 I will say that this week means a lot. This week also is in coinciding with our National Inauguration Week. And so with the times very much shifting here in our nation, this week couldn't have come at a better time when our committees sat in October to start planning this event. This event took three months to plan. We were really thinking, how can we host Martin Luther King week in this time? Whoever the candidate may have been for our presidency. And when we were thinking of themes for this year, I asked our committee to really think about what they've been hearing in our classrooms, in our centers, and these words of fear, falsehood and freedom really came to play. It was a constant theme in our brainstorms. And where do we go from here? Where do we go from here? It's one of Martin Luther King. It is the final book of Martin Luther King that he wrote. And so for us, being January 17, 2017, how do we move forward as a community knowing all of the racial divide that's real, all of the Islamophobia, all of this classism and sexism that is going on, not only here in our nation, but globally. So we as global citizens, how do we move forward with that? And with that is having conversations, challenging conversations. And so I hope that this week really does paint an illustration of what we're trying to have here, which is really being candid and real about what fear really means to a lot of you in this community sitting in this room right now, falsehood, things that we have been promised that aren't here and freedom. I had the honor of seeing Dr. Angela Davis last week and she said that freedom is a constant struggle. Freedom is a constant struggle. And even though Dr. King has left us a beautiful messages of challenging in that, how do we become of that conversation? And so I hope that MLK week is the beginning, if not a continuation of having these real candid conversations of where we're heading at today because the road ahead is not easy. This work wouldn't be possible without an incredible committee that I had planning this week after week. So I would definitely love to give a big thank you to Dr. Joe Bryce, Jody White, Dominique Austin, Aisha Valencia, Oshmi Brown, Billy Chandler, Erin Modica, Osama Khalili, Nestor Nguera, Bopa Chang, Michael Tunkap and Bevan Taylor. Without y'all this week wouldn't be possible. So if y'all could please give a round of applause. So if I would like to invite Billy Chandler and Erin Modica to introduce Dr. Vaccine Mims. You know, as I think about our theme for this Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., we can fear, falsehood and freedom, right? And where do we go from here? It makes me happy that we are here today at Highland to pay tribute to a man of vision, faith and activism. I think of how, it makes me think of how education plays a critical role in movements for liberation. When I think about the long black freedom movement here throughout in our nation's history, I think about what Ella Baker once said. That press people, whatever their level of formal education, have the ability to understand and interpret the world around them to see the world for what it is and move to transform it. So today, Billy and I have the honor of introducing a woman who has worked to transform the lives of students and communities through her teaching. Dr. Vaccine Mims, our keynote speaker for the 2017 Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Week here at Highland. Dr. Mims is a phenomenal black woman, activist, educator, mentor, elder in our community and overall special person who has worked continually to challenge others to discover their own identity and to empower the communities in which they live. Where Dr. Martin Luther King believed that civil rights activism will give society a new sense of values in order to solve the particular problems of economic and racial oppression. Dr. Mims carried that challenge forward after teaching both the Seattle and Kirkland school system during the 1950s and 60s. She joined the faculty of Evergreen State College in 1972. While teaching at Evergreen, she responded to the black residents' demand in higher education in Tacoma. Following the legacy of Mary McCoy Bethelm, the first black woman to found a college of black students in 1904. Dr. Mims focused on developing a higher... Excuse me, 1904? I knew I knew Abraham Lincoln, but honey, don't. No, that was 1972. No, it's Mary... Oh, oh, my Lord, excuse me, Billy, I'm sorry, but... Oh, excuse me, Billy, I'm sorry, but... Oh, no, bad enough, but... Following the legacy of Mary McCoy Bethelm, the first black woman to found a college of black students in 1904, Dr. Mims focused on developing an educational program that would serve working adults in Tacoma's largely African American hilltop neighborhood. Initially teaching adult learners out of her home using her own resources. In 1982, Dr. Mims formally founded the Tacoma campus of Evergreen State College in 1982, where she served as executive director until her retirement in 1990. Today, the Tacoma program is known for improving access to higher education for working adults with an emphasis on community building. In 2001, Dr. Mims was awarded the first annual Sustainable Community Outstanding Leadership Award. Recently, Mims founded the Dr. Mims Academy, a nonprofit organization in Tacoma's hilltop neighborhood, established to serve youth, expelled, youth expelled and suspended from public schools. Most recently, Dr. Mims received the 2017 Dr. Martin Luther King Community Service Award. Please stand up and help us welcome Dr. Maxine Mims. Dr. Maxine Mims. Oh, thank you, thank you. Do I go over? Do I go over here? Yeah. Thank you. I guess I better open one of these. Thank you. I gotta sit down so you all sit down. Oh, what a beautiful audience. You know, when I stand in front of a modern day audience and see this, I get very sad that Dr. King couldn't see it, you know? He would have been 88 Monday, Sunday. I'm already 88, I'll be 89 in March. And so we were from that same period. And I'm privileged to just, oh my gosh, look at this. Somebody tells you, I wasn't even listening, or maybe I couldn't even hear it, that you were born in 1904. I thought, oh no, that's a false hood. Let me correct it now. Because you're going to put, knowing that, it'll put fear in me. But it's just so wonderful to see people that I knew as babies. I knew Atlanta. Where are you? As a baby. I know the trustee, Sabrina as a baby. Who else? I didn't know Theresa as a baby. Adira. Oh my gosh, before she was born. And it's just wonderful. I'm going to sit down now. Because I don't want to lecture. I'm tired of it. I've been in this business of lecturing for a long time. And I know my contract. Madam Dr. Rectiv Multicultural, I'm going to break it. The only way to move forward is to be bold. Because I want to have a dialogue. I don't want the straight lecture. And a lot of times, people are as important as I am in the world. Hear that? That's how you start false hoods. But I feel very good having been blessed to live to be this age. And you don't often get a chance to do an intergenerational dialogue. Because most of the time it's teacher, student, grandmother, grandchild. You know what I'm saying? And I want an opportunity, because I love Highline. It is the greatest looking place. Is it a good school? I saw your hand a little ball head right there. Intergenerational respect. Tall, short. What a beautiful sight. Who is the tallest one in here? Basketball. Is it basketball? Scholarship from where? Here. The shortest one in here. Soccer? Yeah. Well listen, let's have, can I move this thing up a little closer? Because it's so far back. It's too far back. Let's have a dialogue. Because in order to deal with that theme, which is interesting for me, fear. And I know you all know that you've heard it so much in your temples and your Sunday schools. It's false evidence appearing real. How many have you heard that? Yeah, yeah. And it produces, but at a certain age, you just got to get rid of it. I can't have it. You know what I mean? I'm too close. I'm 12 years from 100. So why should I continue to have it? Yeah. Okay. I mean, what's there for me to fear? I've been through it all. There's nothing to fear. But somebody said I was born in 1904. I got to make sure my hearing is sharp. So I can't get a lot of technology when Billy is introducing me. I have to make sure I can hear right. I have to make sure I can come in this room and have my legs at this thing, walk right. I have to make sure I don't use a cane too early. I don't use a walking stick too early. I have to make sure I can sit here, concentrate on getting up. Now, slowly, but getting up. I have to be able to move and walk among you. Because if I don't, guess what I will fear? I will fear being hurt or dying. I will fear what the medical alert people say. I have fallen and can't get up. I hear it every day. I'm getting my mail from AARP telling me how fearful it is to be in my own house. You know, can't take a bath. It's telling me you have to be funky all the time. Because if you get in the bathtub, you get it there. Nobody will find you. Nobody will call you. Can you imagine sitting in your own home, watching television, and you're being told constantly, you're going to fall, you can't get up. After that commercial is on, then the other commercial is on, don't leave your family in debt. Be cremated. That produces fear and you become paralyzed. So therefore I don't have television. I've never had television. I'll even look at it. Because your images designed by somebody else will always make you fearful. Always. And if you aren't careful, the images that begin to control you will make you do some harm to yourself. Now I have to create an environment of inconvenience so that I can learn to be safe. You understand what I'm saying? In your classrooms, you have to create an environment of disagreeing with the author of the books that you're reading so that you can become a critical thinker through yourself. Disagree with every author. Disagree with every... Are you a faculty? President? Disagree with this entire group of people. Not publicly. But so that you can begin to grow and help to reduce fear in the world. Or you will begin to believe that November 8th was true. See, November 8th is an illusion. Let me sit down now. And we'll talk about that. Because what happened to us back to the AARP magazine, Maxine, if you fall down, you can't get up. What Maxine did was, after my friend Martin Luther King did the great work, when I began to ritualize the speech, I had a dream. I became complacent. I became comfortable. Then, for me, Barack Obama became president. I leaned back further. Oh, Maxine, you're doing it now. I crossed my legs. I became Madame Rip Van Winkle. I went to sleep. And when I woke up, it was November the 9th. The revolution had occurred and I was asleep. You need to be careful with your dreams because if you become complacent with them, you will wake up to a nightmare. And we have awakened a nobody to not to a nightmare. What can Maxine do with that now? You talk about where do we go from here. I can take that nightmare and turn it into a positive collaboration and do something about it and become ever more active. I can take my 88-year-old self with all the years I've been on earth and translate that into some sort of positive contribution to make sure that November the 9th isn't real for me. You follow what I'm saying? Because I don't believe when I fall in my house I can't get up. You can't believe that when you stumble you can't get up. So I'm going to spend a little time with you and I'm going to lean back and drink some water and talk. So whoever is the boldest person asks something so we can have a conversation. Aren't you nice? How old are you? I'm 37. I was born in 1904. Let's talk. Yes sir, right here. Sir, right here. I don't know any name. Now listen and like I said sir when an older person points to you it may not even be you, it may be the other way. So just wait until I do it twice. So you, you, yes. Yes sir. I can hear pretty good. See my, you know, if you don't, if they can't move that's okay. I don't want them to feel shy about it. Yes sir. I guess the question I have to ask is how exactly do you feel about the current situation that we are having Trump and all that is going around in America? I think it's a gift to us. The gift is that I'm here and the gift is that I just said the gift was Maxine. Now by the way on Christmas gifts I didn't get a lot of Christmas gifts because my daddy killed Santa Claus. And I didn't, so I didn't know nothing about Santa Claus. But when you get a gift have you ever gotten a gift you didn't want? No. Well okay, a lot of times you'll get a gift that you don't want and what we just got was a gift but it was a gift. Some of us got a gift that we wanted some of us got a gift that we're agitated about they talk about ugly sweaters and ugly ties and when you talk about the content of the person which Dr. King always talked about your content is so powerful and you're such a genius and so brilliant you cannot take that brilliant gift that genius gift and meet something that is unworthy you're going to attract that that you are. First you've got to feel very good about yourself in order to live with these next few years you're not going to be long you're going to be short and as you get older your years are short already. Summers are very short winners are very long the older you get the less sun you see believe you me and you can't get up but you've got to take that beautiful handsomeness of yourself and take it forward you've got to form a club an organization or conversation and you all have to sit around and talk about the greatness of the three or four of you and how you would make a contribution to the society what you're going to do at Highline to make it a better place what you're going to do for the state of Washington you don't wait for anything you raise your hand in a sociology class or a psychology class and say I'm ready to make a contribution to whatever academic discipline you're interested in but begin to focus on something that helps reduce whatever that is up there in fact after today you don't even take that language with you when you go from here you make an analysis of your inward self and move forward with confidence and power you become the president tomorrow morning you have your own inauguration put on some fancy clothes and march around in your own house put on some boots and get you a purple cap put it on your head and say make it myself great again reduce it once you reduce it the external pressures on you then you will be able to move forward no matter what yes sir yes don't necessarily control crazy people can control you but I'm saying if if the medical alert tells me in my own house that when I fall down my children are going to knock on the door I can't get up now if I structure my life around falling down getting up if I don't arrange my house and prepare with an inconvenience a practice falling down and practice getting out I will be down there because I don't know it's an illusion because according to the medical alert people okay go ahead come here I'll show you how what do you think your major is what do you think you're focusing on well I personally don't I'm just learning that's really what I'm doing don't pump your shoulders what do you think you're focusing on psychology you have any other brothers around you would you like to have some meet this afternoon with three other brothers and form yourself the psychology organization against negative falsehood you form it tomorrow morning tomorrow morning you're forming this act, form it while I'm here find three others that's it, you've done you've counteracted everything you've counteracted the fear your body language and you know you're the greatest are you the greatest psychologist student in America yes you are you can't say that to an 88 year old woman you have to say yes I am because when you give me that guess what I leave it it helps me walk a little taller and a little stronger to my car I need you you are now my teacher so I don't need you to say I need you to know when I walk out here I'll say I met a man, got it tomorrow morning the psychology organization will be formed but in your name is Jarrell's organization of psychology, black male psychologists in the United States and then you're able with next election you all will be going to the White House to talk about the culture of psychology of black America I don't think I would you can't say that to be though that's still falling into the illusion of politics no, no, no we're having a good dialogue because you're just deciding you don't want to be strong and you can't do that with them too old for that now you are strong and so great that's why you're standing there with locks in America under a wool cap and white tennis shoes you alright brother you look good when you're so great and so gorgeous sometimes it's embarrassing how many of you have ever experienced that yeah, yeah you you want to shy away you want to shy away you would like to have an illusion but you're so powerful you break all the illusions you see what I'm saying yeah, I mean locks in a wool cap and highline in white tennis shoes in the winter come on brother you alright with me who else, yes sir these are like where is the vice president you got some nice looking young men here one of the things because and I'll say this and I think I'm gonna do it to it evergreen we need to look at our men and our women and our trans and we need to try with self-identity if you want to do that and form something so the dialogue can be increased we've got to increase the dialogue around race, ethnicity gender, all of that so that we can feel very confident about who we are going forward because it's where do you go from here if the identity doesn't have confidence Maya Andrews says and still I rise if you don't have a convenient place to rise it ain't no and still I rise you see and you've got some beautiful stuff here and I don't know what kind of I don't know the schedule because there's a lot of work in adults and I understand that but we need some space in higher ed that allows us to give freedom to this kind of beauty and we're not giving freedom to what I call ethnic beauty we're giving freedom to ethnic struggle and ethnic struggle keeps you moving along doing some we've got to give some freedom to ethnic exotic stuff ethnic elegance, ethnic beauty ethnic intellectualism we've got to do something and elevate the discourse and the way that the confidence these are I wonder what it's because I'm old but some of these men look good you know I'm serious you all you know and it may be my eyesight you have to let me know later yes sir I'm sorry sir who's your major I'm just getting my AA I lost that so what's your focus my focus is social psychology social psychology go ahead sir my name is Seth Davis Seth Davis SCTA and I'm part of the Umoja program I'm a Umoja scholar everybody there's some point that not everybody reaches but sometimes you get that one person that reaches that gets that click in his mind it's time for me to stand up and try to make a change so my question is for you what was that click for you what was your motive when did it come clear that you needed to stand up and say instead of complaining I want to be the change that I seek that's very good I don't really know I was born in the segregated south I drank out of segregated water fountains but my father would never never let us drink water because he was a garbage act he didn't want us with the segregated water fountains I didn't go to the movies until I was in college because in the segregated south whites sat on the in the floor and blacks sat up here if it was a fire in the theater my daddy always talked about there was going to be a fire in the theater I thought theaters had nothing but fires you had no exit you had to come down the steps to go out so I never was allowed to go to the theater even until the day I don't walk on a sidewalk I walk in the street on the sidewalk you had to get off the sidewalk to let white people pass and you walked in the street and you held your head down my father didn't allow that we walked in the street so we never had to get off the sidewalk and I never rode a bus because he was not going to let us go through the back door so when Martin was the king I met friends from people from all over the country they talked about paying your money in the front and going through the back Sisley Tyson is a very good friend of mine and she talked about playing Miss Jane Pittman and I said well Sisley how did you get your mouth ready to drink that water she said she went and practiced what other black women had told her how you had to have the mouth because the fountain was low and how you had to bend to get the water in to keep them swimming on the floor because if you did let some go on the floor they put you out of the place born in the segregated south makes you very alert at all times that you've got to make a change it isn't a choice I didn't know there was a separation between high school and college I just knew you started in school and you started going to college I didn't know all of this so the choices that the quote unquote north gives you for example an interesting thing with people of color in the pacific northwest it's very difficult to be real successful in a lot of academic institutions because you struggle the pacific northwest is an extra thing when you're a person of color because of the weather the weather we're a show out type people we like to move and dance and dress and bam ain't no son out there to do all that and you can't do that in no rain we want the exotic clothes on I still like it but there's nowhere to show out so I just come here and put on all my stuff but the rain makes me have on a coat umbrella hat and draw so I don't see you often enough to say hi, how are you I'll see you soon where there's sun you can do that and where there's sun you can study together in the pacific northwest you have to study alone a lot because of the rain so the dialogue isn't enhanced so a lot of times you have great difficulty not because the subject is hard it's because you're lonely with your studies so you have to provide an atmosphere for yourself and that's what you have that's why they they're streaming this where does it go when they're streaming but that's why they had to legalize we because it was hmm who's here you're looking at me hard but you know what I'm saying it isn't oh you know it you have to find in the pacific northwest you're always looking for something artificial to make you survive and what we've got to do is bring our sun to ourselves so that we can endure bring your sun to you let the sun shine in with you and a couple more fellows in psychology have you all talked a lot about what you want to do in order to make my life better so you want to keep me alive you want to keep your mothers and your grandmothers and your aunts alive you want to major in those things that keep me alive you've got to find ways to make sure my life you've got to find another way to say when you fall down maxine you can get up and you need to invent something that gets me up you need to go into the psychology of growing older and bring some sun into my life so that I can live you all about getting me to live making me live and your grandparents and stuff so you're ready right now tomorrow morning you're ready I'll still be here I'll help you put it together done and you're a good looking young man I appreciate it I mean you don't anything else see you once you get the confidence you want to ask another question go and sit down I'll get to you because I'm going to be here the whole day I know yes ma'am I spoke about the discussion about identity and as not only a moja scholar student but as well as a president of a cultural club black student union I was wondering as a cultural what topics around or what discussion around identity would you claim to be vital you've got to do colorism you've got to do hair fat short gender aging we need to try and I don't know what you could get it in but I would like to see a lot of the culture clubs going back to an old civics model there has to be something that we've got to really structure about civility and I don't know what to do with that yet I'm going to work on that I think I think I'm on to something I was thinking yesterday I was thinking about what is it that I could do a little better in the conversations that I'm beginning to have with people I think I'm going to do a little bit with cooperation and competition I don't know whether I have reached a point in my elderhood if you will where I can now just simply talk about collaboration and cooperation and I think there comes with aging I don't know what to do with competition because I'm too old now to be who I'm going to be but I know it's there practically and when I get to the younger part I think I've got to do a little bit more sophisticated work with competition how do I do that and allow those seas and I think cooperation collaboration and communication has to be something that I'm going to have to work on because I'm really leaving the world of competition and judgment and cynicism as you age as you begin to age some of that stuff begins to go because it's not healthy for you and how do I translate that into a language that younger people will understand I don't know what to do with I don't know whether they talk about getting rid of it which would reduce the a lot of that or whether they leave it in and I don't know whether there's healthy competition I think there is and that's what I want to work with but I think in terms of the culture you have to I want some civility in the culture now because we've got some divisiveness and the language is unhealthy and you're too young to be wallowing in the unhealthy language because all you'll do is just make yourself have some skills for survival and you don't want that you want some skills that are critical but learn how to be critically and endure so you can move over yeah does that help you dog? you're another beautiful one and that Highline may be just recruiting gorgeous people of color now there's some mighty pretty looking people in you and if that's happening you need to check that out your lady, check it out and see if you they may only be getting pretty people of color in the school and maybe all the other campuses and maybe that's a good piece or maybe all the other campuses have nothing but other people and that may be a form of competition that we need to work with anything else please oh come on yes sir yes sir you said earlier be careful with your dreams because if you become complacent with them they can turn into something bad or abuse as all of us as students of higher education how that tension resonates with us and how can with that statement how can that help us become more productive members of the society keep some internal agitation stay inside and keep some of that going on Maxine with the mark you know I became very comfortable with civil rights I didn't do anything with the language but Maxine I stayed with that language too long I should have been able to go Maxine should have been able to go through the work and gotten to human rights civil human so I would have identified my humanity and have identified her as a human but I stayed so long with civil rights and I went to race ethnicity and forgot about the human rights you see so I didn't in my lecturing and all of the stuff that I was dealing with younger people I didn't move them I didn't move myself early enough to help move them from civil to human and I went to sleep and I woke up and we got responsible for that election on November the 8th because sleeping getting comfortable not in the old days there was an old wash machine and you would hear the old people say honey turn it on so it can agitate the clothes and it went like that we need to have a form of agitation so we won't stay in the greens for so long and ignore the possibility of a November the 8th yes yes sir and by the way we're dealing with collective trauma right now that's all it is psychologists how many are in psychology in here write some papers on getting rid of collective trauma and pass them out to the campus it's so easy to concentrate on the negatives amongst us racially, age, weight, whatever you want to do we can pick each other apart forever but I realized a while back my niece kind of loved my life was 8 years old she's never known the time where there isn't or couldn't be at least a black president, a female anybody else in the room could be president if they really want to that I think Dr. King would be incredibly proud of what else do you see as the positive gains that have been made since Dr. King you and I wouldn't have sat comfortably in the same room back at his time and I'm so glad that we can now Martin Luther King would have come down the freeway and driven up to high life walked into this turtle and burst into tears because this is the dream no, we don't know I don't know he wouldn't know the names you don't know the names don't know anything about you other than physically all we're seeing is the physical all we're seeing is the out of skin then the chair is here people are coming to the mic and as people are coming to the mic then the content of the character begins to manifest itself so the content of high life is manifested in itself as the young man there the young man from there the young lady and you and in this role and the content and it just keep with the dialogue it just expands without the dialogue we'll close down and that's why we're so frustrated right now we can't get the dialogue because the fear from all of our news is to say be careful, be fearful there's a revenge put in there so the collective trauma of how to be we're being trained we're being trained how to be fearful of each other and we've got to break that you break that by having some conversation every day with somebody that's different every day just try hey there's something because once you're that's what I tell you the story about I fell down and I can't get up once I'm trained to fall down in my own house I'm not going to get up you all now I'm not being trained by anybody I'm looking at television so I call the 1-888-999-6664 and my medical alert comes and after I get that medical alert that is not quite the right medical alert so I keep on until I am sitting in a chair all day long and will never be able to get up in order to fall you see what I'm saying so you've got to expand the conversation so your content can grow and you just look around I see nothing but skin coloring right now I see differences in terms of the external but with the dialogues you can expand I spoke to you earlier one of my favorite science from my mom the past few years ago she says who says that one person can't make a change and I look at somebody such as yourself you didn't get into this to be who you are today that wasn't the thought you got into it to correct the situation I don't know why I got into it and I want to say on behalf of all of us thank you for being who you are thank you oh my god you know and you know what let me tell you something and I appreciate you all coming with these clothes I have never seen I mean these jeans that are cut all across the legs I'm beginning by the way to like them I'm going to have one the next time I speak to you I didn't like it at first you know I didn't but did you do those yourself you go by them and see that's the insanity you see that absolutely my segregated style we could have never done that you know you are just looking at the shoes how are you doing you all look so beautiful go ahead with your question how long it's told you all how to teach you all how to write questions on paper thank you very much I think you look beautiful as well thank you thank you oh train them girl my question to you is recalling what you said you said that fear is something that we must get rid of because the images defined by somebody else will always make us fearful what's your advice on the fear of love what is that what your advice on fear of love fear of love it's impossible it's impossible when it's coming towards you I mean I love you come on you can't stop it you can't stop it you will spend some time trying to stop it but you can't it's so powerful that's all it is that's all it is and that's what we are trying to avoid in a collective trauma situation that happened the 8th or 9th or whatever it is on the 20th you're not you're not looking at a person that feels love you're looking at a person that feels fear and it's very sad I've been in education a long time I've seen fearful children I've seen children with confidence at this age I know what I'm seeing and I have an obligation to say love is the answer for all of it and when you're not love you end up having an illusion of a political situation and you tweet and twitter with the characters that confines you because you're not free enough to be free and what you are experiencing and that's why you have to now run for office tomorrow morning you have to file papers and run for something you have to go to the president of the college and say I would like to shatter you for the next two weeks I would like to find out what a president does and be up in the office and let the psychologist come and talk to you and say man how was it and that language has to permeate the campus, or permeate other friends so that you will never have a nightmare or collective trauma because what you have going into office in our country right now is a young boy that was neglected by me in education and as a result the revenge for my inability to teach him to love himself manifests himself after 70 years and the rejection of the entire space but you don't have to be a part of it because you really are our president you are really being inaugurated you are the new man on the block jeans and all and when you understand that then you get back to your classes and say I have an obligation and a responsibility to work toward that goal because someday I'm in you're tall and you got it wise words thank you yes sir yes right here yes ma'am I just was curious if you could give some advice to us here about what we can do going away from this meeting to set our own goals what can we do as students to define success for ourselves alright why did you put that thing around you what is it called do you think it's pretty on you no no don't do that see what happens is you get up in the morning and put this on somebody I don't know why did you put that on my hair is a mess no no to compliment yourself do you think you look good in it so there is an image of yourself that you have now because this morning you did something to yourself you did something to make yourself look elegant so today get with a group of friends and form the elegant club for about 20 minutes or the elegant gathering or the elegant dialogue and call the girls with the bands around the hair and for weeks we're bands and when you find out the dialogue what are bands I don't know what are hair bands where do you buy this where is it that your conversation will expand expand how much on that go to the physics department and find how much air is in your hair when you discover from yourself how many academic disciplines you are do you realize that you're single being about 50 different disciplines and you just make shoes uggs can you imagine somebody paying $200 or something that's called ugly that's a psychology department dilemma right there can you imagine buying jeans that you cut you know all what was what's ugly for me has become beautiful for you so what I have to do as I age you have to teach me how to reduce my cynicism and my judgment and the more I delay that stuff and get it off of me the less I'm going to fall down in my own house the more mess I keep in me the more I'm going to fall in my own house and if I got a whole bunch of mess on me I ain't going to be able to get up so the medical alert people make a lot of money off of me by having by me having a judgment about you judgments cynicism and all that will weigh you down and create help so form the band club the blue band club and you gotta are those uggs my name is Salome and I love your outfit thank you Salome so my question is where I come from there's a thing that says that where are you from? I'm from Kenya Kenya? I went there straight for 15 years I worked in Tsushima wonderful the best lakes are on that side so you must have had a good time so the saying is a young boy on top of a tree cannot see as far as a man an old man seated on a stool that's what they say so my grandfather said that all the time and I asked him before he passed away what he meant by that because in my eyes the young man is on top of a tree so he can see far and the old man is on a stool on the ground so he can't see far and he said that with aging there's wisdom from the history of where we come from and there's also wisdom in knowing where we're going which a young man doesn't have either so as a lady who has seen the history of people of color and how far we've come I believe you know where we need to be and where we're going and you said today that we are living the dream that Dr. King had when he spoke and said he has a dream so my question is what do we have to do to keep this dream a reality for ourselves and for every child of color who's going to be born in this country what do you think we need to do and where are we failing in keeping this dream alive thank you you're not failing back to what they would say in Kenya if you keep me healthy by your being alive if I could always see you then it will cause me to stand up straight when I've been over I'm causing you to be bent over but when I stand up straight and you help me to stand up straight and you stand over my shoulders I can see and if you stand up straight so you always need ancestral understanding in order to move through a situation like this when you when the exam week so you still have exams here I didn't know exam week call on your ancestors to take you through it call on your ancestors to take you through it you'll be surprised how your grades will change if you depend on your ancestors to give you some wisdom through that type of thing ok hi my name is Dan I'm a former police officer retired and I'm having fun going to school with all these terrific young people trying to learn some new stuff and I appreciate what you're giving I apologize for coming in late I bet you nobody asked this question this morning but in light of everything that's happened in the last three or four years I'll give you an opportunity to do this black lives do matter what do you think about blue lives blue lives I believe that black matter lives black matter lives we had to go to black lives matter because remember now I gave you something earlier you have to always go to the complete extreme in America because of western disciplines western education excludes and it isn't a design it's just an ignorance of what it is it excludes not necessarily always by design back in the southern part of the country by design and I just told you about delayering we did not have the language just talk about police brutality because you would be killed and discuss in that public life and that is the fear so the young people said Maxine older people because we went as I said early civil rights and we didn't lead it to human rights we stayed with the civil rights in that language right now what is marvelous about you is you're saying to Maxine I understand black lives matter but what about blue lives now if I didn't have to go home you and I could have a cup of coffee together and talk to each other with a conversation about the colors blue and black and that conversation would lead us both to a growth we never have the time we always have I fell down and I can't get up and that's where we're trapped let's make the time the world's becoming a small place I'll come have coffee with you anytime now you're flirty you're on to me so and it has nothing to do with any of the unrest that has happened but unfortunately a member of my crew did pass away and so I did go to Washington DC and I did go through the week every year how old are you you're kicking me out of the class it doesn't matter now you are at Highline you heard two young males talk about being in the field of psychology have coffee with them and a bowl of Jell-O you'd be surprised Jell-O we all hate but it's pretty it's just pretty you want something pretty on the table as you're discussing something always have something pretty because when you're discussing heavy things you want something pretty and yellow Jell-O is good that brings us on I won't consume all your time I would just want to leave you with one thing and many of the people that went to that law enforcement week when I was there we got this tough face and hard whatever but I want you to know something we're people too and we do have hearts and we do feel it and it's just hurtful and the hearts are breaking and I know that's true on both sides you're right but sir listen and that's where the dialogue I'm so glad you're a college student and there's another one psychology be sure you all get together blue and black lives and then I'll ask the Board of Trustees Ms. Debrea Jackson-Ganley to let you all present to the Board black lives matter thoughts it's thought but you have to have a conversation if you don't have a conversation you will fall on the floor and you won't be able to get up because the literature will make you think that the dialogue has to be and you're in the right place where you would get the support you're hurting and so is he and the triggering of November the 8th for me was so devastating for me after all these years but I have to move beyond I have to accept that gift and do something about it and by the way I don't know whether I want to unwrap it or not I've got to work on that I may pull the strings slower or I might pull the fence and I might stomp on the gift I don't know but I've got work to do okay really hard work yeah yes ma'am yes okay Billy you better let me know about the time now I've got 15 minutes thank you ma'am I just want to say it's a pleasure seeing you again I was at the ladies tea at Nam about a year and a half maybe two years ago had the pleasure of seeing you there speaking of fear I just want to say I'm a mother of a nine year old son and the fear I have is not for myself the fear I have is for my son not only as I'm raising him to be to walk in his truth and in his strength I also have to raise him now because of the just ramp it just fear of my son's life for my son's life and how he'll perceive and I've got to teach my son what not to do stop it I don't watch television stop it it will drive you crazy you will see a child shot in St. Louis run grab your child and say it's going to happen join the blue join the blue black club that they're starting tomorrow morning get with some sociologists and some psychologists and look at the culture of black males in America you've got to go bigger I raise two sons out here and it's not easy but you cannot watch television you cannot get rid of your televisions in our Facebook get rid I don't watch television I don't watch television all I'm trying to say it may not even be you that's all I'm trying to say it may not even be you I don't play in Chicago and we heard for that but you have an obligation to form a group of mothers who have raised sons or whatever it is you may be mothers of nine year olds I don't know but do something tomorrow morning this afternoon turn off the televisions turn off this and re-image image re-image and shift the premise because you can be free to raise your son you're doing a beautiful job is this Sunday Pacific Northwest what's school oh kids fine kids fine they don't even shoot in Kent right here, yes ma'am I always want to defer to a student but I'll take this moment my name is Liz Ward and I teach communication studies and I want to thank you for your presence here and just the energy that you bring into this room into this campus your legacy precedes you in this area and all of our dear friends in Atlanta who have spoken about you and I want to thank you also for the Evergreen State College to come where we send our graduates and having a beautiful HBCU our backyard it's very powerful what you touched on today are practices in the Emoja community the ethic of love manifesting building communal intelligence and all of those things as we move forward forgetting this fear, falsehood and freedom but as we move forward with love and possibility as an Emoja community we want to invite you to always be part of our community learn from our elders and learn from the people who have become before us and I want to ask if there's one thing, one word that you could describe your experience with Sankofa and with building Evergreen State College or building educational programs for black students in the Pearson King County area if there's one word that or a few words that could help as we continue to build our Emoja program that we need to think about and keep ever present what would those words be? creativity be creative see yourself as gifted and exotic it's a little hard to do because you have I tell you the rain makes you you're not always out waving and saying hello and with bright colors but do something exotic for yourself every day do something that's elegant every day you know cut up blue jeans hug shoes may make you feel that you're rebellion the rebellion may make you feel unworthy because you're always fighting so every now and then you need to just jump into glamour or something exotic to make you feel just a little different to yourself you don't have to do it in front of anybody just to yourself try something that you know go downtown and rent some gold watches or something and put them on rent them but you don't have formals anymore you know the long dress and all that kind of stuff so have yourself a royal ball one day go to the cafeteria and say we will eat nothing but salads or cake put some wine in your thermos or scotch but do something that gives you that confirms your brilliance confirms your being confirms your humanity with yourself that's the struggle and that's what that's what technology it's wonderful but it also can reduce you to you know you young ladies you cannot become Kim Kardashian nor do you want to but you don't know that you don't know that if you've got something 24 hours and this is the greatest of this is the greatest of you know then you don't know what to do with it because there's no one to say I don't want that you know it's just a beautiful thing another thing you may want to do is once a quarter you may want to have all the students that look at a room like this just snap a picture and send out a newsletter to all the campuses and say this beats us we are woke at Highline okay you may want to say that to other and I don't know whether that's competition or not yet I'll tell you how to work on that but you may want to show this this may be a showcase of the Pacific Northwest and because it is skin coloring you should see well you see it all the time it is different you know the blue is black and the pale is pale in this room right now that's really a range okay yes sir hello hello we're asking what you said earlier about youth or entitled as teachers you know right now I see a lot of elders especially for black elders the youth of black youth or the lost generation lost generation and I had that talk with one of them on a bus and it was like kind of incredible to hear that because we're not incredible we're just like sad and to go forward I just want to know your idealization about us and how we use I sure don't think this generation has I need you you are now my teacher I'm now learning from you I don't know this vocabulary I don't know those raggedy genes I don't know about no ugg shoes I'm learning I'm learning to sit and look at some ugg shoes on the front row when I've got on all my jewelry and there's something ugly stick it up toward me and I've got to sit with this space and the academic department is the ugg department so I'll remember that I'll remember you with locks and wool cap and tied up one tennis shoe is tied no they're not tied I just do that what do you mean I do that to my shoes it's a style I literally like my whole style well I can tell you that's exactly what I'm saying I'm complimenting how wonderful you look you're so used to the negativity you don't even know how I'm saying I'm learning from you you're my teacher to be able to look at you and see the gorgeousness of you you know and I'm learning this lady got on red shoes and man with a blue denim shirt on it's just wonderful and this whole road of people you're able and free enough to discuss your life in front of what we're calling your elders this is an academic department what's your major what's your focus it's radiology radiology what you talking about how long you going to stay in this section of the country where are you going I want to go to HBCU east coast where you want to go because families over there and I don't like to be honest Washington is not I like Washington I love it because I was born but I want to see other things outside of here you alright that's nice I saw you move up sir 5 minutes you just stop me man I give you this oh my gosh how are you just going to make me have jewelry the rest of my life he gives me jewelry every time I see him my lord thank you it's good to see you too I told Phyllis I would dirty I heard you I know I know can I ask you a quick question man I think so oh my god first I want to say thank you for my freedom thank you and I want to also echo the gratitude with professor word thank you for building a historically black college in the hilltop of Tacoma thank you ma'am as you know working in historically white college in historically white colleges it can weigh on us as educators of color and a lot of times we don't mean to but sometimes we don't want another because we're trying to navigate whiteness we're trying to navigate this English language and sometimes when that happens because we know it hurts so much to endure racism that sometimes we don't forgive one another and my question to you as my elders how can I make peace with those brothers and sisters who have felt wounded in the struggle that we share together how do you build again and find each other's humanity again when you empty yourself when you empty yourself let me tell you about language if you call a pale person a racist the identification of that means something is happening in your human you see what I'm saying so I say racist ugg she takes all my time she's going on to the cafeteria she's done nothing I'm being depleted by my energy over there once you become depleted you cannot deal with your people of color because your energy is so far over to the paleness of the that that you have nothing left we drain ourselves as people of color trying to deal with the language that has nothing to do with us just know that it's existing it's going to be here forever and what do you have to offer from yourself to others and once you do that once you know beginning today that every time I see you you give me 10 more years of my life because you put around my neck a piece of jewelry that you always make I don't even remember your name I just remember your touch and I feel your heart why should you spend any time when you're keeping an older black woman gorgeous with jewelry around her neck why should you pin any time word about historical white college when around my neck you're turning me into a historical black college that's the language you all have given me I didn't give that so you've got to understand your own elegance and that's a scary thing you all to be proud of yourself to go inside outside cool but going inside is hell because you've got to recognize it that I'm worthy you know you know what I mean just get up every morning and go to bed every night saying hey and still alright hey just try it you got it you're alright thank you so much thank you yes ma'am is this it ok yes ma'am and then second my name is Angel and I'm a single parent by choice and it's evident that I'm African American so I never had the the privilege I'm from Oakland California my community was called the lower bottom so I never had the privilege to black lives matter type of thing you know I had to raise my son up and so I'm here leading by example and I dropped out of school in the sixth grade and I had to empower myself to come here and so while I'm standing here empowered I hold this sense of strength and it's hard for me to accept what it is here that I can accept because of such a strong demeanor it tends to intimidate some people and in order for me to receive what they have to give I have to come with the strength that I have and I notice that they have taken a tone back to my strength then I draw a weak sense of demeanor which makes me cry because they seem to think that I'm here to take over or to be forceful but I'm not here like that I'm just here aggressively trying to get the knowledge that I can get to take back to an empowerment group I'm starting called God's Girls Get Up whether you are or how bad you feel it's time to make a change and so with that being said a lot of people don't want to help me but I'm like no I need what you have and you don't understand and I'm not here to take what they have I want to get it but how do I come with not a weak and demeanor but a strong sense of self what's your focus well here right now I'm majoring in educating myself what should I don't trap yourself what is your focus my focus is people my son my son is 25 hold it tomorrow or this afternoon go in the registration department at the curriculum department and find if they have a school of drama here put yourself in any drama class and take every bit of that greatness that you have and turn it into your own script you can't fight your own theater you can't fight your own story we all have multiple stories and you've got some tremendous one what's your name Angel I will come back to one of your first plays that Angel Theater presents thank you thank you all is that right I'm through thank you give it up again for Dr. Maxine Maxine