January 20, 2025 • 31 mins
Rita Omokha is a journalist and the author of the new book “Resist: How a Century of Young Black Activists Shaped America.” She takes us on a journey through history, sharing stories of powerful young Black activists — past and present — whose courage and determination have reshaped America’s fight for justice, and connects them to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plus, she explores her own experience of racial politics in the U.S. as a Nigerian-American — particularly after the murder of George Floyd.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello Sunshine, Hey fam Today on the bright Side, we're
celebrating Martin Luther King Junior Day and the power of
activism with Rita Amoka, author of the remarkable book Resist,
How a century of young Black activists shaped America.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
It's Monday, January twentieth. I'm Danielle Robe.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
And I'm Simone Boyce, and this is the bright Side
from Hello Sunshine. Danielle. I always look forward to our
holiday episodes because I personally learned so much. It's like
a mini history lesson packed into each one of those episodes.
I'm thinking of our Labor Day episode, Memorial Day, fourth
of July, and today is a day where as a
nation we get to just take a pause and honor
(00:41):
the legacy of doctor Martin Luther King Junior.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah, we're honoring Martin Luther King Junior today and all
of the work and the love and the heart that
he gave and really sacrificed for our country. You know,
when I think about doctor King, I think about on
violent resistance because his approach was inspired by Gandhi's philosophy
(01:05):
of nonviolence, and it really became the model for social
justice movements around the globe, like even in the face
of violence and just the worst kind of hatred. He
demonstrated a moral high ground, and I think he really
forced our nation to confront its conscience.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
And to think that he was doing all of this
while being imprisoned around thirty times. Can you imagine being
so oppressed and so attacked by your own government while
you're trying to be this bastion of nonviolent protests. It's
really an incredible legacy.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
It is, and I think there's such a huge lesson
in that he taught us that the arc of the
moral universe bends towards justice, but only if we keep
applying pressure.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
He kept applying.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Pressure at every turn, no matter how hard it got,
and he believed that change was both an internal and
an external process. I am constantly amazed by him, but
reminded on Martin Luther King Day every year that it
is always better to extend a hand, no matter how
hard it is. So while we celebrate his contributions, we'd
(02:18):
also like to take the opportunity to pay tribute to
some of the female activists that you don't hear about
in history class, the women whose contributions throughout history have
made a major impact on our lives and on our
lives today.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Rita Amoka is a journalist and the author of the
book Resists How a Century of Young Black activists shaped America.
Writing has long been a form of resistance for her,
and after graduating at the top of her class from
Columbia University's Journalism School in twenty twenty, not long after
the death of George Floyd, Rita became inspired to put
(02:53):
her journalism degree to work and focus on the moments
that inspired young activists throughout our nation's history.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Reading through her book, it's really an insightful collection of stories.
I hope you'll be left feeling that you can use
your voice to lift up issues that matter to you
at any age, in any moment. And in thinking about MLK,
it's that idea that there is no perfect moment. That
moment comes from the courage to create it ourselves. And
(03:23):
I can't think of a better way to celebrate this
holiday than with someone who's writing about all that courage.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Well, Rito, welcome to the bright Side and Happy Martin
Luther King Junior Day.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
Thanks for having me. I appreciate you all.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
We're so happy to have you. Rita. You grew up
in the Bronx.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
But you were born in Nigeria, and you write Nigeria
made me black, America raised me. How did that experience
shape your perspective on race in America?
Speaker 6 (03:50):
Yeah, yeah, for me, I think I always say it's
a privilege to come to this country as an immigrants,
especially of black immigrants, because we don't have that history
of enslaved people or ancestors. And by that I mean
I didn't grow up in a household with an aunt
or an uncle, or a grandpa or grandma telling me
(04:13):
stories about Jim Crow, the Great Migration, or what it's
like to walk around this country in this skin color.
So there's something that happens in my psyche personally where
I came to this country because my mother was the
beneficiary of the Immigration Act of nineteen ninety and what
that act did was it went to places in Africa
(04:34):
and the Philippines looking to hire nurses during the nursing
shortage of the nineties. So literally, my mom came into
this country because of her brilliance. That is my origin
story in this country, and that is how I navigated
this country, not having in a sense, any burden of
saying to myself, oh, my goodness from while I was born.
(04:57):
I've been subjugated, and so I think there's power to that.
I mean, by any means, we did not grow up
rich or anything, but that privilege of knowing that I
can be whatever I wanted to be because my mother's brilliance,
God is here. So I have no excuse but to
navigate this country, focus discipline on my academic excellence, and
(05:17):
that's precisely what I did. So I think for most
black immigrants, I think we share the same kind of
psychology because we don't have that added weight that we
have to wear of our enslaved ancestors and what that
means for us in this present time.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
I'm so curious about this, in particular because I only
know what it's like to be a black, biracial woman
in America, you know, raised by matriarchs and patriarchs who
told me the stories of our people and our ancestors
and how we rose above. And I am so curious
how the Black American spirit is perceived by other people
(05:58):
who are part of the diaspora around the world world,
because I don't know, there seems to be almost like
a like you can tap into it, even though you
weren't part of our specific brand of pain and our
specific legacy. Like it feels like you can still tap
into it. Do you feel that way too?
Speaker 6 (06:16):
And I think that's that's really what led to Resists
because for so long, and I hate to say this
out loud, I did not understand race. I mean, in Nigeria,
I'm not black anything. I'm an Adot. My tribe is
a doe. So the concept of race is social construct
of race that was made in America. We didn't have
(06:37):
any history of it, so that was a new concept
for us to understand. So for so long, I kid
you not, I didn't think about being black. I just thought, listen,
I'm in this country. I need to live out my
mom's dream for all of us. And that was how
I navigated everything until May twenty fifth, twenty twenty And
we know that's the day that George Floyd was murdered,
(06:59):
and I said, we met remember vividly watching that video
and something just came undone within me, like what did
this man do beside being existing as he is a
black man in this country? What did he really do
to deserve this treatment? And that's what began this journey
into understanding my race in this country and what it
(07:23):
really means. And that's what led me to go across
the country. I went to thirty stays in thirty two days.
I wanted to understand what this race mean to people
and how do they define it, how do they navigate it?
And that really helps me understand and see that even
though I was blinded to it, it wasn't an intentional blindness.
(07:43):
It was because again I had that privilege of not knowing.
But now that I saw something that sparked me into
wanting to learn. I feel like everyone needs to have
that moment that really gets them questioning everything, and for me,
it was questioning how did I really navigate America as
a black woman, not really realizing what comes with being
(08:05):
a black woman, or a black man, or just black
period in this country. And that's what led and that's
what sparked my entry into writing this book.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
In the aftermath of George Floyd's murder in twenty twenty,
like you said, you traveled across the country to learn
more about activism and racism and organizing movements in America.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
I want to start with something that maybe gave you hope.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
Yeah, I think for me.
Speaker 6 (08:30):
The stop that really propelled this story and really kind
of cemented the idea for this book was in Portland,
what I would do when I go to these stops
is I'll park my car. And this was during the pandemic,
so no one was out, so I was really on
the lookout for, like who's out, who can I talk to?
And so in Portland, I remember doing that very thing.
And I came down to this public square and I
(08:51):
was just amazed by how many young people were congregated there,
and I'm curious, like, what are they doing? And so
I walked up, so I havn't common stations, and they
told me that they were there and remembrance of another
black man who had been killed two years prior. His
name was Patrick Kimmins September thirty of twenty eighteen. So
they were protesting to the day and remembrance of him,
(09:14):
but also declined the times that we were in. You know,
George Floyd's death really catapulted so many protesting across the world,
so they wanted to be part of that.
Speaker 5 (09:24):
They wanted to use their.
Speaker 6 (09:25):
Voice to do to call attention to what was going
on in their city. So to me, that was the
first sort of like mesmerizing moment of my travels. It's
just seeing so many young people knle aware of what
was happening. And as I followed them down this like
half mile to where they were going, which is this
parking lot where Patrick Kimmins had been killed by police officers,
(09:47):
I was just again taken aback and stunned by how
much they knew, you know, and how impassion they were
speaking about the time they're in and just again organizing
this massive protest. And I was just watching the and
that's where the idea for the book actually came from,
just thinking to myself, here are these thirteen, fourteen, fifteen
year olds who are doing something that I never did
(10:09):
because I was not thisaware of what this skin color
meant in this country. So I never was that engaged
at all in any of it. So just watching them
take to the streets in such a commanding, raising audacious way,
I started having all these questions again as a perpetual outsider,
as an immigrant. Sometimes there are things I see them
(10:32):
just like how did that.
Speaker 5 (10:33):
Come to be? So for me?
Speaker 6 (10:34):
In this moment, I'm looking at these young people, I
mean hundreds of people, and I'm thinking, how do they
even know they can organize like this and protest like
this and galvanize in this massive way. And that's what
stirred me into one things, researching what is the origin
story of protesting and what is that framework, especially by
(10:56):
young people? And so I think for me that became
the highlight of my trip. It was something that really
inspired me to want to learn more and not just
about the protesting, but more about the country.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
That made me who I am.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
You know, around I want to say twenty twenty, Obama
tweeted something that went viral, and I'm paraphrasing, but basically
he said that every great social movement has started with
young people. And as I'm listening to you talk about
these young people and how much they knew and how
that moment really inspired your book, I'm so curious as
(11:32):
you drove through these thirty states if there were any
through lines with young people, because culture across states is
very different.
Speaker 5 (11:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (11:40):
So the thing with young people over decades and centuries
is they're very idealistic. Right, So the people who are
in the older generation now, right, they were once the young.
Speaker 5 (11:50):
People who were idealistic.
Speaker 6 (11:52):
But what happened is along the line they became a
bit more pragmatic because they saw that there is red
tape when you're trying to make sustainable change. But we
do need young people to remind us of the aspirations
for example, and the promises of the Constitution. So in
every generation, I believe we need both. We need a
multi generational impact and fight for sustainable freedoms and to
(12:15):
make sure that we're torch bearers of that dream that
doctor King has for example. So I think for me,
young people represent that idealistic version and vision of what
this country could be, and that over time when they
start to get into the weeds, if they do like
going to Congress, for example, they start to understand that
there are roadblocks to sustainable change. But every generation you
(12:39):
need that, you need something to remind us that we
need to continue to fight for freedoms. Freedom was not free.
We think about what doctor King did right when he
was fighting for freedom. I think by the nineteen sixty
three March on Washington. At that point the idea was
of freedom was elusive, it was still very new, and
the March on Washington was real meant to make sure
(13:01):
that we can enshrine the idea of freedom into law,
and you fast forward to today, those same very freedoms
are being threatened.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Right.
Speaker 6 (13:10):
So in every generation we need people to carry that torch.
We need people to know that we have to have
sustainable fights. And a lot of times young people, because
you're so idealistic and they're so hungry, they inject a
new energy into the fight that we need. We need
that momentum to keep carrying on the fight.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
What do we need from the older generation?
Speaker 6 (13:33):
The experience, right, You think about again, like our Shopton
for example, he has the experience, he has the knowledge, right,
And what we don't need is thems trying to stifle
young people, which sometimes, like I mentioned in the book,
it did happen with the clashing between both generations because
they understand the fight ahead and how if you really
(13:54):
want lasting change, there's some things that you have to give.
Even doctor King when he saw, for example, the Black
Panthers when it came on the scene, they were going
to your violence approach, and he said, that's not how
you get hurt. If you want a mass audience, this
is the way. This is a strategy. So it's always
good to have the energy, the vigor, the rigor to
(14:15):
come in and inject that new energy. But after a
while you do need to kind of take a step
back and say, Okay, how do we sustain this. How
do we make sure we have some kind of unified
way to get our message across, to ensure that it
has a mass audience, to make sure that we are
fighting a good fight and.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
It is being received in the way it needs to
be received. We've got to take a quick break.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
We'll be right back to our conversation with Rita Amoka.
And we're back with Rita Amocha. Well, we want to
get into your work on the extraordinary black woman, the
(15:00):
women that were activists from the nineteen twenties through today
who really shaped American history as we know it. So
let's dive in. Let's get started with Ella Baker. She's
known as the godmother to the civil rights movement. How
did she earn that title?
Speaker 5 (15:15):
She did a lot, and.
Speaker 6 (15:16):
I really in the book, I really wanted to first
start to give people an insight into who she was
and what framed her mind and what gave her that
fight and that audaciousness that she carried on and worked
with doctor King and worked with young people to really organize.
So for me, starting with where she grew up, her
(15:37):
grandfather was formerly enslaved and what he did was he
bought back the land that he was enslaved in.
Speaker 5 (15:45):
That's the dream.
Speaker 6 (15:46):
Yeah, and he made this community of people to say, hey, look,
we are free now, we need to act in that way.
So he was teaching them how to live freely. And
she grew up watching this and so she carried that
on into her. Her very first fight was in high school.
She was sixteen years old and at the time, there
was this trend called the flapper trend where it was
(16:08):
the first time that silk stockings were like really in
and it was a way for females and women to
show their sexuality and autonomy. And so at Sean University,
those silk stockings were banned. And I love what she said,
She said, I don't even like silk stockings, but the
fact that the school wants to ban us from wearing
silk stockings, that's a problem. So that was her psyche.
(16:31):
Her psyche was, look, I want what's right, you know.
She always wanted to do what's right because she saw
her grandfather fight for that day in day out, even
though he came out of the worst time in our history.
He still had the know how, the autonomy to keep
on fighting to teach people how to leave freely. So
(16:52):
she went on and she worked alongside doctor King to
ensure that he was building a sustainable movement.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
And so that's how she was able to gain that title.
Speaker 6 (17:02):
Just continue to build an instillent people that we don't
even have to benefit directly from the fight, but the
fight is what's important.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
It sounds like she was a very principled woman.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
Extremely principled for sure.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
So she really just wanted people to understand their power,
to understand that your voice is your greatest Ally.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
When she founded the Student Nonviolence Coordinating.
Speaker 6 (17:26):
Committee, it was really to make sure young people knew
how to come together and be unified, but also know
the power of collective action, the power of using your
voice as a weapon to say, if we do this together,
more could be done. So when she found that snick,
that was her goal to show them, you guys are
doing a lot of things in different places, but when
(17:47):
you come together, you can do.
Speaker 5 (17:49):
So much more.
Speaker 6 (17:50):
And understand that you have the power within you to
do so much more, but you just have to know
it and she taught that and she lived that.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
So I'm always so interested Rita in the historical context
behind these movements, like what was she up against in
that time, what was happening as she was organizing, So I.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
Mean so much.
Speaker 6 (18:08):
I mean, for example, like I said earlier, freedom was
still very elusive, right, even freedom for especially for women.
There was so much more against her as a black
person and as a woman, and so she had a
lot that she was facing. Even within the movement, women
were not really forefront. So we have we know the
names like doctor King and John Lewis and Bob Moses
(18:30):
and Charlie Copp. These are names that most people know.
Ella Baker is kind of known, but she was still
in the background. So even within the movements she you know,
women were not given the same platform as men. So
there was that misogyny that she had to fight within
the movement and within the cultural contexts, and also the
(18:51):
white supremacy that was really in the nation. So there
was so much against what she was trying to do,
but she didn't let that stop her.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Another woman that you profile in your book has me
wondering if I have a long lost relative out there.
Her name is Barbara John's and that is my mom's
maiden name. Okay, So now I'm like, I got to
go back and do my ancestry research see if there's
any connection here. But this is a woman I would
love to be connected to because she had a pivotal
role in starting a strike for equality and education and
(19:20):
her efforts led to the groundbreaking Supreme Court case Brown
versus Board of Education.
Speaker 5 (19:25):
How did she shape and influence that case?
Speaker 6 (19:28):
Yeah, I mean so many people when it comes to
the Brown case, many people know Linda Brown because the
case is named after her. And I was so amazed
to find out that there was this one sixteen year
old in Chris Edward count in Virginia who led this massive,
massive student strike. She told the school the student body, look,
(19:48):
if we all go on strike and they have no
one to teach, that's disruptive. But again in the book,
what I tried to do to explain to people how
she got to where she is at sixteen years old
to real that she had a voice was her upbringing.
She was raised by her formerly enslaved maternal grandmother, her
formerly enslaved maternal grandmother as well from both sides, and
(20:10):
they taught her what it was like to be suppressed
and oppressed. And then she had an uncle, Vernon, who
was a minister but also an activist, who taught her
that the portal to freedom and independence is education. So
that was what she was ingesting day in day out
from her childhood. Then she got to high school and
(20:31):
she's looking at her resources around and she's like, wait
a minute, we're having classrooms in tar paper shacks. We
are overcrowded to the point where we have to have
classes in school buses. We don't have books, we don't
have anything. But then down the road the all white
high school, they have everything, a new garden, new library,
(20:51):
and the only difference is our skin color. That doesn't
make sense. And she said enough is enough, Like what
is the alternative? I die on education? Like what do
I really gain from this? And so she got the
entire student body to protest against the school district, and
in the end of the five consolidated cases that went
(21:11):
up to the Supreme Court, one hundred and seventeen students
came from Prince Edward County out of one hundred and
seventy seven. So she was really able to be so disruptive.
It called the attention of the NAACP who came and
took on the case.
Speaker 5 (21:28):
It's amazing. It's amazing.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
My maternal grandmother used to say the exact same thing,
that education is your ticket out, and it is. I
just always think about that Frederick Douglas quote, once you
learn to read, you will forever be free. And I'm
part of that generation that was raised by the generation
who really embodied that quote.
Speaker 6 (21:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Absolutely, we have to take another quick break, but we'll
be right back with Rita Amoka. And we're back with
Rita Amoka. I want to talk about Darnella Frasier. She's
an American activist and a student who gained global recognition
(22:10):
for recording the video of George Floyd's death in twenty twenty. Yeah,
she was just sixteen years old and she witnessed and
captured the footage of Floyd. There was a lot of
conversation about race before this video hit the internet, but
that video changed everything in America.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
When you said earlier.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
That that was a catalyst moment for you, I'm curious
what you think that video and Danielle's courage and decision
to record his final moments.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Really did. Why did that change everything.
Speaker 6 (22:48):
Yeah, I mean because for so long, I mean we've
heard the stories, right, We've heard by Michael Brown, Eric Garner,
We've heard Brianna Taylor. We hear it, and I think
for so long we became kind of and detached to
it because we weren't understanding the gravity of it.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
People, We weren't able to see it the way we
saw it with that video.
Speaker 6 (23:08):
And to see nine minutes in twenty nine second of
someone just being basically smuggled to death, just without any care,
I think that did a.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
Lot for a lot of people's psychology.
Speaker 6 (23:21):
It's like we've known for so long the subjugation of
all the others, but to see it in such a animalistic
and vicious way where it seemed like the officers who
are appointed to protect and care for citizens were just
having this reckless reaction to human life. I mean, he
(23:41):
was crying out the entire time. So there was something
about seeing the video and seeing it was a clear view,
unobstructed view of what was happening.
Speaker 5 (23:52):
This man was dying before our eyes.
Speaker 6 (23:55):
And again, fake twenty dollars bill or not, he did
nothing wrong besides just being a black man. If he
were a white man, it would be a different outcome.
So her courage, her brazeness in just standing steadfast and
saying I'm not moving even when the cops say moved,
she did not move.
Speaker 5 (24:12):
And because of that.
Speaker 6 (24:13):
In this country, for the first time in a long time,
we saw someone being held accountable for such a vicious act,
and so I think for a lot of people seeing
it in the way we saw it, it did something
to us emotionally too.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
I remember hearing her voice in that video and thinking,
what you just said, like, I think I would be
no matter what the scenario is, intimidated by a police
officer talking to me that way. And she stood her
ground and she was.
Speaker 6 (24:40):
Young, exactly exactly, and because of that too that I
think that evening after the death of George Floyd, the
MPD released their own press release saying, oh, there was
an incident that happened and a black man was killed,
and she was like, now wait a minute, I was there,
and that's what prompted her to release the video.
Speaker 5 (24:59):
It was like two in the morning.
Speaker 6 (25:00):
She released that video that very day because they were
trying to cover it up, which again showcases how many
of these cases that's how they get they get covered
up until someone like Darnella steps up to say that's
not what happened, and so she completely changed so much.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
I think to that point, social media has totally shifted activism.
Are there ways that you see that in today's day
and age? Oh?
Speaker 5 (25:24):
Absolutely, I mean it's amplified the movement.
Speaker 6 (25:27):
Like back in the day, you will have to call
people and go door to door and really galvanize people
very more hands on. Today, with one clickup a button,
you can reach thousands, if not millions of people to
join in and organize in your movement. So everything is
at our fingertips, so it's much more. It's easier to
(25:47):
gabanize and organize people and amplify the message than it
was before.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
How have the activists that you've spoken to, or the
activism that you witness taking place in our world right now?
How has that redefined mind the term activism for you?
What does it mean to you now?
Speaker 5 (26:04):
Well? I love that question.
Speaker 6 (26:05):
For me, I now my understanding of activism before I
thought it was just like fist pumping stomping the streets.
For me, now the baseline definition of activism is doing something,
performing some kind of action that's going to lead or
in hopes of leading to some social or political change.
(26:26):
And when you think about it, anyone can be an activist.
Right for me personally, I'm not looking at my writing
as a form of resistance that I could too make
a difference, Whereas before I thought, well, to be an activist,
I have to like form a group and go out
and put my fist. Because I've never been to protests
until Portland. So understanding how like Barbara John's just said
(26:48):
enough is enough and she just decided to do something.
Speaker 5 (26:51):
I feel like we all can do something.
Speaker 6 (26:53):
You can speak up when you see injustice at your job.
You can start a book club where you're reading just
all the banned books. You can really do anything within
your own talents and gifts to say. I want to
be part of the collective action to sustain this freedom
that I know now. I know this personally now that
freedom wasn't free. Someone had to fight and die and
(27:17):
bleed for it. And if I can do one little
thing just to carry on and sustain that freedom, I
want to, especially now when we're going into this psycond
Trump term and it seems like we're almost in this
slow regression, which is really scary because never would I
have thought that Dobbs would be begutted right, that the.
Speaker 5 (27:37):
Rights of my own body will come into question.
Speaker 6 (27:40):
After all the decades of FISA enshrying certain freedoms into
the law, I never thought that would be the case.
Speaker 5 (27:47):
But here we are.
Speaker 6 (27:48):
I think, going back to doctor King, we are his
torch bearers of his dream, that dream that he had
that he said one day he wishes that his four
kids can walk this nation and not be judged by
the color of their skin, but the content of their character.
Speaker 5 (28:05):
That he wants to see freedom rank We are responsible
for that.
Speaker 6 (28:09):
We need to carry that on because we risk losing
that freedom when we have people like Trump who are
subscribing to misogyny and white supremacy in these modern times.
So it's going to take all of us to really
tap into what it means to take action in our communities,
in our lives, and just what can we do on
(28:30):
our own to contribute to that.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
That's really important For anybody who wants to protest, who
wants to take that first step, what would you say
to them.
Speaker 6 (28:40):
Yeah, I mean start locally, starting in your community. I
think you just have to start wherever you are and
whatever you feel comfortable doing not Everyone likes to be
social and be out on the streets. So if you're
more into the digital activism, do that, you know, start
a Zoom group and start a Zoom counseling group or something.
If you're a lawyer, starts something where you can make
maybe create a twol kit for those who may be
(29:03):
corralled and possibly detained, and say hey, if you are stopped,
here's a list of things you can do. Call this number,
make sure you have someone to come to your house
and take your kids.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
Really, you can.
Speaker 6 (29:13):
Start anywhere, but I think it begins with intentionality, with
you wanting to know more. I think a lot of
people are not selectively ignorant. You just don't know what
you don't know. But if you do know, it's your
responsibility to do something. Just like with me growing up,
I didn't know anything about race relations. I just thought, hey,
my tribe is a dope. I'm in this country. I'm
(29:36):
here to work really hard until something stirred me into action.
So I think it's really hard to be stirred into
action because you have to be paying attention. So I
think intentionality is the beginning, and the intentionality leads to
an expanding of your perspective. And the more you have perspective,
the more you have empathy to want to even learn
(29:57):
more and contributes. You have to have time to just
think about what do you want to do and how
do you want to contribute?
Speaker 4 (30:04):
I totally agree, Rita.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
You're always invited to the Black Southern American Cookout.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Thank you, Rita, Thank you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 5 (30:15):
Thanks so mister having me. I appreciate you.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Rita Amoka is a journalist and the author of the
book Resist, How a century of young Black activists shaped America.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
That's it for today's show.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Tomorrow, we're joined by actress, producer, and the star of
the Peacock series The Day of the Jackal, Lashana Lynch
is here.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
You don't want to miss this conversation.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Join the conversation using hashtag the bright Side and connect
with us on social media at Hello Sunshine on Instagram
and at The bright Side Pod on TikTok oh, and
feel free to tag us at simone Voice and at
Danielle Robe.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Listen and follow The bright Side on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get at your podcast.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
See you tomorrow, folks, keep looking on the bright side,
Hello Sunshine, Hey fam Today on the bright Side, we're
celebrating Martin Luther King Junior Day and the power of
activism with Rita Amoka, author of the remarkable book Resist,
How a century of young Black activists shaped America.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
It's Monday, January twentieth. I'm Danielle Robe.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
And I'm Simone Boyce, and this is the bright Side
from Hello Sunshine. Danielle. I always look forward to our
holiday episodes because I personally learned so much. It's like
a mini history lesson packed into each one of those episodes.
I'm thinking of our Labor Day episode, Memorial Day, fourth
of July, and today is a day where as a
nation we get to just take a pause and honor
(00:41):
the legacy of doctor Martin Luther King Junior.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah, we're honoring Martin Luther King Junior today and all
of the work and the love and the heart that
he gave and really sacrificed for our country. You know,
when I think about doctor King, I think about on
violent resistance because his approach was inspired by Gandhi's philosophy
(01:05):
of nonviolence, and it really became the model for social
justice movements around the globe, like even in the face
of violence and just the worst kind of hatred. He
demonstrated a moral high ground, and I think he really
forced our nation to confront its conscience.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
And to think that he was doing all of this
while being imprisoned around thirty times. Can you imagine being
so oppressed and so attacked by your own government while
you're trying to be this bastion of nonviolent protests. It's
really an incredible legacy.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
It is, and I think there's such a huge lesson
in that he taught us that the arc of the
moral universe bends towards justice, but only if we keep
applying pressure.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
He kept applying.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Pressure at every turn, no matter how hard it got,
and he believed that change was both an internal and
an external process. I am constantly amazed by him, but
reminded on Martin Luther King Day every year that it
is always better to extend a hand, no matter how
hard it is. So while we celebrate his contributions, we'd
(02:18):
also like to take the opportunity to pay tribute to
some of the female activists that you don't hear about
in history class, the women whose contributions throughout history have
made a major impact on our lives and on our
lives today.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Rita Amoka is a journalist and the author of the
book Resists How a Century of Young Black activists shaped America.
Writing has long been a form of resistance for her,
and after graduating at the top of her class from
Columbia University's Journalism School in twenty twenty, not long after
the death of George Floyd, Rita became inspired to put
(02:53):
her journalism degree to work and focus on the moments
that inspired young activists throughout our nation's history.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Reading through her book, it's really an insightful collection of stories.
I hope you'll be left feeling that you can use
your voice to lift up issues that matter to you
at any age, in any moment. And in thinking about MLK,
it's that idea that there is no perfect moment. That
moment comes from the courage to create it ourselves. And
(03:23):
I can't think of a better way to celebrate this
holiday than with someone who's writing about all that courage.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Well, Rito, welcome to the bright Side and Happy Martin
Luther King Junior Day.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
Thanks for having me. I appreciate you all.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
We're so happy to have you. Rita. You grew up
in the Bronx.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
But you were born in Nigeria, and you write Nigeria
made me black, America raised me. How did that experience
shape your perspective on race in America?
Speaker 6 (03:50):
Yeah, yeah, for me, I think I always say it's
a privilege to come to this country as an immigrants,
especially of black immigrants, because we don't have that history
of enslaved people or ancestors. And by that I mean
I didn't grow up in a household with an aunt
or an uncle, or a grandpa or grandma telling me
(04:13):
stories about Jim Crow, the Great Migration, or what it's
like to walk around this country in this skin color.
So there's something that happens in my psyche personally where
I came to this country because my mother was the
beneficiary of the Immigration Act of nineteen ninety and what
that act did was it went to places in Africa
(04:34):
and the Philippines looking to hire nurses during the nursing
shortage of the nineties. So literally, my mom came into
this country because of her brilliance. That is my origin
story in this country, and that is how I navigated
this country, not having in a sense, any burden of
saying to myself, oh, my goodness from while I was born.
(04:57):
I've been subjugated, and so I think there's power to that.
I mean, by any means, we did not grow up
rich or anything, but that privilege of knowing that I
can be whatever I wanted to be because my mother's brilliance,
God is here. So I have no excuse but to
navigate this country, focus discipline on my academic excellence, and
(05:17):
that's precisely what I did. So I think for most
black immigrants, I think we share the same kind of
psychology because we don't have that added weight that we
have to wear of our enslaved ancestors and what that
means for us in this present time.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
I'm so curious about this, in particular because I only
know what it's like to be a black, biracial woman
in America, you know, raised by matriarchs and patriarchs who
told me the stories of our people and our ancestors
and how we rose above. And I am so curious
how the Black American spirit is perceived by other people
(05:58):
who are part of the diaspora around the world world,
because I don't know, there seems to be almost like
a like you can tap into it, even though you
weren't part of our specific brand of pain and our
specific legacy. Like it feels like you can still tap
into it. Do you feel that way too?
Speaker 6 (06:16):
And I think that's that's really what led to Resists
because for so long, and I hate to say this
out loud, I did not understand race. I mean, in Nigeria,
I'm not black anything. I'm an Adot. My tribe is
a doe. So the concept of race is social construct
of race that was made in America. We didn't have
(06:37):
any history of it, so that was a new concept
for us to understand. So for so long, I kid
you not, I didn't think about being black. I just thought, listen,
I'm in this country. I need to live out my
mom's dream for all of us. And that was how
I navigated everything until May twenty fifth, twenty twenty And
we know that's the day that George Floyd was murdered,
(06:59):
and I said, we met remember vividly watching that video
and something just came undone within me, like what did
this man do beside being existing as he is a
black man in this country? What did he really do
to deserve this treatment? And that's what began this journey
into understanding my race in this country and what it
(07:23):
really means. And that's what led me to go across
the country. I went to thirty stays in thirty two days.
I wanted to understand what this race mean to people
and how do they define it, how do they navigate it?
And that really helps me understand and see that even
though I was blinded to it, it wasn't an intentional blindness.
(07:43):
It was because again I had that privilege of not knowing.
But now that I saw something that sparked me into
wanting to learn. I feel like everyone needs to have
that moment that really gets them questioning everything, and for me,
it was questioning how did I really navigate America as
a black woman, not really realizing what comes with being
(08:05):
a black woman, or a black man, or just black
period in this country. And that's what led and that's
what sparked my entry into writing this book.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
In the aftermath of George Floyd's murder in twenty twenty,
like you said, you traveled across the country to learn
more about activism and racism and organizing movements in America.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
I want to start with something that maybe gave you hope.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
Yeah, I think for me.
Speaker 6 (08:30):
The stop that really propelled this story and really kind
of cemented the idea for this book was in Portland,
what I would do when I go to these stops
is I'll park my car. And this was during the pandemic,
so no one was out, so I was really on
the lookout for, like who's out, who can I talk to?
And so in Portland, I remember doing that very thing.
And I came down to this public square and I
(08:51):
was just amazed by how many young people were congregated there,
and I'm curious, like, what are they doing? And so
I walked up, so I havn't common stations, and they
told me that they were there and remembrance of another
black man who had been killed two years prior. His
name was Patrick Kimmins September thirty of twenty eighteen. So
they were protesting to the day and remembrance of him,
(09:14):
but also declined the times that we were in. You know,
George Floyd's death really catapulted so many protesting across the world,
so they wanted to be part of that.
Speaker 5 (09:24):
They wanted to use their.
Speaker 6 (09:25):
Voice to do to call attention to what was going
on in their city. So to me, that was the
first sort of like mesmerizing moment of my travels. It's
just seeing so many young people knle aware of what
was happening. And as I followed them down this like
half mile to where they were going, which is this
parking lot where Patrick Kimmins had been killed by police officers,
(09:47):
I was just again taken aback and stunned by how
much they knew, you know, and how impassion they were
speaking about the time they're in and just again organizing
this massive protest. And I was just watching the and
that's where the idea for the book actually came from,
just thinking to myself, here are these thirteen, fourteen, fifteen
year olds who are doing something that I never did
(10:09):
because I was not thisaware of what this skin color
meant in this country. So I never was that engaged
at all in any of it. So just watching them
take to the streets in such a commanding, raising audacious way,
I started having all these questions again as a perpetual outsider,
as an immigrant. Sometimes there are things I see them
(10:32):
just like how did that.
Speaker 5 (10:33):
Come to be? So for me?
Speaker 6 (10:34):
In this moment, I'm looking at these young people, I
mean hundreds of people, and I'm thinking, how do they
even know they can organize like this and protest like
this and galvanize in this massive way. And that's what
stirred me into one things, researching what is the origin
story of protesting and what is that framework, especially by
(10:56):
young people? And so I think for me that became
the highlight of my trip. It was something that really
inspired me to want to learn more and not just
about the protesting, but more about the country.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
That made me who I am.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
You know, around I want to say twenty twenty, Obama
tweeted something that went viral, and I'm paraphrasing, but basically
he said that every great social movement has started with
young people. And as I'm listening to you talk about
these young people and how much they knew and how
that moment really inspired your book, I'm so curious as
(11:32):
you drove through these thirty states if there were any
through lines with young people, because culture across states is
very different.
Speaker 5 (11:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (11:40):
So the thing with young people over decades and centuries
is they're very idealistic. Right, So the people who are
in the older generation now, right, they were once the young.
Speaker 5 (11:50):
People who were idealistic.
Speaker 6 (11:52):
But what happened is along the line they became a
bit more pragmatic because they saw that there is red
tape when you're trying to make sustainable change. But we
do need young people to remind us of the aspirations
for example, and the promises of the Constitution. So in
every generation, I believe we need both. We need a
multi generational impact and fight for sustainable freedoms and to
(12:15):
make sure that we're torch bearers of that dream that
doctor King has for example. So I think for me,
young people represent that idealistic version and vision of what
this country could be, and that over time when they
start to get into the weeds, if they do like
going to Congress, for example, they start to understand that
there are roadblocks to sustainable change. But every generation you
(12:39):
need that, you need something to remind us that we
need to continue to fight for freedoms. Freedom was not free.
We think about what doctor King did right when he
was fighting for freedom. I think by the nineteen sixty
three March on Washington. At that point the idea was
of freedom was elusive, it was still very new, and
the March on Washington was real meant to make sure
(13:01):
that we can enshrine the idea of freedom into law,
and you fast forward to today, those same very freedoms
are being threatened.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Right.
Speaker 6 (13:10):
So in every generation we need people to carry that torch.
We need people to know that we have to have
sustainable fights. And a lot of times young people, because
you're so idealistic and they're so hungry, they inject a
new energy into the fight that we need. We need
that momentum to keep carrying on the fight.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
What do we need from the older generation?
Speaker 6 (13:33):
The experience, right, You think about again, like our Shopton
for example, he has the experience, he has the knowledge, right,
And what we don't need is thems trying to stifle
young people, which sometimes, like I mentioned in the book,
it did happen with the clashing between both generations because
they understand the fight ahead and how if you really
(13:54):
want lasting change, there's some things that you have to give.
Even doctor King when he saw, for example, the Black
Panthers when it came on the scene, they were going
to your violence approach, and he said, that's not how
you get hurt. If you want a mass audience, this
is the way. This is a strategy. So it's always
good to have the energy, the vigor, the rigor to
(14:15):
come in and inject that new energy. But after a
while you do need to kind of take a step
back and say, Okay, how do we sustain this. How
do we make sure we have some kind of unified
way to get our message across, to ensure that it
has a mass audience, to make sure that we are
fighting a good fight and.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
It is being received in the way it needs to
be received. We've got to take a quick break.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
We'll be right back to our conversation with Rita Amoka.
And we're back with Rita Amocha. Well, we want to
get into your work on the extraordinary black woman, the
(15:00):
women that were activists from the nineteen twenties through today
who really shaped American history as we know it. So
let's dive in. Let's get started with Ella Baker. She's
known as the godmother to the civil rights movement. How
did she earn that title?
Speaker 5 (15:15):
She did a lot, and.
Speaker 6 (15:16):
I really in the book, I really wanted to first
start to give people an insight into who she was
and what framed her mind and what gave her that
fight and that audaciousness that she carried on and worked
with doctor King and worked with young people to really organize.
So for me, starting with where she grew up, her
(15:37):
grandfather was formerly enslaved and what he did was he
bought back the land that he was enslaved in.
Speaker 5 (15:45):
That's the dream.
Speaker 6 (15:46):
Yeah, and he made this community of people to say, hey, look,
we are free now, we need to act in that way.
So he was teaching them how to live freely. And
she grew up watching this and so she carried that
on into her. Her very first fight was in high school.
She was sixteen years old and at the time, there
was this trend called the flapper trend where it was
(16:08):
the first time that silk stockings were like really in
and it was a way for females and women to
show their sexuality and autonomy. And so at Sean University,
those silk stockings were banned. And I love what she said,
She said, I don't even like silk stockings, but the
fact that the school wants to ban us from wearing
silk stockings, that's a problem. So that was her psyche.
(16:31):
Her psyche was, look, I want what's right, you know.
She always wanted to do what's right because she saw
her grandfather fight for that day in day out, even
though he came out of the worst time in our history.
He still had the know how, the autonomy to keep
on fighting to teach people how to leave freely. So
(16:52):
she went on and she worked alongside doctor King to
ensure that he was building a sustainable movement.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
And so that's how she was able to gain that title.
Speaker 6 (17:02):
Just continue to build an instillent people that we don't
even have to benefit directly from the fight, but the
fight is what's important.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
It sounds like she was a very principled woman.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
Extremely principled for sure.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
So she really just wanted people to understand their power,
to understand that your voice is your greatest Ally.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
When she founded the Student Nonviolence Coordinating.
Speaker 6 (17:26):
Committee, it was really to make sure young people knew
how to come together and be unified, but also know
the power of collective action, the power of using your
voice as a weapon to say, if we do this together,
more could be done. So when she found that snick,
that was her goal to show them, you guys are
doing a lot of things in different places, but when
(17:47):
you come together, you can do.
Speaker 5 (17:49):
So much more.
Speaker 6 (17:50):
And understand that you have the power within you to
do so much more, but you just have to know
it and she taught that and she lived that.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
So I'm always so interested Rita in the historical context
behind these movements, like what was she up against in
that time, what was happening as she was organizing, So I.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
Mean so much.
Speaker 6 (18:08):
I mean, for example, like I said earlier, freedom was
still very elusive, right, even freedom for especially for women.
There was so much more against her as a black
person and as a woman, and so she had a
lot that she was facing. Even within the movement, women
were not really forefront. So we have we know the
names like doctor King and John Lewis and Bob Moses
(18:30):
and Charlie Copp. These are names that most people know.
Ella Baker is kind of known, but she was still
in the background. So even within the movements she you know,
women were not given the same platform as men. So
there was that misogyny that she had to fight within
the movement and within the cultural contexts, and also the
(18:51):
white supremacy that was really in the nation. So there
was so much against what she was trying to do,
but she didn't let that stop her.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Another woman that you profile in your book has me
wondering if I have a long lost relative out there.
Her name is Barbara John's and that is my mom's
maiden name. Okay, So now I'm like, I got to
go back and do my ancestry research see if there's
any connection here. But this is a woman I would
love to be connected to because she had a pivotal
role in starting a strike for equality and education and
(19:20):
her efforts led to the groundbreaking Supreme Court case Brown
versus Board of Education.
Speaker 5 (19:25):
How did she shape and influence that case?
Speaker 6 (19:28):
Yeah, I mean so many people when it comes to
the Brown case, many people know Linda Brown because the
case is named after her. And I was so amazed
to find out that there was this one sixteen year
old in Chris Edward count in Virginia who led this massive,
massive student strike. She told the school the student body, look,
(19:48):
if we all go on strike and they have no
one to teach, that's disruptive. But again in the book,
what I tried to do to explain to people how
she got to where she is at sixteen years old
to real that she had a voice was her upbringing.
She was raised by her formerly enslaved maternal grandmother, her
formerly enslaved maternal grandmother as well from both sides, and
(20:10):
they taught her what it was like to be suppressed
and oppressed. And then she had an uncle, Vernon, who
was a minister but also an activist, who taught her
that the portal to freedom and independence is education. So
that was what she was ingesting day in day out
from her childhood. Then she got to high school and
(20:31):
she's looking at her resources around and she's like, wait
a minute, we're having classrooms in tar paper shacks. We
are overcrowded to the point where we have to have
classes in school buses. We don't have books, we don't
have anything. But then down the road the all white
high school, they have everything, a new garden, new library,
(20:51):
and the only difference is our skin color. That doesn't
make sense. And she said enough is enough, Like what
is the alternative? I die on education? Like what do
I really gain from this? And so she got the
entire student body to protest against the school district, and
in the end of the five consolidated cases that went
(21:11):
up to the Supreme Court, one hundred and seventeen students
came from Prince Edward County out of one hundred and
seventy seven. So she was really able to be so disruptive.
It called the attention of the NAACP who came and
took on the case.
Speaker 5 (21:28):
It's amazing. It's amazing.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
My maternal grandmother used to say the exact same thing,
that education is your ticket out, and it is. I
just always think about that Frederick Douglas quote, once you
learn to read, you will forever be free. And I'm
part of that generation that was raised by the generation
who really embodied that quote.
Speaker 6 (21:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Absolutely, we have to take another quick break, but we'll
be right back with Rita Amoka. And we're back with
Rita Amoka. I want to talk about Darnella Frasier. She's
an American activist and a student who gained global recognition
(22:10):
for recording the video of George Floyd's death in twenty twenty. Yeah,
she was just sixteen years old and she witnessed and
captured the footage of Floyd. There was a lot of
conversation about race before this video hit the internet, but
that video changed everything in America.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
When you said earlier.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
That that was a catalyst moment for you, I'm curious
what you think that video and Danielle's courage and decision
to record his final moments.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Really did. Why did that change everything.
Speaker 6 (22:48):
Yeah, I mean because for so long, I mean we've
heard the stories, right, We've heard by Michael Brown, Eric Garner,
We've heard Brianna Taylor. We hear it, and I think
for so long we became kind of and detached to
it because we weren't understanding the gravity of it.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
People, We weren't able to see it the way we
saw it with that video.
Speaker 6 (23:08):
And to see nine minutes in twenty nine second of
someone just being basically smuggled to death, just without any care,
I think that did a.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
Lot for a lot of people's psychology.
Speaker 6 (23:21):
It's like we've known for so long the subjugation of
all the others, but to see it in such a animalistic
and vicious way where it seemed like the officers who
are appointed to protect and care for citizens were just
having this reckless reaction to human life. I mean, he
(23:41):
was crying out the entire time. So there was something
about seeing the video and seeing it was a clear view,
unobstructed view of what was happening.
Speaker 5 (23:52):
This man was dying before our eyes.
Speaker 6 (23:55):
And again, fake twenty dollars bill or not, he did
nothing wrong besides just being a black man. If he
were a white man, it would be a different outcome.
So her courage, her brazeness in just standing steadfast and
saying I'm not moving even when the cops say moved,
she did not move.
Speaker 5 (24:12):
And because of that.
Speaker 6 (24:13):
In this country, for the first time in a long time,
we saw someone being held accountable for such a vicious act,
and so I think for a lot of people seeing
it in the way we saw it, it did something
to us emotionally too.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
I remember hearing her voice in that video and thinking,
what you just said, like, I think I would be
no matter what the scenario is, intimidated by a police
officer talking to me that way. And she stood her
ground and she was.
Speaker 6 (24:40):
Young, exactly exactly, and because of that too that I
think that evening after the death of George Floyd, the
MPD released their own press release saying, oh, there was
an incident that happened and a black man was killed,
and she was like, now wait a minute, I was there,
and that's what prompted her to release the video.
Speaker 5 (24:59):
It was like two in the morning.
Speaker 6 (25:00):
She released that video that very day because they were
trying to cover it up, which again showcases how many
of these cases that's how they get they get covered
up until someone like Darnella steps up to say that's
not what happened, and so she completely changed so much.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
I think to that point, social media has totally shifted activism.
Are there ways that you see that in today's day
and age? Oh?
Speaker 5 (25:24):
Absolutely, I mean it's amplified the movement.
Speaker 6 (25:27):
Like back in the day, you will have to call
people and go door to door and really galvanize people
very more hands on. Today, with one clickup a button,
you can reach thousands, if not millions of people to
join in and organize in your movement. So everything is
at our fingertips, so it's much more. It's easier to
(25:47):
gabanize and organize people and amplify the message than it
was before.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
How have the activists that you've spoken to, or the
activism that you witness taking place in our world right now?
How has that redefined mind the term activism for you?
What does it mean to you now?
Speaker 5 (26:04):
Well? I love that question.
Speaker 6 (26:05):
For me, I now my understanding of activism before I
thought it was just like fist pumping stomping the streets.
For me, now the baseline definition of activism is doing something,
performing some kind of action that's going to lead or
in hopes of leading to some social or political change.
(26:26):
And when you think about it, anyone can be an activist.
Right for me personally, I'm not looking at my writing
as a form of resistance that I could too make
a difference, Whereas before I thought, well, to be an activist,
I have to like form a group and go out
and put my fist. Because I've never been to protests
until Portland. So understanding how like Barbara John's just said
(26:48):
enough is enough and she just decided to do something.
Speaker 5 (26:51):
I feel like we all can do something.
Speaker 6 (26:53):
You can speak up when you see injustice at your job.
You can start a book club where you're reading just
all the banned books. You can really do anything within
your own talents and gifts to say. I want to
be part of the collective action to sustain this freedom
that I know now. I know this personally now that
freedom wasn't free. Someone had to fight and die and
(27:17):
bleed for it. And if I can do one little
thing just to carry on and sustain that freedom, I
want to, especially now when we're going into this psycond
Trump term and it seems like we're almost in this
slow regression, which is really scary because never would I
have thought that Dobbs would be begutted right, that the.
Speaker 5 (27:37):
Rights of my own body will come into question.
Speaker 6 (27:40):
After all the decades of FISA enshrying certain freedoms into
the law, I never thought that would be the case.
Speaker 5 (27:47):
But here we are.
Speaker 6 (27:48):
I think, going back to doctor King, we are his
torch bearers of his dream, that dream that he had
that he said one day he wishes that his four
kids can walk this nation and not be judged by
the color of their skin, but the content of their character.
Speaker 5 (28:05):
That he wants to see freedom rank We are responsible
for that.
Speaker 6 (28:09):
We need to carry that on because we risk losing
that freedom when we have people like Trump who are
subscribing to misogyny and white supremacy in these modern times.
So it's going to take all of us to really
tap into what it means to take action in our communities,
in our lives, and just what can we do on
(28:30):
our own to contribute to that.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
That's really important For anybody who wants to protest, who
wants to take that first step, what would you say
to them.
Speaker 6 (28:40):
Yeah, I mean start locally, starting in your community. I
think you just have to start wherever you are and
whatever you feel comfortable doing not Everyone likes to be
social and be out on the streets. So if you're
more into the digital activism, do that, you know, start
a Zoom group and start a Zoom counseling group or something.
If you're a lawyer, starts something where you can make
maybe create a twol kit for those who may be
(29:03):
corralled and possibly detained, and say hey, if you are stopped,
here's a list of things you can do. Call this number,
make sure you have someone to come to your house
and take your kids.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
Really, you can.
Speaker 6 (29:13):
Start anywhere, but I think it begins with intentionality, with
you wanting to know more. I think a lot of
people are not selectively ignorant. You just don't know what
you don't know. But if you do know, it's your
responsibility to do something. Just like with me growing up,
I didn't know anything about race relations. I just thought, hey,
my tribe is a dope. I'm in this country. I'm
(29:36):
here to work really hard until something stirred me into action.
So I think it's really hard to be stirred into
action because you have to be paying attention. So I
think intentionality is the beginning, and the intentionality leads to
an expanding of your perspective. And the more you have perspective,
the more you have empathy to want to even learn
(29:57):
more and contributes. You have to have time to just
think about what do you want to do and how
do you want to contribute?
Speaker 4 (30:04):
I totally agree, Rita.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
You're always invited to the Black Southern American Cookout.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Thank you, Rita, Thank you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 5 (30:15):
Thanks so mister having me. I appreciate you.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Rita Amoka is a journalist and the author of the
book Resist, How a century of young Black activists shaped America.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
That's it for today's show.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Tomorrow, we're joined by actress, producer, and the star of
the Peacock series The Day of the Jackal, Lashana Lynch
is here.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
You don't want to miss this conversation.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Join the conversation using hashtag the bright Side and connect
with us on social media at Hello Sunshine on Instagram
and at The bright Side Pod on TikTok oh, and
feel free to tag us at simone Voice and at
Danielle Robe.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Listen and follow The bright Side on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get at your podcast.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
See you tomorrow, folks, keep looking on the bright side,
Host
Simone Boyce
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.