January 26, 2025 • 15 mins
Pod Crashing episode 359 with Akilah Hughes from the podcast Rebel Spirit. Rebel Spirit is a brand new podcast series from Akilah Hughes (Crooked Media's "What a Day") about her return to her small town of Florence, Kentucky with a mission to change her high school's mascot from a Confederate General into a Biscuit. The show features moving interviews with everyone from the artist behind "Gritty," The Philadelphia Flyers' viral mascot, to principals at schools across the nation who have made this change. In speaking to people at every inflection point of the issue of problematic mascots, Rebel Spirit endeavors to make the process of correcting historic wrongs less of a bummer. Episodes available here: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-rebel-spirit-186856705
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, thanks for being a part of the conversation. Let's
(00:02):
do some pod crashing. Episode number three fifty nine is
with a Kayla Hughes from the podcast Rebel Spirit.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I'm great, how are you well.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I'm very excited to share a conversation with you because
I love your podcast. I love your ambition. I love
how you get into the mindsets of what really goes
on on these these school campuses and things. I mean,
there are many times I wanted, you know, to be
an activator just like you, and it's like, why did
I do it?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Well, you know, it's never too late to start, and
even just by helping lift this show I think you're
doing You're doing a great job.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
The idea of going out there to change something in
your in your past, I mean to me because I'm
one of those people that you know, demands to live
in the present, but you went back there to change
the past so that the present and the future can
be different. Absolutely, that takes guts. Thanks Where where did
(00:59):
you find the open door to step through it to
be able to do this? Because I've heard the reactions
from people because oh my god, you're you're messing around
with the rebel bah blah blah, and it's saying, oh,
shut up.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah, I mean, that's the thing, you know, I think
like when I went to Boone County High School in Kentucky,
we were the rebels and I graduated in two thousand
and five, and the school looked a lot different than
it does today. You know, we had twelve hundred students.
There were thirty six black kids. So you can imagine
we were very aware of the fact that there were
(01:31):
not a lot of us and that more people supported
this Confederate General mascot than we did, so we better
just put our heads down and get through it. And
you know, there are so many levels to that. Sorry,
this is my little dog in the background.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
That's okay.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
There's so many levels too, I guess that experience. And
you know, we went back, Me and my producers for
Rebel Spirit went back to Kentucky, and my high school
is much more diverse now. You know, it's a school
that is nearly fifty percent non white and represents a
lot of international students. And so it felt like, frankly,
(02:07):
you know, we can't really change the past, but these
kids can have a better future. They can have something
that they can be excited about and mister Rebel was
never that for us, so that was really sort of
I guess the inspiration was trying to make something better
for the people who come from the future, and not
so much shaming people about the past, because when you
(02:27):
know better, you can do better, and the goal of
this podcast is to help people know better. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
I love the idea that you wanted to call it
the biscuit because we are the home of Bojangles and
it's like we called the Coliseum the Biscuit because they
sponsor it. And I mean so when I heard CID,
oh my god, I mean it was like, yes, call
it the Biscuits.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I love it. I mean it was funny. In the
process of this, we found out that in Montgomery, Alabama,
there's a minor league baseball team called the Montgomery Biscuits.
They used to be the Rebels and they do really
well on merch sales. People love the biscuit, so it's
not a bad idea, but I will say people have
been a little reluctant to embrace it. Even people who
(03:07):
agree to change the mascot are like, well, it could
be something else.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Building a team of allies. Where did you find that
connection with people, because I mean, it could not have
been an easy thing for you to do.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yeah, I mean that's a great question. You know, we
started at the library. You know, historians understand the importance
of telling the truth. And I think that once you
get to a place of telling the truth, you find
a lot of allies. So that was a really special
way to find people who got it. I also think,
you know, a lot of these people who hold on
(03:40):
a Confederate relics, who are you know, just really married
to this fantasy of the South and what it was.
They have black grandkids now. Frankly, so it's like I
think that, like it's harder and harder to defend that ideology.
It just really is the country's diversifying, whether people like
(04:00):
it or not, you know, And I really don't think
that we're ever going to be a country that is,
you know, ninety percent white again. It doesn't it doesn't
make sense. And so I think that because of that,
you find even people who I grew up with who
didn't agree with me and you know, would have fought
me on this in high school, are now like, yeah,
I get it, Like it's actually this is the last
(04:22):
till we need to die on is a school mascot
that offends the kids who go there.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
You know, do you ever find yourself in a position
of just can we just stand back and watch what's
really going on here? And then when we do identify
what's wrong, can we just talk about it? And I
think that's what this is all about. You're just saying,
can we just talk about this?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Right? I mean, I'll tell you it was wild Arrow
when they announced the show. So it was in the
Cincinnati Inquirer when it first came out, and they did
this big profile. There was a huge backlash on Facebook
before people had even heard it. And what's so funny
is that, like having heard the podcasts, the tenor of
the conversations online have absolutely changed. People have Yeah, I mean,
(05:08):
it's hard to deny the effect of a mascot that
doesn't represent the kids, of upholding things, of telling lies
to maintain the mascot. And so that's why I really
was drawn to it. I mean, I'm sure you understand
you do radio right, Having a conversation is the easiest
way to remember that we're all just people that you know,
(05:30):
It isn't platitudes and some acts to grind We're just
people and we just want to have, you know, an
equal shot. And so I think that that's been really positive.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Yeah, but when you put the word out there like
you're doing, I mean, don't you ever sit there and
think I could become one of those members of the
woke family. In other words, say they could shut me off,
turn me off, and ignore me. But it's like, but
I've got to continue going on no matter what. It's
almost like we are the new folk singers of the
fifties and sixties because we're using our voices to put
(06:02):
the word out there.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Yeah. Absolutely, And I mean one thing I'll say, er,
when you're a black woman, they put you in that
category no matter what. Like if I didn't want to
be this woke person, you know, their words a word
that they can't they struggle to define. But if they
really see me as that, it's like, you know, I
think if I was even just if I showed up
(06:24):
as myself, they would want me to prove that I wasn't.
I think woke is just another excuse to sort of
segregate us, to you know, to denigrate the voices of
people of colored, of gay people, to try to just
sort of marginalize us. But the reality is we're here,
the culture has changed, We're all moving forward. If you
want to stay in the past, you are welcome to,
(06:45):
but we don't want to leave you behind. This is
an offer to make something better for all of us.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
I love where culture is going, though, But the thing
about it is not everybody can be a student like
you and I I mean, I mean, I work at
a grocery store because I want to be with real people.
I want to be with community. I don't want to
be with just one say to people.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Right absolutely. I mean, we're only on earth for such
a short time. I think that, you know, if we're
not taking advantage of all of the ways that we
can connect and learn from each other, then we're really
wasting our time, you know, and especially if we're wedded
to these traditions.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
You know.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
I read a great quote the other day, and I
wish I could attribute it, but basically they said, you know,
it's more important to make your kids proud than it
is to make your parents proud. I get it, and
that's really I think that I don't have kids, but
I think that that's a really good way of looking
at it. Is you know, the next generation needs to
have something better. We don't need to keep honoring stuff
(07:40):
that doesn't serve us anymore. And I think that, you know,
that's really the heart and soul of this podcast is
how do we get to a future where everyone feels
good and included? And why is that such a bad thing?
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Yeah, my parents would have rolled their eyes at the
things that I do these days, whereas my grandchildren are going,
oh god, let's do something. I mean, seriously, when it
comes to really putting focus on a mascot, my granddaughter
was going, really, can we do this kind of stuff
that she's doing?
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yes, Mia, we can do this absolutely. And I mean
I know that you're based in North Carolina. There are
more rebels schools that have you know, changed their mascot
the ones that still exist there. So it's happening, you know,
and I think that it's really inspiring. I mean, the
next generation is truly such an inspiration for this. Having
(08:25):
conversations with current students who are really just like, have
no relationship to the rebel, don't get it, and the
school's already done away with the physical mascot, so there's
an awareness that it's wrong. The last thing to go
is always the name, and so we're really just pushing
them on that. I think the kids deserve to have
a physical mascot that makes them excited to go to games,
(08:47):
and right now they're kind of just being offered racism
or nothing.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Don't you think though, that the cities and counties are
changing the way such as the rebels by saying, Okay,
we're going to close that school down and build a
new one and they're going to have a mascot. It's
almost like they're spending millions of dollars to get rid
of something that you could have just taken off the map.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
I mean absolutely. And you know that same school district
I'm from in Boone County, Kentucky, they do have a
new high school. Well was new when I was in school,
so twenty years ago, but relatively new compared to the others.
And you know, it was an overflow school. And now
I think the population has grown enough. But they didn't
choose rebels, you know what I mean? Like, I think
(09:27):
that there are no new schools being built with rebels,
So that should tell us that, like this is something
that is changing that people do not want to be
associated with that it's just not worth the drama, you know,
to put in really blunt terms, it's not worth the baggage.
And so I think it's just about having the honest
conversation about that and then hopefully people leaders, you know,
(09:49):
in the district, making that correct choice.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
How do you deal with someone like Karen Bird who
says that the image was removed a long time ago.
I mean, it's just a name. It's like who no, no, no,
do your history more more than just a name?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I mean, that's it, you know. I think the podcast
does a great job of telling the full story and
it really spans generations. But what I also would say
is if a mascot doesn't matter, like I think you
have to reframe that thinking because it's what the kids
literally cheer for, you know, like it matters when you
(10:21):
think about your high school experience. What was your mascot
in high school?
Speaker 1 (10:24):
We were the Senior High Bronx up in Montana. It
was always about the animals. All of course we're Montana's.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah, I mean, there you go. And it's like it's
something you can have pride, and it's something you really
can identify with. It's something you can learn about you know,
and I think there is sort of this concerted effort
to keep people small and uneducated and defensive, when the
fact is, like you, if you work at a school district,
your job should be to make these kids think as
(10:52):
much as possible, to have them interrogate why we believe
things where we came from. And I think that it's,
you know, Frankly's just representative of the sort of backwards
thinking of an older generation that's sort of refusing to
let go of what they saw as this golden era
that we now know really Wasn't you.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Even put focus on the Philadelphia Flyers Gritty And you know,
I didn't think of Gritty as being a demon until
you brought it up.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Well, he just looks like what, you know, he's a
little bit scary. But and people, you know, we spoke,
We had a great conversation with the illustrator who drew
Gritty initially and sort of brought that mascot to life,
and people forget that people hated Gritty. The first day
he thought his career was over, he was like, you know,
(11:39):
John Oliver was making jokes about how he must be
deranged to draw something like this, And then twenty four
hours later, everyone loved it, and now it's the most
popular mascot in professional sports in the world, and so
it is amazing and it's changed the perception of Philly.
I mean, maybe it's just doubled down on the perception
of Philly, which is like, can't be governed out of
(12:01):
control sports fins, but it's you know, it's definitely put them.
I would say there, they're hockey team on the map
in a way that it never had. And so I
think that seeing mascots as an opportunity is really exciting.
And my hometown, you know, Florence, Kentucky, we had a
minor league baseball team, the Florence Freedom. They were fine.
Freedom is not offensive, but it doesn't necessarily mean the
(12:23):
same thing to everybody, and it's kind of you know,
it's America, so it's a little cliche. They change that
team name to the y'alls because we have a water
tower that says Florence y'all. So they're the Florence y'alls.
And their mergerg is flying off the shelves. Way more
people go to the games. It's an international brand now
and I think that that is what's possible when you
have a great mascot is that it can bring people together. Like,
(12:47):
why would you want a mascot that divides people? It
doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Did you say y'alls is because in the summer, y'all
come back.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Yeah, I mean yeah, So that is one hundred percent.
And you should check out the Florence y'all's website. They
have beautiful merds. I mean it rules.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
That is so community. I mean, that is so southern.
I mean I mean that I thought that's what a
mascot was supposed to represent. I mean, the Carolina Panthers
are the parent Panthers because we have panthers here, the Carolinas.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
There you go, and it's like it's so it's amazing
how simple the reason can be. It's like we talked
to Kalais Campbell, right, he's he plays for the Miami Dolphins.
He's like sort of a veteran player at this point,
but he's amazing. He went to a school in Denver
that was the they were the rebels, and because of
his status in the NFL and because of a principle
(13:38):
that really cared. Now they are the Ravens because there
are Ravens in Denver. It is that simple, and there's
plenty to be proud of in Kentucky that has nothing.
I mean, Kentucky wasn't even in the Confederacy. Let's let's
be real.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Okay, you make that very clear. Yeah, you make that
very clear in the podcast. I mean you you set
us up so well in telling the story that when
you get to the story, you're going to Okay, I'm educated,
I'm ready to go. She set me.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Up, Yes, exactly. I mean I think people once you
understand the history, it's very hard not to look to
the future and be hopeful. And so I'm so proud
of this podcast. It is, you know, getting a lot
of critical acclaim, which I appreciate, but it's also really
connecting with people across the world. You know, I have
people who live in London who have reached out to
(14:25):
me and are like, I didn't even know that rebels
meant that for the US, and it's obviously something different here,
and you know, they don't teach about the Revolutionary Warningland,
so they have their own issues. But I do think
that it is it's an interesting tale. It's definitely a romp.
It's almost like a true crime story. And how we
report it out and so I think if you just
(14:48):
want riveting storytelling, Rebel Spirit is for you.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Where can people go to reach out to you? Because
there's got to be schools that are going to need
your leadership and your skills because you're playing the game
already they have not even started.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah, I mean, we are available and happy to share resources.
Rebel Spirit Podcasts at gmail dot com. You can reach
out anytime. We get tons of amazing emails. And i'd
also say, you know, I'm on all the socials and
if you follow the podcast, it's available on iHeart, it's
available on Spotify, it's available you know wherever you get
(15:22):
your podcasts. It's on YouTube.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Now.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
We have all of that contact information, So if you
can't remember, if you're driving, or however you're around right
now and can't remember, Rebel Spirit podcast at gmail dot com,
you'll be able to find it if you look up
the podcast.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
I got to give you a compliment. You have a
beautiful voice. You ever thought about doing a podcast?
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Era? You got me? Thank you so much?
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Will you'd be brilliant today?
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Okay, thank you so much, you too,
Hey, thanks for being a part of the conversation. Let's
(00:02):
do some pod crashing. Episode number three fifty nine is
with a Kayla Hughes from the podcast Rebel Spirit.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I'm great, how are you well.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I'm very excited to share a conversation with you because
I love your podcast. I love your ambition. I love
how you get into the mindsets of what really goes
on on these these school campuses and things. I mean,
there are many times I wanted, you know, to be
an activator just like you, and it's like, why did
I do it?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Well, you know, it's never too late to start, and
even just by helping lift this show I think you're
doing You're doing a great job.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
The idea of going out there to change something in
your in your past, I mean to me because I'm
one of those people that you know, demands to live
in the present, but you went back there to change
the past so that the present and the future can
be different. Absolutely, that takes guts. Thanks Where where did
(00:59):
you find the open door to step through it to
be able to do this? Because I've heard the reactions
from people because oh my god, you're you're messing around
with the rebel bah blah blah, and it's saying, oh,
shut up.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah, I mean, that's the thing, you know, I think
like when I went to Boone County High School in Kentucky,
we were the rebels and I graduated in two thousand
and five, and the school looked a lot different than
it does today. You know, we had twelve hundred students.
There were thirty six black kids. So you can imagine
we were very aware of the fact that there were
(01:31):
not a lot of us and that more people supported
this Confederate General mascot than we did, so we better
just put our heads down and get through it. And
you know, there are so many levels to that. Sorry,
this is my little dog in the background.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
That's okay.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
There's so many levels too, I guess that experience. And
you know, we went back, Me and my producers for
Rebel Spirit went back to Kentucky, and my high school
is much more diverse now. You know, it's a school
that is nearly fifty percent non white and represents a
lot of international students. And so it felt like, frankly,
(02:07):
you know, we can't really change the past, but these
kids can have a better future. They can have something
that they can be excited about and mister Rebel was
never that for us, so that was really sort of
I guess the inspiration was trying to make something better
for the people who come from the future, and not
so much shaming people about the past, because when you
(02:27):
know better, you can do better, and the goal of
this podcast is to help people know better. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
I love the idea that you wanted to call it
the biscuit because we are the home of Bojangles and
it's like we called the Coliseum the Biscuit because they
sponsor it. And I mean so when I heard CID,
oh my god, I mean it was like, yes, call
it the Biscuits.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I love it. I mean it was funny. In the
process of this, we found out that in Montgomery, Alabama,
there's a minor league baseball team called the Montgomery Biscuits.
They used to be the Rebels and they do really
well on merch sales. People love the biscuit, so it's
not a bad idea, but I will say people have
been a little reluctant to embrace it. Even people who
(03:07):
agree to change the mascot are like, well, it could
be something else.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Building a team of allies. Where did you find that
connection with people, because I mean, it could not have
been an easy thing for you to do.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yeah, I mean that's a great question. You know, we
started at the library. You know, historians understand the importance
of telling the truth. And I think that once you
get to a place of telling the truth, you find
a lot of allies. So that was a really special
way to find people who got it. I also think,
you know, a lot of these people who hold on
(03:40):
a Confederate relics, who are you know, just really married
to this fantasy of the South and what it was.
They have black grandkids now. Frankly, so it's like I
think that, like it's harder and harder to defend that ideology.
It just really is the country's diversifying, whether people like
(04:00):
it or not, you know, And I really don't think
that we're ever going to be a country that is,
you know, ninety percent white again. It doesn't it doesn't
make sense. And so I think that because of that,
you find even people who I grew up with who
didn't agree with me and you know, would have fought
me on this in high school, are now like, yeah,
I get it, Like it's actually this is the last
(04:22):
till we need to die on is a school mascot
that offends the kids who go there.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
You know, do you ever find yourself in a position
of just can we just stand back and watch what's
really going on here? And then when we do identify
what's wrong, can we just talk about it? And I
think that's what this is all about. You're just saying,
can we just talk about this?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Right? I mean, I'll tell you it was wild Arrow
when they announced the show. So it was in the
Cincinnati Inquirer when it first came out, and they did
this big profile. There was a huge backlash on Facebook
before people had even heard it. And what's so funny
is that, like having heard the podcasts, the tenor of
the conversations online have absolutely changed. People have Yeah, I mean,
(05:08):
it's hard to deny the effect of a mascot that
doesn't represent the kids, of upholding things, of telling lies
to maintain the mascot. And so that's why I really
was drawn to it. I mean, I'm sure you understand
you do radio right, Having a conversation is the easiest
way to remember that we're all just people that you know,
(05:30):
It isn't platitudes and some acts to grind We're just
people and we just want to have, you know, an
equal shot. And so I think that that's been really positive.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Yeah, but when you put the word out there like
you're doing, I mean, don't you ever sit there and
think I could become one of those members of the
woke family. In other words, say they could shut me off,
turn me off, and ignore me. But it's like, but
I've got to continue going on no matter what. It's
almost like we are the new folk singers of the
fifties and sixties because we're using our voices to put
(06:02):
the word out there.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Yeah. Absolutely, And I mean one thing I'll say, er,
when you're a black woman, they put you in that
category no matter what. Like if I didn't want to
be this woke person, you know, their words a word
that they can't they struggle to define. But if they
really see me as that, it's like, you know, I
think if I was even just if I showed up
(06:24):
as myself, they would want me to prove that I wasn't.
I think woke is just another excuse to sort of
segregate us, to you know, to denigrate the voices of
people of colored, of gay people, to try to just
sort of marginalize us. But the reality is we're here,
the culture has changed, We're all moving forward. If you
want to stay in the past, you are welcome to,
(06:45):
but we don't want to leave you behind. This is
an offer to make something better for all of us.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
I love where culture is going, though, But the thing
about it is not everybody can be a student like
you and I I mean, I mean, I work at
a grocery store because I want to be with real people.
I want to be with community. I don't want to
be with just one say to people.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Right absolutely. I mean, we're only on earth for such
a short time. I think that, you know, if we're
not taking advantage of all of the ways that we
can connect and learn from each other, then we're really
wasting our time, you know, and especially if we're wedded
to these traditions.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
You know.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
I read a great quote the other day, and I
wish I could attribute it, but basically they said, you know,
it's more important to make your kids proud than it
is to make your parents proud. I get it, and
that's really I think that I don't have kids, but
I think that that's a really good way of looking
at it. Is you know, the next generation needs to
have something better. We don't need to keep honoring stuff
(07:40):
that doesn't serve us anymore. And I think that, you know,
that's really the heart and soul of this podcast is
how do we get to a future where everyone feels
good and included? And why is that such a bad thing?
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Yeah, my parents would have rolled their eyes at the
things that I do these days, whereas my grandchildren are going,
oh god, let's do something. I mean, seriously, when it
comes to really putting focus on a mascot, my granddaughter
was going, really, can we do this kind of stuff
that she's doing?
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yes, Mia, we can do this absolutely. And I mean
I know that you're based in North Carolina. There are
more rebels schools that have you know, changed their mascot
the ones that still exist there. So it's happening, you know,
and I think that it's really inspiring. I mean, the
next generation is truly such an inspiration for this. Having
(08:25):
conversations with current students who are really just like, have
no relationship to the rebel, don't get it, and the
school's already done away with the physical mascot, so there's
an awareness that it's wrong. The last thing to go
is always the name, and so we're really just pushing
them on that. I think the kids deserve to have
a physical mascot that makes them excited to go to games,
(08:47):
and right now they're kind of just being offered racism
or nothing.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Don't you think though, that the cities and counties are
changing the way such as the rebels by saying, Okay,
we're going to close that school down and build a
new one and they're going to have a mascot. It's
almost like they're spending millions of dollars to get rid
of something that you could have just taken off the map.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
I mean absolutely. And you know that same school district
I'm from in Boone County, Kentucky, they do have a
new high school. Well was new when I was in school,
so twenty years ago, but relatively new compared to the others.
And you know, it was an overflow school. And now
I think the population has grown enough. But they didn't
choose rebels, you know what I mean? Like, I think
(09:27):
that there are no new schools being built with rebels,
So that should tell us that, like this is something
that is changing that people do not want to be
associated with that it's just not worth the drama, you know,
to put in really blunt terms, it's not worth the baggage.
And so I think it's just about having the honest
conversation about that and then hopefully people leaders, you know,
(09:49):
in the district, making that correct choice.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
How do you deal with someone like Karen Bird who
says that the image was removed a long time ago.
I mean, it's just a name. It's like who no, no, no,
do your history more more than just a name?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I mean, that's it, you know. I think the podcast
does a great job of telling the full story and
it really spans generations. But what I also would say
is if a mascot doesn't matter, like I think you
have to reframe that thinking because it's what the kids
literally cheer for, you know, like it matters when you
(10:21):
think about your high school experience. What was your mascot
in high school?
Speaker 1 (10:24):
We were the Senior High Bronx up in Montana. It
was always about the animals. All of course we're Montana's.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah, I mean, there you go. And it's like it's
something you can have pride, and it's something you really
can identify with. It's something you can learn about you know,
and I think there is sort of this concerted effort
to keep people small and uneducated and defensive, when the
fact is, like you, if you work at a school district,
your job should be to make these kids think as
(10:52):
much as possible, to have them interrogate why we believe
things where we came from. And I think that it's,
you know, Frankly's just representative of the sort of backwards
thinking of an older generation that's sort of refusing to
let go of what they saw as this golden era
that we now know really Wasn't you.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Even put focus on the Philadelphia Flyers Gritty And you know,
I didn't think of Gritty as being a demon until
you brought it up.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Well, he just looks like what, you know, he's a
little bit scary. But and people, you know, we spoke,
We had a great conversation with the illustrator who drew
Gritty initially and sort of brought that mascot to life,
and people forget that people hated Gritty. The first day
he thought his career was over, he was like, you know,
(11:39):
John Oliver was making jokes about how he must be
deranged to draw something like this, And then twenty four
hours later, everyone loved it, and now it's the most
popular mascot in professional sports in the world, and so
it is amazing and it's changed the perception of Philly.
I mean, maybe it's just doubled down on the perception
of Philly, which is like, can't be governed out of
(12:01):
control sports fins, but it's you know, it's definitely put them.
I would say there, they're hockey team on the map
in a way that it never had. And so I
think that seeing mascots as an opportunity is really exciting.
And my hometown, you know, Florence, Kentucky, we had a
minor league baseball team, the Florence Freedom. They were fine.
Freedom is not offensive, but it doesn't necessarily mean the
(12:23):
same thing to everybody, and it's kind of you know,
it's America, so it's a little cliche. They change that
team name to the y'alls because we have a water
tower that says Florence y'all. So they're the Florence y'alls.
And their mergerg is flying off the shelves. Way more
people go to the games. It's an international brand now
and I think that that is what's possible when you
have a great mascot is that it can bring people together. Like,
(12:47):
why would you want a mascot that divides people? It
doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Did you say y'alls is because in the summer, y'all
come back.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Yeah, I mean yeah, So that is one hundred percent.
And you should check out the Florence y'all's website. They
have beautiful merds. I mean it rules.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
That is so community. I mean, that is so southern.
I mean I mean that I thought that's what a
mascot was supposed to represent. I mean, the Carolina Panthers
are the parent Panthers because we have panthers here, the Carolinas.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
There you go, and it's like it's so it's amazing
how simple the reason can be. It's like we talked
to Kalais Campbell, right, he's he plays for the Miami Dolphins.
He's like sort of a veteran player at this point,
but he's amazing. He went to a school in Denver
that was the they were the rebels, and because of
his status in the NFL and because of a principle
(13:38):
that really cared. Now they are the Ravens because there
are Ravens in Denver. It is that simple, and there's
plenty to be proud of in Kentucky that has nothing.
I mean, Kentucky wasn't even in the Confederacy. Let's let's
be real.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Okay, you make that very clear. Yeah, you make that
very clear in the podcast. I mean you you set
us up so well in telling the story that when
you get to the story, you're going to Okay, I'm educated,
I'm ready to go. She set me.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Up, Yes, exactly. I mean I think people once you
understand the history, it's very hard not to look to
the future and be hopeful. And so I'm so proud
of this podcast. It is, you know, getting a lot
of critical acclaim, which I appreciate, but it's also really
connecting with people across the world. You know, I have
people who live in London who have reached out to
(14:25):
me and are like, I didn't even know that rebels
meant that for the US, and it's obviously something different here,
and you know, they don't teach about the Revolutionary Warningland,
so they have their own issues. But I do think
that it is it's an interesting tale. It's definitely a romp.
It's almost like a true crime story. And how we
report it out and so I think if you just
(14:48):
want riveting storytelling, Rebel Spirit is for you.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Where can people go to reach out to you? Because
there's got to be schools that are going to need
your leadership and your skills because you're playing the game
already they have not even started.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah, I mean, we are available and happy to share resources.
Rebel Spirit Podcasts at gmail dot com. You can reach
out anytime. We get tons of amazing emails. And i'd
also say, you know, I'm on all the socials and
if you follow the podcast, it's available on iHeart, it's
available on Spotify, it's available you know wherever you get
(15:22):
your podcasts. It's on YouTube.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Now.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
We have all of that contact information, So if you
can't remember, if you're driving, or however you're around right
now and can't remember, Rebel Spirit podcast at gmail dot com,
you'll be able to find it if you look up
the podcast.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
I got to give you a compliment. You have a
beautiful voice. You ever thought about doing a podcast?
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Era? You got me? Thank you so much?
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Will you'd be brilliant today?
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Okay, thank you so much, you too,
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