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For 18 years she worked in the US government. Then came the war on Gaza | Hala Rharrit | Real Talk

Bideoa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOjNWo_S3gw

I began to feel complicit’

For 18 years, Hala Rharrit worked in the US State Department, most recently becoming its Arabic-language spokesperson. But the Biden administration’s response to Israel’s war on Gaza forced her to resign in April, becoming the first US diplomat to quit in protest over the US’s Gaza policy.

In this wide-ranging Real Talk interview, Rharrit reveals what went on behind the scenes, how her Gaza reports were received by US officials, and why she ultimately decided to resign.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

00:57 ‘I began to feel complicit’

05:47 I refused to do Gaza interviews

09:33 Sidelined & silenced

18:14 ‘There’s a lot of fear’

23:50 Sending Gaza reports to US government

27:00 Gaza aid airdrops PR stunt?

29:11 Do you believe the US is complicit?

33:32 US arms industry & Israel-Palestine

35:53 Trump vs Biden on Gaza

39:59 Biden Gaza policy steeped in racism?

47:05 Hala’s Arab-American background

55:05 Time since October

Transkripzioa:

Intro

0:00

it was such a for lack of better word traumatic and difficult to try to choose which baby which image of which dead

0:06

baby should I put in this report today you know it was it was horrifying and there were a lot of images as well of

0:12

you know fragments of us bombs next to civilians and I would show look at this

0:18

us complicity the US complicity is undeniable H is the first American

0:24

Diplomat to publicly resign and protest of the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza with an 18-year

0:31

career at the state department Hanah most recently served as the Arabic language spokesperson and she joins us

0:37

now to talk about her decision hel thank you so much for speaking to us on real talk thank you so much for having me

0:42

Muhammad it’s a pleasure Hela I I wanted to start you know there was this quote

0:47

that I read for you in an article you said that the Biden administration’s policy towards Gaza really really

0:54

changed your career plans um I mean can you elaborate on this let’s start there

1:00

your your decision to resign from the state department yeah well it was a really agonizing decision Muhammad I can

1:06

tell you so I joined the state department 18 years ago um not to age

1:11

myself that was straight out of grad school so basically write out you know my entire adult life I studied

1:17

International Affairs Middle Eastern studies my undergraduate degrees Masters in Georgetown for school of Foreign

1:23

Service very traditional trajectory to join the state department and being a diplomat was my dream job to be honest

1:30

uh I felt like if you want to see change then you make the change happen you join

1:35

the system you go inside government you make your voice heard you Advocate and

1:40

so for me I felt like I could do that effectively for the last 18 years and

1:45

with this particular policy it was such heartbreak day after day to see

1:52

the administration continue specifically to funnel unconditional military assistance

1:58

which was killing so many people people in Gaza and the unwillingness of the

2:03

policy to shift it sort of shattered my belief that you can change things from

2:08

within there’s a certain extent to that that you can and then I began to feel complicit because it was clear that the

2:16

policy was not changing you started to feel complicit I did I began to feel complicit because I once I realized that

2:23

I was not able to change the policy at all then from that point on I began to

2:30

feel complicity because before that point on I thought well I’m here to try

2:35

to make a difference I’m here to try to shed light upon what’s happening in Gaza

2:41

maybe only if the policy makers understood maybe only if they realized this but after a while and after me

2:48

making them aware and things were still not shifting it became clear that there

2:54

was no more rule for me in government that it was more important for me to resign and speak out and I decided to

3:01

change my course of career that’s an interesting point that you raised Hela

3:06

because I I interviewed Lily Greenberg call not too long ago who you may uh know who resigned from the uh Department

3:12

of the Interior um and we were talking about the idea of you know that she had

3:19

she wanted to give it a shot to basically see if she can change something from the inside and then when

3:24

she believed that she couldn’t she decided to publicly resign this whole idea of of trying to change you know

3:32

policy from within from within government I mean what does that even entail how do you where do you start that’s a really good question so I’ll

3:38

give you a little bit of an Insider Peak at American diplom diplomacy and how it

3:44

works so when you become an American Diplomat you choose what your path is in

3:49

terms of your field of specialty so I was a political officer you can also be a consel officer which is in charge of

3:55

visas and American citizen Services you can also be a public diplomacy officer and charge of educational exchanges and

4:01

press I was political so in political you’re we’re the ones who write the cables we’re the ones who usually work

4:07

on the more sensitive issues on bilateral relationships and we’re the ones who also make policy recommendations through our cables and

4:13

our reports and are in the meetings in the government official meetings so I worked in Yemen as a political and human

4:20

rights officer I worked in Qatar as well leading the political and economic section so you’re able to to do a lot so

4:26

in Qatar I helped launch a bilateral economic IC policy initiative between the US and Qatar for example in Yemen I

4:34

got a lot of funding for to support uh human rights Advocates like you feel

4:40

like you’re doing something with your job at the embassy right you’re you’re you’re pushing things one way you’re

4:46

advocating for things one way you’re obviously still under the administration so you work within that framework but I

4:53

always felt throughout my career that I was doing good definitely more good than

4:59

harm right and this was actually my last role was actually my first public facing

5:05

role I was a spokesperson for the state department in the Arab world based in Dubai so you can imagine it’s it was

5:11

never an easy job right to be the face of the American government in this part of the world but honestly Muhammad I was

5:18

honored to do it I’m you know I was proud to do it I felt like I wanted to

5:23

show a more Humane face of the US government I wanted to highlight the

5:29

good things that we were doing including at that time now it’s ironic to say this but at that time surging humanitarian

5:36

assistance to the Palestinians for example or the work that we were doing on Sudan to try to broker a ceasefire

5:43

again back you know a few months ago but when it came to this policy once we got

5:50

the talking points from Washington for me they were they were a non-starter so I actually refused to do interviews on

5:56

Gaza from the very beginning of the conflict because from from day one

6:01

really they were so dehumanizing to the Palestinians that I that I could not in good conscience go out on Arab

6:07

television and promote this talking point so I pushed back on the department and that goes back to sort of trying to

6:14

influence so I thought pushing back on the department was eventually going to affect a certain level of change it

6:20

obviously didn’t I ended up resigning um and getting in a lot of trouble before my resignation because I refused to to

6:26

give interviews on Gaza and was accused of refusing to do my job and all of this crazy stuff that happened I can only

6:32

imagine going on Arabic television and you know basically saying those us

6:38

talking points in Arabic I can only imagine how they would have been received yeah exactly I mean we know how

6:43

they’re received right they’re received they’re they’re not well received it’s all generating a backlash and that was

6:49

my point to the department and I was writing instead of doing interviews I was writing daily reports to Washington

6:55

basically documenting look how our talking points are being rejected look how they’re causing a backlash look how

7:02

what they’re indeed doing is generating an increase in anti-americanism which is a threat to our own US National Security

7:09

again bringing it back to this is a threat to America and as an American Diplomat that was my focus right and of

7:15

course talking about how inhumane the policy is how immoral it was and how it

7:21

is actually illegal it’s violating so many US laws that we continue to Surge Weaponry but it was a very strange time

7:26

in the department that I was so vocal and for the first time in my career realized actually that comes at a cost

7:34

because I’ve always been vocal I’ve never been shy about sharing my perspectives based on my professional

7:39

experience and my expertise in the region but with this particular policy it was basically you know put up or or

7:47

shut up you know just basically do what you’re supposed to do um and that led led me to my resignation as well going

7:54

back to what you’re saying I I take it that there wasn’t One Singular event that made you want to resign it was a

8:01

cumulative buildup indeed it was a cumulative buildup I can tell you that there were many many things that

8:07

happened where I would say okay I can’t handle it anymore okay this is it like

8:12

this is I I I have to resign there’s no way and every every time I would hold on

8:18

a little bit more hope and say okay it can’t really be that bad you know our policy makers can’t really really keep

8:25

doubling down on this policy and again I kept on sing those daily reports and that was giving me some hope at least

8:32

that I was doing something but the department asked me to stop sending those reports in January so then after

8:38

that it basically began um I figured okay it’s the time for me to resign and

8:45

it it was a very lengthy process to resign as you can imagine after 18 years um so that’s what led us to hear and

8:52

what kind of repercussions before even publicly resigning when you were pushing back um well uh it was a bit of a mixed

9:00

bag uh I had some folks back in Washington Express support and even some

9:07

Express admiration for my quote unquote bravery although I don’t consider it

9:12

Brave to you know just State I was very much stating facts I was never stating

9:18

opinions I was reporting about events that were happening on the ground in Gaza it wasn’t any but even shedding

9:24

light on those realities was considered Brave which to me was was a bit

9:30

perplexing but I was also very much sidelined I was very much silenced I was taken off of emails in a quite

9:37

systematic way I was excluded from meetings I was excluded from briefing

9:42

senior officials that normally I would absolutely be briefing um I was excluded

9:49

from other things I was also there was a lot of pressure on me um to get back on air on Gaza I was you

9:57

know practically forced into going but I never I never did a single interview

10:02

again not because I personally disagreed with the policy but because fundamentally I was documenting as an

10:09

American Diplomat how this policy was hurting us interests not helping them um

10:15

I was very much aware of how I would personally be labeled as an Arab American that I would particularly have

10:21

some type of affinity that other diplomats may not and so I was I was quite systematic in how I documented

10:28

everything nothing came from my opinion everything came from the field from pan Arab media from Arab social media to

10:35

document the repercussions of our policy thinking that this Sound Logic would have some type of effect but

10:41

unfortunately it didn’t I was told even after my resignation I was told your reports went to the most senior levels

10:47

of government they were read they mattered but we all see what’s still happening in Gaza right we see we see it

10:53

with with our own eyes so it’s devastating it’s devastating but since my resignation of continuing to do

11:00

advocacy from the outside so hopefully with everyone’s efforts combined you know this policy will eventually shift

11:07

one way or another you resigned in April right and I’m curious someone said you

11:13

know why did it take you six months to resign is it because the environment now

11:20

is a bit more easier because a lot more people are speaking out against um you

11:26

know us policy on on on Gaza that’s a very very fair question I’ll tell you

11:31

there are two reasons why it took me so long one is the hope that things that I

11:39

was doing and things that other diplomats that I knew were doing were going to affect change in the policy

11:45

because normally our policy makers in Washington

11:51

listen to their diplomats out in the field we’re their subject matter experts we provide them feedback we provide them

11:57

information they take that into consideration and they affect policy changes based on that at the end of the

12:02

day it’s the president it’s the secretary of state that make the decisions but it usually feed our us as

12:08

diplomats feed in to their decision-making process and I knew that it wasn’t just me it was diplomats

12:14

across the region that were shouting basically this is such a dangerous

12:20

policy on so many levels please change course it is hurting us in every way

12:25

shape and form so based on precedent and based on how policies were affected

12:32

previously in my 18-year career I was holding hope that okay we’re going to be part of the change and I have to be part

12:38

of the change when I started speaking to some very senior diplomats about my thoughts on resignation they kept on

12:44

telling me things now more than ever your voice is needed H now more than

12:49

ever we need you we we will amplify your voice you cannot leave now if you leave

12:54

who else will fill your Void who else you know if you leave now then Washington won’t even hear the P

13:01

perspectives you’re sharing and so that made me feel a sense of guilt for even wanting to resign right they said you

13:07

can’t abandon the government now and so I held on hope that okay maybe I am

13:12

needed on the inside and then that eventually was shattered why do you

13:17

think this was being said to you do you feel like now with you know in hindsight do you feel it was some sort of strategy

13:24

some sort of Illusion why do you think you were being told this look I think no diplomat wants to believe that what

13:32

they’re doing on a daily basis does not matter right I think every Diplomat

13:37

wants to believe that they can affect some level

13:42

of change or some level of influence um so I think people were sincere you know

13:49

in their in in their insistence to keep me in

13:55

obviously I went public so it was really very much in Department’s interest to keep me in and I think everybody

14:02

realized that I would go public because I was literally a spokesperson before I resigned right so I don’t know where

14:08

there’s some interest to trying to keep me in to keep me from going public perhaps I don’t know but I want to believe that you know whoever was trying

14:16

to keep me on the inside was sincere about it but second Muhammad honestly another reason why it took me so long is

14:21

strictly Logistics um it took a very long time for me to submit my resignation and to

14:28

follow through on everything because because being a diplomat sort of takes over your entire life it’s not just a

14:35

job so I was living in diplomatic housing that means I had to find a new place to live for me and my entire

14:41

family the housing market is quite expensive that took a while it took a while and it was an extremely stressful

14:48

process just because once I made the decision to resign like I wanted to be done right away but I I couldn’t because

14:56

it I needed to find housing you know my children’s educ ation is rolled up into my job because the you know the embassy

15:02

was was providing payment to to my children’s School even our license plate was a diplomatic license plate I had to

15:09

go to the you know the equivalent of of the Motor Vehicles registration place and switch up you know that tells you

15:16

all of the little tiny things that need to get done but it adds up to a lot of things and lots of paperwork so it took

15:23

me a while to even logistically be able to finalize um a resignation so between

15:31

sort of holding on hope and being very busy in trying to affect change from within and then once that I realized it

15:37

wasn’t going to happen then putting putting that into effect in terms of how do I actually resign it took a while to

15:44

do that and then once I got keys in hand to the new house literally I was like

15:50

okay that’s it now my family’s going to have a place to live we’ve got that sorted time to move on to the next

15:56

chapter of my life if we try to take a sneak speak into the uh State Department what were the channels that were

16:03

available to you to express discontent over the policy yeah I mean there there

16:09

are multiple channels depending on where you work but I mean every channel that

16:14

you would think of in any normal job sort of emails phone calls right there

16:20

are a lot of working groups whatever working group you may be in but also more officially uh particularly in the

16:26

Diplomatic Corp the state department we we write cables right so you must have heard of The Descent Channel cable those

16:34

are reserved for exceptional circumstance to express dissent and then there’s also what we call front Channel

16:40

cables which are just cables from the field reporting on whatever xynz topic

16:46

so it was all of those channels can you give an example of some of these discussions yeah sure I mean I would

16:54

reach out to sort of those folks that or my mentor and ask them about the policy

16:59

do they think that it’s going to go anywhere that it’s going to shift at all and they would always tell me things

17:04

like we have to try we have to try what’s strange is that it was very very

17:09

rare to run into anyone that was actually in favor of the policy very rare most of my

17:16

conversations were you’re totally right we agree it’s so frustrating and that is another reason

17:23

why I actually chose to resign because when you have across the board practically the majority of your

17:30

department telling you that the policy is wrong yet you are still choosing to

17:36

not shift the policy to me it was very clear that the policy was being run by four men and to me that’s so unamerican

17:43

it’s so not Democratic right it’s not how we’re supposed to run that’s another reason why I chose to resign because in

17:50

those conversations it was clear that even very senior officials weren’t able to really affect change on the influence

17:56

on the on the policy and what kind of conversation ations that you were having um with your peers in terms of anger or

18:04

in terms of disagreement or in terms of desent you know what were you saying about the Biden Administration what were

18:10

you saying about netanyahu’s government what what were these conversations like well I can tell you this that before I

18:16

resigned uh few people um spoke openly

18:21

with me about the policy there’s a lot of fear and there’s a lot of there’s a lot of fear oh yeah oh yes again

18:30

something that in my 18year career I’ve never seen a lot of fever a career first for you it’s a career first it’s

18:37

unprecedented in my personal experience where people are literally scared to talk to each other because they don’t

18:43

know how the person is going to react they don’t know where they’ll land on

18:49

this policy but the reason why I gave this as a preview is because after my resignation became known internally

18:56

before it became known publicly uh and I was still working in the department for a couple more weeks uh so many people

19:03

reached out to me people that I hadn’t even worked with reached out to me and said we agree with you completely we’re

19:11

so frustrated this policy is so inhumane but we don’t know what to do we can’t

19:16

resign can you please speak up on our behalf once you resign all of this and I’m like whoa it was actually quite

19:23

overwhelming because the overwhelming part was the fact that these people had

19:28

been quiet beforehand and were only comfortable enough sharing these

19:34

thoughts after they knew I had resigned you were no longer there well I was no longer there and I was not and I

19:40

wouldn’t be a threat in terms of people were scared what would others say about them would other people say oh this

19:46

person’s against the policy what is that going to do people are scared of Retribution they’re scared of what what are the career implications if they’re

19:52

not willing to play ball you know I became sort of known as the troublemaker you know I was just causing so much

19:58

trouble regarding this policy that it was just almost too much to handle for some right so I think people that are

20:05

concerned about climbing the ladder people that are worried about their Financial Security and I and I and I

20:11

don’t want to judge you know I it’s a privilege that that I was financially able to resign right but I understand

20:18

very well that not not everybody has that ability to do that they have their own Financial constraints or whatnot so

20:26

but it was it’s it’s very telling on the policy that so many people are upset by

20:31

it and are scared by it and I have to I have to be blunt Muhammad as well as well as I I’m saying all of this there

20:38

are a lot of people that are very willfully enabling the policy even people that are against the policy are willfully enabling the policy just

20:45

because they’re doing their Co their job so that’s why it keeps going when you say they’re afraid is it more of a a

20:52

personal fear where they don’t want to lose their job because you know them having a family or or whatever that they

20:59

want to take care of or is it a fear of of the department letting go of them or

21:05

labeling them a certain way or even you know giving them a new uh position

21:10

within the department or or some like where does the fear stem from I think it’s the labeling so for one it’s very

21:18

hard to lose your job when you work for the government just for anyone that’s out there listening other fellow

21:24

diplomats it’s hard to get fired it takes a long time to get fired

21:29

but what we do have in the state department is something called our Corridor reputation and we basically get good

21:36

jobs once you become a mid-level officer or a senior officer you get quote unquote good jobs by people recommending

21:44

you right other diplomats recommending you that’s how we operate um and so people are very concerned about how

21:51

they’re seen within the department people are very concerned about their court or reputation um and

21:59

so I think the fear stems mostly from that and from our own evaluation so we

22:04

get evaluated yearly and that determines whether or not we get promoted or not and those evaluations are written by our

22:11

supervisors and our supervisor supervisor and I can tell you I was very

22:17

much threatened with having a bad evaluation multiple times through my own protest of um refusing to do interviews

22:27

so I think people take career considerations in terms of how vocal they are or not vocal but one of I was

22:35

actually just in Washington this last week and one of the things that I shared with former colleagues and just everyone

22:41

that would listen that’s in the government is let’s get over that fear

22:47

right we’re supposed to be a country of the people and we are working for the

22:53

government as public servants we’re not supposed to be scared to share our Prof

22:58

professional expertise and that’s why I emphasized at the beginning of the interview that was never about my personal experience it was about my

23:04

professional expertise and I was recording all of that for the department so there should never be fear in sharing

23:11

those valuable insights that’s why we were hired and I think people have a lot more power than they realize in using

23:17

their voices but there’s power in in Collective action right so if everyone is scared across the board then there’s

23:24

self-censorship really and the department is not hearing these important views so my hope is and My

23:29

Hope in speaking out as well is to let people that are still on the inside feel empowered empow use your voice use your

23:36

expertise raise the alarm right and do so collectively so that they’re hear the

23:41

department is hearing it from a large swwa of people and diplomats across the

23:46

region not from just one or two or three here and there in your job what kind of analysis were you relaying back to the

23:53

Biden Administration um from the Arab world so with this with this latest

23:59

conflict I’ll call it a genocide it’s not a conflict I’ll be very clear and blunt about that um I began from very

24:07

very early stages writing what we called snapshots or basically daily reports of

24:13

summarizing what pan Arab media traditional media and social media was documenting and the idea was if you’re

24:20

going to message to the Arab world in an effective manner you need to be able to understand what they’re consuming on a

24:26

daily basis so what that entails was you know images that were going

24:32

viral in Arab social media so I would put in these daily reports back to the

24:38

department images of of dead babies of dead Toddlers and it was it was honestly

24:45

mamed like traumatic to put together these reports on a daily basis because I would gather all of all of this

24:51

information and then I would try to dwindle it down to as horrible as it sounds the most important or the ones

24:58

that would make the most impact for a Washington reader um and it was it was

25:05

such a for lack of better word traumatic and difficult to try to choose which

25:12

baby which image of which dead baby should I put in this report today you know it was it was horrifying and there

25:18

were a lot of images as well of you know fragments of us bombs next to civilians

25:25

and I would show look at this us complicity the US complicity is

25:30

undeniable look at what people in this part of the world are consuming you cannot send talking points would say oh

25:37

we have concerns about civilian debts in Gaza like when you’re when you’re completely linking it to us complicity

25:44

so I would basically write and send these daily reports with links to every single thing so again it was documented

25:51

and I would also put in there how our talking points were being received so

25:57

for example whenever Linda Thomas Greenfield had a vote at the UN Security Council and obviously that was seen in

26:03

the Arab world and people across the region was so angered by yet again another us veto and I’m sure you’ve seen

26:10

these memes that went with red blooded H send that to the department I don’t even

26:15

think that that was Arab specific to be honest oh it wasn’t it wasn’t but it was definitely it went viral throughout the

26:21

region sure but I was told oh you’re so brave to send these reports like how are

26:29

this is not bravery this is just facts this is literally just what the world is consuming and in particular the Arab

26:35

world and it’s sad if we’re trying to hide our policy makers from this reality this is

26:42

not about personal feelings I’m not trying to not hurt Linda Thomas Greenfield’s feelings right she’s a

26:48

representative of the American people and when she’s seen as being complicit in the genocide of of an entire

26:54

population the department needs to be well aware of how that’s being read because because believe it or not there

27:00

was a lot of disillusion in the department I’ll give you an example when we had the parachute airdrops you’d be

27:06

like oh look people are be so happy look people are gonna be so happy we’re sending all this humanitarian assistance

27:12

wait that was the vibe within the department or within the government that people were going to be so happy yes I

27:19

mean that had the opposite effect oh my goodness Muhammad I cannot tell you how many conversations that I had be like I

27:25

understand why you think this would make people in the region Happ happy but it is not can’t you go out on this we’re

27:32

providing humanitarian assistance surely that should be an okay message for you to deliver no it’s not because we’re

27:39

also sending the bombs to kill these people and these parachute airdrops are not actually a real means of staving off

27:48

Mass hunger also it was happening at a time when Israel was was Banning most a

27:53

trucks from actually going in absolutely you know I think a lot of people were looking at this is this was America’s

28:00

way of Saving Face and it was just doing the bare minimum 100% yes and that’s

28:05

exactly the feedback that I was giving back to Washington saying they see through this PR stunt everybody sees

28:12

through this PR stunt I will not be your PR machine to go and try to sell this PR

28:17

stunt because it’s just a stunt if we actually cared about warning off famine

28:23

we would put pressure on the Israelis to let the humanitarian Aid trucks in by

28:28

the hundreds we are not using our diplomatic leverage until we use that diplomatic leverage I will not be on TV

28:35

trying to sell these things but seeing people’s legitimate legitimate confusion

28:43

as to why the AG drops were not a good message to tell was was very interesting

28:50

but that’s why I’m telling you like there’s also a sense like maybe people do need to tell you these Basics that

28:56

for us the rest of the world sort of Tak for takes for granted but when you are in government you’re in this little isolated bubble and you only hearing

29:03

from other people in the government and when you don’t hear any of that critical feedback you almost think everything is

29:08

a success when it clearly is not you use the term genocide so I just to be clear on where you stand today so do you

29:15

believe that the US is complicit in this genocide look I’ll I’ll give you a

29:21

thorough response to this because it deserves it um I I was still very much

29:27

in government when the South Africa brought its case against uh Israel um at

29:33

the icj I actually previously served in South Africa I’m familiar by name with all of the judges and extremely

29:39

professional and well regarded and I have the highest respect for all of those so I read that report in detail

29:46

line by line because I myself was trying to make the determination because it was also going to impact my own resignation

29:51

right other than the fact that I really wanted to know what was happening in Gaza it is

29:58

impossible I think if you read that report with unbiased eyes to make

30:05

determination that it is indeed genocide based not just on their actions but they’re obviously on their intent there

30:12

are pages and pages of notes from Israeli officials from prime minister on

30:19

down advocating for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and this is on repeat it’s not

30:24

just a oneoff it’s on repeat and obviously their policies whether it be

30:30

Mass starvation or mass killings and destroying infrastructure to the point

30:35

where people are dying of just very simple infections it is very clear that it is a policy of ethnic cleansing and

30:42

intended genocide I don’t believe that the US is trying to commit ethnic

30:47

cleansing and genocide in Gaza I think they are willfully enabling

30:54

it right I think the United States government is definitely en in it because we’re supplying the Weaponry I

31:00

don’t think it’s the intention of the government to commit it but I think without us and our support most

31:07

specifically our military support which has been unconditional practically despite all of this evidence is

31:15

allowing netanyahu’s government to do what they’re doing which is their end

31:22

goal is definitely ethnic cleansing I do think secretary blinkin and President Biden are trying to to stop Israel from

31:30

doing that I want to still believe that even though nothing in the policy I know I

31:37

know just just just know I know I think it’s because there’s a clear disconnect

31:44

between what comes out of the White House yes and what Israel continues to do on the ground in in in Gaza um you

31:51

know the latest being what’s been called the nsat uh uh Massacre right and then there’s the the example of the icj

31:58

ruling that there is a plausible genocide yet the US hasn’t stopped sending uh weapons to to Israel why

32:05

should anyone trust that the US government actually wants to end this genuinely look Muhammad I completely agree with you in terms of actions have

32:13

shown otherwise and this is bit what I’ve been saying this past week in Washington right and I’ve been I I had

32:20

conversations I met with members of Congress I met with Congressional staffers and I met with some senior

32:25

State Department officials and that’s exactly what I told them that people

32:30

aren’t necessarily blaming Israel only Israel for what’s happening in Goda but they’re blaming us and we cannot get rid

32:38

of our complicity by words alone right we can’t say there’s only a certain

32:44

amount of times that you can say we care about the Palestinian people or we’re trying to get humanitarian assistance

32:49

actually taking concrete actions because we have leverage we have leverage our biggest Leverage is Us weapons

32:56

assistance and lethal assistance that we keep sending Israel but I can tell you

33:01

Muhammad that a lot of our foreign policy is not dictated by our foreign National or our our national security

33:07

interests is determined by domestic politics and that was abundantly clear to me this past week in Washington as I

33:13

was roaming the house of Congress these decisions are being made by by

33:18

politicians and politicians are influenced by things other than National

33:24

Security um I’m just going to leave it at that unless you want to dig into that

33:29

no I do I want you to elaborate if you can so one of the deliberations that I had for myself as determining whether or

33:36

not to resign is what’s what is causing this intransigent policy what is making

33:43

us not shift or put condition on Aid um when you have

33:49

such a historic and strong quote unquote ironcloud commitment to Israel that

33:55

comes from somewhere right uh like pro Israel Lobby in America is very

34:00

very uh strong it’s been it’s been part of you know Washington’s DNA for for

34:08

decades and there’s been a lot of focus on that right I’m going to put some focus elsewhere as well the arms

34:14

industry and that’s something that we don’t talk a lot about here in the Arab world you hear a lot about APAC you hear

34:19

a lot about that but there’s also the arms industry and from both sides of the aisle Democrat and Republicans our

34:25

politicians receive so many contributions millions of dollars worth of contributions from the arms industry

34:31

and so when you have the politicians that are literally the ones making the decision of whether or not to send more

34:37

arms if they’re profiting from that how is this a fair shot how is it a

34:43

fair shot if you’re the politicians deciding whether or not to continue arms transfers are personally benefiting from

34:50

those arms transfers again as a diplomat I was left to think what the heck am I doing here

34:57

well that’s that’s I was going to ask you I mean well this exactly that made me that made me also one of the many

35:04

things that went through my mind and thought process in deciding to resign I said then literally I’m just an

35:10

implementor out here there’s no there’s no sense of me being here if particularly on this policy where

35:17

there’s so much influence on domestic politics that influences uh and just now from my

35:24

conversations this last week with members of Congress the ones that vote oted on a pause of shipment got so much

35:30

push back that they’re scared now to take the same decision you know they have campaign ads running against them

35:36

they have millions going against them if they take a stance on this and it’s a

35:44

very problematic domestic politics issue that has immense impact on how we run

35:50

our foreign policy in the United States but don’t you think that Gaza is already becoming a domestic issue as well

35:56

because it’s it clearly will play a major part in November come the elections so how do you end that cycle

36:02

overall how you end that cycle is I think we need to have campaign Finance reform laws in the US uh which is

36:07

obviously not going to happen anytime soon because it’s not to the benefit of our lawmakers to make those laws so you

36:13

almost have you know this vicious cycle but when it comes to when it comes to Gaza 100% And I think that this

36:20

Administration is vastly undermining how much this particular issue will affect

36:27

the polls in November do you still think that they are thinking that even today yes yes from my time in Washington

36:35

everyone was saying we get it we get that Gaz is horrific but you know the other option is Trump and Trump is you

36:42

know so there’s this assumption amongst Democrats that because Trump is so bad

36:49

that Americans or at least Democrats won’t vote for Trump that they’ll forgive Biden on Gaza and that’s not

36:56

true that’s not true because what about the uncommitted vote what about you know you’ve had people from the Palestinian

37:03

Muslim and Arab Community actually say that they hope Biden loses this election

37:09

so it’s very clear that there are portions of American society that are

37:14

calling that you know they’re not going to forget about Gaza anytime soon and surely they’re not going to forgive Biden over Gaza anytime soon I

37:21

completely agree with you um the uncommitted movement was very very powerful and it continues to be power

37:27

powerful and it continues to grow uh in the United States but because there’s

37:32

been so much institutionalized support for Israel I think and

37:40

pro-israeli uh Congress people and senators and obviously you know all the

37:45

way up to the president I think there’s this assumption that that side will win so for Congressman Bowman in New York I

37:52

don’t know if you’ve been following his race he’s been very very forward leaning in an advocate of ceasefire you know

37:58

he’s been very strong in condemning uh the isra Israeli actions as War crime so

38:05

on and so forth like he is being devoured and pounded by you know Pro

38:12

APAC funds and all that to try to unseat him so I think the assumption is okay

38:18

well when the time comes we’re gonna just do a massive Pro Biden push and

38:24

make sure he gets over the line and I think for some even for some that are very much in the

38:29

pro-israel camp they’re okay with both Biden or Trump to be quite honest but I think not so much for the other side

38:37

right because I think for the Democrats that felt that they were deceived by Biden for the you know for the

38:44

communities in Michigan and I don’t want to just say Arab and Muslim American communities because really this has

38:50

become a nationwide issue when I was when I was speaking to activists in Washington and these are people that are

38:55

leading protests and everything they come from all different backgrounds all Fates Jewish Americans asian-americans

39:03

you know it really it has become a Humane issue not an issue of of particular background um they’re very

39:09

staunchly against Biden they want like you said they want to punish him they want the Democratic party to wake up and

39:16

I think um I think as far as things stand now unless the Biden

39:21

Administration really changes Force dramatically on Gaza I think they’re going to see the vote to Trump and the

39:28

hope is that the Democratic party will have an Awakening will realize that they

39:34

cannot take the left for granted that they cannot take liberal values like

39:40

human rights press freedom for granted that when liberals say they believe in

39:46

things like human rights and freedom of press and protection of journalists they mean it not just in words but also in

39:52

action um and so I hope that there will be an Awakening on the Democratic party side as result had I I want to read you

39:59

a quote um this is um by a former State

40:05

Department official so Aaron David David Miller he gave an interview to the New Yorker um last April he said this if

40:13

you’re asking me do I think that Joe Biden has the same depth of feeling and empathy for the Palestinians of Gaza as

40:20

he does for the Israelis no he doesn’t nor does he convey it I don’t think

40:26

there’s any doubt about that now when you hear those words from a from a former State Department official how do

40:31

you react I agree with him completely how much of this do you actually think falls back to racism all of

40:40

it look this was another Devastation that came out of this conflict

40:47

colleagues friends that I work with forget about the senior officials in

40:53

Washington even just people that I’ve worked with throughout my 18 years

40:59

not have the same emotional reaction to the killing of children in

41:08

Gaza and that for me was such an eye opener on and it was devastating why are

41:15

you not shedding tears how are you okay I am not okay I am not okay seeing all

41:21

these children get killed in Gaza how are you okay is this normal for you it’s

41:27

almost this expectation that people in that part of the world oh people in the

41:32

Middle East they just get killed all the time there’s just Wars all the time um and so when I was telling you I was

41:38

sending those reports and I would send images of the dead children and I would get some feedback but not the type of

41:45

feedback that I would expect I started to try to change my strategy I said okay how can I humanize these children even

41:51

more and so then I would start putting images of them alive and the little girl

41:56

really little toddler wearing her princess dress and I would even write commentary I said her name is Leila you

42:03

know I’m making it up now but obviously as an example her name is Leila her favorite princess was Ariel this is her

42:10

pictured as Ariel and this is her after the US bomb falls on her thinking that

42:16

maybe if they see these children alive they would understand these are real kids these are not numbers these are not

42:24

statistics these are real children that are loved that are

42:30

beloved are you still okay enabling this policy and unfortunately the answer for

42:35

most is is yes and to me I think it stems it does stem in in a lot of racism

42:40

why our policy maker our policy makers are okay with it but they’re outraged by

42:47

others getting killed but I actually I actually want to stop right here uh uh

42:53

you know for you to actually go to those lengths in order to talk about children that

43:00

were being killed I’m sorry but I I do want to invoke your your your identity here as an Arab American how did that

43:07

make you feel horrified to be quite Frank and like I said this conflict has

43:14

been so eye openening on so many levels and so tragic on so many levels you know

43:20

obviously seeing what’s been happening in Gaza on a daily basis has been absolutely traumatic and understand and

43:27

speaking to people that are there and then the whole other layer of dealing

43:33

with Society dealing with your co-workers and realizing it almost has shown me people’s True Colors right and

43:40

I’ve been speaking to others who feel the same way that this conflict has almost made them realize when you peel

43:47

layers of people you know how are you really underneath do you really treat life equally do you really believe in

43:53

human rights do you really Advocate you know for the sanc of life for children or not is it and and seeing that very

44:02

blunt racism is also one of the reasons why I decided to resign like how can I

44:07

how can I keep representing this Administration how how it wasn’t possible for me anymore and I’ve said

44:14

this publicly um in some TV interviews when I’ve been asked that I absolutely think it’s racism um and I think that it

44:23

is something that we have to deal with as a nation right we the US has refused to deal with its past uh and that has

44:31

had so many implications and and this is this is one of them this is sort of the latest iteration of that that’s just

44:38

been left to not address and there’s just some very embedded racism in the

44:44

minds of people it’s it’s it’s subconscious and I want to stress that because people are like okay racism well

44:49

aren’t you more scared about Trump I’m like you know with Trump you sort of know what you’re going to get but with the Democrats it’s supposed to be the

44:57

party of liberalism it’s supposed to be the party of equality but then you you

45:02

have all of this subconscious bias that actually is quite lethal and quite dangerous um because they don’t even see

45:09

their bias so I had to point people’s biases out to them do you see do you see how differently you react to this child

45:15

versus this child and then they’re almost shocked because they don’t even realize it themselves I want to talk to

45:20

you about the shifting public opinion towards Israel there was a Gallop poll from last March that showed that 55% of

45:28

Americans disapprove of isra Israel’s military action in Gaza you how do you

45:34

think that this P public opinion shift will affect the US government’s

45:40

relationship with Israel in the future do you think it will I do think it will um I think it’s shifting it

45:48

now but not enough right I think you know you heard the president it was I

45:54

guess now a couple of weeks ago come out public from the podium saying it’s time for the war to end you know it’s those

46:01

were the first times he used those words and I think he is feeling the public pressure he is feeling all of the

46:08

protests these movements calling for an end and calling for a ceasefire um but clearly it has not been

46:15

enough to make them take any substantive change in the policy and so what I kept

46:21

on articulating this last week is that we will not see a ceasefire until the US loses it uses its leverage neither the

46:28

Israelis nor the Palestinians and I’m not going to say the Palestinians actually Hamas have any incentive right

46:34

now to to abide by a ceasefire that the US proposes because we’re not using our

46:40

leverage we’ve actually strengthened the far right in Israel um and we’ve given

46:45

no incentive or leverage for you know Qatar or Egypt to use on Hamas so it’s

46:51

embarrassing at this point that the president and the secretary keep using this rhetoric assuming that it’s going to change but it’s not so yes I do think

47:00

it’s going to have an impact but not enough thus far I want to go back to something that you mentioned at the

47:05

start of the interview um you talked about feeling that you were being treated differently because of your

47:10

arab-american background I mean you were born in Morocco correct if I’m not mistaken um Can can you tell me a little

47:17

bit about that what what did you mean when you said that I was I was born in Morocco very proud of my Moroccan

47:23

Heritage but look I have been told many many times in my career and many many

47:29

times in particular since this conflict has started in Gaza oh as an Arab or as

47:36

an Arab American or as an Arab woman I’m sure you feel X Y and Z no right they

47:42

add a little asteris to your to your identity right yeah not not as not as this not as that as an American Diplomat

47:50

right I wouldn’t say that to anyone else I wouldn’t say oh as this you must feel this no no no no no and it’s almost

47:58

easier for people to dismiss what you’re saying based on your arabness right it’s

48:03

easier for them to dismiss facts if they’re saying oh she must have a bias

48:10

because she’s originally from here as opposed to actually looking at facts so

48:16

like I said everything that I documented was fact-based it was analyzed it was

48:22

documented and it was verifiable because I wanted to be clear that this has nothing to do with my

48:27

personal opinion but even my opinion comes from my masters at Georgetown in

48:33

Arab studies my double major in international Affairs and Middle Eastern studies from from George Washington

48:38

right my assignment in Yemen where I myself survived three terrorist attacks and was evacuated twice from s you know

48:46

my time leading a political economic section in Qatar my time working in Egypt my time working in the UAE right

48:52

and living and working in these countries so that’s where my professional expertise came from those

48:58

are where my recommendations came from the fact that I worked on counterterrorism on countering violent extremism on human rights issues but for

49:06

some it’s much easier to ignore all of that and just dismiss you based on your

49:12

heritage um and I was also very very frustrating and I actually complained that I was being

49:20

treated that way because fundamentally it’s also not supposed to be who we aspire to be as Americans right we’re

49:26

supposed to be a nation of diverse backgrounds and that’s supposed to be what makes us stronger but we’re if

49:31

we’re being alienated because of that I’m going to call you out on it when I hear you speak about your your career

49:37

and what you studied at Georgetown and it sounds that you had that such an idealized view of being an American

49:44

Diplomat I’m I’m curious do you think about what your younger self you know young Hala who was about to graduate um

49:51

and go into uh Public Service you what you would have thought of your position

49:57

that you’re in now you know it’s funny you say that M because I was just in Washington and I just walked by one of

50:03

the dorms that I stayed at when I was a sophomore and I was thinking oh my God

50:08

like look at that dorm it looks exactly the same but so much has passed between now and then and who would have thought

50:15

you know that I’d be walking in the halls of Congress this week look I’m GNA be honest with you Muhammad I when I

50:21

joined the state department out of Georgetown I had a lot of friends call me a cell a lot I had a lot of friends

50:29

that were like how could you join the government what are you doing I was also

50:35

with those exact same friends at protests all the time I used to go on

50:40

the bus from DC to New York to protest I used to protest in front of the White House all the time but I joined the

50:47

state department with this notion of if you want to see change be the change

50:52

right join the government and and help make that change and I actually received the fellowship to join the state

50:58

department and the fellowship was meant to bring more diverse voices diverse voices into government uh more people of

51:05

color into the government and I believed in that because you need that our government needs that to be stronger um

51:13

so I can say that despite everything that’s happened I’m still proud that I

51:18

joined 18 years ago but I’m also very much proud that I resigned because I never sold out whatever that means right

51:26

um I stayed in for as long as I thought I could affect positive change and then once I

51:33

realized that that was no longer possible I resigned and I’m speaking out publicly because I feel like I have to

51:40

but you’re right I did have an idealized view you know some may call it naive I think I still hold on to that right I

51:47

still hold on to that because who wants that to be completely shattered but if you had a crystal ball you don’t think

51:53

you would have chosen an alternative career path that’s a really good question I have to think about that

51:59

because I don’t like to believe in regrets because I feel like every experience that you’ve had in life sort

52:04

of forms the person you are but I can tell you that actually I think I would have still joined and I’ll tell you why

52:11

because this career has opened up my eyes in so many ways I lived in Hong

52:17

Kong for two years working as a conser officer that taught me so much I lived

52:22

in South Africa at heading the political economic section I was working in the US Consulate in Durban South Africa taught

52:29

me so much about the world they taught me so much about America sort of race relations in South Africa you know and

52:35

how history is also the presence um you know South Africans to this day cannot

52:41

forget the US’s role in AP part tide and in supporting a partti they don’t forgive it at all so my job was actually

52:47

very difficult in South Africa some people wouldn’t even want to open the door for me because I was representing the US government that was so eye

52:54

openening for me so eye openening you you know and I obviously served in Yemen which was an incredible experience and

53:02

then I went from Yemen to Hong Kong so imagine living in s one of the most impoverished cities in the world and

53:07

then moving to Hong Kong which at that time was very wealthy and not all of the

53:13

issues that it has today so I’m so grateful that this career opened my eyes

53:19

up to humanity um allowed me to see and

53:24

understand the perspectives of so many around the world and I think it made me who I am today right because of all of

53:31

that and it was a privilege to be able to live and be immersed in all of these societies I am able

53:39

to I think have a more Humane view of the world uh and understand that at the

53:45

end of the day we really all are we really are all the same um and so yeah

53:50

even if I had a crystal ball I think I would have I would have still done what I did when you decided um between yourself

54:00

that you were going to resign who was the first person you went to oh my husband what was that conversation like

54:07

oh he’s wonderful I’m so blessed to have such a wonderful husband no he’s been supporting me throughout all of this

54:13

because especially when I was writing those daily reports and I mentioned to Muhammad they were quite tough to write and you know I actually wanted to many

54:21

times just stop and resign even before then he’s like no you know you’re making a difference but then when he would see

54:27

how much they would stress me out he’s like okay kalas kalas just like submit your resignation today we’ll figure out

54:32

the finances you know um no so he’s been my he’s been my

54:37

emotional support and now my financial support since

54:42

C right so no he’s he’s wonderful uh and I hope everyone that is you know having

54:49

thoughts of resignation or you know whatever does have that level of emotional support because it’s it’s

54:55

important to be able to speak to others um when you’re going through change

55:01

career change or whatnot yeah since October um I just you know want to ask

55:08

you on a personal front for you had a mother of three what were these months

55:13

like before you came to the realization that you were going to leave the state department

55:19

um look I I feel almost embarrassed to say they were difficult because I’m not

55:24

in Gaza right I’m not suffering through constant bombardment and for starvation

55:31

so I feel like it’s an insult to even say things like difficult right the people that are having a difficult time

55:37

are the ones that are actually in Gaza I can just tell you that it was I’ll just say this it was life faltering it was

55:43

life faltering right because I was on a particular path um being a diplomat is

55:48

sort of a career lifelong career type of job right you don’t become a diplomat

55:54

just for a couple years and then decide to do something it’s sort of like you’re that until you know you retire when

55:59

you’re old and gray um and so it was sort of peeling those peeling those layers realizing a

56:06

lot about my own government that perhaps in my naive self I didn’t want to believe right

56:14

um logistically it was very problematic right getting it all done and getting

56:19

out the door but I can say that it was also liberating um it’s liberating

56:27

to be able to speak out completely freely and truthfully about what’s

56:33

happening it’s liberating to be able to help in a way that I’m not representing

56:39

anyone but myself right so I went on the hill I had meetings I’m only representing myself I’m not representing

56:45

the government I’m trying to Advocate um for good I’m trying to advocate for

56:50

peace so it has been it has been liberating so I’ll leave it I’ll leave it on that positive note um and hope to

56:58

just try to do good in any little way I can and what comes next for

57:04

you everybody asks me that and it’s almost I’m jumping on that

57:09

bandwagon it’s almost embarrassing at this point that I don’t have an answer but I am honestly taking it day by day

57:16

since my resignation was public I’ve just had a lot of media attention not just only

57:22

American Media attention but a lot of international press as well um which again I found it to be quite a privilege

57:28

to be able to speak out on this issue when I feel a sense of responsibility to be able to speak out so I’m I’m doing a

57:35

lot of that I you know an organization flew me to Washington last week to speak at their event Middle East democracy

57:41

Center they had their launch um last week and that went that went quite well

57:47

I spoke at a couple of other places I met with a lot of activists so literally

57:52

each day is different um and I’m just trying to get the word out as much as

57:58

possible on on Gaza because I really do think it’s a collective effort we all

58:04

need to speak out it’s not a time to be silent it’s not a time to to be complacent and I hope to be one of the

58:11

voices out there advocating for an enduring peace um and tangible steps we

58:17

can take to get there and I hope that I also Inspire others to to speak out so I

58:22

will keep doing that for as long as you know I can and people are willing to to listen and on that note Hada thank you

58:28

so much for taking the time to speak to us I truly do appreciate it thank you so much for having me Muhammad it was a pleasure thank you Adam

58:38

[Music]

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@tobararbulu # mmt@tobararbulu

ooo

Angela Davis: Freedom Is a Constant Struggle

Bideoa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPasIZ-TAZc

Angela Davis delivers her keynote address as Inouye chair at UH Manoa

Angela Y. Davis is known internationally for her ongoing work to combat all forms of oppression in the U.S. and abroad. Over the years, she has been active as a student, teacher, writer, scholar, and activist/organizer. Professor Davis has lectured in all of the fifty United States, as well as in Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, and the former Soviet Union. Her articles and essays have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, and she is the author of nine books, including Angela Davis: An Autobiography; Women, Race, and Class; Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday; The Angela Y. Davis Reader; Are Prisons Obsolete?; a new edition of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass; and The Meaning of Freedom.

Transkripzioa:

0:01

[Music]

0:21

[Music]

0:54

[Music] he

1:11

[Music]

1:26

for Al

1:33

[Applause]

1:38

Al HEI Aloha a chant that expresses the meaning

1:44

of Aloha it calls upon us to treat each other with kindness with humility and

1:54

respect it also beckons the lahui the nation so that we might collectively

2:01

rise and answer this call of Aloha velina May welcome a most warm

2:10

mahalu to Melody capilia loha McKenzie for beginning us on our journey of what

2:18

will truly be a memorable evening I am Noel kahanu of the American

2:25

studies Department here and I’m humbled by this opportunity to serve as tonight’s MC As We Gather to listen to

2:34

the spring 2016 Dan and Maggie inoi distinguished

2:39

chair in democratic ideals please welcome to the stage

2:45

Chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Manoa Robert bla Roman as he shares

2:51

some additional opening

2:58

remarks [Applause] aloh

3:07

haako this evening is what makes my job

3:13

worthwhile it is events like this that are what a university is about and in

3:20

particular this evening is about what the University of Hawaii at monoa is

3:28

about this Seas presentation is part of the program of the Daniel Kay and Maggie

3:35

inoi chair in democratic ideals the chair in democratic ideals

3:41

engages Scholars and public figures dedicated to sharing their knowledges

3:46

and experiences established in 2005 it’s held jointly in the William S Richardson

3:53

School of Law and in the department of American studies this visit faculty position

4:01

emphasizes Democratic processes and the importance of public life while

4:07

enhancing understanding of the unique context of Hawaii Asia and the Pacific

4:13

within the traditional positions of power and influence in the United

4:19

States the Dan and Maggie inoi distinguished chair honors two

4:24

distinguished uh alumni who have Shaped America the late Daniel enoi himself was

4:30

a 1950 graduate American war hero longtime senior senator from the state

4:36

of Hawaii and champion of progressive change his late wife Maggie was a 1946

4:44

graduate of the University of Hawaii and an educator educator who was dedicated

4:50

to the people of Hawaii and who played a key role in her husband’s achievements

4:56

so today we not only celebrate the university our guest but also Daniel Kay

5:05

and Maggie enoi for their accomplishments and Leadership so welcome to the Daniel K

5:13

and Maggie inoi chair lecture this

5:20

evening okay we’re going to get started with an

5:28

introduction by uh Robert

5:33

Perkinson and he is a faculty member of the American studies

5:40

Department um please welcome him for an introduction of our

5:45

[Applause]

5:53

chair Aloha it is my honor to introduce a

5:59

speaker who has been introduced in so many ways before um once by President Nixon who

6:07

branded her a dangerous

6:15

terrorist once by Ronald Reagan who had her removed from her philosophy position not once but

6:22

twice um once by Yoko Ono and John linen um even by The Rolling Stones who wrote

6:28

songs about her um once by James Baldwin who pinned a

6:33

eulogy for her when she was in prison in California facing the gas

6:39

chamber in which he vowed to fight for her life as if for his

6:45

own in that time in the Twilight of the 60s as um conservatism was ascendant and

6:52

collided with freedom movements still on fire Angela Davis became a political and

6:58

cultural icon she could have been frozen in that moment in

7:04

time instead she thought and wrote and spoke and struggled

7:11

forward as an academic Professor Davis has produced a bookshelf of texts

7:16

influencing fields from American studies to philosophy to ethnomusicology she has helped found

7:23

whole intellectual and political movements third wve feminism what has become known as

7:30

intersectionality critical prison studies as an activist Angela Davis has

7:36

fought for freedom from repression but also more substantive freedoms for

7:42

dignity resources opportunity freedom to thrive freedom to live she has

7:49

spotlighted throughout her life those least in favor in the Cold War in Cold

7:54

War America she became a communist she fought for prisoners when Law and Order

8:00

was becoming hegemonic she fought for lbgt lbgt justice early she fights for

8:07

Palestine still on many visits to these islands in which she befriended hanani K

8:13

tras and many of you in the audience tonight she has spoken out for the Hawaiian

8:19

Nation her words her messages are as vital today as they were at any time

8:26

since the 1960s of course we have seen amazing movement victories disability

8:32

access Environmental Protections albeit insufficient doors to closets flown open

8:39

the selection of a black president but the structures of violence

8:45

and Injustice that Professor Davis decried at the start of her career even

8:51

as a youth in segregated Alabama remain Jim Crow may have perished but

8:57

America remains separate and and unequal unions and the Great Society institutions that mitigated poverty and

9:06

solidified the middle class middle class have been torn asunder wealth has flown

9:12

upwards what she calls the prison industrial complex is 10 times larger

9:17

today than it was when she was in its clutches War remains a governing logic

9:23

of American politics demagogy racist demagogy once banished from polite

9:29

company in America has returned to presidential politics we might find all of this

9:36

disheartening but I believe at least to some extent that Professor Davis does not because as the title of her talk

9:43

this evening suggests she has lived Freedom as a constant struggle she has

9:49

said that we must act as if the world can be radically transformed even if sometimes it seems that it cannot she

9:58

once said that Revolution is a lifetime commitment and more a commitment to

10:03

Build a Better World for children yet unborn and so with hopes that we might

10:10

see glimmers of that world tonight I give you Angela

10:24

Davis thank you

10:31

thank you

10:36

so thank you and Aloha let me tell

10:43

you what an honor it is to be able to spend the next few weeks on the campus

10:51

of the University of Hawaii Manoa as the Dan and Maggie Inu distinguished chair

10:58

of democ ratic

11:05

ideals I feel especially privileged to follow such shareholders as Frederick

11:13

wisman who was the director of the film titut Foles and gugi wanango who is the

11:20

brilliant Kenyan writer and John hope Franklin the activist historian the

11:28

author of The Monumental work From Slavery to Freedom and so I thank the

11:35

chancellor Robert bla Roman the department of American studies

11:40

the law school the William J Richardson law school Noel

11:46

kahanu Professor Robert Perkins Perkinson and all of the

11:51

amazing graduate students from American studies the Law School women’s studies

12:00

political science sociology English and social

12:06

work who who enrolled in the seminar I am

12:12

currently teaching with Professor Perkinson although this is the first

12:18

time I will have had the opportunity to spend an extended period here in

12:26

Hawaii I have visited at least one once a decade since the late

12:33

1970s uh during my first visit to this University I had the opportunity to meet

12:41

Mari matsuda who of course is now a professor in the law school but she was

12:46

still a student at the time I was invited later to speak at the

12:53

University by professor hanani kras

13:02

and had the opportunity to witness the completion of the buildings for the

13:09

center for Hawaiian studies and I should also say that some

13:16

of my former students are on this campus uh I had the opportunity to teach

13:22

political science Professor noelani Good Year

13:28

Kaur when she was a graduate student at UC Santa Cruz and just a few hours ago I

13:35

learned that um androi androi is in the

13:40

history department and I taught him as an undergraduate at UC Santa

13:46

Cruz so all of this is to say that um I feel I have substantial connections with

13:56

this place the the theme of my talk comes from the

14:04

title of my latest book which Bears the name of a freedom song from the mid 20th

14:11

century black Freedom Movement freedom is a constant struggle they say that

14:20

freedom is a constant struggle they say that freedom is a constant struggle oh

14:26

Lord we’ve struggled so long we must be

14:31

free we must be free the other verses evoke crying and

14:39

sorrow and moaning and dying they say that freedom is a constant dying we’ve

14:47

died so long we must be free I like the irony of the last line

14:54

of each of the verses we’ve struggled so long we’ve cried so so long we’ve

15:00

sorrowed so long we’ve moaned so long we’ve died so long we must be

15:06

free there is both critique and inspiration here we must be free we must

15:14

be free but are we really

15:19

free this song was designed to forge community

15:26

Freedom emerges from the very process of

15:32

struggling and as we attempt to achieve Freedom we discover many new dimensions

15:41

of the freedom we thought we knew we transform our sorrow into Joy

15:50

our pain into pleasure the very first time I visited

15:57

Hawaii the struggle to force the Navy to leave the sacred island of

16:02

kah had just erupted and I had the opportunity to meet with with with quite

16:09

a number of the activists at that time there was struggle there was sorrow there was moaning and there was dying

16:17

today the island is no longer controlled by the

16:23

military no longer controlled by the military but freedom is a constant

16:31

struggle and the struggle against militarization

16:37

continues the struggle here in Hawaii against militarization the struggle to

16:43

preserve agricultural lands the struggle to save this

16:49

beautiful place in the world from

16:57

Monsanto the struggle to protect Mount

17:05

AA and the struggle against police

17:14

violence of course people around the world know the names of Mike Brown and

17:20

Freddy gray and Tamir rice the 12-year-old who was killed in Cleveland

17:25

but we should also include Colin El ERS the young kanaka Mai who was shot

17:34

and killed by a federal agent some years

17:39

ago freedom is a constant

17:45

struggle every time I have visited Hawaii there have been reasons to evoke

17:52

the constant struggle Against Racism during the late 1990s

17:59

um when I was here John hope Franklin whom as I I mentioned before was one of the holders of the Dan and Maggie anui

18:06

distinguished chair he had tried his best to spark what was called then a national

18:13

conversation on Race under the opes of the Clinton

18:20

Administration the other Clinton

18:26

administration and you may have um notice that uh today Clinton is trying

18:35

to defend his crime Bill the Violent

18:40

Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act uh and perhaps we can talk about that later

18:47

but I want to bring up another aspect uh of his presidency in 1997 Bill Clinton

18:55

announced that he was about to quote lead the American people in a great and

19:03

unprecedented conversation about race now people who had followed um

19:11

Clinton’s nomination of lonni guer to head the Civil Rights division of the

19:17

justice department and who were aware of his subsequent withdrawal of the

19:25

nomination because apparently she was considered to be too radical for that

19:32

position they knew that it was actually Lonnie gwyer who had initially proposed

19:38

a national conversation on Race she had said and I quote we need new thinking

19:45

and new approaches to race and racism that move Beyond Notions of intentional

19:53

acts of bigotry and Prejudice beyond the claims of legal Racial equality that

20:02

rallied the civil rights movement in the 1960s away from the claims based on

20:10

individual guilt and individual innocence what she was saying then

20:17

was that we have to learn how to recognize institutional racism and

20:25

structural racism

20:31

now John hope Franklin was named the head of the commission that would organize this

20:39

conversation there were major problems from the very outset although Franklin

20:45

clearly wanted a deep engagement with the ways in which slavery and

20:51

colonization had shaped the racisms that remained institutionally embedded in our

20:58

societ societies no indigenous person was named to the

21:04

commission and this was much more than an oversight this meant that we would not

21:11

be urged to understand the links between slavery and

21:17

colonization the ways in which the racist aggression of the posts slavery

21:23

Jim Crow era was directly connected to the violent annexations of Puerto Rico

21:30

and Hawaii in fact in fact one of the most repressive

21:37

moments in the racial history of the US took place in

21:43

Wilmington North Carolina the Wilmington North Carolina Massacre of

21:50

1898 which means that it took place the same year that Hawaii was annexed

21:59

after of course uh the earlier overthrow of the Hawaiian uh

22:05

Kingdom historians have reminded us that we are produced by processes that often

22:13

relegate us as individuals to relative

22:20

insignificance and thinking about someone like John hope Franklin uh who

22:27

um who was belittled by the failures of the same history of which he was student

22:34

of which he was a student I feel the need to remind myself of the need for

22:40

what he called a historical minded people he said we need more

22:48

historians but we also need a historical minded

22:53

people and this historical mindedness this Collective Consciousness that is

23:01

always grounded in history is an is a very important dimension of

23:08

Freedom joh o Franklin received the president presidential medal of freedom

23:15

in 1995 uh and within a couple of months of

23:20

having received this uh this medal he was confronted by a woman in a

23:29

hotel lobby in New York uh who saw this black man stand at there standing there

23:35

and thought he was a custodian and gave him her garbage to dispose

23:43

of and and then later he said uh uh at a hotel in Oklahoma he was

23:51

mistaken for a bellhop and was asked to carry a stranger’s

23:56

luggage so he said said he said in an interview I I laugh

24:02

at most of these people how can you take them seriously but later he said you have to

24:09

take them seriously you have to take them seriously and he said he said I

24:15

wish I could see what their eyes see here’s an old man with a nice suit

24:24

on no uniform no accoutrements of servitude I’d like to understand what it is

24:31

Franklin says I am 82 and they still see me as a

24:44

boy he went on to say that without ending slavery

24:50

though and he points out that slavery should have been ended at the founding

24:57

of what was called the United States of America without ending slavery he said

25:03

you couldn’t end the idea that black people were INF Furia we have been mired by that we have

25:13

been so mired down by that ever since then he says people still see me

25:22

as someone meant to serve that’s a bad way to be in a

25:29

country that is supposed to be based on the premise that all men are

25:37

equals the idea that all people are equal at bottom is the basis of

25:45

democracy but the notion of democracy we have been asked to accept has been a

25:52

contradiction in terms democracy in the United States has

25:58

always been an elitist democracy an elitist version of

26:05

democracy as a consequence the representative figure of democracy has

26:12

been the affluent white male consequently the measure of

26:20

equality has been raced and classed and gendered to be equal is to be equal

26:28

equal to not any white man but the

26:34

figure of the affluent white male the abstract figure the abstract figure that

26:42

is supposed to stand in for all of

26:47

us but we know that this hasn’t

26:53

worked because we’re still struggling for freedom

26:59

freedom is a constant struggle but we should not neglect the

27:04

regulative role that the figure of the white woman as as as putatively abstract

27:13

has the regulative role it has played as a stand in for the category

27:21

woman and of course as many scholars and activists have pointed out existing

27:28

social hierarchies even determine who gets to be a legitimate victim or a

27:35

legitimate Survivor a legitimate Survivor of gender violence who gets to represent those who

27:44

constitute legitimate victims Beth Richie has written about

27:49

the every woman who peoples our

27:55

imaginations uh uh uh particularly with respect to the possible eruption of gender

28:03

violence and if you’re familiar with the early era of the struggle against violence against women the slogan was

28:12

um every woman can be a victim every wh

28:19

woman is potentially a victim of of of

28:25

violence but as she pointed out this every woman figure was also raised and

28:35

classed and so we can ask why is it so difficult to

28:41

posit um black

28:47

women women of color as the exemplary

28:53

figures and so if we ask questions about the connection s we make uh we can say

29:00

that um the experiences of of women of color are rich and and generative but

29:07

they are only considered to be experiences that can relate to other

29:15

women of color um perhaps if it had not

29:21

been assume that we had to work with the the most general of categories

29:29

and perhaps if racist hierarchies were not already

29:34

internalized within that presumption of generality we might have recognized the

29:42

value of holding on to the specific and the

29:48

particular it seems to me that this is the lesson that the black lives matter

29:53

movement is trying to impart a century and a half after this Insight should

30:00

have animated our [Applause]

30:07

history and what they are saying is that if black lives matter then all lives

30:15

would matter if native Hawaiian women’s lives

30:22

mattered then all lives would matter

30:30

I’ve just referred to a text that uh the students in our seminar read last week

30:37

uh yeah yeah and I see some of you are here you recognize the the text uh you

30:45

know yesterday we were discussing the diff this is the courses

30:53

on American punishment uh from the penitentiary to the prison industrial

31:00

complex okay I have to get the exact title right uh from uh Rober American punishment

31:08

from the penitentiary to the prison industrial conflix so yesterday we were talking about the the the way in which

31:16

the um development of women’s prisons uh teaches us something very

31:25

different about the way the punish ment system fun uh

31:30

functions um even though women constitute a relatively small minority

31:37

of people in prison all over the world uh the the Insight we Garner by looking

31:45

at Women’s prisons uh um far uh surpasses the the the the the quantity

31:55

the the smallness of the quantity um and and so I think I was um when we

32:02

were talking about um women of color trans women of color

32:08

in prison and the insights uh about the entire apparatus that are acquired as a

32:16

result of focusing on what appears to be a a a relatively small

32:22

population and we were pointing out that when women’s prisons were introduced in the you in the us and this was um in the

32:31

1870s u in 1873 the first women’s prison uh opened in

32:38

Indiana uh that um that these places for women were

32:44

reformatories uh uh there were places where women criminals criminals could be

32:53

rehabilitated but now of course the penitentiary was supposed to be a space of Rehabilitation and reform but for the

33:03

men it was and I have to say white men not native men

33:09

not black men but the ideological premise was that

33:15

these places would allow men to reflect on their actions and to reform

33:23

themselves and become better citizens citizens uh um as a matter of

33:30

fact the institution of the prison is a quintessentially democratic

33:38

institution it is an institution that is only conceivable under conditions of

33:45

democracy where rights and Liberties are recognized in the larger population

33:51

because the the role of the prison is to um um divest people of those rights and

34:00

you cannot be divested of something that you have not already uh acquired uh and

34:06

democracy is required well anyway but the point is that women were

34:12

not considered to be citizens so women’s prisons emerged as a

34:19

result of feminist uh uh uh activism as places where women could

34:27

criminals could be rehabilitated into better wives and

34:33

mothers because this was the era of the cult of true Womanhood

34:39

right however what is interesting is

34:46

that those women who went to prison did not tend to be from the middle classes

34:52

they did not tend to be Bourgeois women who would have the opportunity to to be

34:58

full-time wives and mothers they were poor women they were working

35:03

women and so what this meant was that uh the the women’s prisons reformed women

35:14

criminals uh by transforming them into domestic

35:19

servants because as they learned how to be better wives and mothers they were

35:25

actually learning the skills of domestic work uh so

35:34

um until the 1980s and the booming prison economy associated with

35:41

de-industrialization and the dismantling of the uh welfare state um see Bill

35:49

Clinton uh just for parentheses until that period women’s prison architecture

35:57

even reflected this domestic

36:02

approach now we know that uh the over incarceration practices in the US have

36:09

led to more the imprisonment of more people than anywhere else in the world

36:15

more in absolute numbers and more per capita the the United States has

36:21

25% of the entire planet’s incarcerated population

36:29

but only 5% of the population at large now when one looks at women it’s

36:38

interesting that the more than 200,000 women in US

36:45

prisons and in the 1970s there were approximately 200,000 people in prisons

36:54

so Rob Robert was talking about the tenfold increase from the 70s to the

37:00

present uh um but the 200,000 women in

37:05

prison today constitute onethird of the entire documented female

37:13

prison population in the world the countries that have the next

37:20

highest women’s prison population are China China has 84,600 women in prison

37:27

and Russia with 59,000 and of course we could continue

37:34

to talk about uh what this mass incarceration means this over

37:39

incarceration uh in the context of a prison industrial complex and we would

37:45

also have to talk about Hawaii and we would have to talk about the fact that

37:51

um um private prison companies uh uh uh

37:58

have um offered um possibilities for

38:04

incarcerating uh people arrested here in Hawaii uh

38:11

in small towns in well a small town in

38:17

the state of Arizona so it’s isn’t it

38:23

bizarre that there are two prisons in this small town in Arizona called aloy

38:31

that hold primarily Hawaiian

38:37

prisoners well I understand there’s also a controversy now surrounding U the the

38:42

building of a new Jail uh in aahu uh and that there is a and that CCA Corrections

38:50

Corporation of America which runs the two prisons in alloy Arizona is uh

38:58

trying to convince the the government here uh

39:04

to invest in a new private jail but I also understand that there

39:11

are people who are who are introducing new strategies and new vocabulary we’re

39:17

talking about decarceration as opposed to incarceration

39:22

uh and um

39:30

I would say that uh I hope the latter group wins

39:42

out you know I think that it is important um methodologically whether

39:50

one is conducting research or whether one is involved in activism to produce a

39:57

broad framework that consists of an

40:03

acknowledgment of a range of connections uh um and it is within that broad

40:12

framework that one can begin to explore or act against specific um uh act around

40:21

specific kinds of issues and I was talking about um

40:28

gender violence before if one

40:35

separates domestic violence or intimate violence or sexual violence from State

40:42

violence then from the very outset one is ruling out the possibility that there

40:49

might be some kind of connection some kind of symbiosis that leads State

40:55

violence that that links State violence and individualized violence that links

41:02

the violence that uh uh uh is so

41:09

embedded in the prison apparatus uh and

41:14

the violence that happens within intimate

41:22

relationships which leads me to say a few words about about

41:31

feminism [Applause]

41:36

and you know I I I know that there there there there are some feminists who can’t

41:44

understand why the younger generation uh uh does not accept the feminism of their

41:55

grandmothers and I’m not going to mention mention any names here maybe afterwards

42:02

so um but I think we are witnessing the emergence of a much more complex

42:10

complicated uh productive feminism that is being embraced uh by by many people

42:18

regardless of their gender identification regardless of their uh um

42:24

uh regardless of the way in which they identify into certain racialized

42:30

communities um and I would like to think that this

42:37

new feminism um is related to what you might call abolition

42:45

feminism uh I have um written about abolition

42:50

democracy uh which um I have discussed in connection

42:56

with uh the U WB de boy’s notion that

43:02

democracy as we know it in this country today is lacking uh what would have uh

43:10

uh uh occurred had in the aftermath of slavery or

43:17

during the struggle against slavery uh abolition democracy been

43:23

acknowledged as a a more substantive democracy as a democracy that would have

43:29

been made a new not the Democracy of the American

43:34

Revolution that uh uh was built on colonization and slavery but it would be

43:42

a new democracy new institutions that would have allowed for the

43:47

incorporation of of of of former slaves

43:52

and a democracy that would have acknowledged the sovereignty of indigenous

43:58

people but that democracy didn’t happen uh that was the abolition

44:06

democracy and so today I think we might begin to speak about abolition

44:13

feminism abolition feminism as opposed to uh what you might call carceral

44:19

feminism u a feminism that uh relied on punitive

44:25

solutions that relied on on the state uh um but this is not so much about making

44:32

violence against women figure into a pre-ordained

44:37

abolitionist framework it’s about demonstrating that punitive

44:42

Solutions which are rarely Solutions rarely even the punitive behavior of uh

44:53

uh parents toward the child there rarely

44:59

Solutions and these punitive Solutions cannot help us imagine a world without

45:08

violence a world Beyond violence and abolition encourages us to think Beyond

45:16

retribution Beyond Vengeance beyond the carceral toward ways of perhaps

45:24

ultimately depositing gender violence in into the dust bin of history and I think this should be an

45:31

important democratic ideal how do we rid our worlds of of of

45:39

the gender violence uh uh that has uh wrought such Havoc uh within our

45:46

families and our communities

45:55

U and I would also like to point to the

46:01

way increasing acceptance of ideologies of

46:08

islamophobia have had a detrimental impact on uh more productive forms of

46:15

anti-racism but also on our ability to fight back against gender violence

46:23

during during the last year there has been an intensification of

46:30

overt anti-immigrant racism unabashed

46:36

islamophobia violent anti-muslim racism associated with the so-called war on terror and even the president himself uh

46:45

even as his military policies have served to accelerate material and

46:51

ideological assaults assaults against Muslims even he was subject to and

46:57

continues to be subject to islamophobic speculations about his birth uh and

47:03

religious affiliations I think he was he was born here

47:12

right but during the same period we’ve witnessed the impact of the Patriot Act the justification of Terror and the

47:20

proliferation of prisons in service of the so-called war on terror the most

47:27

profitable sector of the prison industrial complex is now immigrant

47:33

detention and at the same time we’ve seen in the intensification of attacks

47:39

by the Israeli government on the West Bank and Gaza it is not accidental it

47:47

seems to me that young people began to speak out against white supremacy and

47:53

racism precisely as islamophobia and anti Muslim racism were becoming increasingly

48:04

apparent the use of the war on terror and this U I’m I’m reading an

48:11

uped that I wrote not long ago for uh the guardian I believe the use of the

48:17

war on terror as a broad designation of the project of 21st

48:23

century Western democracy has served as a justification of

48:29

anti-muslim racism it is further legitimized the Israeli occupation of

48:35

Palestine it has redefined the repression of immigrants and indirectly

48:41

led to the militarization of local police departments throughout the country police departments including on

48:49

college and university campuses have acquired military

48:54

surplus from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan through the Department of

49:00

Defense excess property program excess property

49:07

program thus in response to the police killing of Michael

49:13

Brown um demonstrators challenging racist police violence were confronted

49:19

by police offices dressed in camouflage uniforms armed with military weapons and

49:26

driving armored vehicles thus it is impossible it seems

49:31

to me to understand racism of the first Decades of the 21st century without

49:37

recognizing its articulation with the torture and the military assaults and

49:42

the ideological dimension of the so-called war on

49:47

terror although we tend to imagine islamophobia in the form of state and

49:54

perhaps extr legal violence and State Terror against men who practice Islam or

50:01

men who appear to be Muslims as they are representationally produced to be

50:09

terrorists and not only in European countries like France and Belgium but

50:14

also um in the US by such figures

50:20

as such people as some of the current political C

50:30

candidates but it is Muslim women and especially those who wear the hijab who

50:36

become the most visible targets of a range of violences in France the hijab

50:42

has been declared illegal in public schools under the principle of

50:47

secularity or what they call in France Li and this is putatively for the

50:54

purpose of emphasizing the separation of church and state and achieving the

51:01

assimilation of minorities but we can talk about uh the

51:07

suburbs of Paris the Bon and we can talk about the state of

51:12

education and the state of employment and that certainly doesn’t appear to point to

51:21

assimilation in in the United States there’s the case of the

51:26

palestinian-american activist rasmia OD which reveals the way State violence

51:34

produces and reproduces gender violence uh and I’m

51:39

not sure whether you’re familiar with the case of Ria OD in in Chicago is she

51:45

is um 68y old um American of Palestinian

51:51

Origins who was recently arrested um um because

51:57

she had apparently uh

52:02

um answered questions regarding her

52:09

history with respect to arrests inaccurately know you always get you

52:16

always get asked have you ever been um convicted that’s the box that we’re

52:22

trying to get rid of anyway um for University for jobs and also for

52:31

citizenship she she eventually received

52:37

uh her citizenship but as a result of the fact that she was an activist in her

52:43

community and particularly in relation to the boycott sanctions and divestment

52:50

campaign she was arrested and uh charged with uh um

52:57

um answering in answering incorrectly on a naturalization application and

53:03

therefore she was threatened with having her citizenship taken from her and threatened with deportation not to her

53:12

um original home but to

53:17

Jordan and um and I mention this because uh

53:25

she she did not answer the question because of the horrendous uh sexual

53:33

torture she had experienced when she was arrested uh and

53:38

she was subject to physical torture sexual torture and some of it some of it was perpetrated in front of her uh

53:46

father who was now uh deceased uh um so

53:51

there is a major campaign uh around in in Chicago and other uh parts of the US

53:59

uh to um save her life and to prevent

54:04

her uh deportation and I’ll say this afternoon I had the opportunity to to meet too uh

54:11

really um exciting and enthusiastic students from Beret University uh who

54:18

are participating in a tour um the right to education

54:24

r2e um tour and some of you were present I think it was an amazing event wasn’t it

54:35

um and you can you can follow them online this tour is also organized by

54:42

black for Palestine the efforts to bring black communities and Palestinian

54:47

communities in struggle

54:55

together now let me let me conclude I know I’ve been speaking too long

55:04

um but let me say that uh this is a particular historical

55:11

conjuncture and at moments such as such as um this moment we Embrace new

55:19

possibilities we were once afraid to acknowledge but at the same time there

55:24

are signs that we could move in a backwards Direction on the one hand there appears

55:31

to be a new consensus against mass incarceration um people

55:39

everywhere uh are talking about the prison issue people here in Hawaii are

55:47

aware am I right there is there’s this new Collective

55:54

Consciousness and um let me say that uh 20 years ago nobody wanted to talk about

56:01

well there were some and probably a lot of you but most people

56:08

didn’t but on the one hand there appears to be this new consensus against um mass

56:15

incarceration and against police brutality police violence um and and and

56:23

young people especially Young people of colors

56:28

especially young black people and young black women and especially young black queer

56:34

women are taking the lead in struggles against racist State

56:41

violence and now there is an emphasis on connections on intersectionality which

56:48

largely comes from feminist influences on current struggles I’ve been speaking about

56:55

feminism but I want to be clear that the feminism I’m speaking

57:00

about is not the feminism that

57:08

um that Hillary Clinton speaks of

57:18

that because the feminism I’m speaking about is also anti-

57:25

capitalists and there are deep connections between

57:31

anti- capitalism anti-racism anticolonialism and the struggle against

57:38

gender violence and gender

57:44

equality and what’s so exciting about all of these new movements is that they

57:51

recognize the importance of this anti- capitalist anti-colonial IST

57:57

anti-racist feminism and they take seriously the

58:03

importance of developing an analysis of capitalism and recognizing the connections with the attack on labor and

58:11

they see racism within an intersectional framework anti-black racism requires an

58:17

understanding of anti-indigenous racism anti- Latino anti-asian racisms and

58:23

especially now of anti-us Muslim racism and islamophobia and one

58:30

should also recognize the connection between islamophobia and

58:39

anti-Semitism but also of other forms of repression anti-immigrant repression

58:44

misogyny ableism homophobia

58:51

transphobia and these new movements recognize that no struggle for

58:57

Freedom can be complete without an internationalist

59:03

context thus the connections with the movements for justice in

59:13

Palestine new models of leadership are emerging um and I say I I emphasize the

59:23

black queer women’s leadership black Trans leadership not for identitarian

59:30

reasons not for identitarian reasons but rather because this kind of collective

59:37

leadership can help extricate us from assimilationist Frameworks and

59:45

objectives can keep us

59:51

radical and finally movements are recognizing the importance of incorporating routines of self-care into

59:59

our struggles we cannot work ourselves to death with no thought about how we’re

1:00:06

going to continue if we destroy ourselves we will suffer and our

1:00:11

movements will suffer so learning how to care for the self for our bodies for our

1:00:20

Spirits for our imaginations eating well well eating

1:00:27

well which requires us to popularize critiques of capitalist industrialized

1:00:34

food production the destruction of ancient

1:00:42

seeds capitulation to Monsanto critiques of the violence inflicted on animals for

1:00:49

the sole purpose of producing food for profit which at the same time damages

1:00:56

the health of those who eat

1:01:05

it but this is just the beginning of a very long

1:01:12

story freedom is a constant struggle thank

1:01:20

you thank you very much

1:01:31

[Music]

1:01:51

[Music] w

1:01:56

[Music]

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