June 22, 2025 • 30 mins
Sometimes the weight of the world becomes too heavy, and we struggle to find even one thing that brings us joy. That's exactly where I found myself this week, sitting in front of my microphone for over an hour, unable to identify a single moment that made me truly happy.
This raw, unfiltered conversation explores what happens when our mental health takes a hit from the constant barrage of disturbing news and political developments. From impending international conflicts to the erosion of reproductive rights, 2025 has become a brutal landscape to navigate emotionally, and I'm not afraid to admit I'm struggling.
The case of Adriana Smith reveals the truly dystopian reality we're facing. This Black woman in Georgia was declared brain dead in February, yet her body was kept on life support against her family's wishes because she was nine weeks pregnant. The hospital essentially turned her into an incubator, citing abortion bans as justification, despite lawmakers clarifying this wouldn't constitute abortion. When medical institutions are willing to use a deceased woman's body this way, what does that tell us about the value placed on women's autonomy and humanity?
For those feeling overwhelmed by constant historical events - from 9/11 to recessions, political upheaval, pandemic, and now potentially war - you're not alone. We're an entire generation coping through humor while trying to process trauma in real-time. But sometimes we need to acknowledge our struggles instead of pretending everything's fine. Bad bitches have bad days too, as Megan so perfectly put it.
If you're feeling the heaviness of these times, I encourage you to be selfish with your energy and wellbeing. Especially for Black women who have historically been expected to sacrifice for everyone else - it's time to put ourselves first. The love and care we give to others must be directed inward because at the end of the day, the only person who will ensure you're okay is you.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Daijné (00:00):
Is this thing on?
Hello hello.
Uh oh, another yapper with amic.
Hello everyone.
Welcome back to the napkin inbetween podcast.
I am your host, Daijné Jones.
I hope everyone has been havinga good week, except for that
(00:21):
orange drink, lady, of course.
I'm not gonna hold y'all.
I've been like in such a funkall week and I like I don't know
why, but at the same time Ifeel like I do know why, like
there's just too much fuckinggoing on right now in the world
and I feel like I don't know, Ijust feel extremely weird and I
(00:43):
feel low energy.
And I don't want to say that Ifeel depressed because, like
mental health and mental healthdiagnoses are very serious and I
don't like when people throwdiagnoses and words around.
So I'm not going to say thatI'm depressed, but I just feel
very low, for whatever reason Ihave no idea, like nothing.
(01:03):
I don't want to say nothinghappened, like.
When I say nothing happened, Imean like nothing happened to me
personally, I guess.
But like, just like the weightof everything that's going on in
the world right now, I justfeel very, very like low and
it's like to the point where, asy'all know, I do like the peak
(01:24):
of the week where I talk aboutsomething that I found joy in in
the week because of the chaosof the world, and I've been
sitting here with my podcastequipment all set up and like
just sitting here for like thelast hour and a half trying to
figure out like what the peak ofmy week is, and like I'm gonna
be completely honest with youguys.
I've always been honest andthat's just before anything.
(01:47):
I want to be honest ineverything that I do, in my
content creation and just what Iput out there.
I am really struggling thisweek.
I don't know what the peak ofmy week is this week.
I don't know.
I can't pinpoint a single thingthat I've just been like oh,
that really like like put asmile on my face this week and
that like makes me a little bitsad, um, because like oh, I just
(02:09):
feel like there's so much goingon, like bitch, we're about to
go to fucking war.
Like we, I don't look good incamo, I can't, I can't go to war
.
Bitch, I don't look good incamo and I'm scared.
Iran said everyone will feel itlike girl, everyone, like like
(02:31):
me you, you mean me like, please, please, iran, can we just talk
, because I can't, I can't dothis, I can't, um.
So that's been freaking me outand then, like, I don't know,
it's just too much going on andI don't ever want to like, be
dishonest and be like, oh my god, yeah, I'm so happy this week
and this is what made me happy.
(02:52):
Like, I don't know, nothing hasmade me happy this week.
There's just too much going onand I just I'm really scared.
I don't like, I'm just reallyreally scared.
Trump is like everything that hehas said on his campaign trail
before he got into office,surprising to no one, has been a
fucking lie.
He's talking about some noworld, no new wars.
(03:15):
While he was in office, he wasgoing to be able to stop the
russia ukraine conflict within24 hours of being elected in
november, and it's not I don'teven want to say conflict like
literally, like russia justinvaded ukraine and has been
wreaking havoc there like he,but he said he was of being
elected in November, and it'snot.
I don't even want to sayconflict like literally like
Russia just invaded Ukraine andhas been wreaking havoc there
like he, but he said he wasgoing to be able to stop that.
They said they were going tofocus on only deporting
undocumented criminals.
Literally everyone and theirmother, including people who
(03:38):
were born here, have legalstatus here are being picked up,
detained and deported.
Um, what else has he like?
He's just.
He's just a fucking liar andhis lies I like they're
affecting so much, so manypeople, so many people's lives,
and it's like you're reallyabout to get us into a fucking
war civil and like world war.
(04:00):
Like he lied about um israel.
He said that america wasn'tinvolved in the surprise attack
from israel on iran.
Um israel said, yeah, no,that's a fucking lie.
Like you knew it was happeningand you, low-key, helped us.
Like I hate this man and I hate,like I just want the absolute
worst for him.
(04:21):
He's just such a fucking likenarcissist and he just needs
attention and I'm so happy thathis little fucking birthday
parade that was supposed to be amilitary, that that was not a
military parade, that was aparade for fucking trump.
Actually that's been the peakof my week the fact that it was
so shitty and the biggest thingthat happened on that day was
the no kings protest.
(04:42):
Like those were record-breakingprocess around america, which
I'm so happy about, and I'm likeseeing pictures being compared
from the military parade andthen the no kings process,
vastly different to the pointwhere they were having to try to
pay people to show up to themilitary parade.
There was like craigslist, likejob listing posted and they
(05:04):
were looking for people to comeand wear red hats we know
exactly which hat they'refucking talking about.
Um and like, essentially, belike the crowd for the military
parade and I was seeing so manypeople online, be like, oh, like
I was able to secure two spots,like I'm gonna be asleep in the
uk, or like like people weresecuring tickets and then
(05:25):
weren't, didn't have any plan toshow up, which also happened.
When was that?
I think it was 2016, when Trumpwas on the campaign trail,
there was a rally I think it wasin Tulsa, oklahoma, and so many
people on TikTok like hadsigned up to go and be in
attendance for the rally andthen, like nobody showed up.
That was why that actually waswhat kick-started his want for
(05:46):
banning tiktok, and now, all ofa sudden, he's trying to save it
.
Like he just can never stand onone single thing, because
whenever he plans something orwhenever he tries to do
something, it's like based offof how he feels about that thing
.
Do you know what I mean?
Like he was one who started thewhole talk about tiktok and it
being a threat to nationalsecurity and now, all of a
sudden, he's like oh, I, youknow, was able to reach a lot of
(06:08):
young people through TikTok andwe gained the vote through
TikTok.
So like now he wants to save it.
I hate him anyway.
I don't remember where I wasgoing with that.
Um, my thoughts are all over theplace.
I am so sorry.
This episode, ugh, I like,because there's just too much
going on.
But oh, the war.
So yeah, honestly, like I, Idon't look good in camo.
(06:30):
I, I can't.
Actually, let's start.
Who should be drafted for thiswar?
Up first, j-lo and her fans.
Y'all are wreaking havoc andy'all love to disturb peace and
I just feel like y'all need tobe front lines on the
battlefield.
That's, that's first.
Who we're gonna draft?
Number two any man who was like, oh, in the fight of a hundred
(06:54):
men versus a gorilla, the menwould win.
You need to be on thebattlefield at the front lines
for this war.
The entire cast of jersey shore, namely jenny.
I need, she needs to be on thebattlefield.
Actually, jersey shore baddies,bad girls club, like anyone who
was ever on one of those showsor applied to be on one of those
(07:15):
shows, I need y'all on thebattlefield.
Uh, trump supporters, everytrump supporter, if you voted
for trump, you need to be on thebattlefield because this war is
also you're doing so.
I need you to be on the frontlines as well.
I feel like that's a good start.
I feel like that's a decentamount of people.
So, anyone if you were in anyof the things that I mentioned,
(07:36):
strap up your boots.
We've got a mission for you.
Oh, I can't.
I really can't like bitch, notlet's about to go to war.
And it's like we're the mostunserious generation of people
to send to war.
And I feel like it's because,like especially people my age,
(07:56):
like I'm a zillennial, I'm likeI don't know what I am.
I've been told I'm a millennial.
I've been told I'm gen z.
I've been told I'm a zillennial.
I was born in 1995.
So, but whatever it was for thepeople who were born in or
around 1995, we have gonethrough so many historical
events, like when we were five,six, it was 911.
And then we had the recession,and then we had Trump's first
(08:19):
term, covid, trump's second term.
Mind you, I'm probably missingstuff in between.
Like we've been through so muchand I feel like we're all just
traumatized and we all cope withhumor.
So, like seeing people onlinetalk about this war and like I'm
seeing people like like makememes out of it, memes are like
(08:40):
the worst and best thing in theworld because like, yes, I love
memes, they make me laugh andthey're silly, but at the same
time, it's like we'redesensitizing ourselves like
bitch, this is war and we'relaughing about it.
And it's like we have to laughabout it because if we don't
laugh, we'll fucking cry.
You know what I mean.
Like, but I'm seeing so manypeople like make memes about it
(09:00):
and people are saying like, getready with me for my first world
war.
Like we take nothing serious.
We're a very unserious group ofpeople.
Us on the battlefield, we can'twe.
I don't know why I'm saying we,because I'm speaking french, I
guess because I'm not going.
I would, honestly, if they saidto me like, either go to war, go
to jail, I think I would pickjail.
They would have to catch me,though.
(09:21):
Like I'm not just gonna go toJoe voluntarily, I'm definitely
going on the run and y'all gonnahave to find me.
But um, yeah, can y'all justtalk it out?
Can y'all just talk it out?
Or Beyonce, didn't Beyonce saythat her and Jay-Z could calm a
war down?
Someone get in touch withManager Blue, get Beyonce on the
phone.
Like we need that.
We need that right now becauseit's just getting really, really
(09:42):
crazy and I just I'm sick.
I'm sick and it's really likeI've just been so low this week
because there's just too muchgoing on.
I can't like.
I really can't like.
Every time I look on my phone,it's something new, he's doing
something, he's saying something.
Like I just and we're only likesix months in bitch like I
(10:03):
can't do this for another threeand a half years.
I really can't.
I need somebody to get him outof office legally.
I'm not.
I'm not like saying anythingcrazy fbi, please don't come for
me.
I'm saying like I need congressto impeach him and get him out,
but then we have to deal withfucking vans.
Actually, the wholeadministration just needs to be
wiped out, because I'm alsoseeing a lot more people being
(10:25):
like not people, but like newsoutlets being like the election
may have not been clean, whichI've said from the very
beginning.
I I will never believe that hewon that election fair and
square, especially all sevenswing states.
There's absolutely no way.
I will never believe that hewon all the swing states and
also the popular vote, when he'snever won the popular vote.
(10:46):
In his first two elections,like with hillary clinton and
with joe biden, he never won thepopular vote.
You're telling me that afterall of that.
Now, all of a sudden he'spopular and people like him.
I'm not buying it.
Call it a jello concert ticket,because I'm not buying it.
But my question is what happensif it's shown that the election
was rigged?
Like we don't have, at least tomy knowledge, a system in place
(11:10):
on what to do if an election isactually stolen?
I feel like it's because thisis probably unprecedented and no
one ever really thought thatlike this could happen.
But like I think it happened.
But like, what do we do aboutit?
Like, does anybody do anything?
Do we just say like, doesanybody do anything?
Do we just say like, oh yeah,he cheated and then he gets to
stay in office?
Like I need someone to step inand do something If he actually,
(11:32):
if there's actual evidence thathe did not win that election,
someone should be stepping inand doing something Like what
are we waiting for?
I don't know Anyway, yeah, Idon't know.
I like what are we waiting for?
I don't know anyway.
Um, yeah, I don't know.
(11:52):
I feel like I need to do amental health check-in and just
see how everyone is doing.
Um, because, like, this weekhas just been really, really
weird for me and I just don'tever want to get on here and be
like, yeah, I've had the greatweek and this is what made me
smile, when I literally am likenothing has made me smile.
I'm not ever gonna bullshit,I'm never gonna.
This week's been rough for me,I don't know, and I feel like
this past week maybe showed methat I'm not doing as much as I
thought that I was doing to makesure that my mental health was
(12:13):
okay, because I really felt likeI was doing a good job with
managing everything, with, like,making my content.
Like I've said, like makingcontent is a creative outlet for
me and it's where I go toescape, but it is kind of I
don't want to say contradictory,but it's kind of like a
double-edged sword, because alot of my content is political
and me talking about socialissues, you know.
(12:34):
So it's like am I really evergiving myself a break?
I felt like I was, but I feellike this week maybe I'm not
doing as good as I thought I wasdoing, which I guess is like a
good thing to realize that Ineed to be doing better.
I feel like I just need tofigure out a better way to
manage everything, because I doenjoy making my content and I do
(12:54):
enjoy, you know, keeping youguys updated and making my
videos and talking about what'sgoing on in the world.
I think it's very important,but, at the same time, like I
need to make sure that my mentalhealth is okay too.
So I just need to figure out away to balance everything and
and make sure that I am actuallyokay, because I feel like this
week really showed me like maybeI'm not doing as good of a job
(13:15):
as I thought I was, um, so, yeah, we just have to figure that
out.
It's I think dealing withthings like this is a lot of
trial and error for everyone,myself included, and we just
have to figure out since itdoesn't seem like he's getting
out of office anytime soon.
We have to figure out how tobalance everything and I feel
(13:37):
like I just need to figure thatout.
So that's what I'm going to tryand focus on, I guess, and
figure out, because it'sdefinitely important to make
sure your mental health is okay.
It's definitely important tomake sure your mental health is
is okay.
And I feel like right now, likeI'm just really low and I
literally like the fact that Ican't find a single thing this
week that made me feel happy isconcerning for me, because like
(14:02):
that's a slippery slope.
I feel like and I just want tomake sure that I'm okay and
obviously I want you guys to beokay and we're all in this
together not to get all highschool musical on you.
But, um, yeah, I just I wantedto be real.
I was literally sitting herefor like an hour and a half
trying to figure out like whatit is that I felt joy in this
(14:24):
week, and the honest answer islike not much, like not not
really anything.
So I feel like j-lo probablypaid an etsy witch.
She probably did.
That's what it was.
Yeah, I blame j-lo.
She definitely she paid an etsywitch or she like made a voodoo
doll and she's like just has it.
I don't know whatever she'sdoing to it.
(14:45):
It's it's making my energyreally low.
So I just got to figure out howto bounce back, and I know that
I will.
I've done it before and I coulddo it again.
It's just like a matter of likedoing it.
You know what I mean.
So, but I just wanted to dolike a mental check-in and I
hope everyone is doing okay andjust remember to truly balance
things.
And I feel like sometimes wethink we're doing a good job and
(15:08):
then we realize, oh shit, likeI'm not doing as good of a job
as I thought I was doing, and Ifeel like I had that realization
this past week, like, yeah, Ijust need to do more.
I don't know, I don't knowexactly what that thing is, but
we're going to figure it out andwe're going to do it.
So, anyway, I just wanted tomake sure that you guys were all
okay and remember to prioritizeyour mental health, and that is
(15:31):
more important than anything.
If you need to tune out for alittle bit, do that.
If there's something that youknow really works for you, do
that.
And then there's also sometimes where things work and then
, out of nowhere, all of asudden, they don't work, and
maybe that's what is happeningwith me too, like I don't know,
I just have to figure it out.
But I didn't want to fake behappy or fake be like, yeah,
(15:51):
this is what made me smile thisweek, when I know, deep down,
like nothing really made mesuper happy this week.
I just wanted to remindeveryone that bad bitches have
bad days too, megan.
Megan said it best, so, um, butwe're gonna bounce back,
everything's gonna be okay and Ihope all of you are doing well
as well and just reallyprioritizing your mental health.
(16:14):
So please tell me the peak ofyour week.
If you had one, something thatmade you smile, kept you
grounded, kept you sane in thechaos of the world, I would
really, really really appreciateseeing those right now because,
like, uh, I feel like I'm goingthrough it and it just hasn't
been a good week.
So if something really made yousmile this week, if something
really brought you joy, pleasedo share it with me Because,
(16:36):
yeah, your girl is straight upnot having a good time.
Zero out of 10 would recommend.
So, anyway, speaking of thechaos of the world and things
just like just having too muchgoing on, I wanted to give you
guys an update on Adriana Smith,who, if you are unfamiliar with
is a black woman in Georgia whowas declared brain dead in
(16:57):
February.
So she had gone to the hospitalbecause she was having these
really bad headaches and theygave her some medicine and sent
her home.
The next morning her boyfriendwoke up to her struggling for
air.
He called an ambulance.
He was rushed to the hospitaland they found blood clots on
her brain and she was declaredbrain dead.
(17:17):
This was in February again, andsince February or up until at
this point where I'm filmingthis, a couple days ago she was
kept I don't know the aliveisn't the right word, I don't
know what the word is right now,but alive isn't the right word
but they kept her on aventilator because she was
(17:38):
pregnant and essentially usedher as an incubator to save the
child.
Because when she was declaredbrain dead in in february she
was nine weeks pregnant and theycited the abortion law in in
georgia being as though it'slike basically a total ban and
it's known as the heartbeat law.
(17:58):
If a fetus has a heartbeat, anabortion is illegal and so they
were keeping her on thisventilator to get her to a point
in her pregnancy where theycould safely take the baby out I
don't want to say delivered, Idon't feel like that's the right
word.
She did not deliver a baby.
She did not give birth Becauseshe was not alive to do any of
those things.
She was brain dead.
(18:19):
Brain dead is clinically dead.
If you are brain dead, nothinganyone does is going to bring
you back.
And a couple days ago they tookthe baby out of her.
And a couple days ago they tookthe baby out of her.
And now the baby is, I believelast I saw is in intensive care
and is alive, and they'vefinally taken her off the
ventilator and is making herfamily pay for the financial of
(18:44):
all of this.
She's been on a ventilatorsince February it's June All
while this was not her family'swishes.
They did not want to keep her ona ventilator, but the doctor
said that they didn't have achoice.
It wasn't up to the family, itwas up to them and they chose to
do that.
And I'm not gonna lie, like Iwas really kind of hoping for
the baby not to survive and itsounds really bad when you say
(19:08):
it out loud and when you firsthear it, but like, hear me out,
because I feel like this was atest.
They were.
They were trying to see if thiswould be a thing that they
could do, if they could keepsomeone on a ventilator for so
long and deliver a baby and itbe successful makes me really
(19:30):
worried for women and ourreproductive rights and our
reproductive autonomy and andour control and decisions over
our own bodies.
We are in incredibly disgusting,dystopian times.
This is literally an episode ofthe handmaid's tale.
There's literally an episode ofthe handmaid's tale where they
keep a woman on a ventilator touse her body as an incubator to
have a baby.
Like and this is happening inreal life like this is.
(19:54):
This isn't just a tv showanymore to show the the harms of
it.
This is now happening in reallife and it just makes me so
fucking disgusted because theywant to claim like, oh, pro-life
, like we just care about life.
This woman was alive and shewent to the hospital because she
was having headaches and y'alldidn't give a fuck about her
(20:16):
life.
Y'all didn't test enough, y'alldidn't do enough.
You gave her medicine, sent herhome, only for the next day her
to be waking up gasping for air, and it found that she has
blood clots on her brain andthen kept her on a ventilator,
making her an incubator and thenher son who was already born.
Her mother, her boyfriend, herfamily members have to see her
(20:37):
like this.
Do we care about their mentalhealth, their lives?
No, the whole focus was thisfetus who she was nine weeks
pregnant when she was declaredbrain dead.
Clump of cells cannot surviveon its own.
That had more of a right tolife and they cared more about
that than this poor woman, herson, her mother, her boyfriend
(21:02):
and her family.
Propaganda that I will neverfucking fall for.
Is this pro life?
You guys do not give a fuckabout people's real lives.
You don't give a fuck becausenow this baby's here and if it
continues to survive and it actsand it lives.
Now that responsibility is onthe family to raise this baby,
(21:25):
on top of the medical expensesthat have been piling up since
she's been on a ventilator forso long, on top of the medical
expenses that have been pilingup since she's been on a
ventilator for so long, on topof, now, funeral expenses
because finally she's able torest.
Like this is.
It's just, it's incrediblyunserious and it's so disgusting
and disturbing that no one inthat hospital was like yeah,
like we shouldn't be doing this,and then they did it all under
(21:47):
the guise of, oh, this totalabortion, like ban in georgia,
like we have no other choice.
Lawmakers stepped in and saidthis this would not be
considered an abortion.
She was, she was dead.
If, if I get into a caraccident and I'm pregnant and I
die and the fetus also dies,that's not an abortion.
(22:09):
And now they're like, they'retrying to stretch these laws to
like essentially, I feel likethey tried to stretch the
abortion law because they wantedto test.
I think that they did thisbecause they wanted to see if it
would work.
And now that it has worked,what does that mean for for
women in our bodies and ourfutures we are?
The reproductive rights arealready like, they're already
(22:31):
bad.
They're about to go from bad toj-lo, like it's going to get so
bad.
And it's like I like to thinklike okay, we, we've reached
hell.
Like okay, this sucks, but likewe finally reached the bottom,
so we'll just have to wait itout for the next three and a
half years.
And then they open up a fuckingvip section and they're like
just kidding, here's this lowerlevel that we're now going to
(22:51):
escort you to.
Like I'm over it, I, I'm sosick.
It's just so disgusting and Ijust I'm so worried for
especially for women in redstates who did not vote for
trump like I just can't reallygrapple with the fact that this
is an actual thing.
That actually happened.
And oh, I was, I'm not gonna lieI was hoping so much that it
(23:14):
wouldn't work.
I was hoping that, because itwas, it was up in the air that
the baby wasn't even going tosurvive because the baby had
fluid on its brain and thiswoman's body is literally
rotting because she's dead andso her body is rotting, so she's
.
She can't even fully likesupport a pregnancy, and so I
(23:36):
was.
I was hopeful that it would bean unsuccessful thing, and the
fact that it was successful likewhat does this mean for for the
future?
It really really, really scaresme and I just want everyone to
be careful and safe and keep menaway from you, if you can.
Like oh my god, I cannotimagine being pregnant right now
(23:59):
.
Pregnancy is already like alife-threatening thing and the
fact that now we have these laws, that even if you are no longer
alive, they're still gonna makeyou an incubator I can't.
I hope her family sues the fuckout of that hospital.
I want that hospital to have toshut down because they're they
(24:22):
just lose everything, becausethis is such a fucking
disgusting.
It's just so fucking disgusting.
It's like they really used theabortion ban as like a fallback
whole time like it.
It would not have beenconsidered an abortion.
She was brain dead, she wasgone.
That's not an abortion.
If if you are dead like thatcan't be considered an abortion.
(24:46):
And the fact that they use thatas like a safety net, to use
her as like a guinea pig or likea test, which is not anything
that they haven't done before.
Right Like in history, we knowthat black women have been
tested on in science and inmedicine and they're continuing
to do it now, in 2025, and usingthe abortion ban as like a
(25:07):
scapegoat or like a safety net.
The abortion ban as like ascapegoat or like a safety net.
We live in really really fuckingdisgusting times and it's so
disgusting to see it's 2025, thefact that we're even still
having these conversations, thefact that the right has been
able to make things like basichuman rights, the want for
(25:28):
people to be able to live andnot be homeless and have food
and different things like that,the fact that they have made
those things radical and they'vemade those things political is
the most disgusting and scarything ever.
Like me wanting a right to myown body and to make choices on
my own body and you're like, no,we're not going to let you do
that.
We're going to leave it up tothe states to tell you what you
(25:51):
can do.
Excuse the fuck out of me.
I beg your finest fuckingpardon.
Like, and the thing that pissesme off so much is that if roles
were reversed, if men were theones who had babies, they would
be handing out abortions at thefucking cvs for free, like they
(26:14):
would never police men the waythat they police women.
And it is this the mostdisgusting thing.
Oh, it makes me so angry everytime I think about it, because
it's just like if roles werereversed, abortions would be
like halloween candy, justpassing those bitches out.
You know what I mean.
It's just really gross and it'sreally disgusting and I and I'm
just scared.
There was a time where I was sohappy about, potentially one day
(26:37):
, being a mom.
I've've always loved kids.
I've always gravitated towardschildren and love working with
them, and so the thought ofhaving little humans who are
half me and half the man that Ilove.
Like that was such an amazingthought and something that I
always wanted.
And now it's just like I, Ithink I'm okay, I think I think
we're good.
(26:57):
Like I, I think I'm okay, Ithink I think we're good, I
think we're, we're gonna, atleast for the next three and a
half years.
Yeah, we're gonna.
We're gonna not do that becauseI just can't.
I can't, first of all, I'm I'mworried about myself and my own
rights to my own body.
But also like first, becauselike I'm worried about myself
(27:17):
and me being able to controlwhat I do and don't do with my
body, but also like bringing achild into the world right now,
in this political climate andthis economy, like zero out of
10 would not recommend and I'mnot not trying to say, you know,
people who are having kidsright now are wrong or bad.
(27:38):
This is just my personalopinion.
I feel like right now, for meto bring a child into the world
would be incredibly selfish andincredibly just not a smart idea
.
That's just me.
Again, I'm not, don't, don'tjump me y'all.
I'm not saying that's foreverybody.
For me, personally, it just isnot a good idea.
So I don't know, I just need.
(28:00):
Something has to change.
Like it's like how much isgoing to happen before something
actually changes?
We're about to go to fuckingwar, a civil and a world war.
Like women are losing whatlittle rights we have to our
bodies literally by the fuckingday.
Like I just I can't.
It's just very dishearteningand very dystopian and I'm
(28:23):
really tired of living throughthings that I know that they're
gonna talk about in the future.
Like I'm tired of livingthrough historical events like
can we just like rest for asecond?
I think we all just need to goto our own corners and just sit
and think for a second.
Like we all just need to stopinteracting with one another.
We need to just step back, cooloff and maybe come back at a
(28:44):
later time when that time is, Idon't know, but right now,
everyone just needs to go totheir own respective corners and
leave everyone else alone,because it's just too much going
on and it's so overwhelming andI just I can't.
It's just too fucking much isgoing on.
As we wrap up today's episode.
Women, especially black women,please protect yourselves.
(29:05):
Please just like be selfish.
My, my biggest want for blackwomen right now is to be selfish
.
Make everything all about youbecause, at the end of the day,
there's no safe space for blackwomen.
There is really no safe spacein life or in fucking death,
like there's just really no safespace.
And it's so frustrating andit's so disheartening and so
(29:29):
dystopian and I just just,please, protect yourself.
Do whatever you have to do.
Be selfish.
The the love and the care andthe respect and just everything
that you try to give everyoneelse.
Give that to yourself.
Focus on yourself, be selfish.
Just make sure you're okay,because, at the end of the day,
the only person who's going tomake sure that you are okay is
(29:52):
you.
So just make sure that you'regood, above everything else,
whatever that means.
Just make sure that you're good, and I say that for all women,
especially in the politicalclimate right now.
But I just really want to makesure that.
I pinpoint especially to blackwomen, because we have always
been expected to sacrificeourselves for everyone else.
We have to.
(30:13):
We need to be selfish, we needto take time for ourselves and
do what is best for us.
So please, black women, protectyourself, protect your mental
health, do whatever you got todo, but just make sure you are
putting you first.
Thank you guys for tuning in totoday's episode.
I hope everyone is having agood day except for that orange
chick lady, and I will talk toyou in the next episode.
(30:35):
Peace and love.
Talk to you later.
The napkin in between, hostedby Daijné Jones, produced by
Daijné Jones, post-production byDaijné Jones, music by Sam
Champagne and graphics by IsmaVidal.
Don't forget to like andsubscribe.
See you next episode.
Is this thing on?
Hello hello.
Uh oh, another yapper with amic.
Hello everyone.
Welcome back to the napkin inbetween podcast.
I am your host, Daijné Jones.
I hope everyone has been havinga good week, except for that
(00:21):
orange drink, lady, of course.
I'm not gonna hold y'all.
I've been like in such a funkall week and I like I don't know
why, but at the same time Ifeel like I do know why, like
there's just too much fuckinggoing on right now in the world
and I feel like I don't know, Ijust feel extremely weird and I
(00:43):
feel low energy.
And I don't want to say that Ifeel depressed because, like
mental health and mental healthdiagnoses are very serious and I
don't like when people throwdiagnoses and words around.
So I'm not going to say thatI'm depressed, but I just feel
very low, for whatever reason Ihave no idea, like nothing.
(01:03):
I don't want to say nothinghappened, like.
When I say nothing happened, Imean like nothing happened to me
personally, I guess.
But like, just like the weightof everything that's going on in
the world right now, I justfeel very, very like low and
it's like to the point where, asy'all know, I do like the peak
(01:24):
of the week where I talk aboutsomething that I found joy in in
the week because of the chaosof the world, and I've been
sitting here with my podcastequipment all set up and like
just sitting here for like thelast hour and a half trying to
figure out like what the peak ofmy week is, and like I'm gonna
be completely honest with youguys.
I've always been honest andthat's just before anything.
(01:47):
I want to be honest ineverything that I do, in my
content creation and just what Iput out there.
I am really struggling thisweek.
I don't know what the peak ofmy week is this week.
I don't know.
I can't pinpoint a single thingthat I've just been like oh,
that really like like put asmile on my face this week and
that like makes me a little bitsad, um, because like oh, I just
(02:09):
feel like there's so much goingon, like bitch, we're about to
go to fucking war.
Like we, I don't look good incamo, I can't, I can't go to war
.
Bitch, I don't look good incamo and I'm scared.
Iran said everyone will feel itlike girl, everyone, like like
(02:31):
me you, you mean me like, please, please, iran, can we just talk
, because I can't, I can't dothis, I can't, um.
So that's been freaking me outand then, like, I don't know,
it's just too much going on andI don't ever want to like, be
dishonest and be like, oh my god, yeah, I'm so happy this week
and this is what made me happy.
(02:52):
Like, I don't know, nothing hasmade me happy this week.
There's just too much going onand I just I'm really scared.
I don't like, I'm just reallyreally scared.
Trump is like everything that hehas said on his campaign trail
before he got into office,surprising to no one, has been a
fucking lie.
He's talking about some noworld, no new wars.
(03:15):
While he was in office, he wasgoing to be able to stop the
russia ukraine conflict within24 hours of being elected in
november, and it's not I don'teven want to say conflict like
literally, like russia justinvaded ukraine and has been
wreaking havoc there like he,but he said he was of being
elected in November, and it'snot.
I don't even want to sayconflict like literally like
Russia just invaded Ukraine andhas been wreaking havoc there
like he, but he said he wasgoing to be able to stop that.
They said they were going tofocus on only deporting
undocumented criminals.
Literally everyone and theirmother, including people who
(03:38):
were born here, have legalstatus here are being picked up,
detained and deported.
Um, what else has he like?
He's just.
He's just a fucking liar andhis lies I like they're
affecting so much, so manypeople, so many people's lives,
and it's like you're reallyabout to get us into a fucking
war civil and like world war.
(04:00):
Like he lied about um israel.
He said that america wasn'tinvolved in the surprise attack
from israel on iran.
Um israel said, yeah, no,that's a fucking lie.
Like you knew it was happeningand you, low-key, helped us.
Like I hate this man and I hate,like I just want the absolute
worst for him.
(04:21):
He's just such a fucking likenarcissist and he just needs
attention and I'm so happy thathis little fucking birthday
parade that was supposed to be amilitary, that that was not a
military parade, that was aparade for fucking trump.
Actually that's been the peakof my week the fact that it was
so shitty and the biggest thingthat happened on that day was
the no kings protest.
(04:42):
Like those were record-breakingprocess around america, which
I'm so happy about, and I'm likeseeing pictures being compared
from the military parade andthen the no kings process,
vastly different to the pointwhere they were having to try to
pay people to show up to themilitary parade.
There was like craigslist, likejob listing posted and they
(05:04):
were looking for people to comeand wear red hats we know
exactly which hat they'refucking talking about.
Um and like, essentially, belike the crowd for the military
parade and I was seeing so manypeople online, be like, oh, like
I was able to secure two spots,like I'm gonna be asleep in the
uk, or like like people weresecuring tickets and then
(05:25):
weren't, didn't have any plan toshow up, which also happened.
When was that?
I think it was 2016, when Trumpwas on the campaign trail,
there was a rally I think it wasin Tulsa, oklahoma, and so many
people on TikTok like hadsigned up to go and be in
attendance for the rally andthen, like nobody showed up.
That was why that actually waswhat kick-started his want for
(05:46):
banning tiktok, and now, all ofa sudden, he's trying to save it
.
Like he just can never stand onone single thing, because
whenever he plans something orwhenever he tries to do
something, it's like based offof how he feels about that thing
.
Do you know what I mean?
Like he was one who started thewhole talk about tiktok and it
being a threat to nationalsecurity and now, all of a
sudden, he's like oh, I, youknow, was able to reach a lot of
(06:08):
young people through TikTok andwe gained the vote through
TikTok.
So like now he wants to save it.
I hate him anyway.
I don't remember where I wasgoing with that.
Um, my thoughts are all over theplace.
I am so sorry.
This episode, ugh, I like,because there's just too much
going on.
But oh, the war.
So yeah, honestly, like I, Idon't look good in camo.
(06:30):
I, I can't.
Actually, let's start.
Who should be drafted for thiswar?
Up first, j-lo and her fans.
Y'all are wreaking havoc andy'all love to disturb peace and
I just feel like y'all need tobe front lines on the
battlefield.
That's, that's first.
Who we're gonna draft?
Number two any man who was like, oh, in the fight of a hundred
(06:54):
men versus a gorilla, the menwould win.
You need to be on thebattlefield at the front lines
for this war.
The entire cast of jersey shore, namely jenny.
I need, she needs to be on thebattlefield.
Actually, jersey shore baddies,bad girls club, like anyone who
was ever on one of those showsor applied to be on one of those
(07:15):
shows, I need y'all on thebattlefield.
Uh, trump supporters, everytrump supporter, if you voted
for trump, you need to be on thebattlefield because this war is
also you're doing so.
I need you to be on the frontlines as well.
I feel like that's a good start.
I feel like that's a decentamount of people.
So, anyone if you were in anyof the things that I mentioned,
(07:36):
strap up your boots.
We've got a mission for you.
Oh, I can't.
I really can't like bitch, notlet's about to go to war.
And it's like we're the mostunserious generation of people
to send to war.
And I feel like it's because,like especially people my age,
(07:56):
like I'm a zillennial, I'm likeI don't know what I am.
I've been told I'm a millennial.
I've been told I'm gen z.
I've been told I'm a zillennial.
I was born in 1995.
So, but whatever it was for thepeople who were born in or
around 1995, we have gonethrough so many historical
events, like when we were five,six, it was 911.
And then we had the recession,and then we had Trump's first
(08:19):
term, covid, trump's second term.
Mind you, I'm probably missingstuff in between.
Like we've been through so muchand I feel like we're all just
traumatized and we all cope withhumor.
So, like seeing people onlinetalk about this war and like I'm
seeing people like like makememes out of it, memes are like
(08:40):
the worst and best thing in theworld because like, yes, I love
memes, they make me laugh andthey're silly, but at the same
time, it's like we'redesensitizing ourselves like
bitch, this is war and we'relaughing about it.
And it's like we have to laughabout it because if we don't
laugh, we'll fucking cry.
You know what I mean.
Like, but I'm seeing so manypeople like make memes about it
(09:00):
and people are saying like, getready with me for my first world
war.
Like we take nothing serious.
We're a very unserious group ofpeople.
Us on the battlefield, we can'twe.
I don't know why I'm saying we,because I'm speaking french, I
guess because I'm not going.
I would, honestly, if they saidto me like, either go to war, go
to jail, I think I would pickjail.
They would have to catch me,though.
(09:21):
Like I'm not just gonna go toJoe voluntarily, I'm definitely
going on the run and y'all gonnahave to find me.
But um, yeah, can y'all justtalk it out?
Can y'all just talk it out?
Or Beyonce, didn't Beyonce saythat her and Jay-Z could calm a
war down?
Someone get in touch withManager Blue, get Beyonce on the
phone.
Like we need that.
We need that right now becauseit's just getting really, really
(09:42):
crazy and I just I'm sick.
I'm sick and it's really likeI've just been so low this week
because there's just too muchgoing on.
I can't like.
I really can't like.
Every time I look on my phone,it's something new, he's doing
something, he's saying something.
Like I just and we're only likesix months in bitch like I
(10:03):
can't do this for another threeand a half years.
I really can't.
I need somebody to get him outof office legally.
I'm not.
I'm not like saying anythingcrazy fbi, please don't come for
me.
I'm saying like I need congressto impeach him and get him out,
but then we have to deal withfucking vans.
Actually, the wholeadministration just needs to be
wiped out, because I'm alsoseeing a lot more people being
(10:25):
like not people, but like newsoutlets being like the election
may have not been clean, whichI've said from the very
beginning.
I I will never believe that hewon that election fair and
square, especially all sevenswing states.
There's absolutely no way.
I will never believe that hewon all the swing states and
also the popular vote, when he'snever won the popular vote.
(10:46):
In his first two elections,like with hillary clinton and
with joe biden, he never won thepopular vote.
You're telling me that afterall of that.
Now, all of a sudden he'spopular and people like him.
I'm not buying it.
Call it a jello concert ticket,because I'm not buying it.
But my question is what happensif it's shown that the election
was rigged?
Like we don't have, at least tomy knowledge, a system in place
(11:10):
on what to do if an election isactually stolen?
I feel like it's because thisis probably unprecedented and no
one ever really thought thatlike this could happen.
But like I think it happened.
But like, what do we do aboutit?
Like, does anybody do anything?
Do we just say like, doesanybody do anything?
Do we just say like, oh yeah,he cheated and then he gets to
stay in office?
Like I need someone to step inand do something If he actually,
(11:32):
if there's actual evidence thathe did not win that election,
someone should be stepping inand doing something Like what
are we waiting for?
I don't know Anyway, yeah, Idon't know.
I like what are we waiting for?
I don't know anyway.
Um, yeah, I don't know.
(11:52):
I feel like I need to do amental health check-in and just
see how everyone is doing.
Um, because, like, this weekhas just been really, really
weird for me and I just don'tever want to get on here and be
like, yeah, I've had the greatweek and this is what made me
smile, when I literally am likenothing has made me smile.
I'm not ever gonna bullshit,I'm never gonna.
This week's been rough for me,I don't know, and I feel like
this past week maybe showed methat I'm not doing as much as I
thought that I was doing to makesure that my mental health was
(12:13):
okay, because I really felt likeI was doing a good job with
managing everything, with, like,making my content.
Like I've said, like makingcontent is a creative outlet for
me and it's where I go toescape, but it is kind of I
don't want to say contradictory,but it's kind of like a
double-edged sword, because alot of my content is political
and me talking about socialissues, you know.
(12:34):
So it's like am I really evergiving myself a break?
I felt like I was, but I feellike this week maybe I'm not
doing as good as I thought I wasdoing, which I guess is like a
good thing to realize that Ineed to be doing better.
I feel like I just need tofigure out a better way to
manage everything, because I doenjoy making my content and I do
(12:54):
enjoy, you know, keeping youguys updated and making my
videos and talking about what'sgoing on in the world.
I think it's very important,but, at the same time, like I
need to make sure that my mentalhealth is okay too.
So I just need to figure out away to balance everything and
and make sure that I am actuallyokay, because I feel like this
week really showed me like maybeI'm not doing as good of a job
(13:15):
as I thought I was, um, so, yeah, we just have to figure that
out.
It's I think dealing withthings like this is a lot of
trial and error for everyone,myself included, and we just
have to figure out since itdoesn't seem like he's getting
out of office anytime soon.
We have to figure out how tobalance everything and I feel
(13:37):
like I just need to figure thatout.
So that's what I'm going to tryand focus on, I guess, and
figure out, because it'sdefinitely important to make
sure your mental health is okay.
It's definitely important tomake sure your mental health is
is okay.
And I feel like right now, likeI'm just really low and I
literally like the fact that Ican't find a single thing this
week that made me feel happy isconcerning for me, because like
(14:02):
that's a slippery slope.
I feel like and I just want tomake sure that I'm okay and
obviously I want you guys to beokay and we're all in this
together not to get all highschool musical on you.
But, um, yeah, I just I wantedto be real.
I was literally sitting herefor like an hour and a half
trying to figure out like whatit is that I felt joy in this
(14:24):
week, and the honest answer islike not much, like not not
really anything.
So I feel like j-lo probablypaid an etsy witch.
She probably did.
That's what it was.
Yeah, I blame j-lo.
She definitely she paid an etsywitch or she like made a voodoo
doll and she's like just has it.
I don't know whatever she'sdoing to it.
(14:45):
It's it's making my energyreally low.
So I just got to figure out howto bounce back, and I know that
I will.
I've done it before and I coulddo it again.
It's just like a matter of likedoing it.
You know what I mean.
So, but I just wanted to dolike a mental check-in and I
hope everyone is doing okay andjust remember to truly balance
things.
And I feel like sometimes wethink we're doing a good job and
(15:08):
then we realize, oh shit, likeI'm not doing as good of a job
as I thought I was doing, and Ifeel like I had that realization
this past week, like, yeah, Ijust need to do more.
I don't know, I don't knowexactly what that thing is, but
we're going to figure it out andwe're going to do it.
So, anyway, I just wanted tomake sure that you guys were all
okay and remember to prioritizeyour mental health, and that is
(15:31):
more important than anything.
If you need to tune out for alittle bit, do that.
If there's something that youknow really works for you, do
that.
And then there's also sometimes where things work and then
, out of nowhere, all of asudden, they don't work, and
maybe that's what is happeningwith me too, like I don't know,
I just have to figure it out.
But I didn't want to fake behappy or fake be like, yeah,
(15:51):
this is what made me smile thisweek, when I know, deep down,
like nothing really made mesuper happy this week.
I just wanted to remindeveryone that bad bitches have
bad days too, megan.
Megan said it best, so, um, butwe're gonna bounce back,
everything's gonna be okay and Ihope all of you are doing well
as well and just reallyprioritizing your mental health.
(16:14):
So please tell me the peak ofyour week.
If you had one, something thatmade you smile, kept you
grounded, kept you sane in thechaos of the world, I would
really, really really appreciateseeing those right now because,
like, uh, I feel like I'm goingthrough it and it just hasn't
been a good week.
So if something really made yousmile this week, if something
really brought you joy, pleasedo share it with me Because,
(16:36):
yeah, your girl is straight upnot having a good time.
Zero out of 10 would recommend.
So, anyway, speaking of thechaos of the world and things
just like just having too muchgoing on, I wanted to give you
guys an update on Adriana Smith,who, if you are unfamiliar with
is a black woman in Georgia whowas declared brain dead in
(16:57):
February.
So she had gone to the hospitalbecause she was having these
really bad headaches and theygave her some medicine and sent
her home.
The next morning her boyfriendwoke up to her struggling for
air.
He called an ambulance.
He was rushed to the hospitaland they found blood clots on
her brain and she was declaredbrain dead.
(17:17):
This was in February again, andsince February or up until at
this point where I'm filmingthis, a couple days ago she was
kept I don't know the aliveisn't the right word, I don't
know what the word is right now,but alive isn't the right word
but they kept her on aventilator because she was
(17:38):
pregnant and essentially usedher as an incubator to save the
child.
Because when she was declaredbrain dead in in february she
was nine weeks pregnant and theycited the abortion law in in
georgia being as though it'slike basically a total ban and
it's known as the heartbeat law.
(17:58):
If a fetus has a heartbeat, anabortion is illegal and so they
were keeping her on thisventilator to get her to a point
in her pregnancy where theycould safely take the baby out I
don't want to say delivered, Idon't feel like that's the right
word.
She did not deliver a baby.
She did not give birth Becauseshe was not alive to do any of
those things.
She was brain dead.
(18:19):
Brain dead is clinically dead.
If you are brain dead, nothinganyone does is going to bring
you back.
And a couple days ago they tookthe baby out of her.
And a couple days ago they tookthe baby out of her.
And now the baby is, I believelast I saw is in intensive care
and is alive, and they'vefinally taken her off the
ventilator and is making herfamily pay for the financial of
(18:44):
all of this.
She's been on a ventilatorsince February it's June All
while this was not her family'swishes.
They did not want to keep her ona ventilator, but the doctor
said that they didn't have achoice.
It wasn't up to the family, itwas up to them and they chose to
do that.
And I'm not gonna lie, like Iwas really kind of hoping for
the baby not to survive and itsounds really bad when you say
(19:08):
it out loud and when you firsthear it, but like, hear me out,
because I feel like this was atest.
They were.
They were trying to see if thiswould be a thing that they
could do, if they could keepsomeone on a ventilator for so
long and deliver a baby and itbe successful makes me really
(19:30):
worried for women and ourreproductive rights and our
reproductive autonomy and andour control and decisions over
our own bodies.
We are in incredibly disgusting,dystopian times.
This is literally an episode ofthe handmaid's tale.
There's literally an episode ofthe handmaid's tale where they
keep a woman on a ventilator touse her body as an incubator to
have a baby.
Like and this is happening inreal life like this is.
(19:54):
This isn't just a tv showanymore to show the the harms of
it.
This is now happening in reallife and it just makes me so
fucking disgusted because theywant to claim like, oh, pro-life
, like we just care about life.
This woman was alive and shewent to the hospital because she
was having headaches and y'alldidn't give a fuck about her
(20:16):
life.
Y'all didn't test enough, y'alldidn't do enough.
You gave her medicine, sent herhome, only for the next day her
to be waking up gasping for air, and it found that she has
blood clots on her brain andthen kept her on a ventilator,
making her an incubator and thenher son who was already born.
Her mother, her boyfriend, herfamily members have to see her
(20:37):
like this.
Do we care about their mentalhealth, their lives?
No, the whole focus was thisfetus who she was nine weeks
pregnant when she was declaredbrain dead.
Clump of cells cannot surviveon its own.
That had more of a right tolife and they cared more about
that than this poor woman, herson, her mother, her boyfriend
(21:02):
and her family.
Propaganda that I will neverfucking fall for.
Is this pro life?
You guys do not give a fuckabout people's real lives.
You don't give a fuck becausenow this baby's here and if it
continues to survive and it actsand it lives.
Now that responsibility is onthe family to raise this baby,
(21:25):
on top of the medical expensesthat have been piling up since
she's been on a ventilator forso long, on top of the medical
expenses that have been pilingup since she's been on a
ventilator for so long, on topof, now, funeral expenses
because finally she's able torest.
Like this is.
It's just, it's incrediblyunserious and it's so disgusting
and disturbing that no one inthat hospital was like yeah,
like we shouldn't be doing this,and then they did it all under
(21:47):
the guise of, oh, this totalabortion, like ban in georgia,
like we have no other choice.
Lawmakers stepped in and saidthis this would not be
considered an abortion.
She was, she was dead.
If, if I get into a caraccident and I'm pregnant and I
die and the fetus also dies,that's not an abortion.
(22:09):
And now they're like, they'retrying to stretch these laws to
like essentially, I feel likethey tried to stretch the
abortion law because they wantedto test.
I think that they did thisbecause they wanted to see if it
would work.
And now that it has worked,what does that mean for for
women in our bodies and ourfutures we are?
The reproductive rights arealready like, they're already
(22:31):
bad.
They're about to go from bad toj-lo, like it's going to get so
bad.
And it's like I like to thinklike okay, we, we've reached
hell.
Like okay, this sucks, but likewe finally reached the bottom,
so we'll just have to wait itout for the next three and a
half years.
And then they open up a fuckingvip section and they're like
just kidding, here's this lowerlevel that we're now going to
(22:51):
escort you to.
Like I'm over it, I, I'm sosick.
It's just so disgusting and Ijust I'm so worried for
especially for women in redstates who did not vote for
trump like I just can't reallygrapple with the fact that this
is an actual thing.
That actually happened.
And oh, I was, I'm not gonna lieI was hoping so much that it
(23:14):
wouldn't work.
I was hoping that, because itwas, it was up in the air that
the baby wasn't even going tosurvive because the baby had
fluid on its brain and thiswoman's body is literally
rotting because she's dead andso her body is rotting, so she's
.
She can't even fully likesupport a pregnancy, and so I
(23:36):
was.
I was hopeful that it would bean unsuccessful thing, and the
fact that it was successful likewhat does this mean for for the
future?
It really really, really scaresme and I just want everyone to
be careful and safe and keep menaway from you, if you can.
Like oh my god, I cannotimagine being pregnant right now
(23:59):
.
Pregnancy is already like alife-threatening thing and the
fact that now we have these laws, that even if you are no longer
alive, they're still gonna makeyou an incubator I can't.
I hope her family sues the fuckout of that hospital.
I want that hospital to have toshut down because they're they
(24:22):
just lose everything, becausethis is such a fucking
disgusting.
It's just so fucking disgusting.
It's like they really used theabortion ban as like a fallback
whole time like it.
It would not have beenconsidered an abortion.
She was brain dead, she wasgone.
That's not an abortion.
If if you are dead like thatcan't be considered an abortion.
(24:46):
And the fact that they use thatas like a safety net, to use
her as like a guinea pig or likea test, which is not anything
that they haven't done before.
Right Like in history, we knowthat black women have been
tested on in science and inmedicine and they're continuing
to do it now, in 2025, and usingthe abortion ban as like a
(25:07):
scapegoat or like a safety net.
The abortion ban as like ascapegoat or like a safety net.
We live in really really fuckingdisgusting times and it's so
disgusting to see it's 2025, thefact that we're even still
having these conversations, thefact that the right has been
able to make things like basichuman rights, the want for
(25:28):
people to be able to live andnot be homeless and have food
and different things like that,the fact that they have made
those things radical and they'vemade those things political is
the most disgusting and scarything ever.
Like me wanting a right to myown body and to make choices on
my own body and you're like, no,we're not going to let you do
that.
We're going to leave it up tothe states to tell you what you
(25:51):
can do.
Excuse the fuck out of me.
I beg your finest fuckingpardon.
Like, and the thing that pissesme off so much is that if roles
were reversed, if men were theones who had babies, they would
be handing out abortions at thefucking cvs for free, like they
(26:14):
would never police men the waythat they police women.
And it is this the mostdisgusting thing.
Oh, it makes me so angry everytime I think about it, because
it's just like if roles werereversed, abortions would be
like halloween candy, justpassing those bitches out.
You know what I mean.
It's just really gross and it'sreally disgusting and I and I'm
just scared.
There was a time where I was sohappy about, potentially one day
(26:37):
, being a mom.
I've've always loved kids.
I've always gravitated towardschildren and love working with
them, and so the thought ofhaving little humans who are
half me and half the man that Ilove.
Like that was such an amazingthought and something that I
always wanted.
And now it's just like I, Ithink I'm okay, I think I think
we're good.
(26:57):
Like I, I think I'm okay, Ithink I think we're good, I
think we're, we're gonna, atleast for the next three and a
half years.
Yeah, we're gonna.
We're gonna not do that becauseI just can't.
I can't, first of all, I'm I'mworried about myself and my own
rights to my own body.
But also like first, becauselike I'm worried about myself
(27:17):
and me being able to controlwhat I do and don't do with my
body, but also like bringing achild into the world right now,
in this political climate andthis economy, like zero out of
10 would not recommend and I'mnot not trying to say, you know,
people who are having kidsright now are wrong or bad.
(27:38):
This is just my personalopinion.
I feel like right now, for meto bring a child into the world
would be incredibly selfish andincredibly just not a smart idea
.
That's just me.
Again, I'm not, don't, don'tjump me y'all.
I'm not saying that's foreverybody.
For me, personally, it just isnot a good idea.
So I don't know, I just need.
(28:00):
Something has to change.
Like it's like how much isgoing to happen before something
actually changes?
We're about to go to fuckingwar, a civil and a world war.
Like women are losing whatlittle rights we have to our
bodies literally by the fuckingday.
Like I just I can't.
It's just very dishearteningand very dystopian and I'm
(28:23):
really tired of living throughthings that I know that they're
gonna talk about in the future.
Like I'm tired of livingthrough historical events like
can we just like rest for asecond?
I think we all just need to goto our own corners and just sit
and think for a second.
Like we all just need to stopinteracting with one another.
We need to just step back, cooloff and maybe come back at a
(28:44):
later time when that time is, Idon't know, but right now,
everyone just needs to go totheir own respective corners and
leave everyone else alone,because it's just too much going
on and it's so overwhelming andI just I can't.
It's just too fucking much isgoing on.
As we wrap up today's episode.
Women, especially black women,please protect yourselves.
(29:05):
Please just like be selfish.
My, my biggest want for blackwomen right now is to be selfish
.
Make everything all about youbecause, at the end of the day,
there's no safe space for blackwomen.
There is really no safe spacein life or in fucking death,
like there's just really no safespace.
And it's so frustrating andit's so disheartening and so
(29:29):
dystopian and I just just,please, protect yourself.
Do whatever you have to do.
Be selfish.
The the love and the care andthe respect and just everything
that you try to give everyoneelse.
Give that to yourself.
Focus on yourself, be selfish.
Just make sure you're okay,because, at the end of the day,
the only person who's going tomake sure that you are okay is
(29:52):
you.
So just make sure that you'regood, above everything else,
whatever that means.
Just make sure that you're good, and I say that for all women,
especially in the politicalclimate right now.
But I just really want to makesure that.
I pinpoint especially to blackwomen, because we have always
been expected to sacrificeourselves for everyone else.
We have to.
(30:13):
We need to be selfish, we needto take time for ourselves and
do what is best for us.
So please, black women, protectyourself, protect your mental
health, do whatever you got todo, but just make sure you are
putting you first.
Thank you guys for tuning in totoday's episode.
I hope everyone is having agood day except for that orange
chick lady, and I will talk toyou in the next episode.
(30:35):
Peace and love.
Talk to you later.
The napkin in between, hostedby Daijné Jones, produced by
Daijné Jones, post-production byDaijné Jones, music by Sam
Champagne and graphics by IsmaVidal.
Don't forget to like andsubscribe.
See you next episode.
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