It’s time to vote, and it’s time to Hearken to Black Ladies—once more!
Welcome to Hearken to Black Ladies: Election Particular, the place hosts Jessie Woo and Lore’l open season 6 with a strong dialog on the state of our democracy. With Election Day (November 4) proper across the nook, this episode is important viewing. From metropolis halls to the halls of Congress, voters nationwide have the possibility to make our voices heard at a essential second in time.
On this must-see episode, voting rights activist, creator, and former Georgia State Consultant Stacey Abrams and award-winning neighborhood organizer, political strategist, and co-founder of Black Voters Matter Fund LaTosha Brown pull as much as the desk for a well timed, empowering dialogue about energy, politics, and what’s at stake this election season. Collectively, they break down the political schemes undermining our democracy—and the way on a regular basis individuals can push again.
Manufactured Chaos
Whereas unsettling headlines pop up on our feeds day by day, fueling our nervousness, this chaos is by design, LaTosha Brown defined. “We’ve to acknowledge that this second is being manufactured in a method to maintain us divided, to maintain us in a continuing state of chaos and worry, in order that we’re paralyzed and gained’t reply to what’s taking place proper now.”
Donald Trump is hardly the primary wannabe autocrat to come back for democracy. Not even a yr into workplace, his administration has wasted no time rolling out a playbook of disruption, distraction, and management. “What I want individuals to know is that this ain’t the second to not listen. You gotta get up,” Brown urged.
Prefer it or not, politics touches each a part of our lives—governing entry to every thing from clear water and protected roads to reasonably priced meals and healthcare. “Individuals will not be into politics, however politics is into you,” mentioned Stacey Abrams. “We don’t all must do the identical factor, however on this second, all of us must do one thing. And if we’re keen to do one thing, we get the world we deserve.”
“If any individual is working this rattling onerous to take one thing from you, it has worth.”
LaTosha Brown
Blueprint Of Autocracy
The warning indicators aren’t new—they’re a part of a well-recognized sample. As Abrams outlines in 10 Steps to Autocracy, we’re witnessing this administration behave much less like a presidency and extra like an autocracy, working intentionally to intestine and corrupt our democratic establishments. “With these 10 steps, when you’ve carried out them, you wash, rinse, repeat,” Abrams defined. “You by no means have to surrender energy as a result of persons are afraid, they’re silenced, they’re damaged, they usually imagine there’s no level in combating again. However I don’t truly imagine that’s the place it ends.”
Organized energy
In opposition to the specter of autocracy, Abrams affords her personal blueprint: 10 Steps to Freedom and Energy, emphasizing what’s potential when individuals transfer collectively. As Brown affirmed, “Organized individuals is organized energy.”
Boycotting is one instance of organized energy. “We will change markets by organizing our cash,” Brown mentioned. By becoming a member of boycotts like Blackout Week this November, individuals have the ability to use financial stress to drive change. “We’re not gonna spend our greenbacks with of us who work in opposition to us.”
By organizing our votes, we determine who leads and who steps down. “We’ve obtained to see our vote as part of resistance,” Brown mentioned. “We’ve to make use of each single software obtainable to us to withstand.” November 4 is a pivotal second for voters throughout the nation—an opportunity to train our voice and impression management at each stage, from prosecutors and sheriffs to mayors, governors, and members of Congress. This Election Day, “we’ve obtained 53,000 elections throughout this nation,” Abrams mentioned—a chance to inform our leaders, “We see you and we refuse to be silent.”
Our Communities
“Once we arrange our time in our communities, we are able to create a frontline that may shield us,” Brown mentioned. “The scripture says that excellent love drives out all worry. We’ve to like one another, our communities, and our establishments like we’ve by no means cherished earlier than.”
With very important assist methods being dismantled, our survival relies on collective care, Abrams mentioned. “(The administration) created meals insecurity, slashed the cash for SNAP and WIC. The explanation they do that’s to interrupt our will. However they solely break our will if we determine that they’re the one ones who may help,” she mentioned. “Our most vital job on this second is to ask: How can I assist?”
Legacy Of Resistance
Trump has been going after anyone who refuses to fall in line, like New York State Lawyer Basic Letitia James and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook dinner, Black girls who’re standing their floor in the way in which of his authoritarian agenda. “I’m proud to be in an extended legacy of Black girls who resisted,” Brown mentioned. “It’s in our veins, in our blood—we come from a legacy of resistance. Why? As a result of our survival relied on it. What else can I do however combat?”
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Radical Self-Care
Activism is heavy work. Figuring out when to step again and recharge is simply as vital as exhibiting up, the company agree. “I really feel no guilt about giving myself a respite, as a result of that’s the place you possibly can renew,” Abrams mentioned. “I watch tv, motion pictures, I learn books that I really like, and take heed to music that makes me glad.”
Earlier this yr, Brown was compelled to pause and mirror whereas managing a well being subject—onerous to do whereas the brand new administration sowed unrest exterior. “Finally, I’ve obtained to like me first,” Brown mentioned. “Many people have been taught that we’re presupposed to be the sacrificial lamb for everyone else. We’re presupposed to deal with the associate, the kids, the household, or the group—particularly as Black girls.” Now, Brown is “taking time to decelerate and be nonetheless. I spend time in nature. I get grounded, I’m surrounded by timber and water, and I give up myself on this house. Once I get readability, I transfer otherwise.”
Imaginative and prescient For The Future
Past merely surviving this administration, Abrams sees a brighter, extra equitable future the place asking for extra just isn’t solely potential however essential. “We have to demand the federal government we deserve,” she reminds us. “We’ve spent a lot time defending the little we had, we forgot to ask for extra.”
Abrams provides, “We’ve obtained to acknowledge, we’ve obtained to activate, and we’ve obtained to construct. Once we do these three issues, that’s how we get the democracy and the futures we deserve.”
There’s extra to this dialog—watch the complete episode of Hearken to Black Ladies: Election Particular above.
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Season 6 of Hearken to Black Ladies is formally right here. This iOne Digital authentic collection facilities Black girls as they discover life, love, tradition, and neighborhood by means of candid, thought-provoking conversations—that includes company who converse their truths and depart no matter off-limits. Catch new episodes each Thursday on MadameNoire.com.
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