WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:11.519 Amen, we we are. 2 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:21.120 Miss how are you greeting? 3 00:00:22.120 --> 00:00:24.399 Hey? Can you hear me? I? 4 00:00:24.440 --> 00:00:25.280 Can can you hear me? 5 00:00:26.039 --> 00:00:28.640 I Amanda? Yeah, I can perfectly clear. 6 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:35.200 Okay, okay, Well let me just tell y'all. Misundscribes himself 7 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:41.119 your your your Instagram bio is very specific while not 8 00:00:41.159 --> 00:00:46.200 being specific at all. So miss unsays dyslexic neurodi Virgin 9 00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:50.439 Oscar nominated End of lazyp Award winner. Opinions expressed are 10 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:53.240 solely my own. However, you are I know you to 11 00:00:53.240 --> 00:00:54.759 be a photographer. 12 00:00:55.640 --> 00:00:56.960 Before we even get there. 13 00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:02.200 I jumped on early and I hadn't seen the clip 14 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:06.040 that you shown of these priests were the. 15 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:09.680 Pastors? 16 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:16.640 Yeah, everybody is getting brainwashed. Baby. That's the new that's 17 00:01:16.680 --> 00:01:17.239 the new wave. 18 00:01:18.359 --> 00:01:21.879 Mm hmm I and it's it's particularly I don't know 19 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:23.599 if you've seen the Voice of hinrad Jab yet. 20 00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:24.680 Have you watched that film? 21 00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:29.920 No? I have not seen it yet. There's a part 22 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:31.280 of me that's not prepared. 23 00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:34.239 Listen. I ran away from it. 24 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:36.439 I've run away from that film for four months, and 25 00:01:36.519 --> 00:01:41.120 I decided, look, just you know, if if Palestinians are 26 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:43.599 enduring what they're enduring, go and see the bloody film, 27 00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:45.920 and I sat down. And the reason I'm bringing this 28 00:01:46.040 --> 00:01:48.840 up that it's particularly hard to see men and women 29 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:53.079 of God going to this place after watching that film, 30 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:56.280 because what you learn in the film is we all 31 00:01:56.280 --> 00:01:57.799 know what happened to this six year old. 32 00:01:57.799 --> 00:01:59.439 But what I didn't know is that. 33 00:01:59.159 --> 00:02:02.719 They had the technol to have the heat that they 34 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:06.359 could see who is dead or alive. They could see 35 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:09.680 the size of the soul, so they knew it was 36 00:02:09.719 --> 00:02:12.919 a child, and they knew that this child was surrounded 37 00:02:12.919 --> 00:02:17.439 by her dead relatives, the corpses of her dead relatives. 38 00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:20.960 And then they just played call of duty for three hours, 39 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:22.520 taking pop shots at her. 40 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:24.400 And it's just to. 41 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:30.599 See people of God, you know, in the twenty four 42 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:32.520 hour period. I just I didn't know about this trip. 43 00:02:32.680 --> 00:02:33.479 I missed this one. 44 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:36.840 And it's hard to keep up, to be quite honest, 45 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:43.280 I mean, the nonsense is just so innumerable that it's 46 00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:45.159 hard to keep up. I mean, the other day you 47 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:49.439 had it too, mar Ben Gavie wearing a noose pin. 48 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:53.400 I saw that, along with others in the Israeli Kanesse 49 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:56.919 in support of their push to create a death penalty 50 00:02:56.960 --> 00:03:00.879 for all of the Palestinian prisoners. Mind you. These people 51 00:03:00.919 --> 00:03:04.560 have not had cases, they have not been able to 52 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:09.759 even fight. There a lot of them don't even have charges. 53 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:17.479 Them are no adults, actually judicial cults in Hebrew, which 54 00:03:17.479 --> 00:03:21.360 your kids don't understand, and they're being held Oh my god. 55 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:25.960 Anyway, in the context of that, well, no, I mean 56 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:30.919 I'm not surprised because the context of our conversation was 57 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:33.800 about Jasmine Crockett, who was a black woman who was 58 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:38.560 running for senator. And you know, there's now a lot 59 00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:42.639 of hullabulu and hubbub about her being progressive and her 60 00:03:42.759 --> 00:03:45.199 being you know, the next wave and she's going to 61 00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:49.280 save the Democratic Party and me and Sabby Sabs landing 62 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:51.719 that plane at No. No, this is not a progressive. 63 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:54.719 This is someone who has staunchly supported Israel. I mean 64 00:03:55.159 --> 00:03:59.159 it's not hard to discern this. You know, people are like, 65 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:04.240 where's the evidence, where's the evidence? And the evidence? I mean, 66 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:06.759 I can show you as basic as this. 67 00:04:08.199 --> 00:04:12.840 When Governor Wall started out tonight by repeating this for Frain, 68 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:14.719 that Israel has a right to defend itself. 69 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:17.279 Israel has just invaded Lebanon. 70 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:23.600 Israel is now intimating that it could attack Iran, So. 71 00:04:25.160 --> 00:04:26.319 Shouldn't we be looking for a. 72 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:29.079 Little more than just these platitudes about Israel having a 73 00:04:29.160 --> 00:04:31.920 right to defend itself. What is the limiting principle, especially 74 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:34.839 when the US the one providing the armaments for Israel 75 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:38.000 to wage these military campaigns. As you know, having voted 76 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:41.279 for the National Security Supplemental back in April, which underwrote 77 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:42.920 Israel's war effort, I. 78 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:45.319 Absolutely did vote for it. I voted for that along 79 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:48.759 with every other supplemental that was available. And I will 80 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:51.560 tell you this, It is important that people understand what 81 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:53.560 diplomacy looks like, and it looks like the fact that 82 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:57.439 this relationship between Israel and the United States has existed 83 00:04:57.639 --> 00:05:01.319 since before I was born. And guess what, this relationship 84 00:05:01.319 --> 00:05:07.079 will continue on in perpetuity even after I'm gone. 85 00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:12.480 I don't know how many Nigerians you know, but I'm 86 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:16.040 a Nigeriane man, So sometimes I may switch to pigeon 87 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:22.560 when I have when I can't sound like British. Because 88 00:05:22.600 --> 00:05:30.639 this is this is madness. Yes, I came, Jeffries Corey Booker, 89 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:33.600 and I need you to help me, as an African American, 90 00:05:33.639 --> 00:05:38.639 to explain to me how these well educated, seemingly well traveled, 91 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:44.800 supposedly politically astute Black African American men and women that 92 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:48.079 have chosen a life of service have got to a 93 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:52.079 place where I'm looking at Corey Booker walking down corridors 94 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:56.600 or dancing with you know, genocidal maniacs, like, how does 95 00:05:56.600 --> 00:05:57.519 it get to that place? 96 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:04.639 So the first steps is in knowing that the United 97 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:11.319 States does not actually have politics as a public service. 98 00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:14.680 They're not actually in service to the people. They're in 99 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:20.680 service to lobbyists. They're in service to packs and to donors. 100 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:23.439 So when you say they have entered a life of service, 101 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:26.519 the life of service they've entered is to those who 102 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:28.920 are going to give them money, and they serve them 103 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:34.480 by passing and supporting legislation or standing in the way 104 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:39.279 of legislation that prevents those corporate interests from being able 105 00:06:39.319 --> 00:06:42.040 to advance. And they know this. You know, there's the 106 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:44.720 reason why you have so many lawyers that go into 107 00:06:44.759 --> 00:06:47.040 these fields. Right, There's a reason why you have so 108 00:06:47.160 --> 00:06:51.399 many entrepreneurs go into these fields. It's because they already 109 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:54.920 know the one too of what's going on. So when 110 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:57.839 you see this in black people, you also understand that 111 00:06:57.879 --> 00:07:00.920 we do live in a capitalist country, and at the 112 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:03.160 end of the day, there has been a constant push 113 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:06.959 of this idea of generational wealth and Black people need 114 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:10.439 to get our economics together. However, it's not done under 115 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:14.360 the auspices of socialism and supporting communities. It's done under 116 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:20.160 the auspices of individual accomplishment. Right, Like Jasmin Sullivan was, 117 00:07:20.279 --> 00:07:23.360 Jasmin Crockett was already a successful lawyer who made more 118 00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:26.759 money as a lawyer than she did in Congress if 119 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:28.759 she was not going to take any corporate money. So 120 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:30.800 it's not like she was struggling, right, It's not like 121 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:36.720 she was saying, you know, I'm going to find my 122 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:41.759 purpose in this path. However, what frustrates me is that 123 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:45.680 I think a lot of people inherently think that black 124 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:51.720 people have a higher moral quotient, Yeah, because of the 125 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:57.920 historical because exactly, and that same thing is why Israeli 126 00:07:58.040 --> 00:08:01.000 Zionis are getting away with that are doing because they 127 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:06.879 effectively peddled this idea of a moral higher a higher 128 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:12.000 moral ground because of having a higher pain, right, higher harm, 129 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:14.399 higher moral ground. And so that's where you get the 130 00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:17.199 whole like, we get to harm people because we were harmed. 131 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:20.439 We have the moral army because we didn't have an 132 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:23.879 army to protect us, which was literally just pr right 133 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:28.160 because the Zionists were actually in cahoots with Nazis, like 134 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:32.679 Zionists Jews said okay, we'll work with you Nazis, versus 135 00:08:32.919 --> 00:08:35.759 other Jews who were like, no, no, we don't work 136 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:37.879 with the people who are trying to kill us. Like 137 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:42.879 I think, people have really just come to kerfuffle everything 138 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:45.679 together in the same way that they have now with 139 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:47.960 black people in America. And I am a black person 140 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:52.840 who lives on a value system that is not capitalists, 141 00:08:53.080 --> 00:08:56.759 hence being a radical black intellectual. And we are not 142 00:08:56.799 --> 00:08:59.279 the same just because we are black, like the saying 143 00:08:59.320 --> 00:09:03.759 goes all skin poking, kinfolk, and we keep using identity 144 00:09:03.799 --> 00:09:07.600 politics in this country to put black people in power 145 00:09:08.279 --> 00:09:12.840 that do not support black liberation. 146 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:16.080 And so how do you how do you connect? I 147 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:17.320 think you kind of connected. 148 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:21.519 Another interesting thing is which is how the far right, 149 00:09:21.559 --> 00:09:26.399 and I mean the real far right has seemingly gone 150 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:31.279 into bed with the Zionist entity. And what I mean 151 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:36.559 by that when Elon Musk did the what do they 152 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:37.519 call it, they hate the. 153 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:42.480 You know, the hand, the Hitler hand. 154 00:09:42.279 --> 00:09:45.279 Thing, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 155 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:49.159 And then the yeah, and the the ad L defended 156 00:09:49.240 --> 00:09:51.840 him said he was, you know that we should move on. 157 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:55.759 We've just had something in England where a guy called 158 00:09:55.799 --> 00:09:58.039 Magel far Arche. I don't know if you know, you probably. 159 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:00.559 Know who he is. I know him vaguely, Okay, he's 160 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:01.039 ahead of. 161 00:10:01.399 --> 00:10:04.320 He is openly racist, openly anti Semitic, head of the 162 00:10:04.360 --> 00:10:07.360 Reform Party in the UK, and a lot of the 163 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:09.519 people that went to school with him who are actually 164 00:10:09.639 --> 00:10:12.440 Jewish have come out saying he is an anti He's 165 00:10:12.440 --> 00:10:15.440 been saying things like Hitler was right, you know, reminding 166 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:20.039 reminding of people of Candice Owens pre her rebrand and 167 00:10:21.080 --> 00:10:24.559 it's it's it's very very interesting because the Jewish Chronicle, 168 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:27.080 the Jewish Chronicle, big paper in the UK, did an 169 00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:30.759 article saying that we should forget about all the anti Semitic. 170 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:32.600 Things he said in the past, and I was like, 171 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:39.840 what it's it's it's really really we get the light off. 172 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:45.759 Yeah, it's really really confusing for me to see how, 173 00:10:47.559 --> 00:10:50.159 you know, organizations and all newspapers that are supposed to 174 00:10:50.200 --> 00:10:55.759 be defending actual Jews are writing articles that are defending 175 00:10:56.159 --> 00:10:56.679 they're not. 176 00:10:57.240 --> 00:10:59.200 Because this is the thing the same way that I 177 00:10:59.320 --> 00:11:02.600 was saying, like there has been a confluence, like a 178 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:05.480 false equivalence created amongst all black people. There's been a 179 00:11:05.480 --> 00:11:08.960 false equivalency created amongst Jewish people. Right. There is Jewish 180 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:12.039 there's Judaism as a faith, and if you follow Judaism 181 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:17.679 as a faith, then you don't. It's the same with Christianity. 182 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:20.559 There's Christianity as a faith, and then there's people who 183 00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:23.559 are claiming Christianity but they're not following the faith of 184 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:25.879 it at all. In the same with everything. There's the 185 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:29.200 same thing with Islam. Right, So you have all of 186 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:32.200 these folks and they like to call it extremists, when 187 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:36.399 I think that's a false nomenclature because they're not. To me. 188 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:42.279 If I'm an extreme Christian, I'm extremely giving, I'm extremely 189 00:11:42.360 --> 00:11:47.679 non judgmental, I'm extremely supportive. Right. If I'm an extremist, 190 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:51.000 it is because I am so committed to the faith 191 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:57.879 that I am deeply rigid and in my morals and 192 00:11:57.879 --> 00:12:00.600 my ethics and my principles. These are not dreamers, these 193 00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:04.159 are liars, These are these are people who simply just 194 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:11.679 use these these spiritual tools to weaponize against humans because 195 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:19.159 of our capacity to be moved, and you are, You're divergent, 196 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:22.679 So you have less of a capacity to be flipped 197 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:25.960 and spun. It's just what it is. Are wiring is not. 198 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:29.879 Direct, you must I'm believing that you also. 199 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:31.960 Are absolutely autistic. 200 00:12:32.039 --> 00:12:33.000 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 201 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:36.080 I think that we're a funny lot because I think 202 00:12:36.080 --> 00:12:39.120 the marriage of trauma, like real childhood trauma. 203 00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:41.840 Which I know you had, and then being. 204 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:46.639 On this spectrum is is a really really interesting cocktail 205 00:12:46.759 --> 00:12:51.559 because you know, you're such a monol what you're unique 206 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:54.679 in the conversation of American culture. 207 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:56.240 And my sister who is. 208 00:12:56.200 --> 00:12:58.799 Your friend, I believe Briann and Joy Gray and a 209 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:02.080 few others are Yeah yeah, I mean they don't play 210 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:03.559 as well, and it's it's just really really interesting. 211 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:09.440 But they're like three of you. Just where are the rest? 212 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:13.240 The truth is is that there are more. It's just 213 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:19.480 that we have been so ostracized and shunned by our coat, 214 00:13:19.639 --> 00:13:23.200 by our fellow black folks, that many people then you know, 215 00:13:23.240 --> 00:13:27.639 they don't have the support system to really manage it right. 216 00:13:27.879 --> 00:13:30.080 And I was very very fortunate that when I was 217 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:34.720 ostracized from the black community for just being myself, I 218 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:37.919 was very fortunate that I had a psychiatrist that really 219 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:41.120 helped me to move through that and I also had 220 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:45.480 the right people around me. It wasn't about amount, it 221 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:49.000 was about quality, you know, the right people around me 222 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:53.080 to catch me and give me a soft landing into 223 00:13:53.320 --> 00:13:57.360 a path forward that commits to this, regardless of the 224 00:13:57.399 --> 00:14:01.120 ostracizing right. And then you start to understand that, oh, 225 00:14:01.240 --> 00:14:03.200 I'm not alone in this, and so now I need 226 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:05.879 to create spaces for others to not feel alone in this. 227 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:08.080 And that's what we do here Abuse for Amandoland, That's 228 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:10.360 what I do on my Patreon. I so often find 229 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:12.960 people saying I'm here because I don't have anyone in 230 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:16.159 my immediate circle that I can talk to about these things, 231 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:19.120 and I feel crazy. And then I come here and 232 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:22.879 I feel sane because I know that I'm not bugging. 233 00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:25.080 And that's why you know they've said forever it's only 234 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:28.120 about five percent. I love this neuro defiant. I love 235 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:31.919 that I'm making a T shirt that says that. But 236 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:38.080 it's really true that there is a necessity to uplift 237 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:42.639 these voices. And that's why I originally got connected to 238 00:14:42.679 --> 00:14:53.279 you through your film. I need to I haven't seen anything. 239 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:56.480 Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, I'm messing 240 00:14:56.519 --> 00:14:59.799 up a messing up I want to put yours on witness. 241 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:05.600 You can travel the world with this thing and just 242 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:14.720 beare witness people only for celebt images, But my passions 243 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:18.879 is observing the human condition and making arts that has purpose. 244 00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:21.720 Miss An Harriman's work captures protests. 245 00:15:21.320 --> 00:15:21.840 Like no other. 246 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:28.879 The images help people see they're not alone and being frustrated. 247 00:15:29.879 --> 00:15:32.600 I do wonder about the difference I'm actually making. What 248 00:15:32.679 --> 00:15:36.840 do protest movements truly achieve? If people are still demanding 249 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:43.320 the same human rights. What you're doing is to give 250 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:47.720 one the opportunity to be able to see the images 251 00:15:47.799 --> 00:15:52.840 will be here forever. As a young boy, the images 252 00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:55.879 of apartheid South Africa shook me to my core, and 253 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:58.039 then I went on a journey of understanding what it 254 00:15:58.200 --> 00:15:58.879 all meant. 255 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:02.879 Got to tell the truth racial profile still exists. 256 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:03.759 What do you want? 257 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:08.720 She's going to be the biggest protest ever. All this 258 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:12.519 is part of the journey. 259 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:17.720 People have a goodness in them. 260 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:22.919 That needs to be fed like a plant. This is 261 00:16:22.919 --> 00:16:25.759 the work. This is the bearing witness. 262 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:44.559 I mean, this is the work the bearing witness. I 263 00:16:44.600 --> 00:16:46.480 can't help but try a British accent when I'm talking 264 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:48.559 to someone with the British accent, So I'm not mocking you. 265 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:49.440 I'm really just. 266 00:16:52.039 --> 00:16:52.440 Join you. 267 00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:56.840 I'm working, I'm working on it, but it's so tell 268 00:16:56.879 --> 00:17:00.840 me about tell me about the film, and and to me, 269 00:17:00.919 --> 00:17:03.000 it goes directly along with what we've been talking about. 270 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:04.000 Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. 271 00:17:04.039 --> 00:17:06.640 And I remember, you know, I made a film before 272 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:10.079 this and it got nominated for an Oscar and there 273 00:17:10.119 --> 00:17:12.319 was a lot of heat around me, and I was like, 274 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:16.680 with this heat, I'm just gonna see if I can 275 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:20.319 get them to let me do what I want to do. 276 00:17:20.519 --> 00:17:22.720 And I could see the world getting more and more crazy, 277 00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:24.000 and I was like, why don't we do a feature 278 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:27.319 lengths dock on what it means to be an artist 279 00:17:27.480 --> 00:17:31.240 that refuses to look away when it pays to be 280 00:17:31.319 --> 00:17:37.680 apathetic through the lens of protest. And I think whilst 281 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:40.119 making it, everything just kept getting crazier. 282 00:17:40.200 --> 00:17:42.599 And I was just like, you can't ignore Palestine. 283 00:17:42.680 --> 00:17:46.880 You cannot make a protest film and focus on queer, 284 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:52.359 trans climate women, black lives and just pretend that Palestine 285 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:56.880 isn't happening, which is what the industry was strongly suggesting 286 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:00.640 to me and my team. And we're like no, And 287 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:04.880 there's a there's a great page on interign called Pomegranates, 288 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:06.839 and she she has a great analogy. 289 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:07.799 She says that. 290 00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:11.400 Gaza is I don't know if you are a Star 291 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:14.079 Wars person, but she said, it's a wait wait wait. 292 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:15.720 Wait wait wait wait, you don't know if I'm a 293 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:18.920 Star Wars person, Okay. 294 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:19.200 Jed. 295 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:26.240 Well, she said that that the Gaza is the single 296 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:31.200 shot through the exhaust valve of the Deathsta that brings 297 00:18:31.240 --> 00:18:32.240 down the whole empire. 298 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:34.640 I believe it too, you know, and. 299 00:18:34.920 --> 00:18:36.720 I love it so much because I think what this 300 00:18:36.839 --> 00:18:39.599 what this film is is, it's this film isn't really 301 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:40.240 for you and me. 302 00:18:40.599 --> 00:18:41.279 This film is. 303 00:18:41.240 --> 00:18:45.079 For the dads and mums in Ohio that don't know 304 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:46.960 what occupation means. 305 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:51.720 They don't know about the Peal Commission in thirty six. 306 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:56.079 They don't know about church Hill's dog in the Manger quote, 307 00:18:56.079 --> 00:18:59.599 which is just pure white supremacy before the. 308 00:18:58.839 --> 00:18:59.799 Existence of Israel. 309 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:05.240 And then they see me with George Floyd's people in Minnesota, 310 00:19:05.799 --> 00:19:11.200 and then they start connecting that with the violent war 311 00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:16.880 for profit, white patriarchal, extractive capitalist machine that allows black 312 00:19:16.920 --> 00:19:19.920 men to lie in their own piss whilst begging for 313 00:19:19.960 --> 00:19:23.240 their Mamma as they late leave this mortal coil, and 314 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:26.759 then I take them from there to Johannesburg, and I 315 00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:29.599 take them to the University of Johannesburg that used to 316 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:33.119 be an all white university, and within our lifetime that 317 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:34.640 university looks like. 318 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:36.359 You and Mi no right. 319 00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:40.680 And there's a scene in Johannesburg with a professor talking 320 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:44.279 about Palestine. It's sat African man being strong man talking 321 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:47.519 about the history and the connection. And I think for 322 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:51.079 a lot of Americans, this film is accessible because it's 323 00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:53.279 got all the shiny things when me and the oscars 324 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:56.640 and everything else, but it always takes them back to 325 00:19:56.759 --> 00:19:59.960 help them understand that we have to decolonize our mind 326 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:04.119 and protest matters not just because of getting arrested and 327 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:08.839 getting on the news, because you build community, and within community. 328 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:10.519 Lies the ability to unlearn. 329 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:13.079 Because one of the most dangerous things I've seen is 330 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:15.440 a combination of confirmation bias. 331 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:16.680 And arrested development. 332 00:20:17.240 --> 00:20:19.240 Just hanging out with the same people that holiday in 333 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:21.440 the same place and listen to the same music that 334 00:20:21.880 --> 00:20:24.880 you know, love jay Z, Beyonce Taylor, whoever, and they 335 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:30.519 literally are in a bubble of extractive capitalist status quoism. 336 00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:37.079 And my film is to gently but hold. 337 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:39.599 Your hand and pull you out of that room, you know, 338 00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:43.599 for you to look outside and realize that your reality 339 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:49.039 is not built on anything outside of the blood and 340 00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:54.759 broken bones of brown and black. Usually at this point, 341 00:20:54.759 --> 00:20:59.319 if you're looking at your iPhones and your Tesla cars kids, 342 00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:04.279 because you look at Congo, you look at the new 343 00:21:04.279 --> 00:21:05.519 phones every September. 344 00:21:05.960 --> 00:21:06.519 You look at the. 345 00:21:08.279 --> 00:21:11.160 Fact that many of us don't realize that a lot 346 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:12.960 of the things we're told to buy that we don't need, 347 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:15.279 we don't even we're Christmas now, for God's sake, how 348 00:21:15.319 --> 00:21:18.000 many of us are still buying shopping. 349 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:23.920 I canceled Christmas, which is invest and Jerusalem, whereas right 350 00:21:25.400 --> 00:21:26.160 in Powerisi. 351 00:21:27.799 --> 00:21:30.839 So it's a film about my life that helps you 352 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:34.599 go on a journey of on learning and decolonizing yourself 353 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:38.440 through my images. Listen, Edward lenningfil changed my life. When 354 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:40.279 I became the first black man to shoot the cover 355 00:21:40.359 --> 00:21:44.119 of Vogue in twenty twenty, I could have just stayed 356 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:47.240 on that lane and done pretty well for myself taking 357 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:53.279 pictures of famous folk. I'm very proud of the humans. 358 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:53.400 That I've shot. 359 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:55.920 I'm very proud of how I shoot black people in 360 00:21:55.960 --> 00:21:58.200 particular because I have a lot of issues with the 361 00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:03.400 gaze of our people when they make us. 362 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:05.519 I thought she was saying the gays like g a 363 00:22:05.720 --> 00:22:06.839 y s And I was. 364 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:11.759 Like, what the gays have a problem with They haven't 365 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:16.640 hurt anyone, you know, I'm talking more about the game. 366 00:22:17.799 --> 00:22:19.920 Yes, I mean that was uninsecure, and that was like 367 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:23.400 a really big issue with not issue, but that was 368 00:22:23.400 --> 00:22:27.640 a really big focus was like shooting black people properly, 369 00:22:28.119 --> 00:22:33.079 you know, and us being able to, like you said, 370 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:33.839 not be purple. 371 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:34.799 Yeah. 372 00:22:34.839 --> 00:22:36.559 And you know, if you look at most of the 373 00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:40.839 biggest this is American verge I'm talking about, they still 374 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:44.519 in general use anileboits, and I'm always confused by that 375 00:22:44.599 --> 00:22:48.000 because there are plenty of black men and women, even 376 00:22:48.039 --> 00:22:51.119 in New York State. They can take a picture and 377 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:54.359 I'm like, if you're going to shoot, you name it. 378 00:22:54.839 --> 00:22:55.160 You know. 379 00:22:55.480 --> 00:22:59.160 Most of the black covers sometimes I use Tyler Mitchell, 380 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:01.519 which is great. He was the first black man to 381 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:04.200 shoot the color he did Beyonce in twenty eighteen. But 382 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:06.480 in general it's usually ani. 383 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:09.160 And I'm like, yeah, but people don't make demands. That's 384 00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:12.039 also part of the problem too. You know, we act 385 00:23:12.039 --> 00:23:15.480 as if we don't have agency, right I mean, and 386 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:17.200 they don't want to lose an opportunity, so they're not 387 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:19.039 going to make any changes. They're not going to make 388 00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:23.759 any challenges. And that's why people don't like me, because 389 00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:27.519 I'm going to be like no, or I'll do it if. 390 00:23:28.039 --> 00:23:30.359 Like when I did Essence, I did a shoot for 391 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:34.160 Essence in Grenada, and they wanted me to do my 392 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:37.920 shoot at this hotel in Grenada that was built by 393 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:41.279 an Egyptian man who does not live in Grenada, and 394 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:44.240 he was able to get citizenship by doing so. He 395 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:48.319 built a wall that impeded a view that Grenadians in 396 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:51.039 that part of the island had of the sea for 397 00:23:51.160 --> 00:23:54.799 how many decades? And now he come under the wall. 398 00:23:55.119 --> 00:23:57.960 The Grenadians came and teared dumb the wall. But then 399 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:00.319 the government said, nah, man the man paid him, so 400 00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:02.559 he get a bill of the wall, and so he 401 00:24:02.640 --> 00:24:06.000