SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Blurred Spectrum. We are here this week. You know, normally we give a lot of topics about the different uh points in Blurred Dumb, whether it be cosplay, comic books, video games, cartoons, all different types of things. Um, this week uh we wanted to you know pay attention to what's going on right now in our culture, what's going on right now in our atmosphere, in our society, in our community. And you know, the first part of Blurred is black, which each and every one of the members of our uh panel is. Uh, this is an identity that we you know have known since birth, and it's not really something we can change. And there are things going on in our country, in the world that we have the need and the want to say something about and to do something about. So we're taking this particular episode to speak on it. We have a variety of people on our panel today, including a special guest. So I'm gonna go through them really quick. Uh, of course, introducing myself first, Suchino Shogun. Uh, we have Miss Seyone, we have The Doctor, we have Ms. Skittles, we have The Black McCoy, we have Kaze, and we have Hordak and the Trap. Hmm, interesting variation. Um, and then we have our special guest today. Uh, he is a uh writer for Disney Channel as well as a stand-up comedian. He has tours that go all across the world. Actually, I think you've gone to Germany.

SPEAKER_05 1:26

Was it Germany? I was supposed to go to Amsterdam, but Big Rona cancel that trip.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

There you go. Um, Mr. Eric Owusu. Uh he's here to, you know, give his his not spin, but give his experience, his uh what's going on. You know, he's been across the country himself and he's experienced a lot of things right now. He's based out of California. So just give his experience of what's going on right now in the climate uh of you know, just not only Black Lives Matter, but just how the you know condition of black people are moving within the country and then within the world. So uh what we'll do, main thing we're doing here is just to give our personal uh experiences, what we've what we've seen and what how we feel right now as these protests and as these moving, uh as the movement is moving forward. And you know, who we'll start with is uh Miss Seoney, if you could kind of give your experience and you know tell a little bit a little bit about what's going on with you, your family uh right now.

SPEAKER_03 2:23

Okay. So I'm in Maryland, uh specifically closer to the Baltimore area, and you know, they have been pri uh there have been protests, not too much writing that I know of. Um, but the atmosphere when it comes to I would say uh interaction with white people and black people have been relatively the same in my area. I did do some traveling to Florida and the atmosphere was different. A lot of, I would say, white people were very apologetic for no reason. I couldn't cross the street without them saying I'm sorry, you know, or I apologize. And it was just awkward, you know, for for them to just kind of be apologetic for no reason. It was either that spectrum or it was very cold or just having some type of racial tension, you know, looks, whispers. So it could be that maybe I'm not aware of the culture in certain parts of Florida, but it was just very different for me because I'm not used to being looked at as a complete alien figure out of space. Um, also, I am very much in my own area in Maryland. I kind of stay within my own community, but branching out, I have noticed the racial tension and how I'm comfortable and the anxiety of just walking around just being black. And um, that's something that we always have to deal with, but it's very blatant and always has been it's really more so in your face because of the protests. You know, white people have to address certain aspects that they really don't didn't have to really address because there's evidence out there that's in your face. Before it was just kind of hidden and no one really wanted to talk about it, but now it's in your face, they have to address it. They don't have any, you know, they don't have any way to hide it anymore. So it's just very apparent, you know, those are certain certain things that I've always noticed, but it's the blatency of it is just very interesting and unnerving. And it's just nervous to walk out, you know, as a black person every day. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:34

I mean, I know you said that, you know, some of the the new experience uh down in Florida uh different from what you experienced in Maryland, just what you experienced in general. How much of a a shock was it? Like it was it more so you were expecting it and it was far worse, or was it it was unwarranted and it just kind of caught you out of left field?

SPEAKER_03 4:57

I was expecting it. Um, you know, my boyfriend was telling me about his experiences living in Florida and how he, I guess culturally, he's just used to it. He's just used to being called names. And that's it's a very different culture from Maryland. Like that won't fly here, at least, you know, not around this area. That blatant racist talk won't fly here at all. But he was saying that his community is just so used to it, you know, the racism or you know, have being tailed by cops, you know, being stopped for no reason. He was used to it there. And that's something that I wasn't used to. I was always aware of it. But being there and noticing it and actually seeing it and experiencing it, experiencing it, and you know, and I told my mom, she was in complete shock. You know, she is a Jamaican woman who's been in this country for 45 years and she never had to deal with that. And so she was just like, you know, but she wasn't surprised, but just shocked to know that, you know, that's that's really it really is the reality, you know, we have to step out of it to see it. Sometimes we just stay in our own community and we might not have to deal with it. But stepping out in the world and going to different places and seeing like this, this is actually going down. It's just kind of like a realization that this is the world that we live in.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

Yeah, and I I think, you know, especially with when we're talking to our parents and you know, uncles, kind of the generation above us, and how you know they they there's a certain level of expectation, there's a certain level of not necessarily being comfortable, but being ready for it. It's like, oh, I kind of expected that. Oh, you know, it seems a little aggressive more than I thought, but along the lines of what I saw coming in an area or in a place like that. And it's it's kind of depressing to, you know, have that be the norm, have that, you know, we're sitting at home and our parents, our uncles, our older siblings have to kind of almost like boot camp training, prepare us to walk out the door, not just to go to another state, but just to walk out the door into our neighborhoods, into to go to school, to go to college. Uh, I know a lot of parents were fearful, just you know, for some of us to go to a college university outside of the area. That's why a lot of our parents didn't want us to leave us, leave our state school. They didn't want us to go far away. And because, you know, there's a certain level of non-control and fear of what could possibly happen, what could be. Um, Eric, uh, I know you're out in California. I know you've had several experiences that we, you know, we've talked uh talked about in the past, but you know, tell us a little bit about you know what's your experiences as well as what's going on right now out in California.

SPEAKER_05 7:41

Yeah, um, so I've been doing my best to stay in the house because of corona, um, which unfortunately is still rampant. You know, I'm outside right now, I got my mask handy, I'm away from everybody. Um, but it's it's a pandemic, it's still happening. Everyone's still doing their best to wear their masks. Like, people are pretty courteous. Um, and we have to remember that COVID is killing black people disproportionately. Like it's killing everyone, but it's killing us a lot higher in higher numbers than is everyone else. So I'm not playing around with it. Like I grew up with really bad asthma. It's not fun to not be able to breathe. So I got my first COVID test Friday. They're doing them at Dodger Stadium where they do baseball games, and uh came back negative. Praise God. Happy Sunday. Um, but you know, I gotta get myself checked out. I'm washing my hands, I'm taking my mask with me everywhere I go outside. Um and taking it seriously. Um and as far as Black Lives Matter stuff, like I was staying away from protests in the beginning, mainly because I just wasn't feeling the fire to be out in the streets. Like I was out in 2017 with uh I forget who was killed that year, but i I was feeling rah-rah rah then. Um but with this you know go-around of it, I've been donating, I've been spreading awareness, telling white homies where to donate, how to raise awareness, and how to learn for themselves. Uh, because I feel like we of course need to speak up and be like, hey, we matter, but we don't really need to change our behavior or do anything because we're under attack. Like you were saying, you know, our parents and uncles and aunts have to teach us how to move when we leave the house. Breonna Taylor was in her house. They came in and they killed her. Like, and that's the scary part of it, and there's no accountability. We're demanding accountability. So, like it's it's important for us to demand all the things. So I went to my first protest Friday, it was dope. My homegirl, you know, my black homegirl, Bree, she roller skates. So it was like a skating thing. I don't skate, I don't have the balance, so I just jogged with them. But we went around City Hall, and you know, we were chanting, you know, say her name Brianna Taylor, say his name George Floyd. We went around the police precinct downtown and we were like demanding justice. So it's important that we do show the numbers. And we have been in California. Every day in California and all the different towns around LA, there have been protests, there have been demonstrations, there have been massive gatherings of people continuing to put their foot on the gas and like get things done. Um otherwise nothing's gonna change, especially in this moment when the whole country and a lot of countries around the world are saying Black Lives Matter, especially here in LA, we gotta capitalize on it and keep making noise and keep moving.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

You made a good point about the fact that you know you grew up with asthma and you know, bad asthma, and you know, you have your mask on. I believe you told us before we, you know, started recording that you know the um the ruling is for you guys to wear masks everywhere because the numbers are starting to go back up. So for you to have gone to your first protest since 2017 on Friday, and you know, the fear of Corona is still there, just how difficult is it balancing kind of your your fervor and your willing and your want and your passion to go out there and represent Black Lives Matter, but then also be fearful, not just for your own life in terms of what's going on, but your own life as it pertains to corona. How do you balance both of those fears in a situation like that?

SPEAKER_05 11:10

Yeah. Uh, you know, the fear is always ever present. Like in protests before this COVID era, we were afraid, rightfully so, that the police would come fuck us up. You know, like, and they have been. Like protesters, especially early on, in like the end or the the middle of May and then June, they were wearing their masks, they were being compliant, and the police were agitating people. Um my ex went out and protested early on, and she got hit with a rubber bullet. Like, there's always the fear that the police will kill you, and there's the fear that COVID will get you. Um, but there have been studies and articles that said there haven't been any spikes or big spikes because of people protesting. Because the people who were protesting are being smart about it. We're all wearing masks. The one I went to Friday, we wore masks. There were the people who organized it walked around with hand sanitizer, and like we don't want to risk getting this disease that just kills us disproportionately in order to speak out and demand that the cops stop killing us disproportionately, you know? So both ways we're scared, but it's necessary to be out in the streets and show this, show these numbers to like you know, tell the world that we matter.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Um, that I don't even know how to that that line is gold. You should keep that and add it to one of your routines. Like, seriously, because it's it's just the thought, and I that's one of my thoughts that I've been thinking about this entire time is you know, what do we do when we want to go out, we want to support, we want to, you know, raise our hands, raise our you know, our voices, and you know, like they said, say the name, scream the name. And I've seen so many press conferences where people, because they want people to hear them, they have to take down their mask just to be able to project. And it's like, well, how do you balance trying to get that voice out there while still being muffled by the mask? It's it's uh I can't imagine. I truly can't. Man, I commend you for uh being able to go out and do that, especially in kind of your because you have asthma, the kind of weakened state. The uh, you know, there's certain, you know, they uh Rod was uh the doctor was saying a couple of weeks ago that there are you know certain individuals who are more susceptible due to previous uh medical illnesses or you know long-standing medical illnesses and you know being able to go out there and you know face not only corona, but of course, you know, police, I commend you. Um, but you know, no problem. Uh the doctors, what good?

SPEAKER_05 13:46

Oh, sorry, I cut you off. We're gonna say no, no, go ahead. Uh in order to kind of help wrap my round my head around not wanting to go protest because I was like scared of my health and stuff. Uh there's this quote that Yvette Nicole Brown put on her Instagram. She was saying, like, you know, some people go out and protest, some people donate to causes and people's bail funds, some people uh spread awareness to their white homies, you know, some people write letters to the representatives. Like there's multiple lanes to be in, but we're all going towards the same thing and fighting for the same goal, which is you know, holding cops accountable and and making a better world for us. So like uh we don't just have to do one thing, as long as we're doing something, we're helping affect change. So that's important to keep in mind.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Um, the doctor, what do you what do you think of those points? Uh as well as giving your own personal experiences and you know what's going on right now, but what do you think of those specific points about how each each of us has our own way of helping, our own way of you know impacting this movement? Um, what do you think about those specific points?

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Yeah, so I think those are excellent points. And I'm really glad Eric mentioned that when it came to you know the other ways that you can assist. If you don't want to be out on the front lines, because not everyone can be on the front lines. Um the front lines are really dangerous. You know, that's a reality. It's even more dangerous now because COVID's also a factor, but you know, people die protesting. Like that does happen sometimes. Um, you know, I remember when I did the, I attended the counter-protests after Charlottesville, where they're planning another white supremacist rally in DC. And so myself and some friends went to the counter-protests against that rally. And, you know, we knew at the time, like, hey, there's, you know, back in Charlottesville, someone was run over like and died by these white supremacists. So there is that very real fear. And, you know, and that's not unreasonable to be concerned about that. Um, so yeah, like donating to a bail fund, um, you know, sending money, you know, to like the families of victims, you know, of this uh police violence or white supremacist violence. There are all these different ways you can help. And I'm really glad Eric mentioned that because you know, there you can always do something, you know, and that's the most important thing. And there is no one thing that's one method that's better than any other method. Like it's all about what you can do because they all have a role in the movement. You know, and I think um, you know, of my experiences with the protests, you know, this time around, one of the most striking things to me was that uh this time, compared to any of the protests I've attended before, you know, related to anti-racism movements and whatnot, I see people getting engaged who I have not seen getting engaged before. Like, and I'm not, you know, I think in part this has to do a lot with, you know, we're just it's reaching a breaking point, you know, because it's so much death, so and so much unjust death and death that doesn't get convictions or anything like that.

SPEAKER_00 17:00

Right.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

You know, so I think really I've seen people who have never said anything about rape, you know, race or racism, who have suddenly gotten very, very vocal, who are now going out and attending protests or sharing links to about like, you know, here's a bail phone you can donate to. And that's really, really encouraging because you know it just shows that we're all getting a lot more engaged around this. And this is you know what we need. Like black people don't need to change, you know, because we aren't the issue when it comes to this, but we do need to be vocal, you know, because and one thing I do really love how vocal that we've become in this wake in this wave of protests.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

Uh and you know, I I agree. The the being being able to say your truth, even if uh being able to say your truth, no matter where it's where where you where your experiences lie, because we we haven't all experienced the same thing. Some of us haven't experienced, you know, the the the far end as other people have. You know, um, you know, uh Seyone was just saying earlier, you know, just recently she experienced, you know, some very aggressive racism in Florida. And you know, I'm sure each of us have experienced different things, you know. As you know, um uh Eric was talking about uh his uh ex was at one of the rallies and got hit with a rubber bullet, you know, it's varying degrees, but the key is being able to be able to know it and then see it and then acknowledge it and then say it. And once you say it and people hear it, what we want is that they hear it, understand it, and then come along with us and say, okay, this is unfair. And we need to move forward to the future where we get the same treatment as everybody else does. We get the same treatment as our counterparts do, whatever those counterparts are. Um, you know, from going from Florida to California, DC, uh, Horde or Hordeck and the trap, you guys are in um North Carolina. Um I I can only imagine, you know, as Sayone and uh the Black McCoy were talking about earlier, about you know, southern uh situations, you guys are very near and dear to those areas. Uh, what can you guys tell us about uh what's been going on, your experiences, because I know you guys are originally from uh Maryland or in the Maryland area. Uh what can you tell us about your previous experiences and your experiences now?

SPEAKER_02 19:24

I've seen more races in the Maryland than I have down here. Wow. Now the I'll now the reason why I'll say that is this. I've learned something about the South and Maryland. Maryland is over the past couple years, and by you, I'll base this on the fact that I've pretty much been in the streets in some way, shape, or form, interacting with people on a regular basis since I was 11. So it's like I I stayed outside, I stayed on the metros, I stayed on the buses, I got to talk and interact with a lot of different people, homeless, rich, doesn't matter. I talk to everybody at that time and still do now. And um the one thing I did notice about Maryland, which I noticed about the north as a whole, is that racism isn't as blatant as it is down in the south. So if racism exists in the south, you're gonna know it. In the north, it might take a while, it's hitting. But in the south, oh, they're gonna they're gonna put it out there for you. At first when I first got down here, I noticed it um in the first job that I had where I was working in a position where there wasn't any idiot. I was all the only one they had had in like 15 years.

SPEAKER_04 20:35

Yeah, he pretty much was the minority token black person in that section.

SPEAKER_02 20:40

For that section, I was the first black person they had in that section in 15 years. Um mind you it did not last long. It didn't work out well for me because honestly, that that was I don't want to say that was so much racism, though the people kind of showed some racial undertones, some racist undertones to them. The reason it didn't work out between us was not racist. Um and that's why I said they may be blatantly racist down here, but they don't necessarily let it mess up their business and they'll let you know up front. They'll give you they'll they don't hide it, they don't keep it from you. You'll know.

SPEAKER_07 21:23

Right.

SPEAKER_02 21:23

Um I worked my second job here when I worked for Amp, and I got to drive around Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina. There was one thing I did notice about racists in this area, and that is once again, they're blatant, but they're not as hard to change from that racial mindset, from that racist mindset as I thought it would be. Like mind you, I I grew up, I was made fun of for the way I talked for a long time. I didn't start talking quote unquote black until I got into my teens. And I but I always kept that other, I'll say the professional side in the tuck. For jobs like the ones I work where I interact with people. When you work in these nursing homes in these hospitals down in the south, a lot of times you see black people, they're not working in so much positions of power, unless it's like Charlotte in Southern DC. That's one of the few places I've seen it. But outside of that, it's like a lot of these places, like the only black people you see are the janitors and nurses. Everybody else is white. All of their ministers are white. All the managers are white. Like everything else is white. So it's like from an infrastructure standpoint, you can see kind of the racism there. But when you interact with these people, they'll have a mindset of you and mind you. I'm I look like a typical DC dude now. So it's like, so it's like when I go to these places, they see I have dreaded hair, and even if I even though I keep it tied up most of the time, but they'll look at me and have a nose ring, which I don't hide anymore. They'll look at me and they'll be like, Who the hell? And you can see it in the eyes, like, who the hell is this nigga?

SPEAKER_07 22:57

Right.

SPEAKER_02 22:58

And then I talk to them and I watch their face change. And as you continue to talk to them, and then like they ask you to go about your background and stuff like that, they're quicker to change over from that racist side, but you still you can still see it there to a glimmer because then it's like now it's no longer they're not racist, it's more like you're one of the good ones.

SPEAKER_00 23:18

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 23:20

It's that change, it's not a change of you're they're not racist anymore, it's just you're one of the good ones. So now they're more open to looking for what are the good ones. Yeah, maybe at some point, and I I remember reading a story about a guy who interacted with a Ku Klux Klan, and he interacted with this man, invited him over to dinner, went over his family for dinner. They knew each other for 15 years, and it ended with that Ku Klux Klan member leaving the Ku Klux Klan. Is that a normal occurrence? Hell no. But I think it's one of those situations where it's like southern races are a lot easier to transfer over than northern racists are because for southern races is a thing of this is where I was raised, or because of things that they may have seen with their parent their fam members. It's all more relationship-based. Right.

SPEAKER_04 24:06

But northern racists, we figure they keep it in the closet most of the time. So it's deeper than that. It's never well, I mean, between them keeping it in the closet and biting their tongue more so it's deeper than that.

SPEAKER_02 24:19

That's the scary part about northern races. Reason about northern races and southern races, I'll deal with the southern race if I do with northern races. The northern race, the southern races are more upfront and possibly more aggressive, but they're also because of how their emotional standpoint when it works, they're quicker to change. Northern races, that's business and power.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

That's true.

SPEAKER_02 24:38

That's not uh it's it's not a they hold they hold their tongue because they know how much money they can lose if they let it go. And they know that if if black people get to a certain power, then now their standing is is down. Southern races care about their standing, but they more so just care that they're treated to some extent either. Well, I want to say they look at it as they need to be treated better than you until they get to know you, and they're like, wait, they're not that much different than me. The other races don't give a damn if you're that much different than them. They want that power. Um I can't remember the name of the person, but it's an alt-he's a uh alt-left or all I can't remember what it was, but uh pretty much he's one of the big white supremacist groups, he's one of the leaders of big white supremacist groups. He even said it. He was like, his fear isn't that black people get equality, his fear is that white people lose power. Black people, in his mind, black people get treated however they want as long as white people stay in power, yeah, as long as white people stay that juggernaut. So, um, so they said that's why I was like, deal being down here dealing with racism is a lot easier to traverse than it was a bill. Way easier. I've been in a couple houses where it was like, I swore these people racist as hell. And they kind of gave it all. Now they didn't come out and just call me a nigga straight up, but that's because they knew if they did that, I wasn't gonna start their shit. So, like, you can do it if you want to. I'm just gonna cancel this job and keep it moving. But after talking to them, like they'll talk to me for a while, you can see the change. It's like then they start treating me like I'm damn near family. You want something to drink? You know, we got these cookies, da-da-da-da. It's like and you just see, it's like you're seeing the gears move. And it's it's kind of cool, actually. I I I've always loved the south more than the north. And I've heard about Florida, I've been to Florida. Um, I've seen I've been on the other side of that whole, like, even in the military, I've been on the other side of that racism shit. Like, it's even in the military, I was putting handcuffs with no reason. You know, it was like so it was it was I've I've seen it. But this is but as usual, like I said, I always say the South is that race, it's a different beast. Racism's there, but man, it's it's not that hard to change sometimes. Sometimes systematic racism, that's a whole nother conversation.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

It's yeah, it's whoa. No, no, no.

SPEAKER_02 27:11

That's a whole that's something that can't be like I don't care how many houses that goes, right? Changing that.

SPEAKER_00 27:16

You know, it's like it's a it's a it's a deep-rooted generational, like inbred, like it's it's it's it's based off of so many different so many different factors, so many different variables based, and that's it, that's based off of the individual or the group of uh our counterparts. You know, it's you know, they don't always it's it's not always the same mindset for each and every one of them. That's why, as you were saying, between you know the South and the North, you go into a southern house and they, you know, after a couple of moments, they believe, you know, you're one of the good ones. I've experienced that myself, um, where you know, I've and you you guys have known me for a very long time, you know, m how I speak is very different from a lot of our friends and you know, family and stuff. So, you know, I'll have conversations for work over the phone, and you know, based on how eloquently I speak or how calmly I speak or how I enunciate my words, and then when I get there, and either I have uh a fade or you know, a shape up or I have a fro or whatever I'm wearing when I see them, although my clothes look nice, they're still looking up here. And the huh?

SPEAKER_04 28:29

Well, I say right. I'm saying like that preconceived notion that that other races have against us, like that kind of slams you at the door. That can slam you out of the interview automatically. And I think that's the first step that needs to change. Why do you just assume that I'm bad because of the color of my skin? Right. Like I've had to get into talks with our daughter because you know, you need to make her aware, yes, she's six, and I get it that she's not gonna necessarily totally understand. Like her best friend is a little white girl that she met in preschool. Yeah, like they've been tight the entire time.

SPEAKER_07 29:06

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 29:06

You know, it's it's um we're not raising her to hate or to feel, you know. I don't want her to feel uncomfortable, but I need her to also know that there's people that look like your friend that may not have the same feelings towards you, and they may hate you just because of the way you look. I think that conversation has been a little difficult, and you know, you got to keep reinforcing it.

SPEAKER_07 29:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:32

Um, I don't know who else has kids, but I know Sesame Street just did like a town hall on racism, and then they did one on um COVID-19 just to kind of help the kids out a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 29:43

I mean, I think uh even Nickelodeon had a of encouragement for all groups, uh, but specifically for you know African American and black individuals showing their support. And almost instantaneously, uh one of our counterpart females decided to post on uh Nickelodeon's timeline why do why do my children have to be inconvenienced because uh of this political stand? Or uh what else did she say? She said, Um, my children just want to watch their cartoons or their TV shows. Why do they uh why does my day have to be affected just because you want to say something?

SPEAKER_04 30:21

And you told her as husband, get a fire stick so you can watch it on demand if they were that uninconvenient.

SPEAKER_02 30:28

That's another that's another thing I like to point out too is that I don't like this whole thing about the I think the the smarter, the smarter racist, or it's either two ways. The smarter racist or the ones that are just too dumb to really look for themselves, they're looking at it like, oh, this is a political thing, or this is a political thing. I don't want this political thing inconvenience. There's nothing political about this. This is just human rights. At this point, it's like it's like there's nothing. If you're thinking that this is political, then like there's a lot more that I can point out to you and see if you see that as political, maybe on your side. You know, it's like um like how, you know, how uh pretty much how blue-collar workers have been getting fucked for the past three years. Or like how, you know, stuff like that. It's like it's like little things like that. And some of which, yes, I can see it as be considered political, but this is not one of those. We're just trying not to get shot for no reason.

SPEAKER_07 31:23

Right.

SPEAKER_02 31:23

Like it's like we're just trying, we're trying not to get lynched by the police at this point. That the George Floyd thing was a lynching. That was all that was. So it's like, so it's just like at this point, this is just human rights and human courtesy. It's just respect for this.

SPEAKER_00 31:37

You're about to make a point.

SPEAKER_01 31:38

We just want to you know, and I'm sorry, that just kills me so much. This whole excuse about, oh, it's political or I don't want politics getting into this. Like, to a lot of these racists out here, black people existing is political, quote unquote. Like the idea that, you know, the idea that us not getting murdered or us not wanting to get murdered would somehow be this offensive political statement. Like, it's ridiculous. It just it just shows how deep racism goes. Yeah. You know, that any deviation from what currently exists, this structure that elevates, you know, white supremacy at the very top, any deviation from that is considered, you know, oh, this is too political, or this is too, you know, oh, this is just changing things for no reason. And it, you know, honestly, it takes an incredible lack of human empathy. Yeah. You know, to see these murders over and over, because I I couldn't even tell you how many there have been so far, you know, that we've seen on video of these people, you know, black people being murdered. And then to think, how dare you challenge my beliefs, you know, even just a little bit, you know, by wanting to not be murdered. Like just think of how cruel that is, you know, at its core. But that's where we are, you know, and that's why like we gotta be so vocal about this, you know, and that whole like, oh, well, you don't want to be political, like I it's BS, like it's bullshit. Like at the end of the day, it just is, you know. Us fighting for the right to not be murdered should not be some radical political statement. I mean, I don't think anyone wants to die unjustly, you know. Like I mean, it's it just that's that just always irks me, you know.

SPEAKER_02 33:22

And then uh you have the old excuse of uh, oh well, maybe y'all shouldn't commit crimes. I watched a white dude beat up with the old Billy Club and steal their truth. That if that's not a crime, like he didn't get shot for none of that. They even tried to pull out a gun, taser, nothing. They got their asses whooped, watched the car get taken away, and then I guess made a call for the city. I saw that video. Yeah, like not once did anybody pull a gun, taser, anything. A hound, nothing.

SPEAKER_04 33:51

It was like I saw one lady drive off on a cop, and she did get tased, but like he handled her with care. Yeah, like come on, she just drove, sped off on you, tried to kick you in the face, and all you did was tase her, unless that would have been one of us, and we would have got shot, and then we become another hashtag. I understand why you don't see the difference in your privilege versus us. Like, look at the guy that did the shooting at the church, or all the people who have actually done mass shootings in schools that didn't take their own life. Yeah, they all end up walking out with handcuffs, not beat up, not shot, not taste, not anything.

SPEAKER_00 34:30

So Burger King. He did get Burger King, you're right. But um But you you were talking, uh I want to make sure we're um No no sorry.

SPEAKER_04 34:40

No, there's a cartoon floating around on Facebook where um it's that guy that did the church shooting, and then um it's this black guy in the back of a car. So you see the white guy eating a sandwich, and the black guy said, What did you do? He said, Shoot some people. Then the white guy says, Well, what did you do? He said, Well, I didn't stop at a stop sign, but the black guys in handcuffs beat up and looking black and blue. If that's not enough of a statement for you, I don't know what is.

SPEAKER_00 35:08

We're not done just yet. We all had so much more to say and share that we decided to make this into a two parter. Look forward to our next episode where we conclude our talk about this topic.