Barbara Lee — REMEMBERING THE INSURRECTION & RECLAIMING OUR DEMOCRACY

See, one

Speaker 1: year after the deadly attack on our nation's capital

My

Speaker 1: name is Amy Allison and I will be the moderator for today's conversation entitled "Remembering the Insurrection and Reclaiming Our Democracy." One year ago, we all watched with shock and horror as the mob of Trump supporters carrying bats, pepper spray, and other weapons attacked Capitol Police and stormed the seat of our government to overturn or attempt to overturn a legitimate election and stop the peaceful transfer of

power. Our

Speaker 1: Congresswoman Barbara Lee was there in the Capitol that day and witnessed the tragedy firsthand. And today we will hear more about her experience. I'm very honored to be here with Congresswoman Lee and our distinguished panel of experts to talk about what happened at the Capitol and how we can respond to ongoing efforts in this country that attempt to weaken and undermine our democratic rights and values

I'd

Speaker 1: like to start today with a blessing from Pomo Wapu tribe healer

Speaker 2: Martin Martinez, and prayers for the nation from our local faith healers right here in the Bay Area, Dr. Charlie Hames, Jr., Senior Pastor at Bibi

Speaker 3: Memorial Cathedral, Rabbi Jacqueline Mates Munchen, Senior Rabbi at Temple Sinai, and Imam Zaid Shakir, co-founder of Zaytuna College in

Speaker 4: Berkeley, California, beginning with you, Martin Martinez

The

Speaker 5: way we ask

Speaker 6: and feel that you welcome yourself to this event we're all sitting with to bless yourself and open up your own spiritual path to bless this land, bless this life that we live together with to honor our spiritual self and offer our spiritual self today and So we can get back to life because life sends us different experiences. A lot of lessons that come with those experiences become our knowledge. We have a lot of knowledge of what we shouldn't do in life. And a lot of people, we have witnessed what should never get done and never get taught to our next generation. So today we bless all the things that we get in life. And we bless that. Knowledge that has been given to us and use a lot more common sense when that knowledge is popping up in your head so together together we will offer some wisdom with our words we will offer some wisdom in the life that we are gifted with that we share today today I ask all of you to to include yourself to include your words to include your blessings. to bless yourself, to bless all the human beings, the land, the animals, the trees, the water, the things we live with that is with us daily

Just know

Speaker 6: we already know the lessons that we don't need to repeat or go teach to anybody else. Today, I ask you to put yourself in a spiritual place. Put yourself

in a

Speaker 6: place where we work together from this day on so we can become what we're supposed to be with this gift of life that creator

Speaker 7: has given us

Be good to

Speaker 7: yourself today, people. Oh. Let

us continue to pray. And

Speaker 8: we're grateful for this moment and for this opportunity. Let us pray

God

Speaker 8: of our

Speaker 9: weary years, God of our silent tears, thou who has brought us thus far on the way. We stand in this moment, oh God, with heads bloodied but unbowed, with our democracy tattered but intact, with the hope that your shadow is still beneath our hand. We stand today, oh God, remembering the unsung heroes who fought a battle on our behalf that they never would imagine being our reality

In

Speaker 9: the words of the late Miss Maya Angelou in these yet to be United States of America. So here we are today, oh God, one year later commemorating a moment of discord and disdain that almost disrupted the transfer of power between presidents to say thank

you. It

Speaker 9: was destined to be worse, but somehow you made us stronger. Thank you. It was designed to be a coup, but you call men and women that day to be beyond courageous. Thank you

Thank

Speaker 9: you that we still have a democracy even as we are divided as a nation

Thank you

Speaker 9: for voices like Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who still speaks for me and speaks truth to power that attempts to marginalize and oppress our people made in your image. We thank you, Lord God, to the officers who risked and lost their lives saving our capital. Now, God, as we end this prayer, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and

Jacob, the

Speaker 9: God of Vashti, Deborah, and Mary

May

Speaker 9: you guide our hearts that we may forever stand true to our God and true to our native land. Let us all say, amen

Good afternoon. Our

Speaker 11: God and God of our

Speaker 12: ancestors. We thank you for the health and strength that enables us to be here today. Thank you to all those in Barbara Lee's office who worked hard to bring us together

and

Speaker 12: to those whose skill allows for us to gather virtually in a meaningful way. And we give special thanks for the leadership of Congresswoman Barbara

Lee, for

Speaker 12: her integrity and her character, her dedication to the people in this district, and to the service of our country. We are grateful for all of the leaders of our nation who support us and lead

us as

Speaker 12: we strive to make real the ideals we hold so

dear. And

Speaker 12: yet we know we live in a time when those very ideals are threatened

That

Speaker 12: our democracy feels fragile as our nation is divided along racial, ideological, and political lines. We must pursue not only life, liberty, and happiness for us all, but also strength, healing, and understanding amongst us all

This week, the Jewish

Speaker 12: community reads a portion of the book of Exodus, the second book of the Torah. We

learn of a

Speaker 12: number of plagues that rain down on the Israelites' oppressors in an effort to make them... free the Israelites from their enslavement. In every case, the plague, whether it be disease, darkness

Speaker 13: or locusts, stopped as soon as the ruler, Pharaoh, said that the people could leave. Thus, as soon as he acknowledged that others had choices. His problems, his challenges ceased once he used his power to see others' humanity and freedom, rather than abuse his power

Speaker 12: to control their

lives. We too

Speaker 12: can heal our divisions when we use our power to see each other, to understand each other, to uplift each other. And when we do, we will find paths to solve the individual and collective difficulties that we face. There's much work to be done

And so

Speaker 12: we pray, our God and the God of generations yet to come

may we have

Speaker 12: the strength and wisdom to create the better world that we and vision

May

Speaker 12: our understanding and compassion for each other heal our divisions. May we work together to ensure that care and kindness reign in a world now marred by greed and by hate. We

are here

Speaker 12: to serve humanity and to serve our country

May we be

Speaker 12: catalysts for justice, for truth, and for good

Adonai oz

Speaker 12: le'amo yitein, may God give strength to all people. Adonai v'arech adamo v'shalom, may God bless all people with peace

Amen

Speaker 17 (lower-pitched voice): Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim in the name of God, most compassionate, most merciful. Congresswomanly, staff, organizers, friends, and countrymen and women. We all know that January 6th represents a crossroads for our American democracy. We have to make a difficult decision and we pray that Almighty God guides us in making that

Speaker 18: decision

We

Speaker 18: can decide to continue to do the difficult work of democracy or we can decide to take the easy slide down the slippery slope of authoritarianism

If we

Speaker 18: choose the latter course, it's very easy to find confirmation for our biases, it's very easy to find scapegoats to blame daunting, irascible problems which we've wrestled with since the beginning of this

union

Speaker 18: It's very easy to believe that we can find an identity or comfort in a differentiating mob. It's easy to blame a leader for national failings or to see in a leader an easy solution to those very vexing failures

All of

Speaker 18: these are markers that delineate for us the road to authoritarianism

We

Speaker 18: pray that we can choose the former course, the course that will allow us to value the statesman and the stateswoman more than we value the polemicist and the demagogue

We pray

Speaker 18: that we can treasure the heritage of centuries that is bequeathed unto us, yes, an imperfect, but a steadily improving union that allows for the greatest array of human diversity ever assembled in a single polity to coexist. We pray that we choose, we can choose the latter course and we can defy the mob, be the mob on the left or the right of our political spectrum, and accept the awesome individual responsibility of educating each other about each other, of seeing each other through each other's eyes, and to cherish the franchise

to

Speaker 18: live in a polity and to do our part to bear the responsibility to ensure that every man and every woman can vote and that every vote counts. We pray that God blesses us to achieve this course. Good afternoon. Assalamualaikum

Thanks so much to all of our

Speaker 19: faith leaders for those

Speaker 20: beautiful and inspiring words. Now I'd like to really

Speaker 3: bring Congresswoman Barbara Lee, a woman whose courage in choosing the difficult righteous path has brought us all here today for this conversation. Congresswoman, please offer some opening remarks

Thank you so

Speaker 21: much, Amy, and thank you for your tremendous leadership and for Leading she the people and leading us today in this very important day of reflection. It's

Speaker 22: remembering the insurrection, but reclaiming our democracy. Thank you, Amy. I can't think of anyone so important

Speaker 21: to lead this discussion other than yourself. I want to thank our faith leaders for their words of prayer and reflection. It's so important that we do take

Speaker 23: time to think about what took place a year ago. So this is a day of remembrance, it's a day

Speaker 22: of reflection, it's a day of truth-telling, and it's a day of hope. And so once again, thank you to our faith leaders for putting this in context. Also let me just take a minute to thank my staff because they work day and night with little time, of course. put this entire program together, and they've done a phenomenal job at the same time providing constituent services to all of my wonderful constituents. So I just wanna salute them and thank them for their great work. We all experienced a traumatic event a year ago. Lives were lost, people were hurt, and confidence in America's democracy, yes, it was shaken

So let

Speaker 22: me just tell you very quickly about my personal experience, just a few

I won't

Speaker 22: even say highlights, but just a few points that I want to raise to make some of these points. Yes, I was sitting down on the floor of the Capitol on January 6th, and it was a harrowing experience. But let me tell you, as an African-American, my antenna, and I've said this before, it's always up, unfortunately. Because we understand as Black people the violence and the hatred that Donald Trump came to office spewing. We know how he came to office on such a hostile and violent agenda with white supremacy at its core

We know

Speaker 22: that Joe Biden won this election, but we know that Donald Trump, and I knew how he, through his words and what he was saying, was not going to accept the results

of

Speaker 22: the election. And so I started reading and listening to the chatter of the right wing

Speaker 24 (higher-pitched voice): and the white supremacists trying to figure out what the deal was, quite frankly. And of course, we had to enhance the security at the Capitol. But I was determined that I was going to be there as a member of our leadership team

Speaker 22: on the floor, watching the peaceful transfer of power. Little did I know that this type of

Speaker 24 (higher-pitched voice): violence would take place. But I did wear my tennis shoes that day. I was in the Capitol on 9-11, sitting

Speaker 21: there when we were told to evacuate right away because a plane might be coming into the Capitol. And I had on high heel shoes that day. And it was difficult running down Pennsylvania Avenue, escaping from what could have been an attack on the Capitol. And so, yes, on January

Speaker 24 (higher-pitched voice): 6th a year ago, I wore tennis shoes just feeling knowing I needed to do that. Secondly

Speaker 22: once we were evacuated, of course, we had to put on our gas masks, hit the floor. I think all of you hopefully have seen some of the stories today, which have been wonderful coming from Washington, D.C. at the commemorative events. But when we got into the undisclosed location, a couple of things I just want to mention. First of all, this was in the midst of COVID, and many of our Republican colleagues would not wear masks. And so Several members contracted COVID that day

Speaker 24 (higher-pitched voice): Secondly, the Republicans led a prayer service, got on their knees, started praying for their safety. Of course, as a woman of faith, I joined in prayer. But I was hesitant at first because I knew who they were

But I

Speaker 24 (higher-pitched voice): said, oh, no, not today, not today. They're going to rise above the partisanship and do the right thing

We

Speaker 24 (higher-pitched voice): went back later

Speaker 22: to the floor and I was determined once we were once the capital was declared secure to watch the peaceful transfer of power. But those same people who were on their knees praying voted not to certify the election results of Joe Biden. And that to me was just a blasphemous, it was blasphemous. And now the people who were on their knees

Speaker 24 (higher-pitched voice): praying have accepted the big lie. And this tells me that we are at peril right now, but we have to have hope. We have to know that what took place a year ago almost destroyed our democracy. It was a coup, an attempted coup, and it was

an

Speaker 24 (higher-pitched voice): attempt to thwart the transfer of power. So no matter where you are on the political spectrum, we must acknowledge the real pain and suffering of this day and vow to do everything in our power to prevent it from happening again. Finally, I'll just say how much today I want everyone to honor and think about our Capitol Police officers. They saved my life. They saved this from becoming a mass, casualty event. We barely got out of that Capitol. Barely. Many are still going through trauma. Many died either as a result of what took place or through a suicide. It was horrible what took place. And let me just tell you, the Black Capitol Police officers, and I just want to share this because this is, I know them very well because all of the security issues I've had over the years, they called me up and they said, you know, Congresswoman, we were fighting need. to save your life, to save the members lives, the workers, the staff, Vice President Pence, Speaker Pelosi, everyone's life we were fighting to save. We were fighting to save our democracy. We were fighting to save the capital, the citadel of democracy, but also we were fighting for our lives. They told me over and over and over again, how they felt like they were in a civil war, that these insurgents, were calling them the N-word. They were coming after them. They were beating them. And you've seen many of the pictures. And so our Capitol Police officers and our Black Capitol Police officers had that added element of white supremacy and that they had to deal with in this fight to save our democracy. And so we must remember them and honor them today as we have our reflective moments. And just know that I was determined, again, to go back

to

Speaker 24 (higher-pitched voice): watch the peaceful transfer of power, which did happen that night. And I watched Vice President Pence read out the Electoral College votes and declared President Biden the winner. That was maybe 3.30, 3.45 in the morning. And so... Even after this harrowing experience, even after what took place, we prevailed, and that's what we have to remember. As fragile as we are in our democracy, we prevailed. So thank you again for being with us today. Thank you so much, Amy. Thank you to all of our panelists, because we're going to do a deep dive and hope everyone will really be not only informed and educated but inspired to move on and to work hard so that this will never happen again and so we can move forward as a united country with our

Speaker 21: differences but understanding that violence should never be an option and that we're going to not allow America to turn into an autocratic authoritarian country. Thank you again

I'm so

Speaker 20: inspired by your words Congresswoman Lee

and

Speaker 20: I want to just thank you and honor you for your leadership, your

Speaker 3: courage, and your resolve to lead us forward out of this last year and what happened a year ago

And I'm

Speaker 3: going to invite some really distinguished guests to join the conversation, and I'm going to introduce them and we'll have a conversation, like you said, a deep dive. First, introducing David Wilson, who is Dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy. Martin Wakazu, who's the CEO of Native American Health Center, Jada Gray, a student and a member of the Martin Luther King Freedom Center, Dr. Kimberly Chang, a family physician at Asian Health Services, and Diana Delphin-Polk, Diana Delphin-Polk, Vice President of Peralta College's Board of Trustees in the city of Berkeley. I want to

Speaker 25: thank you all for joining. And before I have an opportunity to have a conversation fully, I want to come back to

you

Speaker 25: you, Congresswoman, and really say

Speaker 26: you know, I was very struck by your comments. For you, this seems to be a conversation about hope and resiliency

Are

Speaker 27: you still hopeful about our democracy, despite what you saw, witnessed, and experienced in January 6th? And what's been happening since then

I'm very

Speaker 28: hopeful, Amy, and I'm telling you, no one

Speaker 22: says this is going to be easy, quite frankly. It's going to require all of us to understand what took place and how vulnerable and fragile our democracy is, and secondly, how domestic terrorism is the top national security threat. But a couple of things that are going on right now that I just want to

Speaker 29: mention in terms of the bipartisan House panel, the investigation. They're uncovering the facts. The public is going to know through the hearings

Speaker 21: the truth of what took place on January

Speaker 29: 6th. Secondly, I'm the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit. There are about 10 of us suing the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani. And this is a lawsuit that I'm working with the NAACP on as

Speaker 23: the lead plaintiff and Monday. The court is going to hear the motion to dismiss by Donald Trump and the rest of the crowd. Hopefully we'll be able to sustain

Speaker 30: and not allow that motion. I'm sure the courts hopefully will not allow their motion to pass

Speaker 31: Secondly, thirdly, we have to recognize that political

Speaker 24 (higher-pitched voice): action has got to be, Number

Speaker 23: one, in terms of what we do, in terms of our efforts for voter registration, we must hit the streets and insist that the John Lewis Voting Advancement Act pass, that the Freedom to Vote Act pass and address the gerrymandering and voter participation because they're

Speaker 29: trying through the states

Speaker 22: now to suppress our votes throughout the country and to deny access to our constitutional right to vote. And so I'm hopeful because our young people, I'm glad Jada is with us because I have to work and hopefully all of you understand we have to work for the future. for our young people to make sure that we turn over a future that they can embrace and that they're worthy of. And so it's our duty and responsibility. If I didn't have hope and if I didn't believe it could be done, I wouldn't be in this business. And so, yeah, it's extremely important to keep hope alive, as Reverend Jackson says, because I'm a vision, people perish and so we're gonna work hard between now and next November, which are critical dates. You all know what we have to do

Speaker 23: and we have to keep going, but we can't forget today, a year ago, because this hopefully will motivate everyone to understand how fragile this democracy is. And if you know history, and if you read about what took place historically in our country, and throughout Europe in the 30s, you know where

Speaker 30: we are. And so there's no way we can stay asleep and not get engaged. And we have to stay awake and vigilant and stay woke in many respects

Stay

Speaker 32: woke and I hear the sense of urgency there

Speaker 3: and I wanted to turn to you Dean Wilson out of the Goldman School at UC Berkeley, you've done extensive research on attitudes toward voter identification laws and

Speaker 27: electoral malfeasance, you're a national expert on the idea of quote unquote racial resentment. Can you help us to understand what that means and how racial resentment played a role in the events of last January 6th

and

Speaker 33: is there a difference between racial resentment and white supremacy in terms of suppressing the

Speaker 2: vote that's happening around the country

Speaker 34: Thank you. Thank you for allowing

Speaker 35: me to be on the panel. I'm extremely proud to be here on this historic day that hopefully we will look at each year as something that should never happen again. And what we saw most directly was an effort to rewrite democracy. And I'm proud to be Dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy, where we're training the next generation of racial justice reformers to execute change. through public policy and through public service. And so I applaud the Congresswoman for her efforts and her story and when she talked about her antenna, it always led me to wonder why we didn't see this coming because as African-Americans, we know that this is a part of a natural process. Now with regard to racial resentment, in short, racial resentment is a perception that race is an unjust criteria for reward or merit. And when individuals who have high levels of racial resentment see race as part of a conversation, it upsets them, it disrupts their sense that there is another way to do things beyond talking about race. And so when you hear these oppositions of critic race theory, or you hear people opposing certain ameliorative racial policy, what you're really getting is their resentments over race being used as a criteria. so there's racism which is pernicious and evil and there's prejudice which is painful and there's discrimination which is the outcome of all of those things but there's also resentment

and those

Speaker 35: those resentments can come about from people who are married to african-americans who are our friends and our neighbors and our co-workers who are students in our various programs and so resentment comes about because people believe that race is an unjust source of outcomes in any

institution any group

Speaker 35: Any organizations that is supporting making things more equal because of race may find themselves resenting race even more so than they dislike the particular group that's trying to advocate for equality

We heard the

Speaker 32: congresswoman, though, Dean Wilson, talk about racially motivated epithets

Speaker 26: being hurled at black Capitol police officers. I mean, white supremacy

Speaker 33: has been

Speaker 26: part of this country's

Speaker 35: history and structures since the

Speaker 26: very

Speaker 33: beginning. What is your view about the the connection between what

Speaker 26: you described as racial resentment, white supremacy, which which is bigger than any electoral cycle, and voter suppression

Speaker 35: Right. So my job as an academic is to kind of deep dive in this beyond what we what we feel about certain issues. And my task has been to try and move us away from a dichotomy

as as

Speaker 35: thinking about this as someone is racist or not, something is white supremacist or not. There's a whole group of things that happen in between that we kind of let off the hook. And so there are many people that are of course racist and prejudice and white supremacy exists, but there are also other sources of inequality and racial injustice that may operate differently than racism and prejudice. And that's another area where we have to really address. So when some people say that, you know, they're not a racist, it's time to let them know that so what is an adequate answer. And so if we always look to racism as the reason why people do things to halt racial inequality and halt, I'm sorry, halt racial equality and halt racial justice, then we're going to miss a large segment of people that think they're doing the right thing by saying they're not a racist, but not actually being an anti-racist by taking action against something. So I don't want us to get into a dichotomy of something is something or it's not. There's a whole range of things that really matter in this conversation

Speaker 36: Thanks for that. Turning to you, Dr. Kim Chang

Speaker 26: you're a practicing physician in Oakland's Chinatown

You've

Speaker 32: been at ground zero for both the COVID pandemic and the rise of anti-Asian hate that we've all experienced over the last years

Speaker 25: You're serving 50,000 patients in Congresswoman Lee's district who are immigrants, primarily limited English

Speaker 27: speaking and low income. And here we're So, you know, Dr. Cheng, how do you define a healthy community for the vulnerable populations you serve

Is

Speaker 37: having a voice in our political system part of that

You know, thanks

Speaker 38: for the question, Amy, and thank you, Congresswoman Lee, for all that you're doing for our district and

for our nation. You

Speaker 38: know, I practice medicine

Speaker 39: at Asian Health Services. We serve 50,000 patients, mostly limited English speaking in 50,000

patients. in

Speaker 39: 14 different Asian languages and

Speaker 40: cultures. Part of our mission statement, actually our mission statement at Asian Health Services is to provide services and advocacy and to show that having a healthy

set of

Speaker 40: patients and a healthy community is not just about providing medical care, but it's about providing the means and the ways in which our patients can assert their rights

to

Speaker 40: get adequate healthcare and to have healthy minds and healthy bodies. Part of that is having strong democratic systems and norms and a strong democratic society that values

All

Speaker 40: of our collective voices

Speaker 39: all of our voices and experiences and ways in which we experience the systems that we engage in. And so I would say to you, yes, absolutely. The COVID pandemic and

Speaker 40: the affronts on January 6th have created

Speaker 39: additional barriers for our patients and our community to civically engage people. in many different kinds of systems, whether it's the political process, whether it's healthcare, whether it's education, whether it's government services or social services. And so we as doctors, as a health center, need to redouble our efforts to engage

our

Speaker 39: community and our patients so that they can participate. So I would say yes, absolutely. I think you answered the question when you asked it. Yes, we need to engage our community and have our patients more specifically activated

Speaker 41: Dr. Chang, what do you think the effect has been on people's health, being physical, emotional health? Having the insurrection that happened a year ago till now

Speaker 26: how are people thinking about it and approaching it and what would you do as a physician in order to strengthen that resolve as people move forward, both on all the fronts you were

talking about? You know, I

Speaker 40: think when I talk to my patients about

Speaker 39: their health, there is a lot going on right now for them in terms of their mental health and their physical health and their sense of security and safety. And so it's not isolated to only the events on 1/6, but in a whole constellation of how there has been that rise in anti-Asian sentiment when COVID, when the pandemic started. And so I think there has been an escalation in mental, emotional, psychological frailty and experiences

Speaker 42: for our patients. And that is not separated from our physical bodies. It's connected

Yeah. - And when

Speaker 43: we make the argument that people need to double down and fight on behalf of democracy, what can we do, what can we all do to shore

Speaker 44: ourselves up for the struggles ahead to make the changes to strengthen our political system, our democracy

Speaker 40: itself? - Well, you know, I think there's a lot of misinformation that's out there about COVID. There's a lot of misinformation about January 6th. And I think, getting for my patients and my community is getting the right information, the facts in language, in culture, based on facts, data, and not misinformation or mistruths. That's really, really important, especially for our patients who are already experiencing barriers to participation. And I would say to you that the barriers to civic participation mirror the barriers to healthcare access. And so it's very much related

Well

Speaker 45: put, thank you so much for that. And I wanted to turn to you, Martin Wakazu, the Native American Health

Speaker 25: Center has been a critical resource for Native people, especially during this pandemic. And

I also

Speaker 25: wanna mention that you've had a street named after you here in Oakland to honor your lifetime of work for the

Native

Speaker 46: community. So we honor you for that. My question to you, Martin, is how was the Native community affected by the politics and the policies of the Trump administration. What can we do to ensure the inclusion of the very critical and central native peoples in the face of efforts to suppress

Speaker 47: the vote and undermine participation and leadership

Well

Speaker 48: first of all, it's probably the failed pandemic and response or lack

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): of response. Budget cuts in Indian programs, diminished environmental, and leadership positions in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Health Service being left vacant. But I think the biggest thing within Indian communities across the United States is the fear. If that can happen at the Capitol, that could happen in our backyard, in our homes. The fear that our people are living

under You

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): know, after eight years of Obama, there was hope. There was someone who we felt we could reach out to, and he could become a trusted friend. But going from hope

to fear

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): is a huge, huge issue in our community, and I think the fear thing, you know, that doesn't only just with us adults, it goes down to the

children. My

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): greatest, I think quite a bit about the next generation. When they hear about what we went through the past two years, and there's probably more miles to come. But I think of one is the fear and the lack of hope. People are starting

to give up

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): and we have to somehow figure

out a

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): way to calm them

down. help

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): them overcome

Speaker 50: some of these feelings that exist in the community, and it is scary

When you talk

Speaker 45: about the path from hope to fear, is there, Martin, a path from

Speaker 3: fear back to hope? What does

that look like? Well, during the

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): Obama administration, when he first

won an

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): election, I gathered in my entire family

And there was a

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): celebration when that clicked and they called him President Obama. There was hope

Speaker 51: enthusiasm, excitement. You know, in Lakota society, one of

the qualities

Speaker 51: of a leader is humility, humility. Humility brings clarity. Well

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): arrogance brings clouds. And we've been living under a cloud during the Trump administration for four years. And I'll do everything possible to prevent that from happening again, November of 2022

I don't think

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): our community

has the

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): strength and the foundation to keep

going. with

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): that cloud hanging over their head

I mean, it's profound

Speaker 52: what you're saying. And it's also what I'm taking

Speaker 25: from what you're saying is that we need hope to make democracy work. We need, you

Speaker 32: know, we need some sense of a way forward. And, you know, I'm Gen X, I'm in my 50s. So if we go to Gen Z, Jada Gray, you're a senior

at

Speaker 53: Oakland

Speaker 32: Tech

Speaker 2: You've already experienced as a community organizer working on issues like improving community police relations and ending childhood poverty in

Speaker 33: California, the struggle for robust and equitable civics classes in high school, ensuring the right to clean drinking water, and you actually have traveled

Speaker 27: on the Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrim with Congresswoman Lee, is something we have in common. It was me going through a civil rights education that helped ground my

Speaker 54: perspective. So my question for you is what do you see as the biggest challenges for your generation participating in our democracy right now

Well

Speaker 55: thank you so much for that question

Speaker 56: Democracy depends on the trust of the people, trust that their votes are gonna be counted and heard And there is a mindset held by the insurrectionists and motivators of January 6th that the election had been stolen, that it was fraudulent, and it's discouraging for young people when the belief in this lie digs at the very foundational principles that keeps a democracy strong. And this foundation was weakened on that day and continues to be. with the passage of large numbers of voter suppression laws since the 2020 election. And these laws make it harder for young people, people of color, all of our brothers and sisters to vote. They undermine our electoral system and go against our democracy and what makes a democratic nation. A nation where most have the option of participating in the political process. where people have the ability to choose their representative in Congress and the White House. And the violence that took place a year ago has worsened these cracks in our democracy's foundation. And we have people who are attempting to fill them with neo-fascism. Neo-fascism is hatred. It is divisive. It is, at its core, anti-democratic. And so we must fill these cracks with hope for the future of our democracy in our country um the freedom center we just recently returned from a week-long boot camp studying the life and legacy of dr king where we focus on self-transformation through getting involved and every single person plays a role in our society but especially the youth of america have to get involved Volunteering in organizations, engaging within the political process, getting our friends or classmates or family members or even acquaintances involved is crucial for regaining our political power and strengthening our democracy

It

Speaker 56: is a struggle, but one where actions lead away from the division that we have been experiencing and towards the unity and beloved community that people in the past and present are working towards right now

There's so

Speaker 57: many profound things in what you said. And there's been this conversation about

Speaker 25: hope and fear. You mentioned the beloved community, which is a really

Speaker 58: deep and necessary concept. You know, are the events of last year, in your opinion, discouraging or motivating for you

Speaker 59: for people in your

Speaker 56: generation? You know, I think there are moments that it's a little bit of both. We see the violence, it's so discouraging to see Capitol Police officers being attacked

the

Speaker 56: racial motivations behind January 6th and how it's affected people continuously to this day. And it's also motivating as we have this moment in our nation's history where we can all recognize how crucial it is to continue strengthening our democracy and to do the work, the hard, tireless work that makes a democratic nation as we have right now. And so that work that really was highlighted on that

day is

Speaker 56: something that we can all get involved in. It doesn't matter how much money we make, what class we're from, our race, our gender, age, we can all get involved in phone banking, in volunteering within our communities. and through uplifting our communities through programs and organizations. So we must take this dark moment in our history and use it as fuel to continue the grassroots organizing that so many people have already been involved in and highlight that even more so that we don't have a repeat of what happened on January 6th. And so that beloved community that people that our ancestors have fought for, that people like John Lewis and Dr. King fought for, becomes a reality and be the work of the people. What

do you

Speaker 60: say to people who say, you know what, people under 25 are too cynical with

Speaker 61: what they watched happen and unfold

The fact

Speaker 61: that not everyone's in jail, the fact that the Congress members who voted to decertify

Speaker 62: that election are still in, I mean, that people are

discouraged

Speaker 62: from participating? How do you respond to something

like

Speaker 56: that? Well, through voter canvassing, we've heard that a lot. The idea that our vote doesn't matter. And it's that cynicism that holds us down. And so it's that wall that keeps us from making that next step through eliminating these voter suppression laws that have been passed

So

Speaker 56: I think when we see outcomes of progressive elections like what happened in Georgia and we see the outcome of what happens when we have these groups of people working and organizing to get more people involved in a political process that we have in this nation, I think that's evidence of not

of

Speaker 56: What happens when we don't become cynical, when we don't take the route of becoming an introvert or becoming angry at the events, but we take the route of unity and of utilizing these principles that people of the past have given to us, that people of now have given to us. principles of how to transform into someone who can see what others are feeling, who can see the pain and the hurt the other communities are facing and use that to continue working for that world house that Dr. King talked about, how we're all interconnected and interrelated. And that interdependency on one another is so crucial to understand so that the work that has been done, we can continue so that the cynicism that people are feeling we can break for hope and for faith in what we can become through the work of dedicated individuals

Speaker 61: Thank you for that. That's really profound and I think

Speaker 32: really important for us as we try to turn from the fear

back to the hope

Speaker 32: Deanna Delphine Polk. The attacks on democracy and voting rights are closely tied, as we know, from

Speaker 44: Trump's rise and his messaging from the very beginning, from his campaign days, the

Speaker 2: demonization of immigrants and his false claim that three million undocumented people voted in California. It's ridiculous

Speaker 3: Trump's failed wall project on the southern border is the biggest symbol of his hatred toward

Speaker 33: immigrant populations. Not just from this hemisphere, but from around the world. So

Speaker 27: what would you like to see happen, both here in California and on a national level, to

Speaker 33: ensure that human rights for immigrants are insured? And not only immigrants, but also asylum seekers, refugees

Speaker 63 (higher-pitched voice): Absolutely. Thank you so much for the question, Amy, and thank you to Congresswoman Lee's staff for having me

Speaker 64: on this panel. It's a very simple answer, and I think that I would like to see more people from immigrant backgrounds being elected to office. I am one of very few Latinx elected officials in Northern Alameda County, and we have a huge opportunity, as some of the other panelists have discussed before, to be able to participate in the 22 elections that are coming up

As

Speaker 64: you said, Congresswoman, many, many times, nobody can represent us better than we can. And so I think that using democracy and the electoral process to elect folks who have stories like mine and stories like everybody else's is the best way that we can kind of come back from, start to heal and come back from what happened this day, last year. How do we

Speaker 54: break through, respond

Speaker 58: and overcome that demonization of immigrants that seems to be, has poisoned a lot of that public dialogue and people's understanding of and is part of the big lie? I

Speaker 65: mean, that seems to be the heart of these anti-democratic efforts

A lot

Speaker 63 (higher-pitched voice): of that, I think, stems back from misinformation, as Dr. Chang was talking about, about the misinformation that is just out there with regards to

Speaker 64: the contributions that immigrants have made to our democracy itself. And so, again, I keep going back in my mind, and I've thought a lot about this, is back to democracy and back to the elect to war process. As an elected official who is from an immigrant family, I choose every day to honor that legacy, and I know that the voters out there really want to see more folks that have our story. always elected into office with the lived experience that

we've

Speaker 58: had

Speaker 60: And what

Speaker 58: do you think is going to be key for us to make sure that immigrant communities, those who have been maligned, their

Speaker 3: humanity attacked, their rights under attack are re-engaged, not only protected, but able to expand into those leadership positions in this next phase of our country's history

Speaker 64: Absolutely. I think a lot of that starts here in our community, so I was really glad to see the student who was on our panel talk about doing voter canvassing and community outreach. I think that is a key part of getting folks involved in the electoral process and in community organizing. We've been in a pandemic for almost two years now. We had this horrible attack on our democracy happen in the middle of that pandemic. And I really hope to see more of that organization. That's, to me, is a very

Speaker 66: very key thing

Speaker 67: is to continue to be involved in our own communities

I

Speaker 68: It's so well put and Congresswoman Lee, I just wanted to ask

you know

Speaker 32: we've heard our distinguished panelists talk about concepts of or ideas that are not just facts, although facts are important

Speaker 33: but it's about our emotions and how that impacts

Speaker 46: kind of how we understand what happened a year ago and where we go from

here

Speaker 46: You know, do you think a lot of people, both in the district here in the East Bay and California and

Speaker 43: across the country, understand both the urgency of what's happening right now and the things that you're saying and the fights that are happening and understand that it's happening at every level, even here

Speaker 69: in California? Yes

Speaker 70 (higher-pitched voice): Amy. First of all, of course, I have the most enlightened and progressive district in the

Speaker 30: country. And yes, I believe my constituents understand it. And I believe that they're leading

Speaker 23: on so many fronts to beat back what we know right now is an attempt

Speaker 29: to really demolish our democracy. And so all of our panelists, though, I just have to say everyone has touched on the whys of January 6th. In terms of the underpinnings, in terms of the root causes of what gave rise and what is giving rise to white supremacy and what has given rise to domestic terrorism and what has given rise to hate and what

Speaker 23: has given rise to this fear that Martin so brilliantly spoke of in the Native American community and all minority communities and people of color and marginalized communities. And so I think when

Speaker 71 (higher-pitched voice): it's again

all of this

Speaker 71 (higher-pitched voice): intersects into what took place on January 6th. And Jada, I am determined that our young people are going to see us, oftentimes with you all leading, but us get rid of this cynicism and make sure they

Speaker 70 (higher-pitched voice): understand that we're going to ensure that there are consequences

for

Speaker 70 (higher-pitched voice): for leaders who betray their trust of office. And if there are no consequences, it will happen again. And so this cynicism is very important

to

Speaker 29: lift up and talk about. 'Cause I mentioned again, I'm a lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Trump Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, Rudy Giuliani. This is a mechanism we have in our democracy. to hold those who violate the law accountable. We have the bipartisan House panel investigating. We have a Department of Justice that is leaving no fact behind. And so we have to use every tool at our

Speaker 71 (higher-pitched voice): disposal right now to make sure that one, we give people hope that they too are part of this process. And secondly, to make sure they understand that we're going to win, but it takes a heck of a fight to win. And we, again, I just wanna thank our panelists because they've made it clear about how each and every one of the issues

Speaker 29: that you all raised really did

Speaker 23: give rise to what took place on January 6th. And it did not end there. because they are building all around the country, even in California, for what they think is going to be their

Speaker 22: takeover of our country. But guess what? We're not going to let it happen. And it's because of people like you. It's because of my district. It's because of people around the country who are going to come together

Speaker 29: And I believe in the American people. I believe in people who are immigrants. And I believe in people who live in our country that they

um

Speaker 23: are the shining light and that the light always outshines the darkness and that we're going to win this. And Jada, so you have got to keep on this. You've got to keep leading with the Martin Luther King Freedom Center and our young people and let them know that we have to do this

Speaker 72: together because it truly is your future that we have to ensure

I can't, first of

Speaker 73: all, that was so beautiful, Jada. How does it feel? Is it the weight of the future of the country feels like the work that you're doing

Speaker 74: What's your sense of and your measure of kind of the

Speaker 75: urgency

of this

Speaker 56: moment? Well, we've heard it many times from our leaders like Congressman Lee that we cannot wait to be tapped on the shoulder. It requires action right now to head in a direction towards unity instead of division. And it can feel like all the weight is on our shoulders as young people. But part of it is understanding how to create real systemic change. It takes intergenerational work. the ideas of people who have experienced much more than people my age or younger, even a little older have experienced ourselves. And so we cannot separate ourselves into silos based on age, but continue the work that people of the past have done. And the intergenerational aspect of it is how we can create that real change and not let us fall back into that cynical mindset, but move forward into a world where

we

Speaker 56: value each other's opinions and differences and understand how each of us are interconnected and that the work of one affects everyone. And so while, you know, I've heard that, you know, it's on the weight of the young people, it's on the shoulders of all of us to get involved in that kind of

work

Speaker 76: Amy, let me just comment on this because I think what Jada said leads back to what

Speaker 23: Martin laid out in terms of fear. My background, my profession, clinical social work, right? I know how fear immobilizes one. And when you have fear. groups of people in our

Speaker 29: country, when you have people all over the country fearful, regardless of who they are, of speaking out, fearful of taking on the challenges, fearful

of

Speaker 23: just walking outside fearing they may get shot, fearful of what is taking place, then that leads to those who

want to take over

Speaker 23: have that opportunity to try to take over and so fear we've

Speaker 29: got to overcome this because fear is a powerful emotion it's a powerful emotion but once people are afraid and once they don't surface and speak out and challenge the evilness of what is taking place then guess who wins and that cannot happen and so i

Speaker 23: think all of the mental health issues that have been discussed in a broader context need to be addressed in all of our communities because this fear that of course, myself, every day we walk in the Capitol. You know, I know I have to be there and I'm going to be there to represent

Speaker 77: you. But can you imagine what it's like having a gas mask? Can you imagine what it's like going through metal detectors? Not sure which one of my colleagues have a gun today. Can you imagine what it's like walking out on the street instead of under the

Speaker 71 (higher-pitched voice): tunnels, not knowing who's gonna shoot where? I mean, can you imagine what it's like? I mean, the Capitol, and we've gotta make sure, and we're doing that. that it's secure for our children remember we have school after colvin uh hopefully school children will come back for tours constituents will come back that capital

has to

Speaker 71 (higher-pitched voice): be secure i don't want you all to feel the fear that right now many of us feel because so we've got a heck of a lot to do just in terms

Speaker 29: of our own security and hardening and making sure the capital is is not a fearful place but a safe place and so that balance is something that I'm working on as an appropriator right now. So just know and keep this in mind what Martin said about fear and the power

Speaker 23: of fear and not and the cynicism that Jada mentioned and not allow that to take over in our communities because then they those insurrectionists

Speaker 78: who tried to thwart the peaceful transfer of power and attempted a coup they will win and that can't happen

That

Speaker 32: cannot happen. I got to ask you, Dr. Chang, in your practice and your experience, how

do we

Speaker 69: overcome this? How do we overcome the fear that seems to have gripped this country and

Speaker 79: individuals? Wow

Speaker 80: that's a really

Speaker 40: hard question. I'm actually going to look at Congresswoman Lee

as an

Speaker 40: example of this because... First, Congresswoman Lee, thank you for going to represent us amidst all of that trauma

Speaker 39: I can't imagine what it feels like and you just so eloquently expressed what it

Speaker 40: is to you every day. So thank you for it and I'm sorry that that happened. But secondly, I'm going to look to you as an example of how do you overcome that because what I've heard

And

Speaker 40: this is just me as a participant now and maybe as a doctor, but not clinical. From what I've heard from Congressman Lee is that you're marshalling your love for your community

and your

Speaker 38: constituents in order to overcome that fear and your love for us, really

And

Speaker 40: so, thank you. That's I

don't. I

Speaker 40: mean, yeah, therapy, behavioral health, mental health, yes, yes, all of that. Resources, yes, definitely. Access to health care, yes. But on a day-to-day basis when you

Speaker 39: really have to show

up, I

Speaker 39: mean, it sounds like Congresswoman Lee has shown us

a way

Speaker 77: Dr. Chang, thank you so much, but you know what, all of us have that in us and we have to see

Speaker 30: these challenges as difficult as they may be. We have to use what's within ourselves, however we step

Speaker 29: up, whether it's prayer, whether it's a spiritual tightening of who we are. Whether it's poems, music, whatever it is that helps

Speaker 30: inspire us, we have to do that each and every day and to keep going. And I think if we stop to do that, regardless of the work we're in, this fear, all of a sudden, our work and the inspiration overcomes. Yes, we have to be careful. Yes, we have to be cognizant of what's out there. But there are other things that are very important to all of

us

Speaker 22: that we have to keep our eye on the prize. and I'm confident that people will be able to

get

Speaker 22: over this if in fact we you know embark

Speaker 23: upon the strategies the mental health strategies in many respects of overcoming the fear so thank you so much for

Speaker 30: those kind remarks and just know yeah it's been difficult but talking with you all and being with my colleagues and going through this again it's helpful so thank

you

Speaker 36: guys

And I

Speaker 36: appreciate that because we're not just talking facts and figures, we're not even

Speaker 81: just talking about politics, we're talking about something

Speaker 3: bigger, Martin, you're the one who eloquently talked about the role of fear and how we have to address that. What is

the

Speaker 82: solution? How do we overcome fear? Is it love? Is it something

else? I

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): think you begin how we begin this conversation today with having our spiritual community praying. The power of prayer can overcome any adversity and

any fear. A

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): noted Native American author once said, "Religion is for people who are afraid of going to hell. Spirituality is for those people who

have already been there." And that's

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): our strength. We know what it's

like and

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): we're not going to be satisfied with it for the next generation or the generation after that. For my great grandson, Luke, who when he is a great grandpa like me, that will be seven generations. So what we do today will have an impact seven generations down into the future

So we

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): have to make that decision and how can we contribute? What can we do to make it a better world, a better country? Overcoming fear? We all have fears and

we all have medicine or

Speaker 49 (lower-pitched voice): ways to deal with it, to work through it. So that needs to be passed on to the next generation. thank the Congresswoman for including the ministers and Martin Martinez, our spiritual leader at the clinic, to be

a part of this

Speaker 83: It lifted me up. Thank you. And

it's

Speaker 57: lifting all of us up. I actually am surprised

Speaker 3: about the turn of conversation because there's so

much profound

Speaker 3: acknowledgement that our values, our spirituality is the thing

Speaker 58: that's going to get us through the trauma this last year and look forward and finding ways to connect and build, as was mentioned, a beloved community. Congresswoman, any last words as we thank the panelists and

Speaker 84: wrap up this part of the

Speaker 23: event? Well, let me just say to the panelists once again how remarkable all of you were in helping us and we did do a deep dive and I think all of you connected the dots in a way that a lot of people and a

Speaker 30: lot of organizations haven't in terms of the underpinnings of January 6th. So I just want to thank all of you for taking time to

Speaker 22: be with us this evening and sharing your brilliance and your work and your experiences. Secondly, let me just say, the press always asks me how I keep going in spite of all of this, and I'm going to share a couple of things. As a Black woman in America, my great-grandmother was born enslaved in Galveston, Texas. My grandfather was born 10 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. When I started school, I couldn't go to public schools because I was Black. When I wanted to be a cheerleader in California, San Fernando High School, I couldn't be a cheerleader

Speaker 30: because I didn't look like

it

Speaker 30: what they wanted a cheerleader to look like. And so I went to

Speaker 23: the NAACP. They helped me fight the school administration to change the rules of cheerleader selection to cheerleader election. I was elected the first black cheerleader at

Speaker 22: San Fernando High School at 15 years of age. And that was the first election I ever had. But all of these challenges throughout my life have always been cloaked in racism and sexism and white supremacy and misogynism. And I'm sharing this with you because I come

Speaker 30: from El Paso, Texas, and this has been a lifelong struggle

for myself

Speaker 30: personally, for my family to meet the challenges as a Black woman in America. So, and I'm still

Speaker 29: doing it. And I know all of you are. And I'm saying this because I know too, January 6th, this is going to be a historical, unfortunate moment. in

Speaker 23: the history of this country. But think of all of those in my family, in your family, all your ancestors and what they went through just to get the

Speaker 71 (higher-pitched voice): right to vote, just to now voter suppression. So do you think I'm gonna wait and let them do that in terms of suppress our vote and take our votes? No, we're hitting the

Speaker 23: streets to make sure that our senators vote. for the John Lewis Voter Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. And so there are things we have to do and when we're feeling this fear and when we're feeling that there's nothing we can do, think about all those who paved the way, just so Barbara Lee, for example, could be the only the 20th black woman ever elected to Congress in 1789, when I was elected, okay? So think of all of the struggles that all of you have been through. from

Speaker 29: your communities, from your history, from your family and how you made it. And it's our duty to bring others along and to make sure this democracy prevails so that they can have those opportunities and more and don't have to go through what we went through. And so January 6th, yeah, it should be a reminder of all of this in terms of the history of this country and why it's so fragile at this point, which all of you laid out, but why we cannot let the fragility of this democracy prevail

Speaker 30: and why we have to solidify it and protect it and move forward and secure it for the future. And so let's work to make all of this

Speaker 86: happen. And I'm gonna close now. The best close will be with these two performances. And I hope you guys stay and listen to these performances. First, live musical performance by Erica

Speaker 29: Pringle, who's the musical director at BB Memorial Cathedral, followed by a recitation of the poem

Speaker 86: New Day's Lyric by the poet who spoke as

Speaker 29: the poet for President Biden's inauguration, the great, beautiful, wonderful, brilliant Amanda Gorman

Thank you so much

Speaker 87: Congresswoman Barbaralee. I'm going to go ahead and start my music. Thank you all so much. Thank you

Speaker 89: We shall overcome We shall overcome overcome

Woman 94: We shall overcome

Speaker 95 (higher-pitched voice): someday. Deep

Speaker 96 (higher-pitched voice): in

my

Woman 94: heart, I do believe

We

Woman 98: shall overcome someday We shall

Speaker 97 (higher-pitched voice): overcome We shall overcome We shall overcome someday

Speaker 100 (higher-pitched voice): Someday

Speaker 96 (higher-pitched voice): whoa, deep, deep in my heart, whoa, I

do

Woman 94: believe that we shall

Speaker 101: overcome Someday we shall

Speaker 96 (higher-pitched voice): overcome, we shall overcome

we

Speaker 100 (higher-pitched voice): shall overcome someday

Speaker 95 (higher-pitched voice): Oh, deep

Speaker 102: in my heart, oh, I do believe

Speaker 103: we shall overcome someday

Speaker 100 (higher-pitched voice): Deep, deep in my

head

Speaker 100 (higher-pitched voice): My heart

Speaker 104: I

Woman 94: do believe that we

Woman 98: shall, we shall overcome someday

Speaker 105 (higher-pitched voice): Oh, we shall, we

Speaker 106: shall overcome

Speaker 105 (higher-pitched voice): someday. We

Speaker 107: we shall overcome

Woman 98: some, someday

Speaker 108: Thank you

May this be the

Speaker 110: day we come together. Morning we come to mend, withered we come to weather. Torn, we come to tend. Battered, we come to better. Tethered by this year of yearning, we are learning that though we weren't ready for this, we have been readied by it. We steadily vow that no matter how we are weighed down, we must always pave a way forward. This hope is our door, our portal, even if we never get back. To normal, someday we can venture beyond it to leave the known and take the first steps. So let us not return to what was normal, but reach toward what is next, what was cursed. We will cure what was plagued, we will prove pure. Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree. Those fortunes we foreswore, now the future we foresee where we weren't aware, we're now awake. Those moments we missed are now these moments we make, the moments we meet. And our hearts once altogether beaten, now altogether beat. Come look up with kindness yet, for even solace can be sourced from sorrow. We remember not just for the sake of yesterday, but to take on tomorrow. We heed this old spirit in a new day's lyric in our hearts. We hear it for old Lang Syne, my dear, for old Lang Syne. Be bold, sang time this year. Be bold, sang time, for when you honor Yesterday, tomorrow, ye will find, know what we fought, need not be forgot, nor for none, it defines us, binds us as one, come over, join this day just begun, for wherever we come together, we will forever over. Come

Thank you. Thank you