The Devochka

Shante’s luxurious new life comes at a steep cost. Rebecca and Owen are back with Liberation Radio. Special guest Alice Walker.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
In the six months following the Freedom House fire, Jantes
monrose circumstance as it changed remarkably so. Our hapless duckling
had become something of a swan, elevated far beyond the
station in which she was born. She now resided on
the top floor of a luxurious high rise in San Francisco.

(00:26):
On this particular morning, Jantes stood at a street side
window and stared at all the busy little people down below.
Despite her new found fortunes, she had been feeling melancholy
as of late, and for good reason. Her entire life
was beyond her own recognition. She need only look in
the mirror to confirm that, clothed in fine accoutrement and

(00:48):
made beneficiary to the best make of her money could buy,
Janty admittedly made for a most lovely figure. In short,
she had become an impostor. At the surface level, our
impudent heroine was much improved. But who could believe that
a foul mouthed, juvenile delinquent with no prospects had truly
transformed into a genteel ingenu It was absurd, and Chante

(01:13):
knew it to be observed. To make things worse, young
Chante was partitioned from the outside world, forbidden to go
out unless accompanied by Irene. She was prisoner to the
ivory tower she called home. Thus all was not well,
and despite the wealth and privileges her villainous slavic mistress

(01:34):
had bestowed upon her, Chante was beginning to feel the
proverbial call of the wild, of the wild. The fuck
stop listening to him, Focus on your own voice. Have
you finished your manner lessons? Foster? I mean, man, Just
listen to shut up? Lauren? Are you paying attention? Hello? Lauren?

(01:57):
Why do you have to call me that when we're
in the house, Because that's your name, Lauren. That's when
I'm out there and here I'm Shant. We'll stick to Lauren.
It'll only confuse you. Otherwise you must believe you are Lauren.
There's just no room for Shante. And what's wrong with Shanta?
Shanty's to to um what ghetto? I was going to

(02:21):
say ethnic? Now you know, dan Will, that's a motherfucking euphanism.
Great to see your vocabulary is improving, But guess what.
When I came to this country, I had to change
my name too, so I could blend in, be free
from my past. That's how it is. Whatever, Irena, if
you're gonna be petulant, you might as well skip the

(02:42):
Mandarin and prepare for combat training. Seriously, me, damn, my
ass is still sore from yesterday. It's your weakest area.
And we don't let weakness fester. Okay, I know, we
kill it good, So get dressed. What had Chantes gotten

(03:06):
herself into. Let's rewind to the beginning of chantes new life,
so that they may be understood how old this came
to be. That fateful knight at the half way House
had consequences she did not foresee. After killing Davon and
burning down the building, Irene and Chantes arrived at the
doorstep of Valera, Irene's uncle. When they entered his home,

(03:29):
Valera was surrounded by a half dozen armed guards who
promptly tended to his every command. He was a rather
small man, but his confident authority permeated the room, and
his eyes, his icy, unblinking eyes, made Chantey feel he
was capable of any number of violent things. There's no

(03:52):
question Valera was not a man to be trifled with.
Even the self assured Irene shrunk a little under his
frosty there and disapproving words. You disappointed me, Dina. This
Freedom House was very important to my enterprise. How can

(04:13):
I trust you do not make the same mistake again?
Unfortunately this couldn't be avoided. One of our FBI friends
got spooked and planned to betray us. What are you
talking about? I couldn't tell you, but that house was
always going to go down in flames, even without Devon.
And what of our friend and the O p D.
They got sloppy greedy Because of them, we were exposed.

(04:36):
I destroyed all evidence except for what's on my computer.
You should have told me first, could have told me
in a car. And who is this said you have brought?
I believe she could be helpful to us. She's got potential.
I will be the judge of that little girl. What

(04:59):
do you know all of your so called potential? I mean,
I don't fucking know. I guess I just don't take
anyone ship. I mean not anymore. You are certainly spirited,
but that's not enough. What else? Well? I just killed
the asshole who led to me and tried to pimp me.

(05:22):
Is this correct? She didn't just kill him, she stopped
him and beat him. The killer impressive indeed this I
can work with you, and I have something in coming.
I don't like lives either. Let's say we have a deal,
a contract, a contract. There's only a piece of paper.

(05:44):
You can rip it in a half and it's gone.
But it's your word that I care about. You say
you will do something, then you must keep your word.
Is this something you can do? And what's in it
for me? Chante? You don't have a lot of options here.
You will be you a killer, my killer, my eyes,

(06:07):
my hands. Arena would always sease your training, which I
warn you will be intense, and you must listen and
obey without a question. Sounds like yet another motherfucking pimp arena.
Maybe so in a sense. But you will want for nothing,

(06:29):
not only that, you will be provided with a skill
set only two dozen in the entire wall posess. And
if you prove yourself to be all that Moneys claims
you are, you will travel in every continent, and you
have others eating from the pomp of your hand. Did

(06:53):
your bimp make such promise? He'll no, H, So do
I have your ward? M H. That night, Chantes gave
her word to Valera, but she soon learned that a

(07:15):
deal with the devil always has its price. Jante Soviet
overlords turned out to be merciless. She was given a
brutal and rigorous training regiment. It started with a four
a m. Wake up call, followed by combat and tactical training.
Then it was time for social etiquette, computer skills, behavioral science,
and language studies. By the end of each day, she

(07:38):
could barely move. Poor Chante, who hadn't even graduated from
ninth grade, was thrown into a life of harsh discipline
and inculcation. She dared not complain, but it was only
a matter of time before Chante's temper returned and anger
replaced fear. When Irene informed her healthy food would be

(08:00):
the sole provisions provided, Chantay lashed out in her typical manner,
What the funk you mean? I can't have fruity pebbles Listen,
I'm tired of eating these nasty as head whitet. My
uncle will be very angry if he hears about this behavior.

(08:20):
I don't like it either, but we're bound by our
word to follow all directions and fuck the Lira. Okay,
this is bullshit. Y'all are Nazis, and you know what,
I didn't sign up to be bossed around by Nazis.

(08:42):
That night, Chanty learned what she was up against when
her dinner was withheld and no breakfast the following morning either.
When she was finally given a meal, it consisted of
nothing but a boiled chicken breast and a small dried potato.
It was clear there would be some year repercussions for
bad behavior. On the twelfth day of her training, she

(09:06):
was informed that her unpolished nature and lack of education
necessitated in an expedited solution. Every day, Chante was given
an unidentified green pill to take with breakfast. A nurse
explained that it was a special vitamin cure for the
base instincts to which Chante was prone. Though she was
skeptical at first, in just a few weeks the results

(09:27):
were undeniably marvelous. Chantes found that she wanted to be agreeable, pleasant,
and dependable. Most curiously, the desire to learn was sparked
within her, as if someone had turned on a switch
that had been off her whole life. Within six months time,
Chante learned to speak proper American English, British English, Spanish,

(09:51):
and French. With the combination of meticulous study and the
pills powerful influence. She learned to deceive, citius and charm.
Under Irene's guidance, she was chiseled, refined, and reshaped to
look like that which she was not, a person of
good breeding. This pretense of gentility pleased Irene very much.

(10:17):
Janty had become a piece of clockwork, recreated in the
foul image of her former madam, and so it was
time to move to the next phase. Once core training
was complete, Chante was sent to the penthouse dwellings with
Irene to fine tune her skills. A damn wow, you

(10:45):
mean to tell me this is what we live in
like now? I mean this looks like a whole palace
or something. You earned it, Chante. My uncle was very
pleased with your progress. This is your reward. It was
then that she was debriefed on her first mission. The

(11:07):
job was simple, get close to the mayor of Oakland
and report back no reason. Her explanation was provided and
questions were greatly discouraged. Obviously, Chante could not take on
the task as herself, and so the character Lauren emerged.
The name was Irene's idea, but the identity was left

(11:28):
to Chante to create Unlike Chante's own sorry past, Lauren
was a good girl from a working class family. Lauren
did her homework and got straight a's, respected her elders,
and had high ambitions. She was everything Chante could never
truly be, like a little girl playing dress up. She
adopted Lauren's clothes, hair and speech patterns, practiced her backstory,

(11:50):
and researched colleges. But her new found education only made
her realize with shame that her own true life had
been a very pitiful one. And so we arrived back
at the present, where Chante's feelings of inadequacy and growing
loneliness had put her on the verge of an existential crisis.

(12:12):
In any case, she could not shake the feeling that,
no matter what she did, she was just a hood
rat from Balleja. Deep down, Chantes knew she would never
be Lauren. Perhaps this internal mess had a cause, specifically
the fact that she had stopped taking the green Vitans.

(12:34):
She hadn't planned to stop, the thought it simply entered
her mind before she knew it. She had a week's
worth of pills in her drawer. Of course, Irene was
unaware of the dereliction, but as she sparred with Chante.
She couldn't help but notice a reversal in the girl's
behavioral improvements. M left hook right, appricot, keep your elbows down.

(13:10):
What am I gonna be able to go outside? Outside? Yeah?
Like for my all time? I don't know. It depends
depends on what you're still in training. Focus on your
current mission. I'm not a fucking robot, you know. I
gotta have a break sometime. Why do you insist on

(13:34):
speaking that way? What do you want from me? Huh?
Just speak in the Queen's English? That was a cheap shot. Yeah,
back up quickly. I'm gonna see about having your dosage increased.
I don't even bother. Stop taking that ship a week,

(13:55):
gonna stop taking Tell me you're joking? That could be very,
very dangerous, dangerous? Who is in danger here? You're early?
We were just finishing up combat training the idea, which
is improving, I hope, certainly. Keeping me on my toes.

(14:15):
Take a break. I wish to talk with this young lady, Lauren. Come,
he said, he how did your first day go? What
did you learn from letting martell it um? Well? I
was only with him for a minute. He was said

(14:36):
about some ship about his son and described his failure
as a father. Only a minute and already he buried
his soul to you, very good, very good. Go okay,
And then he got on the phone call and his
assistant took me out of the office. But I made

(14:56):
an excuse to go back and listen to the conversation
from outside at the door. Yes, and I think he
was being blackmailed or something by a guy named Chuck.
You have done very very well. It did not. I
would like to speak with you privately one second. Yes,

(15:20):
am I gonna have to sleep with that guy water question?
That's funny. I mean, will I have to kill him?
As you know well, will import whatever means necessary to

(15:42):
I achieve our goals? Any other queries? Actually, yes, okay.
I was telling Irene that I need more freedom, you know,
I want to go out and no, just now, okay, no,

(16:05):
do not ask again. You're right personally, And then you
got over. It's a problem, you know. Whenever Irene and

(16:52):
Valeria spoke Russian, Chanta knew she was being laughed out
of the loop. Intentionally, Angry at Valeria's dismissiveness, she went
to her room to sulk at the window. She stared
at the sun setting over the bay. All she saw
was a world she'd never be part of. But what

(17:12):
she didn't see it was far more important. Many stories
down below, an old demon from her past loitered. Davon
Wallace and his mother, Angela stood outside her building. Scarred
and disfigured. Davon was very much changed, Revenge burned in

(17:33):
his eyes like the fire that had nearly killed him.
Jantes believed she had escaped her fate, but fate would
have its way sooner or later. But with this bitter,
conniving voice of the patriarch, it didn't know was that
Chante's path was never set in stone. Underneath trauma in insecurities,

(17:57):
she had incredible strength and will power. This new life
was just one chapter in a remarkable destiny that she
would soon fulfill. Only she could determine her own fate,
even if she didn't know it yet. Now, who the
hell are you? Liberation Radio is proud to present author

(18:19):
of the color Purple pull It Surprize winner, activist and
Oakland resident, Alice Walker. Welcome back to Liberation Radio. I'm
Rebecca and I'm amen, coming to you from the beautiful
Lovabots today, I am so happy and excited to say
we have a very special guest with us. Honestly, she

(18:41):
is just an overall inspiration and literary icon. Everyone out
there please welcome Alice Walker. I'm sure that they're clapping
their hands right now and cheering um in your poem
loving Oakland you call oakland and urban paradise. Do not

(19:03):
to spoil it, which means getting rid of the poor
and black and people of color people. Oakland can be
what it has been for a long time, an urban paradise.
It is a place where the young blonde woman crossing
the street in front of you and in front of
your car would look like a threat to the neighborhood,

(19:26):
except she's frowning over some deep issue in her inner
life and wearing outrageous vivid blue shoes. It is a
place where and you're originally from Georgia, so um, I
just wanted to know what is it about the city
that needs you that much? Well, just the spirit of

(19:46):
it and actually seeing women, especially on that morning and
evening hikes around the lake with a sense of freedom
to sit and to be with each other, um in
a calmness and uh and just taken for granted way
that you rarely see in other cities where people are
seem to be more uptight. I also wonder seeing that

(20:11):
that slowness and that beauty and just seeing women just
living and being. And you know, that's where Black Panther
Party started and where the struggle and fight it was.
It the juxtaposition kind of of that struggle that we've
all seen, just even just being a black woman and

(20:32):
being able to see them be in peace. How does
pace coexist with struggle? Struggle makes it possible for you
to have peace? I mean, I actually, you know, I'm
not always in Oakland because I love the country, but
I'm there as much as I can be. And part
of it is that if I don't see black people,
I don't feel well. So I think part of the

(20:55):
you know, the feeling that many people have is that
you actually get to see not only healthy you know,
inter racial people, but definitely you get to see some
healthy black people, you know, living real lives and having
a really good time there on the grass, which is
such a simple thing, but it's something we so much
to need to have in our lives. Just the awareness

(21:17):
that people can choose a city claim it as a
liberated space for all people to enjoy and to be
human together. I mean, we are losing spaces where people
feel that they can still be human together, a place
where you can exercise your your soul. You know that

(21:37):
you can really have a soul in a way of
thinking about soul too, that everybody can relate to is
as compassion. So the world at large, it's filled with
so much sadness and terror and anger between the various

(22:00):
forms of violence and injustice. A lot of people are
feeling hopeless and powerless in the face of it all.
So I guess my question would be what advice would
you give young activists who are looking to get involved
or make a difference or make a change. The best

(22:20):
change you make is why where you're standing? You know,
how about doing it in your house? You know, how
about doing it with your children, doing it with your parents.
The idea of making movements, you know that makes great
change out there somewhere to get it. You know, if
you can't do that where you are, if you can't

(22:41):
have peace in your environment, how can you have it anywhere?
But it's it's it's always going to be a lot.
And the best that we can offer is our own peace,
you know, bring the peace to wherever you are, and
so that that's that's how you keep going, and you
just rein yourself in, take a deep breath, and understand

(23:06):
that it's endless, this this work that we have to
do to make this world the paradise that basically it is.
This planet is paradise, this is heaven. We're already there.
We we talk about this idea of burnout among activists,

(23:27):
people who are so passionate about a course and invest
so much of themselves into it, and they get filled
with hate or anger. And I think listening to you,
one thing that that sings out loud and clear is peace,

(23:48):
an empathy, and I love. I wonder if at any
point in your career you felt that that burnout, and
if you have any advice to any activists out there
that are feeling it now, particularly now in this challenging time.
Mm hmm. This is what I recommend. Don't stay wherever

(24:08):
it is where you feel like you just absolutely can't
do anything. It's not helpful. Really. I mean, my my
husband and I we were we were the first interracial
couple legally married in Mississippi, and we were very illegal
on the books, right, So we stayed a long time,
but we stayed too long, you know, we stayed so

(24:29):
long we were just wiped out. Basically, don't do that.
When you feel like you have given all you've got,
you know, you have worked hard, you have definitely laid
everything you had at the foot of justice, you know,
PiZZ go somewhere else and do something else. And my
recommendation is that that's why hammocks were made. You should

(24:54):
just go and get a nice hammock somewhere and let
the world take care of itself for a good six
weeks or six months, because otherwise you kill that wonderful
thing that you have, that compassion, that love of everyone,
that wished that everyone have everything they need, but they
can't get it. If you're sick, you know, you're like,

(25:16):
you know, scratching around mad, you know. So I think
you should learn that that the struggle is long, it
is hard, but you don't have to be there every
minute beyond the period where you feel like you're going crazy.

(25:36):
And that's great practical advice. All right, listeners, if you're
feeling burnt out, go get a hammock. Exactly. I'm definitely
getting ever and there's no shame, I mean, and there's
no judgment, honestly, And that's why I do say that,
because I'm old enough basically to tell you this and
know that this is good medicine. It's good medicine. Take

(25:58):
care of yourself, you know, go to the beach. The
world is always going to need so much help. I
feel like I feel like what I'm hearing you say
it's put yourself first. Is that? Is that correct? Well,
that's I think that's too clepper, you know. I think
people hear that, and what they hear is that you

(26:20):
put yourself first in the hell with everybody. I'm not
saying that. I'm saying that after you have done all
that you can do and you're dragging go and repair.
It's very different. Yeah, thank you so much for your time.
You're very welcome. And yeah, dear listeners, go up by

(26:41):
a hammock, improve your surroundings. Improve exactly exactly. I mean,
it's simple, really, one candle lights a thousand, right, m hm.
We hope you enjoyed this conversation with Alice Walker. Join
us next time when Rebecca and No One sit down
with Newsweek contributor and host of This Is Revolution Podcast,

(27:01):
Pascal Robert M.