June 1, 2020 • 14 mins
This episode means a lot to me. It was difficult to record but my soul was yearning so I had to heed the call.
This was not the episode I was planning to release. It was the episode I needed to release.
Thank you for listening.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Children are not born racist.
Children do not identify eachother with a color.
I know this to be true because Ilived it.
Welcome to a special edition ofno need to ask.
(00:24):
I am your host Amani Duncan.
I was born in Los Angeles,California in the year 1970 my
parents were fantastic,conscious, educated, worldly,
and both were descendants ofslaves and sharecroppers.
(00:50):
When my sister and I were quiteyoung, we moved to Oakland,
California.
My sister went to headstartwhile there and I stayed at home
with mom and my dad went to workevery day.
Then my Baba, who I refer to asmy father, he got a job at
(01:12):
Aramco, which was located inSouth Pasadena, California.
So we relocated to that area andmy dad started working at the
company as an electricalengineer.
Now South Pasadena is quiteinteresting.
I actually love the town.
(01:33):
It's small, it's charming, butwhen we moved there, we quickly
found out that in the area ofSouth Pasadena, a beautiful tree
lined street, we lived onFremont lane to be exact.
We were the only AfricanAmerican family in all of South
(01:55):
Pasadena.
My mother was quite alarmed whenshe found out, but my dad calmed
her down and we stayed there.
I went to kindergarten, firstand second grade, and so did my
(02:16):
sister and the school wasLincoln elementary school and we
were the only children of colorin the entire school.
We made tons of friends.
We had the best childhood, we,we didn't want for anything.
It was just magical.
My mom was a stay at home momand she was in charge of our
(02:38):
Bluebird group and she was ourhomeroom monitor mother.
It was just amazing and weplayed with all the kids in the
neighborhood and life was lifewas nice.
And then we moved to Los Angelesproper.
(02:58):
My dad still worked at Aramco inSouth Pasadena, so he commuted
every day.
And the school that my mom anddad enrolled, my sister and I in
was third street elementaryschool in the Hancock park area
of California.
And I remember I was in thethird grade when I first entered
the school.
My sister was in the fourthgrade and my third grade teacher
(03:25):
was an African American woman.
I mean other than my mom and mygrandma and my cousins I did
wasn't really around a lot ofAfrican American kids in my
formative years.
And so I was over the moon, Mrs.
Wilson, I will never forget her.
(03:46):
She was just glorious.
I thought she was besides mymom, the prettiest, prettiest
lady I ever saw.
And so when my mother picked meup that afternoon from school, I
was just elated and my mom wasso happy and so she proceeded to
ask a bunch of questions as wedrove home and I couldn't
(04:08):
explain to her what my teacherlooked like in the way that she
wanted me to explain it.
I told her she was tall and Iexplained what she had on that
day and how she wore her hair.
And you know, that was the way Iexplained there, described
(04:28):
people.
And my mother kept pressing andpressing and pressing me.
And I finally pointed to my handand I said, she looks like me.
She looks like me.
And my mother told me this storymany, many years ago when I was
older.
And it just demonstrated that I,I didn't see people as a color.
(04:52):
You were either a boy or a girlor a man or a woman.
And then reality set in.
As I started getting older, Ilearned very quickly that people
do identify each other by acolor, you're black or white or
Brown.
(05:13):
And it was so jarring to mebecause I had to quickly learn
this because I was being bulliedby kids of color and white kids.
So it was a really challengingtime in my life, but we made it
through because children areresilient.
(05:34):
And you know, I learned a lot ofhard lessons along the way.
My dad would go to work everyday in a three piece suit, white
shirt, tie, three piece suitevery single day.
And he looked like a Prince tome.
I loved the way he dressed.
(05:56):
I loved way he spoke.
I loved the way he carriedhimself.
I want it to be exactly like himas a professional for myself.
Um, I got a deeper appreciationof the things my father must
(06:18):
have gone through.
He never, ever, ever spoke ofhis challenges.
In the workplace as an AfricanAmerican man, as an electrical
engineer.
He never came home and talkedabout it, but as I got older, he
would say certain things like herecounted a story that happened
(06:45):
in um, Mississippi.
Uh, while he was working forAramco.
He was the project lead and theyhad to travel.
Him and his team had to travelto Mississippi, uh, for a
project and when they were metat the airport by an escort and
(07:05):
taken to the, to the hotel inthe town, my father was denied a
hotel room.
His team members who were allwhite, they were told they could
stay here, but my father had tostay somewhere else.
And this was probably in the1980s.
(07:29):
So as a professional myself whohas been the first African
American woman in almost all ofthe positions that I've held, I
began to have this tremendousappreciation for what my father
must've gone through.
I have been called derogatorynames at various companies I've
(07:57):
worked at, always allowedwhisper and behind my back.
But I would always hear it.
I kept looking straight when Iwould see people stare at me or
look at me in a mean way, but Ikept pushing on because I knew I
(08:25):
needed to be there.
I deserved the right to hold thepositions that I held and I
wasn't going to be scared off.
The past week has been reallyhard,
Speaker 2 (08:44):
really, really hard.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I'm scared not only for myself, but for every person
of we're all scared and whenpeople get scared and they feel
defenseless, they become angry.
I live in a upper middle classneighborhood and I was driving
(09:14):
down the street the other dayand I passed a police car and my
grip on my steering wheel got alot tighter.
I clench my teeth and it felt aknot in my stomach.
(09:38):
I was scared and the reason whyI was scared was what happened
to George Floyd.
What happened to Ahmed and thecountless others could happen to
me.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
[inaudible]
Speaker 1 (09:55):
when these incidents happen, they're not concerned.
If you're educated, they're notconcerned.
If you're well off financially,all they see is the color of my
skin and so and so.
Therefore we're all a potentialvictim.
(10:21):
I remember walking recently inmy neighborhood and I saw a
young African American boy on abike and he passed me and we
greeted each other and I foundmyself saying maybe a little too
strongly to be careful out hereto please be safe.
(10:51):
I feel like we're living in amad, mad world
Speaker 2 (10:56):
[inaudible]
Speaker 1 (10:56):
but I also know I've done it.
This is new
Speaker 2 (11:03):
[inaudible]
Speaker 1 (11:04):
the only difference is that now it's being video
taped.
This type of behavior has goneon for hundreds of years.
What happened in central parkhas happened so many times
(11:24):
before.
What happened to George Floydhas happened so many times
before.
My heart is heavy, but I decidedI'm not going to be a victim.
(11:52):
My if you are white, we needyour help.
We need to band together in thename of humanity.
I know it must be hard, but tryto imagine if George Floyd was
(12:15):
your son or your husband.
If Ahmed was your uncle,brother, husband, or son, and I
know, I know this is hard foryou to understand or believe
(12:36):
that this could even be yourreality because it's not, I
believe in humanity.
Therefore, I believe that alllives matter, but right now,
black lives are under siege andwe need to band together in the
(13:00):
name of humanity
Speaker 2 (13:02):
to make a change.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
My brothers and sisters who are people of color,
we have to, we have to use ourvoice in a nonviolent way.
We have to get out and voteevery election, local and
(13:28):
national.
I know it may seem dauntingbecause you go out and vote and
you try to make your voiceheard, but yet you feel like
nothing's changing.
(13:49):
But it will change if we stayUnited and use the power of our
voices and our actions to bringabout the change we seek.
This was not the episode I wasplanning to post today, but it
(14:14):
is the episode that I needed topost.
Thank you for listening.
Children are not born racist.
Children do not identify eachother with a color.
I know this to be true because Ilived it.
Welcome to a special edition ofno need to ask.
(00:24):
I am your host Amani Duncan.
I was born in Los Angeles,California in the year 1970 my
parents were fantastic,conscious, educated, worldly,
and both were descendants ofslaves and sharecroppers.
(00:50):
When my sister and I were quiteyoung, we moved to Oakland,
California.
My sister went to headstartwhile there and I stayed at home
with mom and my dad went to workevery day.
Then my Baba, who I refer to asmy father, he got a job at
(01:12):
Aramco, which was located inSouth Pasadena, California.
So we relocated to that area andmy dad started working at the
company as an electricalengineer.
Now South Pasadena is quiteinteresting.
I actually love the town.
(01:33):
It's small, it's charming, butwhen we moved there, we quickly
found out that in the area ofSouth Pasadena, a beautiful tree
lined street, we lived onFremont lane to be exact.
We were the only AfricanAmerican family in all of South
(01:55):
Pasadena.
My mother was quite alarmed whenshe found out, but my dad calmed
her down and we stayed there.
I went to kindergarten, firstand second grade, and so did my
(02:16):
sister and the school wasLincoln elementary school and we
were the only children of colorin the entire school.
We made tons of friends.
We had the best childhood, we,we didn't want for anything.
It was just magical.
My mom was a stay at home momand she was in charge of our
(02:38):
Bluebird group and she was ourhomeroom monitor mother.
It was just amazing and weplayed with all the kids in the
neighborhood and life was lifewas nice.
And then we moved to Los Angelesproper.
(02:58):
My dad still worked at Aramco inSouth Pasadena, so he commuted
every day.
And the school that my mom anddad enrolled, my sister and I in
was third street elementaryschool in the Hancock park area
of California.
And I remember I was in thethird grade when I first entered
the school.
My sister was in the fourthgrade and my third grade teacher
(03:25):
was an African American woman.
I mean other than my mom and mygrandma and my cousins I did
wasn't really around a lot ofAfrican American kids in my
formative years.
And so I was over the moon, Mrs.
Wilson, I will never forget her.
(03:46):
She was just glorious.
I thought she was besides mymom, the prettiest, prettiest
lady I ever saw.
And so when my mother picked meup that afternoon from school, I
was just elated and my mom wasso happy and so she proceeded to
ask a bunch of questions as wedrove home and I couldn't
(04:08):
explain to her what my teacherlooked like in the way that she
wanted me to explain it.
I told her she was tall and Iexplained what she had on that
day and how she wore her hair.
And you know, that was the way Iexplained there, described
(04:28):
people.
And my mother kept pressing andpressing and pressing me.
And I finally pointed to my handand I said, she looks like me.
She looks like me.
And my mother told me this storymany, many years ago when I was
older.
And it just demonstrated that I,I didn't see people as a color.
(04:52):
You were either a boy or a girlor a man or a woman.
And then reality set in.
As I started getting older, Ilearned very quickly that people
do identify each other by acolor, you're black or white or
Brown.
(05:13):
And it was so jarring to mebecause I had to quickly learn
this because I was being bulliedby kids of color and white kids.
So it was a really challengingtime in my life, but we made it
through because children areresilient.
(05:34):
And you know, I learned a lot ofhard lessons along the way.
My dad would go to work everyday in a three piece suit, white
shirt, tie, three piece suitevery single day.
And he looked like a Prince tome.
I loved the way he dressed.
(05:56):
I loved way he spoke.
I loved the way he carriedhimself.
I want it to be exactly like himas a professional for myself.
Um, I got a deeper appreciationof the things my father must
(06:18):
have gone through.
He never, ever, ever spoke ofhis challenges.
In the workplace as an AfricanAmerican man, as an electrical
engineer.
He never came home and talkedabout it, but as I got older, he
would say certain things like herecounted a story that happened
(06:45):
in um, Mississippi.
Uh, while he was working forAramco.
He was the project lead and theyhad to travel.
Him and his team had to travelto Mississippi, uh, for a
project and when they were metat the airport by an escort and
(07:05):
taken to the, to the hotel inthe town, my father was denied a
hotel room.
His team members who were allwhite, they were told they could
stay here, but my father had tostay somewhere else.
And this was probably in the1980s.
(07:29):
So as a professional myself whohas been the first African
American woman in almost all ofthe positions that I've held, I
began to have this tremendousappreciation for what my father
must've gone through.
I have been called derogatorynames at various companies I've
(07:57):
worked at, always allowedwhisper and behind my back.
But I would always hear it.
I kept looking straight when Iwould see people stare at me or
look at me in a mean way, but Ikept pushing on because I knew I
(08:25):
needed to be there.
I deserved the right to hold thepositions that I held and I
wasn't going to be scared off.
The past week has been reallyhard,
Speaker 2 (08:44):
really, really hard.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I'm scared not only for myself, but for every person
of we're all scared and whenpeople get scared and they feel
defenseless, they become angry.
I live in a upper middle classneighborhood and I was driving
(09:14):
down the street the other dayand I passed a police car and my
grip on my steering wheel got alot tighter.
I clench my teeth and it felt aknot in my stomach.
(09:38):
I was scared and the reason whyI was scared was what happened
to George Floyd.
What happened to Ahmed and thecountless others could happen to
me.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
[inaudible]
Speaker 1 (09:55):
when these incidents happen, they're not concerned.
If you're educated, they're notconcerned.
If you're well off financially,all they see is the color of my
skin and so and so.
Therefore we're all a potentialvictim.
(10:21):
I remember walking recently inmy neighborhood and I saw a
young African American boy on abike and he passed me and we
greeted each other and I foundmyself saying maybe a little too
strongly to be careful out hereto please be safe.
(10:51):
I feel like we're living in amad, mad world
Speaker 2 (10:56):
[inaudible]
Speaker 1 (10:56):
but I also know I've done it.
This is new
Speaker 2 (11:03):
[inaudible]
Speaker 1 (11:04):
the only difference is that now it's being video
taped.
This type of behavior has goneon for hundreds of years.
What happened in central parkhas happened so many times
(11:24):
before.
What happened to George Floydhas happened so many times
before.
My heart is heavy, but I decidedI'm not going to be a victim.
(11:52):
My if you are white, we needyour help.
We need to band together in thename of humanity.
I know it must be hard, but tryto imagine if George Floyd was
(12:15):
your son or your husband.
If Ahmed was your uncle,brother, husband, or son, and I
know, I know this is hard foryou to understand or believe
(12:36):
that this could even be yourreality because it's not, I
believe in humanity.
Therefore, I believe that alllives matter, but right now,
black lives are under siege andwe need to band together in the
(13:00):
name of humanity
Speaker 2 (13:02):
to make a change.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
My brothers and sisters who are people of color,
we have to, we have to use ourvoice in a nonviolent way.
We have to get out and voteevery election, local and
(13:28):
national.
I know it may seem dauntingbecause you go out and vote and
you try to make your voiceheard, but yet you feel like
nothing's changing.
(13:49):
But it will change if we stayUnited and use the power of our
voices and our actions to bringabout the change we seek.
This was not the episode I wasplanning to post today, but it
(14:14):
is the episode that I needed topost.
Thank you for listening.
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