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 welcome you to bost african 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 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, 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 the iconic african, the iconic african meeting house for this evening's special wake up america black women on 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 insights within its pages before. we get started with our moderated conversation. i would like to begin with a set of introductions. i'll start with 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. her generation. she is an award winning historian of the 20th century united states with broad interests in specialty stations in african-american history. the modern african diaspora and women's and gender studies. she completed her ph.d. in history from princeton university and is now a professor of africana study and history at brown university. blain is author of the acclaimed books set the world on fire black nationalist women in the global struggle for freedom and an end until i am free. fannie lou hamer's enduring message to america. she is also edited for collections, 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 black woman. the future of democracy brings together, the voices of major progressive black politicians, grassroots activists and intellectuals to offer critical insights on how we. create a more equitable future. now to some of our contributors renée graham renée graham is a boston globe opinion columnist, associate editor and author of outtakes, a weekly globe opinion newsletter. she writes about race and racism, domestic, lgbtq and discrimination police violence, gun control and politics. during a previous stint at the she was she was a critic and feature writer covering music, film and television. a frequent guest of msn nbc graham was has been featured a

featured commentator in numerous acclaimed documentaries, including the peabody award winning we need to talk cosby on showtime, the two killings of sam cooke on netflix and cnn see it loud. the history 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, janey was on the front lines of the battle to desegregate the city schools facing and racial slurs during 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 of challenges, including covid 19 pandemic.

a highly respected public servant and nonprofit leader, ms. janey has 30 years of experience in community organizing, advocacy, political policy, development campaigns and coalition building. janey now leads economic mobility pathways is a national nonprofit working help, people experiencing deep poverty climb the economic ladder. and i would like to close with an introduction. our moderator, zenzile riddick zenzile riddick originally originally from oakland, is a ph.d. in education at harvard university, admitted to harvard as a presidential scholar. her research explores the historical 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. her dissertation examines the

practice of liberatory education through a historical ethnography study of st joseph's community 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 pedagogical traditions of african american women. i will now pass it over to zenzile, who will begin with this evening's end. leading this evening's discussion. zenzile. thank you, christine. thank you, christine. and thank you all. i am excited to serve as moderator of our conversation with these incredible women who contribute into an amazing amazing new edited volume. so just going to jump right in. i have some questions for you of individuals, 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 time gleaves whitney from the audience. so to begin, my first question is for you. by the audio, because i'm going to have a female famous family with that 1915 speech made this clear when she said, if we're 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 rights movement, 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 different topics. it's quite a moving. oh, good. okay. right now i put it aside and see how the 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 so much. what a great question. there's so much i can say, i think that it was truly an honor to be able to work on this project. i think it's so easy to fall into 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. certainly across the 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 black woman to just be invigorated in

the fight. i think that that's, you know, a somewhat selfish reason. but but it is one of the reasons why it was so important for me to 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 them personally, i have to say. and so i'm grateful that i that they responded positively when 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 democracy, as we all know, it's a continual process. it's not, you something that stays fixed in. we have to uphold it. we have to maintain it, we have to protect it.

and i just thought. who else to ask? what black women. the black women from diverse backgrounds. black women of different faiths. black women from different parts, the country, different social class together to reflect what's at stake and to think 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 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 is she is still with when you think about how her ideas her passion, her drive. i see that in the that that kim

janey is doing i 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. even when we feel like giving up. so great question. thank you for that. thank you. thank you so much. i. you know, i love that you said who better to ask than black women. that leads directly into my next question actually, which is for all of you you know in your work and all of your contributions to the edited volume, you make very clear black women have occupied a unique position in this world, which means that black women have also uniquely positioned in the struggle for justice. and i think the book i'm reminded of specifically the honorable kim janey in your chapter, you talk about the

black women who are at the very forefront of the struggle for 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 who have been political leaders across generations. 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 democracy. chuck ben, thank you for that. and before i answer the question, want us just to sit, acknowledge that this is sacred space. we are in a place that the epicenter for the black community here in boston in 19th century. this was home to the black community during that time. and this building here was especially important for the

abolitionist movement here. we have seen folks, frederick douglass come through the doors. william lloyd garrison told. maybe harriet tubman. so this pulpit and this space, very sacred. and i want to thank museum leadership for hosting this incredibly important conversation. i also want to thank dr. blain 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 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 carrying and caring, not for your own children and family but obviously for others.

sun up to sundown. we don't have to get into the nitty gritty of what chattel slavery was here. but that fight for liberation and all of our social justice movements, young people always at the forefront, women are always at the forefront. communities, immigrants gay, you name it. but black 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 very that this isn't 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 time. and what is i think, really special about black women and their magic is that they and

women in general, like 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 in a different kind of way. it has been incredibly i think refreshing to the number of women running for office and 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 question. i first wanted to do a thing dr. blaine for dming me because, i'm really bad about reading my work email. i never would have seen it. 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 on twitter and i imagine what this nation would be if it uplifted black women the way black women uplift democracy and men 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 wrote that was i was certainly thinking about all the women in georgia who had done all of this work all black women who had 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, they sick and tired of being sick and tired. but i was also thinking about women like ernestine eckstein, who was a member of the daughters of politesse, which

was a the oldest lesbian rights organization in the country. and she was one of the few black women in the 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 murray, who identified as non-binary, now called non-binary, who was one of the founders of the congress. racial equality. you know, i thought of the women of the committee, river collective and they understood what this country could be and how to get the country there by the intersectional of our struggles and that to get democracy to have democracy in full. you had to get to the freedom of black women because of black women were free given everything black women faced, it meant everyone else would be free. and so, you know, all of those things on my mind as i was writing the essay and when the book came out reading it and just the sense of hope, it's very hard have hope these days. 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 just through 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 just an empty words in actions. 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 to be. it's not even a matter. it's a matter of saving democracy, but it's also a matter of making 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. absolutely. 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 black education here in and roxbury specifically. so to read your recollections of your as a student here in boston was really quite moving. i loved hearing the beautiful memories and fond memories that you have of the new school for children. but the reality is a lot of those memories from your childhood educational experiences were also deeply painful being on the forefront of state 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 the diverse experiences that you had a black student here in the city of boston and how those educational experiences influenced your political trajectory. thank you so much for that question. 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 as higher. my dad rest his soul. and this book was released. the date of his transition. you know, 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 was at new school for children. and i really that experience of of really building a foundation for me, which really got me through the trauma of bussing. like if i didn't have that foundation, i'm not sure how i would have fared.

not just with 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 a love letter to black in the movement. and so am grateful that my mom is here and for her lessons. and i want say her name. this is phyllis. janey. the lessons that my taught me, sending me off to this school in this school was a school that was created in response to our traditional public schools in boston not educating black kids. and i'm going to back to my experience, but it is important for all of us to understand that fight for quality education doesn't start.

in 1974, with 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 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 for children. and at five years old, this child was removed physically by police. just let that sit in for a moment. so there was a court case.

father sued the school committee. they did not win that 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 child hood. i had that firm foundation of really helping me, understood 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 black americans and black people all over diaspora. so i was fortify it with that. and when i went the public schools system by second grade, david ellis school, the same school that malcolm x was in when he lived here in this city, 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, but seeing my mom and my dad fight for me. those were early lessons and. the power of parent voice, the power of advocacy, and what it means fight for black liberation and educate asian for your kids. and so i was placed in my right grade. i excelled a straight a-plus honors student throughout elementary. and then i was bussed in sixth grade to charlestown. and in charlestown for folks who may not know at that time was a poor working class irish very much like south boston was at that time. and so 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 cans, the the the decoy busses and all of that. i wouldn't have gotten through

that experience without new school children, without a family of, educators who kept 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 little bit better. but there 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. these women stood in the gap for

black kids to protect us and keep us safe from those rocks to make sure that we had access to the opportunity around, a great education. 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 liberation and i'm just grateful to be a black woman and to be a part of that and to be alongside so many people who are doing a 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 of, pain, but also an important sense of hope, which

you mentioned earlier, 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 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 the larger struggle for lgbtq rights by way of background, for the last four decembers now. i all of my sunday columns memorialize trans and non-binary people lost to violence that 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 i came 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 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 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 are not treated with dignity, respect. are you surviving? if you do not feel safe in the world, you don't feel safe in 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 so, you know, i when i started to write the essay, i thought a lot about that.

i've never really forgotten that statement and i actually have a picture up at my desk. i made a print out of it and put it up because it was one to remind myself of that, that you have to strive for more than the bare minimum. and i think especially when you're marginalized, there's always the sense that, well, you're just lucky to have that, you know, and it makes settle for less that gets internalized, 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. we've been part of this struggle. when you talking about civil rights, we were there. 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. their struggle is our struggle, but consequently our struggle is also their struggle.

and so that shirt, you know, i'd never quite seen anything like. 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 no longer we don't even know how she died. and i felt, like she left us 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 to care. we have to care about each 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 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 the best. why can't we succeed on higher levels? we have the talent to do it. we have the ability we have to break down those walls, not just that are already put up in of 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 for it. you're worth it. be something that reengage said about how 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 there is whatever the issue is we are on front lines 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. 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 woman i kind of knew 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 saved us. you benefited from that stop 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 on 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 now. oh, that was powerful. and we're getting ready to open up the floor to q&a. but my last question, which i kind of feel like you're just but i'm going to ask you quickly in one sentence what america waking up mean to you. what will it feel like? what will it like? what is america waking up? so for me, i think means all of us recognizing that we cannot simply spectators. and i think a lot this particularly in this moment, i've heard so many people say that they're not planning vote that they're sitting this one out. and we it every four years

largely because of a number of factors people either feel frustrated are disappointed with the options before them. 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 out just doesn't seem like the best response. even when i feel like things are not going the way i want them to go and candidates are not necessarily addressing all the issues, i want them to address or the way i want them to address those those concerns. so for waking up is recognizing 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 and

do something impactful and the answer is, look in the mirror. we are the ones who need to step. and so for me, that's the spirit of waking up is going from a 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 role in it that that is the essence of democracy our collective participation. so that's what waking up means to me. you know that song when i was being bused to charlestown around that time, wake everybody by harold melvin and the blue notes was out and that was a big hit. we still listen to it this day because it does speak to us all kind of doing part, much 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 that are safe and free from violence. you know, this takes hard work. this is is, you know, this long 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. 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 the 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 like your or your community or your i love my country. that's why i fight so 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 communicate, collaborate with each other. so we can all have opportunity and live out the american dream. and to address something, blain said, i'm a queer, black woman. i do not have the privilege to, sit things out and i also feel like i'm sitting here because of all the work that was done before i got here on this earth.

i it that's my rent payment for being this earth is to try to make things better for the next generation. you know i have you know young 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, 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 weep, which i do occasionally, 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 family. but in the same way it gets on my nerves.

and i got to gather up and sort them out. and so i feel like that's the work i'm trying to do. you know, as a journalist the globe certainly, but just generally life, i'm just trying to make things better. they can get better. you know, i just want this country to live up to its promises shouldn't the country want that? yeah. you know 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 always working to pull things back, always and so we don't have the privilege of sitting back and fretting and 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, both sides were the same. they're not the same right.

each side has its its challenges and its shortcomings. but there's a very clear, distinct shift between the two sides. and i'm not willing to gamble with that. that is not to say i agree with everything democrats, do i'm a democrat and everything democrats do at all, especially these days. but i'm not going to be able survive if the 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 every day, but if i want to exist is what i have to do every day. wow. i would just like to thank each of you for this really enlightening. i think it opens up much. and i just to open it up to the audience. if folks had any questions for

any of our panelists today. so folks, if you're upstairs, you can begin to think about your questions now and make your 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 panel this. thank you so much for this evening. i'm very grateful and very emotional because we need more moments like this once more are more exchange of 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 states 2008. so i'm trying to learn more about the history of this country, but i also relate as a black woman. okay. so my question for for you all, for the three of you, if it's

possible, because i see you as models, as mentors as well through your work and through your words. how you very briefly, because i know it's a very complex question. very briefly, how do you organize your time in terms of community where, social work, activism and also writing any tips? 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. yes. having one home, but many homes, the world. so this is my case and. i have accepted now, but i want to keep learning and having a better version of myself. so how do you do that? how do you balance your life? how you keep a balance in your life with community work and 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's just the it is. and i say that i think part of what needs to happen is, you 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 figuring out what my gifts and strengths and contributing in that way. i believe that i'm a good writer and and so that becomes one avenue through which i am able to for, you know, 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. and i think part 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 she came to this political 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 contribution is to the society and and do that work. so sometimes it will be tilted.

it mean that you'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 people are doing different kinds of work but are united in their vision. i think that's the key too. there's a lot of emphasis sometimes on the individual, but i have to say, perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the work 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. but we both are committed to advancing human rights. and so we were able to support each other. so i hope that helps as you try to balance maybe don't see don'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 recently heard a woman say that the balance thing

itself don't even look for balance. what you want to look for is 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 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 and the issue we've got to solve problem and take care of it. and what happens is we are ending up in early graves we are ending up with health issues. we have to take time to care for ourselves. there's that quote from angela that talks about self-care, a

revolutionary act. we have to take care of it because if we don't, we can't care for anyone else. so whatever you do as you seek 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 because i have two columns that a newsletter every, but i'm always just writing i'm not writing. i'm thinking about writing. if i'm not writing, i'm reading. so it's always sort of connected. i can find sort of that harmony in in those things. and then in november, a 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. and i put it together. it was the most relaxing time i've had 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 something 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. it's just where you can find that of solitude to be still in your life, wherever that comes from, singing. we have time for perhaps one more question. if there is another audience question. thank you all so much for such inspiring conversation. i'm wondering if you can speak to the issue of leadership and the attacks that are taking

place currently, not just in academe but in many sectors. we've seen in the last several years the rollbacks on democracy on racial justice, on trust, in institutions. and, you know, we've touched on what has been 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 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. i think probably the one thing 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 we on one particular model and that is the visible person and in the case of former president of harvard claudine de wen. when you're the the person who people see and you are the face of an organization or an institution, it's very easy one, you will you can expect to be attacked and. for some, it's easy to dismantle your work because all they have to do is focus you. and once they have targeted you and they moved you out of the way, then they have the ability 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 know know how his life came to an end and that is certainly i think part of 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 individuals who you may not know their names but they're within their supporting people 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 particular position in the visible space. but but we can leaders in ways

that may be less visible but even more so or impacting and and so that's the one thing that i would emphasize that as much as at the moment where we 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 getting the work that we want done within communities, especially. because i was that was a tough question and, you know a former elected and the time particularly in the mayor's office as you know there was a growing 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 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 mean i think fannie lou hamer is a perfect example of of leadership not looking what people expect leadership to look like. and when recognize that people can contrive and bring things to the table from all walks of life and have something to contribute. i think we will be a stronger nation and we will be better off

in terms of the policies we come up with and the opportunities that are created as a result of that. and so i, i hope that this dialog and this book of sets the stage or the table a little differently in terms of people's definition of what leadership is because i think that is definitely what we need i mean, our young people, our leaders. so folks are leaders who are not recognizing just as leaders because we expect a leader to be white, male in a suit, you know, clean with a nice haircut. but leaders come in all shapes, colors races speak all kinds of languages and if we're willing to 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 there's been a kind of shock and awe with almost 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 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 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 to be aware that look at what's happening in your community, look at what'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 probably have banned books in your home right now that you 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 happening because as i said, the other side is well-financed and they are in incredibly well-organized, we have to be the same.