Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Chars.com.
Speaker 2 00:00:07 The viewpoints expressed in this program are the opinions of the people expressing them and are not necessarily those of fresh air incorporated its staff or its board of directors.
Speaker 3 00:00:29 You can burn a whole thing down. I don't care if you are uncomfortable. We can burn a whole thing down. Couldn't care about a another zone. You can burn a whole thing down. Y'all don't really care about a brother till we burn our whole thing down.
Speaker 3 00:00:50 Yeah, we about to go to work. Yeah, we about to let it burn. Like send it quill. Yah. I bet you will try to skip it. They've been lynching us in till and that's really freaking generous cuz honestly they have been killing us since we were property. No stopping me from saying how it is. This ain't the whizz, ain't no easing down the road where we live. That the biz. We can't go out for a jog or a swim. Fuck A dog fall asleep in the car, fall asleep where we live. So we about to let it burn just like gusher. Say baby trying bud let do not care what gusher say. Put him back, screens up. Make a few bucks. My life isn't marketing who you think you trying to play? Um, I like it better when like, nerdy was all fun and stuff. This is really angry. Like don't you think you said enough? Well that's freaking tough cuz I'm being loud and the people are not playing with you now. Yeah, you can burn a whole thing down. Yeah. I don't care if y'all uncomfortable. We can burn a whole thing down. You can burn our whole thing down. Couldn't care about a another zone. You can burn a whole thing down. Burn down. Y'all don't really care about a until we burn all thing down. Burn down, down. Yeah, we about to go to work. Yeah, we let
Speaker 4 00:02:03 Pokemon come on the youngins. What I'm focused on. I'm so old then go then. I ain't know you was talking about Pokemon Ha. But I'm more like me and nerdy next to a burndown system with a candle of gas and a handful of matches and know we ain't miss some famous. Now my mission ladies be soi watching all the leaders leading banking Nona Minions. But we torture enough to take us and we give into survivors city liars making black people compliant. Coon Rapids. Who are you asking? I'm proof. Survive the boomba trick Girl. Ethics got me laughing at your message and Black Lives Matter. You would not get so defensive. We got cops and ths in rhyme reason and gas light us. We are not the same. We on the scene we passed typing cuz y'all don't care about us and we ain't come ask. We just mind up businessing and people be so stuck and mad. So pass the gun and mask and pass the athe. Nu Y'all can really kill us for anything. Y'all just bend the loss. The same performance art, the same performative saving the racist head of Norm. It
Speaker 3 00:03:01 Is. You can burn, burn a burn the whole thing down. Yeah. Get the burn. I don't care if y'all uncomfortable, we can burn a whole thing down. You can burn it, burn it, burn it down. Couldn't care about it. You can burn a whole thing down down. Y'all don't really care about a brother until we burn. Yeah, we, yeah, we
Speaker 5 00:03:51 Views from the ground,
Speaker 3 00:03:52 Views from the damn ground
Speaker 5 00:03:53 Views from the ground
Speaker 3 00:03:54 Views from the damn ground
Speaker 5 00:03:56 Views from the ground
Speaker 3 00:03:57 Views from the damn ground.
Speaker 5 00:03:58 And that's on that, on that on that. Alright. Right. Well, um, I am dj. I'm your agender host. I use they dumb pronouns.
Speaker 6 00:04:08 My name is Brandon. I use he him
Speaker 7 00:04:10 Pronouns. Uh, my name is Jay. I use they, he pronouns.
Speaker 5 00:04:14 All right. And welcome to, uh, special edition to Views From the Ground. He was
Speaker 3 00:04:19 From the damn ground.
Speaker 5 00:04:20 Um, we, uh, today is actually pledge drive. So, uh, we just want to encourage people, um, to pledge money to make sure that we can keep excellent radio like views from the ground and all the other wonderful programs we have. Um, if you feel free we have, you can call 612 3 7 5 9 0 3. Once again, that's 6 1 2 3 7 5 9 0 3 0. Or you can go to kfa i.org. So with that being said, we're gonna jump straight into the weekly news segment. Uh, would, uh, Jay go ahead and take it away.
Speaker 7 00:04:55 Hello. Um, so I am taking over the, uh, weekly news segment for the first time. I'm very excited. Woo
Speaker 3 00:05:03 Woo. Welcome, welcome, welcome.
Speaker 7 00:05:05 I, um, today I'm gonna be talking about, um, the recent uprisings in Haiti. Um, I know that they've been a really big topic in the news lately. Um, and Haitians are, um, protesting around cost of living, government corruption, um, and US backed gang violence. Um, but before talking about the present, which I think that a lot of people, um, have seen a lot of news around this, I actually, um, really think that the historical context of current events, um, helps you interpret them more accurately, um, and helps you understand how the current situation has gotten to where it is. So that's sort of the lens that I'm bringing to the, to the weekly, um, news report. Um, and I know that I didn't learn about Haitian history until I was well into college. And I think that it illuminated a lot about why Haiti is the way that it is, um, and why there's been so much effort put towards, um, kind of keeping it under Imperial rule.
Speaker 7 00:06:05 So speaking of Imperial Rule, um, Haiti is a former French colony. Um, it's known as the first and only black republic in the world. Um, an originally several indigenous groups inhabited the island, um, as early as 4,000 BC and indigenous populations were comprised of three groups primarily. Um, the Guana, Tobe, the Aox, or Tinos, and the Caribs. Um, Tinos represented the largest population and referred to the entire island as Haiti. When the island was colonized by the Spanish, specifically Christopher Columbus in 1492, it was presumptuous read in Espanola or the Spanish Island. Literally. Um, despite tribal leaders initially interacting peacefully with Columbus and his crew, they quickly chafed under Spanish rule. As more colonists were brought to the island disease, harsh enslavement practices and artificial scarcity created by the redirection of resources to colonizers quickly, Dimi diminished the Tino population. And by the 15 hundreds, uh, they had dwindled by about 95%.
Speaker 7 00:07:11 In 1503, the Spanish began importing African slaves who they believed were more capable of enduring the hard labor and squalid conditions of enslavement. Primarily both indigenous and African slaves mined for gold in deposits pre previously discovered by natives, um, in the 16th century, um, panning the Zama River or being forced in an end dangerous mining operations. When sugar cane was brought from the Canary Islands, enslaved Africans were forced to work at a breakneck pace to meet ever increasing demands for sugar. This prompted what is often considered the first major slave revolt in the Americas. A trend that would continue throughout Haiti's history. Um, some of you might be wondering why I've been spending so much time talking about Spaniards, if Haiti is a former French colony. Um, so where does France come into the history of Haiti? The short answer is pirates. Um, because of his span's proximity to the infamous pirate port of Tortuga, the Spanish ships carrying gold and sugar cane were relatively easy targets for English. And then French pirates. Um, obviously Spain didn't like this <laugh> and they waged a protracted war against the pirates for more than 50 years. But ultimately it remained a French stronghold. And after the legal abolition of piracy in 1680, which basically banned sailors from sailing under any flag other than their country of origin, most pirates were more or less reabsorbed the na navies of their countries. Um, and France took over the western half of the island, um, of Haiti renaming it St. Dominga.
Speaker 7 00:08:42 So that's kind of like the brief colonial history. Do you have any questions?
Speaker 5 00:08:49 Yeah. Um, that, that's interesting. I didn't know that part about the private, um, the pirate sea law.
Speaker 7 00:08:55 Yeah. So piracy was, um, it was like one of the few things that France, Spain and England agreed on. Um, <laugh>, they were like, yeah, um, actually pirates are kind of ruining all of our economic gains, all three of us, and we're killing each other over piracy when we could just outlaw piracy. Um, most pirates were, um, reabsorbed into the Navy, as I said, but um, a lot of them were actually publicly executed as entertainment. Um, because, uh, townspeople in places like, you know, South Carolina, um, NASA, places that had like a lot of pirate activity, um, people had really like complicated feelings about pirates. Like, they were like, I mean, on the one hand, if you're an anti monarchist, like pirates are pretty cool. Like, they're like, you know, you're like ruining the monarchy, like that slaps. But for a lot of people they were like, well, you murdered like half of my family and like, ruined my crops and like stole my slaves and stuff like that. So, um, people, people were always really pumped to see like a public pirate execution. I think the execution of Blackbeard like drew like some, like hundreds of people from like neighboring towns, which is a lot in colonial times. Oh, wow. <laugh>.
Speaker 5 00:10:14 Can we just, can we just recognize that you know so much about actual literal pirates?
Speaker 7 00:10:19 Like I, uh, listen, that's wild. Listen, I had a phase <laugh>, um, also like pirates are the original like, like kind of like shady, like goth people. So like, I just, I feel like an, an affinity to them, I guess <laugh>. Um, but so, so the, the history of like how France, um, got its foothold into Haiti, um, kind of ends with the golden age of piracy. Um, but then you have, um, the slave revolts. Um, so the slave re volts in Haiti, um, that would lead to its independence begin in true earnest after the French Revolution. Um, and before I get into like what the French Revolution has to do with anything, um, I'm gonna kind of explain more about the social stratification of Colonial Haiti because it's actually, um, a lot more complicated than people think. A lot of people are like, oh, well, you know, if you were black, like you just didn't have any rights, um, and you like, lived as a slave, or maybe you were free, but like, you couldn't vote and you couldn't own land.
Speaker 7 00:11:19 Um, that's actually true in the us Um, but it was a little bit different in the Caribbean, um, and other French colonies, not because the French were especially advanced or progressive, but they just, um, had different laws around land ownership. So obviously at the top you have the white landowner class, they made up the smallest percentage of the population and were outnumbered about 10 to one by slaves. Um, which was a critical factor in later successor for the revolts. Um, white people who didn't own land made up some like two thirds of the white population. Um, and they consisted mainly of merchants and paid laborers. Um, St. Dominga also had a substantial population of free black landowners and mixed race black people, um, legally classified as Mulattos. Um, and this group had a complex relationship with enslaved people because unlike the US where all black people were more or less barred from participation in civic life under French law, black people with white French ancestry were actually el eligible to inherit and own land.
Speaker 7 00:12:20 Um, and I don't wanna get too deep into like quote coir of 1685, like that's a lot of like complicated stuff. Um, but basically, um, there was a law that was passed, uh, that basically if a free white man married the enslaved woman, he impregnated, even though this was technically illegal, um, the marriage would protect him from the legal consequences. And also, um, she and her children were legally freed from slavery, um, through the marriage. Um, obviously this was usually, um, done through coercion, um, or outright rape of, um, enslaved women. So it's not like it was some progressive policy. Um, and it actually created this kind of uncomfortable intermediary case of nominally free black people, but they were still denied like most of their rights. Um, and after a 1771 decree that severely limited the freedoms of blacks in the French colonies, many of them dedicated their resources to resistance and took up arms against French occupation.
Speaker 7 00:13:21 Um, this is kind of the first wave of, of uprisings that occur. Um, and this I initial uprising was crushed pretty brutally by the French Army. Um, but Rebel forces led by, uh, Tucson louverture, who is a very interesting, um, uh, figure in Haitian history. Um, he eventually leads the rebels and gains control of modern day porta prince, um, by Laing temporarily with the Spanish, which was actually a very unpopular move at the time. <laugh>. Um, and actually lo veria would, uh, switch his allegiances like multiple times during the rebellions, which is why he's kind of controversial. Um, but by January, 1804, the rebels soundly defeated the French army and renamed the French half of the island back to its original name, Haiti, establishing the first independent black republic in the world.
Speaker 5 00:14:12 Let's go <laugh>. Yeah, I I, yeah. My dad used to, um, tell me this story all the time and like, he'd always be like, they hate Haiti. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And I'm like, they <laugh> they still mad about that. I was like, yep.
Speaker 7 00:14:27 Oh yeah. I mean, I think that like, what was so humiliating for the French at the time was that they were like deeply, they, they outnumbered the Haitian, um, rebels by quite a bit. Um, but, uh, basically like Haitians beat them by just like knowing their own land <laugh> mm-hmm. <affirmative> and like knowing like where to trap, um, French armies and like, they would do pretty like brutal stuff. Like, you know, trap a bu like a platoon in a cave and then like blow it up. Um, you know, like they were, they were in it to win it, which like, mad respect to be honest. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, like, you do what you gotta do. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 7 00:15:10 Um, so like, obviously I'm kind of <laugh>, I'm not going to go through like literally every part of the slave volts because who has the time for that? There's so many figures. Um, and there's a lot of like, really interesting writing on literature, uh, specifically, um, it's kind of this controversial weird guy. Um, but um, he is considered the father of modern Haiti, so I guess I shouldn't call him weird. Um, but anyways, um, so kind of coming into the modern era, um, the, the 19 hundreds, um, the independence of Haiti, um, the overthrow of the French, um, represented a clear and present danger to the United States, um, who had been somewhat ambivalent during the rebellion, um, at times supporting the rebels and at others the white landowner class and French armies. During the US' own civil war, the Haitian Revolution fueled slave slave rebellions in the US proving that the overthrow of colonial rules possible, um, to enslaved back blacks in America.
Speaker 7 00:16:14 Um, and Haiti also represented kind of a potentially lucrative, um, US outpost. Um, but the US also feared foreign influence over Haiti for the same reasons. It was so at attracted to act so attractive to them, um, as a potential, uh, military base. Um, France also sought to maintain at least economic control over Haiti. Um, and in 1824, France agreed to recognize Haitian independence. If Haiti paid a large indemnity or insurance, um, plunging Haiti into economic debt that would last pretty much until present day. Um, from the 18 hundreds, or sorry, from the 1880s on Haiti, was in a near constant state of flux as world powers vibe for control over the island. And between 1911 and 1915, um, there were seven presidential assassinations carried out by foreign powers following Democratic elections in Haiti. Um, and fearing that its financial rivals would gain too much control.
Speaker 7 00:17:12 The Wilson administration, um, sent Marines to the Haitian National Bank where they removed, quote unquote, um, $500,000, which is equivalent to over 14 million in today's money. Um, citing safekeeping, allegedly, um, they stole, they just outright stole the money. It, I don't think they ever gave it back. Um, the US would invade the following year, um, disrupting elections to install their own puppet government. Um, and during the occupation, the Wilson administration attempted to change the constitution of Haiti to allow foreign an, to allow foreign land ownership again, um, which had been outlaw outlawed following Haiti's independence. And when Haiti's legislature drafted an anti-US constitution to counter this, the United States forced the legislature to, to de to dissolve, sorry, <laugh>, um, strikes, demonstrations and violent clashes with police eventually pushed the US to withdraw its troops. But the damage was done. Um, basically, uh, true democracy in Haiti, um, was ruined by this, um, and allowed the rise of several foreign, black foreign backed dictatorships <laugh> to flourish.
Speaker 7 00:18:25 Um, and it was in this environment that the Duvalier, uh, regime emerged, which also a very complicated political figure. Um, Duvalier, um, was a seemingly populist black nationalist who ran on a platform that promised an end of poverty and foreign influence, um, all things that, uh, the Haitian people wanted. Um, and Duval's actual policies, unfortunately were more about securing his own political power. Um, and in 1957 he installed himself as what's called a forever president or a dictator. Um, <laugh> and relationship, <laugh> relationship with the US during Dal's, uh, rule is like usually described as difficult in like official US documents, which is really funny to me, um, because like, what an understatement. But, um, actually the US eventually accepted Duvalier as a bulwark against the rising tide of communism, cuz this is like the height of the red scare. Um, so backed by his violent repression of Haitian dissidents, um, Duvalier stole land from, uh, the rural poor to give to his militia and committed various war crimes against Haitian people unto his death. So that's kind of like modern Haitian history, which is pretty dark, basically like colonialism happens and like nothing really gets better for Haiti for like a long time.
Speaker 5 00:19:48 Yeah. And, um, and can you speak to some of the stuff that is going on right now and how's that?
Speaker 7 00:19:55 Yeah, absolutely. So kind of like all of this background is, is sort of how you get the current situation in Haiti, which is, um, there's no real, um, actual democratic elections in Haiti. Um, obviously actual Haitian people have been fighting to get, um, people that they actually want in power elected. Um, but us, um, the un um, and other world powers have prevented this pretty much at every step of the way. Um, and today, anti-communist foreign backing and economic stranglehold imposed by Western imperialists, um, have made Haiti vulnerable to environmental disasters like the 2010 earthquake, which, um, pretty much brought life in Haiti to a standstill. Um, it's made it vulnerable to, um, political cos and now, um, gang violence and government corruption. So, um, protests have recently erupted over the government's refusal to address the rising cost of living in Haiti. Um, currently, if you wanna get gasoline, um, to power your car, your generators, um, you have to pay about $30 for a gallon, um, on the black market. Um, and it might not even be actual gasoline, it might be cut with other stuff, so it might not actually work when you buy it. So you just spent $30 on nothing. Um, yeah, it's not great. Well, that,
Speaker 5 00:21:17 Yeah, that's what was happening in Sri Lanka before
Speaker 6 00:21:19 Mm-hmm.
Speaker 7 00:21:19 <affirmative>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. Um, so, and also, um, US weapons have steadily poured into the country and made their way into the hands of gangs, um, that are worsening the crisis by blocking supplies from leaving ports in porta prints. Um, people, um, on the ground in Haiti are pretty sure that this is almost 100% the US' fault, um, mainly because the us um, has supposedly enforced this like, ban on, um, weapons imports to Haiti specifically because of this crisis. But literally nothing has changed since it started. So it's like pretty sure the US is actively just allowing this to happen. Um, at the same time, you have UN officials who are calling for Western intervention, um, against the unrest. Um, and the Biden administration has already express expressed willingness to deploy troops. Um, I feel like it's, it feels kind of crazy to have to explain why that's bad.
Speaker 7 00:22:16 Um, but basically <laugh>, um, interfering in the politics of other countries as an imperial core country is pretty universally not worked out ever, um, in the favor of the people of the country that we occupy. Um, and we have even great evidence for that in Haiti specifically because the US already occupied for about 15 years and it made things even worse. Um, and as people living in impor imperial core countries, um, I think it's important that we staunchly oppose any war wage by imperialist countries, especially when the targets are working, class activists trying to pull themselves from under the thumb of corrupt governments. Um, and imperial intervention,
Speaker 6 00:23:02 Whenever we speak about these things, it makes me mad when so many people talk about like colonialism in a past tense mm-hmm. <affirmative>, like literally, what, what reason would we send American troops to Haiti in good conscience? Just because it's the right thing to do to help them resolve their conflicts. Right. It's not, it, it has never been that and will never be that. Right. The only reason we would ever send, uh, um, our money or our military anywhere is for financial gain mm-hmm. <affirmative>, or which could be in different ways, whether it be resources, land or power, or all three, which it normally is. You know, it's like, this is like current colonialism that is Right. Ongoing.
Speaker 7 00:23:47 Well, and I think people don't understand that like the effects of colonialism, they really, they really never end mm-hmm. <affirmative> because once they have that foothold in a country, like once they have, once an imperial core country has their hooks in these countries, they, they don't wanna let go because it's a source of cheap labor. It's a source of cheap exports. They can control almost all aspects of that country's finances. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And in the case of Haiti, you know, Haiti hasn't had sovereignty over its money for like, almost since it was a country <laugh>. Like it's, and like, what a horrible way to live. I mean, people in Haiti live off of like $5 and 30 cents a day, sometimes less than that. Um, and it's all to profit the US mm-hmm. <affirmative> and France.
Speaker 5 00:24:34 Well, I disagree. Obviously we need to go around saving more people. Right.
Speaker 7 00:24:39 <laugh> obviously.
Speaker 5 00:24:40 Isn't that what we need? Right.
Speaker 7 00:24:42 I love white Saviorism so much.
Speaker 5 00:24:45 Oh my God. I mean, we are the, we're the police force of the world mm-hmm. And we need to go and police other people on their governments. Right. You know,
Speaker 7 00:24:54 Like, no, I see no problems with this white savior.
Speaker 6 00:24:56 Like where would, where would Hawaii be without us <laugh>? Where would Puerto Rico be without us, you know,
Speaker 7 00:25:01 <laugh>. Yeah. You know, they'd maybe have like drinkable water, <laugh> sovereignty, their own land. Yeah. Crazy
Speaker 5 00:25:11 Good
Speaker 7 00:25:11 Infrastructure stuff you don't need. Yeah. Um, but yeah, so that's kind of, that's kind of what I, um, have about Haiti. And obviously I'm not like a Haitian history expert at all. Um, but there's actually been a lot of really great, um, journalism that's come out of Haiti. I know that we've all probably seen like the pro us like Washington Post articles. Um, so if you wanna read something that's actually good, um, and actually written by people that live in Haiti. Um, so there's the Haitian Times, um, which is, uh, a really good, um, kind of Haitian activist run paper. Um, there's Workers World, which is, um, more global. Um, but, uh, I believe the authors for the article that I cited for, um, this newscast, um, I believe that they were Haitians writing about, um, the situation in Haiti currently. Um, and obviously Unicorn Riot. Um, their reporting is really solid all around. Um, they had a, a really good piece about, about Haiti. Um, so check 'em out.
Speaker 5 00:26:14 Yes. Well, thank you so much. I think, um, this is very important, like when we talk about, you know, because sometimes people miss the context of things, and so like if you take thing out of context, then like, maybe you can look at it at this angle and get this point of view, but then like, once you're like put in the context of like, no, this isn't a one-off thing. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, this just didn't happen because of this. Like, this has been leading up for, you know, 2, 3, 400 years up until this moment. Hmm. And all of this context is what is happening right now and what we're witnessing. I think that's really important. So I appreciate you bringing that to the show, Jay. Yeah,
Speaker 6 00:26:49 Definitely. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 5 00:26:51 With that, we're gonna move, um, to our words, um, of freedom.
Speaker 6 00:26:56 So yeah, welcome back to our segment here, words of Freedom, which is, uh, a little segment here on views from the ground,
Speaker 5 00:27:03 Views from the damn Ground,
Speaker 6 00:27:05 Where we give local poets a chance to free their minds, free their hearts, and liberate their souls with their words of freedom. So again, this week and all of this month, we have Rose Marie Ale, who is a ese American writer based in St. Paul. Um, she studied professional writing and communications at Hamlin University. She works as a freelance poet, editor and grant writer. And she's done some pretty, pretty cool things, pretty amazing things. And we're gonna listen to more of her poetry today. We got three pieces. The first piece is titled in. Oh, I, I, I struggled. I had to look up how to pronounce this <laugh>. It's based off the word interrogate. Uh, interrogative. There we go. <laugh>,
Speaker 9 00:27:47 You look burnt, you look like dirt. Delete this. Those words materialize on my computer screen, digital, but tangible enough to slither into my 12 year old ears. They're venomous. Echo continues to penetrate my ego. Mr. Anonymous, I have some questions for you and I must warn you, this is not an interview. This is an interrogation. It's my fist slamming my eye, staring my ear, smoking my mouth, screaming my mind seeking the answer to my least favorite question. Why do I need a smaller nose? Is my skin too dark of a tone? Why couldn't you just have left me alone? Don't feed me your lies. I see you avoiding my eyes. No more hiding behind your computer screen. I am forcing you in all of your racist glory to be seen. Would some extensions gain your validation? Perhaps some chemicals in my hair, you know, give it a little flare.
Speaker 9 00:28:59 A little flare. Much like the inferno in my eyes that's causing you to sweat. Answer me. Why is my skin fetishized? But my hair criticized, my personality stigmatized, yet my body idolized. No, you can't speak to your lawyer. I mean lawyer. I mean lawyer. I mean lawyer. Because we both know I can't truly prosecute racism. No, especially not in this system in which anonymity white washes accountability in which your identity is concealed by white cotton grown in the same dirt you say I look like in which the gavel is wielded by old hairy white hands. A system in which the brown paper bag still testifies against me. The jury of my peers don't represent me. The judges themselves don't believe me. Even my ally friends won't defend me. Mr. Anonymous, your the one on trial yet I've been charged with the crime. The predetermined verdict hangs in the air building tension with each swing back and forth and back and forth and back and forth with the same rhythm. You imagine me swinging back and forth at the gallows hung like my ancestors have been executed before me by men hiding their faces as if we don't already know what their race is. Mr. Anonymous, beyond these soundproof walls and bulletproof glass lies the world in which you are me and I am. You, you the agent and I the target behind the computer screen that protects you, believes me vulnerable to venomous words and poisonous slurs. Behind the computer screen. Behind the computer screen. Behind the computer screen. It's a computer screen. It's a computer screen.
Speaker 9 00:31:00 It's a computer screen. Mr. Anonymous, you're right, I should delete this. You look burnt. Delete this. You look like dirt. Delete this Mr. Anonymous blocked.
Speaker 6 00:31:20 The next piece we will listen to is titled Endings two.
Speaker 9 00:31:29 We are staring at each other, my heart and I, in anticipation of the gut wrenching acceptance of loss. I thought I would be hurting more that my anxiety had packed a month's worth of luggage and bought a one-way ticket and preparation for my mental breakdowns and lack of an appetite. Optimism sits in a vase on my coffee table. Wilting awaiting my belief in the okayness that cloaks me. I refuse to accept nothing less than the crushing of my ribs as a response to our ending, my stomach growls as expected and I roll onto it, wishing sleep to take me. What is hope that a gamble the universe occasionally entertains. I have faith in our ability to continue on this rusted hamster wheel for all eternity or loyalty would've never let us off. We oiled it with aspiration day after stubborn day suspended with no escape built into our foundation. So I built a ladder in semis, secrecy. And yet I'm surprised at the lack of pain. Slow loss charges me.
Speaker 6 00:32:46 The last piece we will listen to is an untitled piece.
Speaker 9 00:32:51 The following poem is a work in progress with no title I write to be heard. I write. So the thoughts and emotions of each day have a better place to live than in the crevices of my brain. I write to have full range of my body so it doesn't move slow so it doesn't feel heavy. So it doesn't collapse in on itself. I write because my mom took my first ever diary and read it and then put it back in its place. And to this day we've never talked about it. I write to make up for all the years. I didn't journal after that for the years. The paper was no longer a safe space. I write for those moments. My feelings scare me, overwhelm me for when I need to lock them in between lines on pages. They know I'll come back with a key. When I'm ready to talk though I write because no matter how many feelings and thoughts I have, it has always been easier to write than to speak.
Speaker 6 00:33:55 Can we get some snaps please? Snaps. Can we get some snaps please? Mm, that was Rosemary a teale. Um, we've been listening to her all month and if you stay tuned next week, we will have her in the studio here for a live interview. So make sure you tune in. You do not wanna miss that. Um, in the meantime, if you want to catch up with her, uh, her Instagram is r m a t h i l e y. That's r m a t h i l e y. Thank you.
Speaker 5 00:34:28 All right, well thank you so much Brandon. I can't wait, um, to see the interview next week. So I'm real excited with that. We're gonna go straight into the nerdy, um, uh, segment highlight. So here we go.
Speaker 3 00:34:43 Greetings and salutations family. It's your boy nde back again with another installment of the Artist's Spotlight. It's October. There's a chill in the air and we are hanging with some of the coldest MCs from our community. And if you ask me Niara four J has to be in the conversation anytime you talk about dope artists from here in the Twin Cities, I've seen her rock stages at First Avenue out in the community. I've seen her blow the minds of the heavy hitters over at Sway in the morning. The girl is no joke. And speaking of no jokes, we have a views from the ground artist Spotlight alumni in juice. Lord featured on this next track, it is called hashtag safe space.
Speaker 0 00:35:31 Yes. Look,
Speaker 11 00:35:37 I've been running hiding mostly from me. Your love is often the mirror to floss. I don't wanna see reminders of imperfections neglected. Let the star un wounded and can't no doctor to do surgery on this heart. You risking a lot to be here. You pick a lot to get in. I'm feeling like that want you to win. Don't have to work for this victory history. Recess. You won. So I resist getting and comfortable while hoping that you don't. I'm a mess. I'm blasting back with no vest. I'm hardheaded at best. Your hardhead is the best. My thoughts be gutter. I throw too much on the past, progressing in every, every yourself. I making a laugh. I'm not addicted to pain. It's just the only thing that never leaves my side. So even wish this our good, I couldn't shake it if I tried. So if you chose to leave today, I guess I didn't expect you say it's just one more block on the wall I've been building to keep me safe. Yes. Is this safe space a safe space? Is this safe? It aint safet. Safet safet. Safe. Safe. They safe. They safe. Ain't safe.
Speaker 12 00:36:40 Safe. They safe. Safe. They
Speaker 11 00:36:42 Safe. <laugh>, I've been ducking the board in parts of myself and I don't need any sympathy. I don't want any help. Just give me your little time. I didn't expect to fall. Now that I'm on the ground, I'm seeing, despite it all, I this can't seem to run you away. We break up, make up out. But at the end of the day, I'll call you the expeditiously. Must admit I'm impressed. Don't always have the right words, but you just tell me, say less. I confess. And securities keep me lonely. It's hard to find understanding and even harder to trust. Remember when I was struggling and down and out on my luck, they celebrated my low point believing that I was stuck. Never That I wrote a dice in bed back that some more bricks to my wall, like filling for fact this smell my gusts on some paper to go bleed out on the track. Funny, the store a stage can be a grey hot in place one of a few times I feel safe. Is this safe? Safe? Is this safe? It safe, safe,
Speaker 12 00:37:41 Safe, safe,
Speaker 11 00:37:42 Safe, safe, safe, safe, safe, safe,
Speaker 12 00:37:46 Safe, safe, safe.
Speaker 13 00:37:48 I've been outside running from commitment. Love is what I want. But will I really go to distance far from a player? But I done God play it Let me hurt inside. And that's why I'm kind of this way. So what as do you want me? Will you really be there? Because I'll suffering some things that made me disappear. If we connected, I respect you. I'll always share. I'll give you my heart, give you my air and my head of the throne. I can feed your soul. Be your backbone. I'm simply myself because that's all I know. If your love is a safe space, we gonna grow. I'll invest in your dreams and have you at my shows. I ain't entertain it. It is just us on bro. So when that time hit for you, you can let me know, huh?
Speaker 14 00:38:28 For real.
Speaker 11 00:38:55 Is a safe space safe A safe it?
Speaker 15 00:39:33 Remember when salespeople came to your door, you could buy anything from an encyclopedia to a car.
Speaker 16 00:39:39 Ding dong rayon calling.
Speaker 15 00:39:41 But with someone standing in your living room, there was always pressure to buy something.
Speaker 17 00:39:46 Hello? I am the pull her brush man.
Speaker 15 00:39:48 That's what's great about the Kfi Fall Member Drive. We're there but not really there. So while we ask you to log onto kfa i.org and make a donation,
Speaker 17 00:39:58 It has so many handy attachments.
Speaker 15 00:40:01 We can't give you that agonizing sales stare.
Speaker 17 00:40:03 Do we have a deal?
Speaker 15 00:40:05 K ffa I the community's true voice. Look that up in your funky Wagners
Speaker 19 00:40:13 Fresh Air's board of directors is meeting Monday at 7:00 PM Members of the public are encouraged to attend and provide public comment. For more information, visit cafe i.org.
Speaker 5 00:40:28 All right, welcome back. The views from the ground. Views from the day ground. All right, so just want to give a special shout out to, um, a nerdy, um, we really appreciate, um, him and all he does for the show and we can't wait to see him next week. Um, come in to the, the studios to do the interview. But with that being said, I do want to um, remind people it is Cafe I Pledge Drive today. And so, um, if you want to continue hearing excellent programming with like local artists and Haiti history, make sure, um, you call and you donate to (612) 375-9030 And you also can go to the kfa i.org website. With that being said, we're gonna move on to um, our interviewee. So to um, today, um, we have, uh,
Speaker 20 00:41:22 Marcia, I go by she her pronouns.
Speaker 5 00:41:25 Yes. Um, and you work at Roots Cafe?
Speaker 20 00:41:29 Yes. Yes I do. Roots Cafe is a youth-led economic development program under Indigenous Roots, which is a nonprofit.
Speaker 5 00:41:37 Yeah. And, um, go ahead and tell people where, um, roots Cafe is.
Speaker 20 00:41:42 Yeah, Ruth Cafe is located inside Indigenous Roots, which is inside of Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center. And yeah, it's a little hard to find, but if you search us up on Google or Apple Maps, you'll easily find us.
Speaker 5 00:41:58 Okay. Um, sounds good. Um, so it's been open about four months, right?
Speaker 20 00:42:03 Yeah, so far. It's been that long. I didn't realize <laugh>
Speaker 5 00:42:07 <laugh>. Yeah. And, and so just tell us about like how you got involved into Roots Cafe.
Speaker 20 00:42:15 Yeah, so for a while now, it's been a couple months. Um, I've been finding, like I found them through social media and my dad who lives in the area or used to live in the area and he just used to like talk to me about Indigenous Roots cuz my stepmom used to like, take classes there, uh, yoga classes. And so I just found one of their Instagram posts and through there I got interviewed for Roots Cafe and managed to get in. And so far it's just went through just a bunch of stuff too. Meet new people, <laugh>.
Speaker 5 00:42:51 Yeah. And I mean, indigenous Roots is amazing. They do a lot of, uh, great stuff. I know, um, my friend Francisco would kill me if I didn't give a shout out to the east side of St. Paul. <laugh>. <laugh>. Um, yeah. But Indigenous Roots is over at like seven, um, 88 East. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, seventh Street over in St. Paul. Yes, correct. Yep. Um, so, so how does it feel to be a youth in, um, the Roots Cafe? Like,
Speaker 20 00:43:21 Honestly, it's been such a pleasure and like meeting all these new people and having a chance to have like my opinion heard and being like it mattered to them because I know a lot of places where a lot of jobs that they don't listen to you when you first get into the job. Like if you're just a normal employee, you're gonna be like listened to but not exactly heard mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And so I like working there. We're all given the opportunity, like everybody's equal there. And so, yeah. And like all the interns, like if they're like, oh hey, we should like add more flavor to this or we should get different cups. Like my manager Rena Day, she takes that all into consideration and is always listening very carefully for what we're trying to say and also our customers as well. So it's been such a nice experience working there.
Speaker 5 00:44:16 Yeah. And, and do you, um, kind of know, can you speak to like why this was formed? Like, um, who asked for the space to be created?
Speaker 20 00:44:26 Yeah, so this idea initially started in 2020, but it wasn't exactly like put together just because Covid started and there were a lot of issues with that. So it just started becoming more of a solid idea and actually being worked on until like this year. And so, yeah. And all they wanted to do like, I wasn't part of their original like team, but what I've been told is that they want a place where like youth can come together and have a safe space where they aren't judged and are actually listened to and can just like, chill out after school. And because like, there aren't a lot of spaces where you can just like easily just open up and like hang out with your friends and do homework. Like I understand that like I was just in high school like a year ago and um, it was hard to find a place like that. Like, especially like in the cities, like it's not always very welcoming to youth. Like we're always thought like, oh, we're troublemakers or like, we're always into doing bad stuff, but mm-hmm. <affirmative> like knowing that we are not thought of that way there is like such it's comforting honestly. So Yeah.
Speaker 5 00:45:45 Yeah. And so there are some, um, other things that y'all are offering to the youth. Um, and can you tell us about some of those?
Speaker 20 00:45:54 Yeah, so especially, um, during like the afternoons like from four to eight we're gonna be opening up the cafe and people just come in and just hang out and we're gonna be, um, having classes for people who are interested in doing something after school. Like we're gonna be having financial literacy and cultural enrichment days and tutoring days and like, we're gonna even be starting a podcast. So <laugh> Yeah, I have no, we still haven't decided on what we wanna do, but I am actually excited because we're gonna be having a couple meetings about that pretty soon, so, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 5 00:46:33 Okay. Well, um, tell, um, tell us like how you, you said tutoring, financial literacy, um, a cultural enrichment. Tell me like how the youth came up with those ideals. Like, um, yeah.
Speaker 20 00:46:47 Yeah. So we all just kind of got together and started talking and discussing of what we wanna see like today in the cafe because a lot of the like employees are high schoolers, like a lot of them are incoming high schoolers or some of them are about to graduate and they wanna see things that they need today. Like financial literacy. Like some of us are first generations and we don't know how to be financially independent yet. And having those, uh, financial literacy classes is a way a step towards that. And like a lot of high schoolers, like brand new graduated high schoolers going into college and going into the real world world, um, it's just hard. Like we, it's like a hard trail in error basically. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and if we don't want to like have tax invasions or EVAs or something like that. And so having that there is just like a resource for them.
Speaker 20 00:47:46 So, and like cultural enrichment days would be like for youth who are just trying to have a fun day sometimes like, there's gonna be like candle making classes where like, it's just like a way to cool off from school cuz it can honestly be very hard. Like it's a hard day or like burn top. And so if it can be just a calm day and we are gonna be having also like a what was, um, it's gonna be like water teachings and art classes and it's just gonna be a fun day for people to have after school.
Speaker 5 00:48:22 Okay. Um, and and where did the ideal of having a podcast come from? <laugh>. I love that
Speaker 20 00:48:28 Idea. Yeah, so we are having like a little studio area in the basement being made up. It's not really a basement, but it's just like an area that's being made nicer with like really nice equipment. And so we're like, we really wanna use that space cuz we want everybody in the community to use it. So if a lot of like youth can get together and just like create something that they wanna see, like podcasts are really in right now. So if we can get into that, like it's really cool because we have that resources, like those resources in front of us that we can use. So yeah.
Speaker 6 00:49:00 That's super cool. What, uh, what type of things would you like to speak about? I know this is just your opinion, but some, I'm sure you share some of your peers opinions or whatever. What, what are some type of things that you would like to talk about in this podcast?
Speaker 20 00:49:12 Um, personally, something I'm gonna be pitching in is just like more like cultural learnings as well. Like for similarly to cultural enrichment days, like learning more about different cultures because a lot of the time we don't have a lot of those resources as well. Like, um, like for my family, we immigrated, my family immigrated to Minnesota like, like around 20 years ago and a lot of them left that behind as like a survival instinct mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And so having that there and like being like little voice for other, like people who had families move away and couldn't like teach them that is like such a great resource. Well that's my pitch, but mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I haven't still heard what others are trying to pitch in, so
Speaker 6 00:50:00 Yeah. That'd be cool. And I think that'd be perfect at, you know, indigenous roots. Um, we're talking about Roots and Roots Cafe, like finding your roots, like, um, being from an immigrant family who had to essentially assimilate and, you know, change their identity and how they live to try to fit in while being at Roots and Roots Cafe and I roots like finding those roots things that may have been lost over the years. So yeah, that'd be, that would be very cool.
Speaker 20 00:50:27 Yeah, that's, that's like the way I'm trying to think of it as well. Like, it's just a lot has been lost because of that. And if we can have that like just a little space where we can actually like really talk about it, it would be such, it'd be such a nice idea. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 5 00:50:46 <affirmative>. Yeah. And, um, how do you feel like the first four months have gone? Like how, how's summer?
Speaker 20 00:50:52 Yeah, so we had a really bumpy start, like mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, Ritz Cafe was still yet to be established and there were a lot of things to work on. Like we still hadn't had a set menu, so we had to all work on that. Like, there's like, um, we had like around eight interns for the summer and like seven, eight outta seven of the interns, like including me. Um, we didn't drink any coffee <laugh> and so we were just going into all of this blindly and like one of us was having like, was like shaking of so much caffeine <laugh> and like all of us were like being overloaded by a month of caffeine we were drinking that day. And so yeah, the funnest day we had was like with the teas cuz that we did know a little bit more about. So yeah. And like in every step we were like included as well. So it wasn't just like my manager doing everything by herself, it was like all of us included and we were thinking of like, how can we like get out there? Like some of us are really tech savvy, like, um, make reels on Instagram or like tos and so that's what some of us were doing. Others were like focusing on how to make it more comfortable inside the cafe or just like little things. We were all collaborating and it was such a really nice community there for those summer for that like those four couple months.
Speaker 5 00:52:20 Yeah. Tell us about some of the um, uh, some of the items on your menu.
Speaker 20 00:52:24 Yeah, so our most co uh, popular coffee is Vek. It's a traditional Mexican sweet coffee and it has like bici, which is raw king sugar, and it's unprocessed and it adds like a distinct flavor to it. It's still sugar, but a different little different taste. So yeah. And um, a lot of people drink it with like, family during like holidays or just like in the random morning where we have the energy to make it. And yeah. Another popular item is <unk> and that's from Hibiscus Flowers. And man, I really love, that's my favorite drink out of all the menu <laugh>. Like, if you go like, that's the way to go, my opinion. But yeah, it's like super sweet and all. So
Speaker 5 00:53:11 What do you feel like, um, sets your cafe apart from others?
Speaker 20 00:53:16 Yeah, so something that like makes us distinct from others is that we are youth led and so it's like, like a youth space tech a little bit in like the afternoons. So if anything ever like you like are, uh, like kind of scared to come in or just like are unsure if you're gonna be uncomfortable, like just know that this is like made by other teenagers, like you're not gonna be the only one in there. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And yeah, so we try to stay a little bit more like on the cultural side of our drinks. So a lot of our drinks are very like, uh, focused like <unk> is like from Jamaica, like <unk> from Mexico and then like some of the teas, like the, we have like Sweet Mama and Rosie Cheeks and that's what those teas were especially made by us. Like we decided, we were like, oh, this is too much like stingy nettle or something. So yeah. It's just like we specialize or like we take a lot of care and consideration into like what we add into the menu as well.
Speaker 5 00:54:27 Yes. Well I just want to thank you so much for coming in and telling folks about the cafe. Uh, I think this is a amazing, um, opportunity to have youth come to safe Spaces designed by youth. Um, because yeah, everyone always has these like ideals with what you can do and you can't do it. I'm like, you've have been re leading the revolution and creating safe spaces just way before y'all do it. Okay. Like, yeah, just let the youth do it. Like, you know, they know what they're doing. So Yeah. And so I'm just like really excited, um, to hear that and, you know, be able to recommend that, um, as a place, um, for people. That's a safe space for youth to go over on the east side of St. Paul's, so mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, but that's really good. So one more time, uh, can you just tell us, um, the name of the cafe, um, what, what your hours are? Yeah. So, and um, where and where they can find you, like the address?
Speaker 20 00:55:22 Yeah, so Words Cafe is located in East side, um, St. Paul and you can search us up on Google Maps and Apple Maps and it's 7 88 East Street. And yeah, like, um, we are open from Monday to Friday from seven 30 to 12:30 PM and then Monday to Thursday we're open from 4:00 PM till 8:00 PM
Speaker 5 00:55:44 Well thank you so much. I really appreciate you coming on.
Speaker 20 00:55:47 Yeah, thank you so much for having
Speaker 5 00:55:49 Me. Yes, of course. Um, with that being said, um, I do want to uh, remind people we are having our cafe I pledge drive today, um, here on Views from the Ground. So, um, please, um, donate and you can call 6 1 2 3 7 5 9 0 3 0. Um, once again, that was 6 1 2 3 7 5 9 0 3 0. Um, and uh, looks like Miguel's gonna, okay, uh, <laugh>. Yeah. So what, um, and if you, you can also go to uh, cafe.org. So with that being said, um, we are going to be outta here. So we'll see y'all next week.
Speaker 21 00:56:42 Yes. We have to organize, organize, organize, do away with all the lies. All the lies. All the lies they come in with the Mac and the black and the 45 in between the protests. We protest and realize, yes, we have to organize, organize, do away with all the lies. All the lies. All the lies they come in with the take as and glass and the 45 in between the protests. We broke this every your lives. Three your lives that we have already been here before, protests in the streets. Cause we see, and we all at war burning police cars and we shooting loo in these stores. You may not agree, but you see they changing these laws. The only thing they understand now is her city burning. They're acting like they shocked with these cops. They just learning. See Mr. Floyd on the ground and got 'em squirming.
Speaker 21 00:57:25 Now we can see they are the Nazis, we the German blacks, organized, organize, organize away with all the lies. All the lies. All the lies they call me with the, the black and the 45 in between the protests we protest and yes, we have to organize, organize with all the lights. All the lights, all the lights. They coming in with the tickets and glass in the 45 in between the protests, we protest every your lives here. We always wake up, but then we go back to sleep again. In between the protest is when we begin and weak again. We hear about the loop, another shoot. And this week again, this gets the police another excuse to hit the streets again. White police, black population can never be your friend. Our mothers and our fathers and our families, they be season them. They overseers, we the ss to them.
Speaker 21 00:58:10 We gotta rise to the level where we ain't needing them. Everybody organize, organize, organize you away with all the lies. All the lies. All the lies. They come with the and the black and the 45. In between the protests, we protest and realize, yes, we have to organize, organize, organize. We lights all the lies. All the lies. They come in with the tis. And in the 45 in between the protests, we protest every realize. Yes, you have to follow me, follow me, follow me. It's my philosophy. The white law monopoly makes democracy and a capitalist economy. It's no democracy. I demand to return to my sovereignty. No apology, independence, autonomy. No need to me. I could run my own country if you could just stop bombing me, gimme my lamb back, gimme my gold back, my heritage, my birthright, you outright soul that organize, organize, organize, do wait with all the lies. All the lies. All the lies. They come in with the act of the clock and the 45 in between the protests, we protest and realize, yes, we are being organized, organized, organized to what we would all lies. All lies. All the lies. They come in with the tear blocks and 45 in between the protests we protest and lies.
Speaker 22 00:59:40 Dominican chef, Italian Mexican Chef America, French bistro, Dominican chef, Italian Mexican chef.
