 I have the pleasure of introducing a very phenomenal man, someone that is really special, an uplifter, someone that empowers and definitely motivates. Robert Britton from Pierce College, a native of Louisiana, is a publisher, a writer, poet, educator, speaker, business owner, and mentor. Robert holds a bachelor's of arts degree in organizational leadership from Brandon Mann University and is currently pursuing a master's of education. He is a trained facilitator and is dependable, independable strengths. He has formulated and designed half and full day workshops on responsive success and mentoring. He is a program manager at Pierce College in Lakewood, Washington, and a past recipient of the Allen Smith Scholarship Award. Robert is also a graduate of the Social Justice Leadership Institute and serves as a board member for the Lighthouse Storehouse. Robert is often seen telling his story of triumph over adversity and encouraging others to find personal strength through their gifts. He is a husband, a father, and a social justice advocate. Robert's books when leadership matters and no time like the present are available at www.vitalforcebooks.com as well as in this corner for after the presentation. Can you all please join me in welcoming Robert Britton? Good morning. I think I got some sound. Good morning. Thank you so much for joining me, Dominic. I appreciate you. Thank you, Harline College. Dominic for recognizing and seeing a gift in me and asking me to come and speak before you today. And to Doris Martinez and the entire team of individuals who consulted and decided that the voice that I have is a voice that should be heard. Thank you for that opportunity and for this opportunity, but I also want you to know that during this week and beyond you also have a voice that is worthy of being heard. Let it not be mistaken you are great and you have the greatest opportunity before you today to take action because that you believe in. And if you believe in social justice, if you believe in equality, if you believe in the right of every human being to live in a dignified manner, then you have work to do. And today as we continue the legacy of Dr. King, we will implore you to use your gifts to move the needle of progress forward. Again, I thank you, I thank you and I thank you again. I want to begin with a poem and end with a poem in this presentation. Out of my book, No Time Like The Present and this first piece is called Is America For Me? Is America For Me? The Lost Child of Africa 400 years is still an alien in the land of his birth. Is America For Me? The one who lived the American nightmare so that others may live the American dream. Is America For Me? The America whose wars I fought to prove myself a man among men only to meet defeat in the face of victory. Is America For Me? The woman whose mind and body was, who was brutalized by men who did not know she would emerge to become the queen she was created to be. Is America For Me? The man whose dignity that was stripped so that the legacy of greatness could not be passed on is America For Me. The child without a foundation upon which to build his life while exposed to a world that takes life is America For Me. He who is willing to be for her what she could not dare be for herself. The America who she carries the lash of her whip and loves her in spite of herself. Is America Truly For Me? And you may ask how does that question relate to the legacy of Dr. King? You see Dr. King was more than the I Have a Dream speech. Dr. King was more than a pastor. Dr. King was more than an advocate. Dr. King was simply more than a man. But what he did was he used his personal victories and his personal tragedies to build a platform upon which we now stand. When I speak about the tragedies of Dr. King there is one such tragedy we seldom speak about when we talk about his legacy. At the age of 15 Dr. King was a very precocious young man and he had this desire to want to go into town all the time. But on this particular day his parents said Martin we need you to stay home and look after your grandmother and look after your siblings because we have to go and take care of some business. After his parents left and left him in charge his desire to want to go into town was so great that he left home and went into town. And while he was out his grandmother fell down the flight of stairs for her injuries she passed away. That has such a profound impact upon him that he went into depression because he based her dying on his not being there when he was told to be there. And as a result of that depression on the third floor balcony from his home he jumped. He tried to take his own life as a result of the guilt he felt for not being there. But apparently he survived. As so many of you have survived tragedies in your life and you have overcome homelessness, you've overcome poverty, you've overcome people telling you that you couldn't be something, you've overcome so many things. And today you stand in an arena where you can display your greatness. So you too are an overcomer. But the question remains what am I going to do with the victories that I've accomplished, that I've obtained, that I've seen my way through, that I've been led through by others, that I've been mentored through, that I've been coached through. What am I going to do with my tragedy and how can I turn it into triumph? Today I'm tasked with the privilege and the honor of speaking to you on some subjects that are related to the civil rights movement. Capitalism. Capitalism is an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit rather than by the state. So capitalism has always been linked to civil rights and in several important ways, or two in particular, jobs, we don't recognize that or should I say we forget, that the march on Washington was not just a march for people together, it was titled The March for Jobs and Freedom. That was the original title or topic for them going to Washington for jobs, which is an economic piece of our economy that's tied to capitalism. If you control industry, you control the people. You control where they go and how they go. You can control how quickly they get to a higher plateau. And so there is nothing that is by chance in our environment, but it is part of a systemic process and a system that is designed to as it was then, the same as it is now to promote the wealth of the wealthy and to keep those who are considered lower in position and in place. It was also about power. Power is really about economics and when you control power, the feel of power, the flow of power, you control the influence of things. It's like the educational system you are part of. We believe a narrative that we've been taught that is sometimes a false narrative, but what do we want to do with the narrative about who we are as individuals and the collective body? We have to be willing to do for others what they yet not have the courage to do for themselves. To be a social justice advocate, to be a civil rights advocate, to be an advocate for anyone requires us to put something at stake. Requires us to put something on the line. In the real estate market we call we have to put some skin in the game. And so in order for you to put some skin in the game, you have to determine what you're willing to risk. There are things that you see that you encounter in your educational journeys that you take issue with, but you remain silent on. Realize that the civil rights movement move in great part because of students. It is students like you who decide that enough is enough. And like Dr. King, you take action. You put some skin in the game. But what is your issue? What is your cause? What are you willing to fight for? You see because civil rights, social justice, equality, equity, inclusion, those things is not for them to start, it's for me to start. You see social justice doesn't start out there, it starts in here. What activates you? What motivates you? What compels you to do the work that you do? Do you have a purpose? Dr. King had a purpose. Those around him had a purpose. And it is important to know that you cannot fight the fight alone. And why is that important? Because when you do work together, you find commonality. You find common ground that were blacks and whites and all together in the civil rights movement. It was not just Dr. King although he was the symbol of it. You are now the proof that the symbol was real. But the efforts in the fight must continue because you have to align yourself with individuals of like mind. Who you associate with matter. Who you spend your time with matters. The work that you do day in and day out matters. I'll give you a story. Once there was an eagle who got injured and he landed in this field and this farmer found this eagle and he took him home and placed him in the chicken coop. And he nursed this eagle back to health but it took some time. But during the time that it took for the eagle to heal he began to mimic the behavior of the chicken. And as a result when the chickens went out to start plucking and clucking and doing what they do the eagle followed suit because he saw himself as one of them. He identified with them and began to be just like them. And so one day an eagle was flying over and noticed him among the chicken and he flew down close to him and said man what in the world are you doing don't you know who you are. He said yes I do I'm a chicken. And so what he did what he said and so he began to again to start clucking and pecking in the dirt he said look at yourself. Now look at me. I am what you are capable of if you only believe in your gifts. And so the eagle took flight. And the eagle that was once injured is looking at him and saying wow he can fly. He can do things that I have not yet dared to do or I can't remember doing them because I've been divorced from myself for so long. And now the eagle comes back and say what you've seen me do. You do flap your wings. You are greater than what you are right now. Let me show you. And so what happened is that he took a leap of faith and took flight because he now hung around someone that saw above what the possibilities were. When you are in civil rights, when you are doing social justice work you must associate people with people that see a solution and not just see the problem. And when you see the solution now you know what you are capable of doing. Because it requires you to now take action and not be reactionary to the day and the situation. Militarism Militarism is a political orientation of a people and a government to maintain a strong military force and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote its own or its national interests. After King met face to face with militarism because the local state government and the federal government did not mind using their might and their strength to squash him. They did not mind using their military might against civilians who were protesting peacefully for jobs for economic freedom, for the right to vote for the right to exist as human beings and yet there were some in the society that said you are not worthy. But I want to encourage you today to relook at yourself. And when you look at yourself, look at the reflection and not look beyond the reflection to see what's behind you. Because the most important thing to you is what's in front of you, not what's behind you. When you look at yourself what do you see? Do you like it? And more importantly does it like you does your reflection like what you see what it sees? If your reflection does not like you it will not promote you. If your reflection does not promote you it will not exalt you. If your reflection does not satisfy the work that you do, find new work. But one of the things that's really important for us to understand about social justice work in the civil rights era and in today's era is that it requires us to have a healthy dose and a firm sense of self. Because if you don't know who you are someone else will tell you who you are. If you don't know where you're going someone else will lead you to where they think you should be. If you don't become aware of your strength somebody will remind you of how weak you are. So we have to be willing to move because movement creates energy and energy creates synergy. Who are you connected with? Dr. King said, I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world of the revolution we must undergo a radical revolution of values. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered. We must be willing to stand in the gap. Someone sitting next to you may not be as strong as you are. But when you recognize someone's weakness you don't point it out. You help them up. Bring them to your level so that you can do the work together. You see so often we become marginalized by who we think we are self-imposed and limitations. Because someone else has controlled the narrative that we now believe. Who do you know yourself to be? This is a very diverse group. We have to be willing to come into spaces and meet people where they are. I came into a session one time and there was a young Muslim woman in the setting and there was a prayer to be offered and at that moment I stopped everyone in the room and I prayed the Al-Fatihah prayer and what tripped everyone in the room out was that I began to say Bismillahirrahmanirrahim and I recited the Al-Fatihah and there was an Asian woman and because my wife is Khmeri and Chinese and she had never been greeted in a public setting in her own language. And so we have to recognize the people who are in our midst so that we can meet their needs. If you're not meeting people's needs you're not doing the work of social justice. Civil rights requires us to meet people where they are. Social justice requires us to treat people as if they were me. Let me say that again. Social justice requires us to treat people as if they were me. I don't want to be mistreated. So why in the world would I go out and mistreat someone else? We have to be willing to do the work and this work is sacrificial. This work is important and this work requires you to take action. Racism. Racism is an air of superiority that says I'm better than you because of who I say I am. Racism brings on militarism. But militarism brings on complacency when you think you have all the power. But let me tell you something today my friends. You have the power. Not only do you have the power but you are the power. You are the power of this nation. You are the power of your homes. You are the power of your communities. You are. Stop giving away something for free that you've sweated your entire lives for. Stop giving away your dignity because it's what your forefathers died for. Stop giving away your strength stronger than you think you are. Join me in this civil rights movement. Join me in this social justice movement so that we together can accomplish much. I can't do this alone but I need you. And I invite you to join the fight for social equality and social justice. Racism is in place to protect power and privilege. And when that power and that privilege is threatened the systemic roots of fear step in. When position and privilege are threatened people take action to protect what they love. You see it today you saw it 50 years ago 60 years ago you saw it 400 years ago. Let me just draw a parallel. The policies and the mandates and the dictates of Jim Crow are eerily similar to the policies, the programs and the lack of movement in the era of Donald Crow. And so what we find is that we are in some ways moving backwards instead of progressing forward. How can we as a society based on humanity with the desire to serve humanity not serve all of our citizens not serve all of those who come here and want to be here. You see we are a nation of immigrants but we've forgotten our immigration status. We are a nation of immigrants who have forgotten our immigration status. And what that means is that I now see myself as something other than what I was. They've rewritten the script about their identity and that identity informs the actions that they take. Your identity forms the actions that you take. What do you want from this journey? What do you need from this journey? Have you been able to articulate your worth to someone else? You see we're so quick in our society to tell people what I'm not capable of. I'm depressed. I'm this. I'm that and I'm the other. Let's start building ourselves up. One of the most important conversations you'll ever have in your life is the one you have with yourself because your self-talk matters. Your self-talk matters. What you say to yourself informs the actions that you take. As students you are sponges and we have an opportunity to impact humanity. You see the civil rights movement towards humanity. Towards a more humane system of living and being and existing. What do we really want? What do we really really want? Is our educational journey really so that we can get ahead or so that we can get ahead? You see because there is a difference between the I and the we. Dr. King was concerned with the we. If you are concerned with we, we can do some work. If you are concerned with we, we can get into trenches. If you are concerned with we, we can build something. It is quicker and easier for strangers to get together and do meaningful work than it is for people who know one another. And why is that? Because if you know me if you've known me all my life you've known that I've tried several businesses you've known that I've failed at several businesses. You know that I've been into this network marketing and I've been into that thing. And so because you know me only thing you know is my failures also. You don't want to do business with me. You don't want to do work with me because you say Robert all you've done is fail. But a stranger will hear the idea he said man let's get to work. So we need to get out of that sense of familiarity and think we know one another. Are you getting into trenches and doing the work? Are you running the risk of being assaulted because you get into trenches? Yes. Are you running the risk of having your background checked? Yes you are. Are you running the risk of being marginalized? Yes you are. But it is a risk worth taking because humanity is at stake. What does the world require of you? What do you require of yourself? What are your standards for your greatest level of achievement? What do you want? Dr. King is more than a dream. Dr. King is a reality and you are part of that reality. Where do we want to take it? What do we want to do with it? How do we want to shape Highline College? How do we want to shape the surrounding community? How are we going to shape the landscape of politics in our communities? What are we going to stand for? And why? Because you must know your why. If you have no concept of what your why is, someone else can give you one. And that can be so far removed from your original intent. Now when we talk about original intent, it talks about how we intended to do something one way but ended up doing another thing because we were influenced to do so. But when you stand on what you know, when you believe in self, when you have self dignity and you've aligned yourselves with the right people to do the right work at the right time in the right season, you win. And humanity wins. Who among you is willing to do the work? Let me just see a show of hands. Who among you is willing to do social justice work? Amen to that. Every hand is up. So what I want you to do is make a commitment to yourself, to your community, and to your family that you will do something meaningful for and towards humanity. And it could be something as simple as saying hi to someone that you have not said hi to. It could be something as simple as giving someone a dollar when it's your very last. It could be something as simple as speaking against a microaggression that you hear in class and supporting a fellow student. Even though it makes you unpopular, you do the right thing. It gives you the courage to speak truth to power. Social justice is about collectively and individually we have the courage to speak truth to power. And when we fail to do that, the power does its own thing in its own way and in its own time. If you want to change power structures, if you want to change systemic ways of doing things, do the work. That's your challenge. How do I get involved in the work? Again, the civil rights movement was more than Dr. King. Sure, it was Congressman Louis. It was Dick Gregory. It was Fannie Lou Hamer. It was Joan Trump hour. It was all of these people who collectively formalize a process by which we spoke against an atrocity called racism. Called prejudice. Called segregation. Called dehumanization. We spoke against them. And when we became silent it kept moving. And it kept progressing. And it is still in front of us today. And we must now again rise up as Dr. King and those around him rose up to do meaningful work for social justice, for civil rights, for humanity. Because your humanity affects the world. Your humanity affects the world. What do you want to do with it? You may say well I want to write about my experiences but I don't know how to write. And I challenge that thinking because you do know how to write. And I tell you this when I do writing workshops, one of the fundamental things I teach people is that if you learn to speak, you will automatically know how to write. Because if you speak properly, you will write properly. Because the average person writes the way they speak. And so if you have a voice that needs to be heard speak it and write it. Learn to speak, you will learn to write. Dr. King was so prolific at speaking that his writings are now part of the archives of humanity forever. What are you going to say? Who are you going to say it to? One of the things that Dr. King said, he says nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere, and conscientious stupidity. Did you catch that? It says nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. You see Dr. King was really concerned about the content of the words. The impact that the words would have on humanity. What is it that you want to say? And how can you say it in a way that lifts humanity up? We have to be willing to do that work. And when we become protective of job over humanity we lose. And I understand that you have to earn a living. I understand that you have to feed your family. I understand that you've got to pay the bills. But I also understand that work has to be done. And it's not going to be done by me waiting on you to do it. I have to do my part. Are you willing to do your part? You see because the whole idea of capitalism and militarism and harmonizing the factions of racism and bringing things together so that we can accomplish peace, that work is not only hard work, it's dangerous work. Because not everybody wants peace. But you have to strive towards peace. You want harmony in your home when you go home every day. You don't want to go home and be at war with your spouse or with your children every day. You want peace. If you work for peace in your home, let's work for peace outside the front door. Let's work for peace on the curb. Let's work for peace in the community center. Let's work for peace in every encounter that we have with one another. Let's strive for peace. Because that also speaks to the depth of your love of self. How hard are you willing to fight? What are you willing to give? Why are you willing to give it? And is my sacrifice is my sacrifice the best that I can give? You see so often we want to give what does not hurt us. But when you give when it hurts hold now you're on the right path. It's like that person that's exercising. They've got to push that one last one, that one last rep out. Because when you get the pain, when you feel the impact of social injustice now you want to work for justice. But if you have never felt the sting of prejudice, if you have never felt the sting of homelessness, if you have never felt the sting of being an outcast, if you have never felt the sting then you don't know what I know. If you have never walked into prison and then walked out of prison because of some act that you did, if you can't identify you don't know. And so what I want to tell you is that your experience matters to the work that you do. And it informs the work that you do. What do you want? Are you waiting for me to give it to you? Are you waiting for the world to give it to you? Or are you going to go out today and seize your moment? It really boils down to your moment. Because we're all at a different space with different agendas. And if you don't have an agenda, get one. If you don't have an agenda, get one. I've got an agenda. I'm self motivated to do this work. Not because I want to be seen and heard, but because humanity needs to grow beyond what it currently is. I have an agenda. Will the agenda that I'm a part of assist me and help me in my personal endeavors? Of course it will. I'm selfish that way. But so should you be about the work that you do. There's a saying that a man is worthy of his higher. A woman is worthy of her higher. Stop giving your gifts away for free. When I look at the social justice movement, when I look at the civil rights movement that was a price to be paid. And many paid it with their very lives. When we look at the economics of the civil rights movement, that was lots of money came into the organization that Dr. King founded. But you know what? He didn't take any of it for himself. When he died, his wife was poor. When he died, his wife had to get a job. When he died, his children didn't have anything. And so what we find is that the work that you do won't always pay you what you worth. The work that you do won't always pay you what you worth, but you can definitely demand it. And when you start to demand it, the whole idea of equal pay for equal work will begin to make sense to you. Because you've been in that space. You've worn those shoes. And your civil rights moment is now to stand for yourself and to stand for others. Because the journey is bigger than you. The journey is bigger than me. But the journey can never be bigger than us. Collectively, it is about what we do together. And what is it that you desire to do with me? When I speak, I want to inform you. When I speak, I want to touch you. When Dr. King spoke, he touched people and he was more than just a dream. He was a reality that is real today. 50 years ago, he was real. Today, he is real. The legacy is real. What you tie yourself to is real. What you do today matters for tomorrow. And how will you culminate that into a peaceful protest that shows that you're willing to do the work? This coming weekend there is a women's march. There are going to be hundreds of thousands of women. Millions of women around this country marching for equal rights, equal pay, equal status, for just the opportunity to be heard, to be seen, and to be validated. Where is the men's march? Why is it that I always have to see my sisters out there marching for something that's going to benefit us all and I don't see us. You see, Dr. King was really about being the example, putting himself out so that others could see what the possibilities were. What are your possibilities? Are you willing to go out there and march for your daughter, for your wife, for your sister, for your mother, for your granddaughter? Are you willing to get out there and march for them and with them in solidarity? Because their fight is your fight. If we make the excuse that the game is on, we'll never go. If we make the excuse that this is my only day off, we'll never go. If we make the excuse that it's too cold, they'll never go. And what we're really saying to our sisters is that you don't really matter that much to me. That's what we're really saying by default, because our silence among our women is deafening. Where is the voice of the man for the woman? Dr. King spoke to humanity so that everyone can benefit. I challenge each of us today to go out this weekend and support the wounds that bore us. I challenge us to do that, because now we're adding to the conversation, we're adding to the dialogue, and we're becoming activists in an activist moment. This is your opportunity. This is our opportunity. What are we going to do with it? There is an old adage that states, once a mind has been stretched to a new dimension, it could never go back to what it was. And it is my hope that you never go back to what you were yesterday, but that today creates a new beginning for you to recognize what you're capable of doing and becoming on behalf of humanity. And so I ask you this question in the beginning is America for me? And I want to give you an answer, a response that says I too am American. I too am American, and I claim her as mine. I bled to build and defend her sovereignty so that outside powers could not penetrate the mighty structure she was destined to become. I too am American, and I claim her as mine. My hands picked her cotton, belled her hay, and harvested her crops so that she could gain financial and political independence in a world built on domination. I too am American, and I claim her as mine. My body endured the lash of her whip, and my queen endured her sexual abuse so that her ego could be satisfied and her self-righteous pride justified. I too am American, and I claim her as mine for no other people have endured her hardships as I have and no other people were stripped of their dignity, culture, and history as I have. So if you must know I too am American, and I claim her as mine. Thank you very much. Will marches in cities like Seattle, and Portland, and Los Angeles, make a difference? Don't we need marches in Tulsa and Oklahoma City? We do. Yes, we do. We need solidarity everywhere. The best way to build a movement for solidarity is to start where you are, and to do the work you came with the constituents you have. There's a saying that there's five degrees of separation so someone you know knows someone in those red states. You mobilize your fear of influence that can spread to some of those other countries, those other states overhead and cause an over swell of individuals interested in the same work that you're interested in and so you can link up whether it's through social media, whether it's through a phone call, whether it's through whatever means, but make the connections speak your truth where you are and allow the fire that is in you to catch on other places. I was just wondering how would you mention that when you notice other people around you aren't as strong as you, instead of putting on their cloths to lift them up to where you are, what would you do if you made continuous efforts to do so and they kind of reject that and don't want to make that move forward? That would put you in a decision to leave them behind and continue forward yourself or to not leave yourself behind. Excellent point and great question. This is what we have to recognize, not only in civil rights and social justice or even in your personal life, everyone is not meant to go on your journey with you. Not everyone is meant to go on your journey with you because they may not be ready. Sometimes we have to go out and state our claim and then return because then they'll be ready because you have to be the example of what's possible and when they see you in your new life it's going to attract them to you all the more and then you start to back and support you without emailing, without pointing out what you should have done this and you should have done that. Right where they are in that moment, accept them for who they are and then build them up. But don't be afraid to go on your journey first. You're welcome. Hello Robert. Thank you so much for being here today. I actually wanted to ask you a question in regards to the three topics that you spoke about, so happily of militarism and racism. Of course we have a current administration that it's rhetoric I would say is definitely a dance pretty much all of the concepts that you spoke about today in terms of the diversity of humanity being at risk. With the current administration that we have in the United States, how do we keep this momentum of unity when we turn on the news and there's just constant rhetoric of hatred especially coming from those that are in power both in not just monetary power but also monetary power. Excellent question. Thank you for that. One of the things that I suggest is to because we are so inundated with information let's limit our exposure to television. If we can limit our exposure to the amount of negativity that we're hearing because the things that interest affect us we allow inside there's a saying that the only thing that can come out of a man is what's inside of a man and so when we have these images going into our peripheries, when we have these noises coming into our ears those things become embedded in us unless we purge them out and so sometimes we have to have a purging system by which to separate ourselves from the noise so to speak. And so one of the things that really helps is to create a circle of friends that you trust where you can come out and speak your truth in that space to get it out of you. So that you can get it out of you and not harbor resentment, not harbor fear because now you're in a collective body and you can find solidarity among people of like mind. And so one of the things that's really important especially as persons of color is that we find points of solidarity among ourselves so that we can support one another because you're not going to be as strong as you need to be every day. You're going to need somebody to lean on. And when you find somebody to lean on you know that you don't have to carry the load by yourself. And so find those cohorts, those comrades in arms that you can speak your truth to without being jealous by it. And in a little while sometimes, for instance, I'm playing now a small retreat of a southern group of men where the men are just going to get together and have a weekend of solidarity just so we can strategize and talk about our experiences, our issues, our desires, our wants for our community and our families. And how can we build a community around the men that really want to do this work? Get your girl friends together. Have a girls weekend just chill and talk about your stuff, your issues cleanse without the outside noise and then come to a place of being ready to do the work. So something that I noticed with the influence a lot of the time, specifically in my institution, is that the head of it or the views of it, or the public and the people doing this work, whatever, and then people online who kind of try to dispose them will try to figure out if they like, oh, they bought from this company, they support this company, oh, they support this, we should trust them a bit, this thing, the entire thing, the whole situation. Is that, like, is the whole thing exposing someone and trying to find whether they're good or not? Is that, it feels bad, but is it beneficial to be honest, or is it bad because I believe that, and this is personally, I just think that it depends on the motive of an individual, because intent matters. Intent matters. What is your intention for exposing me? You see, and I love the impression that if you know something about me that you consider to be detrimental, let me know, I'll tell it myself. I'm going to be in the honor of telling something that I can tell myself. And so when we become, when we get to the, there are things that I did 50 years ago that someone said, okay, well, I'm going to use that, what was that again? You can't hold my past against me. If I did it, I own it. I don't have to run. You see, right now we're in a political climate where we're surrounded by political powers. Well, we're not willing to speak the truth. We're willing to support a lot rather than support the truth because there is some economic gain in it for us. You see, if the economics of politics takes that, if I'm going to be in politics, whether I go in, I don't care if I go into it, I'm going to come out rich, because it is a system that is built to build up the revenue for the haves so that the haves not have less. And so what we find again, when you find someone willing to expose a movement to all of the good that it does to expose one particular thing to dismantle it, then I question the integrity of that individual who wants to destroy a movement so that they can be seen in the moment. You are bigger than your past. I am bigger than my past. But let me tell you, when you put your efforts in front of you and your passion to drive that message is authentic, don't worry about the next thing, speak your shoes anyway. If someone has something to say, sure, I did it. I own it. This was the context in which it was done. That was my thinking at that time. This is my thinking now. You're not going to derail this movement because humanity demands that it stays alive. Yeah, I'd like to know where you see the future of leadership going in the future of this messed up economy as well as the homeless crisis we have now. And you know that that does not discriminate. We have people of all races out there. I would like to know where you stand on that which you or your agency be willing to help in the fight to end homelessness, to stand up for the values of the homeless person so that they too can gain the success that you have gained in your life. Very fortunate. Thank you for asking that. I believe that I think that we have a responsibility as persons and citizens of civilized society to ensure that those who are less fortunate have equal access to housing, food, clothing, jobs, resources if they desire it. Now I want to point out that not every person wants it. However, if they desire it, it should be available to them and they should not be having a barrier that limits their exposure to it or their access to it. And as a country, we can do a better job. If we can spend billions of dollars to a foreign country, if we can spend billions of dollars on defense, we can spend a billion dollars on the homeless crisis. We can correct a lot of issues but it is not in the best interest of the when we talk about militarism and capitalism, capitalism is at play when we talk about homelessness. If they're not going to make the money, they're not going to do that work. Well that's why persons like you and I come into play. We need to get in front of our elected official and let them know our story. Because if you tell your story, you're going to write a series of stories. And the book is called You Told My Story. There are so many people who are aware you are and aware you've been. You are so far removed from where you were that you're on an upward tip right now. But there is a memory of what used to be or there's even a memory of what was last night. If you tell your story to the right person and get the right action behind you and be willing to be the boss of that movement in this community you'll be smashed. And what does the center say to you? Tipping the scales in favor of the ones that have and less in favor of the ones that don't or may have slightly a little but not quite enough to be. And what are you going to do to begin this fight here at Iowa? I'm going to Olympia on February 1st. I'm standing up for the issues that affect us. I'm going with Pratt. That's basically the housing alliance of King County and I'm going to be standing up for not only the homeless people but you know the formerly homeless people that are now at risk of losing their lives because of the constant rent increases. What I'm afraid of there is if this is not just from white folks this is for all of us. But if they keep continuing to raise rents to the point that the people that can contribute and create voucher programs like section 80 housing programs to keep them off the street, to get them off the street, help them go to school, help them with programs like the women's program up here, whatever else they have. What if they cut that funding because they can no longer afford to contribute? Because their rent may get in the way. This is what I would suggest that you do because this is going to be critical to the work that you do. All this stuff you say? Write it down. Write it and then make it plain. Write it and make it plain. Get it? Anywhere you go. Whenever you're in front of someone who wants to speak your truth tell them the message. Give them the message. But be consistent. Don't say one thing today or something else tomorrow. Develop a message and take that message everywhere you go because you matter. I just was thinking about you spoke a lot about some of the constituencies. I mean both of them are facing and also in the challenges we have in the kind of responses we've got to stand up to for around 50 years now. Part of what I pre-recommended thinking about a lot of this matter movement and a lot of the youth for us to talk about these days is one of the dis-possibilities that they say meaning to look at things with a little different focus than, you know, the King's generation has been a problem that the conversation about the politics of respectability and some of the ways that, you know, like Rosa Parks was the third choice to somebody to be that movement and the first movement was a teenage woman whose father turned out to be an alcoholic and looked at, you know, sorry, we won't keep that bad image. The second was like the woman who got pregnant. She was a 17, you know, sorry, we can't use you as our leader because it gives us the wrong face. And the voices that I've heard a lot, you know, were saying now that like if particularly black liberation struggles kind of wait for the kings and wait for the upstanding fault that has polished members of the community, that's also kind of reinforcing the excuses that we're going to lay out in Georgia, right? And especially with the centrality of like mass incarceration and criminalization as a way to have an excuse for racism that's going to form. So, and then a lot of the thing that I'm here up here with was like back in that struggle you know, King himself said basically they're trying to get the kind of liberals in the north from the Kennedy administration to like stand up against like the local power structure in the old west, the mental works in the south and so many of the issues we're dealing with now, with policing the fuck we're saying capitalism, militarism, those are national issues and I don't know who we, and then the Kennedy administration is in their time, right? We don't have an outside power that we can call in against it but the power is up. So I was just curious with some of your, I mean I know it's like there's no easy answer for that, but I was just curious with what you've been obsessed with about the politics of the community that you also thought about, I mean if you also haven't even said to show about the, that, that difference of focus if you, like, how that might change things up to not play into that kind of speculative game. If we continue to wait for the perfect person to come in and lead the fight we'll never get there. Everyone has a fault everyone is broken, everyone comes from a place of brokenness but we have to be committed to healing one another first and when we get to the point where there is an old legal spirit again that said that he looked beyond my fault to see my need if we begin to look beyond the faults of individuals and accept the good that they do in the moment we can put all that other rhetoric behind. The other thing that's really important about what you're saying is that I want you to kind of consider this as an analogy the lenses, I'm putting on last now, so the lenses you put on you wear dictate what you see and how clearly you see them. What are the lenses you're putting on? Are we wearing the lens of hate today? Are we wearing the lens of discord? Are we wearing the lens of discontinuity? Are we wearing the lens of strongly? Are we wearing the lens of hope? Are we wearing the lens of love? Because the lens you wear in the moment dictates how clearly you see the issues. Look at that, look at something really, alright? I have a question about, you mentioned capitalism, not the definition of civil rights and stuff, but there's different forms of government so is there one that measures well with civil rights in the sense of like it's from the law or are none of them perfect and do you have to create to the people? I don't think you have to create anything new. Just work on fixing what's wrong with what's already in existence. Government is done with government. Government is a machine, a systematic machine that is designed. There's a thing called original intent. Now the original intent based on constitution was that all men are created equal and that every man has the right to like living in a suit of happiness. That's a framework but the framework was broken and all of these other things began to become center stage so to speak and so we can go back to the framework and really reconstitute ourselves to doing what's right as opposed to doing what's expedient. We'll benefit humanity all over the world because what I think we do greatly is we mess things up. We do a great job of messing things up and then we want someone to come behind us and clean up but if we want to do something meaningful today in our economy, in our environment, take out your voice. Take your action that you can take and whoever wants to come along for the journey and if no one wants to come, go by yourself. Whether these go, make your own. Take your stand and make your world know who you are because you deserve to be seen and heard. Sure I have, but at least some are all right and show them our side of the army. Yes, you're definitely right and that thing was not exclusive to only work with individuals who believe that you believe who see as you see, who think as you think. But now it becomes important that you develop the means by which to articulate your position in such a way that does not threaten their position. But give them the opportunity to change their mind to see your truth as being valid. You see the thing that separates us in humanity is that we don't see one another as valid. We don't validate one of those positions but if your position is just as valid as mine, let's do something. That may be some nuances to what you do but not necessarily debate. You know I would encourage you to look at some of the debates between Anthony Buckley and James Baldwin. Look at that debate James Baldwin and Anthony Buckley. Man I'd say you will be amazed at the way that these two gentlemen are able to articulate their positions 50 years ago and really understand the depth and the magnitude of the issue and yet be willing to do a debate in a stylized manner by which you're educating those who believe that you believe and bring in those who don't. That'll be very good. You have the cost for this. Family out, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. It has been my honor and my pleasure to stand before you. To stand as a comrade in arms, to fight for social justice, to fight for civil rights, to fight on behalf of students and their desire to want more and their desire to change humanity one person at a time. Thank you very much.