welcome to the museum of african

american history, boston. and and took it. i'm dr. noelle trent, president and ceo and it is my pleasure to bost african meeting house for our wonderfulf democracy. edited by keisha. we are so happy to have you here wi us. this powerful conversation by awesome black women here in

boston. i would like to bring up our director of education, christian walks. good evening, eveone.my is chrim the rectorf interpretation programs here at the museum ofhistory, boston an. the iconic african, the iconic special wake up america black wome■ the future of democracy. tonight, i will be joined by three esteemed contributors to this new anthology who will give us a preview into some of the within its pages before we get started with our moderated conversation. i would like to begin with a set introductions. i'll start with dr. keisha

blain, keesha and blayne, a 2022 gu and of 2022 carnegie fellow is one oth most innovative and influential young historians. generation. she is an award winning historian of the 20th century united states with broad interests in specialty stations history. the modern african diaspan stud. she completed her ph.d. in hi■story from princeton university and is now a professor of africana study and history at brown university. blaiis the acclaimed books set the world on fire black nationalist women in the global struggle for■reedom and an end until i am free. fanni's enduring message to america. she is also including the

number one new york times bestseller, 400 souls a community history of african america from. 19 to 2019. blaine'serica black woman. the future of democracyices of r progressive black politicians, gr to offer critical insights on how create a more equitable future. now to some of our contributors renée graham renée graham is a on columnist, associate editor and author of outtakes, a weekly globe opinion wsletter. she writes about race and racism, lgbtq and violence, gun control and politics. during a previous stint at the she was she was a■e music, film and television.

a frequent guest of msn nbc graham was has been featured commentator in numerous acclaimed documentaries, winning we need to talk cosby on me, the two killings of sam cooke on netflix and cnn see ithistory of black television. and finally, 1968, the year that changed america. next, we have kim, michelle, janey, kim, michelle, janey has been at the center of boston's history. the bad and the good. at 11 years old, janeyas on the front lines of the battle to desegregate the city schools boston's bussing era in. the 1970s. 45 years later, janey made history when she was sworn in as boston's first woman and first black mayor.

success leading the city through a multitude■c of challenges, including covid 19 pandemic. highly respected public servant and nonprofit lear, ms. janey has 30 years of experience in community organizing, development campaigns and coalition leads economic mobility pathways is a national nonprofit working help, people experiencingy climb the economic ladder. and i would like to close with an introduction. our moderator, zenzile riddick y originally fromph.d. in educatid university, admitted to harvard as a presidential scholar. and, contemporary landscape of african-american education. often through the lives, practices and intellectual contributions of black women,

foregrounding the voices, narratives of african-american women. practice of liberatory education through a historical ethnography study of st joseph's community school, a women institution in k power eraan insidious plenary scholar. then delay academic research on black education and the longl traditions of african american women. zenzile, who will begin with this eis evening's discussion. zenzile. thank u, christine. thank you, christine. and thank you all. i am excited to serve as moderator of our conversation with thecontribute into anited . so just going to jump right in. i have some but one factor's an

incentive when we all do. and then some of the questions will be directed at the pan. once we're finished with this portion of the moderated conversation, there will bsome time gleaves whitney from the audience. so tost question is for you. byf audio, because i'm going to have a female famous that 19s clear when she said, if going to make democracy a reality, it's time for us to wake up. hamer was, of course, one of the most significant contributors to the ri ment, as well as the movement for women's rights and human rights. and she's the subject of the white hand celebrated biography. do you publish in 2021? so they all take different approaches to it's quite a moving. oh, okay. right now i put contributors wap

america all embody the spir or t it might mean to make democracy i'd like, what about you? so work with the many edat authd volume and the workw■ñthat you'e already done to honor hamer's legacy. thank you so what a great question. there's so much i can say, i think that it was truly an honor to be able toon this project. into despair.so it's easy to feelf you are proby feeling the way that i'm■hat a's history where there's so many challees nation, across the globe and it just feels like we're dealing with crisis after crisis and it's great to come together with just remarkable, brilliant

woman to just be the fight. i think that that's,ou know, a somewhat selfish reason. but but it is one of the reasons why it was so important for do to work on this collection just, to be in conversation and, to an extent, community. and with people who i deeply admire for many of the i didn't even know themsay. and so i'm grateful that i tha ey positively when i reached out to them to cori time that we needed to come together and year in thn year, i thought it was important to to think about democracy because democracy, as we all know, it's a continual process. i' not, you something that stays fixed in.

we have to uphold it. we have to maintain it, we have to protej, it. and i just thought. who else to ask? i women from diverse backgrounds. black women of different faiths. black parts, the country, different social class together to reflect what's at stakek through practical steps, one might say, not simply protect, but t■x building a multiracial and inusive democracy. so it's just simply means the world to me to be able to do this project and to be able do it. il off-earth. the biography on fannie lou hamer. she's no longer with us in the flesh, but part. what i was trying to convey she is still with when you think about how her

her drive. i see that in 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 to really to fight for this country teven when we feelg up. so great question. thank you fo that. thank you. thank you so much. i. you know, i love that you said who better to k black women. that leads directly into my next question actually, which is foak and all of your contributis the edited volume, you make very clear black women have occupied which means that black women haveositioned in the struggle for justice. and i think th'm

reminded of specifically the honorable kim janey in your k women who are at the very education here in boston. the desegregation era. i'm also thinking about, rene, in your chapter, how you talk about the black queer and trans women wh have been political leaders across generations. and so as i think about these women love to hear each of you spt soime 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 to sit, acknowledge that this is sacred community here in boston in 19th century. this was home to the black

community during that time. and this buildinge was especially important for the abolitionist we have seen folks, frederick doors. william lloyd garrison told. maybe harriet tubman. space, very sacred. and i want to■s■t■ hosting this incrediblyi also want to thank n for having the vision and the foresight right to reach and bring us all together. she knew and she definitely has a good answer the question because wa intentional in reaching out to black women. when i thi about the strength, the power the resilience of black women throughout history, particularly throughout u.s. history, all carrying and

caring, not for your own children and family but obviously for others. sun up toon't have to get into e nitty gritty here. but that fight for social justie movements, young people always at the forefront, women are always at the forefront. s, immigrants gay, you name it. women in particular have been at the forefront. i have described it as women saving our country. one election at a time. and i'm about any or political party but it is the ever of what it means to seek freedom and liberation democracy. it is work that we have to continue to do all the think, ry

special about magic is i think women in general have super and no offense the gentleman in the room and there are a but women are able to a different kind of way. it has been refreshing to the number of leading corporations and instit. and so i am encouraged andkr hopeful that with this book and all of the lessons that are there help move us forward. thank you. i thought same question. i first wanted to do a thing dr. blaine for because, i'm really bad about reading my work email. so thank very much for that.

on the morning that raphael warnock and jon ossoff won the georgia senate, therefore giving the democrats control of the senate, i went on twitter, twitter. i went onzr i imagine what this nation wouldt uplifted black women the way black women uplift like coincid. a fewcoincidence. there the insurrection at the january sixth. and what i was thinking when i wrote that was i was certainly thinking about all the women in georgia who had done all o all d done this work, who had, you know, had voted that, knocked on doors and had around. and when they were too tired to do it, they continued to do it because as fannie lou hamer said,x] being sick and tired. but i was also thinking ernesti,

who was a member of the daughters of politesse, which was a the oldest lesborganizati. and she was one of the few black won organization. and when people were out in the streets marching for lgbt rights, she was usually the only black woman out there. i thought of reverend pauli amurray, who identified as non-binary, now called non-binary, who was one of the founders of the congress. racial equality. committee, river collective and they understood what this country could be and country there by the intersectional of our democracy to have democracy in full. you had to get to the freedom of black women because of black women were freeg black women faced, it meant everyone else would be free. ow, all of those things on my mind as i was essae

book came out reading it and just the sense of hope, it's ha. you know, a lot of reasons to despair. and somebody had once someone had confused me at work with another writer jane austen held and they said, oh, are you the person who encouraged joy? and i said, no, i couldn't do it. but you can't jh life that way, because then you've given up. and that's how the terrorists win. so i think the important thing is to keep that message out there and not ju aemwords in ac. you know, that's what we have.. we have our minds. we have to use them. get this country where it needs it's not even a matter. it's a matter of saving democracy, but it's also a er democracy the home that's which it never been. and i think that's the real work that needs to be done and not by black women, but by everyone who actually cares about this country. tely. thank you so much.

so the next question is for you. 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 blacedion here in and roxbury specifically. so to read your reections of your as a student here in bton i loved hearing the beautiful memories and fond memies that you have of the new school for children. but the reality is a lot educatl experiences were also deeply painful being on sanctioned bu. the experiences that may have had m. so i wanted to take a moment to the diverse experiences that you city of boston and how those educationaltical

trajectory. thankquestion. you know, i am blessed that i was born into a family of. and so education and the importance of education was always around me throughout my childhood, growing up. i come from a family filled teachers and k-through-12 early childhood as well asr. my dad rest his released. the date of his he was a superintendent of three major school districts. and so i always knew education was important. and my first experience outside of my home waschildren. and i really that experience of of really building a foundation forthrough the trauma offounda'i

would have bussing, but also in metco, because that's a very their own challenges. and so i'm really grateful for four black moms which i really try to highlight. you know, this book is not just a call to action. it is l black in the movement. and so am grateful that my mom is here and for her lessons. and i wanr name. this is phyllis. janey. the lessons that■h my taught me, sending me off to this school in ■>tbs a school that wastraditional public schools in kids. and i'm going important for all of us to understand that

fight for quality education doesn't start. h bussing in boston or in 1954 with the u.s. supreme court decision. this fight is centuries old. it's as old as this country, 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 family not sure where they lived in boston. but sarah roberts was little girl, five years old. her■o fatheher to get a great idea, her parents, her to get a great education. and so they tried her in a school was closer to their home, but that school was designated for children. and at five years old, this child was removed psi just let that sit in for a

moment. so there was a courter sued thel committee. case. and that is the precedent for jim, for plessy versus versus ferguson. and jim crow was born right here in this city. so this fight is a long fight. and jim crow was born in boston. fast forward, though, through my i had that firm foundation of stand not just the basics reading and writing and and your shapes and your colors but who i was as a little black girl and the important conscious of a ■gblack americans and black peoe all over diaspora. so i was fortify it with that. and when i went the public ols system by second grade, david ellis school that malcolm x was in when he lived here in this city,

the school tried to hold me back a back in first grade, even though i supposed to be in second grade, but seeing my mom and my dad those were early lessons and. the power of parent voice, the power of advocacy, andt means fight for black liberation and ecaso i was placed in my rit grade. ibf exclehonors student throught elementary. and to charlestown. and in charlestown for folks who may not know at that time was a poor working css irish very much like south boston was at t. and so they not really in having people come into that community. d we saw what happened. we saw the riots and the police the cans, the the the

dey busses and all of that. i wouldn't ha gotteschool childa family of, educators whot me lifted up and. then metco was not without its own challenge. metco for folks who don'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. but it wasn't a panacea it wasn't like suddenly i'm here and everything is perfect. it was voluntary so it was a littleit were lots of issues as relates to racism and how black students treated at that time. but i am fortunate that i had the support of a strong 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. in the gap for black kids to protect us and ;u us safe from those rocks to make sure that we had access to the opportunity around, a great and that is the same activism that we see today in the movement that we're currently in. it is a continue equation of this struggle for black woman and to be a just grateful part of that and to beople who a great work for our our city and. thank y so. so my next question is for you and same powerful style that resonates all of your globe articles. your chapter evoked deep ings of, pain, but also u menti.

elise mallory, a black trans who unknown in march 2020 to you describe a photo of her in which she wears a shirt with the gripping statement you deserve more than survival. can you talk about this statement has come to mean to you and what it represents in thlarger struggle for lgbtq ts by way of background, for thei all of my sunday columns memorialize trans and non-binary people lost to violence ■hat year. and in doing this i have to through a lot of newspaper articles i watched video funerals i watched you know, i memorials. and kñi me across picture of this young woman named elise mallory.] and.

it was really a striking picture because it's a red t-shirt. she's lding an armful of sunflowers. she has almost a kind of mona lisa smi she this t-shirt that says you se survival. statement then as i me as was do that especially when you're is you get the sense that you're just lucky to be here. but survival is the floor. it's not the ceiling. are you surviving? you don't have your rights. are you surviving. if you a notdignity, respect. are you surviving? if you do not feel safe 't feen your own skin. and so it felt like a kind of a quiet call to arms that you deserve more, that simply being. here, that simply existing is hollow. if you don't have the things that make your existence worthwhile. and when i

started to write the essay,■'vet statement and i actually have a picture up at my desk. i made a print out of it and put it it was one to remind myself of that, that you have to strive fore than the bare minimum. and i think especially when you're marginalized, there's you're just lucky to have that, you know, and itgets internaliz, that settles into your bones in, who you are and what you do and don't deserve. and it's very easy to start to think that you deserve less, if that's what everyone is telling, you and what that shirt said to me and i felt like what she was crying out to let us know was that, you know, lgbt people deserve more. we're part of this struggle. 've been part of this struggle. when you talking about civil rights, we were we could talk about women's rights. we were there. background, even these movements. but we're always there.

their struggle is our struggle, but consequently our struggle is also their struggle. and so that shirt, you know, i'd never quite seen anythinge. and i read a line, tried to find a shirt and the whole sort of thing, but it was a such a strong statement, especially for this young black trans woman who's we don't even know how she died. and i felt, like she left us with this challenge to ask more ofof what the world is willing to give us with the world willing to give■ us. they're when we perish, they don't car care. we have to care about each other. we have to make them c get nowhe without us. you know, were p this struggle. as i said, we've always been part of that struggle and, you know, you have to convince that

you deserve more. and that's very difficult to do at times. you know, again, so used to settling, we have to stop settling. why we have thet we succeed on r levels? we have the talent to do it. we have the ability we have to break down those walls, not in f us, but once we put up in front of ourselves. and i thought that was what really that t-shirt to me was, don't settle, go for the you go for the bigger thing. fight it. you're worth it. be something thatabout how blacr every one. struck me. i'm wondering who shows up for us. we show up for every body. it's a women's. where there is whatever the issue is we arenes who is showing up for black

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 when. roy moore, 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. to make sure did not become the senator■■÷ay after election, i s a woman i kind of knew from walk up to me and gave me a and i sort of look back just like i'm today. and i was likerst, ion' right,h? you know, because it was like, oh, we hadaysaved us. you stop waiting for us to save you and vethank you you know, we're

fighting all these that with us. and to me, it's not even like about allyship. i don't want allies i want accomplished. that's wrong. 's what i'm looking for now. oh, that was getting ready to on up the floor to q&a. but my lt e you're just but i'm going to ask you■yin ona waking you. what will it feel like? what will america waking think f us recognizing that we cannot spectators. and i think athis moment, i've heard so many people planne that they're sitting this one out. and we it years

largelyf factors people either feel frustrated with the options befor think about fe lou hamer i think about the beatings 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' sit this one out just doesn't seem like the best when i feel like things are go and candidates are not necessar them to address or the way i want them to address those tho for waking upg that we can't sit this one out. waking up is really a recognition. it's up to us.

people are always wondering, where's the next leader? who's the person who step up do something impactful and the answer is, look in theed to step. and so for me, that's the goinga place where you're watching maybe responding to things happening d recognizing that. as i said earlier, the the the kind of democracy we want toa role in it that that is the participation. so that's what waking me. know that song when i■3 was being bused to charlestown around that time, wake everybody by harold melvin and the blue notes was■v■4■h out and that wag hit. we still listen to it this day

to us all kind of doing part,uch like dr. blaine said. and i think about what that looks like when we do that and the opportunities that that creates and the equity that we can have in terms of opportunity to pursue higher education, you know, on a living that can actually support yourself and your family, making sure that you can live and neighborhoods d free from violence. you know, this takes hard work. this is is, you know, this long 200 plus year experimt called democracy, i believe strongly in theat is in our constitution, in our founding front, that e' language ideas. and we had to put a bunch of amendments on there to get some things better. but the idea of everyone having

a voice and that we will govern ourselves and we'll have checks and balances and that everyone gets opportunity, those are th things that i'm fighting for. people ask me the time, particularly in my earlier days as community organizer and you know, they think that you don't likemmunity or your i love myso hard for it. that's why i fight so hard. so waking means that we're all going to do our part, whatever that looks like, our small corner of the world. and we're going to■ collaborate with each other. so we can all have opportunity dream. said, i'm a queer, black woman. i do not have the privilege■ anl

like i'm sitting here because of all the work that was done before i got here on this eart'r being this earth is to try to make things better for the next generaonyou know i have you knog nieces and nephews in their twenties you know and i see that the frustration that's already creeping into them which frankly didn't have in the same way when i was their age, better i owe ty self. i owe that to them but i owe it to mythat they did and my grandparents, my great grandmother, who i met whenou know, i was they not do all of . so i could sweep, which i do oc, bu it, you know, like ramanujan, he said, i love my country the way i love my

family. but in the same way it gets on my nerves. and i got to gather up and sort them out. ando i feel like that's the work i'm trying to do. you know, as a globe certainly, but just generally life, i'm just trying to make things you know, i just want this country to live up to its promises shouldn't the country want that? yeow how long are we going to have to wait? 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 i feel like we're moving backwards. we should moving. and so it is the of everybody who gives -- to make sure it keeps moving forward. because you know what the other side is back, always and so we don't have the privilege of sitting back and fretting and saying, well, you know, i don't want and it's all the same. i no, no, no, no, no. people said that in 2016.

and everybod know, both sides were the same. each side has its its challenges and its distinct shift between the two sides. and i'm not willing to gamble with that. that is not to say i agree with and everything democrats do at all, especially these days. but i'm not going to bexif the e back in power. and have to fight, you just have to. i' day, but if i want to exist is what i have to do every day. thank each of you for this really enlightening. i think it opens up much. and iy!&! just to open it up toe

audience. any of our panelists today. so folks, if you'reñ■)g upstair, you can begin to think about your questions now and make your way down to the first floor thros,o the stairwell in the front. but i'd just like to open it up to■■ú■h thequestions. is there anyone who would like to ask a quest■9ion for any of r panel this. thank you sothis evening. i'm very grateful and very emotional because we more are more exchange of■a wisdom words, of wisdom. so thank you so much. my name is carolyn, originally from it's been an afro for afro european mayans sister comes from equatorial guinea and i've been living in the united 2008. so i'm trying tothe history of s country, but i also relate as a black question for for you all,

for the three of 's possible, because i see you as models as mentors as well through your work and through your words. sf■how you very briefly, becausi know it's a very complex question. veryriefly, how do you organize your time in terms of community where, social work, activism and also? because i'm trying to do the same thing and trying to really go my community here in the united states also in spain and also in equatorial. i think this is the future right? this. no but many homes, the world. so this is my case want to keep learning andso how do y? how do you balance your life? how you keep a balance in your life with communid also writing as well thank you so much. thank you.

once. to be honest, is not always possible and for so many years i tried to find balance and i just have to admit that my life is in balance and it'just the it is. and i say that i think part is,u have to figure what is your priority? you have to figure out what are the things that you will focus on. you can't do everything even though you want to do everything. quite frankly, i don't think are meant to do everything. i don't think we're good at doing everything. and so for me it has been figuristrengths and contributinn that way. good writer and and so that becomes on avenue through which i am able to for, you know, rights for all people is through my writing as just one example.

there are very effectivenot necessarily as much but but they're and i think part of is is is are called to do. and i say that in the spirinni't out toa lead in a civil rights movement, but she was actually sitting in the pews of a and in that moment voting rights, talk about she cl and religious awakening that you know that it was god's will for her to join the movement. and so she did it and she put aside everything and focused squarely on expanding rights and liberation for all people. and i think that's part what we have to do is figure out what we are called to do, to figure out what our■esociety and and do th.

so sometimes it will be tilted. it mean thatou're doing more of one thing and less of another thing, and that's okay as long you are doing what you are meant to do and also supporting other doing different kinds of work but are united in their e key too. there's a lot of emphasis sometimes on the individual, but ha say, perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the work that iportunities, the collectie being able to team up with someone who has another gift, who has another talent, our ability. but we both are committed to advancin rights. and so we were able to support each other. so i hth hel balance maybe don't look for balance much but figure ou needs be for you. i'm just going to add to that of clap. i i'm going to add to that because i recently heard a woman

say that the balance thing itself don't even look for balance. at harmony. you want things 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 ifthat's good. the one thing that i would undeg you are and what you're called to do is sure that you're taking time for yourself one of the ?othings. it's one of the things that i love about black women, but it's e of thehings that makes me fearful and anxious. we are always called to save the day. we're often left to do it alone. whether we're and the issue we'e got to solveroblem and take care of it. and what happens is we are ending up in e graves we are ending up with health issues. we have to tak time to care for

ourselves. there's that angela that talks about self-re we have to take care of it because if we don't, we can'so k that harmony and you figure your calling, make sure that you're making time for self-care so that you are ready for the next battle, because it's coming. i have no balance. i write all the time, but i love it. there's something really healing about writing for me. so usually i'm writing work tter every, but i'm always justking about writing. if i'm not writing, i'm reang connected. i can find sort of that harmony in in ■uose things. and then in november, a friend, me typewriters

i, i'm going to ask, but and she gave me a le typewriter, you know, lego 2000 pieces. d i put it together. it was the most relaxing time i've h in because all you're thinking about is putting these 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'm not, i will be writing and have a writer's block and i put me together quickly, you know, whatever it takes that it's and i think it's what what kim it's harmony it's and balance. that of solitude to be still in your life, wherever that ces from, singing. we have time for perhaps one more question. if there is another audience question. thank you all so much for such inir conversation.

i'm wondering if you can speak to the issue ofhip and the attacks that are taking place currently, not just in academe but in many sectors. we've seen in the last on racial justice, on trust, in institutions. and, yno touched on what has been happening in boston in the past decades and ies and the stepping down of president claudine gay at idents across for black women as as in other sectors so what is your advice for people who are trying to support leaders as well as leaders themselves themselves. it's it's tough it is tough tough. that comes to mind for me it's

just a recognition that we need to have and expand of vision of leadership. i say that because as point out, when and that is the visible person and in the case of former ■ñu!óx4(president of harvard cle wen. when you're the t and you are te of an oizn it's very easy one,e attacked and. for some, it's easy to smantle your work because all they have to do is f they have targeted yu and they moved y then they havey to essentially seep in and do it is they want to do. and that's the you know, we see that even the context of a civil rights movement.

right. it's not a surprise that you had someone like reverend martin luther king jr, our consul, facing harassment. we and we knowhis life came to an endcertainly i thinkf understanding leadership it's part of what you would expect but but i see have a more expansive vision because when you say leader, i also think about the people we don't see i about the individuals who don't necessarily have the might the individualsp may not know their names but they're within they are trying to empower others to they are just a shoulder to lean on. and to me that's a leader to. and i think we have to recognize is that when it comes leadership, it doesn't always have to be in the lights with the mic in your hand holding a particularvisible space.

but but we can may be less visib even more so or impacting and and so that's the one thing that i would emphasize that as much as at thewe have 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 to know that we can lead in other ways and and still be effective gettine within commu, because i was that wa tough question and, you know a former elected and the time particularly in the mayor's

office ayo number of black women who were serving as mayors. and that number plummeted. and it is sad to see the attacks with black women that continue to happen malcolm maybe said it best, black being the most disrespected folks on the planet but i am i wholeheartedly with dr. blainnse the need for an expanded■■ definition. i mean i think fannie lou hamer is a perfect example of of leadershipot looking what people expect when recognize the can to the table from all walks ofe hao contribute. i think we will be a stronger

nation and we will be better off in terms of the policies we come upand the opportunities that are created as a result of so i, i hope book of sets the stage or the terms of people's definition of what le think thas definitely what we■y need i mea, our young people, our leaders. so folks are leaders who are not recognizing just aleaders because we expect a leader to be white, male in sclean with a ni. all shapes, colors races speak all kinds of languages and if we're willing to recognize that, ink we can make some good progress. so thank you for that question

eson. 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 and there's been a kind of shock and awe with alm■qost taken a lot of time to even realize what was going on and how well-funded, well orchestrated this is. and what's happening on school boards, pay attention. school boards, people, we know what's happening on school. and so i think really need to be mourning, but we have to react quickly. we can't think, oh, this is t can't happen here. one of things i do in my newsletter week is i put an excerpt from a banned book and what's been a real for me in doing that is seeing that there been books about d-day that have been banned. like it's absurd. the books that are being banned and people need toe aware that look at what's happening in your community, look ■q63 's

happening in your bookstore, talk to your librarians who 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 probab have banned books in your home right now that you ■5have 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 into be bookstore. you know, this is something in more than a half century. and we're right back at precipice again. so have to react more quickly when these things are happening because as i said, the other side is well-financed and they are in incredibly well-organized, we have to be thee.■h■&-f