June 2, 2025 • 35 mins
Morgan and Vanessa kick off Week 8 with a powerful blend of healing and awareness. Vanessa begins with a healing meditation, encouraging trekkers to pause, breathe, and embrace stillness. Morgan then shifts the conversation to the critical topic of safety and decarceration, offering listeners insight into creating secure spaces in their lives and navigating threats with informed strategies and collective care.
Trigger Warning: This episode includes discussions on police brutality, gun violence, and policing and the criminal legal system.
Important Disclaimers:
Morgan and Vanessa are not legal experts or government workers. Consult your legal counsel, and/or government worker for guidance tailored to your needs.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
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 VIP they
(00:29):
came with. Drain they'll need.
Ideas with mundane 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. Welcome whoever you are, from
(01:05):
wherever you are walking. This is Girl Trek.
We are a million women who are walking to heal our bodies,
inspire our daughters, reclaim the streets of our
neighborhoods. We have committed to this ten
week journey. It is a radical act of self-care
every single day that we get outside, that we lace up our
sneakers, that we choose ourselves, that we say yes to
(01:27):
what matters, that we say no to the things that are distracting
us and that we walk. And so I'm so proud of you.
My name is Vanessa. I have been here with you.
Now I'm on Week 8 two, and I am joined on the line by Morgan.
Are you there, Morgan? We've been doing Daughters of
(01:47):
Meditations to start these episodes.
And this one, there's no daughter to name.
It's just a holy pause that I want us to take.
I want us to begin this week with a holy pause.
A stillness for the people who are incarcerated.
A breath for our sisters and ourbrothers behind bars.
(02:09):
A moment for the women who carrythem.
You. You who answer every phone call,
who memorize ID numbers. You who send money, send books
and hope. You who whisper prayers into the
air at night, who hold birthdaysand court days in the same
calendar. You who raise children to
(02:34):
believe in second chances. And there are real sirens behind
me even as I say the Shah. Because we live in a real world
and we are navigating that real world every single day in real
time. I see you and I want you to put
your hand on your chest. This is not a moment of shame.
(02:58):
This is not a moment for hiding.This is a moment for remembering
and rising the people who we love, who are not here with us.
So breathe in, Let your shoulders drop and breathe out.
Let your heart stay soft. You are not alone.
(03:22):
We come from people who survive what was never meant to be
survived. From Mamas who organize with no
degrees. From daughters who drive 6 hours
for a visit and still go to class on Monday.
For grandmothers who make Sundaymeals stretch into Commissary
Monday money. From families that find ways to
laugh even through glass. So let's place both feet flat on
(03:46):
the ground right now. Feel the strength of your
lineage under you, solid and unbroken.
You are the daughter of the watched in the waiting.
You are the daughter of the locked in, the loyal.
You are the daughter of the heldin the holding.
(04:06):
And today we walk for them. We walk to remember, to return,
to reclaim, to resist, because we are still here.
So breathe. Rise and let's get ready to
walk. Thank you for that.
V Thank you so much for that. We are talking about a really
(04:29):
important topic today. We are talking about safety and
the prison industrial complex and how to avoid an arrest and
how to navigate threats to your safety.
Because this topic is inherentlyviolent, because the policing in
our neighborhoods is inherently violent.
We will be talking about callingthe names of some of the the men
(04:52):
and women in our community who were murdered.
And we also will be playing somevideos, but we will not be
showcasing violence against black bodies on this show.
So all of the videos that we play end up with the people
going home to their families forsure.
But for instructional purposes, wanted to give you a heads up
(05:12):
that this walk is going to be animportant one, but it may not
always be easy. And this is self-care school.
We love you, we are holding you and we hope that this is
something that you can share with your families in the
context of your home and safety.Then we want to hold a special
place for black men on this show.
We love you, we love you, we love you, we love you.
(05:32):
There are 1,000,000 black women who are walking with Girl Trek
and we love you. Our fathers and our brothers and
our uncles and our cousins and our lovers and our neighbors.
We love you. All right, so we're going to
start our audit and we're going to do it a little bit
differently today where we are only going to step forward.
So find your starting place. And I want you to start with two
(05:54):
fists by your side, all right? And you're going to give
yourself a point with each finger that you lift up.
And we're going to do 10 steps forward.
If you say yes, you give yourself a point and you step
forward. All right?
And then I will tell you kind ofwhere you are.
This is a safety audit. So we all know that there's
something called Maslow's hierarchy of needs, right?
(06:19):
We've all heard that. And in Maslow's hierarchy of
needs, it's like a pyramid that says like, how do you survive
and thrive as a human being? It's a guy from like the 40s who
was studying Einstein and Eleanor Roosevelt and all of the
brilliant people of that time. And he made this kind of theory
of what people need in order to thrive and so on.
His hierarchy of needs, the baselevel that we all need is
(06:41):
physiological safety, physiological needs.
And so this is basic survival. And the second one is safety
needs. And so these 10 questions
explore those two themes. So stand tall, roll your
shoulders back flat footed. We're going to step forward in
faith. Number one.
Do you eat enough food everyday to feel nourished?
(07:03):
If the answer is a confident yes, take a confident step
forward and give yourself a point #2 Do you have access to
clean, safe drinking water? Take a proud step forward.
If you do, stay where you are. If you don't, still proud #3
(07:25):
make sure you're keeping track of your points.
Do you have stable housing whereyou can sleep safely at night?
If you are safe in that way, take a step forward.
If you are not yet safe in that way, stay where you are.
Number four, Fourth point, do you get enough sleep to feel
rested most days? Take a step forward.
(07:46):
If that is true, give yourself apoint, your fourth point
possible. All right.
And the 5th question under basicsurvival, can you access
healthcare, a doctor, urgent care, prescriptions when you
need it? Take a step forward.
That is basic survival. We're going to move on to safety
needs or security and stability.The question is, do you feel
(08:10):
physically safe in your home andneighborhood?
Take a step forward. Next question, do you have
steady income, financial resources to meet your basic
needs? Take a step forward.
Next question. This is the 8th question.
(08:32):
I don't know how many points youhave, but you have up to 8 so
far. Are you free from regular
threats like abuse, mental or physical harassment, or
violence? The answer is yes.
Take a step forward and #9 do you trust that emergency
services, police, ambulances, fire department will respond if
(08:55):
you need them? And lastly, do you have
protection from legal or job related insecurity like wrongful
eviction, sudden firing? Do you have a safety net?
Do you have a safety net or legal protection?
Take a step forward if that is true, sisters out there, maybe
you scored below 8, maybe you scored 6, maybe you scored five.
(09:19):
It means that there are opportunities and we'll talk
about today. Maybe you scored one, maybe you
don't feel safe at all. It means that you are insecure
that you are that you feel unsafe in many parts of your
life. And this is an opportunity to
move that score up. And so we're going to give you
some very practical pieces of advice.
And we're going to give you somevery practical pieces of advice
(09:39):
to avoid threats to your safety,particularly around the police
and law enforcement. So I want to get into that.
You guys go ahead and start yourwalk for today. 15 minutes in
any direction, 15 minutes back. We will do our best to fit all
of this life saving content in that time.
We're going to start quickly with our sister Renata, who's
going to give us an overview of the state of Black safety and
(10:02):
the and the state of safety in the world.
Renata, can you give us kind of that Master Class Monday
overview of the week? Yes, I want to start by saying
these are facts and these are stats, but it doesn't have to
remain our reality. And I'm just really hopeful that
we are starting to move towards a more just reality for our
people because reading the statsfor today was just overwhelming.
(10:27):
And who, you know, just trying to get through this.
So with safety, there's perception and then there's
reality. So according to FBI data from
2020, 377% of Americans say thatcrime is increasing.
But the data shows that crime actually, or violent crime
actually fell by 8% between 2022and 23.
(10:49):
A Gallup report shows that only 41% of Americans feel safe
walking alone at night in their neighborhood, and that's down
from 48% back in 2019. And I can relate to what Vanessa
was sharing earlier about those gunshots and the cadence of
hearing, you know, sirens following that.
So that safety of being able to walk by yourself in your
neighborhood. Relating to gun violence and
(11:12):
firearm related deaths, the US has the highest gun ownership
rate in the world. There's about 120 guns per 100
people in 2020. Two, 48,830 firearm deaths with
over half of those being people who died by suicide.
And that's the stat reported by the CDC and children and teens.
(11:34):
The gun violence has become the leading cause of death in 2020
and it remains so. Another form of safety for us is
economic insecurity and safety. 12.4% of Americans live below
the poverty line, and this is according to the US Census in
2020, 258% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
(11:55):
Economic precarity correlates with the exposure of unsafe
housing, food insecurity, and higher neighborhood crime rates.
And then regarding policing and criminal justice, the US has the
highest incarceration rate globally.
There's about 665 people per 100,000 who are incarcerated.
Nearly one in three adults in the US has a criminal record,
(12:17):
and over 1000 people were killedby the police in 2023.
Regarding our mental health and safety, one in five US adults,
which is approximately about 57 million people, live with a
mental illness and suicide is the 11th leading cause of death,
and it's rising notably among youth and veterans and policing.
(12:40):
In the state of violence, Black Americans are 2.9 times more
likely to be killed by police than white Americans, and we're
1 1/2 times more likely to be unarmed during police encounters
resulting in our death. When we Met Police violence,
Black people are only 13% of thepopulation, but we account for
27% of those who are killed by police.
(13:04):
Black Americans are 10 times more likely than white Americans
to die by gun homicide and blackmen ages 15 to 34.
Gun homicide is a leading cause of death.
When we talk when we talk about incarceration and criminal
justice, 38% of the prison population is black and we're
only 13% of this population. Y'all?
(13:25):
So I know these are some stark statistics and some really
depressing facts. This is our reality, but it
doesn't have to be our future. Thank you for that, Renata.
I appreciate it. I appreciate the facts.
I appreciate that we are all tuned in here.
I appreciate more than ever thatwe are together.
I appreciate that there are strength in numbers.
(13:46):
I appreciate that we come from all those, those black women who
were in the Black Panther Party in our intro, who was like, no
more brothers in jail. I'm just so grateful for those
who came before us. We have a blueprint.
We don't have to be afraid and we have so many opportunities to
stand together and be safe. Let's talk about how to increase
that score. There's some sisters out there
(14:07):
who like, yo, I got it too, like, and I get it y'all, y'all.
So if you have a 2 like I did when I was living in South
Carolina, I want you to know that there's some things you can
do. Some of this will be such
confirmation, Vanessa, that we are doing the right thing.
It's just a quick review. I'll take a minute or two just
to help you increase your score.Then we're going to move to the
(14:28):
second part of today's lesson. So here's some things you can do
for your basic needs, right? If you need more food, y'all
apply for SNAP. Vanessa did a beautiful job on
Friday, on Thursday, talking to us about how we access our
rights and how we access resources in our community.
But we can also go to food banks, y'all.
(14:49):
There ain't no shame in that. And we can also do community
like meal sharing and planning in regards to clean access if
you want to get that point up. Y'all get some filters.
We got to get some filters. You can boil your water old
school. But really if you have unsafe,
there are a contamination kits that you can order online for
very cheap and do some citizen science.
(15:10):
If you have unsafe drinking water, you have to report it to
your local utility or health department.
We talked about access to healthcare, y'all, Medicaid.
There was a beautiful episode onthis.
We are doing good work here together. self-care school is
going to save lives, y'all. We talked about mental health
hotlines and I wanted to remind you of some of those mental
(15:31):
health hotlines, y'all. There is the crisis hotline.
If you are having a mental health emergency, you can call
988 and then the National Domestic Violence Hotline, you
can text Start to the number 88788.
OK, so you can text Start to 88788 if you're experiencing
(15:54):
domestic violence, y'all? So those are some of the kind of
resources that you can do for mental health.
You can also use these online therapies like Better Help or
Talkspace. They're cheaper than regular in
person talking, but they have real therapists.
And sometimes your people will pay for, I mean, your people at
your job will pay for it. There's therapy for Black girls,
(16:15):
y'all therapyforblackgirls.com. It directs you to culturally
competent Black therapist. So there's a lot of help out
there for mental health. So that's for that.
That third question that I askedas we're going through these,
there's some a couple more I want to highlight around
financial insecurity. We've talked a lot about this,
but one I wanted to highlight isfree job training programs out
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there, y'all. There's some really good ones.
First of all, IBM has one that'scalled Skills Build and it's
free. It offers free online
cybersecurity, data analysis andcloud computing skills.
So if you know, particularly forour black boys and our black men
out there who need some skills IT, you go to skillsbuild.org.
(16:59):
That's a good one. Apprenticeship.gov matches you
with apprenticeships. There's so many cool ones.
And I just want to highlight thelocal community colleges, y'all.
And in many states now, they arevery, very affordable, like the
state of California. So going back to Community
College and making sure that youcan be competitive in the job
market. And one thing I just wanted to
offer as a really practical suggestion is there's something
(17:23):
called mutual aid, and you may have heard the term, but you
might not know what it is. Essentially, in the most basic
sense, it's how do we take care of each other?
How do we pool our resources andtake care of each other?
And in almost every city, there are mutual aid societies.
And so I encourage you all rightnow to take out your phone, type
(17:43):
in the name of your city. If you're from Sacramento, type
in Sacramento mutual aid. If you're in DC, DC mutual aid,
Atlanta mutual aid, and just seewhat's out there.
There's so many groups to help, for us to help one another out
there in all different categories that you can get some
direct and immediate support around.
(18:04):
All right. And then the last thing I want
to say just about ensuring your safety and the resources that we
have is we've talked about this a little bit, but I want to just
go over the emergency numbers that you can call.
So we all know the golden rule is to call 911 for threats to
life and safety. We know that 911 is for life
threatening emergencies like a medical crisis or a fire or
(18:28):
smoke. We all know this.
But there's a quick kind of other guide of the other other
numbers you can call. We talked about 988.
You can think about that as yourtherapist, right?
So that's if your mind is in crisis or somebody else's mind
is in crisis, you can call 988 and remember the ears.
You can remember the 88 'cause somebody to listen.
Then there is a social worker that's available to all of us at
(18:50):
211, 211, that's for basic survival, right?
211, that's social support. Who's going to answer?
It's going to be a social worker.
You can think about this or remember the number 211, because
two people think about two people hugging like you're a
social worker got you, is getting you through these hard
times. So 211 is for your social
(19:10):
worker, somebody who got your back, somebody who has their arm
around you. This is for food, crisis,
housing, shelter, utility bills,job help, childcare.
You can call 211 and ask for help.
Y'all. Now 311 is for the city
problems. That's when you start to
organize, when you got 3 together, right?
So 311 is for city problems, non-emergency.
But like this is how you access your city and your local
(19:32):
government. And that's really if your
streetlights are out, if there'snoise complaints, if you, and
then we'll round it out with onewe all know which is 411, and
that's just for information. But y'all, as we become overly
reliant on technology, you mightneed 411.
If you get locked up, you're in a protest and you can't remember
nobody's number and you don't got your your phone, you might
have to call 411. So don't don't forget that.
(19:54):
That is a resource to call for adirectory.
Think about the Yellow Pages back in the day to find numbers,
businesses or people, especiallywhen you don't have Internet.
All right, so let's take a quickbreak, Vanessa.
And on this break, this ain't nobreak.
It's conversation. It's a break from all that
information. I want to ask you what has been
(20:17):
like your most harrowing or memorable or significant
interface with the police? And I want you to think about it
because I was thinking about onewhere we were both there.
And then I want to talk about, Iwant to talk about how we
interface with the police. And I really think that this is
important information. So before we do that, Vanessa,
(20:40):
though, I'm going to, I'm going to play this video that talks
about 3 lies that the police tell you.
And then I want you to hold yourstory because I want to know if
any of these were applied to thestory that you're thinking
through. The top three lies cops tell you
during a traffic stop. First, you have to answer all my
questions. False.
(21:00):
You only need to provide your license, registration, and proof
of insurance. Second, if you're innocent, you
won't mind if I search your car.Don't fall for it.
You have the right to say no 3rd.
This is just a minor violation. Just admit it and we'll go easy
on you. The moment you admit guilt, you
make fighting the ticket harder.Stay smart, know your rights,
(21:23):
and follow for more legal tips. So many women and men and
children out there have experienced these sorts of
interfaces. And I want to I want to say
first of all, I want to play this ACLU video to just give us
some instruction just to jump off this conversation, Vanessa.
(21:44):
So I want you to think about your experience and think about
what what you did during those times that maybe were great and
kept you alive and kept you safe.
And then maybe some of the things that you could have done
to help assure your safety. So let's go ahead and play this
video that I that I found from the ACLU Nevada.
(22:04):
If you are stopped for a trafficviolation and you are the
driver, you are required to provide your license, proof of
your insurance, and your registration for the vehicle.
If you're not sure why you've been stopped, you should ask
whether or not you are free to leave.
If the officer says that you arefree to leave, you should leave
immediately. Calmly, but leave immediately.
If the officer says that you arenot free to leave, you may ask
(22:25):
why have you been stopped? An officer is not necessarily
required to answer that question, but they may, and that
can be useful information. If an officer asks for
permission to search your car, you should say no.
You do not have to consent to a search.
If you choose to invoke your right to remain silent, you
actually have to say that you need to say I'm invoking my
right to remain silent. A traffic stop can only last as
(22:48):
long as it takes for the officerto investigate the traffic
violation they have stopped you for.
If the officer finds evidence ofanother crime and establishes
what they call reasonable suspicion, they can hold you for
longer. But if they if they don't have
that, they can only investigate the traffic violation itself.
That includes getting your license, your insurance, and
your registration, running your name to confirm that you do not
(23:09):
have any arrest warrants, checking to make sure the
registration is valid, and confirming whether or not a
violation has occurred. Once that is complete, the
officer has to let you go. If the officer diverts into any
other purpose that is not related to investigating the
traffic violation itself, that officer has violated your
constitutional rights. Even if you believe your rights
are being violated, you should comply.
(23:29):
Apply with orders that an officer gives you.
You do not want to be charged with obstructing.
That said, if you are only taking an action because an
officer has ordered you to do so, you can say clearly that you
are not consenting to the actionand that you do not believe the
action is lawful. If the officer places you under
arrest, you should ask for a lawyer immediately.
If you do not know whether or not you've been placed under
(23:50):
arrest, it never hurts to say that you want to see a lawyer
immediately. If you are a passenger in a car
that is stopped for a traffic violation, you have the same
rights as the driver in the car.However, unlike the driver, if
an officer asks for your identification, you do not need
to provide that identification unless the officer has
reasonable suspicion that you have committed a criminal
(24:11):
offense. All of these different scenarios
we have all come in contact with.
I mean, all the statistics that Renata shared in the beginning
that one in three people have some kind of encounter with the
justice system in America. I would say with black people,
it's almost, it's almost 9 out of 10, Vanessa, that all of us
have had some kind of experiencelike this.
(24:32):
And So what I want to talk abouton today is what to do to make
sure that if, if we are in thesesituations, we can save our own
lives and that our children can save their own lives and that
our partners can save their own lives.
So the first kind of general information that I want to give
is that we just got to stay calm, to stay alive.
(24:54):
We can fight in court. Don't reach suddenly for
anything or resist anything. I was listening to a black
police officer online. He was like, turn your
headlights on, put your hands straight on the on the steering
wheel and don't move. And they will know you know
somebody because the police officers coming up to you scared
too. And they're and you're giving
them insight into what's happening into your car and just
(25:16):
don't move. Say clearly that you are
asserting your rights and if it is safe record, y'all record or
have somebody else record it is legal.
All right, Vanessa, word for word, I looked at the ACLUN,
double ACP, all of the differentlegal just behemoths in our
(25:37):
community to make sure we got this right.
Word for word. What you should say is, Officer,
am I being detained or am I freeto go?
Something else that you should say is I do not consent to a
search. Even say that if they are in the
midst of searching, because in the court of law you have to say
(25:58):
it, You can't stay silent. You have to say it.
I do not consent to a search. You have to also say I choose to
remain silent and I want a lawyer.
This protects you from self incrimination.
So do not talk. I choose to remain quiet.
Now these are just words that you use when you really feel
like it's escalating, right? So those are those are some of
(26:21):
the tips what not to do. Please don't argue, please don't
run, please don't insult, pleasedon't threaten.
Please don't get sarcastic. Please don't roll up your
window. And in fact, all of the experts
say crack your window so that they can you can talk to the
officer, but that he doesn't have access to your full body.
But if you have tinted windows, you might want to roll the
windows all the way down. Do not touch them or their
(26:44):
equipment. Do not consent to searches
verbally or by action. Now, we know that black drivers
are disproportionately, disproportionately stopped in
cars for car stops. So keep your hands on the
window, as I said. Roll your window down partially,
as I said, but you have to show your license, you have to show
(27:05):
your registration, and you have to show your proof of insurance.
All of the experts say you should have those things
together and have them in a veryaccessible place so that if you
get pulled over, you can pull them together quickly and lay
them on your lap. So you don't have to even reach
for them because so many people have been killed reaching for
the registration, reaching for their for their license.
(27:27):
So be very be have them togetherand be prepared in that regard.
On the street, if you are detained for a stop and frisk,
walk away. You have the ability and the and
the right to walk away. You don't have to stay there,
but you want to, you want to be very mindful of that.
But you do have the right, if you're not being detained, if
you are stopped, you can, you can again say that you're not
(27:48):
answering any questions, particularly if you are have
immigration or immigrant status,right?
You do not have to share any information with ICE.
You don't have to share any information.
If the police come to your door,Vanessa, you do not have to open
the door. You can ask if they have a
warrant signed by a judge. And if they do have a warrant,
(28:10):
you can ask if you can see it under the door.
These are your options. These are your rights.
You can also say I do not consent to a search, right?
These are just your rights. I'm, I'm not telling you how to
navigate. I will share with you
recommendations to tell your kids, but I'm telling you your
rights. Now, do you have the right to
record, Vanessa? Yes, you have the right to film
(28:32):
the police. And then there's some apps like
Mobile Justice with the ACLU that can stream your video
directly to legal support and they can they can chat with you
real time. So that's called mobile justice.
Most black people who were killed by the police didn't do
anything wrong. I just want to say that I don't
think they would. They did anything wrong that
would justify their death. I think that it's systemic bias.
(28:56):
I think that it's over policing.I think that it's poor training
of the officers. And so I don't want anybody to
take away from here that it's something that we have to do or
we have to take ownership of that.
When I think about and call the names of people like Philando
Castile, there is nothing that that brother did wrong.
There's nothing that that brother did wrong.
And in fact, what his partner did right was to film it so that
(29:18):
we stop this from happening again.
So just a reminder that you can legally film George Floyd.
I want to call his name that brother did nothing wrong.
Sandra Bland did nothing wrong. And what one of the things that
is recommended from her case is to make sure that you know the
numbers of your family members so that you can call if you are
arrested and that you were certain asked for if you need
(29:42):
any mental health aid that you asked for that.
But in this case, Sandra did advocated fiercely for herself
and did nothing wrong and was killed.
And so I say all that to say, wecan do our best, but we also
have to stick together and change the systems that are
harming us. So as a quick review, y'all, for
your family discussion tonight, your family guide for staying
(30:05):
safe during police encounters tonight, I encourage you to
number one, step one, set the tone with your children by
saying something like, we're nothaving this talk because we
expect any trouble, but we're having it so that if something
ever does happen, we know what to do and we can stay safe and
(30:25):
we can stay alive. And then you got to talk through
the five like key questions. What are your rights?
You have the right to remain silent.
You do not have to consent to a search.
You can ask am I free to go #2 What should you do with your
body? You should keep your hands
visible at all times, don't reach into your pockets or your
(30:45):
bags. And you should stay silent and
avoid sudden movements #3 What words should you use?
You should use calm, clear words, don't argue or talk back.
And if you're scared, say I am nervous and I just want to stay
safe #4 What should others around you do?
(31:05):
They should record the stop if it's safe.
They should call or text me, your mother or a trusted adult
or a lawyer. They should stay nearby as a
witness, but don't interfere. And finally, what should you do
after? You should write down any
numbers you can find. Badge numbers, card numbers,
names. Take photos of any injuries.
(31:27):
Or as the car is driving away, snap a photo of it and we
together will contact legal aid as soon as possible.
You are safe. We can do this together, and if
anything happens, we're right byyour side.
So I think we need to have theseconversations with our kiddos.
I think we need to have these conversations with our partners
(31:47):
and just make sure that we know our rights, y'all.
Vanessa, is there anything you want to add here before we close
up this episode? I was thinking when you said
that Brianna was killed with a no knock raid, I just I want to
say we wrestle not against fleshand blood and just let's just
also just say prayed up. Yes, yes, girl, stay prayed up,
(32:11):
y'all stay prayed up, stay prayed up.
And so I want to end with the words of Aja Monet with Black
Joy so that we can understand the texture and where our joy
comes from. And we'll play just a little bit
of it. And then in solidarity, I
encourage you to go to Apple Music.
I encourage you to go to Spotifyand play the entire 6 minute
experience of her spoken word. Play the entire experience and
(32:34):
let it wash over you because it really is an absolute opus to
Black Joy. So let's end today's episode
with that Vanessa. Thank you, Renata her for
starting us so strongly. I appreciate it.
I just appreciate you both so much.
Any final words fee. I appreciate you too.
I appreciate everyone for just joining this community and being
a part of this. This is a really important
(32:55):
conversation today. We play out with Aja Monet Black
Joy. Black Joy.
(33:19):
Joy is the will. It's the dimple that has endured
a dance so deep in a dark cheek,a wound without a scar, without
a trace. The humor of hurt.
It's the hell of being healed. Joy adapts.
Death lives in the grin singing from the blood bays, and a smirk
(33:41):
testifies tenderness in a tear. It is a smile silhouetted
against the face, witnessing thewant the the flower in the
grenade arose in the concrete, apirouette beside a barricade.
It's the butterfly in the battlefield.
It's Dishonored, the swing set in the middle of a gunfight.
It's dodging a bullet, hopscotch, double Dutch, a
(34:02):
fierce gaze, the side eye, the shade, the sass, the snap, the
head nod. It's the turn up, the swag.
Joy is righteous and ratchet. Joy twerks and taps, jokes and
jives. Harlem shakes, electric slides,
dirty wine sauces on twos and rumbas.
Joy is rhythm and repetition, rhythm and repetition.
(34:24):
Hums and harmony Is the Blues isa song in a cotton field of
central bookings on a crowded subway.
Joy Is a song anywhere. Joy.
Bees in the track Is a zilla beat in the Middle East, Is fly,
is finger licking good? Is pastelas with black beans or
Patty and cocoa bread? Is fried chicken with BBQ sauce
or Buffalo sauce or hot sauce orany damn sauce.
(34:45):
Joy, There's a recipe pass on a language that survives savory,
sweet toe curling, knocking boots.
The fight, the fury. Making love to make up.
It's the glow. It's an entire day in a lover's
arms. A carton of ice cream and a bed
of books that's illuminated in the aftermath.
Wrinkled lips, a powdered kiss. The shivering hits the theater
(35:06):
of our Thunder. Joy.
Joy is a story traveling A rocking chair on the front lawn,
a wind chime in a window. It's a barbecue in the backyard,
subwoofers in a hoopty. It's melanin gathered in a room.
It's the entourage. It's getting your friends in the
club. Joy, Joy.
It's all about vibes. It's a roof over your head.
(35:26):
It's clothes on your back. It's Free 99.
It's having the rent when it's due, or having no rent at all.
No debt.
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 VIP they
(00:29):
came with. Drain they'll need.
Ideas with mundane 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. Welcome whoever you are, from
(01:05):
wherever you are walking. This is Girl Trek.
We are a million women who are walking to heal our bodies,
inspire our daughters, reclaim the streets of our
neighborhoods. We have committed to this ten
week journey. It is a radical act of self-care
every single day that we get outside, that we lace up our
sneakers, that we choose ourselves, that we say yes to
(01:27):
what matters, that we say no to the things that are distracting
us and that we walk. And so I'm so proud of you.
My name is Vanessa. I have been here with you.
Now I'm on Week 8 two, and I am joined on the line by Morgan.
Are you there, Morgan? We've been doing Daughters of
(01:47):
Meditations to start these episodes.
And this one, there's no daughter to name.
It's just a holy pause that I want us to take.
I want us to begin this week with a holy pause.
A stillness for the people who are incarcerated.
A breath for our sisters and ourbrothers behind bars.
(02:09):
A moment for the women who carrythem.
You. You who answer every phone call,
who memorize ID numbers. You who send money, send books
and hope. You who whisper prayers into the
air at night, who hold birthdaysand court days in the same
calendar. You who raise children to
(02:34):
believe in second chances. And there are real sirens behind
me even as I say the Shah. Because we live in a real world
and we are navigating that real world every single day in real
time. I see you and I want you to put
your hand on your chest. This is not a moment of shame.
(02:58):
This is not a moment for hiding.This is a moment for remembering
and rising the people who we love, who are not here with us.
So breathe in, Let your shoulders drop and breathe out.
Let your heart stay soft. You are not alone.
(03:22):
We come from people who survive what was never meant to be
survived. From Mamas who organize with no
degrees. From daughters who drive 6 hours
for a visit and still go to class on Monday.
For grandmothers who make Sundaymeals stretch into Commissary
Monday money. From families that find ways to
laugh even through glass. So let's place both feet flat on
(03:46):
the ground right now. Feel the strength of your
lineage under you, solid and unbroken.
You are the daughter of the watched in the waiting.
You are the daughter of the locked in, the loyal.
You are the daughter of the heldin the holding.
(04:06):
And today we walk for them. We walk to remember, to return,
to reclaim, to resist, because we are still here.
So breathe. Rise and let's get ready to
walk. Thank you for that.
V Thank you so much for that. We are talking about a really
(04:29):
important topic today. We are talking about safety and
the prison industrial complex and how to avoid an arrest and
how to navigate threats to your safety.
Because this topic is inherentlyviolent, because the policing in
our neighborhoods is inherently violent.
We will be talking about callingthe names of some of the the men
(04:52):
and women in our community who were murdered.
And we also will be playing somevideos, but we will not be
showcasing violence against black bodies on this show.
So all of the videos that we play end up with the people
going home to their families forsure.
But for instructional purposes, wanted to give you a heads up
(05:12):
that this walk is going to be animportant one, but it may not
always be easy. And this is self-care school.
We love you, we are holding you and we hope that this is
something that you can share with your families in the
context of your home and safety.Then we want to hold a special
place for black men on this show.
We love you, we love you, we love you, we love you.
(05:32):
There are 1,000,000 black women who are walking with Girl Trek
and we love you. Our fathers and our brothers and
our uncles and our cousins and our lovers and our neighbors.
We love you. All right, so we're going to
start our audit and we're going to do it a little bit
differently today where we are only going to step forward.
So find your starting place. And I want you to start with two
(05:54):
fists by your side, all right? And you're going to give
yourself a point with each finger that you lift up.
And we're going to do 10 steps forward.
If you say yes, you give yourself a point and you step
forward. All right?
And then I will tell you kind ofwhere you are.
This is a safety audit. So we all know that there's
something called Maslow's hierarchy of needs, right?
(06:19):
We've all heard that. And in Maslow's hierarchy of
needs, it's like a pyramid that says like, how do you survive
and thrive as a human being? It's a guy from like the 40s who
was studying Einstein and Eleanor Roosevelt and all of the
brilliant people of that time. And he made this kind of theory
of what people need in order to thrive and so on.
His hierarchy of needs, the baselevel that we all need is
(06:41):
physiological safety, physiological needs.
And so this is basic survival. And the second one is safety
needs. And so these 10 questions
explore those two themes. So stand tall, roll your
shoulders back flat footed. We're going to step forward in
faith. Number one.
Do you eat enough food everyday to feel nourished?
(07:03):
If the answer is a confident yes, take a confident step
forward and give yourself a point #2 Do you have access to
clean, safe drinking water? Take a proud step forward.
If you do, stay where you are. If you don't, still proud #3
(07:25):
make sure you're keeping track of your points.
Do you have stable housing whereyou can sleep safely at night?
If you are safe in that way, take a step forward.
If you are not yet safe in that way, stay where you are.
Number four, Fourth point, do you get enough sleep to feel
rested most days? Take a step forward.
(07:46):
If that is true, give yourself apoint, your fourth point
possible. All right.
And the 5th question under basicsurvival, can you access
healthcare, a doctor, urgent care, prescriptions when you
need it? Take a step forward.
That is basic survival. We're going to move on to safety
needs or security and stability.The question is, do you feel
(08:10):
physically safe in your home andneighborhood?
Take a step forward. Next question, do you have
steady income, financial resources to meet your basic
needs? Take a step forward.
Next question. This is the 8th question.
(08:32):
I don't know how many points youhave, but you have up to 8 so
far. Are you free from regular
threats like abuse, mental or physical harassment, or
violence? The answer is yes.
Take a step forward and #9 do you trust that emergency
services, police, ambulances, fire department will respond if
(08:55):
you need them? And lastly, do you have
protection from legal or job related insecurity like wrongful
eviction, sudden firing? Do you have a safety net?
Do you have a safety net or legal protection?
Take a step forward if that is true, sisters out there, maybe
you scored below 8, maybe you scored 6, maybe you scored five.
(09:19):
It means that there are opportunities and we'll talk
about today. Maybe you scored one, maybe you
don't feel safe at all. It means that you are insecure
that you are that you feel unsafe in many parts of your
life. And this is an opportunity to
move that score up. And so we're going to give you
some very practical pieces of advice.
And we're going to give you somevery practical pieces of advice
(09:39):
to avoid threats to your safety,particularly around the police
and law enforcement. So I want to get into that.
You guys go ahead and start yourwalk for today. 15 minutes in
any direction, 15 minutes back. We will do our best to fit all
of this life saving content in that time.
We're going to start quickly with our sister Renata, who's
going to give us an overview of the state of Black safety and
(10:02):
the and the state of safety in the world.
Renata, can you give us kind of that Master Class Monday
overview of the week? Yes, I want to start by saying
these are facts and these are stats, but it doesn't have to
remain our reality. And I'm just really hopeful that
we are starting to move towards a more just reality for our
people because reading the statsfor today was just overwhelming.
(10:27):
And who, you know, just trying to get through this.
So with safety, there's perception and then there's
reality. So according to FBI data from
2020, 377% of Americans say thatcrime is increasing.
But the data shows that crime actually, or violent crime
actually fell by 8% between 2022and 23.
(10:49):
A Gallup report shows that only 41% of Americans feel safe
walking alone at night in their neighborhood, and that's down
from 48% back in 2019. And I can relate to what Vanessa
was sharing earlier about those gunshots and the cadence of
hearing, you know, sirens following that.
So that safety of being able to walk by yourself in your
neighborhood. Relating to gun violence and
(11:12):
firearm related deaths, the US has the highest gun ownership
rate in the world. There's about 120 guns per 100
people in 2020. Two, 48,830 firearm deaths with
over half of those being people who died by suicide.
And that's the stat reported by the CDC and children and teens.
(11:34):
The gun violence has become the leading cause of death in 2020
and it remains so. Another form of safety for us is
economic insecurity and safety. 12.4% of Americans live below
the poverty line, and this is according to the US Census in
2020, 258% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
(11:55):
Economic precarity correlates with the exposure of unsafe
housing, food insecurity, and higher neighborhood crime rates.
And then regarding policing and criminal justice, the US has the
highest incarceration rate globally.
There's about 665 people per 100,000 who are incarcerated.
Nearly one in three adults in the US has a criminal record,
(12:17):
and over 1000 people were killedby the police in 2023.
Regarding our mental health and safety, one in five US adults,
which is approximately about 57 million people, live with a
mental illness and suicide is the 11th leading cause of death,
and it's rising notably among youth and veterans and policing.
(12:40):
In the state of violence, Black Americans are 2.9 times more
likely to be killed by police than white Americans, and we're
1 1/2 times more likely to be unarmed during police encounters
resulting in our death. When we Met Police violence,
Black people are only 13% of thepopulation, but we account for
27% of those who are killed by police.
(13:04):
Black Americans are 10 times more likely than white Americans
to die by gun homicide and blackmen ages 15 to 34.
Gun homicide is a leading cause of death.
When we talk when we talk about incarceration and criminal
justice, 38% of the prison population is black and we're
only 13% of this population. Y'all?
(13:25):
So I know these are some stark statistics and some really
depressing facts. This is our reality, but it
doesn't have to be our future. Thank you for that, Renata.
I appreciate it. I appreciate the facts.
I appreciate that we are all tuned in here.
I appreciate more than ever thatwe are together.
I appreciate that there are strength in numbers.
(13:46):
I appreciate that we come from all those, those black women who
were in the Black Panther Party in our intro, who was like, no
more brothers in jail. I'm just so grateful for those
who came before us. We have a blueprint.
We don't have to be afraid and we have so many opportunities to
stand together and be safe. Let's talk about how to increase
that score. There's some sisters out there
(14:07):
who like, yo, I got it too, like, and I get it y'all, y'all.
So if you have a 2 like I did when I was living in South
Carolina, I want you to know that there's some things you can
do. Some of this will be such
confirmation, Vanessa, that we are doing the right thing.
It's just a quick review. I'll take a minute or two just
to help you increase your score.Then we're going to move to the
(14:28):
second part of today's lesson. So here's some things you can do
for your basic needs, right? If you need more food, y'all
apply for SNAP. Vanessa did a beautiful job on
Friday, on Thursday, talking to us about how we access our
rights and how we access resources in our community.
But we can also go to food banks, y'all.
(14:49):
There ain't no shame in that. And we can also do community
like meal sharing and planning in regards to clean access if
you want to get that point up. Y'all get some filters.
We got to get some filters. You can boil your water old
school. But really if you have unsafe,
there are a contamination kits that you can order online for
very cheap and do some citizen science.
(15:10):
If you have unsafe drinking water, you have to report it to
your local utility or health department.
We talked about access to healthcare, y'all, Medicaid.
There was a beautiful episode onthis.
We are doing good work here together. self-care school is
going to save lives, y'all. We talked about mental health
hotlines and I wanted to remind you of some of those mental
(15:31):
health hotlines, y'all. There is the crisis hotline.
If you are having a mental health emergency, you can call
988 and then the National Domestic Violence Hotline, you
can text Start to the number 88788.
OK, so you can text Start to 88788 if you're experiencing
(15:54):
domestic violence, y'all? So those are some of the kind of
resources that you can do for mental health.
You can also use these online therapies like Better Help or
Talkspace. They're cheaper than regular in
person talking, but they have real therapists.
And sometimes your people will pay for, I mean, your people at
your job will pay for it. There's therapy for Black girls,
(16:15):
y'all therapyforblackgirls.com. It directs you to culturally
competent Black therapist. So there's a lot of help out
there for mental health. So that's for that.
That third question that I askedas we're going through these,
there's some a couple more I want to highlight around
financial insecurity. We've talked a lot about this,
but one I wanted to highlight isfree job training programs out
(16:37):
there, y'all. There's some really good ones.
First of all, IBM has one that'scalled Skills Build and it's
free. It offers free online
cybersecurity, data analysis andcloud computing skills.
So if you know, particularly forour black boys and our black men
out there who need some skills IT, you go to skillsbuild.org.
(16:59):
That's a good one. Apprenticeship.gov matches you
with apprenticeships. There's so many cool ones.
And I just want to highlight thelocal community colleges, y'all.
And in many states now, they arevery, very affordable, like the
state of California. So going back to Community
College and making sure that youcan be competitive in the job
market. And one thing I just wanted to
offer as a really practical suggestion is there's something
(17:23):
called mutual aid, and you may have heard the term, but you
might not know what it is. Essentially, in the most basic
sense, it's how do we take care of each other?
How do we pool our resources andtake care of each other?
And in almost every city, there are mutual aid societies.
And so I encourage you all rightnow to take out your phone, type
(17:43):
in the name of your city. If you're from Sacramento, type
in Sacramento mutual aid. If you're in DC, DC mutual aid,
Atlanta mutual aid, and just seewhat's out there.
There's so many groups to help, for us to help one another out
there in all different categories that you can get some
direct and immediate support around.
(18:04):
All right. And then the last thing I want
to say just about ensuring your safety and the resources that we
have is we've talked about this a little bit, but I want to just
go over the emergency numbers that you can call.
So we all know the golden rule is to call 911 for threats to
life and safety. We know that 911 is for life
threatening emergencies like a medical crisis or a fire or
(18:28):
smoke. We all know this.
But there's a quick kind of other guide of the other other
numbers you can call. We talked about 988.
You can think about that as yourtherapist, right?
So that's if your mind is in crisis or somebody else's mind
is in crisis, you can call 988 and remember the ears.
You can remember the 88 'cause somebody to listen.
Then there is a social worker that's available to all of us at
(18:50):
211, 211, that's for basic survival, right?
211, that's social support. Who's going to answer?
It's going to be a social worker.
You can think about this or remember the number 211, because
two people think about two people hugging like you're a
social worker got you, is getting you through these hard
times. So 211 is for your social
(19:10):
worker, somebody who got your back, somebody who has their arm
around you. This is for food, crisis,
housing, shelter, utility bills,job help, childcare.
You can call 211 and ask for help.
Y'all. Now 311 is for the city
problems. That's when you start to
organize, when you got 3 together, right?
So 311 is for city problems, non-emergency.
But like this is how you access your city and your local
(19:32):
government. And that's really if your
streetlights are out, if there'snoise complaints, if you, and
then we'll round it out with onewe all know which is 411, and
that's just for information. But y'all, as we become overly
reliant on technology, you mightneed 411.
If you get locked up, you're in a protest and you can't remember
nobody's number and you don't got your your phone, you might
have to call 411. So don't don't forget that.
(19:54):
That is a resource to call for adirectory.
Think about the Yellow Pages back in the day to find numbers,
businesses or people, especiallywhen you don't have Internet.
All right, so let's take a quickbreak, Vanessa.
And on this break, this ain't nobreak.
It's conversation. It's a break from all that
information. I want to ask you what has been
(20:17):
like your most harrowing or memorable or significant
interface with the police? And I want you to think about it
because I was thinking about onewhere we were both there.
And then I want to talk about, Iwant to talk about how we
interface with the police. And I really think that this is
important information. So before we do that, Vanessa,
(20:40):
though, I'm going to, I'm going to play this video that talks
about 3 lies that the police tell you.
And then I want you to hold yourstory because I want to know if
any of these were applied to thestory that you're thinking
through. The top three lies cops tell you
during a traffic stop. First, you have to answer all my
questions. False.
(21:00):
You only need to provide your license, registration, and proof
of insurance. Second, if you're innocent, you
won't mind if I search your car.Don't fall for it.
You have the right to say no 3rd.
This is just a minor violation. Just admit it and we'll go easy
on you. The moment you admit guilt, you
make fighting the ticket harder.Stay smart, know your rights,
(21:23):
and follow for more legal tips. So many women and men and
children out there have experienced these sorts of
interfaces. And I want to I want to say
first of all, I want to play this ACLU video to just give us
some instruction just to jump off this conversation, Vanessa.
(21:44):
So I want you to think about your experience and think about
what what you did during those times that maybe were great and
kept you alive and kept you safe.
And then maybe some of the things that you could have done
to help assure your safety. So let's go ahead and play this
video that I that I found from the ACLU Nevada.
(22:04):
If you are stopped for a trafficviolation and you are the
driver, you are required to provide your license, proof of
your insurance, and your registration for the vehicle.
If you're not sure why you've been stopped, you should ask
whether or not you are free to leave.
If the officer says that you arefree to leave, you should leave
immediately. Calmly, but leave immediately.
If the officer says that you arenot free to leave, you may ask
(22:25):
why have you been stopped? An officer is not necessarily
required to answer that question, but they may, and that
can be useful information. If an officer asks for
permission to search your car, you should say no.
You do not have to consent to a search.
If you choose to invoke your right to remain silent, you
actually have to say that you need to say I'm invoking my
right to remain silent. A traffic stop can only last as
(22:48):
long as it takes for the officerto investigate the traffic
violation they have stopped you for.
If the officer finds evidence ofanother crime and establishes
what they call reasonable suspicion, they can hold you for
longer. But if they if they don't have
that, they can only investigate the traffic violation itself.
That includes getting your license, your insurance, and
your registration, running your name to confirm that you do not
(23:09):
have any arrest warrants, checking to make sure the
registration is valid, and confirming whether or not a
violation has occurred. Once that is complete, the
officer has to let you go. If the officer diverts into any
other purpose that is not related to investigating the
traffic violation itself, that officer has violated your
constitutional rights. Even if you believe your rights
are being violated, you should comply.
(23:29):
Apply with orders that an officer gives you.
You do not want to be charged with obstructing.
That said, if you are only taking an action because an
officer has ordered you to do so, you can say clearly that you
are not consenting to the actionand that you do not believe the
action is lawful. If the officer places you under
arrest, you should ask for a lawyer immediately.
If you do not know whether or not you've been placed under
(23:50):
arrest, it never hurts to say that you want to see a lawyer
immediately. If you are a passenger in a car
that is stopped for a traffic violation, you have the same
rights as the driver in the car.However, unlike the driver, if
an officer asks for your identification, you do not need
to provide that identification unless the officer has
reasonable suspicion that you have committed a criminal
(24:11):
offense. All of these different scenarios
we have all come in contact with.
I mean, all the statistics that Renata shared in the beginning
that one in three people have some kind of encounter with the
justice system in America. I would say with black people,
it's almost, it's almost 9 out of 10, Vanessa, that all of us
have had some kind of experiencelike this.
(24:32):
And So what I want to talk abouton today is what to do to make
sure that if, if we are in thesesituations, we can save our own
lives and that our children can save their own lives and that
our partners can save their own lives.
So the first kind of general information that I want to give
is that we just got to stay calm, to stay alive.
(24:54):
We can fight in court. Don't reach suddenly for
anything or resist anything. I was listening to a black
police officer online. He was like, turn your
headlights on, put your hands straight on the on the steering
wheel and don't move. And they will know you know
somebody because the police officers coming up to you scared
too. And they're and you're giving
them insight into what's happening into your car and just
(25:16):
don't move. Say clearly that you are
asserting your rights and if it is safe record, y'all record or
have somebody else record it is legal.
All right, Vanessa, word for word, I looked at the ACLUN,
double ACP, all of the differentlegal just behemoths in our
(25:37):
community to make sure we got this right.
Word for word. What you should say is, Officer,
am I being detained or am I freeto go?
Something else that you should say is I do not consent to a
search. Even say that if they are in the
midst of searching, because in the court of law you have to say
(25:58):
it, You can't stay silent. You have to say it.
I do not consent to a search. You have to also say I choose to
remain silent and I want a lawyer.
This protects you from self incrimination.
So do not talk. I choose to remain quiet.
Now these are just words that you use when you really feel
like it's escalating, right? So those are those are some of
(26:21):
the tips what not to do. Please don't argue, please don't
run, please don't insult, pleasedon't threaten.
Please don't get sarcastic. Please don't roll up your
window. And in fact, all of the experts
say crack your window so that they can you can talk to the
officer, but that he doesn't have access to your full body.
But if you have tinted windows, you might want to roll the
windows all the way down. Do not touch them or their
(26:44):
equipment. Do not consent to searches
verbally or by action. Now, we know that black drivers
are disproportionately, disproportionately stopped in
cars for car stops. So keep your hands on the
window, as I said. Roll your window down partially,
as I said, but you have to show your license, you have to show
(27:05):
your registration, and you have to show your proof of insurance.
All of the experts say you should have those things
together and have them in a veryaccessible place so that if you
get pulled over, you can pull them together quickly and lay
them on your lap. So you don't have to even reach
for them because so many people have been killed reaching for
the registration, reaching for their for their license.
(27:27):
So be very be have them togetherand be prepared in that regard.
On the street, if you are detained for a stop and frisk,
walk away. You have the ability and the and
the right to walk away. You don't have to stay there,
but you want to, you want to be very mindful of that.
But you do have the right, if you're not being detained, if
you are stopped, you can, you can again say that you're not
(27:48):
answering any questions, particularly if you are have
immigration or immigrant status,right?
You do not have to share any information with ICE.
You don't have to share any information.
If the police come to your door,Vanessa, you do not have to open
the door. You can ask if they have a
warrant signed by a judge. And if they do have a warrant,
(28:10):
you can ask if you can see it under the door.
These are your options. These are your rights.
You can also say I do not consent to a search, right?
These are just your rights. I'm, I'm not telling you how to
navigate. I will share with you
recommendations to tell your kids, but I'm telling you your
rights. Now, do you have the right to
record, Vanessa? Yes, you have the right to film
(28:32):
the police. And then there's some apps like
Mobile Justice with the ACLU that can stream your video
directly to legal support and they can they can chat with you
real time. So that's called mobile justice.
Most black people who were killed by the police didn't do
anything wrong. I just want to say that I don't
think they would. They did anything wrong that
would justify their death. I think that it's systemic bias.
(28:56):
I think that it's over policing.I think that it's poor training
of the officers. And so I don't want anybody to
take away from here that it's something that we have to do or
we have to take ownership of that.
When I think about and call the names of people like Philando
Castile, there is nothing that that brother did wrong.
There's nothing that that brother did wrong.
And in fact, what his partner did right was to film it so that
(29:18):
we stop this from happening again.
So just a reminder that you can legally film George Floyd.
I want to call his name that brother did nothing wrong.
Sandra Bland did nothing wrong. And what one of the things that
is recommended from her case is to make sure that you know the
numbers of your family members so that you can call if you are
arrested and that you were certain asked for if you need
(29:42):
any mental health aid that you asked for that.
But in this case, Sandra did advocated fiercely for herself
and did nothing wrong and was killed.
And so I say all that to say, wecan do our best, but we also
have to stick together and change the systems that are
harming us. So as a quick review, y'all, for
your family discussion tonight, your family guide for staying
(30:05):
safe during police encounters tonight, I encourage you to
number one, step one, set the tone with your children by
saying something like, we're nothaving this talk because we
expect any trouble, but we're having it so that if something
ever does happen, we know what to do and we can stay safe and
(30:25):
we can stay alive. And then you got to talk through
the five like key questions. What are your rights?
You have the right to remain silent.
You do not have to consent to a search.
You can ask am I free to go #2 What should you do with your
body? You should keep your hands
visible at all times, don't reach into your pockets or your
(30:45):
bags. And you should stay silent and
avoid sudden movements #3 What words should you use?
You should use calm, clear words, don't argue or talk back.
And if you're scared, say I am nervous and I just want to stay
safe #4 What should others around you do?
(31:05):
They should record the stop if it's safe.
They should call or text me, your mother or a trusted adult
or a lawyer. They should stay nearby as a
witness, but don't interfere. And finally, what should you do
after? You should write down any
numbers you can find. Badge numbers, card numbers,
names. Take photos of any injuries.
(31:27):
Or as the car is driving away, snap a photo of it and we
together will contact legal aid as soon as possible.
You are safe. We can do this together, and if
anything happens, we're right byyour side.
So I think we need to have theseconversations with our kiddos.
I think we need to have these conversations with our partners
(31:47):
and just make sure that we know our rights, y'all.
Vanessa, is there anything you want to add here before we close
up this episode? I was thinking when you said
that Brianna was killed with a no knock raid, I just I want to
say we wrestle not against fleshand blood and just let's just
also just say prayed up. Yes, yes, girl, stay prayed up,
(32:11):
y'all stay prayed up, stay prayed up.
And so I want to end with the words of Aja Monet with Black
Joy so that we can understand the texture and where our joy
comes from. And we'll play just a little bit
of it. And then in solidarity, I
encourage you to go to Apple Music.
I encourage you to go to Spotifyand play the entire 6 minute
experience of her spoken word. Play the entire experience and
(32:34):
let it wash over you because it really is an absolute opus to
Black Joy. So let's end today's episode
with that Vanessa. Thank you, Renata her for
starting us so strongly. I appreciate it.
I just appreciate you both so much.
Any final words fee. I appreciate you too.
I appreciate everyone for just joining this community and being
a part of this. This is a really important
(32:55):
conversation today. We play out with Aja Monet Black
Joy. Black Joy.
(33:19):
Joy is the will. It's the dimple that has endured
a dance so deep in a dark cheek,a wound without a scar, without
a trace. The humor of hurt.
It's the hell of being healed. Joy adapts.
Death lives in the grin singing from the blood bays, and a smirk
(33:41):
testifies tenderness in a tear. It is a smile silhouetted
against the face, witnessing thewant the the flower in the
grenade arose in the concrete, apirouette beside a barricade.
It's the butterfly in the battlefield.
It's Dishonored, the swing set in the middle of a gunfight.
It's dodging a bullet, hopscotch, double Dutch, a
(34:02):
fierce gaze, the side eye, the shade, the sass, the snap, the
head nod. It's the turn up, the swag.
Joy is righteous and ratchet. Joy twerks and taps, jokes and
jives. Harlem shakes, electric slides,
dirty wine sauces on twos and rumbas.
Joy is rhythm and repetition, rhythm and repetition.
(34:24):
Hums and harmony Is the Blues isa song in a cotton field of
central bookings on a crowded subway.
Joy Is a song anywhere. Joy.
Bees in the track Is a zilla beat in the Middle East, Is fly,
is finger licking good? Is pastelas with black beans or
Patty and cocoa bread? Is fried chicken with BBQ sauce
or Buffalo sauce or hot sauce orany damn sauce.
(34:45):
Joy, There's a recipe pass on a language that survives savory,
sweet toe curling, knocking boots.
The fight, the fury. Making love to make up.
It's the glow. It's an entire day in a lover's
arms. A carton of ice cream and a bed
of books that's illuminated in the aftermath.
Wrinkled lips, a powdered kiss. The shivering hits the theater
(35:06):
of our Thunder. Joy.
Joy is a story traveling A rocking chair on the front lawn,
a wind chime in a window. It's a barbecue in the backyard,
subwoofers in a hoopty. It's melanin gathered in a room.
It's the entourage. It's getting your friends in the
club. Joy, Joy.
It's all about vibes. It's a roof over your head.
(35:26):
It's clothes on your back. It's Free 99.
It's having the rent when it's due, or having no rent at all.
No debt.
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