Running for Office as a Black Woman

All right, you're tuned in to the Black Conversion Show on 92.7 FM WMDX.

It is your girl, Brandi Grayson, your hostess with the most is, I don't know why I always

say that, but I love saying that, okay?

So you're tuned in to the Black Conversion Show and just for my new folks who are listening,

the Black Conversion Show, we center on Black issues, Black topics, Black people, Black

analysis, and local news.

And today you will be hearing me in one of my guests, Maya Pearson, who's running for

state assembly.

So we're really excited.

You'll also hear conversations regarding Black experience around LGBTQIA and the movement

and the, I guess the challenges we have sometimes with joining forces, right, you 19.

And I also understand it to be issue with understanding cultural language and how we communicate

differently.

So we'll talk about that.

We'll talk about how the movement is currently, you know, being led by white men, which causes

a whole different complications for women period, whether they identify as LGBTQIA or other.

But that's a topic that I always like to talk about because there's so much we all need

to learn, including myself.

So we're going to be sipping on some tea around that.

And then later on, we're going to be joined by Dana Pelabon, who's running for Dana County

Executive.

I'm super excited.

I don't know if you guys know Dana, but she'll be here to tell you more about who she is

and what she represents.

But she has about 30 years of experience and I'll let her go into that.

So you want to stay listening because we have a lot going on.

So I'll let my girl Maya Pearson tell you a little bit about herself.

What I do know about Maya is that she's currently sits on the school board and I think it's

your second term, right?

It is.

So go ahead, Maya.

Tell us what you're doing, who you are and why you so dope.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hey, everyone.

My name is Maya Pearson and I am a resident of Madison.

I was born and raised.

I currently sit on the Madison Board of Education.

This is my second term.

I was re-elected in April.

Congratulations again.

Thank you.

And I was re-appointed as the vice president of our board.

So what does it mean, Maya, to be the vice president of a school board?

So what that means is I support the president, which is Michelle Nichols.

She was elected again to be president.

Oh, okay.

Michelle, shout out to her.

Also a black woman.

Yeah.

That's okay.

And so I assist with Michelle and then, you know, if she's not able to conduct a meeting,

I conduct the meetings.

And then I just kind of work with all the different board members in my colleagues.

So nice.

Tell us what you're, okay, so you're running for the state assembly.

You sit on the school board.

Now are you able to hold both of those positions when you're elected?

I am.

So the assembly position is a partisan position.

Okay.

So you have to elect either being a Republican or a Democrat or an independent school board

is non-partisan.

Of course, we want our school boards to be non-partisan.

Do we?

Non-disgusting.

Do we?

And why do we?

Why?

We do.

Why?

I think because it allows for folks to not have agendas or certain agendas that

are in party lines, though, because everyone runs and they have an agenda.

That is true.

That is true.

But it shouldn't be defined by the party lines, if that makes sense.

Okay.

We're just going to go with that because, you know, I mean, I consider myself a Democrat.

Right.

I consider myself a very progressive Democrat.

Okay.

However, you know, when I show up, I'm showing up for all the children of Madison, all the

families of Madison.

Okay.

And so if you have kind of more of a partisan kind of view, it hinders.

Work that could be done for everybody, if that makes sense.

It doesn't.

Because we're going to talk more about that.

You're tuned in to 92.7 FM WM DX listening to the Black Convergence Show, me Brandy Grayson

and my host Maya.

So Maya, let's get back to the partisan just real quick.

I don't know.

I don't mean to derail you, but like when we talk about being non-partisan, it just bothers

me a little bit because I just don't believe people can be non-partisan.

I don't believe that you could sit in a space and not allow your opinions, your agenda,

your personal experience not to influence how you move in that seat.

I believe the only folks that have that capability are children.

Because they're so like, they're just so pure, they would say in their very honest, very

honest, very, they don't have, they haven't been a joke to read it yet.

So how do you practice being non-partisan in a school district that's partisan?

Oh, guys, I can only speak for myself.

Right, right.

And so what I would say is for me, I tried to listen, I tried to collaborate across whatever.

And I tried to include people into the conversation.

So including people into debates or include opinions as much as possible to help inform me.

So we all come with our own lenses and we all come with our own quote unquote biases.

Absolutely.

But I think what's important is that we check ourselves, especially if we are trying to

do good bye for everybody.

That's good.

So if I ever run for school district, just know that I will not be checking my, my, my

biases.

I am always for the people, by the people unapologetically black, centering the black

needs of black voices.

And I say that, and I mean that, and that's because in the world and specifically in local

Madison, Wisconsin, we, in order for our people to be seen, acknowledge which all humans

require regardless of class, race or whatever, I, I believe that we need people who say it

unapologetically because we live in a system of politics that basically tell us if we are

centering black people, then we're automatically anti white somehow, right?

And that other races, other races and cultures, they get to center their culture, they get

to say, I'm mong, I'm here representing mong people, mong needs, and no one bats an

eye.

And as soon as someone says, I'm centering black people, black, this, black, that, we say

Beyonce is a beautiful black woman.

We're just going to continue to rock her country music and she'd be like, no, no way.

You know what I mean?

So I think it's, and I think it's imperative for us to have folks that stand up and say

it unapologetically.

And not all people, right?

I think I'm created to do that and I, I'll gladly take that, that torch.

But no, if I run for office, y'all know what I'm there for.

Okay.

No, I mean, I think that we, I mean, honestly, like as a black woman who grew up in our

schools, you did too.

Yes, I did.

I did.

And UW Madison.

Exactly.

So we know, we know what it looked like and we know what it looks like, right?

And you know, as a mother of teenagers who are black, my mom also went through with

your mom.

Yeah.

You know, you know, you know that.

I know that.

So I want to just make it clear that my appearance sits on the MMSD school board and she does

represent all children, all families.

And I'm just speaking specifically from specifically from my stance point.

So, and I, what I like about you the most, Maya is that, is that you say what you mean,

you mean what you say, and that you're able to honor that, right?

Absolutely.

I've had some difficult conversations with you and other board members because of the positions

I stand on, right?

So when you represent all families, that means that you can't make decisions specifically

for one group of folks, but you can make decisions that I would just say that are based in equity.

Absolutely.

And then that sometimes is difficult.

So I really appreciate your ability and your skill to do that because I'm not very skilled

at that.

So thank you for.

We all grow.

We all grow.

Maybe I will.

Maybe I won't.

Well, I appreciate that about you.

So also, let's just be back to your campaign on the state assembly and running for, and

what is the state assembly?

What does that represent?

So the state assembly is a legislators who work in a capital, okay?

And so you think of people like Francesca Hong, the people like that, and they are the

ones who are starting the process as far as like bringing laws and legislation, and then

it goes through a process of how they get approved.

And so each state rep has their own district area.

And so I'm running for the district 78, which I call the 78th collective.

Okay.

Collective.

Which is a fairly new district.

It split the 77th in half or almost half in a small portion of Southside as part of

it.

Southside of Madison.

Wisconsin.

Okay.

Madison, Wisconsin.

And then far east side.

A part of that.

Madison.

And then entire city of Manona.

Wow.

Yeah.

Blooming Grove.

Wow.

And then the northern part of McFarlane.

That's in a little bit of Pittsburgh.

So the northern part of McFarlane, is that where black and brown people live or no?

So from my understanding, yes, there are.

And the reason why is because I used to, I used to drive for YWCA, and I used to take people

home around there.

Oh, that's awesome.

So you have a small portion of McFarlane with black and brown people, if y'all live

over there, check out Maya out.

You also have a small portion of Fishburg and Manona, which is by Southtown.

You have that area, the whole entire city of Manona.

Okay.

This is in the east side and parts of the South side.

Yep.

Oh, that's a collective for real.

Who did that?

Okay.

We'll talk about that later.

Okay.

So who is your incumbent?

So the incumbent so happens to be representative stops.

Okay.

And the comment is someone who already has that seat.

All right.

And I'm going to get a little messy here because I'm messy B. Call me messy B. So and again,

you'll listen to a black conversion show or 92.7 FM.

Maya Pearson is running for state assembly district 78.

She's calling it 78 collective.

Now messy time.

Why are you running for the seat against her?

And she's been there for a while.

How long has she held this seat?

I think since 2018.

Oh, Lord, Lord, Lord.

Okay.

Go ahead.

So actually, I will correct you.

I'm not running against her.

Okay.

You're not.

And so she's considered the incumbent in the district because she so happens to live

in the district still.

Okay.

So the district is about like 75, almost 80% new to her.

Okay.

So it truly is a new district.

Okay.

It's not her complete district based.

Okay.

So even though she's considered the incumbent, it truly is a new district.

Okay.

So for me, the decision of running had to do with the fact that public education is not

funded by the state.

Okay.

In the ways that it needs to be.

Okay.

As we have been building our budget and we it's no secret that we have to go to referendum

for the school district.

Okay.

And building that budget, I was like, the state really needs to give us money.

Who is talking about these things at the state?

And I do.

I mean, I will give credit.

There has been conversations about school funding, but it has been cut and have every

time by our state legislature, you know, is that not part of her, her, her platform

education?

We don't have to check her.

Well, you just have to check her out.

I won't speak on that.

Okay.

Yeah.

So I'm going to speak on it.

I don't think it is.

So if you're into education, if you're into the things that is important for your children

as it relates to funding and resources, I'm going to ask that you do vote for my

appearance.

Now I'm not a kind of, I'm not the type of person that is going to dismiss the work

of Sheila Stubbs or anyone that's in the state assembly, but I also just want to recognize

when there's time for newness, sometimes it's necessary, the patch to torch.

So continue to listen because there's more tea.

We have Dana, Dana, Pelabon in the office in the studio, not the office.

We'll be back in a jiff.

All right, now you are tuned into the black conversion show on 92.7 FM WMDX straight out

of Madison, Wisconsin, chilling downtown off a state street right across from the overture

center.

It is so nice outside.

I'm so happy for you to join me today.

I am Brandi Grayson, the hostess with the most is I am the CEO and founder of Irvin triage

and I use this station in this time, not I use this station, but my time on the air with

you to express my personal opinions, some found it, some not who knows.

But also the purpose of our show is to center black needs, black experiences and black

experiences within our local area, Madison in a Dane County area.

So on our show, you'll feel uncomfortable sometimes.

So I welcome you to continue listening and get uncomfortable.

And at any moment where you feel like I can't stand her, I got you exactly where I need

you to be.

So continue to listen.

Today in the studio, I have Dana, Pelabon, she is running for Dane County Executive Board.

So exciting.

I also have my of Pearson in the house.

She is running for state assembly district 78.

She currently sits on the Madison School District Board, two powerful black women in our

community doing amazing work.

Some of it not, you know, given the support, the love that it should be.

But I'm here to offer some space for that.

So Dana, I'm going to ask you to just jump on in and tell us a little bit about your

platform and why you decide to run for county exec.

I mean, that's a huge job.

It is a huge job.

But I have the experience to be able to do that job very well.

So my name is Dana Pelabon for those who do not know me.

My day job are things like I am the executive director of the rape crisis center.

Now known as RCC Sexual Violence Resource Center.

I do theater here in town.

You recently saw me in the forward production of Clides.

I've been doing theater here for the last 20 years and have built a business doing that.

I owned, co owned a music venue here, the frequency that closed back in 2018.

So I've been a part of our community for a little over 30 years now a long time and

you were on the board, right?

I was on a day in county board until April of this year.

I did not run for re-election because I wanted to leave space to give the weight and

gravity that is needed to be able to talk through what the county executive does and

the race to make sure that everybody knows what they're voting for, why they're voting

for it and choosing the best candidate for this position.

I, of course, am biased, right?

So if you know me, you know I'm very biased and I honor my biases.

So I am biased towards Dana, Pelobon.

So Dana, tell us why you're running.

So as a part of me being here for the last 30 years, I have an extensive executive experience.

So I've been the executive director here at RCC.

I've been with them for about five years this year.

More than I was a director of housing and operations for porch light.

And previous to that, I have spent about 17 years also in housing as marketing director,

regional supervisor, property supervisor.

I have managed hundreds of people.

I have done budgets.

I have prepared strategic visions.

I have been on boards.

I was on the days board domestic abuse intervention services when we built the shelter for full

transparency.

I am on the urban triage board.

That's my board.

Okay.

Bias.

That's right.

And I am also on free-to-minks board world builders, which is a national organization

and re-raise a million dollars a year every year for Heifer International.

Oh, nice.

So, you know, I have a lot of experience being an executive and the biggest misconception

about this position in particular is that it is a legislative position and it's not.

Essentially, what the county executive does is manage everything.

Yes.

They manage people.

They manage budgets.

They manage priorities and strategic vision.

Now, do they have to be aware of legislation?

Absolutely.

Everyone should be aware of that when they are in these positions, but that's not the job.

And as far as the job goes, the reason why I am running is because I have been deeply

embedded in understanding these systems and moving these systems towards more equitable

spaces, whether that be creating programs.

I created a program in my 20s that is still running now called the Second Chance Project.

Oh, that was you.

That was me.

Girl, you know how many people benefit off that program?

Absolutely.

That's amazing.

Absolutely.

And that was just me randomly in my 20s watching Dateline and saying, here is a problem

that I'm seeing where my single mothers are unable to get housing.

It's pretty dope, Dana.

Yeah.

So how do we make this happen?

And part of that is building coalitions, which I do a lot in a lot of different spaces.

Because I run a point of service agency for our county, I'm very well aware of how the

county moves and processes through things.

So me walking into a county executive position, there is not a learning curve.

There is a small learning curve because anytime somebody is walking into something new,

you do have to learn things.

But as far as how to work with the sheriff's office, how to work with the Department of

Human Services, how to integrate ideas and work into the DA's office.

These are all spaces that I work in every day.

These are all people that I have already built relationships with and have come to compromises,

coalition building, relationship management through tough conversations.

So I believe that I am the best person for this position, not just because I have the

background, but I have the temperament.

And I have the relationships built in the community to be able to coalesce us to move

towards the solutions that we already know exist.

We know the solutions that are needed in our county.

And we know it works.

Absolutely.

And I think what's so important is the nonpartisan that my, I just keep bringing up the nonpartisan,

you know, because I'm so nonpartisan, but I keep bringing up that and I keep thinking

about you guys and who you are and what you represent.

So I often address people by their race and I know that irritates some people and it might

even irritate you.

But what I love about the both of you is that you stand on integrity value and representing

a collective, right?

And even though I refer to you as a black strong woman and a black woman and your dope,

when you go into meetings, you're able to separate out your race and prioritize what's

needed for the whole as it relates to equity, fairness and fair allocation of resources.

I mean, that's what I've experienced when I've been in the rooms with you guys.

And sometimes I've been like, I don't like it because I, you know, I'm not, I'm biased,

you know, however, I think that's why I'm not into politics.

And if I run for politics, y'all know what it is.

But you guys though, you are folks who have your ears to the ground.

So you're not separated from the community.

And oftentimes we have people running for offices that have no clue.

I can go back with Maya.

She's been, her family's been here for years.

My mama know her mama.

I could go back with years with you.

My mama know you and your family.

And there's a sense of a deeper rooted community.

And that's how it is for a lot of folks in Madison as it relates to the both of you.

And I really, really appreciate that.

And for anyone who's running for office, that's going to represent the people, right?

Quote unquote, the people.

And then you have to be connected to set people because how are you making a collective

decisions and aligning your agenda if you're not?

So that's my take, y'all, okay?

That's my take.

And coming to one community event does not mean that you are connected to us as a people.

That's right.

And don't be come and take in pictures.

I dislike when folks do that.

But anyway, you're tuned into the black conversion show.

We have Dana Pelabon in the house running for county exec.

We have Maya Pearson running for state assembly.

I'll be back.

You don't want to miss the tea.

Leave your worries and troubles behind.

Seem alike, sure.

This song is so smooth, you're tuned in to black conversion show on 92.7 FMWMDX.

You're listening to your girl, Brandy Grayson, your favorite girl, your favorite hostess.

I mean, how could you not like me?

So you can, you can not like me.

I mean, you can, but then it doesn't even make sense.

So you might as well like me.

So anyway, in the house, we have Maya Pearson and Dana Pelabon running for office.

And they've just been talking about some of their platforms and reasons why they're running.

And I want to ask Maya a question.

So you've ran a couple of times.

I mean, you both have for office, different office positions.

I'm really not good at.

What do you, do you, do you call it office positions?

Is it a elected position, elected position, okay, elected positions, you know, finding

the right terminology?

So you've run for a number of elected positions.

Can you tell us what has been the most challenging in Madison to lead your campaign?

What has been the, not the challenging, because there's a lot of challenges, but what has

been the most traumatic, what's the most traumatic, yeah, a part of running.

A campaign and running for office.

I know, I mean, I ran for one office and I cried and it was, it was tough.

So tell me, tell me what it looks like for you.

Yeah, so I ran my first election in, or first campaign in 2020.

It was right before the pandemic for school board.

There was a three way, three people that were in it.

I did lose that election.

And I think for that in particular, it was, I would say, I worked really, really hard.

I was proud of that campaign.

I was proud of the people who were able to come out and support me.

And I think it was not winning that kind of felt like what happened, why did it happen?

And then also just trying to like conceptualize the support that people.

The part was losing.

Yeah, when you had the support, when you thought you had the support of folks, right?

And so that part was like, huh, I thought people supported me.

And I was like, huh, I thought I was going to create a job.

And but what I realized is that, you know, the most important thing is constantly

being able to connect with people, no matter what.

Unfortunately, COVID did make it really difficult to do that.

One, because I was respecting the fact that people were dying.

Yeah.

And I did not want to, you know, make any harm on anyone or on myself.

Yeah.

So I would say fast forward to the second election, which was my first term on a school board.

I actually ran unopposed.

So what I realized in that was that people did support me, because no one ran against me.

All right, at least I hope that's the reason why.

Or nobody wanted that role.

Or no one wanted that role, right?

But I would say like just running for office as a black woman in a city that is not majority

people like you can come with some difficulties.

You saw a gentle.

It could come with some difficulties running on a, running, like, you can't wait.

When being black and white Madison, where is the number one place to live if you're white

and the worst if you're black?

You know, I could come with some difficulties.

So how about you, Dana?

What's the most traumatic experience?

You know, I'm not even going to say the most traumatic in your, all your campaigns for,

right now, running for county exec.

It's a huge role.

And there's a few of you guys that are rolling, running, I'm not going to name the other

ones, because I'm biased.

They don't matter.

You're winning.

So, but for you, what has been the most traumatic experience so far?

So actually, the most traumatic experience happened this week.

I don't know.

I know.

I know.

So, you know, part and parcel of being a black woman that says words and those words have

truth to power.

That means that you are going to get people that will defame you, come at you for a variety

of different things wrapped up in racism and homophobia because I am a queer woman in

addition to being a black woman.

So, you know, on a daily basis, my page has people who say homophobic things, who say

racist things, who question whether or not I'm black.

I mean, you are kind of like, I mean, also everybody in New Orleans looks like me, which

is where my family is from, right?

You know, understanding that white folks actually don't get to tell people what it is at their

color.

That's right.

And this week was a little more traumatic because there was someone who left some not great

comments on my page that insinuated that I should be harmed and then started harassing

my work.

And so they escalated their behavior outside of online to real life.

And I will say at the moment, you know, I actually happened to be out of town learning

about another party that's coming up called the Working Families Party.

And my staff was calling me scared and they didn't know what to do.

And normally, you know, when I am in spaces, I don't engage law enforcement unless I have

to.

Yeah.

But I wasn't in that space.

And so law enforcement was engaged.

Nothing did happen to this person because clearly there's there's something else that

is working for them that is not particularly healthy.

And you know, the there were a couple of layers of trauma was the trauma of me not being

able to keep the people that I care about, which are my colleagues and my staff safe.

The trauma of understanding that me being in this public eye means that there are people

that are invested in harming me.

And that's a that's a daily thing.

And then, you know, my own personal safety and then how it is that I feel about what is

happening in our services.

So the first night, literally, I sat up all night thinking about what are the the points

in the system that we're failing and you know, we've been working with other victim service

agencies to talk about gaps in our system.

So I have that on my phone because everything is on Google Drive and I am up all night

looking at things.

So I was going through my my gap list.

Okay.

So this is where this gap is.

This is why this is happening here.

What is it that we can do to fill this gap?

What does that look like?

What agencies are involved?

What does it mean to be holistic?

Yeah.

And then the next day, I actually felt really bad because the trauma of it all hit my body.

Yeah.

I lost a couple of days of work just because it was hard to focus and concentrate.

My staff lost time to be able to support survivors in the way that they needed to because, you

know, again, people are invested in making sure that black women in particular don't succeed.

And that's, that's the one trauma.

The other trauma is this idea that we do not have agency in our community to pick our

leadership and that just because someone is in leadership or has been in leadership,

that that is a foregone conclusion that they get the next thing.

Yeah.

That part.

And so, you know, this is something that both I have dealt with, Maya has dealt with.

I know a brandy when you ran that something that you dealt with, that, you know, we don't

get a seat at the table and I don't necessarily need a seat at your table.

Right.

But what I do want to make sure of is that if there is a seat, did I get the ability to

sit there with the same opportunity and opportunity and just, yeah, I would say opportunity

and Madison, I would say, I can't remember as a democratic party or a democrat or dim something

and they control like the data and they control, you know, who does what and, and oftentimes,

they may say, I know you guys can't speak on this, but they do things that are anti-black

in a lot of ways.

They do things and they discourage black people and black women and others for running

because if there's an incumbent that they support or think should already be, have access

to that seat or whatever that is and it's, and it's pretty disappointing that we as

Democrats, I don't even like to call myself a Democrat because sometimes I'm progressive,

sometimes I'm moderate, sometimes I hate the whole system.

So, but I want to just acknowledge that the system itself is not set up for equity.

So any time that we get people that's willing to push the envelope, come with innovation,

come with new approaches, it really is important that we sit down and hear them and engage

in conversations that just allow us to grow because sometimes we get used to doing the

same old same old and not doing anything, right, and nothing happens and we're wondering

why nothing's changed because you keep doing the same thing.

I think they call that insanity.

You are listening to the Black Convergence Show on 92.7 FM, which are girl Brandi Grayson,

the hostess with the mostest.

And Maya, you didn't mention that the trauma that you've experienced is really related to

like not feeling supported, losing your first race and but feeling like you were able to

bounce back.

I would have heard you say Dana is, hey, just being black and running for this level of

elected position is traumatic.

You've got control, you've been hate, you've been stalked, your staff are in danger.

While you're out there supporting folks of domestic violence and other situations, now

you have to figure out how to protect yourself.

There's other gaps in services.

And I want to say that as a woman and all women, regardless of class and race, when it's

time for us to seek support, protection, our systems actually don't aren't equipped,

right?

So if you have a stalker, if you have a harasser, they literally have to cause physical harm

to you before anything can be done, right?

And usually it's too late.

And if you defend yourself and you do it outside or do it in a way that's not befitting

to others, you can end up in jail.

We had a recent case a few months ago of a woman, I can't remember if she stabbed or shot,

she might have shot him.

I wasn't sure, but she sits now in Dane County, I don't know the details of their interaction,

but I know that the situation is very familiar.

So I just want to say this is that as a people known as Black, the level of trauma and challenges

that we must endure to do anything, to speak up, to take on leadership is beyond, I don't

have a word for it.

It's beyond dehumanizing the things that's thrown in our way as Dana just described

and how it removes us from the actual work.

Like I have myself representing a nonprofit organization, it's been a lot of time managing

my staff, programs, contract management and all that, and then I often have to be taken

away from the work to deal with false allegations, you know, and mostly from white people, like

and not mostly from white, I'm lying.

It's mostly from people who, I don't have a word for it because it's like, you know what,

we need to make a word for that.

Well, and there's a difference between constructive criticism, a complaint about a service,

right?

And the idea that we have to be stopped, that's it, but what do we call that?

Racism?

Right.

Okay, that part, it is, it is definitely racism actualizing and I don't, I don't know

if we've identified a way to express it because it's all, it's, it's almost like hate,

right?

Like you hate, like I'm not a perfect person.

I never claim to be a perfect leader as a black woman who's developing in her leadership

and as I think the challenge, it is racism because outside of blackness, you get to

grow.

Yes.

Black people are expected to show up perfect.

Absolutely.

Anytime your agency doesn't do something right, the one way, then all of a sudden you shouldn't

have anything.

You deserve nothing.

You deserve nothing.

You deserve nothing.

You deserve nothing.

You deserve nothing.

You deserve nothing.

You deserve nothing.

You deserve nothing.

Despite the fact of your impact, despite, despite the fact of your work and despite nobody else

can do, for example, of urban treatise, there's no other agency that does what we do.

So we hold that and rock that hat proudly, right?

But there has been so many anti black anti urban treatise folks who literally seek to

destroy us and physically harm me, right, at times, but not on a level that data is currently

experiencing, but it is devastating.

And as a woman, like I said on my Facebook a couple weeks ago, I was out of place and

some a male approached me and got in my face and start yelling.

And in that moment, I had no protection, right?

And I keep telling people that I really need to learn how to box.

I was watching a video of this black lady in Europe.

And these white dudes came up to her and backed her into the wall.

And he was talking and yelling.

And then he started punching her like a punching bag.

It was, it was, it was horrific.

And thank God, she knew how to defend herself because she grabbed them by the legs and slammed

them and started beating his butt, beat his, she beat his ass, okay?

And it was the most, it was, and I don't believe in violence.

I do believe in self-defense, but it was one of those moments where I was very proud

of her for developing the skills to protect ourselves.

So we have to, as people known as black and women, across the nation in all genres and

classes, we need to practice self-defense.

And we need to teach people that they shouldn't be perpetrating in the first place because

we should not have to be defensive instead people need to be at inquiry with their behavior

and how it is that they are moving through the world so that we, we don't have to worry

about our safety.

And then held accountable because that's the problem.

There's no accountability in our systems for folks who harm women.

You're listening to 92.7 FM, The Black Convergence Show.

Stay tuned.

We have more analysis.

You don't want to miss this.

All right, I am back, Brandi Grayson, on 92.7 FM, you're listening to The Black Convergence

Show.

We're on air.

I'm on air.

You're on air because you're listening to me.

If my appearance and running for state assembly, Dana Pelabon, running for county exec, we

were discussing trauma, how it shows up in the world, in the work of campaigning and leadership

for black women.

And I was just saying that I was just expressing and sharing that I saw a video of a young woman

in Europe who defended herself against men who were trying to perpetrate against her body.

In that moment, I felt overflow of joy for her ability to protect herself because if

she wasn't able in that moment to protect herself, she would have been majorly injured.

I mean, it was a bad attack, y'all.

And I was talking about how, as women, we need to learn self-defense, take boxing classes

because there's been multiple occasions where I've been approached by men that were, it

was just unsafe conditions.

And almost to the point where you can't even speak back, like, no, I don't want your

number or no, I don't appreciate how you're approaching me.

You literally, literally, I've learned to smile and say, oh, no, and still flirt, or still

feel like I'm forced to do something that I actually don't want to participate in.

That's a trauma response.

It's actually something that we call fauning, and it is the thing that you do to keep

yourself safe.

Fawning.

That's a new word for me.

So, you know, when you think about trauma responses, there's usually four.

Fight, flight, freeze, and faun.

So the fight, you know, that's what she was able to do.

And those who take martial arts, in particular, one of the things I like to make sure that

folks know is when you put that into your body, I hope that it always is able to come out

like you saw in that video.

And if it doesn't, because your body doesn't always respond, the way that you would like

for it to respond, because again, it's a trauma response, and you don't have control over

that.

Please know that it's not because you don't know enough self-defense.

It is because your body is responding to a trauma.

It's like an automatic, your automatic nervous system makes sense.

It is your reptilian brain going, I need to be safe.

And the faun response is the one that I have whenever I'm on the streets and somebody

approaches me and asks me for numbers or is very aggressive, because I know what happens

when you say no.

We die, we get hurt, we get injured, and it's compounded by race.

So it's so complex, so challenging to exist in a world where we're unable to identify

all humans as humans and allow them to exist and self-actualize as they see fit.

I really believe, regardless of class, race, gender, identity, people need to be left

alone, right?

So if you identify as trans, it's none of your business how people identify.

It's none of your business that a black woman in a sense is running for office.

Why are people so hard pressed to control, dominate, hurt, and like you said, Dana, stop.

Stop black women from doing things.

If you disagree with a black woman or a black woman needs additional education about something

or they get something wrong or a mistake is made or grievance is foul, the go to is

they need to be stopped.

No more funding, no more contracts.

People run for elections, no, it becomes this, this, what's the V word?

Vengeance?

Vengeance?

Vengeance?

No, never mind.

It becomes ridiculous.

It becomes ridiculous, that's the word.

So because no one else is held to those standards.

No one is.

No.

And you would think that this is what gets me about racism.

You would think racism basically says that, you know, identifies or teaches us or condition

us to believe that people known as black is less than, but it also says you're less than

and we expect more of you than anybody else.

That is correct.

It doesn't even make logically something.

So even if you believe that I was less than shoot, I should be allowed to make some mistakes

because technically I'm not as smart as you, sir.

So if you would think that by the nature of your own logic, they'd be like, yeah, that's

expected of you.

But instead it's like, oh my god, you crossed the street and the light was green, you j-walked.

You shouldn't be elected for office.

You shouldn't be a trusted to manage anything, right?

But you can go out and experience other folks on the other hand, do some of sir things

like Trump.

I mean, Trump is a perfect example of America and a perfect example of what's acceptable

for white men and white people generally speaking.

This man is being charged with Rico charges in Georgia and he's basically got gag orders

that he's just saying, I'm not following those gag orders and he continues not to have

to follow these gag orders.

And then he continues to be able to do what he wants to do, but he got a thousand dollar

fine.

Oh, Lord, after your 10th, after his 10th, oh my goodness, what a thousand dollar.

But this shows up.

We saw this show up at the county board, me and supervisor Kageya, especially were the

beneficiaries of two levels of rules, one for everyone else, and then one for when we

spoke.

You know, this is something that is endemic to how black folks are allowed to show up in

spaces and how people utilize rules when they wouldn't like to utilize rules, that

you shut us up just us.

And then they say, oh, but this is the rule.

But it wasn't the rule for you last week, but it's the rule for you this week.

And the rules changed when black people enter the conversation, urban triage.

And me personally, I've changed a lot of rules.

I've made it very difficult because the rules, like you said, they're created to say,

hey, no, actually, you can't do that.

Or we didn't, you know, so it's just been living in Madison has been one of the most,

I opened, I opened an interesting traumatic experience in leadership, I think.

I don't have a reference point for any other area.

I think this is a, like you said, epidemic, American global, because like I said, the video

I watched was in France of that woman.

So it's not just racism isn't local, it is a global epidemic and we see it in Gaza.

We see it in the war.

We see it with the protests.

We see how people are responding to the protests.

But let me, let me wrap through some things though.

We are starting to be in spaces and being able to have each other's backs in a different

way.

So, you know, the best thing about representation, because we always talk about representation.

So what does representation mean?

It's more than just putting a black face in the room.

Yes, it is.

It is about putting people in the space, multiple people, so that we can be in community with

each other.

We can have that same type of black caucus, like progressive caucus has, where we can

say, this is what we're seeing, this is how we're going to respond.

And bring people along with us.

And that is the true mark of leadership, is the fact that even through all of these

traumas, we are still showing up and saying, you will not stop us and we will ensure access

not just for us, but for the people that come behind us.

Oh, that just gave me hope, the audacity to hope in spite of, in despite the context of

our existence, that's what leadership looks like.

That's what power looks like.

That's what community looks like.

So, and that's why I'm biased towards these two women, okay?

And that's why they're wrong and not mine, okay?

Amen, amen.

Amen.

So you're listening to the Black Conversion Show on 92.7 FMWMDX, and we'll be back.

So continue to listen.