You're listening to Afro Punk Solution Sessions. I'm your host Brigittad and I'm your co host, Eve def Cookee. Acropunk is a safe place, a blank space to freak out in, to construct a new reality, to live our lives as we see fit while making sense of the world around us. Here at afro Punk, we have the conversations that matter to us, conversations that lead to solutions. So it is February, and here in America that means it is Black History Month. And it's been a while since we've been in your earbuds. But being as it it's Black History Month, you wanted to recap what is really I think turned out to be a kind of action packed Black History Month. Yeah, and I too just wanted to, you know, remind everybody that we make history every day and even though it's Black History Month, we're talking about history and things that happened in the past, we're still doing things that are groundbreaking and that are making changes and you know, making waves today and every day. It's true, I grew up really not liking Black History Month. I don't I still don't really enjoy it. When I was in school, this was the month where my teachers would always say things like, oh, it's a Black History Month, like get ready, you know, like I was supposed to be, Like I wasn't paying attention for the other twelve months of school. This was the one month that that I was supposed to be really interested in, and so I didn't. I didn't love that. I also don't love the idea that we tend to spotlight your Malcolm X is your George Washington Carver's your you know, important figures, a lot of whom happened to be male, a lot of whom happened to be straight. And I think that that often can obscure the labor and the contributions of people that you don't hear about. Right, So for every Martin Luther King, what about the women who were there, you know, taking care of children, cooking, do domestic work that allowed for people to be in the spotlight, and that that would allow that that kind of labor would allow for these figures to go on to be people that we, you know, see on Black History themed posters in school, like one month out of the year. I guess for me, it's not that I didn't like Black History Month growing up it's just that it never felt like it never felt really significant, or it never felt like much of an event. I guess I just remember very fondly, maybe not findly, but very specifically in my mind about these white pieces of paper with very simple line drawings that you were supposed to color, and they would put them up on the wall. And like my kindergarten classroom, and there were people, like you said, like Martin Luther King, Rose Parks, I remember Garrett Morrigan always being on the list. Um, yeah, and and we would like color their faces and that was like, you know, pretty much it and we learned about the same people every year. So I guess it never it never felt like an event that should have been marked. Um thing that I would say today. And the way that I like to think about it is of it being a celebration because I don't know, I guess we we need to make room for that celebration. We need to delineate a specific time for that, because I think that a lot of the time we get so caught up and what's wrong and what needs to be fixed. And sure we do celebrate, like we do celebrate people all the time and all throughout the year, but it's really nice to have a specific time carved out to say, Hey, we acknowledge ourselves, we recognize ourselves. I see you, you see me, and we can all celebrate that together. And I think that's really cool. Like putting emphasis on the games and the achievements and the heroes that are a part of our community. That's right. Unfortunately, this Black History Months kind of got off to a rocky start with a lot of white people showing their assets via black space. Unless you were living under a rack, you probably saw that. Virginia Governor Ralph Northum. I guess he went to black face medical school because his yearbook had a pretty ridiculous picture of him in black face, or supposedly it was him. At first, it was unclear if it was him or not. He's standing next to somebody who's dressed in a as a klansman. At first it wasn't clear which person he was. He quickly apologized for this image and then later said while that specific image of black face wasn't him, he has done black face before, just not that specific time. And black face has such deep roots in our country and to see something like this this come out now, and especially during during Black History Month. You know, it feels like a flight. But um, that's something that He's not the only person who's done that. Even Virginia's Attorney general admitted to dressing up in black face in the eighties as part of a Curtis blow Halloween costume. And it sounds ridiculous. But when Northam, you know, admitted to doing black face, his was part of a Michael He said, he is part of a Michael Jackson Halloween costume. This press this press conference was the most surreal thing I think I've ever seen. At one point, he offered, he says, oh, it was really good at doing the moonwalk. He offers to demonstrate the moonwalk at one point, and it wasn't until his wife suggested he not to do that because it would be ridiculous. That honestly, was such a strange display. To me, I was rubbing my eyes, thinking, and I is what I'm watching real? I was so confused. So that wasn't a great That wasn't a great start to Black History Months, I don't think. And I think it's worth like pointing out his reaction to or you know, the tour afterwards and saying that we need to talk about this where it's I feel like it's a thing that happened so often, you know, then it's always a call for dialogue, when this dialogue could have been happening already and they expect to be taught. I in theory could be okay with the idea of doing a listening tour to educate yourself, perhaps if it had come twenty years ago. I think that once you are a governor of a big state, you know, like he he talked about how he was reading books like Alex Haley's Roots to educate himself, and I was thinking, how did you get through high school, college, medical school and not read these books? You know? I think it's hey, it's never too late to educate yourself. But once you are a grown adult who is leading an entire state, if you still need to be educated, what are you doing? You know? I think it's never it's never too late to learn what you don't already know. But maybe that's a sign that you don't have the have the emotional literacy or cultural literacy to lead an entire state, especially a state like Virginia that is very diverse, right right, Like my thing is the fact that you know people like him are so okay and want people to say, wow, you're doing that. You get thing like this is the thing you're supposed to be doing, and they want to be praised for doing something that's so bare me exactly a son of your note. One thing that I've often disliked about Black History Month that I said earlier is that the people that we tend to remember tend to be black straight men in my opinion. You know, there are women that we talk about, we talk about your Rosa parks Is and your you know, sojourn or truth, but specifically, I feel like it can be a little bit male and a little bit heteronormative. And this year I was so stoked to see that we had so many great black LGBTQ trailblazers really showing out this Black History Month. You know, I don't know if you watched the Grammys, but Janelle Money performed and it was quote free as fuck. As promised earlier. Last year, Money came out as pan sexual. She's had this great display of diversity and inclusion and sort of the beauty and celebration that is black queer identity. And I think if I had been a little black queer kid watching the Grammys, watching her perform, that would have blown my mind, right. I think the thing about performances like that is that they're so like we were not hiding it like we we're we're expressing it to the fullest. And I think that, you know, growing up, we may have same things we were like, Oh that that kind of feels like me, like, I understand the queerness in this. I see the queerness in this, and I identify with it. But now it's just like I can say yes and I can say it out loud, and I can I can really see that, and I know it's being spoken to me. For so long, I think we have felt like you know, that expression, I'm rooting for everybody black, unless they're gay, or unless they're gay in a way that that feels that makes me feel uncomfortable. I think that we've I want to feel like we reached a point where we're no longer saying that, But unfortunately I don't know if that's actually the case, because I do feel like every time we get someplace, particularly when it comes to affirming black LGBT Hugh folks, there is gonna always be someone who was holding us back. And I'm thinking about Pose. The a CP Image Awards completely snubbed to Pose and this is one of the most influential, interesting, dynamic shows that came out in the last couple of years and got no love. And I just think about that expression, you know, it be your own people. The fact that we cannot expect awards that are designed to affirm and celebrate an uplift us, that we cannot expect them to include queer like black queer identity is really sad. Yeah, I think that snop suppose just shows that we've gotten so far, but we really still have a longer way to go when it comes to including all different people and being intersectional. When we think about refun and people, who are we thinking about who are we leaving out? And I think that, you know, disability is also something that that's left out a lot of the time when we're talking about black people, when we're talking about the black lgbt Q experience. Definitely, I was super super happy to see that the first black trans disabled model was signed to one of the biggest agencies in the world. This is a in Phillips signed to one of the most famous modeling ageties in the world, and you know, got her own cover. Iran identifies as a non byinary trans woman, and she was born with cerebral palsy. I think that obviously the fashion industry especially does not tend to affirm and celebrate black bodies. It's even easier for those bodies to be erased when they are also trans, when they are also non buyinary, when they are also disabled. And it is good to see that blackness is beautiful in all of its forms. And it's one of those things. On the one hand, you're like, oh, I'm happy this is happening. On the other hand, you're thinking, this is the first time it happens. What gives I totally know what you mean. Um, I was just thinking about First like that, and how conflicted I am about First because on one hand, I feel like, Wow, this is what we're capable of, this is what we've always been capable of. Though that these are things that we've always been doing and too to that we've just gotten to these first is it kind of like is mind boggling. Sometimes we have had a big year of Black First, even just to February. Stacy Abrams, you know, we would be remissed to not mention her. She has really been knocking down barriers for a while. You may remember that in ten she was the first black woman to be nominated by a major party for governor. Had she won her race in Georgia, she would have been America's first black female governor, which would have been huge. I would say she she maybe did win that race, but that's a whole other story. But she also just this year became the first black woman to deliver the response to the State of the Union, and that was really interesting because typically the person the party that is not in power they give this response, and usually it's somebody who holds elected office. Like I can't think I thinking back, I can't think of the last time that it was not a congress person, a senator, somebody who was currently holding public office. But that is just how it is with Abrams. I mean, I think we'll see her as this rising star who was capable of really amazing groundbreaking stuff. And so not only was she the first black woman to ever be the person to deliver this official response, she also was one of the only people who was picked who is not currently holding public office, which I think just goes to show how much she is capable of. Yeah. Well, I think in addition to it showing you know, how people feel like she's this rising stars, I think it's also acknowledgement of all the work that she's done so far, Like she's couldn't so much work already, and she was already in the spotlight before you know, the governor's race, And that's not stopping. She's not stopping. She's going to continue to be in the spotlight and she's going to continue to put in the work. And I think having people like that, like us, being able to continue to see people like Stacy Abrams doing what she's doing is it is very encouraging. It is very motivating and just a constant reminder of all the people around us who are tinuing to support I said, uplift us. We would be remiss to talk about black first without mentioning Cardi B. Cardi B became the first solo female rapper to win the Best Rap Album at the Grammys, which I was pretty excited about. I like Cardi B. Yeah, I think that a lot of people were surprised by it. Maybe um I know a lot of people were happy about it as well, and Cardi V was definitely happy about it. And it's it's the first that I don't think I knew was coming. You know, it wasn't one that I was expecting, but um, it's it's just step for and I think, what do you think? It's one of those firsts where it makes you kind of scratch your head where you think, oh, that's never happened before. Interesting. Um, I'm I'm dating myself here, but I still remember. It wasn't that long ago that rappers like Will Smith and Salt and Pepper were boycotting the Grammys because they refused to acknowledge rap as a as an art form. You know. It wasn't that long ago that David Bowie was having to boycott MTV because they refused to play Michael Jackson record. It's one of those things that reminds us that black creative talent and black creative potential just has not We've always faced challenges, We've always had an uphill battle just to express ourselves and have that expression be regarded as art, as important, as influential. But what what this one also makes me think about is the fact that hip hop and wrap our popular culture right now that what everybody dances to the way everybody makes videos to you know, but I think about how everybody loves blackness, but there are still issues when it comes to blackness. You know, everybody likes to devour our culture, but there are still really really important issues that we're facing. And it kind of makes me feel, you know, loved, but I also feel unloved in so many ways in this country. It's this is such an easy country to feel black and unloved. Like it's very easy to feel that way in this country, especially right now, but really all ways, you know, I don't I think that it's easy to feel like we were living in a different time and just in the last couple of years, but I think it's important to recognize the ways that this is. It's always been that way. We've always struggled to be affirmed, to be celebrated, to be heard, to be seen, to be value, to be loved. And I think this year, I'm I'm so happy for these gains and I'm happy to talk to you about all of the ways that we've been table shaking and groundbreaking and redefining. But it is a reminder that we do have so so long ago, and that leaves me with my kind of concluding question to you, which is, what do you want from our our black futures? You know, where do we go from here? Oh that's a that's a good question. That's also a big question, because you know, I always want so many things, and I feel like the things that I say that I want are consistent a lot of the time. Obviously, I always want us to continue to make games when it comes to the rights that we have, when it comes to the ways we're affirmed, and when it comes to the ways that we are acknowledged in this country and worldwide. Also speaking of worldwide, also would love for black communities to connect and realize how things that are happening on the other side of the world and other black communities that we may not know as much about. Um. And for us to continue to affirm each other or waiting for acceptance from our oppressors. Um. Yeah, that's those are some of the things. I'm sure I could go on, but I love to hear what you have to say too. I want black creatives and black artists and black musicians. I want us to have the freedom to be weird and dark and all of those things. I've been thinking a lot about this lately that one of the ways I see black expression really exploding right now is the freedom to be fucking weird. Look at movies like Get Out, look at the resurgence of black horror, look at the resurgence of afro futurism, look at some of the weirdness that goes on in some of those earlier episodes of Atlanta where you have Justin Bieber played by a black actor, hitting people with an invisible car. I want us to have expression, to be weird and gross and dark, and not always have to be making things that are inspirational. You know. I'm so sick of I'm so sick of the green books of the world. You know. Um, I want us. I mean, I want us to have the same freedom that a white man who walks into a studio and says, I want to make this weird thing that nobody is going to get and everyone green lights it. I want us to have that same expression, that that same freedom of expression. I don't want to feel like any story that we tell has to be inspirational, has to be about people who are smart and hard working in this and that maybe people just maybe young black folks just want to smoke weed on their couch and watch weird TV and that's okay too. Maybe they're maybe they're humanity isn't any less because that's who they are. And I want to get to a place where we can acknowledge that and feel okay about it, because I sometimes feel very trapped in this need to have all of all of our stories be really uplifting and inspirational. And we have a lot of inspiration, but we have a lot of other stuff too, and I'm I'm excited to see that some of that is sort of it be peeking through and I want to I want to tug at that threat. I want us all to tug at that thread more. Yeah, I totally agree with you, and I'll feel you on a deep level of wanting to see more weird stuff as a person who build weird a lot of the time and has been called so, so, I see a lot more creators um and people who are making art do things that make me feel more comfortable and expressing myself and creating my own art and being comfortable with putting it out into the world and not feeling like it has to conform to a certain standard to be accepted to be liked and to be loved. Um. We we don't have to stay in any lane. We have just as much right and just as much license to create work that we feel is good and to share that with the world. So yeah, I'm on the same plane as you are. So We'll have to check in Black History month to see if if I actually all came to frunishman. Um. I hope it does. That's my that's my hope for the for the years ahead. I believe in it. I believe in us always. So let's just close this out. When it is our duty come fight for Friday, our duty to win. We must flow each other and support each other. We've got nothing to lose with our change, y'all. Let's go. Afro Punk Solution Sessions is a co production between Afro Punk and How Stuff Works. Your hosts are Bridget Todd and Eve's Jeff Cope. Executive co producers are Julie Douglas, Jocelyn Cooper and quand Latif Hill. The Underside of Power is performed by Algiers. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at AFRI part

You're listening to Afro Punk Solution Sessions. I'm your host Brigittad and I'm your co host, Eve def Cookee. Acropunk is a safe place, a blank space to freak out in, to construct a new reality, to live our lives as we see fit while making sense of the world around us. Here at afro Punk, we have the conversations that matter to us, conversations that lead to solutions. So it is February, and here in America that means it is Black History Month. And it's been a while since we've been in your earbuds. But being as it it's Black History Month, you wanted to recap what is really I think turned out to be a kind of action packed Black History Month. Yeah, and I too just wanted to, you know, remind everybody that we make history every day and even though it's Black History Month, we're talking about history and things that happened in the past, we're still doing things that are groundbreaking and that are making changes and you know, making waves today and every day. It's true, I grew up really not liking Black History Month. I don't I still don't really enjoy it. When I was in school, this was the month where my teachers would always say things like, oh, it's a Black History Month, like get ready, you know, like I was supposed to be, Like I wasn't paying attention for the other twelve months of school. This was the one month that that I was supposed to be really interested in, and so I didn't. I didn't love that. I also don't love the idea that we tend to spotlight your Malcolm X is your George Washington Carver's your you know, important figures, a lot of whom happened to be male, a lot of whom happened to be straight. And I think that that often can obscure the labor and the contributions of people that you don't hear about. Right, So for every Martin Luther King, what about the women who were there, you know, taking care of children, cooking, do domestic work that allowed for people to be in the spotlight, and that that would allow that that kind of labor would allow for these figures to go on to be people that we, you know, see on Black History themed posters in school, like one month out of the year. I guess for me, it's not that I didn't like Black History Month growing up it's just that it never felt like it never felt really significant, or it never felt like much of an event. I guess I just remember very fondly, maybe not findly, but very specifically in my mind about these white pieces of paper with very simple line drawings that you were supposed to color, and they would put them up on the wall. And like my kindergarten classroom, and there were people, like you said, like Martin Luther King, Rose Parks, I remember Garrett Morrigan always being on the list. Um, yeah, and and we would like color their faces and that was like, you know, pretty much it and we learned about the same people every year. So I guess it never it never felt like an event that should have been marked. Um thing that I would say today. And the way that I like to think about it is of it being a celebration because I don't know, I guess we we need to make room for that celebration. We need to delineate a specific time for that, because I think that a lot of the time we get so caught up and what's wrong and what needs to be fixed. And sure we do celebrate, like we do celebrate people all the time and all throughout the year, but it's really nice to have a specific time carved out to say, Hey, we acknowledge ourselves, we recognize ourselves. I see you, you see me, and we can all celebrate that together. And I think that's really cool. Like putting emphasis on the games and the achievements and the heroes that are a part of our community. That's right. Unfortunately, this Black History Months kind of got off to a rocky start with a lot of white people showing their assets via black space. Unless you were living under a rack, you probably saw that. Virginia Governor Ralph Northum. I guess he went to black face medical school because his yearbook had a pretty ridiculous picture of him in black face, or supposedly it was him. At first, it was unclear if it was him or not. He's standing next to somebody who's dressed in a as a klansman. At first it wasn't clear which person he was. He quickly apologized for this image and then later said while that specific image of black face wasn't him, he has done black face before, just not that specific time. And black face has such deep roots in our country and to see something like this this come out now, and especially during during Black History Month. You know, it feels like a flight. But um, that's something that He's not the only person who's done that. Even Virginia's Attorney general admitted to dressing up in black face in the eighties as part of a Curtis blow Halloween costume. And it sounds ridiculous. But when Northam, you know, admitted to doing black face, his was part of a Michael He said, he is part of a Michael Jackson Halloween costume. This press this press conference was the most surreal thing I think I've ever seen. At one point, he offered, he says, oh, it was really good at doing the moonwalk. He offers to demonstrate the moonwalk at one point, and it wasn't until his wife suggested he not to do that because it would be ridiculous. That honestly, was such a strange display. To me, I was rubbing my eyes, thinking, and I is what I'm watching real? I was so confused. So that wasn't a great That wasn't a great start to Black History Months, I don't think. And I think it's worth like pointing out his reaction to or you know, the tour afterwards and saying that we need to talk about this where it's I feel like it's a thing that happened so often, you know, then it's always a call for dialogue, when this dialogue could have been happening already and they expect to be taught. I in theory could be okay with the idea of doing a listening tour to educate yourself, perhaps if it had come twenty years ago. I think that once you are a governor of a big state, you know, like he he talked about how he was reading books like Alex Haley's Roots to educate himself, and I was thinking, how did you get through high school, college, medical school and not read these books? You know? I think it's hey, it's never too late to educate yourself. But once you are a grown adult who is leading an entire state, if you still need to be educated, what are you doing? You know? I think it's never it's never too late to learn what you don't already know. But maybe that's a sign that you don't have the have the emotional literacy or cultural literacy to lead an entire state, especially a state like Virginia that is very diverse, right right, Like my thing is the fact that you know people like him are so okay and want people to say, wow, you're doing that. You get thing like this is the thing you're supposed to be doing, and they want to be praised for doing something that's so bare me exactly a son of your note. One thing that I've often disliked about Black History Month that I said earlier is that the people that we tend to remember tend to be black straight men in my opinion. You know, there are women that we talk about, we talk about your Rosa parks Is and your you know, sojourn or truth, but specifically, I feel like it can be a little bit male and a little bit heteronormative. And this year I was so stoked to see that we had so many great black LGBTQ trailblazers really showing out this Black History Month. You know, I don't know if you watched the Grammys, but Janelle Money performed and it was quote free as fuck. As promised earlier. Last year, Money came out as pan sexual. She's had this great display of diversity and inclusion and sort of the beauty and celebration that is black queer identity. And I think if I had been a little black queer kid watching the Grammys, watching her perform, that would have blown my mind, right. I think the thing about performances like that is that they're so like we were not hiding it like we we're we're expressing it to the fullest. And I think that, you know, growing up, we may have same things we were like, Oh that that kind of feels like me, like, I understand the queerness in this. I see the queerness in this, and I identify with it. But now it's just like I can say yes and I can say it out loud, and I can I can really see that, and I know it's being spoken to me. For so long, I think we have felt like you know, that expression, I'm rooting for everybody black, unless they're gay, or unless they're gay in a way that that feels that makes me feel uncomfortable. I think that we've I want to feel like we reached a point where we're no longer saying that, But unfortunately I don't know if that's actually the case, because I do feel like every time we get someplace, particularly when it comes to affirming black LGBT Hugh folks, there is gonna always be someone who was holding us back. And I'm thinking about Pose. The a CP Image Awards completely snubbed to Pose and this is one of the most influential, interesting, dynamic shows that came out in the last couple of years and got no love. And I just think about that expression, you know, it be your own people. The fact that we cannot expect awards that are designed to affirm and celebrate an uplift us, that we cannot expect them to include queer like black queer identity is really sad. Yeah, I think that snop suppose just shows that we've gotten so far, but we really still have a longer way to go when it comes to including all different people and being intersectional. When we think about refun and people, who are we thinking about who are we leaving out? And I think that, you know, disability is also something that that's left out a lot of the time when we're talking about black people, when we're talking about the black lgbt Q experience. Definitely, I was super super happy to see that the first black trans disabled model was signed to one of the biggest agencies in the world. This is a in Phillips signed to one of the most famous modeling ageties in the world, and you know, got her own cover. Iran identifies as a non byinary trans woman, and she was born with cerebral palsy. I think that obviously the fashion industry especially does not tend to affirm and celebrate black bodies. It's even easier for those bodies to be erased when they are also trans, when they are also non buyinary, when they are also disabled. And it is good to see that blackness is beautiful in all of its forms. And it's one of those things. On the one hand, you're like, oh, I'm happy this is happening. On the other hand, you're thinking, this is the first time it happens. What gives I totally know what you mean. Um, I was just thinking about First like that, and how conflicted I am about First because on one hand, I feel like, Wow, this is what we're capable of, this is what we've always been capable of. Though that these are things that we've always been doing and too to that we've just gotten to these first is it kind of like is mind boggling. Sometimes we have had a big year of Black First, even just to February. Stacy Abrams, you know, we would be remissed to not mention her. She has really been knocking down barriers for a while. You may remember that in ten she was the first black woman to be nominated by a major party for governor. Had she won her race in Georgia, she would have been America's first black female governor, which would have been huge. I would say she she maybe did win that race, but that's a whole other story. But she also just this year became the first black woman to deliver the response to the State of the Union, and that was really interesting because typically the person the party that is not in power they give this response, and usually it's somebody who holds elected office. Like I can't think I thinking back, I can't think of the last time that it was not a congress person, a senator, somebody who was currently holding public office. But that is just how it is with Abrams. I mean, I think we'll see her as this rising star who was capable of really amazing groundbreaking stuff. And so not only was she the first black woman to ever be the person to deliver this official response, she also was one of the only people who was picked who is not currently holding public office, which I think just goes to show how much she is capable of. Yeah. Well, I think in addition to it showing you know, how people feel like she's this rising stars, I think it's also acknowledgement of all the work that she's done so far, Like she's couldn't so much work already, and she was already in the spotlight before you know, the governor's race, And that's not stopping. She's not stopping. She's going to continue to be in the spotlight and she's going to continue to put in the work. And I think having people like that, like us, being able to continue to see people like Stacy Abrams doing what she's doing is it is very encouraging. It is very motivating and just a constant reminder of all the people around us who are tinuing to support I said, uplift us. We would be remiss to talk about black first without mentioning Cardi B. Cardi B became the first solo female rapper to win the Best Rap Album at the Grammys, which I was pretty excited about. I like Cardi B. Yeah, I think that a lot of people were surprised by it. Maybe um I know a lot of people were happy about it as well, and Cardi V was definitely happy about it. And it's it's the first that I don't think I knew was coming. You know, it wasn't one that I was expecting, but um, it's it's just step for and I think, what do you think? It's one of those firsts where it makes you kind of scratch your head where you think, oh, that's never happened before. Interesting. Um, I'm I'm dating myself here, but I still remember. It wasn't that long ago that rappers like Will Smith and Salt and Pepper were boycotting the Grammys because they refused to acknowledge rap as a as an art form. You know. It wasn't that long ago that David Bowie was having to boycott MTV because they refused to play Michael Jackson record. It's one of those things that reminds us that black creative talent and black creative potential just has not We've always faced challenges, We've always had an uphill battle just to express ourselves and have that expression be regarded as art, as important, as influential. But what what this one also makes me think about is the fact that hip hop and wrap our popular culture right now that what everybody dances to the way everybody makes videos to you know, but I think about how everybody loves blackness, but there are still issues when it comes to blackness. You know, everybody likes to devour our culture, but there are still really really important issues that we're facing. And it kind of makes me feel, you know, loved, but I also feel unloved in so many ways in this country. It's this is such an easy country to feel black and unloved. Like it's very easy to feel that way in this country, especially right now, but really all ways, you know, I don't I think that it's easy to feel like we were living in a different time and just in the last couple of years, but I think it's important to recognize the ways that this is. It's always been that way. We've always struggled to be affirmed, to be celebrated, to be heard, to be seen, to be value, to be loved. And I think this year, I'm I'm so happy for these gains and I'm happy to talk to you about all of the ways that we've been table shaking and groundbreaking and redefining. But it is a reminder that we do have so so long ago, and that leaves me with my kind of concluding question to you, which is, what do you want from our our black futures? You know, where do we go from here? Oh that's a that's a good question. That's also a big question, because you know, I always want so many things, and I feel like the things that I say that I want are consistent a lot of the time. Obviously, I always want us to continue to make games when it comes to the rights that we have, when it comes to the ways we're affirmed, and when it comes to the ways that we are acknowledged in this country and worldwide. Also speaking of worldwide, also would love for black communities to connect and realize how things that are happening on the other side of the world and other black communities that we may not know as much about. Um. And for us to continue to affirm each other or waiting for acceptance from our oppressors. Um. Yeah, that's those are some of the things. I'm sure I could go on, but I love to hear what you have to say too. I want black creatives and black artists and black musicians. I want us to have the freedom to be weird and dark and all of those things. I've been thinking a lot about this lately that one of the ways I see black expression really exploding right now is the freedom to be fucking weird. Look at movies like Get Out, look at the resurgence of black horror, look at the resurgence of afro futurism, look at some of the weirdness that goes on in some of those earlier episodes of Atlanta where you have Justin Bieber played by a black actor, hitting people with an invisible car. I want us to have expression, to be weird and gross and dark, and not always have to be making things that are inspirational. You know. I'm so sick of I'm so sick of the green books of the world. You know. Um, I want us. I mean, I want us to have the same freedom that a white man who walks into a studio and says, I want to make this weird thing that nobody is going to get and everyone green lights it. I want us to have that same expression, that that same freedom of expression. I don't want to feel like any story that we tell has to be inspirational, has to be about people who are smart and hard working in this and that maybe people just maybe young black folks just want to smoke weed on their couch and watch weird TV and that's okay too. Maybe they're maybe they're humanity isn't any less because that's who they are. And I want to get to a place where we can acknowledge that and feel okay about it, because I sometimes feel very trapped in this need to have all of all of our stories be really uplifting and inspirational. And we have a lot of inspiration, but we have a lot of other stuff too, and I'm I'm excited to see that some of that is sort of it be peeking through and I want to I want to tug at that threat. I want us all to tug at that thread more. Yeah, I totally agree with you, and I'll feel you on a deep level of wanting to see more weird stuff as a person who build weird a lot of the time and has been called so, so, I see a lot more creators um and people who are making art do things that make me feel more comfortable and expressing myself and creating my own art and being comfortable with putting it out into the world and not feeling like it has to conform to a certain standard to be accepted to be liked and to be loved. Um. We we don't have to stay in any lane. We have just as much right and just as much license to create work that we feel is good and to share that with the world. So yeah, I'm on the same plane as you are. So We'll have to check in Black History month to see if if I actually all came to frunishman. Um. I hope it does. That's my that's my hope for the for the years ahead. I believe in it. I believe in us always. So let's just close this out. When it is our duty come fight for Friday, our duty to win. We must flow each other and support each other. We've got nothing to lose with our change, y'all. Let's go. Afro Punk Solution Sessions is a co production between Afro Punk and How Stuff Works. Your hosts are Bridget Todd and Eve's Jeff Cope. Executive co producers are Julie Douglas, Jocelyn Cooper and quand Latif Hill. The Underside of Power is performed by Algiers. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at AFRI part