0:01

Three two one.

0:05

During Trump's presidency, I picked

0:07

up a new habit I still catch myself doing

0:10

when society feels extra polarized.

0:13

I found myself scrolling through Facebook

0:16

to figure out who my friends and

0:18

family really are, what

0:20

they really believe. And

0:23

there was one post in particular, written

0:25

by someone from my hometown that stuck

0:28

with me. She wrote, what

0:30

happened to not talking

0:32

about politics and religion? The

0:36

comments were filled with agreement from

0:38

people I knew who were frustrated

0:40

that politics had entered their bubble

0:43

of public discourse. That

0:46

post gave me answers I didn't know

0:48

I was looking for. When

0:51

I was growing up in southern Maryland, I

0:53

didn't talk to my friends about politics

0:55

and religion because I carried shame

0:57

about my own religious identity. What

1:00

I didn't think about is how

1:02

many of my friends were generally

1:05

just not having those conversations

1:07

at home. In my household,

1:10

politics and religion were the main

1:12

topics of conversation, especially

1:15

because the discourse was often focused

1:18

on issues directly impacting

1:20

us as American Muslims. And

1:23

as I grew up in my friend group expanded,

1:25

I noticed a pattern the

1:28

households that were talking politics

1:30

like my family did tended to

1:32

be households that were being overtly

1:35

impacted by ongoing policy

1:37

changes. And it was the debates

1:39

and discussions I was having with my family

1:42

that were critical to evolving

1:44

and rethinking my own beliefs

1:46

about issues and change. That

1:49

process of purposeful and

1:51

critical examination of politics

1:54

with the people who knew me best helped

1:57

shape me as an independent thinker.

2:01

And this is what I think of as

2:03

I listened to Congresswoman in hand

2:05

Omar and her daughter Isra as

2:08

they debate over how the United States

2:10

can create real and lasting

2:13

change. Personally,

2:16

I think that there's some purpose selectoral politics.

2:19

However, I am

2:21

I. I I don't know if it's I don't know if

2:23

it's the end of be all or even just I

2:25

don't know if you just put as much of our energy into it.

2:28

And obviously she thinks vice first, since I

2:30

think we agree on basically everything

2:32

else. But how we get to the change

2:34

is I think the point of contention, and

2:36

I think we kind of just don't talk about

2:38

it or acknowledge that we're not

2:41

going to get there. Sorry, I

2:43

was gonna say, I think I'm laughing,

2:45

and and you know, in our debates, I I laughed

2:47

too, because it's really funny

2:50

to me, right because I was an organizer

2:53

right right outside agitator and

2:55

somebody who believed, like, we have

2:57

to rally, but it always

3:00

did with like, you know, hey,

3:02

whatever, politician, you've got to implement

3:04

this change, and like and

3:06

now I am that politician, and

3:10

you know it's it's so like the

3:12

this idea that the electoral politics

3:15

part of it can be part of the change.

3:18

Really, I think sort of stops

3:22

the second stage of the progress

3:24

implementation, because you do

3:26

need people to be in a position to

3:28

make the law to make the change. And

3:31

I think that in the evolution

3:33

of Israel, like she will probably

3:36

eventually get there. And so you

3:38

were shaking your head. I think it's a little unfair

3:40

to state your entire argument against

3:43

me and not give me the space to argue

3:45

back, because you just

3:47

you just disagree with me. But I didn't even say

3:49

anything. So raise

3:54

your hand if this feels familiar

3:56

to you. Both of my hands

3:58

are raised. But more than

4:00

just having different ideas of how

4:02

things should get done, what we

4:04

all have our different life

4:06

experiences, which mean different

4:09

perspectives and stories. And

4:11

as a young nation, the United States

4:14

has a plethora of perspectives.

4:17

Congresswoman Omar has a unique

4:19

one because she began as

4:21

an organizer and is now an elected

4:24

politician, so she knows

4:26

intimately an inside layer of

4:28

the United States is political story,

4:31

one she believes is misrepresented

4:33

and disconnected from its citizens.

4:38

There is misrepresentation there. I think

4:40

that there is also like a disconnect right

4:42

about like what the work is and

4:45

how it's getting done and

4:47

the kind of like material changes

4:49

people want to experience. I

4:52

think a lot of people and like it sort

4:54

of would agree, are exhausted with

4:56

incremental changes when we're living

4:59

under systems that clearly

5:01

aren't working and need

5:04

drastic rethinking. You

5:06

know, it's just talking to Housing

5:09

commissioner and I

5:11

said, you know, I have these bills

5:13

to help create more housing

5:15

in our system. What's the one

5:17

thing you need that none of us are proposing.

5:20

And their response to me

5:23

was, I wish we could

5:25

start over m right,

5:28

like trying to put things on

5:31

top of a building that is

5:33

falling down, Like we'll

5:35

never produce a nice building. And

5:38

so we have these systems

5:40

that are falling on one,

5:43

you know, on top of each other and falling

5:45

onto itself, and we continue

5:48

to think that

5:50

it makes sense for us to pour more

5:52

money into it and to continue

5:55

to perpetuate its existence

5:58

when it's it's not doucing the outcome

6:01

that we want, and we also know

6:03

it will never produce the outcome that we want.

6:06

But people function from

6:08

a place of missile memory, where

6:10

they continue to propose

6:13

and do things that had

6:15

been done before without being

6:18

critical and critiquing, like

6:20

the mistakes that have been made and

6:22

saying, maybe it's time to start over, like

6:25

we should just scrap this us and like come

6:27

up with a better plan. I'm hearing revolution.

6:36

Well, the after revolutions, it's around.

6:39

They ultimately elect people, right, so

6:42

and the cycle continues. Pyle

6:44

consumed when

6:50

people say I don't do politics,

6:53

I often wonder if they just mean I

6:55

don't understand politics. And as

6:58

a person who doesn't want to be wrong or challenged,

7:01

the subject is too unpleasant to engage

7:03

with and I just avoid it altogether. But

7:06

politics isn't good or bad,

7:09

and it's not necessarily corrupt. Politics

7:12

is quite simply the story of

7:14

how the people use power

7:17

to bridge the gap between today

7:19

and tomorrow. That's

7:22

it. That's politics. So

7:26

how do you want to see that power

7:28

get used? To lead us into

7:31

tomorrow. Well, the

7:33

answer to that is also politics

7:37

in the practice of politics,

7:40

not the theory and not the theater of

7:42

it, but in the practice. Power

7:45

is the collective will of the people,

7:48

which we the people place in the

7:50

hands of one person or a few

7:52

people to do our bidding. Their

7:55

power is our power. The

7:58

elected are there to act

8:00

for us, the citizens. But

8:03

power, like politics, is

8:05

neither good nor bad. Power

8:09

is valued by what you do with it.

8:12

So then, how do we talk about politics

8:15

as the use of power? And

8:17

how can we decode the uses

8:19

of power to uncover the stories

8:21

that drive the politics. With

8:24

REP, I've been examining our

8:27

society, culture, and history

8:30

through a lens I've called the

8:32

three peas politics,

8:34

pop culture, and public opinion.

8:37

The three peas represent a way

8:40

to understand America. The

8:42

three pis are a way to track a dynamic.

8:46

Each one influences the other, and

8:48

all three peas show up in our

8:51

stories if we choose to

8:53

pay attention. And

8:55

we're going to start with the first pin

9:02

Boo Boo Baby

9:07

at your service and I Heart Media Present

9:10

Chapter seven Politics REP.

9:19

There are four main voices that will

9:21

be guiding us for our first

9:23

p and It's important to note

9:26

I'm not talking to any of these people to discuss

9:28

their personal politics. What

9:31

I am curious about is how each

9:33

of their stories lead them to engage

9:35

with politics the way they do today.

9:39

Here is the mother daughter duo you just

9:41

met. Well.

9:44

I'm il han Omar. I'm a congresswoman,

9:46

I'm a mother, a hoyo, and

9:49

I am an immigrant,

9:52

a refugee beautiful. I

9:55

loved when my Somali friends would call

9:57

their mom hoyo because I used to take

9:59

that up too, and it's just a great

10:01

way of great way of saying mama.

10:04

Yeah. My kids sometimes will

10:06

say like mom or something, and I get

10:08

I get really upset because I

10:11

want to be called hoyo. Hi.

10:14

My name is isra Hersy. I am an organizer.

10:17

I'm a student focused on

10:19

a lot of different issues, but more specifically climate.

10:23

Hi. I'm Homa Aberdeen and

10:26

I have worked in politics

10:28

and have been a public servant for

10:31

the last twenty five years. I currently

10:34

serve as Hillary Clinton's chief of staff

10:36

and I've worked for her for most of my adult

10:39

life. My name is yesmine and

10:41

Haddie and I am a lawyer,

10:44

comedian, former matchmaker,

10:47

mother and wife and

10:50

daughter more like daughter before wife.

10:52

I'll take daughter. So stories,

11:00

I mean, stories are powerful, right,

11:02

and you know we know this in in organizing,

11:05

right. This is why people do one on ones to hear

11:07

about people's stories so that you can connect

11:09

with them. This is why we tell people

11:11

that when you're advocating, you have to share a personal

11:14

story. Stories resonate and there's

11:16

a lot of power to someone's

11:19

story, and our collective

11:22

story can be very powerful. I

11:25

think the United States is also an exporter

11:27

of information, and so

11:30

when you have the ability

11:32

to export information that

11:34

way, you have the power to

11:37

export your powerful

11:39

stories. There is this African author

11:42

that talks about the danger of single

11:44

story because what happens

11:47

to a lot of us that come from

11:49

different parts of the world, who grew up in different

11:51

parts of the world. A single story

11:53

about who we are and what we

11:56

are about gets told, and

11:58

that's the story that resonates with

12:00

people, and that's the story that everyone

12:02

will remember. But you know,

12:04

if you're American, there's not a single

12:07

story that's being told about you. The multifaceted

12:11

experience of America is something

12:13

that most people get to hear about and and

12:16

oftentimes they get to hear about the good things

12:18

about the United States, and

12:20

well, people in the United States get

12:22

to hear about the bad things about others

12:25

in every part of the world. We

12:28

know this is changing our

12:31

greatest export. Our story

12:34

is no longer limited to the American

12:36

ideals or the dream. And

12:39

yet, in n Yesmene

12:42

and her family, the United States

12:44

was not their first country of choice when

12:46

seeking refuge. They country

12:48

hopped. They tried Jordan's,

12:51

Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and

12:53

the UK, but the US, which

12:56

again was not at all their first choice,

12:59

was the only country that accepted

13:01

them. So we're political

13:03

asylum seekers in this country, refugees in this country. My

13:05

dad was in the Caddafi regime, basically

13:08

took a different path. He saw that Kadaffi

13:11

was really crazy and opposed

13:13

him. But as a result, we

13:15

had a certain kind of lifestyle, and that

13:17

included drivers, that included the

13:20

best clothing, the highest quality

13:24

of foods, the most beautiful

13:26

locations with the most scenic looks. You know,

13:28

my dad had private planes. I mean, it was a

13:31

very different lifestyle than the one

13:33

that I grew up in. Because when we came to the United

13:35

States, it was like your degree doesn't matter,

13:38

your position doesn't matter. In fact,

13:40

you're gonna have to work harder than you've

13:42

ever worked before to just eke out

13:44

a living just to get by. That

13:47

can either break you or it can

13:50

really make you rise to the occasion

13:53

and completely shift your notion

13:56

of what makes you worthy, what

13:58

makes you whole,

14:00

or makes you good in this world.

14:02

And I think that both my my mom and

14:05

my dad had to realign

14:07

their expectations and

14:10

rely on something that was deeper

14:13

and more lasting than all the other ephemeral

14:16

things that just didn't

14:19

matter anymore. Like we had to go to garage

14:21

sales, we had to go to goodwill, we had to you know,

14:23

live in in in housing that

14:25

was very tight, around people

14:27

who didn't have a lot. And that

14:30

I think has been a very big lesson for

14:32

me to understand. I'm saying,

14:34

like, what is like? What is real? What is lasting?

14:37

What matters? How do you love fiercely through any

14:39

circumstance? How do you stick together?

14:41

How do you rely on each other? How do you build trust

14:43

with people? How do you build connection? How

14:46

do you survive? How do you survive

14:48

and then think about thriving.

14:50

But you just got to first survive. Yes,

14:57

mean is an immigration lawyer at the

14:59

Department of Justice, and her

15:01

own transition of surviving

15:03

to thriving is exactly

15:05

why she chooses to be of service to

15:07

New Americans. One

15:10

of the things that inspired me to enter into public

15:12

service was seeing how

15:14

the system could work for people that really needed

15:16

it, and it absolutely inspired

15:19

me to think about how do you search

15:22

for the protection of people's dignity, How

15:24

do you search for the protection of people's rights

15:27

and for their protection?

15:30

You know, how do you protect that? How do you really protect

15:32

people? Protecting

15:35

people their dignity and

15:37

their rights. That's what leads us

15:39

to our collective liberation. We

15:42

have to preserve each other so we can

15:44

serve each other. And for Congresswoman

15:47

Omar, the environments she was

15:49

raised in facilitated this. I

15:54

was raised in, you know, a communal

15:57

sort of environment, right, Like the household

16:00

that I was born in and was raised in

16:02

was my immediate family

16:04

with my siblings and mom and dad, but

16:07

it also included my my grandfather,

16:10

my great grandmother, my mother's siblings.

16:13

And our house was like near

16:16

a market, so everybody sort

16:18

of would come through as they were

16:20

going to the market or come through as

16:22

they were headed home. And so I was

16:24

just like constantly in

16:27

the center of conversations. And

16:29

you know, when we came to the

16:32

United States, after living again

16:34

in an environment that's also communal

16:36

in a refugee camp for four years, there

16:39

was like a lot of isolation because you don't

16:41

live in communal settings in the United

16:44

States. Right. If you're lucky, you

16:46

will have an apartment that probably just

16:48

accommodates you and your immediate family.

16:52

Communing and connecting were

16:54

core to shaping in hands worldview.

16:57

It's why she's been fighting for her homes, for all

17:00

acts that would expand US public

17:02

housing and work to guarantee housing

17:04

as a human right. I

17:08

think that there was ideas that I had

17:10

of what the United States was supposed

17:12

to be, because we do a really good job

17:15

of exporting American exceptionalism.

17:18

And when I came to the United States, I had a lot

17:20

of questions how the reality

17:23

of what we were living in, what I was experiencing,

17:26

didn't fit into the stories

17:28

and the ideals of America that I heard

17:31

about and learned about through the experience

17:33

of coming to the United States. And so when

17:36

I would ask questions, my grandfather

17:38

particularly would say, there's progress

17:40

that has been made in this country, and that progress

17:43

happened because people were involved in creating

17:45

change. And so you can complain and

17:47

keep asking questions, or you can be involved

17:50

in creating the reality that you

17:52

think that should exist. Up

18:03

is it a what role does your mother's

18:06

story play in

18:08

your personal America story?

18:11

It sets the framework viewing myself, especially

18:14

as a site person and as a Muslim person

18:17

and as a woman. I think that she

18:19

helped pave the way. But also, like growing

18:21

up in Minneapolis, or so many other kids who looked

18:24

like me, who had very similar experiences, and so it

18:26

really was kind of like I have to defend

18:28

my identity. I have to explain my identity. But at

18:31

the same time, there were so many people who got it,

18:33

woman who understood the experience. And so I'm

18:36

very grateful to people to grow up in a place

18:38

that has so many other people

18:41

just like my mother, because I think without it, I wouldn't

18:43

be so confident in my identities.

18:46

Now politics

18:49

begins at home. Now

18:52

you may not adopt the political party

18:54

or persuasion of those who raised you, but

18:57

you learn to engage with politics from

18:59

your family and then later from

19:01

others, and even for the person

19:03

who isn't engaged with politics. Politics

19:06

is still engaged with them. There

19:09

are no sidelines to sit on here. Politicians

19:13

count on low information voters

19:15

as a part of the voting cycle, so

19:17

the unengaged are still part

19:19

of the political calculus. For

19:22

in Han and Isra, politics is

19:24

also a way for mother to teach daughter

19:27

to think for herself. Congressman,

19:30

why was it so important for you

19:32

to have your children

19:35

involved in the community at a young age.

19:37

I was involved in a lot of things, and

19:40

I was a young mom, and so it's really

19:42

important for my kids to be with me, to

19:45

to to be part of the things that

19:47

that I was doing, because you know,

19:50

I I struggled a lot with

19:52

spending time away from

19:55

them and like devoting it to things,

19:57

even if it was to go to school or work

20:00

or you know, whatever it is that I was doing.

20:02

And so as much as I could have

20:04

them tagged along, I I felt

20:07

like I didn't have to choose a part

20:09

of me to prioritize. And so

20:11

for me, that took different forms, whether

20:13

it was participating politically or

20:16

whether it was you know, being outside

20:18

protesting and doing that

20:21

work. I think one of the first protests

20:24

that probably sort of remembers or was

20:26

old enough to remember, was the counter protest

20:29

that we did to anti

20:32

abortion protesters. And

20:34

so there's just a lot of you know, I take

20:36

them to door knock and do all

20:38

kinds of things. So they

20:41

got to experience both like the policy

20:43

stuff that we thought was important to fight for,

20:46

and then also like the importance of electing

20:48

people who can push for those

20:50

policies. Yesday,

20:53

you're nodding, do you remember that moment? Do

20:55

you remember or maybe it's the same one, but

20:57

a church in Fargo, North Dakota that

21:00

is also I think homophobic or transphobic

21:02

or something when we were picketing on a

21:04

street corner. I was like six years

21:06

old. Protests are not only

21:09

about influencing policy. They

21:11

are also about creating space for

21:13

people to find their voice, their

21:16

empathy, their fire to fight

21:18

for themselves and others. It

21:21

Han's desire to show up naturally

21:24

influenced her children and expanded

21:26

the potential of their own stories. Well

21:31

so doesn't mention this, but she

21:33

wanted to be president, and she wrote a

21:35

list of of things

21:38

that she wanted to do when she was like

21:41

five, and it used to be

21:43

posted in her room. She

21:46

also wanted to be an astronaut and all kinds of other

21:48

things, but beautiful, she says

21:50

she was. She was the first one in the family to

21:53

want to be a politician, so I stole her dream.

21:55

Now she doesn't want to be a politician anymore.

21:59

Yeah, I guess like after seeing

22:01

the treatment of her and also

22:04

just the way that politics really works through

22:06

the campaigns and being able to really

22:08

see behind the scenes in the United States

22:11

Capital, I kind of just feel a little disillusion

22:13

But also I've also come to realize

22:15

that there's more ways to create impactful

22:18

change beyond electoral politics. And so

22:20

she can do her and I'll do me. Istra

22:25

is paving her own path with the context

22:27

of her mother's journey. That

22:30

is important. We have the power

22:33

to tap into the stories of who we are

22:35

and where we come from, and

22:37

for yes mean that power is

22:40

also a manifestation of resilience.

22:44

I think that that that

22:46

resiliency. It was very important to me

22:49

because I grew up in in Alabama.

22:52

My parents moved from kind of the way station

22:54

of where Libyan refugees first came in for

22:56

them was Lexie in Kentucky. Every large

22:58

population of Americans who

23:01

found refuge there and then they

23:03

followed one guy to Huntsville, Alabama

23:05

who was going to be a professor there. And my dad

23:08

was, you know, working all kinds of

23:10

jobs. Opened up a Delhi bus driver.

23:12

He was a butcher for a while he did,

23:15

he was a tree stump removal operator.

23:18

I mean, just the amount of different things that that man

23:20

did. I think that when I got

23:22

there, I realized, Okay, how do you like? This is like I

23:24

have to be resilient again, Like I have to

23:27

understand that these people don't even see me as human

23:30

beings sometime because they see me as an alien.

23:32

They see me as different. And how do I overcome

23:34

all of that to rise

23:36

to the occasion? For yes, mean,

23:39

one of the ways she rose to the occasion

23:42

was by making people laugh to

23:44

her. Comedy is an entry

23:46

point for connection, yeah,

23:50

Alabama, A is for

23:52

all our welcome. All

23:55

are welcome as long as they look like us,

23:58

talk like us, and probably like us. Otherwise

24:00

you're going straight to hale. I feel like you

24:03

have to have a sense of humor first of all, when you see

24:05

things around you fall apart um.

24:08

And I think that I'd always

24:10

use humor as a way to feel

24:14

joy as a way to experience joy

24:16

and as a way to experience truth and

24:18

to experience it in a way that didn't have any defenses

24:21

up. Because when you're listening to comedy,

24:23

you're you're disarmed, right, your

24:26

guard is down. You're listening, You're just listening.

24:28

You just want to you want to laugh, you want to smile,

24:30

So you're more willing to accept truth

24:33

in that. And I think that I'd

24:35

always use comedy as a way to seek connection

24:38

and to observe

24:40

the same things that we were all observing and to realize

24:42

like, oh oh yeah, I can relate to that.

24:44

And I think for me, Saturday Ight Live was huge

24:48

inspiration. It was I used to just like act

24:50

out all the skits I used

24:52

to play each character in the skit that I liked. It was

24:55

hilarious. And then I realized I could

24:57

do it and make people laugh and they could see me as

24:59

human. You know, you didn't know, you didn't know

25:01

anything about me. If I could

25:04

keep you entertained just

25:06

to be able to see me as fully

25:09

human and to see your and to see

25:11

yourself in me, I

25:13

don't have to have a name, if you see yourself

25:16

in me. I like that. I

25:18

thought that was really powerful, and to

25:21

be honest, I mean, there was this interview

25:24

with Trump and Anderson

25:26

Cooper and it went sideways. It was an interview

25:28

that was like, hey, what do you think about Muslims? He's like, do

25:31

you think Islam is at war with the West? I

25:33

think Islam hates

25:35

us. There's something, there's

25:38

something there that there's a tremendous

25:40

hatred there. There's a tremendous hatred.

25:42

We have to get to the bottom of it. There

25:44

is an unbelievable hatred.

25:47

For me, it was like a like an earth shifting

25:49

moment because it felt like it felt like my own

25:53

like tragedy again. It felt like

25:55

the same feelings that it came up when September

25:57

eleven had happened, and it felt so I felt so out of control,

26:00

and I felt like people were talking about me,

26:02

and they were speaking about my life

26:05

and my narrative and having an effect on me

26:07

that I didn't even know. People that don't

26:09

share my belief people that don't share my respect,

26:11

people that don't share my

26:15

view at all of

26:17

what it means to be human and are willing to degrade

26:19

other people's human human nous. They're

26:22

willing to degrade other people's worth

26:26

so that they can have some

26:28

kind of political clouds, so they can gain some

26:31

kind of power. And it was it just felt

26:34

tragic and I felt really

26:36

out of control. And it's just like after nine eleven.

26:39

Obviously, being in Alabama

26:41

was it was tough. Being visibly

26:44

Muslim in in Alabama

26:46

was a very very tall ask

26:48

how how so I got

26:51

physically attacked multiple times. I got

26:54

booed out of a Walmart. I had beer

26:56

cans thrown at me. You got booed

26:58

out out of a wall mark? Yeah,

27:01

me and my mom when we you

27:03

know, I had to go pick up groceries. Yeah, they were like,

27:05

boo, get out of here, Go back to

27:07

your country, Get the f out

27:09

of this country, you know, get out. You're not

27:11

welcome here. We don't we don't serve your kind here.

27:15

And they all, you know, they were like blue booing

27:17

and clapping up the people who said then

27:19

they said, that's right, you know, and it felt dangerous.

27:23

It was the first time I felt like

27:26

my life was not

27:29

as important as other people's lives, um

27:32

that that I was expendable, and

27:36

that people both feared me and also

27:39

wanted to humiliate me. At the same time, which

27:42

is a very hard I

27:45

think mind that

27:49

was a bad time. That

27:52

was a bad time. I just remember

27:55

thinking like how adam control it was. I could protect

27:57

my mom, they could

27:59

protect me, and

28:01

I didn't even know what it was about, you know, it

28:03

was like a kid. Yes

28:08

means story is chilling and familiar.

28:12

The harassment, surveillance, and

28:14

even murders of American Muslims

28:16

post nine eleven has left our

28:19

communities tense and traumatized.

28:22

And we know it's not just Muslims who

28:24

experienced targeted violence in the US.

28:27

Black Americans, Asian Americans,

28:29

lgbt Q plus folks, disabled

28:32

people, immigrants, the list goes

28:34

on and on, and it's

28:37

layered. People are not limited

28:39

to one identity. Violence

28:43

is motivated by fear, and

28:46

this fear of others is

28:48

based on what people imagine in

28:50

place of what they do not know. So

28:53

ultimately people fear their own

28:55

imagination and that gets in the

28:58

way of seeing people for who they really

29:00

are. I

29:04

think one of the major obstacles that we live

29:06

in right now is that we cannot

29:08

see the humanity whatsoever,

29:11

and people who are diametrically opposed to us.

29:14

We are erasing each other's humanity.

29:17

We are erasing each other's possibility,

29:21

We're taking away each other's potential because

29:25

we view their

29:28

hate, and yet we can't

29:30

see our own hate. We

29:33

see their judgment. We

29:35

have no perspective on our own judgment.

29:38

I think that's it. Yes,

29:42

men believes we need authentic representation

29:45

of who Americans really are, and

29:47

I believe that image is always

29:50

evolving. I

29:53

think it's so important that if

29:55

you're in the public space, especially

29:57

in public service, it's it's so important that those

30:00

spaces look like the America

30:02

that we all represent.

30:05

Sometimes someone's presence is just enough to

30:08

understand, like, oh, we're all here, we're all taxpayers,

30:11

we're all American, and we're all we're

30:13

all people who love this country

30:15

intensely and want the best for

30:17

it. In general, when you're talking about work

30:20

that's in the public sphere and for the federal government,

30:22

I think it's uh. I think it's really crucial

30:24

that we have good representation from

30:27

people who have different ways of thinking, different

30:29

ways of being, and are

30:31

all in their American nous. For

30:35

many Americans, Congresswoman Omar

30:38

is a part of that more authentic representation

30:41

the United States. The day

30:43

Elhan Omar was sworn in as congresswoman.

30:46

She made history for many first the

30:49

first Somali American and

30:51

first African refugee in Congress,

30:54

the first woman of color to represent Minnesota,

30:57

and she's the first person to ever serve

31:00

while wearing the jap and

31:02

in nineteen on the day she

31:04

was sworn in, surrounded by mostly

31:07

white men, the House voted

31:09

to amend a one hundred and eighty

31:11

one year old law which prohibited

31:13

headwear on the House floor.

31:17

The law was changed because of Congresswoman

31:19

in hand Omar. That is

31:22

power. Interestingly, when

31:25

it comes to change, the Congresswoman

31:27

thinks a lot about timing, not

31:30

about being the first this or the first

31:32

that, but rather when

31:34

is the right moment to press hard

31:37

for change. I

31:41

think that I'm very clear and

31:43

intentional about about the moment

31:46

that we're in, right and like what needs

31:48

to be said. I obviously

31:50

have a lot more to say and a lot of more things

31:53

to push for. And you

31:55

know this is this is a debate

31:58

that is runna. I have often times

32:00

like things are timed, and

32:04

I think that I I sometimes

32:06

feel like I'm being called to address

32:09

or speak to something that is

32:11

ahead of its time, right, and that I

32:13

think does create a challenge

32:16

in trying to like develop

32:18

this narrative of

32:21

care and like compassion

32:24

and trying to give a backstory of why

32:26

these things matter to me, because

32:29

it's easy for people to sort of come

32:31

up with their own ideas of why I

32:34

care about a particular thing, or

32:36

develop their own theories

32:39

of the things that I should care about or speak

32:41

to that are not a priority

32:44

of mine, right and so holding back

32:46

on on speaking things that are not

32:48

necessarily needing me to

32:51

speak on is also like something

32:53

that I'm I'm learning and working on. This

32:57

is a lesson she's learned well in the halls

32:59

of power, or the importance of

33:01

clear communication, because

33:04

when you're in a position of power, there

33:07

will be efforts to misconstrue

33:09

your words and intent. It

33:12

was in Hand's family that helped

33:14

gear her up for politics and service.

33:17

They challenged and criticized her to

33:20

demand the best from her. I

33:22

was raised in a very sort of like

33:25

honest, like poetic

33:28

community. I was raised in it in a

33:30

household that was like full

33:32

of opinions, and people

33:35

were allowed to be as unfiltered

33:37

as they could be. We're also very

33:40

critical of of one another, right,

33:42

Like trying to trying to have you be the

33:45

best that you can and and then there's

33:47

always a gray area for everything. So

33:49

you're you're you know, we're we're like natural

33:51

debaters in our household. You

33:53

are asked to constantly defend your

33:55

your ideas and and and why you think

33:58

this opinion that you have is something

34:00

that is worthy of sharing.

34:03

A lot of my friends when I

34:05

was in high school would call me the professor

34:08

because, like I was, I was constantly like trying to

34:11

like get people to to talk about things.

34:14

And I was, you know, never really offended,

34:16

right, Like I I was, I was fine in

34:19

being part of like this

34:21

conversation. And I think

34:24

now I look back on it and a

34:26

part of me when I was younger, I was like I

34:28

used to think it's very challenging

34:31

to grow up in in an environment

34:33

that's like just critical. And

34:36

I think now being who I

34:39

am and dealing with constant

34:41

critique and you

34:43

know, not so kind critique,

34:46

I think because I was

34:49

conditioned to have tough skin,

34:52

that a lot of it doesn't actually face

34:54

me and people are oftentimes surprised

34:58

by it. Right, Like my we action

35:00

to the stuff that I deal with, And

35:02

I tell them. I actually think it's easier to

35:05

take critique from people you don't know or

35:07

don't care for, because I've used

35:10

to like taking it from people whose opinions

35:12

actually matter to me. So ask

35:15

someone who is really

35:18

at the forefront of politics, pop

35:20

culture, and definitely public opinion.

35:24

How do you see the dynamics

35:27

of those three piece playing

35:29

out in your life and

35:32

on a broader scale. Yeah,

35:34

I mean, I think sometimes, right, like politics

35:37

and pop culture do plead into

35:40

one another, and they are both creatures

35:43

of public opinion, and they're you

35:45

know, they're subjected to the

35:48

scrutiny of of public opinion, and I think

35:50

that there are a lot of times

35:52

where like there is a reliance on

35:54

one another, you know, people who are

35:58

the creators of pop culture to

36:01

also influence a lot of

36:03

the work that we do politically. And

36:05

I think some of us, you know, straddle

36:08

both of those spheres as well.

36:11

All right, let's start breaking down

36:14

the three piece. Let's

36:16

go back to two thousand and one. Nine

36:19

eleven happens. It's a national and

36:21

global catastrophe. Tensions

36:24

are high in the US. For

36:26

many Americans. It feels like a time

36:28

when the nation comes together for

36:30

Arabs Muslims and those

36:33

who could be mistaken for them. Many

36:35

of us feel mothered overnight, and

36:38

the government puts that othering on paper.

36:41

The Patriot Act is passed the next month

36:43

in October, a law that allows

36:46

for intrusive surveillance of American

36:48

Muslims and the law

36:50

that violates our civil rights. Many

36:54

Americans believe we do need to be cautious

36:56

of Muslims in the country. I

36:59

remember we're seeing a news headline is

37:02

your Muslim neighbor a terrorist? And

37:05

praying my friends families wouldn't see

37:07

it, or worse, ask

37:09

themselves that question. Part

37:12

of the nation's unity also included

37:14

a massive influx of pop culture

37:16

creation where Muslims and Arabs are terrorists

37:20

and surveilling and destroying them results

37:22

in a win for America TV

37:25

shows like twenty four or Homeland,

37:28

video games like Call of Duty or

37:31

Oscar, Award winning films like The hurt

37:33

locker Argo or Zero

37:35

Dark thirty, which the CIA assisted

37:38

on behind the scenes to ensure they appeared

37:41

favorable. Vilifying

37:43

Muslims in our media aided in

37:45

justifying the controversial wars

37:48

we were entering. All

37:50

the while public opinion of Muslims

37:52

is changing. Including Muslims

37:54

themselves who experienced internalized

37:57

Islamophobia. Surveilling

38:00

Muslims becomes normalized, and

38:03

an anti Muslim attitude becomes the

38:05

ground on which many political candidates

38:07

run on. Donald Trump

38:10

went further and made it a central component

38:12

of his platform, and once

38:14

in office, he enacted a Muslim

38:17

band. The normalization

38:19

of a fear of Muslims reached a new

38:22

legal level of threat. First

38:25

we were watched, surveilled, homes

38:27

were searched, and mosques were infiltrated

38:30

by undercover Feds pretending to be Muslim

38:32

converts, and next our

38:35

presence was banned. All

38:37

of this was made acceptable to millions

38:40

of Americans by shifts in public

38:42

opinion, which followed changes

38:44

in pop culture, which had followed

38:46

changes in politics, until

38:48

finally, the resulting changes

38:50

in public opinion created enough

38:53

space for drastic changes

38:55

in politics under Bush in

38:58

later Trump. This is

39:00

a dynamic. Each of the three

39:02

piece affects the other two, which

39:05

then affects the original pe you're considering.

39:09

So let's take it even further. How

39:11

do politics, pop culture, and public

39:13

opinion contribute to the different

39:15

stories of how people get put into

39:18

power? As

39:20

a political communicator who has been by

39:22

Hillary Clinton's side for over twenty

39:25

five years. Huma Aberdeen

39:27

is deeply engaged in each

39:29

of the piece. Pop

39:32

culture has inserted itself into politics

39:34

in a way that it wasn't I always thought that pop culture

39:36

kind of was like, you know, almost had a

39:38

separate life and moved along

39:40

this trajectory and then if you were in politics, who

39:43

kind of we focus on this issue in that issue, in this issue.

39:45

But a lot of times the topics were dried. Wasn't that interesting?

39:47

A lot of people didn't really understand how policy was

39:50

made. I think there's always been a

39:52

fascination. I believe that

39:55

in at least in my personal

39:57

experience, that there

40:00

is this mutual admiration club

40:02

between politicians and pop culture celebrities.

40:05

That it's the you know, I

40:07

mean, and our campaign did it just like every

40:10

other campaign. It's like you want to have a you

40:12

know, big turn out in Iowa. See if

40:14

you could have some big celebrity come there and

40:16

you know, get people together, because you need the pop culture

40:18

to get people there. So but I know it's

40:21

certainly in the you know, during the Obama campaign,

40:23

I mean, I think many of us remember when John Legend

40:25

went to perform in Iowa

40:28

early on, and it was all this

40:30

excitement, of this energy. Now he happened to be a really

40:32

exciting candidate, but all of you know,

40:34

kind of so much of the pop culture kind

40:36

of figures celebrities. Um,

40:39

we're really excited and uh and compelled

40:41

by him. And it certainly was the case with the Clintons

40:43

in all the years I've worked for them. Even

40:46

before Bill Clinton became president, he

40:49

was tapped into pop culture in

40:51

nWo while he was campaigning,

40:54

he appeared on the Arsenio Hall Show

40:56

playing saxophone with arring audience.

40:59

And yet the celebrity era of politics

41:02

can be traced back to even earlier

41:04

with the Kennedy Nixon election of nineteen

41:07

sixty. Famously, the

41:09

two candidates were about to have the first

41:11

ever nationally televised presidential

41:14

debate when the young senator

41:16

was asked if he wanted makeup. Jfk

41:19

knew it would help his appearance on camera and

41:21

eventually agreed to it. Vice

41:24

President Richard Nixon didn't want to appear

41:26

unmanly, so when asked he

41:28

said no, well,

41:31

Mr Nixon to go back to while

41:34

JFK looked dapper before the cameras,

41:37

his opponent, Nixon, appeared sweaty

41:39

and somehow untrustworthy. Nixon

41:43

lost the election, and ever

41:45

since, US politicians, no

41:47

matter how rugged and manly, choose

41:49

to wear makeup when they appear on TV.

41:53

The story of US politics in

41:56

relation to pop culture and public

41:58

opinion changed that fast

42:01

and has never looked back. Twenty

42:04

years later. By the time President Reagan, a

42:06

former movie actor, was elected

42:08

in nineteen eighty, the modern

42:11

era of celebrity politics was

42:13

the new normal again.

42:17

We will make America

42:21

again. And then, of course there's

42:23

Truck a reality star turned

42:25

politician whose presidency was

42:27

even predicted by the writers of The Simpsons

42:30

sixteen years before he was elected.

42:33

As you know, we've inherited quite a budget

42:36

crunch from President Trump. How bad

42:38

is its secretary Van Houghton, who

42:41

were broke? The country is

42:43

broke. This wasn't

42:45

just good TV. It was engaged

42:48

in dynamic storytelling. The

42:50

Simpsons writer Dan Greeney told

42:53

The Hollywood Reporter the episode

42:55

was a quote warning to

42:57

America. He was plugged

42:59

into the story of our nation at the time,

43:02

and now stories are being broadcast

43:05

through every medium possible.

43:08

Politicians are active on social media,

43:11

often becoming pop culture themselves,

43:13

and our constant sharing has given

43:15

our public opinions more power

43:18

than ever. The way social

43:21

media influences right

43:23

whose voice is amplified

43:26

and and valued, and how

43:29

we are asked to constantly interact

43:31

and react to things is

43:34

something I think that is foreign to a

43:36

lot of politicians that have been around

43:38

a lot longer than we have. For

43:41

Congresswoman Omar, engaging online

43:43

comes with the job. It also contributed

43:46

to getting her the job. And I

43:48

think the the interconnectiveness

43:51

of these spaces that we

43:53

are in creates some discomfort

43:56

for the political work

43:59

that many are are trying to do because

44:02

politics is about like reacting

44:05

right to public opinion, and

44:08

when those public opinions

44:11

are constantly in your

44:13

face, there isn't a lot of time

44:15

to to be analytical

44:19

and like curious and to

44:21

sort of, you know, slow

44:23

down and and look at things

44:26

from different point of views. You

44:28

are constantly being asked

44:30

to respond to things, and and

44:33

there is I think something beautiful

44:35

about that, because I think in a representative

44:38

democracy, there's some accountability

44:40

that's being created, but there's also

44:43

danger because you want

44:46

people who are creating public policy

44:49

to be thoughtful and to

44:51

take their time and to think

44:53

about, you know, the impact of

44:55

whatever policy that they are implementing,

44:58

not just for the moment, but what what

45:01

it would mean, you know, years

45:03

from now. Pulma

45:06

echoes a similar sentiment from a

45:08

different vantage point on my

45:10

boss's front, On Hillary Clinton's front,

45:13

her tactic, her strategy,

45:15

rather strategy is the right word, for

45:17

decades, was to ignore the noise.

45:21

You know, we were living in a world we're back then where it's

45:23

like, oh, they're walking into this, uh,

45:26

you know shop on the upper easie. What do

45:28

you think that means? Is she running for president? I

45:30

worked for somebody who for fifteen

45:33

years, essentially from the minute her husband

45:35

walked out of the White House in January two thousand and one, the

45:38

question was would she be our first woman president?

45:40

Imagine the pressure,

45:44

the cauldron, the expectation

45:46

that comes with that. So she just ignored

45:49

it. The noise became a monster.

45:51

It became she's a murderer, she's

45:54

a liar, she's a thief,

45:57

she's rotten, she's this all

45:59

the she's she's she's that We just ignored.

46:01

But that monster got very big, and that very ugly,

46:04

and it essentially, in the end, you

46:07

know, became a weapon against

46:09

her. But upon reflection,

46:11

I don't know. I mean, we certainly talked about it about is

46:14

that should we have been more responsive

46:16

on some of these crazy lies? But

46:19

now we're learning that people believe lies. I

46:23

feel as though public opinion

46:25

in some ways is is a it's a huge

46:27

black cloud of unknown. There's no what

46:30

is that like cliche saying that you know, you're

46:32

entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts.

46:34

No, that has changed now

46:38

You're apparently entitled to your own facts

46:40

as well, not just your own opinion. And it's

46:43

very scary. Whoma

46:45

Aberdeen was also married to a politician

46:47

who handled public opinion very

46:50

differently. Anthony Weener,

46:52

a former congressman who helped shape

46:55

politics into the combative theater it

46:57

has become, and who's

46:59

political career ended in controversy

47:02

and a series of sex stamps. When

47:05

I was married to Anthony, who at the

47:07

time was a congressman, you

47:10

know, representing Brooklyn and Queens

47:12

from New York, he you know, made

47:14

a name for himself in part, I mean it was a very charismatic

47:17

politician, but in part because he

47:19

would give these speeches on the floor of the House

47:21

of our presentatives where he would, you know, do these

47:23

revision to be so angry and it would be so upset

47:26

on you know, somebody else's behalf and you were like, oh, yeah, it's

47:28

okay, you know, he's speaking to me because I'm angry.

47:31

This person's a grand my behalf. Look,

47:34

I think when Anthony, obviously the difference was the

47:36

the damage was self inflicted.

47:39

It was uh,

47:42

you know, I've still view him in

47:44

many ways as a tragedy when

47:46

it's too much, I don't know, um,

47:50

when it's too much. But in both

47:53

of those cases, they those were these are you

47:55

know, huge examples of the world on fire

47:58

and and how do you how do

48:00

you navigate it when you're in it or when you're just in

48:02

it, you're just trying to get through the day, so you're not thinking

48:04

of it um from a larger

48:06

perspective. And we

48:09

need larger perspective. We

48:13

need our politics to be an expression

48:16

of the story of who we are in

48:18

this moment. To meet the challenges,

48:21

overcome the obstacles, and plan for the

48:23

future. We need to constantly

48:26

revisit the America we are

48:28

all fighting for. How can we

48:30

trust that our elected officials are

48:32

actually being thoughtful in serving

48:34

their constituents. Our

48:37

US political system is littered with money

48:39

and lobbying, cloud chasing and

48:41

celebrity and slogans over

48:44

dialogue. We are in a gamified

48:46

version of democracy and

48:49

it doesn't have to be like this. We

48:51

need it to not be like this.

48:54

Shouting at each other won't win the future we

48:56

need or even want. It just

48:59

guarantees more fighting. And

49:02

I don't believe calls for civility are

49:04

the answer. Either people

49:06

are hurting, we are

49:09

hurting. As

49:11

MLK warned, a riot is

49:14

the language of the unheard. In

49:16

other words, a riot is also

49:18

a form of communication. It's

49:21

a breakdown in communication, and

49:24

it's communication and follow through

49:26

that we desperately need in order to

49:28

protect our individual and

49:30

collective story. Rep

49:41

what is your current story of

49:44

the United States of America and

49:46

what is the version of

49:49

the story that you want to live in. I

49:52

think my current story of America

49:55

is one that that is fighting against

49:58

its potential. And you

50:01

know, I think that there

50:03

is an opportunity for

50:05

us to sort of fulfill right Like

50:08

what the ask was from

50:10

Martha Luther King that just said, like, we

50:12

just need you to be what you say on paper.

50:15

There are lots of good American

50:18

ideals for us to hold onto,

50:22

whether it is you know, having values

50:24

of human rights, of liberty

50:26

and justice. Now, if we

50:28

can make the systems actually fulfill

50:32

those promises, it's great,

50:34

right, So many people look to America

50:37

for these ideals, and like

50:40

we hold these ideals dear,

50:43

Like I see my colleagues get

50:46

on the house floor and speak about like

50:48

these ideals. Well, we have prisons

50:50

that are overfloating, you know, when

50:52

we have people who are homeless on the streets

50:55

where you know, we have an overbloated

50:58

military budget, like all you and

51:00

I'm like where in your values? Where

51:03

in these ideals? Right? Is

51:06

this thing that you're proposing fit into or

51:09

this thing that you're celebrating fit into? And

51:11

so like, if we can just come home and like

51:14

fulfill you know what we say

51:16

on paper with our policy initiatives,

51:20

I think we would have a perfect country. And

51:24

what does it mean for us to be who we are

51:26

on paper? Well, the

51:28

Constitution, like stories, is

51:31

a living, grieving document

51:34

meant to evolve and grow as

51:36

we do as a nation. The

51:38

intention, the claim, the promise

51:41

is equality for all. So

51:45

how do we share our country and

51:48

how does the US live up to its ideals

51:51

and promises. I've

51:53

always believed in the United States

51:55

as a place of possibility,

51:59

of great potent chill, of an

52:01

open ended potential as well. I

52:04

think that I will always need

52:06

to believe in that story. It could be my myth,

52:08

you can call it that, but I

52:10

have to believe in that story so that I

52:13

keep going every day. I

52:15

know that I saw that in my own life because

52:18

I had the opportunity to

52:20

see it in my own life through a lot of

52:22

struggle, through a lot of

52:24

pain, and yet

52:26

I'm still standing, you know

52:29

me. Ever, the Muslim I always

52:31

think about this verse from the Koran. You know,

52:34

maybe that you love something and it's not good for you, and

52:37

maybe that you hate something and it's actually quite

52:40

quite beneficial for you. M

52:42

hm. So that helps you take a

52:44

step back and examine, Like, Okay, the story

52:46

of America has

52:49

to be, in my opinion and my own humble,

52:52

tiny life experience, It's

52:54

got to be the story of a place that

52:56

is willing to evolve and change

52:58

and progress to become its

53:01

best self. It's willing

53:03

to take time to examine its history. It's

53:06

willing to make changes and

53:09

sometimes it has to get real hot,

53:11

and real messy and real ugly to

53:14

push and drive that conversation forward.

53:17

But if you are stuck in the sadness

53:20

of that moment, the defeat of

53:22

that moment, if you let it defeat you completely,

53:26

then you're losing out on all this potential

53:28

that could be. Then you're so paralyzed

53:31

and stuck in today that you've robbed yourself

53:33

of tomorrow, and you're taking away

53:36

something from the children that

53:39

need to see. They

53:41

have to see, they need to see that

53:44

hope and the potential of something better. Why

53:48

are we doing this? Then? What's

53:50

the point of all of this? When

53:55

things are hard? And I asked

53:58

myself, like, is this worth it? It, I'm

54:00

reminded of the

54:03

fact that there is a reason you

54:05

know that I'm I'm alive, that I've been

54:07

giving the opportunity to start

54:10

a new to get an education, to

54:12

be in the position that I am today, and

54:15

that I should carry

54:18

on even though I have lived

54:20

in a country and been involved in you

54:22

know, politics forever. I know that we have an

54:25

ugly history, and we certainly have

54:27

our challenges. But my point is

54:29

I have bought the American story. I

54:32

bought the American story when I was a kid, when

54:35

I was exposed to all kinds of

54:37

other stories and possibilities

54:39

and places. And I can

54:41

be forty six years old and

54:44

tear up when

54:46

I see somebody else who is sacrificed,

54:48

who has been a patriot for a country

54:52

that I feel strong

54:55

allegiance to. That means something. So

54:57

how do we hold ourselves to the best version

55:01

of American ideals? How can

55:03

we hold the United States to

55:05

its best form even

55:08

if it stumbles, even if it it kind

55:10

of sometimes, you

55:12

know, walks wobbly like a toddler

55:15

and falls over and and doesn't make always

55:17

the best choices. How do you get back up

55:20

and make better choices as a country, as a young country.

55:22

And I use a toddle reference very purposefully,

55:25

because this country is only it's

55:27

not even three years old. Guys, in

55:29

the world of civilization, that's a blip on the screen.

55:32

We're like you, like literally somebody sneeze

55:34

in the United States came to be, and it

55:36

gets to be better every single day.

55:39

It gets to have the

55:41

input of being

55:44

this like amazing radical experiment and melting

55:46

pot an incredible radical experiment

55:49

in total protections, freedoms,

55:52

in honoring um, you

55:55

know, the vision of people who maybe

55:57

didn't have all the save ideals that we had. I

56:00

completely agree with like what America

56:03

is in the story of America. However, I

56:05

guess like the America that I want to see as America

56:07

that doesn't exist as in America, that is beyond

56:10

the state of white supremacy

56:13

or the sederal colonial existence,

56:15

one that doesn't take land, one

56:18

that doesn't disrespect and imprison black

56:20

and brown people. I think that thinking

56:22

beyond just the values, but more about

56:25

what does this look like for everyday people and

56:28

what does land back look like? With this thinking

56:31

beyond colonialization and

56:33

imperialism look like, I think we

56:35

need to really re envision a country

56:38

or even not even a country, a place where

56:40

people can express themselves freely

56:43

and feel safe. That's definitely

56:45

the America that I want to

56:54

express ourselves freely. Means

56:57

knowing the power we have individually.

57:00

Looking at a story through the lens of politics,

57:03

pop culture, and public opinion helps

57:05

me understand how their dynamic directly

57:08

impacts me. I can start

57:10

separating influence and propaganda

57:12

from the sound of my own thoughts, and

57:15

in turn, I can intentionally choose

57:18

how I engage next instead

57:20

of reacting on bias or belief.

57:24

This is why for this chapter, I

57:26

needed to talk to people not about their positions

57:29

of power, but how they engage

57:31

with their individual power to better serve

57:34

in those positions. While

57:36

working on this episode, several u S

57:38

Supreme Court decisions were announced, ones

57:41

that are already endangering citizens

57:44

and placing limits on their life, liberty,

57:47

and pursuit of happiness. So

57:50

I kept asking myself, what

57:53

is my role in this uncertain moment,

57:55

and really, what can any of us

57:58

do? After

58:01

much thought and reflection, I've

58:03

come to the conclusion that the best thing I can

58:05

do right now is to show up and

58:07

serve. To be intentional about

58:10

how I internalize the stories that work

58:12

to influence my thinking, my actions,

58:15

and the choices I make. The

58:18

goal is to create more space so

58:21

that we can authentically connect and build

58:23

the world we want to share. You

58:26

fight enemies by creating alliances,

58:29

by forging unbreakable bonds of

58:31

community, by acting with dignity

58:34

and grace in the face of prejudice and bias.

58:37

We can each commit to using stories

58:40

to bond, to heal, and

58:42

to inspire because

58:45

it is only in our collective equality

58:48

that we may all be free. I'm

58:50

not tres juty. At Your Service Rev.

59:00

Is a production of At Your Service, School

59:02

of Humans and I Heart Podcasts. This

59:04

show is written and produced by Me Juti

59:07

and Zaren Burnett. Editing, production,

59:09

sound design and scoring by Chris Child.

59:12

Theme song written and composed by Me Luna Yusef

59:14

a k A Mumu Fresh. Our senior

59:17

producer is Amelia Brock. Our associate

59:19

producers are Tyler, Donna Hue, and Betsy Cardenas.

59:22

Makes a Master by Beheed Fraser, Audio

59:24

assembly by Mary Do, fact checking

59:27

by Marissa Brown, Research consulting

59:29

by Matha Hessan. Our executive

59:31

producers are Adam hafif Szaren

59:33

Burnett, Jason English and Me. Special

59:35

thanks to Virginia Prescott from School of Humans

59:38

and Will Pearson from I Heeart Podcasts. I'd

59:40

also like to thank Congresswoman in hand

59:42

omar Istra Harrisey, Juma

59:45

Abdeen Ismin and Haddie for trusting

59:47

us with their stories. If

59:49

this podcast resonated with you and you'd like to support

59:52

our show, please rate and review and share

59:54

it with someone you think may enjoy it. Tune

59:56

interrupt next time. I'm Not Judy as

59:58

always at your service. Sea

1:00:05

rap