I would argue that most of white America doesn't have a demographic watering hole where they can find hope.Īnd there are reasons for that. I crisscrossed the country, having closed-door conversations, and there was this idea of only being handed hope, versus finding it internally. One of the things I’ve found surprising in my research on American identity is how self-worth, or the lack of it, prevents people from being civically engaged. And 74 million people said, "I want that." You've now got four years of bigoted, xenophobic, racist, misogynistic, hateful, spiteful, egotistical, narcissistic evidence. Even the “water is wet” studies are still hard to read. I don't think any of us were actually surprised by the more than 74 million. They would avert their eyes from brutality, so I'm not surprised by how many voted for President Trump. When I was doing research for my book, I talked with plenty of white women who prioritized comfort over justice. I think Black people certainly know America better than most white people do. I think Black people know America better than she knows herself. Yes, and we have the architecture to make those changes quickly.Īnd I will say that, to this question of hope, a lot of my perspective has to do with the fact that I'm Black. If the politicians don't work for us, we fire them and hire new ones. If the government doesn't work for us, then we change it. Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." If the institutions don't work for us, then we replace them. I think often of that line in the Declaration of Independence, which is actually emblazoned on the wall at the National Museum of African American History and Culture - what we affectionately refer to as the "Blacksonian" - a line that says, “All men are created equal. For example, the Constitution actually gives us tremendous flexibility to make structural changes. Speaking of looking to the past, I’m increasingly hopeful by how many people are taking a fresh look at how and why the country operates the way it does. In moments when I'm feeling frustrated, I look to those folks who did it before to remind me that we can do it again. But we've been in perilous times before, and we've abolished slavery.
I'm a real evangelist for what I call “disciplined hope,” hope that is informed by reality, and clear-eyed on how much we've accomplished in the past. In your podcast last month, you asked Nikki Giovanni about whether she's hopeful, and I'd like to direct that back to you. I’ve found language to be so painfully futile these days. I just had a birthday, so I've been taking stock of things and feeling gratitude for my loved ones, and for breathing, quite frankly. Jenna Arnold: How are you? How’s your heart doing?īrittany Packnett Cunningham: I appreciate that question. Over two conversations last month, they reflected on the 2020 election and a future for America. To celebrate the show’s launch, she spoke with Jenna Arnold, a national organizer of the 2017 Women’s March and former elementary-school teacher herself, whose new book, Raising Our Hands, invites white folks into anti-racist work. On the weekly podcast, Packnett Cunningham - a Ferguson Uprising activist, cable-news contributor, and former member of President Barack Obama’s policing task force - hosts a “who’s who” of intersectional feminist thought leaders, with guests ranging from activist LaTosha Brown to journalist Rebecca Traister. It’s to the future, and you have to keep your eyes on the prize.” It’s not to these people who are trying to hurt you. The poet's answer: “Your responsibility is to your dreams. They talked of racial justice and contemporary Judas figures, before Packnett Cunningham, a former third-grade teacher, asked Giovanni what she’d tell young children today.
Last month on Undistracted, the new half-hour podcast from Brittany Packnett Cunningham, the activist interviewed poet Nikki Giovanni for a Thanksgiving Day episode.
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