WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:05.080 Kay bla talk fifteen eighty trillion dollars, might do it 2 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:08.839 a couple trillion. We're talking reparations. We do that every 3 00:00:09.320 --> 00:00:12.480 Friday at this time, second hour of the show. We 4 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:18.719 call it Friedman Friday because when we ended the Civil War. 5 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:23.440 When the Civil War ended, the enslaved formerly enslaved back 6 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:28.039 black persons of this country were called freedman designated such 7 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:32.000 by the government. I call it Freedman Friday because we 8 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:35.960 focus on reparations, all of the repair, everything that was 9 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:40.200 meant to happen back in eighteen sixty five that we 10 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:45.920 are still struggling to make happen today. And so we've 11 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:48.560 been doing this for a couple of years now. I'm 12 00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:55.320 really happy to welcome in the chief Wellness Officer of 13 00:00:55.479 --> 00:01:02.079 Blacksmith's Psychological Consultative Services. There's psychologic coal services provider for 14 00:01:02.119 --> 00:01:09.719 the US Olympics and Paralympic Committee. The leader, doctor ram 15 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:11.920 Mel Kwaku Smith. 16 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:15.319 Arifi A Moassee is. 17 00:01:17.480 --> 00:01:21.879 Is out of Milwaukee and he went to University of Milwaukee. 18 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:24.959 He's got his bachelor's in psychology, went on and got 19 00:01:25.239 --> 00:01:29.719 a master's of Science and Educational psychology, a doctorate of 20 00:01:29.799 --> 00:01:35.799 philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and he's been 21 00:01:35.879 --> 00:01:41.319 president of Blacksmith's Psychological Services since two thousand and seven. 22 00:01:41.799 --> 00:01:44.000 Doctor Quaku, Welcome back. 23 00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:47.519 Thanks for having me. It's always a pleasure to be 24 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:48.480 on what you dominate. 25 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:52.879 Yes, it's always great to hear from you. And you're 26 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:57.000 you know, obviously you're in the field of psychology, but 27 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:03.959 you're also very much committed and interested in Black history 28 00:02:04.040 --> 00:02:05.159 and Black liberation. 29 00:02:07.319 --> 00:02:09.159 Oh, no doubt about it. I mean everything that we 30 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:12.879 do is as an African centered liberation film, and what 31 00:02:12.919 --> 00:02:15.599 we do is like, how do we as a descendant 32 00:02:16.039 --> 00:02:18.840 of those who were enslaves still survive in this wilderness 33 00:02:18.919 --> 00:02:22.879 of North America. So it's always I have an unapologetic 34 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:26.439 love for all people, but a special love for my people. 35 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:33.120 And so, you know, when you center this idea, and 36 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:36.159 we were just talking about Btty Mason, right, an enslaved 37 00:02:36.199 --> 00:02:40.319 woman who walked from Mississippi to California and ended up 38 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:43.960 owning a large part of downtown and helping to found 39 00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:46.159 one of our most prominent churches, Bittty Mason. 40 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:47.719 So when you go. 41 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:55.680 From centering psychology to a conversation about reparations, does it 42 00:02:55.719 --> 00:02:59.199 seem like a leap to you or does it seem 43 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:00.800 like a logic progression. 44 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:04.719 No, I mean it's a perfect intersection because you know, 45 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:07.039 everything is interrelated in life. So when we started to 46 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:09.360 talk about that, and so how can you be a 47 00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:13.159 person of African descent and not talk about reparations. I 48 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:15.599 know oftentimes when you talk about Freedman Frieda and you 49 00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:18.800 ask people, well, how do you define reparations? And some 50 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:21.439 people won't answer the questions. Some people will give a 51 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:24.840 very clear definition. And I think one thing that all 52 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:27.439 people can agree on, it's about how do you repair 53 00:03:27.479 --> 00:03:29.400 a harm? And if you are people who have been 54 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:32.919 harmed since the very very beginning, that means every intersection 55 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:36.599 of life needs to be repaired. Every area of human activity. 56 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:39.759 Nearie Fuller Junior used to talk about these nine areas 57 00:03:39.800 --> 00:03:42.680 of human activity that we all deal with, and so 58 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:45.439 you talk about psychology and health, all of those things, 59 00:03:45.639 --> 00:03:48.479 those are in those same areas that needs to be repaired. 60 00:03:48.520 --> 00:03:50.840 So correlates. 61 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:56.280 I know that there's a large group of folks, myself included, 62 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:59.319 you feel like, okay, reparations has to include the check, 63 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:03.360 it has to include land, it has to include economic 64 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:11.159 you know, make goods, economic healing. But when we talk 65 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:15.560 about psychological healing and the impact of not just enslavement, 66 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:18.000 but Jim Crow and the subsequent harms, many of which 67 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:23.480 continue to this day. Is that something that is on us? 68 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:26.120 Is that our own charge, or is that something that 69 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:33.480 we should somehow be in partnership with this country, these nations, institutions, 70 00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:37.600 or it's corporate sort of class. 71 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:42.360 Now, you couldn't have asked a better question, because when 72 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:45.000 we talk about reparations, I believe in everything what you 73 00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:47.839 just said, pay us what you will, give us everything. 74 00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:50.920 But at the beginning of reparations, the first thing that 75 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:55.079 has to be done is an acknowledgment of the wrong, like, hey, 76 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:57.079 we did you wrong. And not only is it an 77 00:04:57.120 --> 00:05:00.079 acknowledgment of that wrong, but then there's an apology, a 78 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:03.160 sincere apology. And what I tell everybody that I work 79 00:05:03.240 --> 00:05:05.720 with from a clinical setting, and it's outside of reparations, 80 00:05:05.720 --> 00:05:08.560 but just in general, I said, an apology is just 81 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:11.600 to start. It's like a puppet. But when you start 82 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:14.959 to animate that puppet, those are the actions of that apology. 83 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:18.160 So the second part of the reparations goes from acknowledging 84 00:05:18.199 --> 00:05:22.120 and apologizing to what then to repairing the harm. So 85 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:24.319 that means I'm going to replace what I took or 86 00:05:24.360 --> 00:05:26.240 I'm going to get back in a different way what 87 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:29.800 was took. And before any land any other things can 88 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:32.560 be given, we need that true apology to say, hey, 89 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:35.079 you know what, you are truly welcome. When we look 90 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:36.879 at the Constitution, I think it's one of the most 91 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:39.839 beautifully written documents ever, it's just the same it was 92 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:42.079 written by hypocrites and it was not followed through for 93 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:44.680 all people. So when we started to look at that, 94 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:46.279 the first thing I think when you talk about a 95 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:50.079 psychological healing, because just for example, Dominique, if I harm 96 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:51.879 you and I say I'm sorry, but you know I 97 00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:55.000 don't mean it, everything else don't really matter because you 98 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:58.399 said I'm still don't feel that warmth of inclusion. And 99 00:05:58.439 --> 00:06:02.040 when we talk about America specific, what that apology starts 100 00:06:02.040 --> 00:06:05.160 to stay is this, we are sorry, and we see 101 00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:08.240 you as a true American, not a second class citizen, 102 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:11.360 not somebody who's our burden, but really a part of 103 00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:13.759 this true fabric. And since we built it, we are 104 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:16.199 the fabric to say we not only recognize as part 105 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:18.680 of the fabric, but we recognize as being the pillar 106 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:21.279 and the foundation of helping to get this country to 107 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:24.319 where it's at. And until we get that level of apology, 108 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:26.600 all the other things we get, which would be good, 109 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:29.920 it still would be hollow and ringing true, specifically as 110 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:33.199 it relates to continual justice, because one of the other 111 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:36.920 icons of reparation is saying, not only are we sorry, 112 00:06:37.639 --> 00:06:39.519 not only are we going to repair the harm, but 113 00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:42.279 we're going to promise not to what to redo the harm. 114 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:44.040 And as we look at what America is doing now, 115 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:46.920 not only are they not going towards reparations, they're going 116 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:50.120 towards the backwards. They're going towards the thing to eliminate 117 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:53.279 and remove right. So any apology that might have been 118 00:06:53.319 --> 00:06:56.079 given half heartedly in the past proves to be what 119 00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:57.759 disrespectful and untrue. 120 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:01.839 Well of just answered the question that I was going 121 00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:03.480 to ask, but I'm gonna throw it out there anyway 122 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:05.279 because it's kind of it could be a follow up 123 00:07:05.319 --> 00:07:07.879 to what you're talking about, which is that some people 124 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:11.399 do feel like we don't want any apologies, apologies or bs. 125 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:14.759 You know, the state of California one of the few 126 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:17.160 things that has passed and there have been a handful 127 00:07:18.120 --> 00:07:21.519 since the task Force. The Reparations Task Force here in 128 00:07:21.560 --> 00:07:27.040 California released their massive report was an apology, and there's 129 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:29.439 plenty of people that turn their nose up at that 130 00:07:29.560 --> 00:07:32.160 and feel like, well, that's just a symbol. That doesn't 131 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:36.000 mean anything. I had always wondered like, doesn't I wouldn't 132 00:07:36.040 --> 00:07:38.319 think it would help you in court. I would think 133 00:07:38.360 --> 00:07:40.920 it would help you to build something. But it sounds 134 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:47.319 to me like there's a mental health aspect to an apology. 135 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:52.360 And also what there are elements that make a legit 136 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:54.439 apology as opposed to a phony one. 137 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:59.680 And see that's it, right, there is the apology sincere 138 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:01.680 because I tell you this, and this is working with 139 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:06.759 people working with couples who's gone through abusive situations, going 140 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:11.000 with couples where people have taken money, are taken the 141 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:13.560 money that was allocated for certain things and mishandled it. 142 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:16.920 I'm talking about France siblings who were hurt and mad 143 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:22.519 at each other. The apology when done sincere, Oh, it 144 00:08:22.600 --> 00:08:24.879 matters so much because what did we say? A true 145 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:28.040 part of the sincerity of the apology is it's the 146 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:31.959 following actions afterwards. So words mean nothing that the actions 147 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:35.679 don't follow. But could you imagine if America apologize, Let's say, 148 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:39.919 what if, hypothetically, but then they started to treat every 149 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:44.720 black American, every person of African descent, the same way 150 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:47.639 that all what they considered and that was really the 151 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:51.159 white Anglo Saxon Protestant land only man in the Constitution 152 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:54.840 treated us like that, then America truly would be the 153 00:08:54.879 --> 00:08:57.240 great place. It would be that great experiment where everybody 154 00:08:57.279 --> 00:08:59.600 could come in and be treated as one. What makes 155 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:03.159 that aology insincere is that what we know that it's 156 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:06.159 not true. So that's why we don't need an insincere apology. 157 00:09:06.279 --> 00:09:08.799 But if we had a sincere apology that followed with 158 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:11.639 actions were giving us true justice, where we didn't see 159 00:09:11.639 --> 00:09:15.799 our children being beaten and killed mercilessly in the streets 160 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:18.720 without any justice, if we saw correct schools, if we 161 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:21.679 didn't see the harm and harassment that's taking place within 162 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:24.320 the medical field, if we saw those things, oh, that 163 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:27.120 apology would be sweet and beautiful. We go back to 164 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:29.440 the civil rights, as you said in eighteen sixty five, 165 00:09:29.559 --> 00:09:32.360 when this was supposedly the time for what the soul 166 00:09:32.440 --> 00:09:35.600 of America told redeem herself. And that's what it looked 167 00:09:35.639 --> 00:09:37.919 like when Abraham Lincoln, not giving him too much credit, 168 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:40.639 but just that whole scene in that time where you say, oh, 169 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:43.720 guess what we are freed men. My uncle name was 170 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:46.039 Charles Freeman, and I used to be so jealous of 171 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:48.440 his name because he said, I didn't know what we 172 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:50.440 didn't know what our name was, but we knew we 173 00:09:50.440 --> 00:09:53.919 was a free man. They had that right to rename themselves. 174 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:56.159 And so when you look at those twelve years that 175 00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:58.679 we had in freedom, you said, oh, what a time 176 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:01.320 it was. But when they saw how educated we got, 177 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:03.759 when they saw how much we took to politics, when 178 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:05.799 they saw we already had the skills from being in 179 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:07.440 the fields those years, they said, oh, we got to 180 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:10.000 step back. And that's when Jim Crow stepped in because 181 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:12.159 they had to find another way, even though we had 182 00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:13.720 convict LEAs and so we don't want to act like 183 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:15.879 it was perfect during the time. But when they did, 184 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:18.039 Jim Crow, that was to double down and say, we 185 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:21.000 can't do slavery in the way it was, but we're 186 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:24.120 going to reinvent it. So that made all of those apologies. 187 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:26.960 Not only was it that, but the new leaders Andrew 188 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:30.080 Jackson came in, said we're going to take away filled 189 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:33.720 Operation fifteen. We're going to take away the land that 190 00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:35.320 you got. And not only were we going to take 191 00:10:35.320 --> 00:10:38.399 away the land, we're going to party those Confederate soldiers 192 00:10:38.440 --> 00:10:40.960 who fought against the Union and give them and their 193 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:43.360 family's land back that was taken away from them for 194 00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:47.120 being traders. So when you have apologies that go backwards, 195 00:10:47.159 --> 00:10:50.440 those mean nothing because those actions didn't follow. But if 196 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:53.879 America would, and I said again in a hypothetical situation, 197 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:57.519 if those words could ring true, and sincere oh for 198 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:00.879 a mental health standpoint, it would be beauty because just 199 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:04.679 like our ancestors from eighteen sixty five to eighteen seventy 200 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:07.799 was living amongst those who had enslaved them, but was 201 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:10.679 turning it around. That's the beauty of our people. We 202 00:11:10.759 --> 00:11:14.720 are magnanimous and forgiving and loving people. We were actually 203 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:17.600 going to live with those who are our captors once 204 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:20.080 they gave us, well, once we got our freedom back. 205 00:11:20.120 --> 00:11:22.440 They didn't give us nothing back, but once they stopped 206 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:24.440 trying to hinder us from it and was giving us 207 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:28.679 a pathway to citizenship, to freedom, to have an equity 208 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:32.159 within the country, they were willing to do that, even 209 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:35.039 after all of that pain, and brutality. So nobody can 210 00:11:35.080 --> 00:11:37.879 tell me that an apology doesn't mean anything. It just 211 00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:41.519 has to be a sincere apology followed by actions. 212 00:11:42.200 --> 00:11:45.840 Doctor Quakeku is here and if you have something to say, 213 00:11:45.879 --> 00:11:48.679 you can call in eight hundred and nine to fifteen eighty. 214 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:54.039 He's the president of Blacksmith Psychological Consultative Services. Else will 215 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:58.919 continue the conversation the mental health side of repair on 216 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:03.519 this Freedom and Friday only on KBLA Talk fifteen eighty 217 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:07.960 talking with doctor Kwaku talking mental health and reparations and 218 00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:12.200 the question of an apology, the question of how we 219 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:14.519 are treated in the broader society. I mean, we can 220 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:16.720 go into that a little bit more in depth, but 221 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:19.519 I want to make sure that the hour doesn't pass 222 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:23.919 without looking at which part of the repair that we 223 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:27.399 have to do in terms of our spirits, our soul, 224 00:12:27.480 --> 00:12:33.080 our psyche is our own charge. I think about you 225 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:39.960 know doctor Joy degru in post traumatic slaves syndrome. Yeah 226 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:43.840 or she she speaks on habits and reflexes that we 227 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:47.639 have that we've inherited from enslavement and Jim Crow, which 228 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:49.360 we may not even be conscious of. 229 00:12:51.320 --> 00:12:53.639 Yeah, yeah, you and my notes because I love the 230 00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:56.320 Queen Mother Joy. I might have had a chance to 231 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:58.799 speak with her and work with her on several occasions 232 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:01.240 when she's come to a walk, and I think her 233 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:03.879 book hits the point. But I think it's a term 234 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:06.519 that we all know. When we hear the term sankopha, 235 00:13:07.159 --> 00:13:09.840 you know it's a return and go get it. You've 236 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:11.600 had the chance to, you know, put your feet on 237 00:13:11.639 --> 00:13:14.039 the soil of the motherland, and when you go back, 238 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:17.120 what you recognize, especially being in those dungeons where they 239 00:13:17.159 --> 00:13:21.080 held our ancestors. You see the pain, you see the frustration, 240 00:13:21.159 --> 00:13:24.679 you see the herd. But you also wonder what type 241 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:28.519 of currency was in our DNA that allowed them to survive, 242 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:31.279 that to allow them not only to survive, but to 243 00:13:31.320 --> 00:13:33.480 thrive in the land that we are. So what's inside 244 00:13:33.480 --> 00:13:37.720 of us? There's a sporting brand called Actively Black and 245 00:13:37.720 --> 00:13:40.559 they talk about one of their taglines is greatness is 246 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:43.720 in our DNA. And I think what the indoctrination of 247 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:45.759 America has done has made us forget who we were. 248 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:48.480 And it's just like a person who had some type 249 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:50.759 of traumatic brain injury and some form of MNS and 250 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:53.120 they didn't know how great they were. They have to relearn. 251 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:55.600 But the beautiful thing about when you go back to 252 00:13:55.639 --> 00:13:57.919 the san Copha and you start to learn exactly who 253 00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:00.799 you are, you start to recogniz that's who you are. 254 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:03.240 And then what you do is, I don't want to 255 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:05.480 get too technical, but now we go into quantum physics 256 00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:08.559 with this healing, because when you start talking about quantum physics, 257 00:14:08.600 --> 00:14:11.399 you understand the first law thermo dynamics, what the energy 258 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:14.600 is near the created or destroyed, it's just what it's transferred. 259 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:16.360 So what we got to understand is how do we 260 00:14:16.440 --> 00:14:19.679 transfer back from that negativity to that positivity. And when 261 00:14:19.720 --> 00:14:22.200 you get into that, you go into quantum entanglements. And 262 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:24.440 that's how do we reach back to our ancestors and 263 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:27.519 even reach to the future of our posterity and bring 264 00:14:27.559 --> 00:14:29.879 all of those voices from time and space together and 265 00:14:29.879 --> 00:14:32.399 to say, what, let me recognize who I was and 266 00:14:32.440 --> 00:14:35.320 who I can be. I think one of the biggest 267 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:37.559 lines that kind of bring that together, even though it 268 00:14:37.639 --> 00:14:41.200 was science fiction, was from the movie Centers when they 269 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:44.360 were singing that song and you could see blended voices 270 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:46.960 from the past and blended voices from the future. You 271 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:49.080 could see that energy and even though it wasn't there 272 00:14:49.159 --> 00:14:51.919 physical was there in a spiritual space. And so you say, 273 00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:54.120 how do we go back to that healing? We have 274 00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:57.080 to go back and reawaken that cellular DNA from when 275 00:14:57.080 --> 00:15:00.720 we were kings and queens, when we were architects, engineers, 276 00:15:00.759 --> 00:15:03.919 to the highest level before than doctrination of the American 277 00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:06.559 spirit and go back. But what is America has taught 278 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:08.799 us so many time is to be afraid of who 279 00:15:08.840 --> 00:15:11.360 we are as Africans, not to want to be associated 280 00:15:11.559 --> 00:15:13.799 with the continent, not to be associated with the land. 281 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:16.440 And that's the first part of what any type of 282 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:19.279 colonization is to make you forget who you are. So 283 00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:21.120 when people ask me why do I change my name? 284 00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:24.440 I said, it is mandatory when not just white people, 285 00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:26.200 but even more people for them to have to say 286 00:15:26.279 --> 00:15:29.080 Quai kuwam Oassi because it's saying the name what's wway 287 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:32.159 heally saying the name from that motherland, it reawakens something 288 00:15:32.200 --> 00:15:35.600 in them that they don't know because it's going back 289 00:15:35.639 --> 00:15:38.039 to go get who I was. And if we're going 290 00:15:38.120 --> 00:15:40.799 to heal, and we were already healed from the beginning, 291 00:15:41.159 --> 00:15:43.279 we just have to do something almost like with our 292 00:15:43.320 --> 00:15:46.519 body when you scratch your body and it's a sowred. 293 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:48.799 What do people say, Hey, just get out the way, 294 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:51.919 let it heal itself. But the problem is we're busy 295 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:55.399 picking at the scalp, and from a metaphorical standpoint, picking 296 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:58.960 at the staff is what learning these American ways, trying 297 00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:02.159 so hard to fit in to the colonization and the 298 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:04.879 things of America. And so as we continue to do that, 299 00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:07.240 we're going to be further and further away from our spirit. 300 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:10.399 And that's what keeps us in a state of chaos. 301 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:14.000 And the opposite of chaos is what the cosmosis, or order. 302 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:16.279 So for us to be orderly, we have to go 303 00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:19.240 back and be ordered to what the roots of our ancestors. 304 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:21.440 So until we're willing to do that, we're going to 305 00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:24.279 stay spiraling in the land that wasn't really meant for us, 306 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:27.039 trying to fit into a place that doesn't want us. 307 00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:29.399 When we start talking about this system, how do we 308 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:32.120 fix the system? Well, what's the saying that everybody says? 309 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:35.120 There's nothing wrong with the system. The system is doing 310 00:16:35.159 --> 00:16:37.679 exactly what it's designed to do. So if we know 311 00:16:37.799 --> 00:16:40.360 the system is built upon our destruction, we know the 312 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:44.480 system is built on oppressing those who are marginalized and ostracized, 313 00:16:44.679 --> 00:16:47.120 and we keep trying to fit into that system. What 314 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:50.399 we're saying is we're welcoming the chaos into our life. 315 00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:53.360 We're welcoming a mental dysfunction. So until we're willing to 316 00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:56.720 go and find who we truly are tapping into that spirit, 317 00:16:56.919 --> 00:17:02.759 we're going to remain in a state of really emotional psychosis. 318 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:05.839 Okay, the lots of lots of unboxed there. 319 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:09.720 I do think that you know, I've been to Africa 320 00:17:09.799 --> 00:17:13.880 seven times, different countries, different places, very very much consider 321 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:17.319 myself a Pan Africanist. But there's something that the within 322 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:21.599 the reparation space that I think the lineage folks really 323 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:26.160 have made a strong, compelling and important point about, which 324 00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:31.480 is that our ancestors, as Black Americans, as freedmen, as 325 00:17:32.039 --> 00:17:37.720 whatever you know, negroes, whatever term works for you, also 326 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:42.640 are very specific, right, and they also deserve very specific light. 327 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:50.480 You know, my my great great grandma, you know, Delphia Archie, 328 00:17:50.759 --> 00:17:55.599 who came off the plantation as a teenager, and you 329 00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:59.599 know she was she was a teenager when the emancipation 330 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:07.240 was proclaimed, and so I do feel like I gained 331 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:10.680 strength and power and the long lineage and continuity of 332 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:12.440 our DNA by going to the motherland. 333 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:13.720 But I also think. 334 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:17.000 There's something really important for us, and I'm talking psychologically 335 00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:23.000 right now, but also spiritually about recognizing the specific sacrifice 336 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:28.200 and the specific triumph of those Black American ancestors, those 337 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:32.440 black US American ancestors who built the White House, who 338 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:35.000 built this country. Whether they wanted us or not, they 339 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:37.440 would have no country. We would in this nation would 340 00:18:37.480 --> 00:18:41.400 not be a superpower without the blood, sweat and actual 341 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:47.480 human sacrifice of our ancestors, specifically as Black Americans. 342 00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:53.319 Yes, yes, yes, yes, those are all valid points. And 343 00:18:53.960 --> 00:18:57.599 how can you argue with those things? If I could 344 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:05.079 be so humble and submit a copy at today Look 345 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:08.400 at Ghana with the Black Star when they gained their freedom, 346 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:12.599 Kwame Kermer said, we are not free until all Africa 347 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:16.519 is free. When I went to Ghana and where I 348 00:19:16.599 --> 00:19:20.039 received my name in Cape Coles, I said, I don't 349 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:21.759 want to just get a name. Remember we talked about 350 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:23.920 symbolic apology. I said I don't want a name just 351 00:19:23.960 --> 00:19:25.920 to get a name. And I remember the chief looking 352 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:28.440 at me and said, oh no, don't do that. He said, 353 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:30.480 we might not know where you're at but you're from here. 354 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:33.720 Now you are ours. He said, not only will I 355 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:35.279 give you a name, I will give you my name. 356 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:37.279 Quaker is my day name. Just he who was born 357 00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:41.359 on Wednesday. Atrophy is a person from the village, an 358 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:43.920 elder from the village. In Amasi is the surname of 359 00:19:43.960 --> 00:19:45.960 the chief. And what he said, I want to let 360 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:48.519 you know is this. Maybe this was not your people, 361 00:19:48.519 --> 00:19:50.640 but it is now. So I say that to say this. 362 00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:55.559 My people came on the boat too. So I know 363 00:19:55.960 --> 00:19:59.480 that my lineage comes from West Africa. I know that 364 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:02.240 we are people who get the blood, sweat and toil, 365 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:05.400 the blood, sweat and tears and toiled this land. But 366 00:20:05.480 --> 00:20:08.279 I say this, if I get something and the brother 367 00:20:08.359 --> 00:20:11.079 who looks like me, and even though his ancestors didn 368 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:14.039 suffering the same way in the same land, I would 369 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:16.640 still be remiss for them not to share in the 370 00:20:16.759 --> 00:20:19.079 coming up of what we did. Because he said, we 371 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:21.400 cannot be free to all our Africa's friend, I feel 372 00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:23.640 like that as a person. He said, I'm not Africa 373 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:26.119 because I was born in Africa. I'm Africa because African 374 00:20:26.279 --> 00:20:29.440 was born in me. So anybody who's affiliated with the 375 00:20:29.480 --> 00:20:32.960 continent and you know we say, ooh, you know our people, 376 00:20:33.559 --> 00:20:35.519 but our people were brought here. Let's just say we 377 00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:38.640 go with the date sixteen nineteen were American wasn't evented 378 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:41.440 till seventeen seventy six. So that's the British. So that 379 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:43.599 means the British Olderness money. And I've heard you talk 380 00:20:43.640 --> 00:20:45.799 about this, the do Us, the Portuguese, the French and 381 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:48.640 all of those people. And I've heard doctor Chael Grills 382 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:51.240 come on to talk about, Hey, you know what, I 383 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:53.920 had cousins in Jamaica. I had cousins in Turks and Cables. 384 00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:56.319 I had cousins in Granada. I got cousins in Brazil. 385 00:20:56.519 --> 00:20:59.039 When you look at how we were wiped and spread 386 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:01.559 apart in the Diaster, In fact, forty seven percent of 387 00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:04.240 us will shipp to Brazil. So when you look at 388 00:21:04.279 --> 00:21:06.759 all of those places from over, I say, we steal 389 00:21:06.839 --> 00:21:10.400 our Wand if we are paying Africans, that means no 390 00:21:10.440 --> 00:21:13.200 matter who did what or who suffered where, we all 391 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:17.000 suffered in some sense. And though we can't quantify exactly 392 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:20.599 who did everything, you your parents might have did ten percent, 393 00:21:20.599 --> 00:21:22.359 of the lift of mind might have did eighty percent. 394 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:24.720 But guess what we're going to share in this pot altogether, 395 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:27.000 because at the end of the day, we're want so 396 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:30.400 to that argument. I don't discount that those with leneas 397 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:33.000 would have an argument to say we deserve more. But 398 00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:35.799 if you get more and your brotherre and suffering, how 399 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:37.519 can you steal be free? 400 00:21:37.559 --> 00:21:39.279 How can you Okay, we're gonna we have to leave 401 00:21:39.319 --> 00:21:41.079