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and and took it. i'm dr. noelle trent, president and pleasure to welcome you to meeting house for our wonderful engage book talk wake up black women on the future of democracy. edited by keisha. we are so happy to have you here with powerful conversationbosto. i would like to bring up christn good evening, everyone. my is christian walkes and i am

the rector of education and interpretation programs here at the museum of african american history, boston and nantucket. it is my honor welcome you to thenic african, the iconic african meeting house for this evening's special wake up america black women on the future of democracy. tonight, i will by three esteemed contributors to this newgy who will give us a preview into some of the insights within its pages before. we get started with our i would like to begin with a set of dr. keisha blain, keesha and blayne, a 2022 guggenheim fellow and of 2022 carnegie fellow is one of the most innovative and influential young historians. here is an award winning historian of the 20th century

united specialty stations in african-americanmodern africd women's and gendermpleted her pn history from princeton ■university and is now a professor of africana study and

t'history at brown university. blain is author of the acclaimed books set the world on in the global struggle for end until i. fannie lou hamer's enduring message to america. she is also edited for tions, including the number one new york times bestseller, 400 souls a community history of african america from.

19 to 2019. blaine's latest wake up america woman. the future of democracy brings together, thic black politician, grassroots activists and intellectualsitical insights on how we. create a more equitable future. now to some of our contributors renée graham renée graham is a opinion columnist, associate editor weekly globe on newsletter. she writes about race and racism, domestic,■> lgbtq and gun control and politics. during a previoustint at the she was she was a critic and feature wrer music, film and television. a frequent guest of msn nbc graham was has been featured a featured comntator in numerous

acclaimed documentaries, including the peabody award inalk cosby on showtime, the two killings of sam cooke on netflix and cnn see it television. and finally, 1968, the year that changed america. next,michelle, janey, kim, michelle, boston's history. the bad and the at 11 years old, janey was on the front lines of the battle to desegregate the city schools boston's bussing era in.duri 1970s. 45 years later, janey made in as boston's first woman and first success leading the city through a multitudeincluding covid 19 p. a highly respected public

servant and nonprofit leader, ms. janey has ears oommunity organi, development campaigns and coalition building. ne leads economic mobility working help, people experiencing deep poverty climb e economic ladder. and i would like to introducti. our moderator, zenzile riddick zenzile riddick originally originally from oakland, is a . in education at harvard university, mi to harvard as a presidential scholar. her research explores the and, contemporary landscape of african-american education. lives, practices and women, foregrounding thewomen. her dissertation examines■ the n

through a historical estudy of'y school, a women led, community controlled institution in black power era roxbury as an insidious plenary scholar. then delay anchors her academic■ research on black education and the long intellectual political and pedagogica traditions of african american women. i will now pass it over to zenzile, who will begin with this evening's end. leading this evening'discussion. zenzile. thank you, christine. and thank you all. i as moderator of our conversation with these incredible women who contribute into an amazing amazg neso just going to jump r. i have some questions for you of in but one factor's an incentive when we all have something to add. please do. and then some of the questions

will be directed at the panel. once we're finished with this portion of the moderated conversation, there will be some audience. so to begin, mystuest you. by the audio, because i'm going to have a female famous famy with that 1915 speech made this clear when she said, i're going to make democracy a reality, it's time for us to wake up. course, one of the most significant contributors to the rights movement, as well as the movement for women's rights and human rights. and e'white hand celebrated bio. do you■x all take different approaches to dfere moving. oh, good. okay. right now i put it aside and see how r9e contributors wake up america all embody the spirit of her activism and envision what it might mean to make democracy

a reality. i'd like, what about you? so work with the many educators and authors in this edited volume and the work that you've already done to honor hamer's legacy. thank you soh. what a great question. there's so much i can say, i think tht truly an honor to be able to work on this ec think it's so easy to fall to despair. it's easy to feel discouraged. i think many of you are probably feeling the way that i'm feeling at a moment in our nation's history where there's so many challenges. ■+ss the nation, across the globe and it just feels like we're dealing and i's great to come together with just remarkable, brilliant black woma to just be invigorated in i think that that's, you know, a

somewhat selfishbut it is one os why it was so important for me tojust, to be in conversation a, to an extent, community. and with people who i deeply admire for many of the i didn't even know them personally, i have to say. d grateful that i that they responded i reached out to them to contribute because i felt like this was a time that we needed to come together and especially in this year in this election year, i thought it was important to to think about democracy because we all know, it's a continual process. it's you something that stays fixedwe have to maintain e to protect thought. who else to ask?

what black women. women from diverse backgrounds. black women of different faiths. black parts, the country, different social class together to reflect what's at stake and to k through practical steps, to really. one might say, not simply protect, but but to build. to continue building a multiracial and inclusive democracy. so it's just simply means the world to me to be able to do this project and to be able do it. building fannie lou hamer. she's noge part. what i was trying to convey is she is still with when you think about how her ideas her pasve. i see that in the that that kim ne see that in the writings of rene i see that just

all around me and that helps me to going to know we are together working to really to fight for this country and to not give up. ke giving up. so great question. thank you for that. thank you. thank you so much. i. you know,4)■e i love that you sd who better to ask than black women. that leads directly into my next question actually, which is for in your work and all of your contributions to clear black women have occupied world, which means that black women have auniquely positioned in the struggle for justice. and i think thek i'm reminded of specifically the honorable kim janey in your black women who are at the very forefront of the struggle for

education here in boston. the desegregation era. i'm also thinking chapter, howk about the black queer and trans women wholeaders across generat. and so as i think about these women love to hear each of you spent some time thinking about with us tonight the distinct roles and contribution that black women have made to the for chuck ben, thank you for that. and before i answer the question, want us just t sit, acknowledge that this is sacred space. ■j are in a place that the ic community here in boston in 19th century. this was home to the black coand this building here was al important for the abolitionist movement he folks,k

douglass come through the doors. william lloyd garrison told. maybe harriet tubman. so this pulpit andhis space, very sacred. and i want to thank museum leadsh hosting this incredibly important convi also want to thank dr. bin fo■[r having the vision and the foresight right to together. she knew and she definitely has a good answer the question because she was intentional in reaching out to black women. when i think about the strength, the power the resilience of black women throughout history, particularly throughout u.s. history, all not for your own children and family but obviously for others. sun up to sundown.

into the nitty gritty of what chattel slerwas here. but that fight foreration and all of our social justice movements, young people women e always at the forefront. communities, immigrants gay, you name it. but blk particular have been at the forefront. i have described it as women saving our country. one election at a time. and i''t about any or political party but it is the ever of what it mea ln democracy. it is work do all the time. and what is i think, really special about black women and their magic is that they and

women in general, ke i think women in general have super and no offense the gentleman in the room and there are a but women are able to problems solve a way. re to the number ofbly i think■l women running for off leading corporations and higher ed institutions and the same. and so i am encouraged and ■hopeful that with this book and all of the lessons that are there help move us forward. thank you. thank you. i thought same thing dr. blaine for dmi me because, i'm really bad about reading my work email. i never would haveee so thank very much for that. on the morning that raphael warnock and jon ossoff won■d the

georgia senate, therefore giving the democrats controlhy twitter, twitter. i went on twitternd i imagine what this nation would■g be woy black women uplift democracy and like coincidence. a few hours and maybe not by coincidence. there the insurrection at the capitol on january sixth. and what i was thinking when i certainly thinking about all the women in georgia who had done all of this workne this work, who had, you know, had voted that, knocked on doors and had around. and when they were too it because as fannie lou hamer said,f being sick and tired. but i was also thinking a ernes, who was a member of the was a the oldest lesbian rights

organization in the country. and she was one of the few black women in theple were out in the streets marching for lgbt rights, she was usually the only black woman out there. i thought of reverend pauli identified as non-binary, now called he founders of the congress. racial equality. u know, thout ofhe women of the committee, river collective and the understood what this country could be and how to gethe count there by7g=m) the intersectional of our struggles and that to get democracy to have democracy in full. et to the freedom of black women because of black women were freerything black women faced, it meant everyone else would be free. you know, all of those things on my mind as i was writing thend when the book came out reading it and just the sense of hope, it's very you know, a lot of reasons to

once someone had confused me at work with ianother writer jane austen held and they said, oh, are you the person whoncouraged joy? and i said, no, i couldn't do it.but you can't just through le that way, because thou up. and that's how the terrorists win. so important thing is to keep that message out there and not just an empty you know, that's what we have. have our souls, we have our hearts. we have our minds. we have to use them. get this country where it needs toe. it's not even a matter. it's a matter of saving democracy, but it's also a matter of making home that's which it never been. and i think that'swork that needs to be done and not by black women, but by everyone who actually cares about this country. absolute much. so the next■v question is for y.

honorable kim janey. i absolutely loved reading your chapter as was shared in my introduction. my work, my dissertation is focused on the history independent black education here 2in and roxbury specifically. so to read your recollections of re in boston was really quite moving. earing the beautiful memories and fond memories that but the reality is a lot of those memories from your il educational experiences were also deeply painful being on the forefront of sta sanctioned bussing. the experiences that may have had in metco. so i wanted to take a moment to ask to talk a little bit about th diverse experiences that you had a black student here in the boston and how those educational experiences flr political trajectory. thank you so much for that question. you know, i am bss5zrn into a f.

and soce of education was always around me thug growing u. i come from a family filled teachers and k-through-12 early childhood as well as" higher. my dad rest his released. the date of his t■;ransition. ha superintendent of three major school education was important. and my home was at new school fr children. and i really that experiencú

in metco, because that's a chal. and so i'm really gratefu moms y try to highlight. you know, is book isot just a call to action. it is a love letter to black in the movement. and so am grateful that mmo here and for her lessons. and i want say her name. th is phyllis. the lessons that me, sending me off to this school in thisool was a school that traditional public schools in boston not educating black kids. and i'm going to back to my important for all of us to understand that fight for quality education doesn't start. in 1974,itbussing in boston

or in 1954 with the u.s. supreme court decision. this fight is centuries as soon as someone said, you cannot learn the fight for learning and then education was always here and perhaps in this community was the roberts boston. but sarah robertsgirl, five yea. her father her to get a great idea, her parents, her to get a great education. and so they tried her in a school that was closer to their home, but that school was designated and at five years old, this il removed physically by police. hat sit in for a 8s■=moment. so there was a court case. father sued the school

committee. they did nin case. and that is the precedent for jim, for plessy versus versus ferguson. and jim crow was born right here in thi city. so this fight is a long fight. and jim crow was born in■ bosto. fast forward, though, through my child hood. i foundation of really helping me, understood stand not just the basics reading and writing and and your shwho i was as a little black girl and thimportan conscious of a acamericanan over diaspora. so i wasor went the public schools system by second grade, david ellis school, the same was in when he lived here in this ci the school tried to hold me back a grade. they tried to put me back in first grade, even though i

supposed to be in second grade,d fight for me. those were ely and. the power of parent voice, the power of advocacy, and what it black liberation and educate asian for your kids. ced in my right grade. i excelled a straight a-plus elementary. and then i was bussed in sixth grade to charlestown. and in charlestown for folks w a poor working class irish very much like south boston was at thatso they not really interested in having people come into that community. and so we saw what happened. we saw the riots and the police escorts and the rocks, the sticks, the the decoy busses and all of that. i wouldn't have gotten through that experncschool children, wia family of, educators who kepted.

then metco was not without its t know, is a voluntary bussing program. founded in 1966 to give at that time black children access to a better education outside of the city of boston. wasn't like suddenly i'm here and everything voluntary so it a little bit better. but there as relates to racism and how black students treated at that time. had the support of a strong t]community. and i want to just take a moment, lift up some of the names that i mentioned in the book, like julia walker, like alan jackson, like jean mcguire, like ruth batson. these women stoodthe gap for black kids to protect us and

make sure that we had around, at education. and that is the same activism that we see today in the that we're currently in. it is a continue equation of this struggle for black liberation and i'm just grateful to be a blacké÷■h woman and to a part of that and to be alongside so many peop great work for our our city and our. thank you. thank you so. so my next question is for you and same powerful style that resonates all of your globe articles. your chapter evoked deep feelings also an important sense of hope, which u early in

the chapter, you honor the life of. elise mallory, a black trans who died by drowning in an unknown in march 2020 to you describe hs a shirt with the gripping statement you deserve more than survival. can you talkmean to you and what it represents in rights by way of background, for the last four decembers now. columns memorialize trans and non-binary people lost to violence that and in doing this i have to through a lot of newspaper articles ied video funerals i watched you know, i memorials. and i camethis young woman namee mallory was really a striking pe because it's a red t-shirt. she's holding an armful of sunflowers. she has almost a kind of mona

lisa smile on her face, but she this t-shirt that says you deserve more than survival. and what that struck me as was this kind of statement then as i do that especially when you're marginalized, there's this you lucky to be here. but survival not the ceiling. are you surviving. if you are not treated with dignity, respect. are you surviving? if you do not feel safe in the don't feel safe in your own skin. and so it felt like a kin a arms that you being. ■?hollow. if you don't have the things that make your existence worthwhile. and so, you kno i when i started to write the essay, i i've never really forgotten that statement and i actually have a

picture up at my desi made a prt it up because that, that you have to strive for more t espen you're marginalized, there's always the sense that, well, to, you know, and it makes settle f&for le that gets internalized, that settles into your bones in, who u don't deserve. and it's very easy to start to think that you deserve less, if, you and what that shirt said to ying out to let us know was that, you know, lgbpele more. we're part of this struggle. when you talking about civil rights, we were tre. we could talk about women's rights. we were there. we're always there. we might be ■$pushed in the background, even these movements. but we're always there. is our struggle, but consequently our struggle is also their struggle. and so that shirt, you know, i'd

never quite seen anything like.f thing, but it was a such a strong statement, especially for this young black trans woman who's noger we don't even know how she d felt, like she ls with this challenge to ask more of ourselves, demand more of what the world is willing to give us with the world willing to give us. you know, they're when we perish, they don't care. but we have towe have to care ah other. we have to make them care about us because they get nowhere without us. you know, we are part of this struggle. as i said, we've always been part of that struggleknow, you . and that's veryow, again, so uso settling, we have to stop

settling. why we have the best. whlevels? we have the talent to do it. ave the have to break down those walls, not just that in of us, but once we put up in front of ourselves. and i though t-shirt to me was, don'ttle, you go for the bigger thing. fight ibe something that reengad black show up for every one. struck me. i'm wondering who shows up for us. we show up for every body. it's a women's. where the issue is we are on fronlis showk women and it's like, okay, i'll take that. i will clap for that. thank you.

i'd like to add one quick thing ore, he was running for the senate, alabama, and that was in 2017. and he was like, i had record as a pedophile. he was a mess. so all these black women worked to make sure did not become the senator from alabama. so the day after election, i was doing something television. a ma from walk up to me and gave me a hug. she'd never hugged me before and i sort of look back just like i'm hugging black women today. and i was like, first, i don't do that right, right. and why? you know, because it was like, oh, we had say, you know, we you benefited from that waiting for us to save you and save. we're tired. thank you you know, we're fighting all these battles by ourselves. we need people o.s that with us.

and to me, it's not even like about allyship. i don't want allies i want accomplished. that's wrong. yes, that's what i'm looking for oh, that was powerful. and we're getting ready open up the floor to q&a. but my last question, which i kind of feel like you' but i'm going to ask you quickly in what america waking up me t you. what will it feel like? what will it likes america wakif

us we cannot sily spectators. and i think a lot this particularly in is moment, i've heard so many people say that they' not planning vote that they're sitting out. and we it every four years largely because of a number of factor people either feel the options before them.ted i get all of that. but then i think about fannie lou hamer i think about the beatings she endured i think about what she went through in order to ensure that that i would have an opportunity to cast a ballot. and so it's hard for me to say i'll sit this one oujust seem lt response. even when i feel like things are

not going the way i want them to ot necessarily addressing all the issues, i wanthe way i want theo address those those concerns. so recognizing that we can't sit this o out. up is really a recognition. us. people are always wondering's td do somet and the answer is, look in the mirror. we are the ones wh step. and so for me, that's the spirit of waking up is place where you're watching things happen and you're maybe responding to things happening and be more proactive and recognizing that. as i said earlier, the the the kind of democracy we want to see is only possible if we play a in it that that is the essence of democracy our collective

so that's what waking up means to me. you know that song when i was being bu charlestown around that time, wake everybody melvin and the blue notes was out and that was a big still listen to it this day because it does speak doing pare dr. blaine said. and i think about what that looks like when we doities thatt creates and theity thcan have iy to pursugh education, you know, on a living that n actually support yourself and your fil live and neighborhoods that are safe and freerom violence. you know, this takes hard wthisg

200 plus year experiment called democracy, i believe strongly in the ideals of of what is in our constitution, in our founding front, that there's some problematic language ideas. and we had to put a bunch of amendments on there to get some things better. idea of everyoneg a govern ourselves and we'll have check and balances and that everyone gets opportunity, those are the that i'm fighting for. people ask me the time, particularly in as community o't like your or your mmyour i love. that's why i fi. that's why i fight so hard. so waking means that we're all whatever that looks like, our small corner of the world.

and we're going to communicate, collaborate with each other. so we can all have opportunity and live out the american dream. and to address something, blain p black woman. i do not have the privilege to, sit things outlike i'm sitting f all the work that was done before i got here on this earth. i it that's my rent payment for make things better for the next generation. you know i hjke yo know young nieces and nephews in their twenties you kw the frustratio'y creeping into them which frankly did't have in the same way when i was their age, i to make things better i owe that to my self. i owe that to them but i owe it to my parents and the work that they did and my grandparents, my

great grandmother, who i met when i very, very young, you know, i was born in 1866, you know, they not do all of that. so i could sit on the side and but then i have to get up and get on with it, you know, like ramanujan, he said, i love my country the way i love my but in the same way it gets on my nerves. and i t to gather up and sort them out. and so i feel lik)e ' trying to. you know, as a journalist theg'g to make things better. they can g better. you know, i just want this ises shouldn't the country■f want that? yeah. you know how long are weoit? you know, i don't have a ton of time left. you know, i want to see some of these things in my lifetime, and ig backwards.

we should moving. and so it is■2 tf everybody who gives -- to make sure forwa. because you know what the other side is always working to pull things back, always and so we don't have the privilege of d saying, well, you know, i don't want to involved. and it's all the same. i no, no, no, no, no. people said that in 2016. and everybody, you know, b're n. each sidha its challenges and its shortcomings. but there's a very clear,distino sides. and i'm not willing to gamble with that. that is not to say i agree with everything democrats, do i'm mo and everything democrats do at all, especially these■+ days. but i'm not going to be able survive if the9 republicans are back in power. and so you have to fight, you just have to. it's not it's not what i want to do everyexist is what i have toy

day. wow. i would just like to:5of you foy ns up much. and iust to opeaudience. if folks had any questions for . so folks, if you're upstairs, you can begin to think about your■x questions now and make yr way down to the first floor through this to the stairwell in the front. but i'd just like to open it up to the audience for any questions. is there anyone who would like to ask a question for any of our this. thank you so much fo grateful ay emotional because we need more moments like t more are

more exchange of wisdom words, wdom. so thank you so much. my name is carolyn, originally afro for afro european mayans sister comes from equatorial guinea and i've been living in the united states 2008. so i'm trying to learn more abthcountry, but i also relate a black woman. okay. so my question for for you all, for the three of you, if it's because i see you as models,s through your work and through your words. how you very brieflybea very cox question. very briefly, how do yo time inf communityre, ci work, activism and also writing any tips? because i'm trying to do the same thing and trying to really go mcommunity here in the united states also in spain and also in equatorial. ths the future right?

this. no. yes. having one home, but many homes, the world. so this is my case and. i have accepted now, but i to keep learning and having a better version of myself. you balance yourlife with commd also writing as■b much. thank you. once. to be honest, is not always possle many years i tried to findadmit that my lifen balance and it's just that i thf what needs to happen i figure wr priority? you have to figure out what are the things that you will focus on. you can't do everything. quite frankly, i don't think are meant to do everything. i don't think we're good at doing everything. and■

figuring out what my gifts and strengths and contributing in that way. i believe that i'm a that become avenue through■ç which i am able to for, yoow, rights for all people is through my writing as just one example. you for for some people there are very effective organizers and so they might not necessarily as much but but they're doing work within their communities. ant of is is is figuring out what it is you are called to do. and i say that in the spirit. fannie lou hamer who didn't set out to become a lead in a civil rights movement, but she was actually sitting in the pews of a church and in that moment listening activist talk about voting rights, talk about black and liberation. and political

and religious awakening that6i'r her to join the movement. and so she did it and she put focused squarely on expanding rights and liberation for all people. ■and part what we have to do is figure out what we are ca do, to figure out what our contribution is to the ■sd do that work. so sometimes it willit mean th'e of one thing and less ofg, and'g you are doing what you are to do and also supporting other people are doing different kinds of work but are united in their vision. i think that's the key too. sometimes on the individual, but i have to say, perhs rewarding k that i do right are these opportunities, the collective being able to team up with someone who has another gift, who has another talent, our

ability. t we both are committed to and so we were able to support each other. so i hope that helps as you try t't look for balance much but figure out what the focus needs be for you. i'm just going to add to that of we can clap. i i'm going to add to that because i say that the balance g itself don't even look for balance. what you want to look for is harmony. to work well together and it might not be balanced because it be 20% here, 40% here. let me get my math right here. so it might not be balanced, but if it's if there's harmony, :#that's good. the one thing that i would add in terms of really understanding you are and what you're called to do is sure that you're taking time for yourself one of the things. it's one of the things that i love about black women, but it's one of the things that makes me

fearful and anxious. we are always called to come save the day. we're often left to do it alone. whether we're the of our household got to solve problem and take care of are ending up in early gras we are ending up with health issues. we have to take time to care fo. there's that quote from ael that talks about self-care, a revolutionary act. weto take care of it because if we don't, we can't care for anyone else. so whatever yo athat harmony a'e making time for self-care so that you are rea battle, because it'si have no b. i write all the time, but there's something really healing

■ply i'm writing work because i have two columns that a newslettervery, but i'm always just writing i'm not writing. i'm thinking■ybout'm reading. so it's always sort of harmony in in those friend, me, i also collect typewriters i, i'm going to ask, but and she gave me a lego typewriter, you know, lego 2000 pieces. andí@ut most relaxing time i've had in becae all you'rethie pieces together and making it look like something. and so i'm now obsessed with lego. and so i spent lot of time when i' and have a writer's block and i put something together quickly, you know, at takes that it's and i think it's what what kim it'rm it's and balance. it's just where you can find still in your life, wherever that comes

from, singing. we have time for perhaps one more question. if there is another audience question. thank such inspirin'm wondering if you cank to the issue of leadership and taking place currently, not just in academe buin sectors. we've seen in the last several years the rollbacks on democracy on racial justice, on trust, in. and, you know, we've touched on ■ een happening in boston in the past decades and centuries and the stepping down of president claudine gay at harvard but also the incidents across for black women as as in other sectorso what is your advice for people leaders as wes

leaders themselves themselves. ■dit's it'toug tough tough. i think probably the one thing that ces it's just a recognition that we need to have dn of leadership. i say that because as point out, when we on one particular model and that is the visible person and in the case of former president of harvard claudine when you're the the person who people seen organization or an institution, easy one, you will you can expect to be attacked to dismantle

your work because all they have to do is focus you. and once■ñhave targeted you and they moved you out of the way, then theyavto essentially t that's the you know, we see that even the context of a civil right. it's not a surprise that you had someone like reverend martin luther king jr, our consul, we and we know know how his life came to an end and that is nly i think part of understanding leadership it's partwhat you would expect but but i see have a more expansive vision because when nk about the people we don't see i about the individuals who don't necearve the might the individuals who you may not know their names but th6o're within

their supporting peoplee trying to empower others should. and to me that's a leader to. and i think we have to recognize is that when it have to be in the lights with the mic in your hand holding a particular position in the sible space. but but we can leaders in ways that mayle but impacting and and so that's the one thing that i wouldt the moment where we hae to be fearful and it is discouraging when you think what's happening to black women to leaders of color across the country. i think we should be encouraged u5to know that we can lead in other ways and and stbeeffectivt we want done within especially.

was that was aough question and, you know a former elected and the time particularly in thyooffice as ya growingwho were serving as mayo. and that number plummeted. and it is sad to see the attacks with black women that continue to happen malcolm x maybe said it best, black being the most disrespected folks on the planet but i am i agree wholeheartedly with dr. blain response the need for an expanded definition. i me hamer

is a perfect example of of leadership not looking what people expect leadership to look like. and wat people can contrive and bring thingse e and hi think we will be a stronr nation and we will be better off in terms of the up with and the opportunities that are created as a result of that. and so, i hope that this dialog and thisthe stage or the table a little differently indefinition of whas because i thihat is definitely what we need i mean . so folks are leaders who are not

recognizing just as leaders because weecleader to be white, male in a suit, you know, clean with a nice haircut. but leaders come in all shas, colors races speak all kinds of la recognize that, i think we can make some good progress. so thank you for that question question. i just always feel like we need to be more nimble. you know, what's happened in these last few years. you were there talking about the attacks, dei or book bans and ere's been a kind of shock and awe with almost taken a lot of me teven realize what was going on and how well-funded, we is. and what's happening on school arrds, people, we know what's happening on school. and so imourning, but we have tt quickly. we can't think, oh, this is

happening in florida and it can't happen■@ here. one of things i do in my newsletter week is i put an excerpt from a bannedk and what's been a real for me in doing that is seeing thatbeen be been banned. like it's absurd. banned and people need to be aware that lookt what's happening in your community, look at what's happening in your bookstore, talk to your librarians+■+ really front line in a lot of this and also on top of that by band books. yeah, that's of the best things you can do. and there are thousands of them. it's not hard to find them. you probably have banned books have to you have to push back against this because it's never going to end and going to start in school libraries. it's to go on in public libraries. it already is in some there's going to be bookstores. you know, this is something people not really seen in more than a half century.

and we're right back at precipice again. so have to react more quickly when these things are happenin ■1because as i said, the other side is well-financed and they arely well-organized, we have to be the same.

b.'y■■■8

well goode and welcome to the february conservative women's net