WEBVTT FILE
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[Oprah] And now,
an OWN SPOTLIGHT.
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Downloaded from
YTS.MX
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX
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[melancholy music playing]
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[woman] Mother.
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The stars fill my mouth
while I speak to the universe
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on a tight rope
between life and death,
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negotiating the promise
of an unbreakable heart.
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She molds the pieces
of the last one,
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into a birth canal
paved with gold.
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While the night plays
its finale,
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the ocean opens its arms
and pace is my breath.
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I push, so the pull of waves
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crashing already in celebration
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of the newest extension
of heaven.
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[melancholy music continues]
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Pushing the form
of black women astronauts,
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healers and architects.
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Living to a soundtrack
of little black girls
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feeling the opera house
with strings
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and when pushing the choir
of queen singing,
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we have overcome pushing
a theater
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at ballerina's next door
with Afros out rocking
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so wade in the water,
pushing the applause
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for the leading actress
shining like a new moon.
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Under the spotlight
was she plants seeds falling
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from the hands of a playwright
kin to her.
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I push from the shoulders
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of giants ancestors
that left gifts.
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They receive no honors
for by the river
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to run through
their daughter's forever.
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I push on the lie
that I am not infinite.
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But this warm has not given
the world's renaissance
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after Renaissance, when
the world's given me sorrow
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after ghetto, after brick wall.
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I scaled it with
the entire nation
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tied around my waist,
screaming 'go faster' for you.
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My beautiful black daughters,
I push.
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[woman] Video one, take one.
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[Dr. Joy] My occupation is
kind of hard to put my finger on.
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My occupation has been about
healing for a long time, um,
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and I think my existence
as a black woman
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is directly tied into
my purpose.
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I think that from the time
I was a little girl,
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even though I couldn't
put my finger on it,
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it was a wound that I couldn't
quite figure out what it was.
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I knew it was there, but
I couldn't articulate it
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in a way that made sense,
even for me.
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But I knew it was a deep wound.
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[melancholy music playing]
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I knew it was a heart wound.
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It was a soul wound.
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[Sheila Thomas] We've been hurt.
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We've been abused and used
and thrown out decades
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of just not mattering to anyone.
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That makes you...
It makes you very angry.
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Makes you upset.
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A lot of us are angry because
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of the things that happen
in our lives.
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The things that we go through,
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the way we treat it.
We have cause to be angry.
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The misuse in abuse
of the black woman's body.
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It goes way back,
goes back hundreds of years.
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[thunder rumbling]
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[melancholy music continues]
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[woman] In your book,
'Fighting Words',
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you state,
'Publicly articulating rage'
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typically constitutes less
a revelation about oppression,
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than a discovery of voice.
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Ooh.
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Well, I'm happy to hear
I said that.
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[laughing]
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Because I actually said that
quite some time ago,
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and I haven't thought
about this in a while.
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So this is quite interesting.
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Having said that...
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[sighs wearily]
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The terminology now I think,
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would be speaking your own truth
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by claiming your own truth
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and claiming all parts of
yourself, including the rage,
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claiming the full range of voice
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is claiming
the full range of self.
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We also have joy, right?
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We also have sorrow.
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We also have pride.
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We also have laughter, right?
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And so I think we have
a right to our anger,
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and I think that we should
hold on to that right to be angry.
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Why would we reject anger when
there's so much to be angry about,
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that affect us,
that affect our children,
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that affect our communities,
that affect our loved ones?
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Why would we want to tamp
that down to become a good girl?
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If I do begin to assert myself,
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if I begin to stand
in my own truth,
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"Oh, she's aggressive,
she's angry, she's violent."
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Out of control.
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That's all you are,
is an angry black woman.
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I mean, there's angry white
women as angry Spanish women.
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I mean, there's angry women. You know,
why does it have to be the black woman?
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"Angry black woman."
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We don't have dibs on it.
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When you were labeled
that, "angry black woman,"
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was that one of the things
that knocked you back...
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That was one of those things
that you just sort of think,
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"Dang, you don't even know me."
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Yeah.
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It flies in the face
of the reality of who we are.
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It is taken such a level
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of indomitable strength
and courage
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to bear the burden of
consistently being,
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uh, I guess, portrayed as
someone less than human.
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♪ Lord, got to get out ♪
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[man] The new Mammy holder
dispenses paper towels
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with a touch of
Southern hospitality.
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[man 2]
The tax free cash income alone
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has been running
$150,000 a year.
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Society's views toward
black women
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are framed through
these particular images.
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The Mammy...
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the Jezebel...
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the welfare queen,
that was relatively new.
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But it's the whole notion of
punishing black women for, um,
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not being abused,
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for saying, "We are entitled
to the benefits"
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"that other people get
in this country."
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When Social Security started
in this country,
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black women where one group
that were excluded.
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So when black women
began to claim
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and say, "No,
we should be included,"
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they became denigrated
as welfare queens.
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[speaks indistinctly]
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[Dr. Hill-Collins] The Jezebel
is the sexualized black woman.
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This is the woman who again
is supposed to be available
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to everyone to serve them,
but to serve them differently,
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to serve them sexually,
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and to then be punished
for that.
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She's there to be used and
to make people comfortable.
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What have we got for supper?
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You stay here. I'm just gonna
get a hot supper.
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And then the last one
is the, what?
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The Mammy, yeah.
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The Mammy is the mother
for the white family.
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That is the all nurturing
black woman
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who does everything for
everybody else, and loves to do it.
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She is the fantasy
of white America.
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When we think about
those kind of archetypes
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that have been imposed
on black women,
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archetype of the Mammy,
of the Sapphire,
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of the Jezebel,
of the welfare queen,
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those are meant
to dehumanize us.
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You call us welfare queens?
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You call us lazy,
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you call us bad mothers.
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No one else gets those titles.
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Why is that?
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But if you had that
image of Aunt Jemima,
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you, um... you were accepted.
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And I think that for decades,
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all we wanted was to be accepted
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and visible
instead of invisible.
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So often I ask my audiences,
I said,
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"How many of you
have ever met a Black person
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that isn't Black?"
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The Black person that
will try to be anything...
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All of a sudden,
anything that I can tell you,
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that will convince you
that I'm not Black.
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Well, I have
another word for it...
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It's called
post traumatic slave syndrome.
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As a mother of two Black men...
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the thing that I'm most
afraid of
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is that I'm going to get a call
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saying that someone
killed my sons.
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That terrorizes me.
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Mornings around here
aren't just hectic...
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Oh! They're insane. [laughs]
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And that's why I love these.
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[woman]
Aunt Jemima frozen pancakes.
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They're the perfect solution
to busy weekday mornings.
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♪ Aunt Jemima
Now you're cooking ♪
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[man] Hey, these are terrific.
What's the secret?
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Oh, it's an old family secret
handed down
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from generation to generation...
- [laughter]
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...from father to son.
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- By Aunt Jemima.
- The Secret is out.
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I mean, I have yet to meet
a black woman
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who loved being a Mammy.
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[woman] Did your mother work?
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Yes, she did, uh, housework.
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That was her way of income,
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working and cleaning house
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for, uh, the white people
back there.
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Washing and ironing.
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And, um, that was her way
of her income
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and making a living,
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because at the time,
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that was all that
the black woman knew to do...
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at that time.
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Do housework, cook...
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wash, iron...
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They were influenced, too.
Be the Mammy they knew.
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Labels, stereotypes
like Mammy, um,
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are what my colleague
Patricia Hill-Collins
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calls controlling images.
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They boxes that try to contain
and control us.
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And one of the things that I find
most important about these stereotypes
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and these controlling images is,
even when we're trying to defy them
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and not fall into them,
they're controlling us.
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The process of making oneself
invisible or playing small, right?
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Trying not to draw negative
attention to ourselves
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also means that we're not drawing
positive attention to ourselves.
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We're not able to
fulfill our potential.
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So often I ask my audiences, I said,
"How many Black people in my audience,"
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I asked them, "How many of you have
ever met a Black person that isn't Black?"
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The Black person that
will try to be anything...
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"Oh, did I mention how much
Native American I have in me?"
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"Oh, and I understand based on my DNA
now, that my people come from Switzerland."
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All of a sudden,
anything that I can tell you,
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that will convince you
that I'm not Black, right,
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and everybody Black knows that.
Well, I have another word for it...
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It's called
post traumatic slave syndrome.
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Post traumatic slave syndrome
is exactly what it sounds like.
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It's multigenerational trauma,
intergenerational trauma,
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as it relates to people
of African descent.
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Being separated from your
your native land,
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being beaten, being sold,
being raped,
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being experimented on,
any number of things.
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As an enslaved African woman,
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you um... you had no rights to your own
body, no rights at all to your own body.
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And it didn't start
when you were a woman.
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You know, that's the other kind of
mythology when we talk about rapes,
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were thinking about women.
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You think they waited
until they were eighteen?
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You think few girls got to teenage
years without having been raped.
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To imagine being a mother...
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Someone just comes in the middle of
night says, you know we have some visitors.
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They like the young ones.
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So we going to pass her
along, to the visitors that night.
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See you can't wrap your
head around that.
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And we want to
really believe that,
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well that just happened
a couple of times,
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well according to a
mid eighteen hundred census
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or over six hundred thousand
mixed race babies born.
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That's a lot of
sneaking out back.
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The more disturbing pieces are
the fact that you have the institution
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of the church that was complicit,
that with slavery was complicit with
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beyond that, I mean, you look at the
Reverend John Newton for example.
248
00:15:16.348 --> 00:15:19.117
This was a man who
spent many, many years
249
00:15:19.218 --> 00:15:23.121
on slave ships,
raping little girls and women.
250
00:15:23.222 --> 00:15:27.258
This is his own accounts, he said
that I sinned with the high hand,
251
00:15:27.359 --> 00:15:31.062
and he at the same time,
said that Black people
252
00:15:31.163 --> 00:15:37.602
were not destined for the next
world, because we didn't have souls.
253
00:15:39.471 --> 00:15:41.506
[singing "Amazing Grace"]
254
00:15:41.607 --> 00:15:46.110
This was the same person
who penned Amazing Grace.
255
00:15:46.211 --> 00:15:49.047
♪ The ♪
256
00:15:49.148 --> 00:15:53.484
♪ The sound ♪
257
00:15:53.585 --> 00:15:55.186
♪ that saved ♪
258
00:15:55.287 --> 00:15:58.356
And it took him a long time to
arrive at "Amazing Grace."
259
00:15:58.457 --> 00:16:00.758
But that was because he
knew what he done.
260
00:16:00.859 --> 00:16:03.962
He knew later on,
as he was approaching death.
261
00:16:04.063 --> 00:16:06.064
That he would be held
accountable for that.
262
00:16:07.366 --> 00:16:10.168
I don't think anyone sings "Amazing
Grace" more than Black people.
263
00:16:12.204 --> 00:16:15.406
Somebody singing it this
Sunday, I'm sure, "Amazing Grace."
264
00:16:15.507 --> 00:16:20.278
But have no idea that the
wretch was him and not them.
265
00:16:20.379 --> 00:16:24.215
So now they're calling themselves the
wretch when he, in fact, was the wretch.
266
00:16:55.014 --> 00:16:59.250
It is so difficult to talk
about the misuse and abuse
267
00:16:59.351 --> 00:17:03.721
of Black women's bodies
by so many different people,
268
00:17:03.822 --> 00:17:05.390
on so many different levels.
269
00:17:05.491 --> 00:17:09.527
If slavery is being exposed
to images that tell you
270
00:17:09.628 --> 00:17:12.797
you are the mule of the world
or you are a Jezebel
271
00:17:12.898 --> 00:17:18.236
or you are a prostitute or a bitch
or a ho, then slavery is not over.
272
00:17:20.539 --> 00:17:23.775
So there was an
attempt by, um...
273
00:17:23.876 --> 00:17:29.113
this structure from the
beginning to take women's bodies,
274
00:17:29.214 --> 00:17:32.750
Black women's bodies,
and make them not our own.
275
00:17:35.888 --> 00:17:37.622
[Dr. Joy Degrui]
This one particular physician,
276
00:17:37.723 --> 00:17:39.757
um, J. Marion Sims.
277
00:17:39.858 --> 00:17:44.362
J. Marion Sims was a physician
in the mid eighteen hundreds.
278
00:17:44.463 --> 00:17:48.633
Consider the father of
modern gynecology,
279
00:17:48.734 --> 00:17:55.440
because he developed the speculum,
which is used for every woman today.
280
00:17:55.541 --> 00:17:57.508
So much goes through
my head when I think about
281
00:17:57.609 --> 00:17:59.577
what these men would do
that would bring...
282
00:17:59.678 --> 00:18:02.513
He had a makeshift hospital in his
backyard in mid eighteen hundreds.
283
00:18:02.614 --> 00:18:06.684
So in his makeshift hospital,
and all of these slave owners
284
00:18:06.785 --> 00:18:10.188
would bring these enslaved
girls and women and say fix them.
285
00:18:11.957 --> 00:18:13.891
And he'd go, well
what's wrong with them?
286
00:18:13.992 --> 00:18:17.762
They would they would be women
who were suffering
287
00:18:17.863 --> 00:18:19.831
from something called
Obstetric fistula.
288
00:18:19.932 --> 00:18:22.633
Which is a breakdown
of tissue in the vaginal wall,
289
00:18:22.734 --> 00:18:26.003
usually occurs during childbirth,
where you actually tear all the way
290
00:18:26.105 --> 00:18:31.209
through the bladder, through
the rectum, and it causes,
291
00:18:31.310 --> 00:18:34.979
this... gaps which causes
leakage of urine and feces.
292
00:18:35.080 --> 00:18:38.249
And he'd said, "We'll fix them
because they're not fit for duty."
293
00:18:39.418 --> 00:18:40.885
Well, obstetric fistula's
294
00:18:40.986 --> 00:18:43.821
pretty horrible thing to have,
but it will heal.
295
00:18:43.922 --> 00:18:47.258
You still have leakage, which
is horrible and uncomfortable,
296
00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:52.396
but it doesn't preclude your
ability, to say, working the fields.
297
00:18:52.498 --> 00:18:56.501
Doesn't preclude your ability to
clean, feed animals, what have you.
298
00:18:56.602 --> 00:18:58.302
So what duty, then,
299
00:18:58.403 --> 00:19:00.805
were they not fit for?
300
00:19:00.906 --> 00:19:06.277
And that duty was they needed to be
sexually accessible to the slave owner.
301
00:19:06.378 --> 00:19:08.813
So he said,
fix her J. Marion Sims,
302
00:19:08.914 --> 00:19:11.716
so she could be fit for duty.
303
00:19:11.817 --> 00:19:18.589
And that duty, didn't matter that she
was twelve or ten, she's not fit for duty.
304
00:19:21.460 --> 00:19:25.496
Mississippi appendectomy
is a is a phrase
305
00:19:25.597 --> 00:19:29.167
that describes the
forced sterilization
306
00:19:29.268 --> 00:19:34.138
of Black women, mainly
but not only, in the South.
307
00:19:34.239 --> 00:19:37.808
And the reason why
the phrase is so powerful
308
00:19:37.910 --> 00:19:43.447
is because it's naming a
practice of deceiving Black women.
309
00:19:43.549 --> 00:19:47.585
Because often people were admitted
to the hospital and told, for example,
310
00:19:47.686 --> 00:19:49.487
they had to get their
appendix removed,
311
00:19:49.588 --> 00:19:53.357
and really they were given a
hysterectomy or tubal ligation.
312
00:19:53.458 --> 00:19:57.595
This is a culture that wants us to
talk about the political and the cultural.
313
00:19:57.696 --> 00:20:02.466
Um, much more than talking about
the foundation of it all is exploitation.
314
00:20:02.568 --> 00:20:05.570
So the economic dimension
is the exploitation
315
00:20:05.671 --> 00:20:08.906
of Black women's labor
and Black women's bodies.
316
00:20:09.007 --> 00:20:10.208
It's that fundamental.
317
00:20:16.048 --> 00:20:17.782
[Cora Mathews]
At the age of fourteen,
318
00:20:17.883 --> 00:20:24.689
I was in a little town out of Pine
Bluff called Old Timers, Arkansas.
319
00:20:28.927 --> 00:20:31.362
I began on a plantation.
320
00:20:35.133 --> 00:20:39.203
There was a job,
there was earning money.
321
00:20:39.304 --> 00:20:40.938
It wasn't very much.
322
00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:45.409
But, I was happy that
at the end of the week
323
00:20:45.510 --> 00:20:48.980
I had money, and
I could go shopping.
324
00:20:50.048 --> 00:20:54.085
And I remember,
my first week of working.
325
00:20:54.186 --> 00:20:57.688
I bought myself,
a beautiful yellow dress,
326
00:20:58.890 --> 00:21:01.959
and, uh, a pair of shoes.
327
00:21:02.060 --> 00:21:04.528
And I think at the end of the
week, I had about 18 dollars.
328
00:21:04.630 --> 00:21:09.700
That was the way,
I was taught at that time,
329
00:21:09.801 --> 00:21:15.940
to, uh, earn money, for myself.
330
00:21:21.780 --> 00:21:26.651
We had overseers, we had
water boys to bring cold water.
331
00:21:26.752 --> 00:21:30.888
Some of them were White and then
there we had some that were Black.
332
00:21:30.989 --> 00:21:32.823
At times, I hated it.
333
00:21:32.924 --> 00:21:34.525
I wasn't very good at it.
334
00:21:34.626 --> 00:21:37.228
My uncle tried to teach me
because he would always
335
00:21:37.329 --> 00:21:39.397
have me beside him on a row.
336
00:21:39.498 --> 00:21:42.933
I wanted to fill my bag, but you
have to shake it down to make it heavy
337
00:21:43.035 --> 00:21:46.937
so you have a nice weight when
you're going to have it weighed.
338
00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:51.809
And every time I would fill my
bag, he would shake it down.
339
00:21:51.910 --> 00:21:57.715
And that was discouraging
because I wanted a full bag like his.
340
00:21:57.816 --> 00:22:02.420
And once you fill it up, then
they pay you by the pound.
341
00:22:02.521 --> 00:22:09.060
It was like 50 cents a pound, so you
really had to pick hard to make any money.
342
00:22:14.366 --> 00:22:15.933
My husband promised
to get me out of there.
343
00:22:16.034 --> 00:22:17.702
And he did.
344
00:22:17.836 --> 00:22:21.272
Once I got engaged,
then I didn't go any more.
345
00:22:22.841 --> 00:22:25.609
My biggest fear is that
the police
346
00:22:25.711 --> 00:22:30.781
stop one of my sons
and something happens to them,
347
00:22:30.882 --> 00:22:35.119
they get shot or
get beat up, or anything...
348
00:22:35.220 --> 00:22:36.387
Anything would have happened
to them.
349
00:22:39.091 --> 00:22:41.158
Slavery did not end.
350
00:22:41.259 --> 00:22:45.663
If that is a question of not being able
to make decisions about your own life,
351
00:22:45.764 --> 00:22:49.533
if slavery is a situation
of economic disadvantage
352
00:22:49.634 --> 00:22:53.637
and not being able to get out of
it from one generation to the next,
353
00:22:53.739 --> 00:22:57.641
if slavery is being exposed
to images that tell you
354
00:22:57.743 --> 00:23:00.978
you are the mule of the world
or you are a Jezebel
355
00:23:01.079 --> 00:23:06.684
or you are a prostitute or a bitch
or a ho, then slavery is not over.
356
00:23:09.054 --> 00:23:11.689
There's this kind of mythology
around slavery
357
00:23:11.790 --> 00:23:16.560
that slavery officially ended,
and at that point somehow
358
00:23:16.661 --> 00:23:18.596
the playing field got leveled.
359
00:23:18.697 --> 00:23:22.666
But what I would submit to you is
that, you know, you had Jim Crow,
360
00:23:22.768 --> 00:23:24.101
all the lynchings that occurred,
361
00:23:24.202 --> 00:23:27.071
thousands and thousands of
lynchings occurred post-slavery,
362
00:23:27.172 --> 00:23:30.875
not during In fact, if
you were to look at right now,
363
00:23:30.976 --> 00:23:35.413
look at the majority of lynchings that
have gone on and those thousands
364
00:23:35.514 --> 00:23:38.115
of lynchings that have occurred
all over the United States,
365
00:23:38.216 --> 00:23:42.887
there's this delusional
paranoia that people of color,
366
00:23:42.988 --> 00:23:45.856
and principally Black men
would do to White women
367
00:23:45.957 --> 00:23:51.929
what White men did to Black women.
And the average Black man knew to run.
368
00:23:52.030 --> 00:23:55.766
Don't even make eye contact
with a White woman, which could
369
00:23:55.867 --> 00:24:00.438
cause, you know, cause your
death. Wrote a note to a White woman,
370
00:24:00.539 --> 00:24:05.176
failed to run an errand for a White
woman, startled a White woman,
371
00:24:05.277 --> 00:24:10.347
All of those would lead to lynching, not
just of Black men, but of the entire family.
372
00:24:13.618 --> 00:24:15.419
[woman] I hear you have a
problem with these gentlemen
373
00:24:15.520 --> 00:24:17.254
having a barbecue here at
the lake. What's going on?
374
00:24:19.458 --> 00:24:22.793
- Now she don't want to talk.
- [woman] She doesn't want to talk now.
375
00:24:22.894 --> 00:24:24.962
It's illegal to have a
charcoal grill in the park here.
376
00:24:25.063 --> 00:24:26.597
- [woman] No, it's not, actually.
- Yeah, it is.
377
00:24:26.698 --> 00:24:29.433
I just looked at the map that says
this is a designated barbecue area.
378
00:24:29.534 --> 00:24:31.735
[woman] This woman don't want
to let a little girl sell some water.
379
00:24:31.837 --> 00:24:36.006
- Illegally selling water without a permit, yeah.
- [woman] On my property.
380
00:24:36.107 --> 00:24:38.809
No, I want
the cops here right now.
381
00:24:38.910 --> 00:24:40.744
[children crying]
382
00:24:40.846 --> 00:24:44.882
- Mommy.
- I'm gonna stay right here. I'm gonna stay right here.
383
00:24:47.052 --> 00:24:48.486
[woman] The cops
are right down the block.
384
00:24:48.587 --> 00:24:51.689
So what I've been thinking
about a lot lately,
385
00:24:51.790 --> 00:24:53.524
and I'm a mother
and I'm a godmother.
386
00:24:53.625 --> 00:24:55.526
Something that I feel almost is
387
00:24:55.627 --> 00:24:58.963
a transgenerational memory,
388
00:24:59.064 --> 00:25:05.736
the idea that I don't have the
power, really, to protect my children.
389
00:25:05.837 --> 00:25:08.739
My biggest fear is that
the police
390
00:25:08.840 --> 00:25:13.544
stop one of my sons
and something happens to them,
391
00:25:13.645 --> 00:25:18.082
they get shot or
get beat up, or anything...
392
00:25:18.183 --> 00:25:20.084
Anything would have happened
to them.
393
00:25:20.185 --> 00:25:23.988
As a mother of two Black men,
394
00:25:24.089 --> 00:25:27.958
The thing that I'm most afraid
of is that I'm going to get a call
395
00:25:28.059 --> 00:25:32.596
saying that someone
killed my sons.
396
00:25:32.697 --> 00:25:34.064
That terrorizes me.
397
00:25:35.300 --> 00:25:37.868
[man] All right. I've asked
Helen Jones to join us.
398
00:25:37.969 --> 00:25:39.336
Okay, Helen, go ahead.
399
00:25:39.437 --> 00:25:41.305
Okay. This is my son,
John Horton
400
00:25:41.406 --> 00:25:43.607
that was accused
of hanging hisself
401
00:25:43.708 --> 00:25:45.576
in the Men's County Jail
last month
402
00:25:45.677 --> 00:25:48.579
on the 30th. They came
to my daughter's residence
403
00:25:48.680 --> 00:25:50.548
to tell me my son hung hisself.
404
00:25:50.649 --> 00:25:51.749
But they didn't say that my son
405
00:25:51.850 --> 00:25:54.251
have scars in his head.
406
00:25:54.352 --> 00:25:59.823
He have, uh, meat showing
to where... a handcuff
407
00:25:59.925 --> 00:26:02.860
was on his wrist to where
it's ate down to the meat.
408
00:26:02.961 --> 00:26:05.162
They didn't mention
none of that, you know?
409
00:26:05.263 --> 00:26:07.464
And then the bruise that's
on my son's head,
410
00:26:07.566 --> 00:26:08.799
you can see it clear as day
411
00:26:08.900 --> 00:26:12.303
where he been hit with
a billy club or a flashlight.
412
00:26:12.404 --> 00:26:14.204
The line's right here.
413
00:26:14.306 --> 00:26:15.839
You could see it clear as day.
414
00:26:15.941 --> 00:26:17.775
I can, I can show you proof.
415
00:26:17.876 --> 00:26:21.512
These lines right here is right
on my baby's head right here.
416
00:26:21.613 --> 00:26:22.813
And I'm just trying
to figure out,
417
00:26:22.914 --> 00:26:25.349
how did my son hang hisself
418
00:26:25.450 --> 00:26:27.885
after taking a blow
like this to his head,
419
00:26:27.986 --> 00:26:30.821
without receiving medical
attention from anybody.
420
00:26:30.922 --> 00:26:32.723
'Cause I know he didn't get
no medical attention.
421
00:26:32.824 --> 00:26:36.026
This is the noose
that came with my baby's body.
422
00:26:36.127 --> 00:26:38.295
This is what was
around his neck.
423
00:26:38.396 --> 00:26:40.731
And this is not the print
that's around my baby neck.
424
00:26:40.832 --> 00:26:43.701
My baby have a mark
around his neck this thin.
425
00:26:43.802 --> 00:26:46.537
So how would, how can he
hang hisself with this?
426
00:26:46.638 --> 00:26:50.374
This came to me and my family,
and I'm just trying to,
427
00:26:50.475 --> 00:26:53.444
how did this get out of evidence
and out of custody...
428
00:27:20.805 --> 00:27:23.874
I have one daughter today.
429
00:27:23.975 --> 00:27:26.877
She's 32, and I have a son
430
00:27:26.978 --> 00:27:30.414
that, you know, that's deceased.
431
00:27:30.515 --> 00:27:34.585
I knew they was doing something to
John because they wouldn't let me see him.
432
00:27:34.686 --> 00:27:37.554
And I tried to visit him
numerous times
433
00:27:39.057 --> 00:27:41.325
and they hid him from me and
434
00:27:42.794 --> 00:27:46.330
kept lying to me, telling me he
was over here, he was over there.
435
00:27:47.365 --> 00:27:52.336
So if anything, I just
want John to know that
436
00:27:52.437 --> 00:27:55.172
I wish I could have saved him. I
wish I could have helped my son.
437
00:27:57.876 --> 00:27:59.376
That's it.
438
00:28:16.761 --> 00:28:18.228
There's no way I could
get over that.
439
00:28:20.432 --> 00:28:24.401
I would use my dying breath
to get justice for him.
440
00:28:26.371 --> 00:28:29.606
So the question is,
how to protect oneself.
441
00:28:29.708 --> 00:28:33.477
And how do you raise a child
in a culture that hates your child?
442
00:28:33.578 --> 00:28:35.579
How do you raise your child
in a culture
443
00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:38.916
that will kill your child and
not even think twice about it?
444
00:28:39.017 --> 00:28:42.786
The police state is existing
exactly
445
00:28:42.887 --> 00:28:45.856
as it was designed to exist,
446
00:28:45.957 --> 00:28:48.625
and it makes me very angry.
447
00:28:48.727 --> 00:28:52.463
It makes me angry that
Black mothers are gunned down,
448
00:28:52.564 --> 00:28:57.000
people like Wakisha Wilson, or
Kisha Michael or, Michelle Shirley.
449
00:28:57.702 --> 00:29:02.773
Way, stand in the rifle sight.
450
00:29:02.874 --> 00:29:06.176
We raise our children
in the rifle sight.
451
00:29:09.280 --> 00:29:13.884
[man] The most disrespected
person in America is the Black woman.
452
00:29:17.455 --> 00:29:20.791
The most unprotected person
in America is the Black woman.
453
00:29:24.095 --> 00:29:27.097
The most neglected person
in America is the Black woman.
454
00:29:30.502 --> 00:29:36.406
Faith is not only believing in
something that you can't see and touch,
455
00:29:36.508 --> 00:29:41.879
but it's really expressing
your true potential,
456
00:29:41.980 --> 00:29:45.816
We were meant to survive
as units of labor.
457
00:29:45.917 --> 00:29:49.653
We were meant to survive
as commodities
458
00:29:49.754 --> 00:29:52.956
that other people can use
for other purposes.
459
00:29:53.057 --> 00:29:55.092
But we were never meant
to survive
460
00:29:55.193 --> 00:30:00.030
as fully human beings
that are seen as fully human.
461
00:30:03.234 --> 00:30:06.236
If I tell you this secret,
do you promise to keep it?
462
00:30:14.946 --> 00:30:19.583
My armor is only flesh,
463
00:30:19.684 --> 00:30:23.787
more human than you could
ever imagine.
464
00:30:25.957 --> 00:30:31.128
Feet swollen somewhere between
systemic diabetes and years of marching
465
00:30:31.229 --> 00:30:33.964
from the house to the
river, across the fields,
466
00:30:34.065 --> 00:30:37.034
through the underground,
for women's suffrage,
467
00:30:37.135 --> 00:30:39.002
for civil rights, for Bring Our
Kids Home, for gay marriage,
468
00:30:39.103 --> 00:30:41.371
for Black Lives Matter,
for Say Her Name.
469
00:30:41.472 --> 00:30:44.541
I'd be lying if I said
the blood of my children
470
00:30:44.642 --> 00:30:48.712
and pimped across phone screens
didn't make me regret opening my eyes.
471
00:30:48.813 --> 00:30:51.548
Most mornings it's hard
to remember a time
472
00:30:51.649 --> 00:30:55.185
when death was beautiful
and old age was regular.
473
00:30:55.286 --> 00:30:57.855
I don't remember a day
since puberty
474
00:30:57.956 --> 00:31:01.058
when the generational trauma
of being held captive
475
00:31:01.159 --> 00:31:03.894
didn't blow its foul breath
in my face.
476
00:31:03.995 --> 00:31:09.600
With the passing of cop cars, I
see my voiceless sister in the trunk,
477
00:31:09.701 --> 00:31:13.370
bullets destined to rip
through my brother, a driver.
478
00:31:13.471 --> 00:31:17.608
It's having six o'clock beers with
correction officers who mocked my father,
479
00:31:17.709 --> 00:31:21.712
reaching through the bars of his
cage, begging for one more phone call.
480
00:31:21.813 --> 00:31:25.549
It's a mama who needs 15
minutes of his voice like aspirin
481
00:31:25.650 --> 00:31:27.851
at the end of her third
double this week.
482
00:31:27.952 --> 00:31:30.854
It's the intuition that
makes your toes go numb,
483
00:31:30.955 --> 00:31:36.793
the vision that glazes your face until
strangers ask, what you looking so mean for?
484
00:31:43.601 --> 00:31:45.802
I'd be lying if I said
it doesn't hurt.
485
00:31:48.106 --> 00:31:50.674
To watch him choose
my gentrified beauty.
486
00:31:50.775 --> 00:31:54.945
An another while in my off-brand
accent, they say, she just mad.
487
00:31:57.649 --> 00:32:00.717
Like after several
thousand years of dying for
488
00:32:00.818 --> 00:32:03.453
and beside my counterpart,
I wouldn't be
489
00:32:03.554 --> 00:32:06.356
and I shouldn't be,
because I did it out of love.
490
00:32:06.457 --> 00:32:09.092
He owes me nothing, but damn.
491
00:32:10.628 --> 00:32:14.298
Sometimes I wonder if so
many lives hadn't been so cruel.
492
00:32:14.399 --> 00:32:15.732
Would he still be mine?
493
00:32:18.269 --> 00:32:22.572
I wonder if his soul
recognizes humiliation
494
00:32:22.674 --> 00:32:26.610
of a beaten and raped wife
for the master who stole his life?
495
00:32:26.711 --> 00:32:28.912
When he looks at me, I wonder
496
00:32:30.682 --> 00:32:33.750
if his spirit has PTSD.
497
00:32:35.853 --> 00:32:37.521
I wonder if I can cure it.
498
00:32:40.258 --> 00:32:41.825
Would you believe me
if I told you
499
00:32:41.926 --> 00:32:44.795
sometimes I go into the shower
and just below the volume
500
00:32:44.862 --> 00:32:48.665
of the radio, I tilt my head
back and cry my heart out?
501
00:32:48.766 --> 00:32:53.503
Heavy are the eyelids that wake after
a thousand nights of morning herself.
502
00:32:53.604 --> 00:32:55.339
There's no way
around feeling it.
503
00:32:56.941 --> 00:32:59.009
That's how you get through it.
504
00:33:05.450 --> 00:33:09.686
And sometimes, the only safe
place for that is in my dreams.
505
00:33:11.589 --> 00:33:16.593
Sometimes I go to sleep
just to lay my head
506
00:33:16.694 --> 00:33:19.830
in the lap of Sojourner
and be a woman again.
507
00:33:23.334 --> 00:33:26.403
I am tired of announcing
my strength with heartbreak.
508
00:33:29.607 --> 00:33:32.676
And it ain't fair
to be this tired.
509
00:33:39.617 --> 00:33:41.818
We're still here
and we haven't gone away.
510
00:33:43.821 --> 00:33:49.993
And we are not victims,
and we're not damaged.
511
00:33:50.094 --> 00:33:54.097
We have painful wounds from which some of
us have healed and others of us have not.
512
00:33:54.198 --> 00:33:58.268
But that doesn't make us damaged
goods in any way, shape or form.
513
00:34:00.405 --> 00:34:01.838
It makes us leaders, actually.
514
00:34:03.574 --> 00:34:07.110
I think the label resilient,
like most labels,
515
00:34:09.113 --> 00:34:14.618
the effect of that, in part, is
tied to who is wielding that label.
516
00:34:14.719 --> 00:34:19.356
In one way, resilient can be wielded
and used to describe Black women
517
00:34:19.457 --> 00:34:22.125
as a way to celebrate
how you survive oppression.
518
00:34:22.226 --> 00:34:26.129
But it can also be wielded
in a way
519
00:34:26.230 --> 00:34:31.835
that fetishizes strength
that says, you know what?
520
00:34:31.936 --> 00:34:35.372
You are so strong we really don't
have to care about how we treat you.
521
00:35:04.902 --> 00:35:06.470
[melancholy music playing]
522
00:35:16.681 --> 00:35:20.817
[Cora Matthews] I went to a
segregated school. All Black.
523
00:35:20.918 --> 00:35:24.121
And my parents had taught us
about the difference in the schools
524
00:35:26.157 --> 00:35:30.594
I had heard of the fighting
and the Kirsten protest.
525
00:35:30.695 --> 00:35:34.164
To get this undone where
we are to school together.
526
00:35:34.265 --> 00:35:38.401
Even when I was going to
church, it would get so intense.
527
00:35:46.844 --> 00:35:50.213
I used to hear my father free.
528
00:35:50.314 --> 00:35:52.983
He would pray out loud,
you know,
529
00:35:53.084 --> 00:35:57.154
and I always wanted to, uh,
pray like he did.
530
00:36:04.529 --> 00:36:08.265
I would hear prayers.
That was just heartening
531
00:36:08.366 --> 00:36:14.905
Just touching. It would make you
feel that guy was somewhere close.
532
00:36:15.006 --> 00:36:19.476
You could just feel the
presence and that inspired me
533
00:36:19.577 --> 00:36:22.779
to trust that same gut
and go to go to him in prayer
534
00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:25.215
and asked that things would
get better.
535
00:36:25.316 --> 00:36:28.051
There would be more unity in
the world.
536
00:36:30.821 --> 00:36:35.725
I think there's something very deep there
when we talk about faith and Black women.
537
00:36:35.826 --> 00:36:38.728
If you think about faith
as being committed
538
00:36:38.829 --> 00:36:40.931
to something that's bigger
than yourself.
539
00:36:41.032 --> 00:36:43.500
Faith as having hope for
the future.
540
00:36:44.635 --> 00:36:46.736
Many Black women have to get
up every day
541
00:36:46.837 --> 00:36:49.739
and have faith that they will
survive that day,
542
00:36:49.840 --> 00:36:51.908
that their children will
survive that day,
543
00:36:52.009 --> 00:36:55.845
and that their children's lives
will be better than their lives.
544
00:36:55.947 --> 00:37:01.751
Faith is not only believing in
something that you can't see and touch,
545
00:37:01.852 --> 00:37:05.989
but it's really expressing
your true potential,
546
00:37:06.090 --> 00:37:10.026
a potential that there's not
evidence that anyone else believes in.
547
00:37:13.764 --> 00:37:19.202
There's nothing else around you that is
reflecting back at you, who you truly are.
548
00:37:20.671 --> 00:37:22.606
But you know who you are, right?
549
00:37:22.707 --> 00:37:26.743
And so it's a reclamation
of your nobility.
550
00:37:26.844 --> 00:37:30.914
It's a reclamation of your
inherent worth,
551
00:37:31.015 --> 00:37:34.117
even if the world around you
does not believe it,
552
00:37:34.218 --> 00:37:36.620
does not treat you
according to that.
553
00:37:36.721 --> 00:37:40.957
Faith is the reason why we're
here, because we held onto that
554
00:37:41.058 --> 00:37:43.526
against all evidence to
the contrary.
555
00:37:46.230 --> 00:37:48.765
Ended slavery times.
556
00:37:48.866 --> 00:37:53.436
That's what's got them through
a lot of the things
557
00:37:53.537 --> 00:37:57.874
that they had to go
through. Prayer. Singing.
558
00:38:02.113 --> 00:38:05.915
Can you sing me your favorite
gospel song that gets you through?
559
00:38:11.155 --> 00:38:12.122
♪ Yes ♪
560
00:38:13.257 --> 00:38:17.427
♪ Jesus loves me ♪
561
00:38:18.462 --> 00:38:19.562
♪ Yes ♪
562
00:38:20.331 --> 00:38:21.831
♪ Jesus ♪
563
00:38:21.932 --> 00:38:24.100
♪ He loves me ♪
564
00:38:24.969 --> 00:38:26.102
♪ Yes ♪
565
00:38:26.804 --> 00:38:28.204
♪ Jesus ♪
566
00:38:28.306 --> 00:38:33.276
♪ He loves me for the Bible ♪
567
00:38:33.377 --> 00:38:36.313
♪ tells me so ♪
568
00:38:45.790 --> 00:38:46.723
He loves me.
569
00:38:48.192 --> 00:38:53.697
And part of our strength is the
knowing that that pain will end.
570
00:38:53.798 --> 00:38:55.265
That we're going to make sure
it does.
571
00:38:55.366 --> 00:38:56.900
You ain't gonna hit me no more.
572
00:38:57.001 --> 00:39:01.037
I think what we're going to
find out is the tiniest things,
573
00:39:01.138 --> 00:39:05.275
the things that we think are just
fleeting, in the big scheme of things,
574
00:39:05.376 --> 00:39:08.111
I think those are going to be
what's most amplified
575
00:39:08.212 --> 00:39:10.980
in terms of the value
of our lives.
576
00:39:11.082 --> 00:39:14.351
And so I just hope that
we don't take it for granted.
577
00:39:17.988 --> 00:39:24.627
The hardest lesson I had to
learn in life is stay strong
578
00:39:26.397 --> 00:39:29.132
and knowing that I will
make it to the other side.
579
00:39:30.801 --> 00:39:34.871
Learning how to bear with this
pain that I'm going through with John
580
00:39:34.972 --> 00:39:40.310
and still be able to be there for
the rest of my family that needs me.
581
00:39:40.411 --> 00:39:41.845
It's not a strength that means
582
00:39:41.946 --> 00:39:45.715
that there's no vulnerability
and there's no pain, right?
583
00:39:46.951 --> 00:39:50.253
There's wounds and there's
pain and there's vulnerability
584
00:39:50.921 --> 00:39:55.592
and we refuse to submit to it.
585
00:39:59.663 --> 00:40:05.135
And part of our strength is the
knowing that that pain will end.
586
00:40:05.236 --> 00:40:06.703
That we're going to make sure
it does.
587
00:40:06.804 --> 00:40:08.037
You ain't gonna hit me no more.
588
00:40:09.373 --> 00:40:10.740
[melancholy music playing]
589
00:40:17.314 --> 00:40:20.617
All those, you know,
generations of being told
590
00:40:20.718 --> 00:40:26.055
what to do, when to do it, how
to do it like we did that already.
591
00:40:26.157 --> 00:40:29.325
There is a kind of
fierce independence
592
00:40:29.427 --> 00:40:35.165
and independence of mind,
of will, of tenacity, of knowing.
593
00:40:35.266 --> 00:40:40.937
There is a sense of knowing
that Black women have.
594
00:40:41.038 --> 00:40:43.506
It's a silent, quiet, and we
know it
595
00:40:43.607 --> 00:40:45.442
because we can look
at each other and see it.
596
00:40:46.544 --> 00:40:48.278
It's the reason why
we could look and smile
597
00:40:48.379 --> 00:40:50.613
and give that nod
because it's a knowing.
598
00:40:55.453 --> 00:40:57.387
You can't take that from us.
599
00:40:57.488 --> 00:40:59.622
That's a spiritual reality.
600
00:40:59.723 --> 00:41:05.261
That is that we were born
with, and that has galvanized,
601
00:41:05.362 --> 00:41:08.565
I think, Black women in every
spot of the earth.
602
00:41:20.778 --> 00:41:22.145
[instrumental music playing]
603
00:41:28.686 --> 00:41:33.056
[Dr. Melina] Everything was
set up for us not to survive.
604
00:41:37.161 --> 00:41:42.565
Our perseverance, our survival,
our resilience is a form of rebellion.
605
00:41:42.666 --> 00:41:46.202
Refusing to succumb to the
oppressions that we live under.
606
00:41:48.439 --> 00:41:51.674
If you could imagine
almost a diamond shaped chart.
607
00:41:51.775 --> 00:41:57.080
The very top of the chart
is White men and their arrows.
608
00:41:57.181 --> 00:41:59.716
Moving from that top box
to implication here
609
00:41:59.817 --> 00:42:03.953
that White women
feel sexism from white men.
610
00:42:04.054 --> 00:42:07.857
And then there's an arrow
from the White men
611
00:42:07.958 --> 00:42:13.696
to men of color and men of
color feel racism from White men.
612
00:42:13.797 --> 00:42:18.968
They also feel racism from White
women and then leading from White women
613
00:42:19.069 --> 00:42:23.773
and men of color are two arrows
that lead to a box at the bottom,
614
00:42:23.874 --> 00:42:26.509
and at the bottom is his women
of color.
615
00:42:26.610 --> 00:42:30.747
Women of color feel racism
from White women,
616
00:42:30.848 --> 00:42:36.019
racism from White men,
sexism from White men
617
00:42:36.120 --> 00:42:38.788
and sexism from men of color.
618
00:42:38.889 --> 00:42:42.158
And then when you look at that
box of women of color and you look at
619
00:42:42.259 --> 00:42:46.629
where the disproportionate level
of injury is, health or otherwise,
620
00:42:46.730 --> 00:42:50.133
you're going to have a box
below that and that's Black women.
621
00:42:50.234 --> 00:42:54.737
So Black women then become
the oppressed of the oppressed.
622
00:42:54.838 --> 00:42:58.841
We were meant to survive
as units of labor.
623
00:42:58.943 --> 00:43:02.879
We were meant to survive
as commodities
624
00:43:02.980 --> 00:43:06.082
that other people can use
for other purposes.
625
00:43:06.183 --> 00:43:08.318
But we were never meant
to survive
626
00:43:08.419 --> 00:43:13.122
as fully human beings
that are seen as fully human.
627
00:43:14.491 --> 00:43:17.493
Rebelling against that is a
good thing.
628
00:43:24.401 --> 00:43:29.973
I think that there's this
notion that you tried to bury us
629
00:43:30.074 --> 00:43:32.642
and only discover we were seeds.
630
00:43:33.911 --> 00:43:37.480
Is a rebellion.
631
00:43:43.621 --> 00:43:47.490
[Dr. Patricia] Rebellion occurs
in so many different ways.
632
00:43:47.591 --> 00:43:51.227
Sometimes when a Black woman
is sitting there being very quiet,
633
00:43:51.328 --> 00:43:55.865
she is engaged in profound
rebellion in her own mind.
634
00:43:55.966 --> 00:43:59.168
Sometimes rebellion
is the sister who stands up
635
00:43:59.269 --> 00:44:02.271
and tells you about yourself
to your face.
636
00:44:02.373 --> 00:44:06.309
Even though you did not
ask her to say anything.
637
00:44:06.410 --> 00:44:10.046
Sometimes a rebellion
is working with the rules
638
00:44:10.147 --> 00:44:14.317
within an institution to shift
them and tweak them a little bit,
639
00:44:14.418 --> 00:44:17.053
so there's a little more of
this and a little less of that.
640
00:44:22.826 --> 00:44:29.065
What I really love about Black women
is, um, the way in which we've engaged
641
00:44:29.166 --> 00:44:32.101
in the struggle for power
in a way that's very different
642
00:44:32.202 --> 00:44:34.871
to the White male
leadership model.
643
00:44:34.972 --> 00:44:38.908
Our very existence, the way
that we move through the world,
644
00:44:39.009 --> 00:44:45.114
um, is a refusal of both a White
supremacist system or a patriarchal system.
645
00:44:45.215 --> 00:44:50.820
And so we're in the best
position to begin to try to imagine
646
00:44:50.921 --> 00:44:54.257
and build something outside
of these oppressive systems.
647
00:44:54.358 --> 00:44:58.461
I'm thinking about the
small-p politics in communities.
648
00:44:58.562 --> 00:45:01.497
Charlotta Bass
who ran for vice president
649
00:45:01.598 --> 00:45:05.134
and said, win or lose,
we win by raising the issues.
650
00:45:05.235 --> 00:45:08.638
Women like Barbara Lee,
Karen Bass and others
651
00:45:08.739 --> 00:45:12.208
who attempted to kind of
bridge community
652
00:45:12.276 --> 00:45:16.379
organizing and kind of the work
that needs to be done, that's larger
653
00:45:16.480 --> 00:45:21.150
than electoral politics and
using electoral politics is a tool.
654
00:45:21.251 --> 00:45:25.021
I'm thinking of
Maxine Waters today.
655
00:45:25.122 --> 00:45:29.025
I'm thinking of Shirley Chisholm,
who I got to act as in like,
656
00:45:29.126 --> 00:45:30.993
a third grade play.
657
00:45:31.095 --> 00:45:32.829
So we know some of their names,
658
00:45:32.930 --> 00:45:34.430
but we don't know all of
their names.
659
00:45:34.531 --> 00:45:39.502
We don't know every Black woman
who rose up on a slave plantation and said
660
00:45:39.603 --> 00:45:42.872
we're going to have a work stoppage
or we don't know all of the Black women
661
00:45:42.973 --> 00:45:46.209
who, during the civil rights
movement, took care of the folks
662
00:45:46.310 --> 00:45:48.878
who were beaten or
marched themselves.
663
00:45:58.489 --> 00:46:02.625
Black women can do anything.
We can make a meal out of nothing.
664
00:46:02.726 --> 00:46:06.295
We can make music
out of sorrow, right?
665
00:46:06.396 --> 00:46:09.632
We can write our feelings
and it becomes a poem.
666
00:46:09.733 --> 00:46:13.803
We can transform
pain into laughter.
667
00:46:13.904 --> 00:46:15.538
Maybe it's more than creativity.
668
00:46:15.639 --> 00:46:16.539
Maybe it's magic.
669
00:46:16.640 --> 00:46:18.040
Maybe that's
the Black girl magic.
670
00:46:21.044 --> 00:46:22.478
[Dr. Patricia]
The dignity and struggle
671
00:46:22.579 --> 00:46:25.148
is part of the beauty of
everyday life.
672
00:46:25.249 --> 00:46:27.483
But you can't see it
when you're in the moment.
673
00:46:27.618 --> 00:46:30.853
I really think the ordinary
Black people, Black women...
674
00:46:31.922 --> 00:46:33.189
[Dr. Patricia sighs]
675
00:46:38.195 --> 00:46:41.197
[Dr. Patricia] A small story, and
maybe this will give the feel of it.
676
00:46:41.298 --> 00:46:43.566
My first class that I ever
taught on Black women,
677
00:46:43.667 --> 00:46:45.601
I taught to eighth grade
Black girls.
678
00:46:47.771 --> 00:46:51.674
And I had a course that I'd expose
them to kind of famous Black women.
679
00:46:52.810 --> 00:46:54.977
And it's my exercise.
I ask them,
680
00:46:56.113 --> 00:46:58.815
"Could you name a Black woman
that you really admire?"
681
00:47:00.918 --> 00:47:03.986
They all said, my mother,
682
00:47:05.889 --> 00:47:10.660
my grandmother, my sister.
683
00:47:11.995 --> 00:47:17.066
They all named other Black
women that they knew in their lives.
684
00:47:20.237 --> 00:47:23.873
This is a narrative we really
have to say more about.
685
00:47:25.042 --> 00:47:27.376
I have a saying in my
household, right?
686
00:47:29.680 --> 00:47:31.914
Mama can do anything, right?
687
00:47:32.015 --> 00:47:36.919
So, like, um, somebody's,
I don't know,
688
00:47:37.020 --> 00:47:39.889
toy will break and I'll fix it.
689
00:47:39.990 --> 00:47:43.259
And I hand it back and I'll go
because Mama and they'll go
690
00:47:43.360 --> 00:47:46.596
can do anything, right?
Because I can.
691
00:47:46.697 --> 00:47:47.997
I can do anything.
692
00:47:48.098 --> 00:47:52.702
Black women can do anything.
We can make a meal out of nothing.
693
00:47:52.803 --> 00:47:56.372
We can make music
out of sorrow, right?
694
00:47:56.473 --> 00:47:59.709
We can write our feelings
and it becomes a poem.
695
00:47:59.810 --> 00:48:02.645
We can transform
pain into laughter.
696
00:48:03.547 --> 00:48:05.181
Maybe it's more than creativity.
697
00:48:05.282 --> 00:48:06.182
Maybe it's magic.
698
00:48:06.283 --> 00:48:08.751
Maybe that's
the Black girl magic, right?
699
00:48:09.219 --> 00:48:10.386
Black woman magic.
700
00:48:10.487 --> 00:48:12.054
Because I'm not a girl.
701
00:48:12.155 --> 00:48:13.656
Life has either come through us
702
00:48:13.757 --> 00:48:15.057
or life has come to us,
703
00:48:15.158 --> 00:48:18.160
and we've been charged
with shaping these lives.
704
00:48:18.262 --> 00:48:21.964
And that is
miraculous and divine.
705
00:48:22.065 --> 00:48:25.301
Just like the mothers before us
706
00:48:25.402 --> 00:48:32.174
shaped things and made a way, we,
too, will shape things and make a way.
707
00:48:32.276 --> 00:48:36.345
And so, for me, I think
about my grandmothers,
708
00:48:36.446 --> 00:48:40.816
and I think about what I learned
from the women in my family.
709
00:48:40.918 --> 00:48:43.386
You need to know more
about those shoulders
710
00:48:43.487 --> 00:48:48.124
because they were able to bear
what few people in recent history
711
00:48:48.225 --> 00:48:49.558
know anything about.
712
00:48:49.660 --> 00:48:52.495
Where are those painful
memories? Where did they go?
713
00:48:58.735 --> 00:49:01.771
How did you cope?
To deal with that?
714
00:49:05.842 --> 00:49:08.377
How did you learn
to love yourself?
715
00:49:08.478 --> 00:49:12.949
And how did you learn
to reconcile yourself?
716
00:49:16.453 --> 00:49:19.288
In every single way
that we've been harmed
717
00:49:19.389 --> 00:49:23.359
and traumatized throughout
history into the present.
718
00:49:23.460 --> 00:49:30.066
Every single point is a site where
healing is occurring and has to occur.
719
00:49:30.167 --> 00:49:34.503
I believe that healing,
survival, winning,
720
00:49:34.604 --> 00:49:38.774
transforming, all of that
is rooted in spiritual work.
721
00:49:38.875 --> 00:49:43.546
Tapping into
the Black women's energy
722
00:49:43.647 --> 00:49:49.518
that's gone before us,
tapping into divine energy.
723
00:49:49.619 --> 00:49:53.456
Being still and listening to
the voices of our foremothers
724
00:49:54.458 --> 00:49:58.928
is what will heal, sustain
and win for us.
725
00:49:59.029 --> 00:50:02.398
'Cause the whole point is, how
do we heal? And the healing part,
726
00:50:02.499 --> 00:50:05.368
I say to people, I say, "Listen,
when I say we need to heal",
727
00:50:05.469 --> 00:50:07.370
that's just not a nice word.
728
00:50:07.471 --> 00:50:08.938
I'm not just saying that.
729
00:50:09.039 --> 00:50:12.942
I'm saying that we must heal,
because if we don't heal,
730
00:50:13.043 --> 00:50:16.012
"we actually
doom future generations."
731
00:50:16.113 --> 00:50:19.215
We have to heal. It's
not philosophical, it's real.
732
00:50:19.316 --> 00:50:22.018
And so, I think
the best thing we can do
733
00:50:22.119 --> 00:50:26.555
is expand what and how
we consider healing
734
00:50:26.656 --> 00:50:31.227
and to understand nothing is too
small to contribute to our healing.
735
00:50:31.328 --> 00:50:36.532
And so, I think, let... let a
thousand forms of healing proliferate.
736
00:50:36.633 --> 00:50:38.834
Every exchange,
that eye contact.
737
00:50:38.935 --> 00:50:42.271
Someone who you're sitting at
the bus stop with, that exchange.
738
00:50:42.372 --> 00:50:45.241
The little girl whose mom
is at the cash register,
739
00:50:45.342 --> 00:50:46.842
who turns around
and looks at you,
740
00:50:46.943 --> 00:50:48.878
how do you beam
some love at her?
741
00:50:48.979 --> 00:50:52.448
There's so many ways that I
remember that I carry that love with me
742
00:50:52.549 --> 00:50:55.718
that people didn't have
to show me love, you know.
743
00:50:55.819 --> 00:51:01.424
That I've felt so,
you know, so sort of energized
744
00:51:01.525 --> 00:51:05.628
by just random people
showing me that I was valuable.
745
00:51:05.729 --> 00:51:12.635
So I do feel that it's my responsibility
not to waste any moments.
746
00:51:12.736 --> 00:51:16.906
I think what we're going to
find out is the tiniest things,
747
00:51:17.007 --> 00:51:21.077
the things that we think are just
fleeting in the big scheme of things,
748
00:51:21.178 --> 00:51:23.913
I think those are going to be
what's most amplified
749
00:51:24.014 --> 00:51:26.782
in terms of the value
of our lives.
750
00:51:26.883 --> 00:51:29.885
And so I just hope that
we don't take it for granted.
751
00:51:39.262 --> 00:51:43.165
[Dr. Melina] And so then beyond
spiritual work, there's each other.
752
00:51:43.266 --> 00:51:47.736
So as we talk about healing,
we have to be willing
753
00:51:47.838 --> 00:51:51.440
to see each other
and to help each other.
754
00:51:51.541 --> 00:51:57.480
That's part of our healing as well, is
seeing each other as pieces of a puzzle,
755
00:51:57.581 --> 00:52:00.116
as parts of a beautiful mosaic.
756
00:52:00.217 --> 00:52:06.155
When Black women win, right,
we win. We have to lift as we climb.
757
00:52:06.256 --> 00:52:09.725
It goes back to Black women
connecting with each other,
758
00:52:09.826 --> 00:52:12.027
Black women
affirming each other.
759
00:52:12.129 --> 00:52:13.662
[projector whirring]
760
00:52:13.763 --> 00:52:16.866
[Jazmine] Resilience is the Black
girl magic they can't rip off of me.
761
00:52:21.404 --> 00:52:25.341
I've spent far too many lives
perfecting the art of survival.
762
00:52:26.409 --> 00:52:29.578
I have mastered mixing
the perfect shades of red
763
00:52:29.679 --> 00:52:33.349
over split lips
I chewed silence into.
764
00:52:33.450 --> 00:52:37.319
I tuned my laughter like a
violin in office break rooms
765
00:52:37.420 --> 00:52:41.790
to drown out the screaming of token
Blackness I couldn't fully swallow.
766
00:52:42.425 --> 00:52:44.660
Like flagpoles and statues,
767
00:52:44.761 --> 00:52:48.497
I have climbed corporate ladders
and rang the alarm from the top.
768
00:52:48.598 --> 00:52:52.168
I've been handcuffed on my
high horse without flinching.
769
00:52:52.269 --> 00:52:54.103
I've learned
what shadows to dust
770
00:52:54.204 --> 00:52:57.606
over swollen eyelids that
squint in prayer all night.
771
00:52:58.775 --> 00:53:01.911
For sons with bandannas
in their pockets
772
00:53:03.146 --> 00:53:06.282
and for sons with Skittles
in their hoodies.
773
00:53:07.984 --> 00:53:11.420
Overlooked for a wife,
I married myself
774
00:53:11.521 --> 00:53:15.658
to education and travel, went
to bed with wine on my tongue
775
00:53:15.759 --> 00:53:18.394
and Isn't She Lovely
playing from my nightstand.
776
00:53:18.495 --> 00:53:22.431
When the terror of burning crosses
began to visit me in my sleep,
777
00:53:22.532 --> 00:53:26.635
I urged myself to dream from
balconies and every corner of the earth.
778
00:53:26.736 --> 00:53:30.639
Dedicated the sum of my life
to the fingertips of ancestors,
779
00:53:30.740 --> 00:53:33.008
touching lands
of their wildest visions,
780
00:53:33.109 --> 00:53:35.544
redefining what it means
to be grounded.
781
00:53:35.645 --> 00:53:38.214
Reclaiming my roots
and my limbs.
782
00:53:38.315 --> 00:53:40.382
These days, I wrap my arms
783
00:53:40.483 --> 00:53:44.887
around great oaks that used to haunt
me with visions of blood on their leaves
784
00:53:44.988 --> 00:53:48.224
and nearly break down
at the miracle of me,
785
00:53:48.325 --> 00:53:52.094
still standing like a tree that
should have been destroyed
786
00:53:52.195 --> 00:53:56.565
by the fires and the floods
and the feds a long time ago.
787
00:53:58.468 --> 00:54:05.808
But by some Black girl magic,
I'm still here.
788
00:54:05.909 --> 00:54:09.645
You got to have long straight
hair, that you're beautiful.
789
00:54:09.746 --> 00:54:10.913
No.
790
00:54:12.582 --> 00:54:14.549
You've got to be beautiful
to be skinny.
791
00:54:14.618 --> 00:54:17.253
No. We thick.
792
00:54:17.354 --> 00:54:20.456
We ain't skinny. We chunky. We
like meat. We got meat on our...
793
00:54:20.557 --> 00:54:21.824
That's beautiful.
794
00:54:21.925 --> 00:54:24.627
Beyonce got in trouble
when she wore the 'fros,
795
00:54:24.728 --> 00:54:25.961
when she walked out with the...
796
00:54:26.062 --> 00:54:27.997
You know, again,
she has an image
797
00:54:28.098 --> 00:54:31.300
that White people thought
that they were controlling.
798
00:54:31.401 --> 00:54:34.603
Until she says, "No, you don't
actually get to control that."
799
00:54:41.578 --> 00:54:47.349
The myth that Black women
are not beautiful is just that.
800
00:54:48.018 --> 00:54:50.119
It's a myth.
801
00:54:50.220 --> 00:54:55.224
And only those who fall for it
and believe it...
802
00:54:57.193 --> 00:55:01.664
You know, those are the ones that
are... are miseducated and are missing out.
803
00:55:01.765 --> 00:55:04.800
You could have a Black person
with perfectly high self esteem say,
804
00:55:04.901 --> 00:55:08.137
"Oh, yeah, she would have been
really pretty if she wasn't so dark."
805
00:55:08.271 --> 00:55:10.873
That will say to...
say to another Black person.
806
00:55:10.974 --> 00:55:12.675
This is a person
with high self esteem.
807
00:55:12.776 --> 00:55:14.376
"Yeah, well, of course
he was attractive.
808
00:55:14.477 --> 00:55:16.845
He had good hair
and he was light-skinned."
809
00:55:16.946 --> 00:55:20.215
The standard of beauty, and this
is a really important historical piece,
810
00:55:20.317 --> 00:55:22.918
is to understand that...
811
00:55:23.953 --> 00:55:27.556
[sighs] Again,
going back to the 1800s.
812
00:55:27.657 --> 00:55:33.062
With the concept of Caucasian also
came the concept of Caucasian beauty.
813
00:55:33.163 --> 00:55:40.169
So beauty and Caucasian were simultaneously
placed into a "scientific" category.
814
00:55:40.270 --> 00:55:45.173
Normal human beauty
is Caucasian,
815
00:55:45.241 --> 00:55:49.545
so they began to assign
beauty with science.
816
00:55:49.646 --> 00:55:56.185
And so therefore, if beauty is
equated with Caucasian and whiteness,
817
00:55:56.286 --> 00:56:01.223
then anything outside of that,
then, becomes something,
818
00:56:01.324 --> 00:56:06.295
one, that is abnormal
and not beautiful.
819
00:56:06.396 --> 00:56:08.931
So anything that has to do
with being Black
820
00:56:09.032 --> 00:56:12.701
then becomes relegated to,
again, other.
821
00:56:12.802 --> 00:56:15.871
To not normal,
not healthy, not beautiful.
822
00:56:15.972 --> 00:56:19.408
You got to have long straight
hair, that you're beautiful.
823
00:56:19.509 --> 00:56:20.509
No.
824
00:56:22.379 --> 00:56:24.113
You've got to be beautiful
to be skinny.
825
00:56:24.214 --> 00:56:26.849
No. We thick.
826
00:56:26.950 --> 00:56:30.386
We ain't skinny. We chunky. We
like meat. We got meat on our...
827
00:56:30.487 --> 00:56:31.587
That's beautiful.
828
00:56:31.688 --> 00:56:36.024
It's the idea of claiming
all parts of yourself
829
00:56:36.126 --> 00:56:38.961
and the multiple skin tones
and histories
830
00:56:39.062 --> 00:56:42.464
and hair textures
of Black women ourselves.
831
00:56:44.501 --> 00:56:49.071
[Dr. Ruha] So the dichotomy
isn't simply be white or be natural.
832
00:56:49.172 --> 00:56:51.707
Hair is a side
of creativity, right?
833
00:56:51.808 --> 00:56:54.843
So not being able
to be pinned down...
834
00:56:54.944 --> 00:56:59.014
People's decisions about
what to do with their hair
835
00:56:59.115 --> 00:57:03.986
are based on their own experiences
of being treated differently.
836
00:57:04.087 --> 00:57:06.989
I work very close
with the CEOs of the company
837
00:57:07.090 --> 00:57:09.792
and they're all white men.
And I was asking my mom,
838
00:57:09.893 --> 00:57:11.794
I was like, "Should I get
these faux locs?
839
00:57:11.895 --> 00:57:13.495
Like, is that appropriate
for work?"
840
00:57:13.596 --> 00:57:16.331
Now, if you're trying
to move up, you know,
841
00:57:16.433 --> 00:57:18.434
you don't want upset
Mr. Jimmy or Miss Ann.
842
00:57:18.535 --> 00:57:21.303
I mean, you're talking
about generations of people
843
00:57:21.404 --> 00:57:24.807
that have been telling you both within
the culture and outside the culture,
844
00:57:24.908 --> 00:57:27.309
that there's something
intrinsically wrong with your hair.
845
00:57:27.410 --> 00:57:28.477
I thought about it,
and I was like,
846
00:57:28.578 --> 00:57:30.612
"Yeah, of course I'm
gonna get these faux locs."
847
00:57:30.713 --> 00:57:34.082
Like, to just do what I want
to do and be expressive
848
00:57:34.184 --> 00:57:35.484
'cause either people
are going to love it
849
00:57:35.585 --> 00:57:37.986
or they're going to hate it,
but either way, like, it's...
850
00:57:38.087 --> 00:57:40.722
it's who I am,
and I want to embrace that.
851
00:57:43.927 --> 00:57:46.662
[Cora] Short hair is beautiful
as well as long hair.
852
00:57:46.763 --> 00:57:48.263
But sometimes
we like the long hair.
853
00:57:48.364 --> 00:57:51.266
We want to swing it, you know.
854
00:57:51.367 --> 00:57:55.537
[laughs] Um, what I love
about my hair
855
00:57:55.638 --> 00:57:57.706
is that I could practically
do anything with it.
856
00:57:57.807 --> 00:58:02.344
Our hair is just strong
and beautiful.
857
00:58:02.445 --> 00:58:08.617
We can go from being natural
to pressed out.
858
00:58:08.718 --> 00:58:13.856
We're so creative in the way that
we can look one way on Monday
859
00:58:13.957 --> 00:58:19.294
and on Tuesday we look completely
different than we look on Wednesday.
860
00:58:19.395 --> 00:58:20.462
[inaudible]
861
00:58:26.903 --> 00:58:27.903
[Cora] Black is beautiful.
862
00:58:30.907 --> 00:58:31.773
Simple.
863
00:58:33.443 --> 00:58:34.943
All shades.
864
00:58:37.080 --> 00:58:40.048
[Sheila] Blackness
is so beautiful.
865
00:58:44.487 --> 00:58:47.523
We're talented
866
00:58:47.624 --> 00:58:51.927
because we have the ability
to recreate ourselves.
867
00:59:02.438 --> 00:59:03.672
And we're sexy.
868
00:59:05.141 --> 00:59:09.077
You know, the way that
a Black woman's hips,
869
00:59:09.178 --> 00:59:13.448
the waist, you know,
the lips and the eyes
870
00:59:13.550 --> 00:59:19.254
and the nose that are just so
full. That people pay money,
871
00:59:19.355 --> 00:59:24.459
big money, to have our lips
and the roundness of our butts.
872
00:59:25.695 --> 00:59:29.364
Just, our bodies...
We're just... just beautiful.
873
00:59:29.465 --> 00:59:33.135
In every essence, there's nothing
more beautiful than a Black woman.
874
00:59:38.007 --> 00:59:42.778
[interviewer] How do you embrace
beauty as a young Black woman?
875
00:59:44.681 --> 00:59:48.984
By telling myself I'm beautiful
every day in the mirror.
876
00:59:50.286 --> 00:59:52.287
It's a good strategy.
877
00:59:53.323 --> 00:59:55.090
[interviewer] And who
taught you that?
878
00:59:55.191 --> 00:59:56.959
Myself.
879
00:59:57.060 --> 00:59:59.428
I had to.
880
00:59:59.529 --> 01:00:05.100
I am cross-eyed
and people every day ask me,
881
01:00:05.201 --> 01:00:06.868
"What's wrong with your eyes?"
882
01:00:06.970 --> 01:00:08.670
Sometimes it'll get me down.
883
01:00:08.771 --> 01:00:12.674
But I just gotta go to the
mirror, tell myself I'm beautiful.
884
01:00:16.846 --> 01:00:19.381
[interviewer] Was it hard to do that
initially? To go in front of the mirror
885
01:00:19.482 --> 01:00:21.383
and tell yourself
that you're beautiful?
886
01:00:22.385 --> 01:00:23.819
No.
887
01:00:25.188 --> 01:00:30.225
'Cause I was never afraid
to come to myself
888
01:00:30.326 --> 01:00:32.294
and tell myself how I'm feeling.
889
01:00:36.666 --> 01:00:39.701
Makes me feel like I'm in power.
890
01:00:39.802 --> 01:00:41.269
I'm able to do
what I would like to.
891
01:00:42.805 --> 01:00:44.673
[Dr. Patricia] We believe
in your beauty.
892
01:00:44.774 --> 01:00:46.341
We believe
in your possibilities.
893
01:00:46.442 --> 01:00:49.244
We believe in your power.
894
01:00:49.345 --> 01:00:55.951
And if you haven't started believing in
yourself yet, today is a good day to start.
895
01:00:57.286 --> 01:01:00.656
One thing
that I love about myself
896
01:01:00.757 --> 01:01:05.627
is my ability to love people.
897
01:01:05.728 --> 01:01:08.030
That I make people laugh.
898
01:01:08.131 --> 01:01:14.503
- And I also make myself laugh.
- That I learned how to spell
899
01:01:14.604 --> 01:01:19.174
Because I go to school
and I learn a lot of things.
900
01:01:19.275 --> 01:01:20.509
That I'm artistic.
901
01:01:20.610 --> 01:01:23.145
I like my skin color
and my hair.
902
01:01:23.246 --> 01:01:29.017
I like that I am outspoken
and I strive for what I want.
903
01:01:32.755 --> 01:01:35.957
[woman] What does the phrase
Black Girl Magic mean to you?
904
01:01:36.059 --> 01:01:37.492
The phrase Black Girl Magic
905
01:01:37.593 --> 01:01:41.363
means there's no other thing
that is as great to me, personally,
906
01:01:41.431 --> 01:01:42.798
as Black girls. Black girls
are just great.
907
01:01:42.899 --> 01:01:45.400
I don't really know how
to explain that, but, like,
908
01:01:45.501 --> 01:01:47.469
they're just, so like
they said, magical.
909
01:01:47.570 --> 01:01:50.238
It's like, you know, magic's
something you want to believe
910
01:01:50.339 --> 01:01:53.008
and it's something you want to see.
It's something that you want to be.
911
01:01:53.109 --> 01:01:54.509
You were like, I want
to do magic, you know?
912
01:01:54.610 --> 01:01:57.879
And so they're so...
It's just something that
913
01:01:57.947 --> 01:02:01.550
you want to look up to and look
after and just, you know, be around.
914
01:02:01.651 --> 01:02:06.288
I feel like that's that magic, totally
describes a Black girl, for sure.
915
01:02:11.494 --> 01:02:14.963
If we all,
but certainly Black women,
916
01:02:15.064 --> 01:02:20.235
are fully human people
ourselves, that
917
01:02:20.336 --> 01:02:23.271
would be the greatest gift
to the society.
918
01:02:23.372 --> 01:02:27.542
If the beauty and the genius
of Black women
919
01:02:27.643 --> 01:02:29.644
were ever recognized
920
01:02:29.746 --> 01:02:36.251
and allowed to flourish, I can only
imagine what a contribution that would be.
921
01:02:36.352 --> 01:02:40.789
We cannot allow
the experiences of those
922
01:02:40.890 --> 01:02:44.793
upon whose shoulders we stand
to be erased from memory.
923
01:02:44.894 --> 01:02:50.732
Someone paid for me to be here,
and I am going to acknowledge
924
01:02:50.800 --> 01:02:54.402
those people who suffered
so much so that I could be here.
925
01:02:54.504 --> 01:02:56.004
How could I not?
926
01:02:58.841 --> 01:02:59.875
[woman] As a sociologist.
927
01:02:59.976 --> 01:03:02.210
The way that my training
has helped me understand
928
01:03:02.311 --> 01:03:05.814
the emotional and mental
well-being of Black women
929
01:03:05.915 --> 01:03:09.718
is to understand that if I
want, for example, Black girls
930
01:03:09.819 --> 01:03:14.389
to love themselves, I can't
just put up posters on the wall
931
01:03:14.490 --> 01:03:20.228
and affirmations as the cure for
centuries of racism and sexism.
932
01:03:20.329 --> 01:03:23.265
But I have to create
an environment
933
01:03:23.366 --> 01:03:28.203
that shouts love at them
so that they can hear it
934
01:03:28.304 --> 01:03:30.372
reverberate
in themselves, right?
935
01:03:30.473 --> 01:03:34.242
It makes me think about my grandmother
who used to tell me when I was little.
936
01:03:34.343 --> 01:03:37.045
I was so small, in fact,
when she would tell me this
937
01:03:38.414 --> 01:03:40.248
that I would be looking
up at her hand
938
01:03:40.349 --> 01:03:43.285
as she was holding my hand.
She would look down at me
939
01:03:43.386 --> 01:03:46.288
and she would point
to her head and she'd go,
940
01:03:46.389 --> 01:03:51.259
Always remember, you're smart
and you come from smart people.
941
01:03:51.360 --> 01:03:55.597
She would always do that, and I
think, part of what she was trying to do,
942
01:03:55.698 --> 01:03:59.367
well, she was trying to buttress me.
She was trying to strengthen me because
943
01:03:59.468 --> 01:04:04.806
she knew that I would enter a world
that wouldn't say that I was smart,
944
01:04:04.907 --> 01:04:10.312
that didn't necessarily like me or
value me. She told me that my whole life,
945
01:04:10.413 --> 01:04:13.682
and I told it to my
grandchildren and my children,
946
01:04:13.783 --> 01:04:17.052
and it's one of those things in our
family where we just kind of smile.
947
01:04:17.153 --> 01:04:20.288
It's like an inoculation
that was given.
948
01:04:20.389 --> 01:04:26.661
Ever since I was a child,
I've always walked in a light
949
01:04:26.762 --> 01:04:30.732
and I hear this from
my family and my peers.
950
01:04:30.833 --> 01:04:33.335
It's like I can do anything
and be anything.
951
01:04:33.436 --> 01:04:36.805
This little light of mine
I'm going to let it shine.
952
01:04:36.906 --> 01:04:39.975
What is the light that is
inside of you,
953
01:04:40.076 --> 01:04:42.210
that compels you to shine?
954
01:04:42.311 --> 01:04:45.981
Because that's the beauty
I see in you.
955
01:04:46.082 --> 01:04:48.016
Music makes me happy.
956
01:04:48.117 --> 01:04:51.286
A lot of emotions can be
expressed through music.
957
01:04:53.055 --> 01:05:00.028
I've been dancing since I was very
little. I love how freely I get to move.
958
01:05:00.129 --> 01:05:05.834
It's like you can dance wild
and it will be okay.
959
01:05:08.104 --> 01:05:10.038
[woman] What kind of music
do you listen to?
960
01:05:11.540 --> 01:05:15.076
- Um, Beyonce. I always say Beyonce.
- Beyonce.
961
01:05:15.177 --> 01:05:17.045
- Beyonce.
- Beyonce.
962
01:05:17.146 --> 01:05:21.049
Beyonce has done it all.
She's Queen Bee
963
01:05:21.150 --> 01:05:23.885
as royalty in this world, and
she's, I mean, she is Black.
964
01:05:23.986 --> 01:05:28.023
It's really mind-breaking
to see that everybody,
965
01:05:28.124 --> 01:05:30.792
you know, a lot of people,
a lot of people love Beyonce.
966
01:05:30.893 --> 01:05:32.294
[woman] What do you
love about Beyonce?
967
01:05:32.395 --> 01:05:36.264
That she doesn't care
what other people think.
968
01:05:36.365 --> 01:05:39.401
Beyonce got in trouble
when she wore the 'fros,
969
01:05:39.502 --> 01:05:42.771
when she walked out with the...
You know, again, she has an image
970
01:05:42.872 --> 01:05:46.107
that White people thought
that they were controlling.
971
01:05:46.208 --> 01:05:49.577
Until she says no, you don't
actually get to control that.
972
01:05:49.679 --> 01:05:54.215
My favorite artist
is Willow Smith.
973
01:05:54.317 --> 01:05:57.185
She puts out music because
her music has a message.
974
01:05:57.520 --> 01:05:58.887
SZA.
975
01:05:58.988 --> 01:06:01.489
I've been listening to her
for years.
976
01:06:01.590 --> 01:06:04.926
One thing I love about SZA
is she has so much sex appeal,
977
01:06:05.027 --> 01:06:10.565
and she doesn't try to hide it. Like, I
feel like she lets it out and it's amazing.
978
01:06:10.666 --> 01:06:12.968
If you think about
our sexuality,
979
01:06:13.069 --> 01:06:16.471
for generations, right,
it has been the site
980
01:06:16.572 --> 01:06:19.607
of so much policing,
control and theft.
981
01:06:19.709 --> 01:06:25.647
What we see in this generation is
an attempt to reclaim that sexuality.
982
01:06:25.748 --> 01:06:29.250
I think the arts have been
essential to survival.
983
01:06:29.352 --> 01:06:31.586
There's something powerful
about reclaiming terms
984
01:06:31.687 --> 01:06:33.154
and making them mean
something different
985
01:06:33.255 --> 01:06:36.658
because then you are controlling
the agenda and the discourse.
986
01:06:36.759 --> 01:06:39.627
You are not following
behind it, trying to correct it.
987
01:06:44.867 --> 01:06:48.269
[woman] What has been
our greatest gift to society
988
01:06:49.105 --> 01:06:50.038
as Black women?
989
01:06:52.208 --> 01:06:56.344
I think if we all,
but certainly Black women,
990
01:06:56.445 --> 01:07:01.716
are fully human people
ourselves, that
991
01:07:01.817 --> 01:07:04.753
would be the greatest gift
to the society.
992
01:07:04.854 --> 01:07:11.092
If the beauty and the genius of
Black women as I know it to be,
993
01:07:11.193 --> 01:07:17.165
because I know a lot of Black
women were ever recognized
994
01:07:17.266 --> 01:07:23.471
and allowed to flourish, I can only
imagine what a contribution that would be.
995
01:07:23.572 --> 01:07:29.978
I think the Black woman's greatest
gift to society has been truth-teller,
996
01:07:31.847 --> 01:07:36.985
speaking truth, speaking
truth to power.
997
01:07:37.086 --> 01:07:41.489
Black women, I think, have
kept this society accountable
998
01:07:41.590 --> 01:07:45.527
because we're not willing
to not stand in our truth
999
01:07:45.628 --> 01:07:49.564
and to not speak to truth and
not to live what is true for us
1000
01:07:49.665 --> 01:07:52.634
in the best way
that we know how.
1001
01:07:52.735 --> 01:07:58.907
I want my greatest gift
to society to be my words.
1002
01:07:59.008 --> 01:08:03.711
When I look at myself, I see
somebody who speaks her mind,
1003
01:08:04.680 --> 01:08:07.615
who says whatever I need to say.
1004
01:08:07.716 --> 01:08:11.186
As a black woman, my life,
1005
01:08:14.924 --> 01:08:16.991
my life to be a gift
to the society.
1006
01:08:17.093 --> 01:08:21.729
Some, I have done something
or said something
1007
01:08:22.498 --> 01:08:25.700
that has enhanced
somebody's life,
1008
01:08:25.801 --> 01:08:29.337
that have touched somebody's
life, that I have lived.
1009
01:08:39.949 --> 01:08:44.886
If I could describe the
Black woman in three words.
1010
01:08:44.987 --> 01:08:47.055
I would say beautiful,
1011
01:08:50.459 --> 01:08:51.326
strong,
1012
01:08:56.232 --> 01:08:58.800
excellent.
1013
01:08:58.901 --> 01:09:04.939
Strong, loving, rebellious.
1014
01:09:05.040 --> 01:09:07.108
- Strong.
- Strong.
1015
01:09:07.209 --> 01:09:10.178
- Strong.
- Strong, independent, and bold.
1016
01:09:10.279 --> 01:09:11.746
Un-bossed.
1017
01:09:11.847 --> 01:09:15.650
- And beautiful.
- Beautiful, awesome.
1018
01:09:15.751 --> 01:09:18.820
- Empowered.
- [woman] Dynamic.
1019
01:09:18.921 --> 01:09:21.789
- [woman] Loving.
- Caring.
1020
01:09:21.891 --> 01:09:24.225
- Hard-working.
- [woman] Brave.
1021
01:09:25.294 --> 01:09:31.766
Divine. I think that
Black women are divine.
1022
01:09:31.901 --> 01:09:37.705
I think Black women are the closest
that there is on this earth to God.
1023
01:09:39.008 --> 01:09:44.012
Um, I think that
1024
01:09:49.118 --> 01:09:52.353
we submit. We're vessels.
1025
01:09:55.858 --> 01:09:58.693
We're filled. Um...
1026
01:10:04.366 --> 01:10:07.202
To be one of self-fashioning,
1027
01:10:07.303 --> 01:10:12.340
to be one of experimenting
with new ways
1028
01:10:12.441 --> 01:10:15.843
of being in the world
and relating to one another.
1029
01:10:15.945 --> 01:10:19.180
Um, that pushes forward.
1030
01:10:19.281 --> 01:10:25.520
And there's not one that uses history
as an anchor that weighs us down.
1031
01:10:25.621 --> 01:10:28.423
I just want Black women
to be more free,
1032
01:10:28.524 --> 01:10:31.993
and to just go after,
you know, whatever
1033
01:10:33.162 --> 01:10:37.732
they want to go after.
1034
01:10:37.833 --> 01:10:39.267
A legacy of...
1035
01:10:41.637 --> 01:10:44.505
...dreams realized.
1036
01:10:44.607 --> 01:10:48.209
The legacy is the unbroken
intergenerational
1037
01:10:48.310 --> 01:10:55.083
commitment to black womanhood,
and making sure it doesn't end with me,
1038
01:10:55.184 --> 01:10:59.854
and recognizing all that went
into creating that legacy.
1039
01:11:03.792 --> 01:11:07.762
As a Black mother,
1040
01:11:07.863 --> 01:11:11.299
Black grandmother as a
Black wife,
1041
01:11:11.400 --> 01:11:14.869
as a Black social scientist,
a Black professor,
1042
01:11:15.938 --> 01:11:19.540
um, a Black social activist,
1043
01:11:20.409 --> 01:11:23.911
I think it's critical that
1044
01:11:25.281 --> 01:11:30.618
I mind this lane that speaks
1045
01:11:30.719 --> 01:11:34.656
about our history
and our reality.
1046
01:11:34.757 --> 01:11:39.193
We cannot allow
the experiences of those
1047
01:11:39.295 --> 01:11:43.264
upon whose shoulders we stand
to be erased from memory.
1048
01:11:43.365 --> 01:11:48.169
I stand on shoulders that have
allowed me to be all of those things,
1049
01:11:48.270 --> 01:11:53.508
to be the mother that I am and the professor
and the professional person that I am.
1050
01:11:53.609 --> 01:11:59.414
Someone paid for me to be here,
and I am going to acknowledge
1051
01:11:59.515 --> 01:12:03.184
those people who suffered
so much so that I could be here.
1052
01:12:03.285 --> 01:12:04.419
How could I not?
1053
01:12:06.288 --> 01:12:11.926
I think that very critical
piece to our being well
1054
01:12:12.027 --> 01:12:17.532
is knowing our own stories, and
knowing and creating our own narrative.
1055
01:12:17.633 --> 01:12:22.704
And the only way that can happen
is if we ensure that it happens.
1056
01:12:22.805 --> 01:12:26.841
There's no culture in
the world that will readily
1057
01:12:26.942 --> 01:12:30.211
and deliberately erase
their history.
1058
01:12:30.312 --> 01:12:32.046
We can't erase ours.
1059
01:12:32.147 --> 01:12:34.148
If your life is narrated through
1060
01:12:34.249 --> 01:12:37.585
someone else's words and lens,
then it's not your life.
1061
01:12:37.686 --> 01:12:40.555
You have to be able
to give words to it,
1062
01:12:40.656 --> 01:12:45.326
give names to it and
not allow it to be distorted
1063
01:12:45.427 --> 01:12:47.562
through someone else's lens.
1064
01:12:47.663 --> 01:12:50.031
By telling our own story,
1065
01:12:50.132 --> 01:12:54.469
saying names like Zora Neale
Hurston and reading Octavia Butler
1066
01:12:54.570 --> 01:13:00.575
and talking about women like Septima
Clark and Fannie Lou Hamer, and others
1067
01:13:00.676 --> 01:13:05.580
whose names you may not know.
And, we can't lose the stories
1068
01:13:05.681 --> 01:13:09.751
that our own mothers, the stories of
our own grandmothers and daughters,
1069
01:13:09.852 --> 01:13:13.588
documenting our own narratives
like when we talk about
1070
01:13:13.689 --> 01:13:16.791
the Black Lives Matter
moment is absolutely
1071
01:13:16.892 --> 01:13:19.327
a Black women's moment
in history.
1072
01:13:19.428 --> 01:13:22.597
We have to uplift the women
who were on the ground,
1073
01:13:22.698 --> 01:13:25.133
who were the primary forces
leading that work.
1074
01:13:28.303 --> 01:13:31.005
The reason why it's so
important that we continue to write
1075
01:13:31.106 --> 01:13:35.777
Black women into history
and we refuse the invisiblizing
1076
01:13:35.878 --> 01:13:40.548
of our experiences
is because what we remember
1077
01:13:40.649 --> 01:13:43.951
is directly tied to what
we create in the future.
1078
01:13:44.052 --> 01:13:48.790
But if I don't remember that, if I
don't recall those experiences,
1079
01:13:48.891 --> 01:13:53.094
then I'm very likely to contribute
to a world that reproduces it
1080
01:13:53.195 --> 01:13:55.430
and allow other people
to reproduce it.
1081
01:13:55.531 --> 01:14:00.168
And if you control the corporations
and you control the media
1082
01:14:00.269 --> 01:14:02.770
and you control higher ed,
you control all of that,
1083
01:14:02.871 --> 01:14:06.441
you really can't ignore
what Black women say.
1084
01:14:06.542 --> 01:14:09.177
It's kind of at your leisure
to listen to them,
1085
01:14:09.278 --> 01:14:13.181
if you're that powerful. Black women
have to look at all the different ways
1086
01:14:13.282 --> 01:14:16.484
that different groups have
suppressed that knowledge.
1087
01:14:16.585 --> 01:14:18.786
White men certainly are
running the game here,
1088
01:14:18.887 --> 01:14:20.154
elite white men.
1089
01:14:20.255 --> 01:14:23.024
I mean, that there's
no surprise there.
1090
01:14:23.125 --> 01:14:27.361
We cannot relinquish the power
to define ourselves.
1091
01:14:27.463 --> 01:14:30.031
This is the power
of self-definition.
1092
01:14:30.132 --> 01:14:34.869
It fundamentally says if you don't
tell your own story, somebody else will.
1093
01:14:36.004 --> 01:14:38.439
[woman] If you could talk
to your 14-year-old self,
1094
01:14:41.043 --> 01:14:45.146
and send her a love letter,
and tell your 14-year-old self
1095
01:14:45.247 --> 01:14:48.015
something you've never told her
bit you've always wanted to tell her,
1096
01:14:49.685 --> 01:14:50.585
what would you say to her?
1097
01:14:57.059 --> 01:14:59.260
I would tell my
14-year-old self,
1098
01:15:01.630 --> 01:15:08.002
be strong, trust in God
in all things, and lean not
1099
01:15:08.103 --> 01:15:12.173
to your own understanding.
Follow his guidance.
1100
01:15:14.343 --> 01:15:17.144
And, Cora, I love you.
1101
01:15:22.518 --> 01:15:25.019
To not take things so seriously,
1102
01:15:25.120 --> 01:15:27.855
to relax a little more, um...
1103
01:15:29.758 --> 01:15:31.859
get a passport
and go see the world.
1104
01:15:33.929 --> 01:15:36.097
You don't have to stress
the small stuff.
1105
01:15:37.165 --> 01:15:38.566
No one's perfect.
1106
01:15:39.902 --> 01:15:42.303
You are enough
and you're good enough.
1107
01:15:43.772 --> 01:15:46.841
None of the things that
I'm worrying about right now
1108
01:15:46.942 --> 01:15:49.710
are going to matter
in the long run,
1109
01:15:49.811 --> 01:15:52.580
so to just relax
1110
01:15:53.515 --> 01:15:54.482
and be chill.
1111
01:15:58.320 --> 01:15:59.320
Be kind...
1112
01:16:01.490 --> 01:16:02.390
and loving...
1113
01:16:07.996 --> 01:16:08.896
to everyone.
1114
01:16:14.570 --> 01:16:19.740
And always love yourself.
1115
01:16:22.344 --> 01:16:23.411
Love yourself.
1116
01:16:31.553 --> 01:16:32.720
Be you.
1117
01:16:35.924 --> 01:16:37.358
Educate yourself.
1118
01:16:39.094 --> 01:16:40.361
Stay strong.
1119
01:16:41.563 --> 01:16:43.030
Don't settle for nothing.
1120
01:16:46.168 --> 01:16:47.535
And reach for the sky.
1121
01:16:53.508 --> 01:16:56.811
[Dr. DeGruy] I always
tell people, "Tell your story."
1122
01:16:56.912 --> 01:16:59.313
"It's really important."
1123
01:16:59.414 --> 01:17:01.882
And those generations of wisdom,
1124
01:17:02.918 --> 01:17:05.219
those generations
of long suffering,
1125
01:17:06.221 --> 01:17:10.057
those long days of not knowing
1126
01:17:10.158 --> 01:17:12.860
what tomorrow
was going to bring,
1127
01:17:12.961 --> 01:17:15.997
so much power,
so much wisdom there,
1128
01:17:17.299 --> 01:17:20.034
so much healing.
1129
01:17:20.135 --> 01:17:22.403
[Jazmine Williams] Sis...
1130
01:17:24.940 --> 01:17:28.275
Have you ever been
so madly aware of your beauty
1131
01:17:28.377 --> 01:17:30.811
that you have a shout out to God
1132
01:17:30.912 --> 01:17:33.314
for making you
in her perfect image?
1133
01:17:33.415 --> 01:17:36.384
Have you ever been so aware
of your magic
1134
01:17:36.485 --> 01:17:41.389
that you walk into a room full of
other black women and see theirs too?
1135
01:17:41.490 --> 01:17:45.993
Do you grin from ear when yo see
your reflections walking down the street,
1136
01:17:46.094 --> 01:17:49.563
skin glowing like she just
walked out of a rain forest,
1137
01:17:49.665 --> 01:17:51.165
where she bathes in a waterfall
1138
01:17:51.266 --> 01:17:53.467
lit by a rainbow smile,
1139
01:17:53.568 --> 01:17:56.003
like she eats prayer
for breakfast,
1140
01:17:56.104 --> 01:17:57.805
and meditation for lunch.
1141
01:17:57.906 --> 01:18:00.441
Hair that sings praises
for her maker
1142
01:18:00.542 --> 01:18:03.411
with the ever so slight
turn up her chin.
1143
01:18:03.512 --> 01:18:05.579
Sis...
1144
01:18:05.681 --> 01:18:10.418
have you ever been so satisfied
with the way you shine after a storm?
1145
01:18:10.519 --> 01:18:14.555
That you laugh at the thought of
you ever having been nervous at all?
1146
01:18:16.224 --> 01:18:19.593
Do you even notice
how hard you hustle?
1147
01:18:19.695 --> 01:18:23.531
How you make your manifestations
look as natural as breathing.
1148
01:18:23.632 --> 01:18:26.434
Like you were born to balance
the world on your head
1149
01:18:26.535 --> 01:18:28.235
while building empires upon it.
1150
01:18:28.336 --> 01:18:30.705
Sis...
1151
01:18:30.806 --> 01:18:32.740
Has anyone's hold you lately
1152
01:18:32.841 --> 01:18:35.710
how fine you look
in graduation caps?
1153
01:18:35.811 --> 01:18:40.848
How stunning you are turning the key
to the home you secure for your family,
1154
01:18:40.949 --> 01:18:43.184
how you sit like a gym on stages
1155
01:18:43.285 --> 01:18:45.553
discussing your lived
experiences.
1156
01:18:45.654 --> 01:18:49.390
Do you know
that you are a visionary
1157
01:18:49.491 --> 01:18:52.026
with foresight worth decades?
1158
01:18:52.127 --> 01:18:54.361
Because time
is the only currency
1159
01:18:54.463 --> 01:18:56.697
that does your value justice.
1160
01:18:56.798 --> 01:18:58.365
Do you know that
you are priceless?
1161
01:18:59.935 --> 01:19:03.170
Have you heard
that you would need
1162
01:19:03.271 --> 01:19:05.639
a mirror
about the size of the ocean
1163
01:19:05.741 --> 01:19:08.109
to see all of your light
in its entirety?
1164
01:19:08.210 --> 01:19:10.811
Even with all the miracles
you spin,
1165
01:19:10.912 --> 01:19:13.514
you are still effortless
in your glory.
1166
01:19:13.615 --> 01:19:18.018
Did you know
that you're my role model,
1167
01:19:18.954 --> 01:19:21.355
that I live for your wisdom
and grace?
1168
01:19:26.695 --> 01:19:29.430
You've given me quotes
to live and die with.
1169
01:19:29.531 --> 01:19:31.799
I go to war with the fire
you put in me.
1170
01:19:31.900 --> 01:19:34.835
You were always
my standard of excellence.
1171
01:19:40.609 --> 01:19:44.612
You were always
my standard of beauty.
1172
01:19:59.694 --> 01:20:04.932
[woman vocalizing]
1173
01:20:05.033 --> 01:20:06.233
♪ Ooh ♪
1174
01:20:06.334 --> 01:20:10.371
[woman vocalizing]