by trade, and
so I think that you know the law justice systems
and structures, how they work, who they're built to support
and who they are intentionally leaving out was sort of
(06:35):
attention but also sort of a framework that my parents
exposed me to, I think at a very young age.
You know, I also been born and raised in Detroit,
which is a majority black city, and I, you know,
also had a solidly upper middle class background in that
(06:55):
city as well, and so I had exposure to people
that looked like me, that were doctors and lawyers, who
drove nice cars and lived in big houses. And also
I had exposure to every part of the city and
the suburban areas that also had a different set of
resources as well. So the tension between race and class,
(07:18):
and doing so from a place that felt strong empowered
but also privileged to some extent, was something that I
always had to contend with. And my parents were very
clear with me that they worked hard. Their parents worked hard,
and they made tremendous sacrifices to give me the opportunities
(07:41):
and the exposure that I had, and with that comes
the responsibility to do the same thing for myself, for
my family, and for my community. And you know, our
firm union heritage is an homage to my grandparents, and
all my grandparents were in unions, postal workers, police, automotive
and so they were hard working people. And our firm,
(08:06):
you know, has built a reputation over thirty five years
managing money for union pension funds. So this idea that
you know, we are grateful for the hard work that
we you know, have put in that affords us the
opportunity to make deeper commitments to our community was always
sort of a part of my upbringing. And this idea
(08:29):
that even at work, like we work for the people,
we do it for the people. My mom continued to
practice law, and my dad, you know, worked in finance.
But you know, to who much is given, not much
as expected, they used to. My dad would say, to
who much is given, much is required. And the requirement
(08:49):
didn't feel like a burden. It felt like a byproduct
or existed, you know, with having what I understood to
be some relative privilege, you know, compared to others. And
I always grew up in this tension, you know, going
into the suburbs to this you know, this this very
fancy school living in you know, my you know, very
(09:12):
stable neighborhood, and also you know, volunteering or running track
and other you know, neighborhoods and with you know, schools
that may not have had the same level of resources,
but my mom would say, you know, you need to
go and run with those girls because they're the ones
that's going to beat your butt when you get to stay,
because you have to train with the best, right And
(09:33):
so this idea of who is the best and what
can be the best for me never really had any
sort of direct association with sort of what people thought
they had or what you might think people had people have.
It very much was about understanding people, being exposed to
(09:54):
sort of what their challenges were, what their strengths were,
and so I just learned very early to make your
own sort of not judgments, but assessments of people and situations.
And I think that being able to do that at
a very young age certainly led to be being, you know,
(10:16):
a more resolved activist as I grew because, you know,
I understood, you know that these systems are the way
that they are because they were built this way, and
it's not that the systems are broken, it's that they're
functioning and that's the problem. And I think that's that
realization in that space is sort of where Sophia and
I at a very young age, really started to connect
(10:37):
and we understood that even though we were from very
different backgrounds, like we both we were on the same time.
We're like, we understand what's happening here?
Speaker 4 (10:45):
Can we underscore that. I love when Nia, when you
just said that the systems are not broken, they actually
are functioning the way in which they are designed. So
I believe true and also so very powerful.
Speaker 5 (11:01):
And I also want to just commend the two of you,
Martin Andrea for spending your lives and of course your
family's lives to help to bend those systems in such
a substantive way.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
If I, if I may follow on to that compliment
for you both, I'm just I'm gonna go ahead and
call Nia and I out a little bit, because you know,
we are We've we've had the realization, right We look
around and we go, oh god, it's our turn. We're
the adults in the room. We're not like just the
kids following along. And when this, when this came in
and y'all and you all so lovingly invited us on
(11:34):
this show. When I tell you, we were back to
like our fourteen year old selves, and of course as adults,
were like, Oh, this is going to be so exciting,
and we were.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
Like, oh my god, we just lost it.
Speaker 6 (11:45):
We were like, our.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Idols want us to come on their show, and so
you you've given us such it's like our younger selves
can't believe this is happening, and our adult selves are
so honored to be.
Speaker 6 (11:57):
In the room.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
So thank you. Yeah, you and your legacy and your
family and the work you all you all do in
the world truly helps us keep going. And you you
also really gave us a nice, like thirteen year old
girl squeal, So we appreciate the whole gamut.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
Yeah, I'm going to do one thing because you can
totally edit this out also, but I want to go
and get this record that's here because I just think
it's so important to be able to show you. So
we Sophie and I had a business in Detroit and
(12:38):
my dad gave us his record collection, well loaned it
because we played records. But this is one record that when.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
I started to say the homage to Detroit, I was
getting ready to say, yeah, does anyone know the history?
I have a dream. We were We were with Gloria
Steinham yesterday and she had been at the March on Washington.
We were talking about that. But for our listeners who
don't know, yes, one of the very first versions of
(13:06):
I Have a Dream was in Detroit, Michigan, Woodward Avenue,
and that is what Nia is holding, an actual record
recording of this.
Speaker 6 (13:18):
My dad was here and he was sitting in the
audience and he was actually close to the front, maybe standing.
I guess we'll see the photo, but he heard Mahelia
Jackson say Martin tell him about the dream. He goes
in to this portion of the speech that I think
(13:41):
he's working through that was being workshopped for the March
on Washington. But it's such a surreal moment, like my
dad was there and actually heard that. And so anyway,
we we play this record. I have it in my
home now. He's always looking for it SYDB my Shinola
(14:02):
record player made here in Detroit.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
And it shows that there's no such things as coincidence,
and this entire circle, it also, I think speaks to
everything that has been poured into both of you all
and how you all are each taking up the mantle
and doing your part. Correta Scott King always says that
(14:25):
freedom is never She always said that freedom is never
really won. Each generation must earn its freedom, and we
salute both of you all for continuing and doing your
part in that long march towards freedom, because now it
is our turn.
Speaker 6 (14:44):
And I'm crying, I know, I'm just I can't believe.
It's just like what a special in full circle like moment.
I mean, my birthday is January fourteenth, and so MLK
days kind of every January is. It's just like a
very poignant moment about you know, thinking about like what
(15:06):
a recommitment to service looks like. You know, even at
times where it feels like really hard to keep going.
And I feel, you know, like I'm in one of
those moments now where it feels like each other.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
We have to to each other now more than ever,
and that's why we also have this realize the dream
project that the four of us collectively are working on,
which is for we are hoping to ignite a youth movement,
but a movement in particular in this country, for us
to come together, stand together and work together to realize
(15:42):
the dream of Martin Luther King Junior by committing one
hundred million hours of service collectively together by his one
hundredth birthday in twenty twenty nine.
Speaker 6 (15:52):
Wow, that's great. I know it's up.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
Okay, we will definitely be Yeah, we'll be calling you
all back for that. It's going to take all of us.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
This has been such an incredible conversation. You both speak
so beautifully about your chosen family. What's something you've learned
from each other that you couldn't have learned anywhere else?
Speaker 6 (16:15):
Nia you first with Sophia. I don't think there's anyone
I know that can get more done in a day
than she does. It can sometimes like feel like very
chaotic but also exciting, and everything is an adventure. It's like,
(16:36):
I don't know if we're going to be able to
get bagels at seven am and then go to the
flea market and then do a call on the way back,
and then have people over and do all of these
things and be at a meeting. But the stamina that
she has and how fully she shows up for everyone
around her but like consistently is beautiful to watch and
(16:57):
sometimes exhausting to watch, But I joy so deeply watching
her do it, and I just I've never really met
anyone like that who enjoys doing it. And it's just
really fun to be around. And I think also, you know,
life can be really heavy. There's moments that feel sad,
and a lot of our time together is very serious,
(17:20):
just running our business. But it's such a reminder that
you can just like blow in and have twenty four
hours of like full on fun. And I feel so
grateful when we get those days together.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
I love that because I was going to say, You've
taught me two things simultaneously, which is that my desire
to say yes all the way is wonderful. You know,
you really champion that I want to go to the
end of the road and see all the things and
learn all the things. And you've also taught me patience
(17:53):
can go hand in hand with that. I've learned to
not feel like it's such a buyinarrea yes or no.
I've learned to take a breath when I want to
say yes and explore why, and then also analyze what
the calendar already looks like and then figure out what
we can say yes to. And it's really it's really
(18:17):
been so beautiful because I think I have learned to
better assess the fullness of life watching the way she operates.
And I also just love that sometimes. You know. We
were in Austin for almost a week for Southwest and
our schedule was absolutely chaotic but wonderful. And there was
(18:39):
one night where she looked at me and said, I
love you, but I'm absolutely not doing that, and I
was like, got it. And then the next night we
went to see Anderson pac at midnight.
Speaker 6 (18:50):
And I was like, look at that, look at that.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
We're not going to do this, so we can do
this other thing. And you were correct, And I love
that about us.
Speaker 6 (19:00):
Yeah, I think life of the grand adventure and that's
how we've always lived it.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
You know.
Speaker 6 (19:05):
It's like that Larroneil Hurston quote. There's years that ask question,
in years that answer, and we've had these years of
yes where it was this year is about making sure
that we're saying yes to as many things as we can,
and then immediately by the time we got into the
next year, we're like, this year is about learning boundaries
and what we have to say no to. But what's
(19:25):
interesting is like we're always kind of exploring those themes
like together and in tandem, and it leads to a rich,
full life that you know, again can be very very adventurous.
And then you know I'm the person that presents as
an extrovert, but I'm actually an introvert. So like that
dynamic is also like what you're very like experiencing. But
(19:47):
you know, Dan, it's fun and I'm so grateful to
be able to do it with her.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
I can't think of a better way to like end
than that. Sincerely. I just love the tribute between the
two of you there, and I love the quote there
are years that ask questions and years that answer. So
thank you for sharing your legacy with us today.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Thank you for joining us. If you enjoy today's conversation, subscribe, share,
and follow us on at my Legacy Movement on social
media and YouTube. New episodes drop every Tuesday, with bonus
content every Thursday. At its core, this podcast honors doctor
King's vision of the beloved community and the power of connection.
(20:29):
A Legacy Plus Studio production distributed by iHeartMedia creator and
executive producer Susanne Hayward come executive producer Lisa Lyle. Listen
on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hosts And Creators
Craig Kielburger
Marc Kielburger
Martin Luther King III
Arndrea Waters King
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