Description

What do you do when someone tells you "just get over it" when you bring up slavery and equal rights? How do you feel, and even further -  how do you respond to such statements? This week, Dr. Venus shares tangible facts and language around the history of slavery, protests, and looting that you can use to stay articulate and informed in the face of ignorance. She starts in 1619 and goes through significant yet under-reported events such as the Tulsa Race Riots and the Rosewood Florida Massacre. Dr. Venus also brings up the importance of voting and drives home the point that your voice matters now more than ever before. Let's talk about it. 

Key Takeaways: 

[5:50] Dr. Venus begins in 1619, when the slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia. 

• In 1773, we had the first riot and looting protest that cost money for the colonies, known today as the Boston Tea Party. 
• President Abraham Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863. This wasn't an altruistic action about freeing the slaves, but more about taking away the South's money and trashing their economy. 

[10:53] Middle America thinks it's always us, and it's not. It's just the way America recounts History and shares a certain side of an event without exposing the others. During the New York Draft Riots in 1863, many African Americans were the targets and were injured and killed. 

[12:02] The 13th Amendment was in 1865, and that is when slavery was abolished. 1865-1877 was the Reconstruction, when America had a chance of leveling the field, but blew it.

• The 14th Amendment in 1868 guaranteed citizenship of former slaves, so they could live in America without working for free. 
• The 15th Amendment in 1870 guaranteed male slaves to right, and fast forward to 1994 when Bill Clinton passed the Three-Strikes Bill, which imposed a mandatory life sentence for persons convicted of a felony who had been previously convicted of two or more violent crimes or serious felonies.

[15:55] Inside of Reconstruction we had Jim Crow from 1865-1968 a collection of laws legitimizing racial segregation created to keep us down. During this time we also had minstrel performances mocking us, and lynchings, tar and featherings, and much more violence.

[19:10] Two extremely violent events, The 1921 Tulsa Race Riots and Rosewood Florida Massacre in 1923, both resulted in the injury and death of many African Americans, yet these events are not widely taught in schools or covered in mainstream history.

[24:30] When people said their father fought and died for this country, you can say yours did too, in both World Wars. Many Black men fought on both sides of the World Wars.

[26:48] In 1963, the bombing at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham killed 4 little girls and injured others.

• In 1964 we saw Lyndon B. Johnson found the Civil Rights Act of 1964, including the outlaw of employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
• On "Bloody Sunday" in Alabama of March 1965 - local police brutally attacked civil rights marchers. There was no recourse, but we kept marching peacefully. That separation would not let people unify, and that is what Dr. King was trying to work on.

[31:03] In April 1968, MLK Jr. was assassinated on the balcony of his hotel room in Memphis, TN. The Fair Housing Act also falls into place, which is very important because purchasing homes and real estate is a large portion of gaining wealth in America.

[35:07] It's the vote that matters, and you want to have everyone within your reach know how important it is to vote.

Quotes

• "When they want to talk about us being violent, you want to say 'have you looked at your history? How many riots have you started'?" 
• "It's not that I'm violent, It's that I'm angry. And I have a right to be." 
• "Do you know how many black men do not get to vote because they have a felony?" 
• "If you don't have a vote, you don't have a voice." 
• "We've always been fighting in this country for this country, even when the country wasn't fighting for us." 
• "You can be emotional and angry, but you can also be articulate."

Mentioned: 

Dr. Venus Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram 

"Hot Mess Millionaire" Amazon Series 

Free Gift When You Join The Truth Tribe

The Black Woman Millionaire Hot Mess Edition 

Join the conversation! Hot Mess Millionaire Facebook Group 

Blacks In The Revolutionary War

Tulsa Race Riots

Rosewood Massacre

Black Women & Sexual Assault

Civil Rights Time Line

The 13th By Ava DuVernay (and on Netflix)

Rosewood Movie by John Singleton  

Snoop Dogg Voting For the First Time  

Trevor Breaks Down Reparations & White Privilege