Activism and Advocacy After 2020

- Yeah, well, welcome and good to get outta the rain, 'cause I think it's just gonna crash down pretty soon. As you guys know from the program, we have a panel on advocacy and activism and our panel is really a continuation of a conversation that began five years ago at reunion with a panel on activism. And several of the folks who are here now spoke about how their time at Amherst had shaped the advocacy work that they had embarked on afterwards. And then there are a couple of newbies like me.

So, we're really here to discuss how the tumultuous events of the current historical moment, the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, and the protests that followed in the summer of 2020. The insurrection of January 6th, 2021, how those events served as an inflection point that reshaped or revitalized or maybe redirected the work that we've been involved with. So, I'm gonna do a quick intro for everybody on the panel. They're each gonna speak for about five minutes. I'm the

timekeeper, so I'm gonna give people the hook and then we'll have a chance to give the panelists a chance to respond to something. And then I thought we could open it up for Q&A in the last 15 minutes. That at least is the grand plan, because we've got an hour here. So, if I could introduce today's panelists. Erica Fields, who works at a non-profit organization that addresses educational health and workforce challenges across the globe. We've got me, actually, I'm speaking second, so that's why

I'm on the list. I'm the Chair of the History Department and co-founder of 1898 Legacies and Futures Research Collective at UNC Wilmington. I also serve on a couple of nonprofit boards that focus on revitalization and restoration efforts in Wilmington. We have Charles Austin Myers, Founder and Chair of Signum Global Advisors and member of the Board of Trustees of the Central Park Conservancy and the Board of the Mayor's Fund for New York City. We also, have Patty Favreau who's a marketing and c

ommunications executive in financial services, and she serves on three non-profit boards that focus on access and inclusion in the arts and in public health. And she lives on Martha's Vineyard and New York City with her husband and their two Black sons who deserve respect and safety. Flora Stamatiades is going to be our last speaker and she is Associate Vice President of Leadership Transitions, the Arts Consulting Group. She is involved with, perhaps a founder of, but I never really got to the h

eart of it, of Broadway for Biden and a political activist. And I am going to turn the proceedings over to Erica, who's going to introduce her work. - Good afternoon, can you hear me? So, as Lynn said, I work for a nonprofit organization that addresses educational health and workforce challenges across the globe. I do research and evaluation of education programs, and I also, work to build the capacity of home visiting programs to improve the lives of women, infants and children who live in pove

rty. So, through my work, I see a lot of the injustices and inequities in the education system and beyond. That's what we're trying to address in our work. The one thing that always strikes me in my job is that we're an organization of about 1,300 people who are working to make the world a better place. And when I hear of or I see people who even people who have positions of power, looking at somebody who's life is in crisis or who is struggling with challenges and instead of trying to make that

person's life better, they choose to make it worse. So, that's something that sort of drives my activism. Aside from my day job, I'm sort of, I guess I would call myself an average activist maybe. I don't have a huge platform. I don't have a ton of money. I write my postcards, I go to protests, I donate what I can, I talk to people as I can. And a few years ago, I started also writing poems. If you came to the reunion five years ago, you probably heard me read one of my poems. It's sort of some

thing I do to motivate myself to keep fighting, because it can all get really depressing at times. And like I said, I don't have a big platform, I just have a little blog with potentially no followers. So, I kind of scream into the void, but I just write my emotions and I write what I'm feeling and I put them out there and I hope that maybe they strike a chord with somebody or maybe they make somebody think a little bit differently about something or maybe they open a dialogue. And I noticed in

a recent email from the college that President Elliot said, "No place and no person is too small to have a larger meaning to the world." And when I think about activism, I think that really rings true, because everybody has a talent, everybody has different resources. And so, from the small to the big, we're all sort of working together to progress forward. So, this is my little spiel, if you've ever thought about getting involved in a cause, because I certainly had before the 2016 election, but

I always felt nervous. I don't wanna knock on doors. I don't wanna talk to people. There's so much that you can do and every little bit moves us forward. So, I would say just do it. So, I wrote a poem for today and I didn't want it to be completely depressing. So, I started thinking about what keeps me going and what gives me hope when things like the murder of George Floyd and the January 6th insurrection occur. So, this is my poem. It's called "My Journey to Hope", and I hope you like it. Oh,

and I'm doing the slides for myself. "I can feel his cruelty deep within my soul. I can feel their hatred swallowing us like a vast black hole. It isn't any mystery, they're whitewashing history and supporting the prostitution of our beloved constitution. Are we hurdling towards another final solution? When I read the news, it's horrifying. Congress members routinely lying. Attacks on trans people intensifying. A Supreme Court Justice with a criminal mentality and an alarming number of elected

officials untethered from reality. Making it harder for Black people to vote." Oops, sorry. It's not going, Flora. - Can you do it from here? - There we go. "Jews, once again, the ultimate scapegoat." I'm gonna need you to do that. - Okay. - "Ignoring warnings from science and our Earth. Imposing personal values, forcing women to give birth. We have unmasked the lies, the toxic masculinity under the guise of virtuous divinity. We've exposed..." - Time's up, no. (panelists laughing) - Is it reall

y? - Yeah. - Oh my God. - I bet, we're gonna give her a continuance. - Gimme another minute. Okay, let's see. "The backwards notion that money trumps emotion. That guns make men ferocious, that strong women are atrocious, that anyone who's not white and male is not allowed to be outspoken. But despite all this, I have hope. I can see the dawn's early light. I see it in the eyes of our children who have taken up this fight. They've grown up in a world of mass shootings and violence, and they won'

t stand by and suffer in silence, while the screams of their classmates ring in their ears, and the NRA stokes angry white men's fears. With intellect, tenacity, courage, and grit, the next generation has pledged to commit. To progress and power in the hands of the people with women and people of color as equals. Taxing the fuck out of the rich and deceitful, systemic reforms that will cause an upheaval. Our children are literally carrying the weight of the Earth on their shoulders of humanity's

fate. And what I see when I look at the young, I see heroes unsung. They then rolls off their tongues. They say gay, they say trans, and they fully understand that this person's life should be celebrated, not banned. So, this one goes out to the children who come marching by the millions. Can you feel their resolve? They've been through it all. We've stripped them of their youth. They have no choice but to use their voices to make noise because their childhood's been destroyed. And the very peo

ple who should be supporting them are now thwarting them. Holding them back until they have to attack just to live their lives. In fact, just to be heard, it's absurd, but I have hope. I see that spark in the distance being stoked by our children's persistence. Our world may be in a state of flux, but this generation gives major fucks." (audience member laughing) (audience cheering) (audience applauding) - Sorry, Lynn. - It's okay. I knew everyone was gonna (indistinct). - And I'm sorry for goin

g over time. Shutter. - These are bifocals, but they don't really. All right. All right, so that's shutter. - Shutter. - That was the code word and I forgot it immediately. So, I what have up here is a slide of my hometown, Wilmington, North Carolina, not Delaware. I put it up here, because right now it's a sleepy, it's kind of a sleepy town on the coast. It's known for its beaches. Maybe you've vacationed here. And I wanted to put these up as a contrast for the history of Wilmington that I'm go

nna share a little bit about today. So, the work that I do at UNC Wilmington is really about connecting faculty and students with community groups in the city who are dedicated to recovering the narrative and material artifacts related to the 1898 massacre and coup and the destruction and or seizure of Black-owned property. And I'm working to institutionalize the teaching of this history so that students at UNCW don't graduate without engaging with this complex history. Well, so many people in W

ilmington have not heard of 1898. In fact, there's kind of an origin story. People say like, "When did you first hear?" Well, the January 6th insurrection certainly had particular resonance for Wilmington residents, because it had uncanny parallels to the city's own fraud history, because 125 years ago, almost exactly, in Wilmington, Confederate-flag waving, self-styled patriots succeeded in overturning a democratically-elected government. Now, Wilmington, North Carolina was a uniquely integrate

d city after the Civil War. It was the largest city in North Carolina and it had a majority Black population, probably about 56%, maybe a bit higher. And members of the Black community, unlike almost anywhere else, held positions of social, economic and political power. From having seats on the city council to owning many of the city's businesses. And in fact, because I'm a historian and I can't stop myself, I brought some evidence to show you. So, here's a city directory from 1897. Just one pag

e of it shows you some of the business owners in the city. You'll see that some of those names have asterisks by them. And that's because any person of color had an asterisk by their name so that the white folks who were shopping there would know where they were going. They probably knew already it was a small town. But this was the practice up until about Brown versus the Board of Ed. So, up until about 1957, you find asterisks or sometimes like c in both the phone directory and the business di

rectory in Wilmington. But you can see also by the number of asterisks how many Black proprietors there are. And as I said, Wilmington has a relatively flourishing middle class, a Black middle class. And I don't wanna paint a picture of, I just realized I forgot to start my own timer. I don't mean to say it's some kind of racial utopia and not a racial, like it's not about equality here. But I will say there are opportunities in Wilmington for its Black residents that just didn't exist elsewhere

in the post-reconstruction South. And so, here you have, this is the owner of the Daily Record. It's the only Black-owned daily paper in the country. So, this period of stability for Wilmington's Black citizens came to an abrupt end in 1898 when that coalition of former Confederate soldiers and white supremacists led by a cabal of the city's white leaders, plotted for months to depose Wilmington's biracial fusion government. And their campaign culminated in the only successful political coup in

the US. So, it came about with a racist campaign in the months before the massacre in which the conspirator circulated and printed and reprinted an anti-lynching editorial written by the man on the left of this slide, Alex Manley, who's the owner and the editor of the Daily Record. And Manley's editorial by the way, suggested that white women might in fact welcome relationships with Black men. This was anathema, not just in the South, just in the country. And white supremacists launched a race-

baiting propaganda campaign. Recruited a militia called the Red Shirts from all over the South. And on November 10th, that militia torched Black neighborhoods and businesses, starting with Alexander Manley's Daily Record. Sorry, I have some bits from the paper in the summer leading up to the November massacre. You can see this white supremacist events being advertised and reported on and what you might do if you had joined the white government union. So, on November 10th, those Red Shirts torche

d Black neighborhoods and businesses starting with the Daily Record. They killed scores of Wilmington's Black citizens. The numbers unknown, it goes be, estimates vary from anywhere from 9 to 250. They forced the fusion of city council and mayor to resign. They stripped Black officials of their positions. They probably lynched some of the city's Black police officers. They exiled most of the city's Black leaders and they installed their own white supremacist candidates in office. Here is a repor

t of the day after the election. This is the day before the massacre by the way. So, they've already won the election. Wilmington has been shaped by this history ever since. And scholars have shown places with an early history of racial violence experience a legacy effect that fosters long patterns of inequity. So, the 1898 massacre not only killed and displaced Black people in Wilmington, but it fundamentally, shaped the dynamics of the population and the governance structures for the next cent

ury. For example, the city's Black population, this is the Daily Record, by the way. This is the white mob posing for photos outside of the burned-out building, the printing presses on the second floor. But in terms of long-term effects, this shows it's just Black and white citizens in Wilmington. You can see that the percentage of Black citizens has gone down every decade since 1898. It's less than 18% now, it might be down to 15%. No Black politicians were elected to state or federal office fo

r decades. Black disenfranchisement became the order of the day. In 1896, there were 120,000 registered Black voters. In 1902, there were just over 6,000. So, the South itself is shaped by this history too, because given the importance of Wilmington, it is the largest city in North Carolina. The coup was understood as a green light for other Southern states and cities. I think we can say it, it's established the definitive rule of Jim Crow laws there for 60 years. I mean, we have white supremaci

sts who are so proud of their success that they traveled throughout the South touting what they called the North Carolina Way, which is recommendations for how states could disenfranchise their Black voters. And in Wilmington, this story was silenced for just about 100 years. Barely anybody, white or Black, spoke about the events that continue to haunt the city. So, this summer of 2020 was an inflection point at my university, both for the institution, for students, for faculty. And at that mome

nt it became clear that very few faculty were engaging directly with the causes or consequences of 1898, whether that was in the classroom or their research. And the university as a whole was in no way engaging meaningfully with this past. Its students had no idea about the history of the place in which they went to school. So, a colleague and I decided to try to start to change that and find a way to ensure that our students didn't graduate without learning about the community in which they liv

ed. And to do that... (mobile ringing) It's like tell you at the next reunion. (Charles chuckling) We decided we needed to seed the university. So, we started to run faculty curriculum workshops. We've had about 50 faculty go through who are teaching with across disciplines in ways that engage with a history of Wilmington and Black history more generally. They don't just talk about 1899, they talk about both the legacies of, sorry, 1898, but also it's futures. And we also work on resilience and

restoration efforts, because it's critical to talk about resilience and resistance as well as the impact of the massacre and coup. And I went a little too long, so I'm gonna turn that over, yeah. Yes, and Charles is next. - Great. Great, it's pouring. So, I think we're gonna be here a while, so maybe you have a lot of questions and we probably should have gotten wine and snacks for everyone, but so I, yep, thanks. - Sorry. - Just close it. - No problem. Yeah, so I've spent the last 35 years sinc

e graduating from here. I've spent the last 35 years on Wall Street, investment banking. Went to Solomon Brothers right after graduating, took after tears, took time to do a master's. I did not do an MBA. I decided to go to Cambridge in the UK to do an MPhil in History and Philosophy, 'cause I figured it was probably the last time I'd use my brain again in that way. And I'm really glad I did. And then I came back to banking immediately after that and have done it ever since. Outside of work I've

been very involved in democratic politics. And the interesting thing on, I started with Hillary Clinton for Senate twice then the White House, Obama, Biden, Hillary twice actually. And then Biden again starting now for next year. And what's really interesting on Wall Street is, up until probably about seven or eight years ago, or actually 10 years ago, when I went to Evercore, which was run and still is run by two Democrats, I was actually kind of in the closet about being a democrat, because I

was in such a minority. And it was really sort of frowned upon in a way to be politically engaged or involved at all. And if you were, you really were expected to be a Republican. So, it's kind of interesting and I was very out and very visible in a lot of these campaigns. So, even that was kind of interesting, having to kind of navigate my career and also, really stick to what I believed in and spending a lot of time outside of work on it. And then I got to Evercore, I got to come outta the cl

oset on that, 'cause the day again, the two, the CEO and the chairman were Democrats. So, it actually became very easy, but my involvement in politics started here and I always like to tell this story. I have four kids. Actually, my daughter just finished her first year here. So, I'm a parent, parent of Class of '26. Very exciting, thank you, thank you, thank God. Thank God for legacy. I know it's one of the last. There we go. - [Patty] And God says you're welcome. - There we are either God or P

eter Pouncey. Anyway, and she's loving it by the way, which makes me very happy. So, but I got involved, I started, and got involved in politics right here. And it was 1984, and you'll remember, you may remember, Mandel Ferraro, horrible campaign. Mandel lost in the biggest landslide, literally, in modern history. Literally, he carried the state of Massachusetts, I think. I think he even lost his own state or yeah, but it was absolutely disaster. But Ferraro came to UMass, UMass Amherst, and one

of our classmates, Audrey Kuzuro, you may remember, Newt was a family friend of Geraldine's. And I got to work, because of that, as part of the advanced team at UMass. And I got to meet her is the point of the story, which is I was so impressed by her, not only in person, but by her speech that it was very, I just, I was like, I'm gonna get much more involved in politics. So from that moment on, I started getting much more involved. And what I have focused on since that day is doing everything

I can to elect more women. That's literally my biggest issue, the thing I spend the most amount of time on in politics. And I'm still convinced that we will have the first woman president from the Democratic party. I'm still very optimistic and hopeful on that and it's most likely gonna be Kamala, and happy to debate that with anyone. But I am excited about that. The other thing I wanted to mention though is part of the reason I'm so passionate and so committed to electing more women is for two

reasons. One, is when more women are in the room and in positions of authority and decision making, we get to much better outcomes. Like it's proven study after study, I can tell you empirically, I was very lucky in my career, because my very first boss was an ex-Army guy. Wall Street loves hiring student athletes and former military people. The first group is relatively okay, the last one's really knocked sometimes. I had a really bad one. And he really was a really, quite difficult guy, but fr

om that experience, I then outta pure luck, the next two bosses for 10 years were two women back to back, like totally randomly. Who were the most incredible bosses I've ever had in my career. And that experience also really shaped kind of my view on when women are in positions of authority, they do things like help lift up the team. They don't lead the team with their ego. They don't need to be right in every single meeting. And they created a much better culture on the desk, for example. And s

o, in my career on Wall Street, I was known as being a huge proponent for DEI, long before DEI was a thing. I'm very proud of that. I've hired probably more women than most people in my position over the years and promoted women into very senior positions and will continue to do so. I think it's really important that we all keep focusing on that. I also just wanna say that when I was here I was in such awe of these women right up here. I mean, it is incredible and still am, the smart, strong, im

pressive women that I went to school with. And we have Jen Cody here also, by the way, who's incredibly well-known, best-selling author by the way. No, no, I'm just singling you out, because another rockstar from our class, another woman rockstar. And I'm very happy to be the token male on this panel, by the way, just FYI. Yep, I am very proud of it. For far too long and way too often it's the other way around. So, but I'm in awe of these women. And lastly, I'd just say that we still have a lot

of work to do. And my kids get are so tired of hearing this, hear me say this, but as I've gotten older and further along in my career, I've actually become more progressive. And it wasn't only because of Donald Trump, which certainly accelerated some of that. It happened long before that. and I feel even more strongly today, 'cause typically people in my position tend to become a little more conservative and you care more about not paying tax and everything. And I've really gone the other way.

And the reason I think it's so important is how much work we have to do. If you really look at what's happening post-Trump and the fact that he may win the Republican primary, you look at what DeSantis is doing in Florida, whether it's banning books, prohibiting women's right to choose, attacking the LGBTQ community, supporting literally gun legislation or prohibiting any kind of gun safety legislation. And very importantly, it's not just Florida, but also, rolling back or restricting voting rig

hts. We have so much work to do and I'm in the fight. I'm very optimistic about it. And I'll end on this. The reason I'm optimistic is I look at my four kids and they are so politically engaged in a way that most of my generation, our generation wasn't. They are incredibly engaged, and as Erica said, they don't look at the world through these sort of labels. They're incredibly like accepting and forward thinking. And I think that's incredible. So, I'm very optimistic about our future. Donald Tru

mp's not gonna win. He may win the primary, he's not gonna win the White House. Biden Harris are very likely to win re-election, which I think is a good thing. And while we hopefully, achieve that, we have a lot of work to do at the state level to stop this incredible assault, especially, legislative assault on our basic freedom. So, I'll hand it off to Patty. - Thank you. Hi everyone, I'm Patty Favreau. I was Patty Spencer way back in the day when James Taylor was the only music I used to liste

n to here at Amherst College. It's a pleasure to be here. And speaking of tokens, here I go. So, when George Floyd was murdered on the street and the videotape of that went viral, I was bombarded. My sons and I were bombarded with phone calls and texts and snaps of really well-intentioned white people sobbing, just completely in shock that this happened. They were sad, they were angry. They asked us what they could do to help. They asked us what we were doing to help. And quite frankly, it was a

ll incredibly overwhelming. I felt suffocated, I felt angry, I felt sad, I felt invisible. I mean, the people calling us, anybody who has my phone number or my text, and lord knows anyone who has my Snap is somebody that knows me well. These were people who I thought were paying attention, but somehow they had completely forgotten about Eric Garner, about Trayvon Martin, about Rodney King, about DJ Henry, about Sandra Bland, about Emmett Till. George Floyd has happened before. And sadly, George

Floyd will happen again. It's horrible every time it happens, but I sat there flummoxed that people seem to have forgotten about these acts of racial violence. So, I had to take a beat. I had to put my mask on first, which they tell us to do every time we get on a plane. I had to take care of myself for a few days. I took long walks to spend time with my family. And then I decided to do what the poet David White tells us to do, which is to start close in, to take the first step, not the second o

r the third step, but to walk on the pale ground beneath our feet to take the steps we don't wanna take, to take the steps to start a conversation. This is not a direct quote, but you get the gist. To start a conversation. And so, when my son invited me to go to a Black Lives Matter protest, I had avoided those protests for days. I said yes, as parents of teenagers, you know when your kids wanna spend any time with you, you say yes, right? But he was feeling vulnerable and I wanted to keep him c

ompany. So, I went to my first Black Lives Matter protest. I live on Martha's Vineyard year round with my family. I'm one of those 18,000 people who call Martha's Vineyard home. And we went to a protest in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts. We walked for two and a half hours with hundreds of people, mostly white, that had these like beautiful elaborate signs and really emotional chants. They were saying, "George Floyd say his name." Or "Black Lives Matter" and other things that rhyme. They were singing

songs that Martin Luther King taught them how to sing. And in that two and a half hours, not a single person looked at my son and me. Not a single person asked us our names. And in that moment I was reminded what racism feels like for real. Racism is not as loud as the past few years has led us to think it is. Racial violence is horrible of course, but racism is usually quite quiet. Racism is up on the Upper West Side. A bunch of parents who were so proud and happy to have my sons come visit the

m in their homes, but who expressed reluctance and some who outright refused to send their kids to play dates in our home in Harlem. Racism is my parent's friend who asked my children's, not my mom's friend, my children's friend's parent, sorry. Who asked him during a play date. "How come he didn't pass for white?" I am married to a white man, a wonderful white man. And one of my kids is very light skinned. And this mom asked him, "Well, you could pass for white. How come you don't pass for whit

e?" And even though he was only 11 years old, he understood what she meant. She meant, why would you be Black if you could be white? If you could be white, why wouldn't you choose that? Racism is a conversation I know many of you have heard before. It is the parents and the kids who say to my children and to me, these are people we love. That the only reason my kids got into Amherst and Wesland early decision is because they are Black. Now, it's okay for Black to be part of the consideration, bu

t in saying that they're signaling to my children and me that all this talk about diversity and valuing it doesn't really matter when they have to make a little bit of sacrifice or make room for other people at the table. It also overlooks the extraordinariness of my own children who were really high performing kids in their high school. It made them feel small and it made me angry. So, racism is of all of these attempts to make us feel inferior, to make us feel not entitled, to make us feel unw

orthy, to make us feel invisible. So, I decided in this moment that I needed people to see us. I needed to tell stories. And so, I picked up my phone and I became crazy active on Facebook and on Instagram. And those of you who follow me know that I tell the story of my life every single day. I introduce people to my desire to lose weight, to be more fit, my hopes for my children, my pride in my children, my pride in my husband, where I live, where I travel. I want people to see us and I make sur

e that they do. My goal when I started all of this was to save a single life. A friend of mine told me that, if you do racism work, the goal, the work is saving a life. And if the work you're doing isn't saving a life, then you're not doing anything at all. So, every day I wake up and I try to save people's lives. I also, I invite conversation, because of my activism, my close in activism on social media, I've been invited to participate in podcasts and give talks and I've written articles and t

hose have been loud moments of activism. But those really aren't the ones that matter most to me. It's the friend that calls after some something that I wrote and asks a question about it. It's the person who calls and shares with me that they understand a little bit more about what it's like to walk in my skin, and thanks me for my service, which is really being here in rooms like this, talking about the pain of being a Black person and a Black mom in a room filled predominantly with white peop

le. And so, I show up, I give sacrifice and I expect sacrifice. I ask people to give me a little bit to share a little bit of their privilege with me to help things get better. And in exchange for that, I give up some of my pain. I give up some of my wounds and I learn how to love and welcome all the help we can get to make this world a better place. As far as my goal of saving a life, I believe I've done just that. In fact, I know for sure that I have saved two specific lives. These are my boys

, this is Owen and Emmett Favreau. And if I have done my work well, which I will continue to do, you will get to see us living and laughing and journeying through this life. Living out loud, living beautifully, proudly and wonderfully. And we will not have to die in order for you to say our names. Thank you. (audience applauding) - So, I don't know how I follow that, but thank you very much, Patty, for sharing. I always learn when I listen to you. - Thank you. - So, I'm a little emotional, sorry

. (speaker sobbing) My activism journey started when I was 12 years old. And I thought about when you gave your list of names, there is one name that is always forgotten. When I was 12 years old. Arthur McDuffie was murdered by police officers in Miami. He was chased down, on his motorcycle, by police officers on motorcycles. They dragged him off his bike and they beat him to death. He was acquitted with the prosecutor was Janet Reno by the way. And the judge even said how bad her prosecution wa

s, even though two of the officers flipped on their fellow officers. An all-white jury in Palm Beach acquitted those officers and Miami exploded. I was actually, at my friend's bar mitzvah. We were downtown, they had sent a bus to get us this, you know, yellow school bus so that our parents didn't have to drive downtown to the bar mitzvah. So, the bus came back and it was surrounded with police officers and their cars and they escorted us out as we sat on the floor of the bus and peeked up out t

he windows. And I went home and I asked my mother, "What happened here? Why did this happen? Why are people rioting?" Is actually what I asked, 'cause that's what I saw. And she said, "That could have been your uncle, that could have been your cousin, that could have been someone you love, wouldn't you?" And it's funny that my family to actually, I have a cousin who when I said that to her now still does not speak to me. She will not speak to me, because she thinks it is so deeply offensive that

I would suggest that her white son might be a victim. So that started me off. I wanted to make things better. I wanted to make change. And there's so many ways in which you can make change. And I chose a different kind of path. I went to work for a labor union as an organizer, which was about making life better for artists who wanted to make art. And I specialized actually, in finding ways to get projects and work by underrepresented communities that were not being represented by the union onto

union contracts. So that they would have the same opportunities to have pensions and healthcare and build up their savings and work at living wages doing their art. Shows by people like Tyler Perry, for example, who everyone thinks now is so awesome. Not in my eyes. So, that's what I did for almost 25 years. And if you are in a labor union, you are naturally involved in politics. Even though the union at that time tried to claim they were not political, that was not so, because you had to be, y

ou have to advocate for labor every day in everything you're doing. But when I left there, I realized that I still wanted to make change. And so, I make change in my work, the work I do now. It sounds ridiculous to say that by doing executive search I'm making change. But our goal, my firm's goal, is to ensure that the next generation of leaders is representative of the colors of this country, of the diversity of this country. Every kind of diversity of this country that is our stated and active

goal every day. Is that the next generation of leaders, as people retire, as we replace them, will not look like they do right now. So, but I also needed more than that. I need more than that. And I had been doing it, I texted for Hillary, phone called for Hillary, I texted for Kamala, I texted during the midterms, and then the pandemic happened. And I was sitting at home and my entire industry shut down. My paid work at that time was actually, working as a labor consultant to Royal Caribbean C

ruise Lines and they actually kept me on for two more weeks after Broadway shut down. So, I was very lucky, but I was sitting at home seeing thousands and thousands of people who had been thrown out of work. An industry that, by the way, if you don't know, the entertainment industry in this country, and that includes film and television, is 4.5% of our gross domestic product. Everyone thinks of it as it's not a big deal. It is a very big deal. So I thought, what can we do? Well, we can get Joe e

lected. So, I pulled together some friends, Erica was one of them. And I said, "Look, I have this idea that we could make a video. We're all artists. We could take a song that we all know and we could write new lyrics and we could do whatever." And they said, "Actually no, we want our own song." And so, we did that and we're gonna show the video at the end after you get a chance to ask questions and answers so that we can not take up the time for your questions and answers with the video. But th

at led to becoming part of the leadership team for Broadway for Biden. Broadway for Biden was a volunteer organization connected with women for Biden Harris that actually did not only fundraising, we did phone banking, we did panel discussions. But the goal was because we knew to get these numbers out there, we knew that our industry was being treated as though it was unimportant. And we knew that Joe and Kamala knew that wasn't so. They knew that our industry was important and essential and we

knew that entertainment was one way to get that message across. So, we did this right up through until the Georgia vote was final. We continued our work. We got all kinds of stars to come on and actually call people. People were getting calls from people like Bradley Whitford, was making phone calls for Biden. And they would come on Monday nights, 'cause that was traditionally the dark night in theater. So, even though they weren't working, we did it on Monday nights and we would have, oh, we're

gonna have "To Kill a Mockingbird versus "The West Wing", who can make more phone calls in this two hour phone bank? And Aaron Sorkin came on and gave a message about why this was important. So that was one example, 'cause that was the last one, which is why I used it. We did that for a year. And we just, actually, I'm gonna just finish with saying we actually had a kickoff meeting yesterday to plan for what we're gonna be doing for the next election. So, that is my activism. That is my way to

make change. And I will shut up, But I just remember, Lynn, leave me five minutes at the end for my video. - Okay, absolutely. (audience applauding) Just any final thoughts from any of the panelists or we could... - Can I raise one, actually, one more quick thing, 'cause it also picks up on what Flora just said, but I have a lot of friends and family. Actually, most of my family are Trump supporters, but I get a lot of friends sending me emails when they're off about something. Look at what DeSa

ntis is doing. Look at what Ted Cruz is doing and look at, you know, and my family sent me the opposite, which are all these conspiracy theories. which they genuinely believe in, which is actually really amusing. But what I always say is, "If you're pissed off, if you're angry about what you're seeing out there? Get involved." Like I know it's really obvious, but you don't have to have a lot of money. You don't have a lot of time, but reach out to your Congress, your member of Congress. Hold a f

undraiser for him or her. Get involved in the presidential. I also say, if you're a Republican get involved, 'cause I'm assuming if you went here you're probably a moderate Republican, probably leaning somewhat moderate. And I always say, if we're gonna lose, if the Democrats are gonna lose, let's lose to rational Republicans. So, get involved that's all I could say. If you're pissed off, forwarding emails, ranting on Facebook, all that stuff doesn't do any, if it doesn't make any difference, wh

at really makes a difference is getting involved in campaigns. - The only other thing I'd like to add is, we've talked about hope in the youth and I think that's really real. But I just wanna share personally, when it looked like we were going to hell in a hand basket in 2016. We went here and we know the motto Terras Irradient, which is letting your light shine out there in the world. But when the light seemed to dim, I just wanna share that I reached out to people here on this panel to give me

a little bit of hope. I called Charles and said, "What are we gonna do and how can I help?" And Flora, like I need to see some shows and take my head out of the gutter. I met Erica at a protest and stood next to her and Danella and called for change. And so, there's hope in us too. And I just want us to remember that. - I'm just gonna say vote for Joe and Kamala and then after that we'll hope we'll be voting for Kamala. At least I do. - Let's take questions. - Sure, yes. - [Audience Member] (in

distinct). - I can't hear. - It's gonna be very, it's very hard. I come from a, my entire family are ardent, ardent Trump supporters. And half of them are evangelicals and are absolutely convinced he was put on this earth by God to save America. They genuinely believe that. They actually genuinely believe he is a true Christian despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, literally. And then the other half are Trump supporters, because they're part of the tens of millions of Americans that hav

e been left behind increasingly. That where the American dream is either dead or increasingly less available to them. And Trump came along and very effectively, I think he kind of stumbled on this initially, but to his credit, then ran with it. An incredible message that really resonates with people like in my family, who are actually educated and middle class, not horrible people. Aside from their political beliefs, but the message was the reason the American dream is dead for you is because of

immigration, free trade in China, right? With a pretty heavy racist overlay in some of that. And that resonated. And they also think he's a successful billionaire. So, he's aspirational to them. And so, that's what we're dealing with. And that's why I always say, "The Democrats," and I'm very, very involved at a pretty high level in these things, "we are so bad at messaging." If I could change one thing in the Democratic Party, it would be our ability or it would be our messaging. Because the t

ruth is President Obama got the Affordable Care Act done. That has been a transformational piece of legislation for tens of millions of Americans who never had healthcare coverage. I mean, it's absolutely transformational. Maybe not an issue for people in this room, but it is so transformational, life changing. And Joe Biden last year got three things done. The Inflation Reduction act, the CHIPS Act, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. Hell just got the debt ceiling deal done. But we can't m

essage any of that. Our message on the, no, I'll end here, but on so many Americans falling behind, which is the truth is it's actually the product or the result of global monetary policy and automation. Try explaining that to people in rural Pennsylvania. It just doesn't work. So, we have a lot of work to do, and I think messaging is our biggest challenge. The good news on Trump is he's 76 and incredibly unwell. And I don't mean that personally, I just mean objectively. I really don't think he'

ll be president. But his impact, his hijacking of the party, and his impact and hold on the party will long outlive him, unfortunately. - Yeah, in front. - I was class of '78 and after Soweto who started to organize for divesting and I remember the liberal President Ward was against divesting. They were totally corporate compromise. And we couldn't, we picketed them, we picketed them at an all-male club down in Washington was evicted. But you can make change, because in 1990 after Mandela was re

leased, those of us who were agitated in the school by then had divested under President Marks. closet Marks perhaps make sure the front row for the honorary degree ceremony of Mandela. And when you think of that movement, the anti-Apartheid, When Ronald Reagan veto sanctions against South Africa, they were overridden. We organized all these protests. I was with the American command after around the country in the districts, all these Republicans and Mitch McConnell and 33 other Republicans join

the Democrats to override that (indistinct). So I always tell that story, because we meet corporate America on that issue by just having the faith we could succeed and 'cause I see Amherst course also change. And I'm very optimistic, because of that. And I think if just one thing I want to suggest as an organizer myself, how is a guy who's sitting in New York or Connecticut affect the presidential race? Well, my sister hooked me up from this idea focused on a swing state like Pennsylvania, Geor

gia. So, I organized using all my experience in the Apartheid movement. And all my friends do remote phone banking to these swing states. So, I got tons of people to do that when there was a runoff in Georgia, we all did it. Now, I don't know if it made a difference, but everyone doing that kind of thing, my family was anti-Apartheid after this and worked for the AFSC. Organize all their people in (indistinct) in western Pennsylvania toward the door. They were the margin that defeated Trump in P

ennsylvania. So, just a message. I mean, I think the remote phone banking in '24, we gotta have to do it again. Whether we think Trump is weak or not, they've sabotaged so much to voting restrictions, don't underestimate or die. But I commend you fellow Amherst thirties for continuing some of the activism. We've all been involved. I know I have a question, but. - About a question. - I just wanna say one quick thing that Karen, who is sitting right behind you does a lot of work with an organizati

on called Sister District and that's pretty much their focus is to partner with districts that, where change needs to happen. And so, people in California will be phone banking and texting and raising money for a random race in wherever Arkansas or wherever. They see change needs to be made. - And knock on doors. If you haven't done it, it is an experience. I did it in Georgia and it is an experience. You sometimes you get the door slammed right in your face and other times you actually have a m

eaningful conversation. I took my kids a great experience. - Yeah, and I will say just as somebody who lives in the provinces, how essential it is that we get out into those swing states and out of the coastal cities and out of our comfort zone for wherever we are, because we can talk to each other all day long, but that's not really going to change hearts and minds. - Nevada had a question. - Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, please. - There's an issue about the democratic tenure right now. I always think a

s a foreigner, 'cause how many Black Jamaicans live here had an issue of transgender, which is so very clearly part of the democratic agenda does not sit that well with the Black people, especially religious Black people. There's a lot and the way they would vote for Trump, but what people will do is actually not vote. So, there's a little bit of how the Democrats and the Muslims also have a very similar issue. But the Black vote is a larger issue. And the Republicans have done a very good job o

f defining the Democratic Party primarily not as healthcare, but as a transgender party. So, the Democrats I'm less hopeful than Charles unfortunately, because the Blacks which were so critical to the vote before are drifting away in droves and are not being addressed in any sort of focused spaces. To extent the that the Charles sit in these meetings understand that what Black people are hearing is not a party that they we feel comfortable supporting. And it has to be somehow part of the mixing.

Patty, if you would agree with me or not agree with me, but just down and stop. - What do you think? - Yeah. - Yeah, so just say that as.... - Yeah, I mean I think good politics, good messaging, which definitely happens on the right side of the aisle and it does not happen on the left side of the aisle. Focuses on the scarier parts of the other party's message. And I think what we have to do, I'm really self-conscious, saying this in front of Charles. Kick me under the table if I'm wrong, but I

think what we have to do is out shout them a little bit and also get disenfranchised people to vote. Younger people are very supportive of trans rights. So maybe, we stop focusing on the older religious Black voter, but maybe we start focusing on the formerly disenfranchised younger 18-year-old, 19-year-old, 20-year-old voter, who wants to believe change is possible. and in the trans community and the rights that trans people are fighting for and gaining in certain pockets. They see hope and tr

ansformation for the future. So I think it's just a little bit of a shift perhaps is one way to do it. And then there's this amazing guy, I can share his name with you, who is just outraged and wonderful and loud and gay and he breaks down everything that Joe and Kamala have done really well. And he will say, my grandmother said this, but what about this, what about this, what about that? And so, I think it's just staying on the points that we resonate to some. Admitting that there's some votes

that are just gone from day gone by and focusing on the people that we have yet to activate maybe former Bernie supporters who might come over if they know the Democratic Party is more aligned with these views. - And getting young people to register to vote. 'cause when young people vote, they vote almost 80% Democratic today, 'cause they're issues they care about. They actually don't identify as Democrats, but the issues they care about climate change, guns, equality, choice, all of these issue

s, they're not 100% aligned with the Democratic Party. One other thing I would say I'm very critical of the Democratic party, 'cause we need to really also grow a spine. It is absolutely outrageous how we are always on the back foot on not only on messaging, but we're always on the back foot. And so, I make this case a lot on conference calls and in meetings with the party, but unfortunately, the party still predominant is mainly dominated by an older, a much older generation. And that's changin

g. But as you know, our candidate is 80 years old, so it's gonna take some time, but I'm with you and I think we need to be tougher. But lastly, we cannot not absolutely advocate for trans rights as a party. We have to, because it was the same argument that was made, not that you're making this. It was the same argument that was made when we came out for marriage equality. It's the same argument we're making for a woman's right to choose. We have to come out vociferously and unconditionally for

trans rights and we will. - Yeah, and I just wanna add something. I think, Lisa, did you have a question after I make my comment or no? - And maybe that could be the last question and then we'll show Flora's video. - Yeah, so I'm just gonna add something to what Charles said. The fact is you have to do what's right. It sounds so banal, but it is not. The Democrats need to figure out how to message that this is the moral thing to do to support these humans who live by us and are part of our world

. And then maybe keep your nose out of their personal life inside their house or even on the street. And think about that they are a human being that needs our support. But sometimes it's like literally, I literally mean that, sometimes you have to just do what's right, and that's risky and it's hard and it's scary. But you have to, and one last thing, when Democrats vote, Democrats win though turnout is key. Lisa. - Yeah, I was gonna ask, it's really clear for the demographics that Gen Z partic

ularly, more likely to be biracial, less likely to be religious, identify with any kind of religion, more likely to have relationships across gender and racial and religious lines. Like these are the people who are going, we could just wait for everybody else to die. (Charles laughing) - [Erica] That's a good strategy. - [Flora] Yeah, except, but they're gerrymandered. I've gone all the judges. - Where you offensively learn to think about these things. How do we support the college and instituti

ons like it to really make this a focus of education. How do you understand this information? How do you understand the moral thing to do? How do you operationalize that instead of writing essays about. How do we do that for our kids? - Yeah, I'm, as I said, I know we've said it, I have four teenagers, and two of them can vote now. So, they're actually slightly older. But my oldest is 21, I have a 19 year old. But they, as I said, they are so politically engaged and they really don't identify wi

th either party. They really identify along according to issues. And as I said, those issues, they're 100% aligned with the Democratic party one of the problems we have is our president's 80 and my kids are convinced he's gonna die every time he speaks. It's like the man can't even stand up. It is so, we're really good on the issues. We're really good on things that they are so passionate about, but unfortunately, our current President and Canada does not inspire them. So, the key is to get them

to register. And universities and colleges are getting better. I don't know how Amherst is on that, let's find out but you know, universities are getting better. When they register, even if they register independent, they vote Democratic. - All right, so, I'm just gonna share something with you that took a lot of time and energy and I hope you'll enjoy it or appreciate it least. (gentle music) ♪ Change occurs ♪ ♪ Because the conscience of a country ♪ ♪ Begins to rise up and demand ♪ ♪ We need c

hange ♪ ♪ We need change ♪ ♪ Change occurs because the people of a country ♪ ♪ Begin to wake and understand ♪ ♪ We can change ♪ ♪ We must change ♪ ♪ We're in a battle for the soul of the nation ♪ ♪ Let us stand by this solemn word ♪ ♪ We're in a battle for the soul of the nation ♪ ♪ Let democracy be heard ♪ ♪ And rise up ♪ ♪ Speak up ♪ ♪ Step up and sow the seed ♪ ♪ Rise up, eyes up ♪ ♪ To the world that we need ♪ ♪ Get those ballots in, y'all, for real. ♪ ♪ Change occurs ♪ ♪ Joe Biden's providi

ng a new kind of pride ♪ ♪ Sister Kamala is the MVP to stand by his side ♪ ♪ Because the people of the country ♪ ♪ The people have spoken ♪ ♪ It's time to transform to the top ♪ ♪ 'Cause the bottom can't take anymore ♪ ♪ So it's time we united to get some relief ♪ ♪ On the day when we say ♪ ♪ We can't breathe ♪ ♪ We're one and for all ♪ ♪ If together we stand ♪ ♪ It's time we got heard when we make our demands ♪ ♪ If you're ready for truth ♪ ♪ Then the vote's how you choose ♪ ♪ No more lying, po

lluting our minds with fake news ♪ ♪ We can end these fatalities ♪ ♪ Please cease this brutality ♪ ♪ Peace is the policy to save our humanity ♪ ♪ Rise up, believe, and we can fly ♪ ♪ Speak up and raise your voices high ♪ ♪ Step up, it's up to you and I ♪ ♪ Eyes up until we reach that prize ♪ ♪ We must change ♪ ♪ That's what I'm talking about ♪ ♪ Eyes on the prize, y'all ♪ ♪ Stand up and sow the seeds ♪ ♪ Rise up, eyes up ♪ ♪ To the world that we need ♪ ♪ Come on Joe, come on Kamala ♪ ♪ Show 'em

how it's done ♪ ♪ Stand up and take the lead ♪ ♪ Rise up, eyes up ♪ ♪ Be the change that we need ♪ (inspiring music) (inspiring music continues) (inspiring music continues) (inspiring music continues) (inspiring music continues)