Unmuted: Racial Equality: A Movement, Not A Moment
The question that remains is where do we go from here to ensure this movement is not just a moment? This episode of 'Unmuted' discusses how allyship and accountability are going to be important steps in order for us to move forward as human beings and to dismantle the racism embedded in American society.
Video Transcript
DONOVAN THOMPSON: What do you want to be? Who are we? What are we going to give birth to that's new during this revolution?
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TATIANA PILE: Hello. I'm Tatiana Pile. And today I have a phenomenal group of Black panelists here to talk about the state of Black America. We're going to begin with Alysha P. She a cinematographer and co-host of "The Black Girl Podcast," Ashley Akunna, who's the host and producer of "The Grapevine," Donovan Thompson, who's a panelist and producer of "The Grapevine," and Doyin Richards, best-selling children's author and keynote speaker.
The question that remains is, where do we go from here to ensure this movement is not just a moment?
ASHLEY AKUNNA: So many Black people have things to say, so for us it's, you know, this is not just a moment. This is we have to keep pushing. I don't see that COVID happening and this happening is a coincidence. I think that this change that's happening is something that we have to consciously continue.
We know that a lot of media companies aren't covering the protests anymore. But they're still happening. Every week, there's a new video of someone being mistreated, being killed, being beaten up on camera. We have to continue to keep these stories at the forefront.
DONOVAN THOMPSON: Yeah, I agree with that. I think that Blackness has been identified by other people, white people who have been telling our stories overwhelmingly, but the actual click, click, click, click that has to happen within us to make sure that we get to the polls, to make sure that we're ready to intercede, we have to think about how we move more functionally, as we begin to re-imagine what this looks like for us. I think that it is something that's really, really important to us.
ALYSHA PAMPHILE: Once you're on Front Street, and everyone is watching, and you have the choice to either choose accountability or not, if you chose the latter, you already know what's going to happen. I am also hopeful because our Black creatives are capturing the content as it's happening.
And it's telling a story that will forever be told the way it should be. I can't thank Black people, specifically, enough for creating this content and allowing this content to live and be told in such a beautiful way to assist with telling the stories that's allowing us to propel forward through all of this beautiful chaos.
TATIANA PILE: A lot of the things that we've been doing now, these building blocks that we've placed, we hope that the next generation don't have to struggle to go through the things that we have. So for your kids, you know, like, what do you tell them in preparation for them to live in this new world?
DOYIN RICHARDS: My kids are young, so they're 9 and 7. They have an idea of what's going on. But as black girls, they're going to see it from two sides, the misogynistic standpoint and the racist standpoint. But also this movement can not be successful unless we have good white people on our side to move it forward.
There are so many people who were so just asleep at the wheel when it came to this. I mean, how-- y'all know. How many people didn't even know what Juneteenth was until, like, a few days ago. So often, white people want to be allies on their schedule, on their terms.
But no, it's our turn to speak right now. And you guys are going to be listening to us and how we go about things. And if you want to follow us and make the world a better place, you have to be with us. You can't say you're going to do it this way or do this the white way to do it. Uh-uh, it's our turn now. And you're going to listen to us and how we do it.
TATIANA PILE: I think we can all agree that allyship and accountability are going to be important steps in order for us to move forward as human beings and dismantling all of these social constructs that, honestly, were never put in place for us to begin with. So again, I thank you all for your time in joining me in having these important discussions. Thank you.
ALYSHA PAMPHILE: Thank you so much.
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