 and welcome to Crossroads in Learning. I am your host, Keisha King. It is a joy to have you with us here again today in my home studio where we have conversations that are real and relevant. Today is no different. We will have a discussion about the black pandemic. That is the pandemic that's been going on for over 400 years. However, this time it's different because we were in the midst of a global pandemic dealing with the coronavirus. Today I have three lovely guests who will share their opinions and their passionate and heartfelt emotions about the protests that have taken place recently after the death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. We have with us the, let's see, satellite I want to say, Kristen Brown and Ashley Lyons and my very own firstborn Breonna King. Welcome to the Crossroads. Why don't we start, let's see, with our remote guests, Kristen Brown, why don't you tell us who you are and what you'd like the people to know about you? Aloha. Thank you so much for having me, Miss King. It's a pleasure to be here with you all today or virtually with you all today. I am a recent 2020 graduate from James Campbell High School here on O'ahu, Hawaii. I am 18 years old and passionate about climate justice and the environment as well as Black Lives Matter and also just creating justice in the United States surrounding Black Lives. And again, I'm very grateful to be here. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you. It's totally my pleasure. Please work with me while we're working with our sound and mics. It's always a pleasure to speak with you. Kristen, you are very humble. I want to mention one award that I'm fully aware of that you received. And that was the NAACP Academic Excellence Awards. If I'm not mistaken, you were the recipient for 2020 and we applaud you. Congratulations on that. Thank you. Next, Brianna King. Why don't you introduce yourselves to the people and tell us what you'd like for us to know about you? Aloha. My name is Brianna King. I'm 24 years old from Richmond, Virginia. I moved to Hawaii three and a half years ago. And I went to the Friday and Saturday protests. I was very passionate about the murder of Brianna Taylor and affected me very deeply. And I felt like it was my due justice and it would do her justice. It was my time to go out there and speak on something that affected my people and affected my family personally. It was my moment to go out there and fight for a cause greater than myself. All right. Thank you so much. I'm very proud of the fact that you went. And I want to hear more of your thoughts. Last is Miss Ashley Lyons. Aloha, everybody. My name is Ashley Lyons. I also go by Ashley D, which is my stage name. I'm a local comedian here in Honolulu. So many people know me as a comic here. I'm also a black mother with three black sons. So the situations that have taken place has affected me deeply and has continued to affect me deeply. Deeply, I mean forever as it has with all of us black people. So I'm excited to talk about it today and get real and get raw and let the people know what's going on. All right. Well, thank you all so much for being here. This has been probably one of the most challenging springs we've ever had at the beginning of March or probably about the middle of March is when they canceled school and they began sharing the pandemic that was going on for our health. So they began having these conversations saying we're going to shut down and it was something rather small. It changed, however, when we think back to a lot of people being home for longer than two weeks. And I think that started off at the beginning of April and we had people who were losing their jobs. Brianna, I know you're a small business owner as a cosmetologist here. What happened for you when you heard that the businesses were shutting down? How did that make you feel? Well, at first I was thinking this is a nice vacation I can have. You know, at first when you're a little skeptical when you hear, oh, you know, a sickness is going around. It's only affecting this and it's only affecting that. So at first I was like, hmm, I've been ripping and running. I can sit at home for a week. Once I found out that it was hitting, it was, you know, circling quickly, you know, it was getting more and more serious and affected my business. Yes. It affected my livelihood and it also affected my mental health. So being at home when you're normally around a lot of people is tough. So my mental was very affected and it got a little more serious as it went along. So that was good. Ashley, I'll ask you, I know that you are a project manager in addition to being a local comedian and you work very hard on a project that is very important to people of Hawaii. Why don't you tell us what that project is? It's to the best of your ability. I promise we won't get upset. Wait till you hear what it is. So I'm actually not the project manager, but I assist the project manager. So just if y'all have a problem, it ain't me. Just to set the record straight. But I actually work for a construction engineering company who is building the rail. I know the rail is a touchy subject on the island. So please be nice to me people. But we are working hard to get it finished and complete, okay? All right. So here we were in the midst of that and Ashley, you were in 12th grade trying to finish your senior year of high school. Kristen, didn't I say that? Did I say Christian? I'm sorry. Ms. Brown. Tell us what was it like for you during your senior year just as proms should have been taking place. And we had the health pandemic. At first when everything started, it was right after spring break and we were told spring break is going to be extended until the end of March. And then it continued to April and so on until it was canceled. And that was very, at first it was cool. Like we don't have to go back to school. And then after we realized, you know, there's not going to be a prom. There's not going to be a graduation. We won't get to actually formally say goodbye to our peers. That kind of hit a nerve. And it was very upsetting at first and very, not how senior year is supposed to turn out. It's just like, if I would have known in December what I know now, I probably would have done things differently. I would have, you know, cherish my friends a bit more and made more memories and things. But, you know, we're making memories and like miss Brianna, my mental, you know, the first couple of months is okay, but after a while of being in self-isolation or, you know, being at home all the time is just kind of, it's not as fun anymore. It loses its effect of relaxing, kind of just, you know, you know, you know, it's not as fun anymore. It loses its effect of relaxing, kind of just, it's boring and not fun anymore. So we're making that. I can, yeah, I can totally relate as an educator here locally. I know what it's like to have been home for so long. And initially it was an extended spring break and we were just happy. Oh, we were so happy. But then it turned into something else. And many of us turned to the television. We started watching Netflix episodes and I have a confession to make because I'm an educator and my preference is to read. So many people don't know this as much as I love to be on TV. I did not own a TV. And so it was until the second week of the pandemic or until this, I guess that would have been the third week of the pandemic that I bought a TV and I got it for 20 bucks and that's what made me get it. So, so I got the TV and I just started watching Netflix and whatever else was on. And then that's when it happened. I think it was a mod first. And I just saw the young man who seemed to be jogging and minding his business. And he was shot dead in the street by two men who were not police officers. And Breanna, were you affected by that one? I know that you mentioned Breanna Taylor often, but you saw that one. What effect did his death have on you at a time when we had nothing else to do but watch TV? Well, I didn't watch that video. I haven't watched all of the George Floyd video. I do my research. I look into things, but being that we were already in quarantine and being that no matter what social media outlet you looked at, that was always in your face. It affected me. It was heavy. It was very heavy. It was like in the twilight zone, you were no escaping it. Everywhere you looked, everything was always wrapped around it. And it's not as if I didn't want to support and be there with my people and mourn with them. I could not handle it. And I think that, you know, that was the spark that started it because not only are we losing our jobs, not only are our funds getting low, not only is food getting low. We're in the house. We have nowhere else to look. And everywhere we look, we're looking at that video being added to the vault of videos we already have showing you killing us. So I did not watch. Once I saw that someone was pointing a gun at him, I turned it off. And the sad part about it is that that never really turned it off. It was always still replaying because I already knew how it ended. So that's how it affected me. You know, you two, you chose some very powerful words. You said there is a vault of scenes like that. And I think one of the things that triggers us as African Americans is that this isn't new. This isn't new. This is, there is a history of over 400 years of evidence that shows they are killing us. And I think the only thing that has changed is that it's being televised. Ashley, can you tell, talk to us about it being televised now via our cell phones? And what effect that has had on what we are calling the black pandemic. Um, it's to me. I've actually, before a mods video came out, I'd actually made a conscious effort to not view another black person being killed on video for a mod. So I hadn't even, you know, watched a lot of these videos that have taken place before just because I am very much an impasse. So I know how, you know, if I see something, it'll, it will mess with me for a bit. Um, I'm talking about losing sleep. I'm talking about crying and I'm talking about like, I feel it like it's, I'm the person that it's happening to, and I know it takes me a little minute to get up out of that. So I've made a conscious effort, right? To not view. So when a mods video came out, uh, when I clicked on it, I really wasn't, because the video that I clicked on really didn't have a full description, right? So I clicked on it, not fully knowing what I was about to see. And I remember saying, and I even made a post on Facebook and said, you know, my spirit, it's all men's stuff after watching that video. You know, I should not have watched that video. Uh, the fact that it's being televised and constantly pushed down our throats, uh, as if to say, you know, y'all can televised this all you want to, but we still gonna do what we do. It's dehumanizing us and we sensitizing the situation. So therefore, like many other videos before, and people have talked about this, about it being just another hashtag. We say it's just another hashtag because we see it happening all the time and it's desensitizing us because it's shoving it down our throats all the time. So now when you lock us up in the house during a pandemic, like she said, low on food, low on money, your emotions are already high. And then you throw this on top of the ice alone. Hey, you know, it's going to sparks like, you know, wow. But we had no clue that we were going to get further news about more. That's what, you know, makes this even worse. I think is that there were so many other horrible things already happening. And that was only the beginning. We had two more tragic deaths afterwards. And we had no way of knowing what was coming each time. We felt the pain of one. And before we could fully digest what we had witnessed. Here comes another one. Kristen, I want to turn to you because you were one of the youth organizers for each of the marches. And I want to, don't mind if you give a chat out to some of your other colleagues who were also co-organizers with you and ask you, we hadn't gotten to George Floyd's death at this time. And yet you all were affected because you were out of school and you saw all of this. What affected each of you that have when you need to make good points? I really think that from seeing what's been happening on the mainland and then being fed up with what is happening and the lack of action behind it, we as youth decided that we wanted to do something to make a change. And that's what we try to do. And what we hope is affected with what's coming off as doing so. I know it's really hard and like what has been touched on before being isolated and being and having Instagram to look at, that's actually something that is currently messing with my mental health right now. I have to delete the app. And it's actually like when you scroll and all you see is people that have died or people more hashtag, and it's like what else has happened? What injustice has happened? And a lot of times you have a hopeless feeling like is whatever I do won't make a difference because it's been happening for 400 years. What else could I do? But I know a lot of the youth were trying to actually combat the problem and actually make a change. Enough is enough. And that's what we tried to have come across at our marches and our peaceful protest that what's happening on the mainland does not need to happen here. And while also treating the protest, it's to allow the black community a space to just breathe and to actually let out their emotions in a peaceful way here on the island. So that's a big reason why we did this. Thank you so much for saying that you're exactly right. We need a space where African-Americans can just breathe and Ashley and Breanna, you both mentioned such key points in speaking about how this is another hashtag. There's another name. There's another catchphrase. You know, I know that there's several memes out there that say, where can you be black? And where can you be black and protest? They didn't want us to kneel during the football games, right? And that was very calm and peaceful, but it interrupted their game. And it was a disrespectful act towards the flag, right? We're going to take a quick break. But when we come back, we're going to talk about the two deaths that followed that caused the eruption. And hopefully by the end of this just regular conversation, we're hoping to talk about action steps. We want to get people motivated to move forward to do the political things that will get us the results that we so desperately need because it's one thing to protest. And certainly we needed that. And we applaud Hawaii for the peaceful protests that we've had. But then we also need to take some action, action steps. Okay. Because the name of this show is crossroads, crossroads in learning. And we want to get to that crossroads and know what direction to move in next. So we're going to take a quick break. And when we come back, we will discuss the rest of that. Mahalo. And welcome back to crossroads and learning. We've been talking about the black pandemic, which has always been going on, but certainly has been something of major discourse while we're dealing with the global coronavirus pandemic. Kristen, you were one of the organizers and we stopped with you. I'd like to know what do you do now? Moving forward. Moving forward, our goal is to get as many people as we can to register to vote. And then in November, go out and vote, use their voice to create the change that they want. And that is the most powerful way to use our democratic right here in America. Also to put on more protests, more peaceful protests throughout the community, but mostly to get people to vote. Very good. Very good. Thank you so much. Brianna, what about you moving forward? What do you see yourself doing? And are you back at work? Is your business back together? Well, yes. Finally, I'm back at work. Yes. Yes. You can find me on Instagram with everything beauty. Facebook as well. And you know, one of the things I've learned is that when you're doing something like this, you want to always remember your why, and you want to stay patient with yourself and stay patient with the process. This hatred, this injustice, this inequality wasn't boring overnight manifested overnight. So the problem isn't going to be solved. So please be diligent, be patient and continue to use your voice to make a change. Miss Ashley D. First of all, I knew that you were a comedian, but when I saw your video on the news, and you told the people, don't bring that over here. You had some very choice words for them, which we can't say on TV. You meant that. You meant that. Tell us more about that energy, but then also tell us where can we find you as a comedian? And what are your next steps as an activist? I literally have been attending majority, I think I probably only missed maybe about one majority of the protests that have taken place since the George Floyd video has been released here on the island. So I already knew firsthand that everything happened. Okay. So when the rumors started coming out that, you know, people have trying to come out here and cause havoc and that angered me because I was like, okay, this ain't the place for that because we've been big this entire time. And now you're telling me, havoc is going to cause all of us. That should let you know that the people who really have a heart for this, who are actually really trying to seek change are not the ones that are trying to disrupt what's going on in this island or not trying to destroy this island. So my heart came out, you know, obviously once I saw the videos, but when I talked to them, I'm probably looking to where Breanna Taylor was killed. When I, my sisters called me and told me how they were out there on the front line protecting just like we did here in Hawaii and got tear gas and rubber bullets shot at him. I said, I will be remiss to sit here or block away from the beach in sunny Hawaii and act like nothing's going on to my, with my family out there and just sitting in my house and not go outside and let my voice hurt. So that's a little trickery to get out here and like push, push, push. And so thankful for the young people who are getting out here and being the organizers. You know, we wouldn't even have the video of George Floyd if it wasn't a 17 year old black girl who opened that floodgate and let us know what's going on. Every single young person I've saw this week and I let them know, I said, you are going to be the one to open this up. You are going to be the one to make the, make the change. You are going to be the one to knock on the door of opportunity for us as a people. Because as you get older, we have gotten a sense of time. We have, because we've seen it so much. As a matter of fact, growing up, our parents told us, you know, this is how you act when you, when you're around police, when you're around somebody, you know, the white man, this is what you need to do. This is what you need to say. This is how your voice needs to change. But we're dealing with a generation that's way more different, a generation that's way more emotional, a generation that says, I don't know what y'all was doing before, but it ain't going to work today. And I appreciate these young people. So they inspire me. Thank y'all so much. And also y'all can catch me, I wanna see shows when everything starts up and back up. I am a funny comedian. So check me out, Ashley B comedy on Instagram. Don't you just love her. I love them all. And I have to concur that, yes, it's the young people who are taking the lead on this. And we need that. We need that new young vibrant fresh energy. So Kristen Brianna and Ashley, you're young too. Keep doing what you're doing. We need you all. And we need you to become mobilized. So if you're not a member and you're watching this, become a member of the NAACP. Participate in peaceful protests. Get involved with Black Lives Matter. I understand that Ashley is going to activate the Black Lives Matter chapter here on Island. And we're looking forward to more results. That's what we want. We don't want words. We don't want you carrying a Bible in front of a church, after the tear gas, the pastor, and the protesters. We don't want that. We don't need a visual show. We need actual boots on the ground and results in the White House, results with our laws, results in our communities, and the latest hashtag that we're looking at is defund the police. And I can speak for education. You have defunded education for so long that, and we're still functioning. So certainly, you can defund the police and make sure that we get the results that we need in the communities that are hardest hit. Thank you so much for watching and for participating. Thank you all for being so vocal and for being out there on the front lines in your own way. I love how you encourage each other and all the rest of us. Kristin, where are you going to go to college? I will be attending Spelman College in the fall with a major in environmental science. Right. Environmental policy. What's your major again? Environmental science. We are not surprised. Make us proud as you have always done and continue to do, and then bring some of that energy back home. All right, you've been watching Crossroads and Learning. I'm your host, Keisha King, and we'll be back for more of these conversations that are real and relevant. Until next time, Aloha.