May 26, 2025 • 31 mins
Vanessa opens the week with a powerful foremother meditation, paying tribute to civil rights icon Myrlie Evers-Williams. Morgan then takes us through a vital lesson on the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the inner workings of government, breaking down essential knowledge for informed civic engagement. Then, for Master Class Monday, our homegirl, Renate, returns to shed light on the urgent issue of Black women's underrepresentation in political leadership and its direct impact on Black women's health. She challenges listeners to step into their power and take meaningful steps toward engaging with local politics. This episode is packed with wisdom, inspiration, and action—you won’t want to miss it!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:05):
My. Brothers in jail, the pins are
gone. We are sick and tired.
Of being sick and. Tired.
The disrespected person in America is the black woman, but
still, like dust. All right, pretty girls in the
(00:29):
VIP they came with drain. They'll need ideas.
The revolution will not be. Televised brother, you are by
the new Joe John. Even if you are not ready for
the day, it cannot always be night.
(01:02):
Yes y'all, even if you are not ready for the day, it cannot
always be night. Welcome to self-care school.
Welcome to week 7. You have arrived here.
You have made it from wherever you are, whoever you are, you
are welcomed here into this experience.
It is a 10 week experience powered by Girl Trek.
I am one of the Co founders of Girl Trek, Your girl Vanessa.
(01:24):
I'm on the line with the other Co founder.
Morgan, are you? There, I'm here, family.
All right, y'all, we are going to start this episode like we do
every episode, by calling a woman's name who we are the
daughter of. And today we are the daughters
of Merlee Evers Williams. We are the daughters of women
(01:44):
who did not flinch when the storm came.
She stood on her porch in Jackson, Ms., and she held the
line for justice, for legacy, for her husband's name, for her
own name. This week we are talking about
power. And Murli showed us that real
power isn't loud. It's steady, it's principled, it
(02:05):
endures. Power is surviving.
The unthinkable and. Still standing to speak.
So right now I want you to standup tall and let your spine
remember her strength. Let your breath carry the memory
of a woman who turned grief. Into fuel Who led?
Not with fear, but with clarity and grace.
(02:28):
Fill your body grounded in purpose.
Feel the heat of her courage warming your chest.
Fill your jaw. Soften.
You don't have to prove your power here.
You already carry it. We are the daughters of Merrily
Evers Williams. We rise with dignity.
(02:48):
We speak with precision. We walk.
The path she paved, porch to pulpit, loss to leadership.
Deep breath in, Exhale slowly. It's time to walk, y'all.
Thank you for that. VI was trying to find.
(03:10):
We shall not, we shall not be moved.
We shall not, we shall not be moved.
Just like a tree. I'm planning on it.
Keep going, y'all. We usually go into the porch and
I'll do a quick audit, but I don't even want to step in back
today because we're talking about power.
I want you to step forward. If you or your mother were
(03:32):
involved in the Black Lives Matters movement, I want you to
take another proud step forward.If you or your mother were in
the civil rights movement or your grandmother were in the
civil rights movement, I want you to take a step further.
If you, your grandmother, or your great grandmother survived
Jim Crow. And I want you to take another
(03:55):
step forward. If anybody in your family fought
in any war for this country. All right y'all, let's get
started. Let's get started.
How you feeling today, Vanessa? I'm feeling good.
Y'all, it's Monday. This unit today we're going to
be talking about power, we're going to be talking about
democracy, we're going to be talking about your rights.
(04:17):
It is master class Monday. We got our sister Renata on the
line. We'll bring her in in one
second. I want to start with some words
for you all as you begin on yourwalk.
Go ahead and walk 15 minutes in any direction and 15 minutes
back, and we will be finished with today's civics class.
Y'all, I was born for this, I was born for this.
I'm so excited. Listen, when, in the course of
(04:38):
human events, it becomes necessary for one person to
dissolve the political bands which have connected them with
another, and to assume among thepowers of the earth the separate
and the equal station in which the laws of nature and the laws
of God entitled them. A decent respect to the opinions
of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which
impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be
(05:01):
evident, self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights. We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
(05:25):
To secure these rights, governments are instituted among
men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed. That whenever any form of
government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right
of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
government, laying its foundations on such principles,
(05:48):
and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem
most likely to affect their safety and happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long
established should not be changed for the light or the
transient causes. And accordingly all experience
hath shown that mankind are moredisposed to suffer while evils
(06:09):
are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the
forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same object events, is a design to reduce
them under absolute deputism, itis their right, it is their
(06:30):
duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new
guards for their future security.
Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies,
and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter
their former, their former systems of government.
The history of the present King of Great Britain is the history
(06:51):
of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in
direct object the establishment of absolute tyranny over these
states. To prove this, let's let facts
be submitted to the candid world.
He has refused the assent to lawthat most wholesome and
necessary for the public good. Then there is a list of 27
(07:13):
grievances. Vanessa And it says We,
therefore, the representatives of the United States of America
and General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge
of the world for the restitude of our intentions, do in the
name and by the authority of thegood people of these colonies,
solemnly publish and declare that these united colonies and
(07:37):
of the right ought to be free and independent States.
And they are absolved from all of allegiance to the British
Crown. And for the support of this
Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of
Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives,
our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
(07:59):
I want y'all to know that that was written on July 4th, 1776,
and that is the Declaration of Independence of the United
States of America. Rise up y'all.
Let's start walking. Let's walk.
Listen, that was good. One of the most revolutionary
things ever written was the Declaration of Independence.
You should know it, you should know the words, you should
(08:21):
understand what what the social contract is in our country.
So I wanted to start this episode by reading that that I
am going to teach two things today.
I am going to teach a the Constitution and I'm going to
teach the 1st 10 amendments, which are called the Bill of
Rights. And then the second thing I'm
going to teach is how our government actually works.
(08:42):
So the Bill of Rights, many of you know it, even if you don't
think you know it. If you've ever said I plead the
5th, then you know it, right? If you've ever said I plead the
Fifth, you know what the 5th Amendment is, Vanessa.
You don't have to just. Testify against yourself.
Exactly. Exactly.
And so that's why people say they plead the 5th.
So Vanessa, this is hilarious because I was thinking, what is
(09:04):
the easiest way to teach the Bill of Rights?
And I was like, OK, if we think about each right as a person in
the club, then we got the club remix of the Bill of Rights.
All right. So if you think about it, I want
y'all to remember this. I want you to be, I want it to
be sticky. I want you to really think about
you go to a club in your town and there's characters that we
all know in the club. There's characters that we all
(09:24):
know. The first character is the First
Amendment. And her name is Lala Liberty.
She's a spoken word artist. She liked to talk.
She was a part of Black Lives Matter, OK.
She's always on the mic. And the First Amendment says
Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of
religion or prohibiting the freeexercise thereof, or bridging
the freedom of speech or of the press or the right of the people
(09:47):
to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for the
redress of grievances. All right.
So that means y'all are free to speak, y'all are free to
worship. Everybody, every one of us, is
free to publish, to gather, to protest without the government's
interference. So that is the First Amendment.
There will be a quiz, so pay attention.
So La La Liberty, she's a spokenword artist.
(10:09):
She practices the First Amendment.
She's free to speak, to worship,to publish what she wants to, to
gather with other spoken word artists, and to protest without
the government interfering. That is the First Amendment,
Vanessa. I want to talk about what that
has to do with health after. I want to talk about what it has
to do with health after, becausethere's some implications, but I
(10:29):
want to move into the Second Amendment.
So we got the spoken word, La LaLiberty.
We got the spoken word. Artist in the club.
Outside the club is always the bouncer.
We're going to call him Big Buck.
Big Buck the bouncer. OK?
That's the Second Amendment. His role is a security detail.
Y'all don't play with him. He is a quiet protector.
He know his rights, he got sharpaim and he knows his limits.
(10:51):
Now the Second Amendment says a well regulated militia, being
necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the
people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
What that basically means, y'all, is you have the right to
own your weapons for protection and defense.
It is subject to regulation, butyou have the right to carry
arms. All right, the third Amendment,
(11:12):
y'all is the DJ. We're going to call him DJ Peace
out. All right, So DJ, he's in the
club, he's in the DJ room. He's always set in the set, in
the mood, set in the boundary, keeping the the vibe sacred.
But you know, the DJ always say,I don't know where y'all going,
but y'all can't stay here. You always say that.
That's because the 3rd Amendment.
No soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in your
(11:36):
house, right? And this was a real issue
because during the American Revolution they was going into
civilians houses, making them hold soldiers.
So This is why this is the ThirdAmendment.
So you can't be forced to house soldiers, that your home really
is sacred. And that's written in the
Constitution. The government cannot enter the
domain of your home for any likegovernment official business.
(11:57):
So that's the DJs like all right, I don't know where y'all
going, but you got to get on outof here, stand at your door and
just be like you can't come and hear government.
Great. We don't talk about the health
implications of that, right? And then the 4th Amendment is
the VIP bouncer. Y'all been to the club?
You don't go through the regularline with the security.
You go to the VIP bouncer. We're going to call him.
No warrant G, OK, no warrant G no drama, just order.
(12:20):
He wants to check your purse andhe want to trust, he want to
trust that he don't got no reason to go further.
OK. The 4th amendment is the right
of the people to be secure against unreasonable searches
and seizures. It shall not be violated.
What that means is nobody can search your body, your home or
your stuff without a good reasonor a warrant.
(12:42):
OK without a good reason or a warrant.
Vanessa, 90% of the people stopped in New York City and
stop and frisk are black and Latino, 90%.
No, this just. Understanding how we could.
Use this and alone could. Just save us.
Like seriously. Straight up 90%.
So your 4th Amendment right. No, Warren G says I'm not going
to look in your purse, but I'm just going to shine this light
(13:02):
in here because he know the rules.
He know the rules of the game. You have to know the rules of
the game, which is the 4th Amendment, the right of the
people to be secure against unreasonable searches and
seizures. It shall not be violated.
All right. And the famous 5th Amendment,
the 5th Amendment, we're going to call him no snitch Mitch.
He's the bar regular. He'd be sitting at the bar.
You know everything about everybody.
He don't say nothing, but he gothis rights, OK?
(13:24):
He got his rights. The 5th Amendment says no person
shall be compelled to be a witness against himself nor
deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of
the law. So the 5th Amendment is about
two things. You cannot be forced to witness
against yourself and you have tohave due process of the law.
(13:48):
They can't just jump steps. You got to have a lawyer.
You got to be Mirandized, all sorts.
That's all a part of due processof the law.
OK, so that's what that means. Let's go ahead and move to the
next 5, which I'll move through very quickly.
So the 6th Amendment, we're going to call Curtis Clock.
He's the bar owner. He just is fair and firm and
fast. He don't want to hurt his
(14:08):
customers, but he also don't want no mess.
And the 6th Amendment says this.In all criminal prosecutions,
the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public
trial to have the assistance of counsel.
So, you know, where's my lawyer and all of the stuff we watch
from the wire, whatever that comes from the 6th Amendment and
having a speedy trial. And you know, the bar owner
(14:31):
don't want no drama. He's just like, pull on over to
the side. Let me see, let's go ahead and
get this done. That is the 6th Amendment.
So imagine this bar owner, he comes over, his name's Curtis
Clock. He's just going to make it
happen. He's a speedy.
He wants you to have a speedy trial right there in his bar.
And he wants you to have a lawyer.
If you got a lawyer, great. So that's the 6th Amendment is a
speedy, a speedy and public trial and the right to counsel.
(14:54):
All right, the 7th Amendment, y'all, the 7th Amendment is
really important. We're going to call it Mobb Deep
Michelle. Why?
Because Mobb Deep Michelle, she's the verdict queen.
She is stylish and smart, but she's always surrounded deep by
her crew. That's important.
Her crew knows her. It's always taking notes.
(15:14):
That's important. Why?
What is the 7th Amendment about?In suits at common law, where
the value and controversy shall exceed $20, the right of trial
by jury shall always be preserved.
Your 7th Amendment gives you a atrial by jury.
That is so. It has saved so many of our
(15:36):
people's lives. And subsequent legal amendments
have talked about the jury has to constitute your peers, right?
So you can't have a all white jury has to constitute your
peers. So that is the 7th Amendment.
Mobb Deep, Michelle, a trial by jury.
All right, the 8th Amendment. We're starting to get close.
(15:57):
This is my favorite character inthe whole club.
Her name is Peaches the empath. Now, Peaches is a club dancer,
OK, But she got boundaries and she understand, and she got
compassion. We all know Peaches, OK?
She know people ain't supposed to touch her.
She know there ain't no cruelness or any of that stuff.
But she's fair and she's fierce.So here's the 8th Amendment.
(16:19):
The 8th Amendment is is against excessive bail.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
shall be imposed nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.
So I just want you to picture this in a club picture.
Peaches, she on the stage and his brother then had too much to
(16:39):
drink and he come over try to holla at Peaches.
And he tried to grab her arm andshe like, please don't grab my
arm. He tried to grab her arm and
then big buck come and big buck don't bullet, bullet big buck
coming over. And Peaches like no, Buck, don't
do it, buck. Don't do it buck.
Why? Because she's the 8th amendment.
She does not believe in excessive bell or excessive
fines or no cruel and unusual punishment.
(17:02):
Vanessa solitary confinement increases suicide rates by 26%
and black people are disproportionately
disproportionately subject to solitary confinement in prison.
That is cruel and unusual punishment and so Peaches in the
club is like no, don't beat him up Buck just he's good he's go
(17:23):
walk him out. So that's the 8th amendment
excessive bail, excessive fines and cruel and unusual
punishment. All right so the 9th amendment
we're going to call mystery Marie and it's because there's
some hidden rights that are not documented in the 1st 10
amendments and the framers of the Constitution understood they
needed to make space for that. So the 9th Amendment is this,
the enumeration of the Constitution or of certain
(17:43):
rights shall not be construed todeny or disparage other retained
by the people. What this means is you have
rights that are beyond what's listed in the Constitution.
So the Constitution don't have everything.
So we're going to move pass out and quickly, but just know the
Constitution doesn't doesn't dictate everything.
And then the last amendment of the Bill of Rights, we're going
(18:04):
to call Street Fight Kenny. And I'm going to tell you, I'm
going to call him Street Fight Kenny because he is a local
enforcer, OK, If it ain't in theConstitution, it's up to the
streets. That's what that's the street
fight Kenny says or the states, right?
So he's the grass, right. The the grassroots power of the
club with golden teeth. OK, So the power shall not be
(18:24):
delegated to United States by the Constitution are reserved to
the states respectively, or to the people.
So when the when the Constitution does not give the
federal government rights, then it is the states that take over
the rights or the people who take over the rights.
So it isn't the government that's just going to have broad
sweeping power. So that's what the 10th
Amendment says. Whoa, that was a lot.
(18:46):
That was a lot. Those are your Bill of Rights.
Those are your Bill of Rights. Vanessa.
Black patients are 2222% less likely than white patients to
receive any pain medication in emergency rooms.
And I just kept, I keep thinkingabout like, why is that the
case? Why are we afraid to speak up?
Why are we afraid to say that we're in pain?
(19:06):
And a lot of that has to do withus just being silenced for
generations. You know what I mean?
Not be being too afraid to even speak in the streets up for our
rights. And so I was thinking about the
First Amendment even as it comesto you talking to your doctor
and you say, no, this is unfair.It isn't just when you're
speaking truth to power in a political context, but really
learning to speak up and teaching our children the 1st
(19:28):
Amendment. I think it's going to have far
reaching health implications when they grow up.
And then the Second Amendment, Vanessa, Oh my goodness, the
right to bear arms. There's, you know, the, the pro
side of it is self-defense, right?
That like our, our men and womenare being killed in the streets
at like record and disproportionate levels.
And so we could think about self-defense.
(19:49):
But the flip side of it is also cross cutting when it when guns
are not regulated because firearms are the leading cause
of death for black children and teens, according to the CDC in
2022. And then we think about the
Third Amendment, which means youcan't, you can't be forced to
house soldiers. And I was like, I don't really
know what that has to do with ustoday.
But then I was thinking, we're forced to house soldiers all the
(20:09):
time. Black men be going to war all
the time and coming back with 1.5 times more likely to have
PTSD compared to other veterans.So a hundred, 150% more likely
to have to have PTSD than other soldiers.
And we know that to be true. And yeah, our our men, our boys,
(20:31):
our fathers, our uncles go off to fight in these wars and then
they come back and we as black women are housing them.
And so while the 3rd Amendment is not, is really a wartime
amendment, I mean, it has felt like we have been in constant
war for generations. Vanessa the 4th 1 is about the
right of the people to secure against unreasonable searches
(20:51):
and seizures. I already talked about how
disproportionately we are. We, our daughters and our sons
are stopped and frisked across the country and it causes
stress, y'all. And stress is the number one
leading cause of death and chronic disease.
The 5th amendment is hilarious because it's been on everything
(21:12):
from Martin. Remember Martin went in with his
briefcase, y'all? The 5th amendment has been the
most popular bill of right of all black women or black people
everywhere. And it really does prevent
coercion and confessions and wrongful imprisonment and
encourages fair legal support and tackles mass incarceration
for our people. So that's that and then the 6th
(21:35):
Amendment, y'all, which is basically saying that if you're
accused of a crime that you're guaranteed a fast and public
trial. And then the 7th Amendment is
the right to have a jury. And this was a really shocking
health statistic to me, Vanessa,that discrimination in civil
court cases like housing and child custody worsen long term
health impacts of black women. And that's the the, the National
(21:57):
Institute of Health in 2021. And so the other ones I'll just
do the 8th 1:00 and then I'll leave it at that.
And remember, the 8th 1 means that punishments must be fair,
not excessive, no torture. And this is when I talked about
like, solitary confinement and how it leads to escalated
suicide rates. My mom spent like a one whole
(22:17):
year in solidarity confinement, so it's just so many people who
I know who even after they've gotten out of prison, like the
impacts of what that's done to their lives, it's just shouldn't
even be. Allowed at all.
Yeah, it's terror. It's actual terror.
And so we really do need to knowour rights.
So those are the 1st 10 amendments.
(22:39):
Y'all, I hope that you learned something.
I want you to know that there are many, many more
constitutional amendments and some that are very important,
particularly to us. Understand that the framers of
the Constitution in 1776 were largely slave owners.
And so these were not made for our people, but we can use them
today in 2025 to fight for our rights.
So let's pause here for Master Class Monday, and let's
(23:01):
foreground our sister Renata andsee what she has about the
landscape of power and democracyfor today.
So when I was thinking about power, I thought about our
government structure. And I was thinking about when we
vote, we often think about the presidential elections.
But what about our local politicians and our local
politics, right? Women are 51.1% of the
(23:22):
population of the US, and of that 51 percent, 14% are black
women. So we make up about 7.8% of the
total US population. America is almost 250 years old
and there has been 0 black female governors in the United
States history. There's 18 states that have
never had a female governor ever, period.
(23:43):
Black, white, Asian, any other color, they've never had a black
female governor. And how does this affect our
health? This affects us because we have
people who are not female votingon issues that deeply affect our
health. Are reproductive rights,
affordable childcare, wage parity.
Those are the things that are going to dictate our quality of
(24:06):
life. And so this week, I'm really
excited to continue to hear and learn about politics and our
civil rights, our disability rights and all the things and
how women are affected in that landscape in their own
communities. I love that.
I love that we are 14% of the population.
Y'all. I love that so much.
Thank you so much. Did I get that right?
(24:29):
We're 14% of the of the total population of women.
We're 7.8% of the total US population.
OK. All right.
So awesome. Thank you so much.
I love that you talked about local elections and our populace
and like and our people power because I want to do the
solidarity spotlight on an incredible sister who has been
(24:52):
so supportive to this movement, Stacey Abrams, who was the first
black woman to run for governor.Many say 1 to win the
governorship, but did not receive it because of extra
legal practices and other thingsthat were happening in the state
of Georgia. And she has this beautiful
documentary all that I just watched called All in the Fight
(25:12):
for Democracy. And it is your homework.
It was made in 2020. You think you know about the
civil rights movement. You think you know about voting,
You think you know about all this stuff.
You might have watched these other documentaries, but I
promise you it's one of the bestdocumentaries I've ever seen.
And it made me want to know justice, no peace immediately
all. So that's our solidarity
spotlight. She also has some really, really
beautiful books while while Justice sleeps is her most
(25:35):
recent one, our time is now leadfrom the outside is her one of
her most famous books and so andshe also has some really good
romance novels too. I didn't I know you didn't know
that about Stacey Abrams when she gets down.
So that's our solidarity spotlight for today.
As we are ending, I want you to think about how to know your
rights. So the first thing you should
know is that elections are everytwo years in your local, state
(25:58):
and federal government for different parts of Congress is 2
years or House Representatives 2years, and then lots of
governorships is 2 or four yearsor or mayorships, right?
The Constitution is a Supreme Court, the supreme law of the
land. We should know that.
Here are things you can do. Well, my mouth is dry.
(26:19):
Y'all Power, power to the people.
All right, so let's talk about afew things you can do in order
to have some power. One is you can vote in every
single election. So raise your hand on your walk
and say I am going to vote in every single election.
I mean, everyone, all right, putyour hand down.
(26:41):
The second thing is to just continue to know your rights and
study up and speak up, all right?
You can download tools like the ACLU app or local civic
organizations and you can searchyour rights like right on the
spot. The third thing is a lot of
y'all do this really well because we had friends who were
in prison for political reasons and all these girl checkers are
calling. So a lot of you do this well.
(27:03):
Hold leaders accountable. You can call, e-mail and meet
your elected officials because they work for you.
OK Make noise when they don't make noise.
So we can start or join a campaign around an issue that we
care about. Girl Trek is a 501C3.
So we are not in political or wedon't when people are in active
(27:23):
election, we don't support or deny or anything, but we are
issue based and our issue is public health.
And so we encourage our members to get involved in democracy, to
get involved in making power moves, to get involved in
holding their leaders accountable.
And then last but not least, youcan protect and participate in
your community. Show up at school board
meetings, town halls, protest Community is how democracy
(27:46):
breathes, y'all. So let's volunteer at least once
a month, help out at your local library, your clinic, your
shelter, your civic organization, and know the
issues of your community. So that is your civic civic
lesson and 30 minutes, y'all. I hope you learned something.
I hope you feel prepared and have the context to hold all of
the important things we're goingto talk about this week.
Sorry if it was a little wonky, history teacher, so sorry if it
(28:09):
was a little wonky, but I do think it's important.
I wanted to end with the late, great Ella Baker and we are
going to be walking for her badge this week and ordinarily
we would wait until Friday, but I was thinking we could start
with her inspiration and start with her words.
Y'all, if you don't know who Ella Baker was, she was one of
(28:30):
the architects of the civil rights movement.
I encourage you to learn more about her.
She was the founder of SNICK, the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee, but mostly she understood that real
people had real power. She said that that people don't
need strong leaders. All you need to do is is shine a
light and they will find their way is one of my favorite quotes
of hers. And she just was such a leader
(28:53):
of leaders. And so every single person from
Martin Luther King to A Philip Randolph to Bayard Rustin, all
sighted Ella Baker as their inspiration and as their leader.
So this is her giving a speech. And we hope that you wear her
her and share her badge proudly by walking five days this week.
Y'all. So be well.
(29:14):
We'll see you tomorrow as we talk about power and democracy.
Brothers and sisters in the struggle for human dignity and
freedom, I am here to represent the struggle that has gone on
for 300 or more years, a struggle to be recognized as
(29:37):
citizens in a country in which we were born.
I have had about 40 or 50 years of struggle ever since a little
boy on the streets of Norfolk called me a *** I struck him
back and then I had to learn. I had to learn.
(30:03):
I had to learn that hitting backwith my fist one individual was
not enough. It takes organization.
It takes dedication. It takes the willingness to
stand by and do what has to be done.
When it has to be done, it has it.
(30:31):
A nice gathering like today is not enough.
You have to go back and reach out to your neighbors who don't
speak to you. And you have to reach out to
your friends who think they are making it good and get them to
understand that they, as well asyou and I, cannot be free in
(30:58):
America or anywhere else where there is capitalism and
imperialism. Until, until, until, until we
can get people to recognize thatthey themselves have to make the
(31:20):
struggle and have to make the fight for freedom every day in
the year, every year, until theywin it.
Thank you.
My. Brothers in jail, the pins are
gone. We are sick and tired.
Of being sick and. Tired.
The disrespected person in America is the black woman, but
still, like dust. All right, pretty girls in the
(00:29):
VIP they came with drain. They'll need ideas.
The revolution will not be. Televised brother, you are by
the new Joe John. Even if you are not ready for
the day, it cannot always be night.
(01:02):
Yes y'all, even if you are not ready for the day, it cannot
always be night. Welcome to self-care school.
Welcome to week 7. You have arrived here.
You have made it from wherever you are, whoever you are, you
are welcomed here into this experience.
It is a 10 week experience powered by Girl Trek.
I am one of the Co founders of Girl Trek, Your girl Vanessa.
(01:24):
I'm on the line with the other Co founder.
Morgan, are you? There, I'm here, family.
All right, y'all, we are going to start this episode like we do
every episode, by calling a woman's name who we are the
daughter of. And today we are the daughters
of Merlee Evers Williams. We are the daughters of women
(01:44):
who did not flinch when the storm came.
She stood on her porch in Jackson, Ms., and she held the
line for justice, for legacy, for her husband's name, for her
own name. This week we are talking about
power. And Murli showed us that real
power isn't loud. It's steady, it's principled, it
(02:05):
endures. Power is surviving.
The unthinkable and. Still standing to speak.
So right now I want you to standup tall and let your spine
remember her strength. Let your breath carry the memory
of a woman who turned grief. Into fuel Who led?
Not with fear, but with clarity and grace.
(02:28):
Fill your body grounded in purpose.
Feel the heat of her courage warming your chest.
Fill your jaw. Soften.
You don't have to prove your power here.
You already carry it. We are the daughters of Merrily
Evers Williams. We rise with dignity.
(02:48):
We speak with precision. We walk.
The path she paved, porch to pulpit, loss to leadership.
Deep breath in, Exhale slowly. It's time to walk, y'all.
Thank you for that. VI was trying to find.
(03:10):
We shall not, we shall not be moved.
We shall not, we shall not be moved.
Just like a tree. I'm planning on it.
Keep going, y'all. We usually go into the porch and
I'll do a quick audit, but I don't even want to step in back
today because we're talking about power.
I want you to step forward. If you or your mother were
(03:32):
involved in the Black Lives Matters movement, I want you to
take another proud step forward.If you or your mother were in
the civil rights movement or your grandmother were in the
civil rights movement, I want you to take a step further.
If you, your grandmother, or your great grandmother survived
Jim Crow. And I want you to take another
(03:55):
step forward. If anybody in your family fought
in any war for this country. All right y'all, let's get
started. Let's get started.
How you feeling today, Vanessa? I'm feeling good.
Y'all, it's Monday. This unit today we're going to
be talking about power, we're going to be talking about
democracy, we're going to be talking about your rights.
(04:17):
It is master class Monday. We got our sister Renata on the
line. We'll bring her in in one
second. I want to start with some words
for you all as you begin on yourwalk.
Go ahead and walk 15 minutes in any direction and 15 minutes
back, and we will be finished with today's civics class.
Y'all, I was born for this, I was born for this.
I'm so excited. Listen, when, in the course of
(04:38):
human events, it becomes necessary for one person to
dissolve the political bands which have connected them with
another, and to assume among thepowers of the earth the separate
and the equal station in which the laws of nature and the laws
of God entitled them. A decent respect to the opinions
of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which
impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be
(05:01):
evident, self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights. We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
(05:25):
To secure these rights, governments are instituted among
men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed. That whenever any form of
government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right
of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
government, laying its foundations on such principles,
(05:48):
and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem
most likely to affect their safety and happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long
established should not be changed for the light or the
transient causes. And accordingly all experience
hath shown that mankind are moredisposed to suffer while evils
(06:09):
are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the
forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same object events, is a design to reduce
them under absolute deputism, itis their right, it is their
(06:30):
duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new
guards for their future security.
Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies,
and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter
their former, their former systems of government.
The history of the present King of Great Britain is the history
(06:51):
of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in
direct object the establishment of absolute tyranny over these
states. To prove this, let's let facts
be submitted to the candid world.
He has refused the assent to lawthat most wholesome and
necessary for the public good. Then there is a list of 27
(07:13):
grievances. Vanessa And it says We,
therefore, the representatives of the United States of America
and General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge
of the world for the restitude of our intentions, do in the
name and by the authority of thegood people of these colonies,
solemnly publish and declare that these united colonies and
(07:37):
of the right ought to be free and independent States.
And they are absolved from all of allegiance to the British
Crown. And for the support of this
Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of
Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives,
our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
(07:59):
I want y'all to know that that was written on July 4th, 1776,
and that is the Declaration of Independence of the United
States of America. Rise up y'all.
Let's start walking. Let's walk.
Listen, that was good. One of the most revolutionary
things ever written was the Declaration of Independence.
You should know it, you should know the words, you should
(08:21):
understand what what the social contract is in our country.
So I wanted to start this episode by reading that that I
am going to teach two things today.
I am going to teach a the Constitution and I'm going to
teach the 1st 10 amendments, which are called the Bill of
Rights. And then the second thing I'm
going to teach is how our government actually works.
(08:42):
So the Bill of Rights, many of you know it, even if you don't
think you know it. If you've ever said I plead the
5th, then you know it, right? If you've ever said I plead the
Fifth, you know what the 5th Amendment is, Vanessa.
You don't have to just. Testify against yourself.
Exactly. Exactly.
And so that's why people say they plead the 5th.
So Vanessa, this is hilarious because I was thinking, what is
(09:04):
the easiest way to teach the Bill of Rights?
And I was like, OK, if we think about each right as a person in
the club, then we got the club remix of the Bill of Rights.
All right. So if you think about it, I want
y'all to remember this. I want you to be, I want it to
be sticky. I want you to really think about
you go to a club in your town and there's characters that we
all know in the club. There's characters that we all
(09:24):
know. The first character is the First
Amendment. And her name is Lala Liberty.
She's a spoken word artist. She liked to talk.
She was a part of Black Lives Matter, OK.
She's always on the mic. And the First Amendment says
Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of
religion or prohibiting the freeexercise thereof, or bridging
the freedom of speech or of the press or the right of the people
(09:47):
to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for the
redress of grievances. All right.
So that means y'all are free to speak, y'all are free to
worship. Everybody, every one of us, is
free to publish, to gather, to protest without the government's
interference. So that is the First Amendment.
There will be a quiz, so pay attention.
So La La Liberty, she's a spokenword artist.
(10:09):
She practices the First Amendment.
She's free to speak, to worship,to publish what she wants to, to
gather with other spoken word artists, and to protest without
the government interfering. That is the First Amendment,
Vanessa. I want to talk about what that
has to do with health after. I want to talk about what it has
to do with health after, becausethere's some implications, but I
(10:29):
want to move into the Second Amendment.
So we got the spoken word, La LaLiberty.
We got the spoken word. Artist in the club.
Outside the club is always the bouncer.
We're going to call him Big Buck.
Big Buck the bouncer. OK?
That's the Second Amendment. His role is a security detail.
Y'all don't play with him. He is a quiet protector.
He know his rights, he got sharpaim and he knows his limits.
(10:51):
Now the Second Amendment says a well regulated militia, being
necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the
people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
What that basically means, y'all, is you have the right to
own your weapons for protection and defense.
It is subject to regulation, butyou have the right to carry
arms. All right, the third Amendment,
(11:12):
y'all is the DJ. We're going to call him DJ Peace
out. All right, So DJ, he's in the
club, he's in the DJ room. He's always set in the set, in
the mood, set in the boundary, keeping the the vibe sacred.
But you know, the DJ always say,I don't know where y'all going,
but y'all can't stay here. You always say that.
That's because the 3rd Amendment.
No soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in your
(11:36):
house, right? And this was a real issue
because during the American Revolution they was going into
civilians houses, making them hold soldiers.
So This is why this is the ThirdAmendment.
So you can't be forced to house soldiers, that your home really
is sacred. And that's written in the
Constitution. The government cannot enter the
domain of your home for any likegovernment official business.
(11:57):
So that's the DJs like all right, I don't know where y'all
going, but you got to get on outof here, stand at your door and
just be like you can't come and hear government.
Great. We don't talk about the health
implications of that, right? And then the 4th Amendment is
the VIP bouncer. Y'all been to the club?
You don't go through the regularline with the security.
You go to the VIP bouncer. We're going to call him.
No warrant G, OK, no warrant G no drama, just order.
(12:20):
He wants to check your purse andhe want to trust, he want to
trust that he don't got no reason to go further.
OK. The 4th amendment is the right
of the people to be secure against unreasonable searches
and seizures. It shall not be violated.
What that means is nobody can search your body, your home or
your stuff without a good reasonor a warrant.
(12:42):
OK without a good reason or a warrant.
Vanessa, 90% of the people stopped in New York City and
stop and frisk are black and Latino, 90%.
No, this just. Understanding how we could.
Use this and alone could. Just save us.
Like seriously. Straight up 90%.
So your 4th Amendment right. No, Warren G says I'm not going
to look in your purse, but I'm just going to shine this light
(13:02):
in here because he know the rules.
He know the rules of the game. You have to know the rules of
the game, which is the 4th Amendment, the right of the
people to be secure against unreasonable searches and
seizures. It shall not be violated.
All right. And the famous 5th Amendment,
the 5th Amendment, we're going to call him no snitch Mitch.
He's the bar regular. He'd be sitting at the bar.
You know everything about everybody.
He don't say nothing, but he gothis rights, OK?
(13:24):
He got his rights. The 5th Amendment says no person
shall be compelled to be a witness against himself nor
deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of
the law. So the 5th Amendment is about
two things. You cannot be forced to witness
against yourself and you have tohave due process of the law.
(13:48):
They can't just jump steps. You got to have a lawyer.
You got to be Mirandized, all sorts.
That's all a part of due processof the law.
OK, so that's what that means. Let's go ahead and move to the
next 5, which I'll move through very quickly.
So the 6th Amendment, we're going to call Curtis Clock.
He's the bar owner. He just is fair and firm and
fast. He don't want to hurt his
(14:08):
customers, but he also don't want no mess.
And the 6th Amendment says this.In all criminal prosecutions,
the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public
trial to have the assistance of counsel.
So, you know, where's my lawyer and all of the stuff we watch
from the wire, whatever that comes from the 6th Amendment and
having a speedy trial. And you know, the bar owner
(14:31):
don't want no drama. He's just like, pull on over to
the side. Let me see, let's go ahead and
get this done. That is the 6th Amendment.
So imagine this bar owner, he comes over, his name's Curtis
Clock. He's just going to make it
happen. He's a speedy.
He wants you to have a speedy trial right there in his bar.
And he wants you to have a lawyer.
If you got a lawyer, great. So that's the 6th Amendment is a
speedy, a speedy and public trial and the right to counsel.
(14:54):
All right, the 7th Amendment, y'all, the 7th Amendment is
really important. We're going to call it Mobb Deep
Michelle. Why?
Because Mobb Deep Michelle, she's the verdict queen.
She is stylish and smart, but she's always surrounded deep by
her crew. That's important.
Her crew knows her. It's always taking notes.
(15:14):
That's important. Why?
What is the 7th Amendment about?In suits at common law, where
the value and controversy shall exceed $20, the right of trial
by jury shall always be preserved.
Your 7th Amendment gives you a atrial by jury.
That is so. It has saved so many of our
(15:36):
people's lives. And subsequent legal amendments
have talked about the jury has to constitute your peers, right?
So you can't have a all white jury has to constitute your
peers. So that is the 7th Amendment.
Mobb Deep, Michelle, a trial by jury.
All right, the 8th Amendment. We're starting to get close.
(15:57):
This is my favorite character inthe whole club.
Her name is Peaches the empath. Now, Peaches is a club dancer,
OK, But she got boundaries and she understand, and she got
compassion. We all know Peaches, OK?
She know people ain't supposed to touch her.
She know there ain't no cruelness or any of that stuff.
But she's fair and she's fierce.So here's the 8th Amendment.
(16:19):
The 8th Amendment is is against excessive bail.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
shall be imposed nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.
So I just want you to picture this in a club picture.
Peaches, she on the stage and his brother then had too much to
(16:39):
drink and he come over try to holla at Peaches.
And he tried to grab her arm andshe like, please don't grab my
arm. He tried to grab her arm and
then big buck come and big buck don't bullet, bullet big buck
coming over. And Peaches like no, Buck, don't
do it, buck. Don't do it buck.
Why? Because she's the 8th amendment.
She does not believe in excessive bell or excessive
fines or no cruel and unusual punishment.
(17:02):
Vanessa solitary confinement increases suicide rates by 26%
and black people are disproportionately
disproportionately subject to solitary confinement in prison.
That is cruel and unusual punishment and so Peaches in the
club is like no, don't beat him up Buck just he's good he's go
(17:23):
walk him out. So that's the 8th amendment
excessive bail, excessive fines and cruel and unusual
punishment. All right so the 9th amendment
we're going to call mystery Marie and it's because there's
some hidden rights that are not documented in the 1st 10
amendments and the framers of the Constitution understood they
needed to make space for that. So the 9th Amendment is this,
the enumeration of the Constitution or of certain
(17:43):
rights shall not be construed todeny or disparage other retained
by the people. What this means is you have
rights that are beyond what's listed in the Constitution.
So the Constitution don't have everything.
So we're going to move pass out and quickly, but just know the
Constitution doesn't doesn't dictate everything.
And then the last amendment of the Bill of Rights, we're going
(18:04):
to call Street Fight Kenny. And I'm going to tell you, I'm
going to call him Street Fight Kenny because he is a local
enforcer, OK, If it ain't in theConstitution, it's up to the
streets. That's what that's the street
fight Kenny says or the states, right?
So he's the grass, right. The the grassroots power of the
club with golden teeth. OK, So the power shall not be
(18:24):
delegated to United States by the Constitution are reserved to
the states respectively, or to the people.
So when the when the Constitution does not give the
federal government rights, then it is the states that take over
the rights or the people who take over the rights.
So it isn't the government that's just going to have broad
sweeping power. So that's what the 10th
Amendment says. Whoa, that was a lot.
(18:46):
That was a lot. Those are your Bill of Rights.
Those are your Bill of Rights. Vanessa.
Black patients are 2222% less likely than white patients to
receive any pain medication in emergency rooms.
And I just kept, I keep thinkingabout like, why is that the
case? Why are we afraid to speak up?
Why are we afraid to say that we're in pain?
(19:06):
And a lot of that has to do withus just being silenced for
generations. You know what I mean?
Not be being too afraid to even speak in the streets up for our
rights. And so I was thinking about the
First Amendment even as it comesto you talking to your doctor
and you say, no, this is unfair.It isn't just when you're
speaking truth to power in a political context, but really
learning to speak up and teaching our children the 1st
(19:28):
Amendment. I think it's going to have far
reaching health implications when they grow up.
And then the Second Amendment, Vanessa, Oh my goodness, the
right to bear arms. There's, you know, the, the pro
side of it is self-defense, right?
That like our, our men and womenare being killed in the streets
at like record and disproportionate levels.
And so we could think about self-defense.
(19:49):
But the flip side of it is also cross cutting when it when guns
are not regulated because firearms are the leading cause
of death for black children and teens, according to the CDC in
2022. And then we think about the
Third Amendment, which means youcan't, you can't be forced to
house soldiers. And I was like, I don't really
know what that has to do with ustoday.
But then I was thinking, we're forced to house soldiers all the
(20:09):
time. Black men be going to war all
the time and coming back with 1.5 times more likely to have
PTSD compared to other veterans.So a hundred, 150% more likely
to have to have PTSD than other soldiers.
And we know that to be true. And yeah, our our men, our boys,
(20:31):
our fathers, our uncles go off to fight in these wars and then
they come back and we as black women are housing them.
And so while the 3rd Amendment is not, is really a wartime
amendment, I mean, it has felt like we have been in constant
war for generations. Vanessa the 4th 1 is about the
right of the people to secure against unreasonable searches
(20:51):
and seizures. I already talked about how
disproportionately we are. We, our daughters and our sons
are stopped and frisked across the country and it causes
stress, y'all. And stress is the number one
leading cause of death and chronic disease.
The 5th amendment is hilarious because it's been on everything
(21:12):
from Martin. Remember Martin went in with his
briefcase, y'all? The 5th amendment has been the
most popular bill of right of all black women or black people
everywhere. And it really does prevent
coercion and confessions and wrongful imprisonment and
encourages fair legal support and tackles mass incarceration
for our people. So that's that and then the 6th
(21:35):
Amendment, y'all, which is basically saying that if you're
accused of a crime that you're guaranteed a fast and public
trial. And then the 7th Amendment is
the right to have a jury. And this was a really shocking
health statistic to me, Vanessa,that discrimination in civil
court cases like housing and child custody worsen long term
health impacts of black women. And that's the the, the National
(21:57):
Institute of Health in 2021. And so the other ones I'll just
do the 8th 1:00 and then I'll leave it at that.
And remember, the 8th 1 means that punishments must be fair,
not excessive, no torture. And this is when I talked about
like, solitary confinement and how it leads to escalated
suicide rates. My mom spent like a one whole
(22:17):
year in solidarity confinement, so it's just so many people who
I know who even after they've gotten out of prison, like the
impacts of what that's done to their lives, it's just shouldn't
even be. Allowed at all.
Yeah, it's terror. It's actual terror.
And so we really do need to knowour rights.
So those are the 1st 10 amendments.
(22:39):
Y'all, I hope that you learned something.
I want you to know that there are many, many more
constitutional amendments and some that are very important,
particularly to us. Understand that the framers of
the Constitution in 1776 were largely slave owners.
And so these were not made for our people, but we can use them
today in 2025 to fight for our rights.
So let's pause here for Master Class Monday, and let's
(23:01):
foreground our sister Renata andsee what she has about the
landscape of power and democracyfor today.
So when I was thinking about power, I thought about our
government structure. And I was thinking about when we
vote, we often think about the presidential elections.
But what about our local politicians and our local
politics, right? Women are 51.1% of the
(23:22):
population of the US, and of that 51 percent, 14% are black
women. So we make up about 7.8% of the
total US population. America is almost 250 years old
and there has been 0 black female governors in the United
States history. There's 18 states that have
never had a female governor ever, period.
(23:43):
Black, white, Asian, any other color, they've never had a black
female governor. And how does this affect our
health? This affects us because we have
people who are not female votingon issues that deeply affect our
health. Are reproductive rights,
affordable childcare, wage parity.
Those are the things that are going to dictate our quality of
(24:06):
life. And so this week, I'm really
excited to continue to hear and learn about politics and our
civil rights, our disability rights and all the things and
how women are affected in that landscape in their own
communities. I love that.
I love that we are 14% of the population.
Y'all. I love that so much.
Thank you so much. Did I get that right?
(24:29):
We're 14% of the of the total population of women.
We're 7.8% of the total US population.
OK. All right.
So awesome. Thank you so much.
I love that you talked about local elections and our populace
and like and our people power because I want to do the
solidarity spotlight on an incredible sister who has been
(24:52):
so supportive to this movement, Stacey Abrams, who was the first
black woman to run for governor.Many say 1 to win the
governorship, but did not receive it because of extra
legal practices and other thingsthat were happening in the state
of Georgia. And she has this beautiful
documentary all that I just watched called All in the Fight
(25:12):
for Democracy. And it is your homework.
It was made in 2020. You think you know about the
civil rights movement. You think you know about voting,
You think you know about all this stuff.
You might have watched these other documentaries, but I
promise you it's one of the bestdocumentaries I've ever seen.
And it made me want to know justice, no peace immediately
all. So that's our solidarity
spotlight. She also has some really, really
beautiful books while while Justice sleeps is her most
(25:35):
recent one, our time is now leadfrom the outside is her one of
her most famous books and so andshe also has some really good
romance novels too. I didn't I know you didn't know
that about Stacey Abrams when she gets down.
So that's our solidarity spotlight for today.
As we are ending, I want you to think about how to know your
rights. So the first thing you should
know is that elections are everytwo years in your local, state
(25:58):
and federal government for different parts of Congress is 2
years or House Representatives 2years, and then lots of
governorships is 2 or four yearsor or mayorships, right?
The Constitution is a Supreme Court, the supreme law of the
land. We should know that.
Here are things you can do. Well, my mouth is dry.
(26:19):
Y'all Power, power to the people.
All right, so let's talk about afew things you can do in order
to have some power. One is you can vote in every
single election. So raise your hand on your walk
and say I am going to vote in every single election.
I mean, everyone, all right, putyour hand down.
(26:41):
The second thing is to just continue to know your rights and
study up and speak up, all right?
You can download tools like the ACLU app or local civic
organizations and you can searchyour rights like right on the
spot. The third thing is a lot of
y'all do this really well because we had friends who were
in prison for political reasons and all these girl checkers are
calling. So a lot of you do this well.
(27:03):
Hold leaders accountable. You can call, e-mail and meet
your elected officials because they work for you.
OK Make noise when they don't make noise.
So we can start or join a campaign around an issue that we
care about. Girl Trek is a 501C3.
So we are not in political or wedon't when people are in active
(27:23):
election, we don't support or deny or anything, but we are
issue based and our issue is public health.
And so we encourage our members to get involved in democracy, to
get involved in making power moves, to get involved in
holding their leaders accountable.
And then last but not least, youcan protect and participate in
your community. Show up at school board
meetings, town halls, protest Community is how democracy
(27:46):
breathes, y'all. So let's volunteer at least once
a month, help out at your local library, your clinic, your
shelter, your civic organization, and know the
issues of your community. So that is your civic civic
lesson and 30 minutes, y'all. I hope you learned something.
I hope you feel prepared and have the context to hold all of
the important things we're goingto talk about this week.
Sorry if it was a little wonky, history teacher, so sorry if it
(28:09):
was a little wonky, but I do think it's important.
I wanted to end with the late, great Ella Baker and we are
going to be walking for her badge this week and ordinarily
we would wait until Friday, but I was thinking we could start
with her inspiration and start with her words.
Y'all, if you don't know who Ella Baker was, she was one of
(28:30):
the architects of the civil rights movement.
I encourage you to learn more about her.
She was the founder of SNICK, the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee, but mostly she understood that real
people had real power. She said that that people don't
need strong leaders. All you need to do is is shine a
light and they will find their way is one of my favorite quotes
of hers. And she just was such a leader
(28:53):
of leaders. And so every single person from
Martin Luther King to A Philip Randolph to Bayard Rustin, all
sighted Ella Baker as their inspiration and as their leader.
So this is her giving a speech. And we hope that you wear her
her and share her badge proudly by walking five days this week.
Y'all. So be well.
(29:14):
We'll see you tomorrow as we talk about power and democracy.
Brothers and sisters in the struggle for human dignity and
freedom, I am here to represent the struggle that has gone on
for 300 or more years, a struggle to be recognized as
(29:37):
citizens in a country in which we were born.
I have had about 40 or 50 years of struggle ever since a little
boy on the streets of Norfolk called me a *** I struck him
back and then I had to learn. I had to learn.
(30:03):
I had to learn that hitting backwith my fist one individual was
not enough. It takes organization.
It takes dedication. It takes the willingness to
stand by and do what has to be done.
When it has to be done, it has it.
(30:31):
A nice gathering like today is not enough.
You have to go back and reach out to your neighbors who don't
speak to you. And you have to reach out to
your friends who think they are making it good and get them to
understand that they, as well asyou and I, cannot be free in
(30:58):
America or anywhere else where there is capitalism and
imperialism. Until, until, until, until we
can get people to recognize thatthey themselves have to make the
(31:20):
struggle and have to make the fight for freedom every day in
the year, every year, until theywin it.
Thank you.
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