Nonfiction authors about their latest work. Host linda, cofounder and co organizer of the womens march, coauthor of this incredible new book together we rise. Behind the scenes of the protest heard around the world. On january 21 it will be the Year Anniversary of the largest protest in america history. How do you get involved . Take us back to the moment when he first decided that you could do this to i was just like everybody else that had a couple minutes to spare after the november election in 2016 and was sitting online just like everyone else transfigure out and analyze why are we in the situation and i started seeing posts of his events about this million women march and i was like my first instinct was to be like there is already a million women martin and was organized by black women in 1997 but i digress and i started going into the actual pages to see the commentary and what conversations were having and i actually said i made a comment in there and said i hope that you include muslim winner and muslim committees pursues one of the groups that was described in the description of the event and they talked about solidarity with other brutes but muslims were not included. Im sure it wasnt intentional but i felt the need to say something. At the same time simultaneously has is making the comment bob bland is one of the original founders of that page was already in conversation with Tamika Mallory, africanamerican civil rights leader and carmen perez who is [inaudible] woman who has been working on criminal Justice Reform here in this country and they were already in conversation about bringing in women of color. The minute i made the commentary they reach out to me and said oh yeah, we have a third that comes with this trio and her name is linda and shes a Muslim American organizer and if you will bring us in, linda has to be included in this work and they were like asking for me. Thats how he joined with as much. Originally when i went to the table we came with conditions. We werent going to be tokenized with this movement and especially in light of the antiques that started by white women and we do not want to be seen as one black women and one muslim woman and we asked the cochairs of the march and we also had very important roles, Tamika Mallory did a lot of assistance run operations and i was the fundraiser and i also worked on the interview principles on the platform he created and carmen was in charge of the beautiful partnerships he sought manifested on the date and beyond that date and it was a lot of work and it was something we had to think about the fortitude and resources to engage in that. It was amazing and hard. Host tell us your favorite moment from the womens march from the actual day of . Guest not many people know the story but about maybe a week and half before the womens march happened i was in a hotel room watching msnbc and i saw a man by charlie was the integration announcer for about 60 years and had done every personal candidate publican and democrat except for donald trump came he fired him and he didnt want him to be the answer. At the same time charlies wife also died literally in the same. When he was asked not to be announcer and i was so moved by that i was in my hotel room bawling my eyes out because i didnt know this was and i went back home to new york and went to the womens march headquarters where all this organizing was happening and i walked in and i said everyone has to stop. Weve got to get charlie everyone is like who the hell is charlie . He was the inauguration announcer and fired him and his wife died and hes an old man will not in his life this way. They said look, you find that the guy, bring the guy i went on a mission. I contacted every organizer i knew political operatives that worked in the white house in the past and i found them and brought them to womens march and he was the announcer at the womens march which was much larger, factually than the inauguration and the most beautiful moment when he showed up and here is this man in his 80s who has so much joy and was like mechanics radio the especially in such a difficult moment in his life after he just lost his wife and lost his job that he had for over 60 years and it gave me so much joy it was a very personal moment for me and that may not be contractually part of a large womens march but that moment will resonate with me forever. Host beautiful. I do remember that story i do remember being touched by it. Im so glad you took action and in fact, that idea of the things that touches all, people like you take action is so much out of the heart of what is the story of this book. The idea of this book is you know many of you were at the march for the sister marches all across the country or in the world but most of you dont know what the behindthescenes stories are. Tell me some more of those behindthescenes stories. What it took to really put on the largest protest that ever happened in washington dc similarly in new york city and if im not mistaken 600 other places across the country and on every continent across. Guest that is what is most important about this book that you get to go behindthescenes and get to hear the joy but also the pain and the hard work and the perseverance and the attacks and the critique and having to work internally but with external forces that were out there and also what people dont realize is that most of us didnt know each other. This is not an established organization that has been around for 20 years and weve been there, done that. Some of us have been there, done that but most of us have never organized a day in my life so we walked into a space with women who never marched and women who were yoga teachers, Public School teachers, entrepreneurs, bakers, people from tech were so moved by this election gone wrong that they were ready to roll up their sleeves and give whatever talent they had. We are building relationships and getting to know people and at the same time we had to organize this march that has to fill hope in people. We had a mission and what do we want them to feel when they got there on january the first, 2008 and there was a lot of hard moments that you will hear about in the book. Here we were women of color who had resentment in our heart organizing with white women and not specifically or personally toward those particular white women but just in general. Oh, and our welcome and now you feel directly impacted and now you feel targeted now you are feeling some sort of fear but we come from communities at felt that for a long time and is a muslim living in a post 911 america i couldnt even help to get my mind that push you around 15 years ago and obviously tamika is a black woman and we had of course other black women and latinos and the lgbt q committee and there was conversation we had to have so when we talk about what was it about the march seen for in women rights and human rights and equal pay and were like ho, ho, thats cool world about pool productive rights and equal pay plus have a deep conversation that white women dont get paid the same as men but black women dont get paid the same as white women what about immigrant women who dont get paid the same as black women. There has to be a fusion of this idea around restenosis that women never have to have a race analysis or they didnt feel the need to talk about race and we were critiqued and this idea of why were being divisive and excuse me, talking about racist devices and maybe it was just about race before we wouldnt be in the situation we got into. The book is a behind the scene and the triple account of how you get to the largest single protest in ten weeks and how women are questioned every step of the way. Our permit for washington dc hit the front page of the Washington Post and the fact that people didnt believe that we were capable of getting a permit which is the easiest thing to do when youre organizing a mobilization and kept on with every media in america call this day in and day out wears a permit and are you getting a permit until one day i was like is what even if we dont get a permit will still show up because that is my street and i paid for the streets and were showing up. There was a lot of that that happened in it was through all the obstacles in the Relationship Building and a little falling out we had here and there these people and these women are sisters and they have evolved and it was a great learning opportunity for all of us in in this organizing and womens march and got there in january 201st and we told npd will have about 200,000 people here in the local Police Department and they were like how many people do you think will be here and we were like i dont know, 200,000 and if you want to be impressive and they were like thats impressive but we got there a million extra people came and it was beautiful 20 was amazing and i was at the womens march in new york with a bunch of friends and my partner there was a definite sense that the attendance was huge and that the messages were many but the spirit was the same which was one of a fierce love and inclusion and i was pleased to see as a policy person, myself, someone who says weve got to know what were fighting for and we got to know what the vision is even in these dark, dark moments and i was pleased to see womens march without a platform in the weeks before the march and as soon as i saw it i thought this is platform i can get behind this would transform our country and this includes issues that are probably quite unknown to many of the white women who are meeting the hats but in this moment what a powerful opportunity to educate them and its not that they would say no to it but they would say they hadnt heard that before. Tell us about the platform and what you will do with that. Guest one of the things that we analyze as women of color from the 2006 elections and the reason we believe that we lost in important place like wisconsin, michigan and states that we should have one is he felt that the Democratic Party or democrats in general were too busy focusing on vote for us because we are not them. Vote for us because they are racist, vote for us because theyre the basket of deplorable and that is not a people are moved. I moved by things i care about. I moved by communities that i love. I moved by the idea that i have a role to play in protecting the most marginalized people so what as we attended the march word was that were not here because rent a truck. Its just the manifestation on the unfortunate diseases but wanted to come and said that they were marching for something and we have values and principles and we went on a mission to find about 27 of the most pretty women and women identifying folks in the country and said want to put together a platform that to everyone in being able to be the platform and to say that we never thought about this make sense to me and i do care about these issues and this brings me to the table. Coming for trans women or muslim woman and i want to come to the table possibly that immigrants are country deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. Coming to the table. Women deserve equal pay and womens bodies should be there choices and government should be legislating them for antiwar and we always put forth the billions of women coming together and saying this is what we believe in and when we march we march for these things. Not marching against one person but were marching for these things and against all the bad things like racism and sexism and misogyny and i remember reading an article to for womens march last year that said this was the most boldest most intersectional platform that has ever come out of any march historically and that is one of the moments that i was most proud one wonderful. Now here we are in 2018, a year that i think many of us, myself, will be a year of transformational, political change. What is womens march doing now in this moment and does the platform play a role in sending out a vision for the next wave of candidates who is going to come all across country . What is 2018 look like for you . Guest and generate 21st here we are and we organize the largest protest in us history and we could went home and that could have been enough and thats a pretty impressive thing to put on your resume to say i did that and walk away. We had so much access to Human Capital and we didnt just want to drop it on generate 21st. We wanted to ways to continue to engage these folks that marched with us that so with us and that felt that inspiration the wheel felt on the day. Weve been able to engage along the year in the first ten actions in the first 90 days after the womens march getting people to townhouse, writing letters to their members of congress and we were doing basic type organizing because a lot of these folks this was new for them and it was great to be able to collect even more folks along the way that said we didnt go to the womens march but watch on tv and was amazing. Moving forward just a group that attracts a lot of Media Attention and we went up against the nra. They put out a video with actual clips of the womens march and basically calling on people in this country for nra members and said to them you got to face these people with clenched fist of truth which we know means comes to protestant stations which have been met with and we could have stayed back and said that the and i do what they want but we said we will fight back and stand up and were not afraid. Able to galvanize a whole group of women that said im all about this fierce, bold Women Leadership and ive never experienced this in recent time in a way that is bold. Then went to organizing the largest Womens Convention in 40 years, the last one was a 1977 in houston, texas but ever since then there hasnt been theirs and excellence convention we were the first in four years and it was amazing and beautiful and inspirational and people will tell you even the skeptics that came said well, weve never been in a place that was so organized and intentional about the people our speakers were over 64 women of color and pay for the most directly impacted communities but also the instructions to folks and then we went from there continued to build our credibility to our base saying we know what were doing and trust us. Having to come back over and over to prove that we know what were doing and who we are in 2018 and what were doing now is basically taking the momentum that we continued since january of last year and using it to build political power 2018. Washington is cool. You get your frustrations out there and you get on a high for a day but what is it that you do the day after the march and weeks after the mark in the months after right now we have launched power to the polls it will be launched on the oneYear Anniversary generate 21, 2018. We are doing a National Tour and going to communities where the work is happening in are not the first people to do Voter Registration or Voter Engagement work. There are local communities including color tank it is a color that do this all year long. Can give them our performance a follow us msnbc, follow a cnn and hear the people that will win in states like arizona and florida in michigan and nevada and the idea is looking at voter special laws in states where voters patient we have to pull out a million and half registered in additional million and a half and this is across partners in order to look at about 1. 5 Million People who are literally obstacles to go to the polls as we hope to bring in electives and people will help us address Voter Suppression laws. Might not be able to beat the voters pressure system in 2018 and putting in people who are aligning with our values and goals. I think one of the things that doesnt resonate with communities or to use a color and millions is the idea of the left or lesser of two evils. We know westwind because you know this. What about allowing people during the primary to put their souls into people they believe in more people who believe in the cause and understanding that in november we dont have a choice and we know we need to elect what if we were able to win the primary. Folks have been part of the movement and thats our focus. Power to the polls and traveling the country and mobilizing people and telling people we will win evidently in 2018. I am positive that we will have such big wins and not only do we have the twins but im pretty positive will make history people have governorships given to representatives of communities that have been so marginalized in our country and sit back and say we were alive in 2018 we had the first native governor in the place like idaho where the first muslim governor in michigan or the first black woman governor in georgia and i want that to be a story i tell my grandkids 40 years from now one and aspiring vision and i couldnt agree more. Lets go back to second to the book and the book is now on sale in the book is something that is a beautiful commemoration people who went to the march or were alive when the march happened and saw it on television can own and there are a lot of stories and testimonials from people you might not expect. What is something that is one of the chapters that maybe it is surprising to you or surprising to readers to the book is an historical artifact and if we can rise if we abide together. Its a story directly from the organizations so this is not a secondhand this is also telling you exactly what happened and you know this from history, header, womens voices have always been erased even in light of the correction of doctor king there were the ella bakers and the credit stockings in their rosa parks and we are a new generation of women that says our revolution will be written and it will be televised and he will be treated and it will be facebook and it also includes essays from celebrities and prominent activists and thought leaders and prominent Leaders Within different communities and one of the essays in the book is written by my mentor, a woman by the name of [inaudible]. She works at the palmer center, a black muslim woman who is older and has been around since the days of the Civil Rights Movement and she knew credit scott king and new doctor benny and malcolm x and she wrote about us not only thinking that were running this new movement and in fact we are reaching back to forward into my the of the shoulders of the people we stand on so what i love about that particular essay is that anyone who is in this moment right now needs to understand there is nothing that you are inventing here that you are continuing the legacy of people who sacrifice for us to do this work. As a muslim woman there were sacrifices for me to stand here and say them unapologetically muslim and her words are so inspirational and someone like her who is seen so much pain and trauma and was in the midst of a moment he or she is still alive during the reemergence of a civil right movement in this moment i think anyone who is feeling feel hope sister aisha was wonderful. For the program we talked for your family and your children and you are bringing into the room the lions and lionesses of the civil right movement and all that went into what is now universally praised across the ideological spectrum and how much sacrifice and pain and blood and sweat went into it and you were talking about watching the movie, your kids. I thought it was a beautiful story and you sure us that with our viewers speak to i think people often see as they see us on National Television sharing artwork and stories they might see us on a color under cover of a magazine and they think its glamorous and unfortunately it is not. No one wants to be anyone on the front lines of the movement and especially you dont want to be a woman of color and definitely not a Palestinian Muslim woman in a hijab. I received since womens march in washington some of the most vicious attacks that i honestly didnt expect. Expected people to disagree with me but even vigorous disagreement which is cool but thats my life to my children and my defamation of character and it has been hard and people often forget is your mothers, many of us in the movement we are mothers and many women who organized it our parents and to have to sit and expect your children why someone or they want to create a monster out of your mom who love delia and dinner for you i remember taking my kids to watch selma and my kids resonated with a lot of imagery and obviously it was marched in selma and they were part of the movement and sacrificed by much more than we are secondguessing right now one of my kids get to see me engaging in act of civil disobedience when they watched the elements of pain in our living room and watching my organizer friends come home and here were talking about next action were doing and my kids are in the same room and see doctor melissa king and gary peoples homes and women are cooking for them and theres imagery and the stress they receive via phone or letters that focus on the Civil Rights Movements one including the fbi. Guest yes and i think that help me to have a conversation with my kids that i do this because i love my children and i want them to live in a country that respects them and love them and by extension loves all children the comes with risk and i explained to my children that if this was easy and cool everyone would be doing. But, wouldnt have to fight for our rights because it would be inevitable and we all have a right. Thats the movie and narratives, now going back and bringing forth the stories and it has helped therapeutically for children experiencing and worry about the safety of their parents and mom and killer in my case and sometimes my kids are like very edgy like they will text me like where are you and who is with you and i dont think kids should be worried about whether moms is especially not 6 00 oclock on a tuesday night but our kids struggle with us and i have to have security detail in i dont always bring my kids to public things anymore. They dont want people to make connections in that way and that breaks my heart to want my children to participate in my life but unfortunately brenda moment where it may be temporarily that can support thank you for sharing that. This is a moment right now when so much women are finding the voices and it is unbelievable and it is a moment where women are finding the voices for Metoo Movement and through the moment to move into politics and you have Record Number of women saying all right i never thought politics was something i would have to do personally but its clear that the system is broken and the people who are currently in power do not have my community and my children and the future of our planet interest at heart. Take me into maybe into detroit where you have thousands of women or whats going to happen in nevada for you are going to have the anniversary of the womens march of 2017 will have more womens march all across country and i think the main one will be in nevada but what does it feel like to be right now a woman finding her voice . Who are the women who are drawn to the womens march in are doing things that they never done before . Tell me about those women. Guest it is really interesting is that ive been traveling the country for the past year and been to rural indiana, ive been to kentucky and parts of florida, texas michigan, you name it ive been there and believe it or not the people who come out for me and want to interface with me often the majority are young people, millennial age or younger or white and its one of the reasons why the opposition is for sure got because its like why would white women want to hear some of a muslim woman in what you have that they are attracted to and i think what women in general are attracted to with us is we believe in our power and we are powerful people in the womens march allows us to tap into our original power. Were taught that we have to have a degree or a stature and as we as i said earlier we had social workers and teachers and state moms and everyone had a role to play. It showed that you didnt have to be a student organizer to be part of the movement so these women finally saying even i can be part of a movement and even i can be an activist and i can organize a huddle in my Community Even i can put together a town hall meeting yes, you can. Absolutely. That is what weve instilled in many people around the country and i think back to january 20th on that triple day of the inauguration and i thought to myself what if there wasnt a woman smart and honestly i wouldnt know where he is a country if we do not have that immediate moment after such a dreadful day for us to say wake up, were here, were united and we know what we need to do and lets all get on the same page and lets fight together. I dont believe we would have had the cash take Metoo Movement in the 2000 women saying im running for office or seen the wins in virginia and new jersey in alabama and if you can win in alabama, you can win anywhere. Any moment and im proud to have been a part of a large group women not just those organize the dc march but the across the world to have reminded women that we are powerful and even more powerful when we organize together. One of these movements are giving courage and weight need courage in this moment and courage we all have it in us. Its not something you find the courage is not something that is exterior to us courage is in you but there has to be a moment where its unleashed and i think this year it has unleashed courage among many groups of people including women one linda, ive been thinking about this idea of courage and there is one word that i think defines what we need right now and what should unite all of us who believe in a better america a better world is that we need courage and we need our elected officials to courage to stand up for those who been targeted and those are the most vulnerable and that is something that we sense immediately when a leader has courage. Tell us about how you started and when did you first find your courage and when did you become an activist . Guest i was an aspiring haskell teacher. I watched dangerous mines with Michelle Pfeiffer and i said i will be Michelle Pfeiffer and i want to go into innercity schools and working people of color let them find their voices and that was my passion and 911 happened in new york city and i was 21 years old and here i was a Muslim American never thought about it much but that im just muslim and it was never something that was at the forefront of my mind and here comes a very dreadful day, very tragic day in my own city where i was born and walking home that day for my College Campus in oakland and watching and seeing my local communities closed closing down and at the moment i didnt know what had happened because there was no better at the time and there was no facebook and you couldnt was no Cell Phone Service and then at the moment when i realized that happened i went from being this ordinary muslim girl born and raised in brooklyn to be affiliated or attached to or being a subset in a very tragic event that killed millions of my fellow americans and fellow new yorkers in my life and my perspectives changed literally within a matter of minutes and a few weeks after 911 happened being at the mosque and women came to crying to the mask saying that someone came to make home and my husband and there were a few of them and they said what you mean they came to your house and took your husband this to make sense to me. It did happen and there were rates in the communities and i was very radicalized at that moment and i said this is not right why would these why start committees be terrorized something and never to do with us and i became a translator and started transiting for women and helping volunteering to find services for them as someone who is bilingual and thought it was a side thing that i was doing and eventually has become my fulltime to defend a community in my own family to defend my children itself to be able to worship freely in this country. Thats my entry point into this work was 911 and its still a connection for me even 16 years later. Host how did you get your analysis and your sense of solidarity with Racial Justice because thats not a given. Muslim american have been lumped in with other degraded identities but its not a given that the same issues that affect a young africanamerican man in the bronx and your family and community in brooklyn and where did that come from and how did you use that advent of that with the connection that you made when you really became a leader for Racial Justice in a very intersectional way in new york to cross those bridges in the womens march. Guest believe it or not i started reflecting on my own life. I want to a School Brooklyn in my school and the time in the 90s there was Gang Activity in new york city and my school was where you often in the morning you were stopped and everyone was stop and frisk. Remember my school was 90 africanamerican and those are my friends so for me i thought this was how it was and i didnt understand this idea of the pipeline and we had Police Officers walking the schools of a heist [inaudible] i started reflecting after walking into the sun people in my Community Coming in saying font for is coming to their home and starting to understand the religious profiling and saying i went to a school where there was Police Officers resting by kids in my school and i started this connecting the dots in this weird reading on my own going online and like what is going on in the world and then started to venture out became part of a Nonprofit Organization started seeking out coalitions and i talked this organizer and they would say you to come to this country that and the case of solidified and clicked for me was around racial and religious profiling by the Police Department and connecting spot and frisk as a discriminatory policy and we built a coalition around that here in new york city and in fact not only to build the coalition but we wanted a major landmark civilization in new york city was sent will never work on any issue without looking at it for Racial Justice points and even as a Muslim American i come from a very Diverse Community and the third of muslims and African Americans but for me i dont consider myself to be an ally in this work. For me as a muslim when i march against stop and frisk or against the killing of an armed black people i truly believe that i first and foremost march for my black muslim sisters and brothers and exited all black people in america. Racial justice came to me and everything. Who are the most strictly impacted women of color, black women you think about issues of equal pay again the inequality even amongst women who are fighting for equal pay that there needs to be an even Racial Justice analysis to that as well and then i also realize and as i built deep relationships in new york city the National League black people cant win along. White people cant win alone. Undocumented folks will not win alone and you have to pay together. In the beginning people that we are crazy which is why we wanted to make it so visible at womens march and you will hear more about it in the book when we did the unity principles on people said to us here we go again these women may smash and overall open issues together and you are not focused and how will you fight for these issues and is easily distracting and i said no, its not checking out. We are intersectional human beings we dont live in single issue lies so i would be forced people to prioritize what we think is important to them and why dont we allow communities to prioritize things that will strictly impact them. For me i was doing intersectional organizing poor people called it that. I was a the term has been out for a long time by doctor crenshaw for the implementation of it in the moment has come out in recent times. We did a buzzword for me i realized in the past 11 years maybe five or six into my organize work when i finally woke up and said this will not work weve got organize together and also the idea of when people say to me how you connect criminal justice to protect the rights and i dont understand how you connect reproductive rights to immigration and these things do not connect. Everything connects. I can connect the dots Environmental Justice to Racial Justice and economic justice. Economic justice to immigration is very easily distracted and created a web now thats clear and obviously [inaudible] has done that in a profound way and now people are starting to get it and that is why you will see, you know, groups like the sierra club and rdc. Org at a daca rally has never happened before. The fact of the matter i have speak from personal expense that i have never seen Environmental Justice groups show up in immigrant rights and even with Russell Justice finding people with protected rights women were nowhere to be found in here we are women have access to reproductive justice in rights as incarcerated women. There are opportunities for some reason it wasnt happening. I think that is march one of the things we bring to the table and not perfect is somehow we were able to bring people to the table and if were just the table convener and so we are good that. Host is an amazing encouragement. So, talk about save the resistance. How is it going . I have my own opinion but in many ways exactly as you said, linda, having the day after that berkeley attended the, dishonest inauguration and inaugural address to have a way for people to come up with their bodies on the line and to show by moving buses and trains and planes felt they had to be either it was down in the town square or all the way in washington dc it set the stage for what came right after the muslim man in here in new york with the process where people went straight to the airport. There was a sense of being can be powerful and we can show that you still do not win the popular vote that this country is different than the values that are now being espoused from my house. It in many ways sparked this resistance moment that we are still in where ordinary people have their congressman on speed dial and setting up puddles and thinking they would do things to protect our democracy and to act on the democracy that they never thought. And now a year after the inauguration what is the fate of the resistance question what are we doing well and what you need to do better . Dude there is definitely consistent momentum since january 201st of last year and again a week after here we are totally exhausted from whence march in the muslim band and its personal for me and i was so moved to see the people in the hundreds show up at airports and it was beautiful. It shows the Decentralization Movement and that was a treat and everyone like get your butts to the airport. And ever since then people march for truth in march for proper men in march for Racial Justice and just consistent opportunities for visibility. The dreamers and direct action with civil disobedience and also at the end we didnt win at the end but watching us fight back against healthcare unfortunately they knew they were going to be so they folded into the tax bill which is how we lost recently but watching the back on the transgender pan in the military is everything that has come forth from the imagination and theres been response to it but it doesnt mean its perfect. Resistance is not perfect and will never be perfect. Resistance is messy because we are organizing with people who are even if were just organizing from the center all the way to extreme radical left that is thats a huge spectrum of people youre trying to organize. When i say to people all the time that were not all going to have the same tactics and strategies which is overseen manifest in the resistance and some people want to engage in others just want to march and others want to engage in lobbying and advocacy of people want to focus on an electoral strategy. My thing and the movement is that thats the messy part gets to do what and i say to people as long as we are all on the beach with the end result it doesnt matter how we get there. I think that the understanding we are not yet clear on. Critique me for engaging in our current policy because its something you may not believe in as a school but i believe in it as a school and maybe you should continue to do the visible organizing and the direct action and the civil disobedience and this year ill focus on electoral organizing. The resistance is strong and it will be dysfunctional sometimes and there will be organizations that dont play nice with one another and there will be times when leaders may disagree on a particular policy may not all get in there will be negotiations and prices something to make. Me, personally, on the page right now might not have to compromise and go all in because we are playing on to extremes and i think that is good for us in the resistance and what i mean by that is we are so polarized as a nation right now that its easier to say are you with us or with them and for those in the center were not sure were worried for example, visual example, if you want to do a recent woman smart supported with the local groups united dream out in la to march outside of senator feinsteins office in support of the dreamers. We wanted her to stand with us. It was interesting here are a couple hundred people stay with dreamers when site to meet senator feinstein in her office and across the street was a counter protest that was pretty significant. It was 4 00 oclock on wednesday and about 40 people, you know, with you already know the make America Great again and Holding Signs we dont want illegals in the country and it was an important moment when you have the media there to portray to the American People okay, are you on the side with the people talking about justice and dignity and respect picking on people or you on the side of the people who are calling human beings legal insane go back to where you came from. We dont want you here. Your blog. I think for a moment where people have to get the sidelines and you dont get off the sidelines with my personal opinion weve heard this quote many times before you dont pick a side stand and speak youre on the side of their oppressors and i hope people join and understand that were not and thats what i tell people when i debate people online. I say the point here is not for you to agree with everything asset. In fact, we need to allow space for people to disagree and were never going to agree. Im not going to agree with and they wont agree with me. I wont agree with liberal as progressive and it might not group people i consider to be neoliberals but we can agree that we all deserve to have respectful debate and be treated with dignity and respect and we can do that God Bless America because people are expecting this idea in the resistance that unity and uniformity i never played up unity is not uniformity. Unity is all of us understanding that the endgame here is that all marginalized communities are protected and when all marginalized trinities are protected we all live prosperous, full, Productive Lives in this country. How we get there, i dont care. One linda, as part of many different marginalized groups you just alluded to there is demographics that voted majority for donald trump even though someone from their demographic was on the opposing [inaudible], white women. 50 according to exit polls voted for donald trump and continued to vote for republicans whose agenda whether their economic agenda which keeps millions of women in poverty without a safety net or republicans who agenda in terms of reproductive rights and family leave and childcare has no support for the kind of life that Women Deserve to live in yet, white women, not latina women, not africanamerican women, not native american women, white women are still supporting a party that we might say is not supporting you and there are so many white women whose lives are transformed by thes march in to see the woman smart as their home. What you say to them . Guest i say that one and what about those women who dont share their culture and beliefs . Guest i say to them but it might not be like this will be our fighting for them, too. We believe in their potential to do the right thing. I know they continue oftentimes to disappoint including disappoint their White Sisters the ones 49 or 47 dont vote for representative but asked to do i do this myself im not loyal to any Political Party and i have been known as a big critic of the Democratic Party for a long time. I think people vote values impossible and dont assume what the moment is about. The reason why say that is it last year we got into a big controversy about pro abortion, prolife, and what i said to people is that we never said we were a pro abortion movement. That wasnt the language we use. For intentional about linkage. We are prochoice and we are movement that believes that women should have the agency to choose whatever it is she feels right for her and her family and her body so the woman chooses to keep her baby we inspector. Woman who chooses to have an abortion for many, many reasons, this is not an easy decision women have to make respect you, too. I think the idea of putting women against each other prolife first pro abortion, im prochoice and i believe in womens agencies to make any choices whether it be about their bodies were about their jobs or careers or their children, women should be able to choose. That timing is important because it opens up an opportunity for people to see themselves. To me this is not what i thought it was an were not a broth Burning Movement and this is another critique. Unfortunately, we have a long history of white liberal feminism who have kept women of color out and been out that the been very man hating and we are not. We have fathers and uncles and brothers need to be a part of these conversations and many bombs in the moment particularly black mothers women of color their children who may be incarcerated or subject to Police Violence or gun violence in those women with the least protected and i say to those women wake up. Listen to us. Hear us. Dont listen for responding to us but listen to see where were coming from and we want a quality education for our children. One healthcare for everyone. Want you to walk the street safely. We want you to get a job based on your qualifications and credentials and be paid for your qualifications and credentials that you have. I still have hope. One of the things the woman smart between her now woman named cassidy and a woman by the name of leanne in ohio black woman leading an effort called confronting white womanhood. Theyre both white and a young young woman Heather Marie for the workshop after the convention called confronting white womanhood. Original people thought it was controversial and he said here we go again. You want to be all feisty about stuff and dividing women between white versus women of color so we took the risk in these young women these beautiful inspirational well thought out workshops together and put it in a room and we thought no one would go because a lot came to the convention were white and we have a photo that is one of the most remarkable photos of ever seeing where the line woman line have filled up hundreds had gone in and people were sitting against the wall and on the floor and there was a line wanted to get into the workshop had repeated the next day because more women couldnt wanted desperately wanted to present the dispute. We know white ministering to analyze themselves and say im not that person but i understand that being white somehow unintentionally i have been complicit in some of the suffering that has happened around me to people of color. They want to confront it and analyze it and dissect it. They want to know how to overcome it so they can be true, true allies and accomplices in the. That is moving to me. People who can say theres an opportunity for me here to learn. Thats the other thing that happens in the Progressive Left that personally bothers me we are immediately see some and thats something we dont like it immediately we engage in a culture where we tear them to shreds. Instead of saying i heard you say this and this is how it made me feel for what did you mean by that or wait a minute, are you ready to listen to my feedback and for someone to say i was wrong and i learned and we dont give that opportunity. This confronting white womanhood workshop that will be taking with us around the country as part of power to the polls is going to moment for white women to sit, reflect and come out strong in 2018. I was disappointed but still have hope when i was on cspan now almost two years ago, actually, when a man called in from north hill and it said exactly that that im prejudiced. Im a white male and im prejudiced and he went on to talk about things about the stereotypes. In the end it by saying something that i think and we know because the video went viral and it spoke clearly touched a nerve he said i want to be a better american what can i do to change . I completely agree with you, linda, that it is so important that those of us who now have this huge microphone use it to invite people and to recognize that the way that some of the loudest people on the right we created the story of fear that people like you and me are hurting america and that we are threatening to their families and that is a lie one of the oldest lies in the founding of our country and that kind of fear has been manipulated and brought Us Donald Trump who is hurting this country, this planet, understanding the world in so many ways and in a way that, now, even now, millions of white americans are having second thoughts. Host institute ive been vulnerable in the spaces ive been in specially for communities where they may never have a conversation and been able to say theres nothing you could ask me because her feelings if you hear about sharia law, asked me about it. When asked me how i can be a feminist and as me and ill tell you why. When you want to ask me why this and what about this and whats happening this country and i dont understand why do muslims do that and allow people to feel that they could have an honest conversation and people have been moved. I remember going to the university of massachusetts amherst and was doing a lecture series and i get there and his professors are ready around saying oh my god, kids are coming to protest and im like its not that serious. And they were sick up about it and i said who is it and they said the local republican from the campus and it was like some conservative kids and i was like its fine. Theyre more than welcome to come and they come to this event room is packed in the auditorium and the common wearing trumpet shirts lined up and they sat and when i saw them i was like this will be fine. I get up there and i do my usual and i think they had an assumption of what i was going to say in who i was and how i was going to present myself. At the end of the event we all went outside into the open area from the outside of the auditorium and it was some dramatic moment where i caught tonight with one of the kids that came in before that i got a standing ovation in this kid felt compelled to to stand up and i didnt think much about it but they are pressured into it so when were outside i caught a knife on the kids and he looked at me and said i then kind of like smiled little bit to see what reaction would get and he literally started walking toward me and the crowd parted and i put out my hand to him and he said his name and i shared my name with him and said i appreciate that you came today and i said i would like people told me you would protest and what happened and he said i didnt agree with everything you said but there were some stuff i agree with. I said let me to come to that he said you know what in this must be something i literally like he said you know im a 19 like it said i chose to give you a chance i said to myself well, here you are a 19 yearold College Student and thats what i ask people all the time of this work we are doing in this moment whether you feel like youre on my side or to support womens march give people a chance. After you give us a chance if you still dont agree with us you still dont think or the right group we still dont think that you can organize with me and you can still come to the same table even though we may differ on a particular Foreign Policy or political issue or social issue i think giving people a chance transformative things happen in the day when i walked away i said even to myself giving people a chance is such a simple thing that we could do in this moment. Host thank you, linda. Together we rise, the commemoration, the behindthescenes how we wish had these for the other big marches and big moments in social justice history. Its an incredible pleasure to have this book and its coming out right now on the east of the oneYear Anniversary. Quickly, we have 30 seconds left, tell us what is going to happen this weekend for us now, the weekend of the oneYear Anniversary of the womens mar march. Guest is commemorating the largest single day protest in American History by launching kicking off a National Campaign for power to the polls which is a National Tour engaging and registering voters across the country because we will win in 2018 and the headlines will be women let us to victory. Together we rise as a book that is going to share with all of us the behindthescenes of the march but one of the most inspirational, physical things you can hold in your hand with beautiful photography in the faces of the people who marched in every corner of this world. And a republican form of government it was needed more than any other form of government because the people themselves are the rulers. They had delegates from all the high schools. All i knew some kids dont like colored people. I think it is the individual that counts had to get to know them unless you meet them . The Supreme Court ruled segregation was illegal these children were ready. And they continue to draw for the next 42 years his cartoons appeared almost daily usually on papers very prominently with quite the illustrious career