Latest / Black Girl Interrupted Podcast / Florynce "Flo" Kennedy

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Florynce "Flo" Kennedy · Black Girl Interrupted Podcast

0:11
Black Girl. Y'all already know how, y'all, I already know how that
0:32
girlrupt. Woo woo woom. Hey, hey, hey, hey, y'all,
0:44
welcome back to another episode of Black Girl Interrupted. Don't I already know,
0:50
y'all? I know, I can't say what I mean. I hype
0:53
it up and having a little fun while I do my show, Like,
0:56
come on now, it is Tuesday, Happy Tuesday. Tomorrow is humph day,
1:03
y'all. We up two and a half days away from the weekend.
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Lord Jesus can't week Friday meet already. But anyway, y'all, welcome back
1:12
to another episode again a Black Girl Interrupted. Of course, it's your girl,
1:17
Ash, you know, your favorite girl from the five o four baby
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checking in with y'all, bringing y'all another episode, and again we are still
1:26
keeping a conversation going on National Women's History Month. Man Man, Man,
1:30
man man. I'm so excited, like I've been loving being able to give
1:36
accolades to some hidden figures, like I'm loving it. I think I want
1:41
to start doing this, at least want some money, at least pay homage
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to hidden figures that we don't generally talk about others all the time. And
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I mean, like outside of the Martin Luther King juniors, outside of the
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Rosa Parks and Malcolm xs. And again there's no shade to them because they're
2:00
icons. You know, they were very pivotal, pivotal in Black history and
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laying the foundation for us to do the things that we do the day,
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to protest peacefully sometimes. So I want to start doing that. I really
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think I'm gonna like set at least one episode out of the month to pay
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tribute to some hidden figures. But before we even do anything like that,
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y'all already know, I do my mental health check ins. Man. I
2:28
got to check on y'all. I got to make sure y'all good. I
2:30
got to make sure your mental is good, you're emotional, your physical,
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you're spiritual. Man. I gotta make sure y'all straight because man, man,
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man, man, man, it's it's it's been some things going on
2:46
in the world, big bet, and I need to make sure everyone is
2:51
mentally good. You know, a lot of the things that are transpiring that
2:54
we are seeing unfull before our eyes. It has been triggering a lot of
2:59
people. So it's imperative again that I do my mental health check ins before
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every episode. Because again, if you're ever in a dark space and you
3:07
need to help a little bit get over the you know, not a little
3:12
bit, but you know, for me to help you get over the hump,
3:15
always try to play something inspiring, something encouraging, something uplifting. So
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let's go ahead and jump into our mental health check ins because I'm ready to
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jump into tonight's conversation because the woman I'm talking about tonight, man, Man,
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man, you veg that lady was a force to be wrecking with.
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So let's go ahead and jump into and do our mental health check in,
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and then let's go right on into the conversation. What is the common denominator
3:42
of failure? Why are you failing? You're never safe as of men?
3:52
Oh, it's the competition, it's the economy, it's the president, it's
3:55
Congress. If you wake up morning and blame your failure on someone or something
4:04
else, you have no reason to change, do you. But if you
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woke up in the morning and looked in a mirror and said, I am
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failing because of me, the decisions that I make, the energy I put
4:20
in, I'm not passing the blame. If you look in the mirror tomorrow
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and say that you will change, because nobody likes thinking of themselves as a
4:33
failure. Winners win and losers lose. And if you create a culture of
4:40
losing, if you keep being a victim, if you keep letting losing happen
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to you, if you keep letting people do you and treat you any kind
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of way, it's going to become a culture. Take ownership. Take ownership
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of everything in your world, the good and the bad. Don't make excuses,
5:01
don't blame any other person or any other fit. Take ownership of your
5:09
mistakes. Take ownership of your short falls. Take ownership of your problems,
5:14
and then take ownership of the solutions that will get those problems solved. Take
5:20
ownership of your job, of your team, of your future, and take
5:26
ownership of your life the people in life that win. Play offense, not
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defense. Stop backing into everything, stand up, blow your back a little
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bit, start to walk a little different, start to be have best version
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of you. You can do it in your quiet way, You can do
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it the way you do it. But somehow they gotta look at you adult
5:46
to say I want monkey with that one. You push back. You gotta
5:50
get obsessed, You gotta get relentless. You gotta be a road doll.
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You gotta get intense. You gotta have a permeating attitude that you're gonna win.
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You got an a pause about Look, you gotta be optimistic. You
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want to know you're gonna win. You wanna right now, I said I'm
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gonna win. I'm gonna win. My life is gonna being. This gonna
6:08
be a victorious life here because listen to me, the price you've made for
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losing year is too extreme. You have to carry the burden of failure the
6:15
rest of your life. As we begin to elevate ourselves and not to follow
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the crowd, activating the thinker in us and disciplining and putting on hold the
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emotional part of ourselves. It's not easy, but through practice and practice and
6:29
practice, practice makes improvement. You can always better your best. You can
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always go beyond anything that you have ever done. You never hit a state
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of perfection. You're always bigger than what you do, and so all you're
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looking for new break throughs. Through practice and practice and practice, you'll get
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better and better and better. Something you should affirm to yourself every day.
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Repeat this, please, no matter how bad it is or how bed it
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cash. I'm going to make it for the people that may get in this
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world. Look around for the circumstances and they wanted. If they can't find
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them, they create them. It's hot, no easy, it's not an
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option. However, these and gentlemen, what you will discover it is that
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it's worth There takes cuts. You got to dig down deep, then cut
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it off, keep one going again and again and again. I tell you,
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make it happen because you know that is possible. You are the determining
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factor, all right. I think it's always so refreshing just to get those
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apple me to know that you're doing a good job. You just gotta keep
8:03
going. And the harder you work, the better you'll get, the more
8:09
success and I really don't want to say the more successful you'll be, but
8:13
the better you'll get at your craft. So you gotta keep going. You
8:16
gotta keep practicing, and you gotta know that on those days that you fall
8:20
down, it's okay that you fall down, but you know you gotta get
8:24
back up and you gotta keep going. You gotta keep bushit like you cannot
8:28
give up. If this is whatever, whatever it is, that you set
8:31
your mind to stay focused, stay focused, Tune out the negativity, tune
8:39
out what's not conducive to your energy. I promise you if you start separating
8:46
yourself from people that are not conducive to to your energy. Matter of fact,
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once you start setting those boundaries, the Higher God will start to elevate
8:54
you. I promise you. Put them boundaries up, start telling people know.
9:00
But always continue to focus on the bigger picture. Look at what's in
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front of you, and don't worry about what's going on around you. Tunnel
9:07
vision, tunnel vision, tunnel vision. Get in it, stay in it,
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stay focused, and I guarantee you're gonna rin the race. You're gonna
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complete, You're gonna win. Everything that you're trying to do is gonna come
9:20
into fruition. You just have to stay the course. I promise you.
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I made a post the other day and I said, what was it slowest
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the steady, y'all? I can't remember thus saying off the top of my
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head. But it doesn't matter how fast or how far you go, you're
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gonna get to where you're trying to be. Hope I said that right.
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But anyway, but again, happy Tuesday. I hope everyone is having a
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great night. I know we are all stressed from the work, but we
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got three more days and we can make it. Tomorrow. It's Wednesday,
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y'alls, hunt dy, so we got it. If we made a thus
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far, God gonna give us the strength to make it to Friday. Trust
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me, I promise that we can't gonna be here before you know it.
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So on a more positive note, like I said, I love you guys.
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I hope you're doing well. I hope things are going great for you.
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I mean, even if they're not going so great for you, it's
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okay. It doesn't mean you fail. It doesn't mean you're doing something bad.
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Just maybe have to tweak what it is that you're doing, just to
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make it a little better. That's all one foot in front of the other.
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But oh hey, sis, she says, good evening. Since I
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love you. I'm proud of you. I thank God for you. I'm
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blessed to have you in my life. Thank you, Sissy. I love
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you too. Jovit, I promise, I do you know you're my baby.
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I love you all right. So again, I'm still doing the mental
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health checkings, dropping the comments. Let me know how you're feeling, let
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me know what I can do to help you get over that hump? Baby?
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What can we do? Because I want you smiling, and I know
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we're not gonna smile all the time. I know we're not gonna have bowls
11:00
and shooting stars every day. But if I could just help you smile a
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little bit before the end of the night, then that means I've done exactly
11:09
what God has entrusted me to do. All right, So let's jump into
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tonight's conversation again. We are still keeping a conversation of National Women's History Month.
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So for this month, I pulled some icons, some hidden figures that
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we don't hear about all the time, and some of these names I hadn't
11:31
heard about. But it's good that I'm learning about these beautiful women that have
11:39
solidified their mark in Black history. These women have not only solidified their mark,
11:46
but they have paved the way for others behind them, for us to
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follow suit. They basically kicked the doors down for us, you know,
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soul. Again, I'm still keeping a conversation on National Women's History Month.
12:00
Joavert says, I actually felt great. I'm excited to be alive, and
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you should be, you know, because there were some people that didn't wake
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up today. There are some people that aren't gonna wake up tomorrow. So
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I'm so glad that you're excited to be alive. And when God gives you
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that tomorrow to open your eyes, I hope you still feel the same way.
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So thank you, sirs. I love you. I'm so glad that
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your energy is up, even though I'm still gonna snitch on you, just
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so you know you better be lucky. I haven't. Okay, but don't
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think but I really need you to take care of yourselff. I promise you,
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but I love you and I'm proud of you. Again. I'm glad
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your energy is up because I know some days they fluctuate. And this is
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not just for Joba, but this is for anybody. You know. Some
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days we wake up and everything goes well, and then we have a moment
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where we're just like, oh, but I want to say this. Don't
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let one bad moment for your day. Don't let that one bad moment spoil
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your move. Okay, you had a bad moment, It's okay. You're
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gonna bounce back from that move. I promise you that that one bad incident
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that you feel could potentially ruin your whole day. I don't let it.
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So I'm glad that you're feeling good. Today's sist, I promise all right,
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So back to the conversation. So tonight, I am talking about Florence
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Flow Kennedy. I bet y'all are life. Who is this? Is she
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related to the Kennedys, No, at least not that I know of.
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But excuse me, Florence Kennedy, Baby, let me let me give you
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a love tea on who miss Florence Kennedy is so. Miss Florence Kennedy was
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born in Kansas City, Missouri, in nineteen sixteen. From her young age,
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her parents instilled to her the confidence the fight against prejudice. Baby,
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let me say, she said, Kennedy stated, my parents gave me a
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fantastic sense of security and work show when I tell y'all about this Florence Kennedy,
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heybit, this lady was absolutely a force to be wrecking with. So
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here's the introduction to Florence Flow Kennedy. Julie Taymor called me on the phone
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and said, I'm doing a biopic on Floria Steinem and I wanted you to
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play Flow. And she said it in a way as if I should know
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who Flow was. That began my journey into the discovery of the iconic Flow
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Kennedy. She is Flow Kennedy. I'm Lorraine Toussaint, actress, writer,
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producer. Mother. Flow Kennedy was one of the pillars of the feminist the
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second wave of the feminist movement. Her parents raised her to believe that she
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could do absolutely anything. She talked herself into law school into Columbia. She
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applied and was denied, and was clearly denied because she was a woman and
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she was black. She was expected to just tuck her tail and walk away
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with that. She then took a meeting with the president of the university and
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said I am going to just soon, and literally within a day, they
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reversed the decision and sent her a let us saying welcome to law school.
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She just would not take no for an answer, but it also meant that
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she paid the price for that. She was put in jail and beaten so
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badly so she for the rest of the life has a fused spine as a
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result of that. That was the birth of Flow becoming an activist. She
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became an advocate for women. She became an advocate for civil rights. She
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was a member of the Black Panther Party. As we moved into the late
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sixties and seventies, she was very clear that racism and sexism were intertwined and
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you couldn't remove one without the other. She was so ahead of her time.
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She believed that that prostitution should be legalized for women. She believed that
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her job was to provoke folks in every single possible way that she could,
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and she did it in her dress, the cowboy hats or her signature hat
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with the cowboy boots and all of the pins, the buttons, the jewelry.
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She always wore a gold whistle because she was gonna blow the whistle on
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the man. She had the nails that were very long nails which she used
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her hands are like birds. They fluttered, and she as she speaks,
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she they had just always fluttering. I realized that she did that because she
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couldn't. Actually, she didn't have very much mobility in her neck from that
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used spy. I didn't have much movement. I know a little bit about
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being a fierce black woman, breaking through ceilings and not taking no for an
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answer. When I got a look at who this woman was, it felt
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like I had the honor of actually trying to crawl in her skin and walk
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in her shoes for a moment in this film. It was humbling and fun
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because she is so outrageous and that, ladies and gentlemen, is Florence flow
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Kennedy. When I tell y'all, so as again, as I was explaining
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yesterday, as I sit down and I prepare for these these episodes, I
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like to do a little research on who I'm going to be speaking about.
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And when I tell you, I looked, I came across a lot of
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videos with Florence Kennedy, and baby, when I tell you that was a
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little pistol starter right there. When I tell you that that lady there,
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when you say if standing on business was a person, Florence Kennedy is who
18:52
we're talking about. Because Florence Kennedy was determined. She was she refused to
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let anyone stop her from anything that she put her mind to. You know,
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as you heard, you know miss Lorraine Tousi, who by the way,
19:11
is a phenomenal actress, And I actually did sit and watch the movie
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and she embraced the role of Florence Kennedy just so effortlessly and so beautifully done,
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you know, alongside the young lady that played Gloria Steinel. But when
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I tell you, I look at Florence Kennedy and I'm like, this lady
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here was nothing short of amazing. Why was this lady, this woman,
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this activist, this icon? Why was she not giving her rosies? Why
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do we not know more about this woman? I don't understand. So as
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I selected her and I got to digging in and really reading about her,
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this woman did a lot. And the fact that you had Shirley Chisholm call
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sign. Maybe let me tell y'all something. Y'all better start playing with black
20:18
women because we black women come from a long line of strength, grace,
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resilience, no nonsense women. Every black woman, let me tell you something.
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I don't care where you are right now. I want every Black woman
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tonight, when the show ends, I want you to go stand in the
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mirror and I want you to say, I'm a phenomenal woman. Because these
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women I've that I've been speaking on this month are phenomenal, resilient, they
20:55
are greatness, they are brilliant, And it saddens me when I look at
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this new generation of black women. How do we go from being your excuse
21:11
me? How do we go from being so strong, resilient, no nonsense,
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standing on business to subjecting ourselves where we no longer know our self work.
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That's the that you know, I I that is the part that saddens
21:30
me as a black woman. We have lowered ourselves for the almighty dollar.
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And we come from a line of women that stood on the forefront for us,
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that paved the way for us to be strong, that paved the way
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for us to walk into rooms that we weren't invited to. That's what I
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don't understand is why have we doubled ourselves down as black women? That that
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you know that saddens me. It's because we're strong, y'all. We come
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from strength, You'll get what I'm saying, and we accept the bare minimal
22:11
that ubsessed me. That saddens me when I look at this new generation of
22:15
black women that you know that these rabbit holes that I don't mind running down.
22:27
But I look at the things that we do for money, the things
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that we do for lights and views. When do we start caring about how
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people felt about us? That's the part I don't understand. Florence Kennedy didn't
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give excuse my language, because there is gonna be some explicit language on the
22:45
show tonight. But Florence Kennedy didn't give a damn about what your thought about
22:49
her. She was gonna stand on business regardless. She didn't care what you
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had to say. She didn't care what that person over there had to say.
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She didn't give a damn about what this person thought or with that person
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over that thought. Florence Kennedy represented strength. You'll get what I'm saying,
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and she said, we gonna do it by any means necessary. I don't
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care because I look at some of the things that she's done. I look
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at I believe this was in nineteen sixty one, she helped to develop intersectional
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theory as we know it today. Kennedy was an advocate for women, African
23:29
Americans, sex workers, and the LGBTQ plus community. She urged members of
23:34
the marginalized groups to examine the techniques of oppression that are used against them.
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She says labeling these techniques used to oppress marginalized groups as a pathology of oppression.
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Kennedy felt that by understanding the pathologies of oppression, we are better equipped
23:53
to respond and to dismantle oppressive symptom systems and practices. Do y'all understand what
24:04
I just live? Let me say this. I think what I just said
24:11
went over a lot of y'all's heads. So let me run this back one
24:15
more time. What Florence Kennedy did? Okay, Florence Kennedy, she helped
24:22
to develop intersectional theory as we know it today. Kennedy was an advocate for
24:30
women, African Americans, sex workers, and the LGBTQ plus community. I
24:41
just I gotta take this in because I like when I say this woman here.
24:49
Maybe She urged members of these marginalized groups to examine the techniques of oppression
24:59
that that are used against them. She says, labeling these techniques use to
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oppress the marginalized groups as a pathology of oppression. Kennedy felt that by understanding
25:12
the pathologies of oppression, we would be better equipped to respond and to dismantle
25:19
these oppressive systems and practices. So Florence Kennedy said, I'm gonna show you
25:29
how to use your mind and how we could become better equipped on how to
25:37
respond and dismantle these oppressive systems and practices. This is what Flow Kennedy stood
25:45
for. She said, I'm gonna show you how we could do this,
25:51
how we're gonna be better equipped mentally to respond, because sometimes what we do
25:56
we speak to respond to listen. So she said, hold up, wait,
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wait, wait, wait, time out. Let me teach you a
26:07
better way to respond and how to dismantle these oppressive symp systems and practices.
26:14
That's what Florence Kennedy did. And to show you what I mean when I
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say she was an advocate for US. In nineteen sixty nine, Kennedy collaborated
26:26
with Diane's Shoulder to represent women challenging New York's abortion laws. Hear me when
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I say this, Okate, because this pertains today to what we're going through
26:38
because they've basically taken away women's rights. Okay, that's really what they're trying
26:44
to do. But with Florence Kennedy, she was like, ho, wait,
26:48
that's not what we're doing. This case was one of the first to
26:56
use women who suffered from illegal abortions as x for witnesses rather than physicians.
27:03
So she didn't go get doctors and psychologists and psychiatrists. That's not what Flow
27:10
did. Floe said, you know what, let me go get somebody that
27:15
has experienced this. I'm not going to get these experts when the women that
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have gone through this are experts. I don't need a doctor to speak for
27:26
these women. I don't need a psychiatrist. I don't need a psychologist to
27:32
speak for these women. I'm gonna go get the women. I'm gonna go
27:34
get the actual women that have gone through this to speak about this. I'm
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gonna run that back one more time because I don't think y'all heard me.
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She went and got the women who suffered from illegal abortions as expert witnesses rather
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than going to get a physician. Y'all. He paved. When I tell
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you, Flow Kennedy, she just passed away twenty four years ago. She
28:08
passed away in two thousand. She was eighty four. If I could have
28:14
met this woman, I love already and I never met her because, like
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I say, Flow Kennedy, she stood on business. And I'm not talking
28:25
about the business that y'all talking about. Because see a lot of y'all just
28:29
be talking and don't walk the walk. See Florence Kennedy, Baby, let
28:33
me tell you something. Florence can She walked the walk. Everything she talked
28:37
about she was about, not none of this. Oh, well, we
28:41
gonna be we gonna be this, And then the moment something else blowed through.
28:45
Oh we gonna rilly in Avenue. No, Florence Kennedy didn't give a
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damn if it rained, if it snowed, if it helled, if it
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was hot, if it was cold. I'm gonna walk on this. Come
28:56
on, I gotta protect my ladies. I gotta advocate for women. I
29:00
gotta advocate for the LGBTQ plus community. She made sex workers feel like humans.
29:11
She didn't make prostitutes or sex workers feel less than Come on, you're
29:18
part of this too, Brittany says. I love to hear you speak.
29:23
I love your passion. Thank you, my baby. She says. These
29:27
women that you have spoke on are women who makes me think of you.
29:30
I am so glad they have you to speak of them uninterrupted. Keep going,
29:34
BGI and I'm always let me say this before we jump back into the
29:40
conversation. Let me say this just to kind of elaborate on her on Miss
29:44
Britney's comment, I'm gonna always speak until I can't speak no more. I
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will always pay homage to the ones that paid the way for me to be
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in a position i'm in the date. I'ma always give them their flowers.
30:03
I'ma always give them their recognition. I'ma always say thank you for putting me
30:07
in a position that I'm in right now. For you ladies that are in
30:11
these beautiful positions. We have to think the people before us that pay the
30:15
way for us, we gotta thank them for that, because without them,
30:21
it would be no us. Without them, we couldn't do the things that
30:23
we do the date. Without these ladies before us, we couldn't kick in
30:29
the dolls that they told us we could no longer walk into. You get
30:32
what I'm saying. So I'm gonna always always salute the ladies, you know
30:40
what. I'ma always salute the queens before me that allowed me to be in
30:45
a position i'm in right now, that allowed me to have the voice that
30:48
no longer remain silent. I'ma always say thank you, not only to those
30:52
women, but I'm also gonna give praise and grace to God for allowing me
30:59
to carry on what these ladies have set out for me to do, for
31:02
you to do, for every other woman out here to do for every person
31:06
in the l g B T quy A plus community for sex workers. But
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mmm, i'ma always say thank you, I'm always give grace, I'm always
31:22
pay homage. Because again, these ladies that I've spoke about, and the
31:27
ladies that I that I will continue to speak about, we got to give
31:33
them a round of applause because they stood for us. They stood on business
31:38
for us, not what we're seeing in present day. Javert said, yes,
31:45
she's snapping because these ladies, Miss Florence Kennedy, she advocated for you.
31:56
Miss Florence Kennedy said, hold up, I got you, y'all.
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You don't have to say nothing else. I got y'all. That's what Miss
32:04
Florence Kennedy means to me. That's what Mss Florence Kennedy means to Black history.
32:09
This is what Florence Kennedy means to the lgbt QIA plus community. This
32:15
is what Florence Kennedy means to women and to have Shirley Chisholm let me read
32:22
a little bit of this for you in nineteen seventy one. So let me
32:29
tell you so. Kennedy eventually became frustrated with the repressive nature of the judici
32:36
of the Judiciary, and she transitioned to political advocacy. Okay, in nineteen
32:44
seventy one, Kennedy founded the Feminist Party and this party which was endorsed by
32:52
Shirley Chisholm. And for those that don't know who Sir Shirley Chisholm is,
32:59
she is the first African American woman elected in Congress for president. Baby,
33:07
let me tell y'all something, y'all gonna start playing with us women, y'all
33:15
gonna quit playing with us because we come from a long line of strength.
33:27
We come from a long line of women who was on the bullshit excuse my
33:35
language. We come from a lineage of ladies that didn't mind standing on the
33:43
forefront, and they did it consistently, not when they thought it was cool
33:49
to do, which is what we see in president time. Yes, I'm
33:53
calling people out because I see a lot of y'all that say, oh,
33:58
I stand on business, stand on business, and you don't. I see
34:02
a lot of y'all stand on bullshit. A lot of y'all talk the talk,
34:08
but don't walk the walk. Yes, I'm calling it out tonight.
34:15
Yes, I'm waking it up tonight because I'm talking about Florence Kennedy. Because
34:21
Florence Kennedy didn't give her damn Florence Kennedy said, if you're gonna tell my
34:28
story, you better tell my story. Right. That's why I tell y'all
34:39
tell your story and stop letting people. If you're gonna write your book,
34:43
you need to tell your own story. But miss Flow is not here to
34:46
tell her story. So here I am telling her story, and I'm telling
34:52
it in the way that she would want me to tell it. And I'm
34:58
about to show you what I mean when I say Florence Kennedy stood on business
35:07
down, turn Miami upside down, and you holler, you sing, and
35:12
you're blowing your whistles and you shake your ship and you do your damn thing.
35:15
Don't worry about nobody if you can't sing no word. It's the people's
35:19
course. It ain't the ray whatever the fuck it is. Digging all right,
35:24
let's go go on the same gon gonna turn this dre all round.
35:32
Go on the same going, gonna turn mine your round. Move all right,
35:40
no rally up. We never joke. Why we're gonna do it now?
35:45
This is a rehearsal. Let's roll with tastes, okay, and wed
35:50
laboration should we will pledge to fight to day. Shining Right said pay your
35:59
shoulder? What did I tell you? Floe said, We're gonna turn Miami
36:29
upside down? Vage. What I tell you Flow, Flow is that woman
36:40
Flow is definitely somebody you need to learn about. Florence Kennedy is definitely somebody
36:51
that you definitely need to sit down and you need to learn about who she
36:55
is and what she has done and how she's paved the way for women women's
37:04
rights. Also, one of her closest friends was Gloria Steinel, and everybody
37:14
knows who Gloria steinelm is. I mean they marched together. But going back
37:22
to Florence Kennedy, Florence Kennedy was a strong act of it advocate. I'm
37:30
so sorry for abortion rights. You know what Flow told. Then people Flow
37:37
say there was no need for legislation on abortion, just as there is no
37:45
need for legislation on an appendectomy. And then one of her most notable protests
37:54
happened at Harvard in nineteen seventy three. She wanted to address the absence of
38:01
restrooms for women on campus. So the female protesters they pour jars of fake
38:07
urine on the steps of Lowell Hall and Harvard University. Following this symbolic act,
38:19
Kennedy issued a one into the dean. She said, let the Dean
38:24
of Harvard be cautioned. She said, unless Lowell Hall provides facilities for women,
38:32
we're gonna be back next year with the real thing. So, in
38:37
other words, Florence Kennedy said, if y'all do not put restrooms in here
38:43
for women, we're gonna come back with real peak. See we got you,
38:47
see, we gave you pretend p But if we have to come back
38:52
next year and there's still no restrooms in Lower Hall for women, we're gonna
38:55
pour real urine on your steps, which women, Let me ask, y'all.
39:04
And maybe I'm being messy by saying this, but how many women out
39:06
here you know, are really doing that? Are we? I told y'all,
39:13
I'm telling Florence Kennedy's story tonight, so I have to wake some things
39:17
up. I have to point some things out, because I would be doing
39:22
a disservice by even recognizing Florence Kennedy if I'm not telling it from her POV
39:30
for those that don't know her point of view. So I gotta do this
39:35
for her. So we go on to her comp You know, it says
39:45
in her lifetime because again. Florence Kennedy passed away December of two thousand.
39:52
She was eighty four years old. She fearlessly challenged she social norms and systemic
40:02
injustices, wielding her sharp wit and intellect as powerful tools for change. And
40:13
despite so Gloria, let me before I'm jumping too far. So Gloria Steinem,
40:20
who was a feminist scholar and was a close friend and colleague of Florence
40:24
Kennedy, described her as an outrageous, imaginative, humorous, and a witty
40:37
spokesperson for social justice. She said, despite the hurdles that she faced because
40:45
of discrimination, Miss Kennedy continued to push so her goals would be met.
40:55
When I tell you, Miss Florence Kennedy, lady, you done gave me
41:07
chills. You have given me chills because here I am on my own platform.
41:20
Black girl interrupted. Hey babe, I love you, babe. I
41:27
hope you're having a good night at work. He says, Hey, wifey,
41:29
Hey husband, I love you, babe. I hope you have been
41:30
a good night at work. But when I look at Florence Kennedy, I'm
41:42
like, man, what happened to the women just like her? What happened
41:52
to us? Why have we pushed ourselves to the back? Why are we
42:07
losing our self worth? Why are we allowing things to silence us? Why
42:15
are we not out here advocating? And I don't mean when it's cool,
42:25
I mean consistently. I really just don't understand what happened? Why have we
42:37
allowed things to mute us? When I tell you, one of the things
42:49
I want to do with Black Girl Interrupted is I want to push women to
42:52
have a voice. I want women to start loving them, So I want
43:01
women to start recognizing their self worth. Flow. I feel you're coming through
43:10
me because I hear you telling me we as women have to do better.
43:19
And I'm speaking directly to black women because I look at some of the things
43:24
that we've dumbed ourselves down to, and it's embarrassing. It's so sad that
43:35
we're more concerned about likes and views and supporting when we think it's cool to
43:47
support or it's cool to jump on the bandwagon. But as soon as the
43:53
wind blows we forget why I don't understand. I look at these reality shows
44:08
and I say, that's not the lineage we come from, That's not who
44:16
these black women paved the way for us to be. So I say,
44:27
what can I do as a black woman to advocate and change the narrative and
44:35
start showing us in positive environments, positive lights? What can I do?
44:44
So I'm learning about these women, these lights, these beacons of black women
44:54
that have just grace the so phenomenally. I look at these women and I
45:09
say, damn, if only we could bring those type of women back in
45:19
current Those were role models, not what we see today on TV. Those
45:28
aren't role models. Those women that are twerking and busting their cats open for
45:34
lights and views, those aren't role models. Because if you look at Bessie
45:39
Coleman, you look at Mary MacLeod, Bethune, you look at Florence Kennedy,
45:45
you look at Debbie Allen, you look at I could go on and
45:50
on and on, and these women are not twerking and showing themselves. I
46:04
had to take a deep breath on that because I feel like I'm getting a
46:07
little too deep for some But here I am playing in my potential. I'm
46:14
allowing myself to be muted so not to offend, but it's okay. Flow
46:21
didn't care who she offended. Florence Kennedy said, y'all watch what I could
46:30
do. Florence Kennedy said, this is what I died for. She fought
46:43
discrimination. She fought for the rights of women. She was a lawyer.
46:53
She was a fighter for all causes. She fought for racial and gender injustice
47:01
during the sixties and the seventies. She marched and walked and talked and showed
47:13
up and said you're gonna hear me. She was responsible for bringing the second
47:25
wave of feminism. We're talking about Florence Kennedy tonight. Ladies and gentlemen,
47:32
that's who we're speaking about. Welcome all the viewers. I'm so sorry.
47:37
I didn't mean to stop, but welcome all the viewers to Black Girl Interrupted.
47:40
Of course, I'm bringing you another episode as I continue the celebration of
47:45
Women's National History Month. Tonight, I'm speaking about Florence Kennedy again. For
47:51
those that don't know Florence Kennedy again, I'm gonna run that back. She
47:58
helped to develop intersectional theory as we know it. Today. She was an
48:04
advocate for women, African Americans, sex workers, and the LGBTQ plus community.
48:14
That's Florence Kennedy. For her to go on and collaborate with Diane's Shoulder
48:22
to represent women challenging New York's abortion laws. And this was in nineteen sixty
48:27
nine. And as I stated, she didn't get physicians, she didn't get
48:32
psychiatrists or psychologists. She went and got the women who suffered from illegal abortions.
48:42
Again, this case was the first one to be used to use I'm
48:49
so sorry to use women who suffered from illegal abortions and use them as experts,
48:58
expert witnesses. That's what she did, Florence Kennedy. Let me tell
49:06
you this, lady. She took on Columbia Law School. She spoke out
49:14
again. Like I said, she was active in civil rights and Black power
49:19
movements, and in the fledgling National Organization of Women known as NOW. She
49:30
represented clients including black panthers and the woman who shot Andy Warhol. Again,
49:40
she founded the Feminist Party, and she did that to support the presidential run
49:46
for Representative Shirley Chisholm in nineteen seventy two. Let that marinate for a moment.
49:59
Let that kind of sook in a little bit. Let me tell you
50:07
her activism led to the fundamental change, including New York becoming the first state
50:15
in the nation to legalize abortion. New York was the first state in the
50:24
nation to legalize abortion, and all that was done behind Florence flow Kennedy.
50:37
One of her sayings is, I never stopped to wonder why I'm not like
50:43
other people. The mystery to me is why more people aren't like me.
50:52
Let me post this for y'all because I want you all to see what she
50:59
said. And when I tell you, I just told you all this.
51:04
I just told you all this. Florence Kennedy said, I never stopped to
51:09
wonder why people to wonder why I'm not like other people. She said,
51:15
the mystery to me is why more people aren't like me? And that's exactly
51:22
what I said. Let me let that marine for just a moment, because
51:30
she wants to know why everything that she's done for black women, why are
51:39
there not more people out there like her? Which is exactly what I just
51:45
said. I just asked, why do we only advocate when it's cool?
51:52
Why are we not doing this consistently? So yeah, Miss Florence Kennedy.
52:02
I want to be more like you. I want to change the narrative.
52:09
I want to bring more awareness to the things going on in today's society.
52:20
Florence Kennedy another hidden figure celebrated on Black Girl Interrupted podcast. My final thoughts.
52:37
Florence Kennedy an activists, an advocate, a lawyer, a no nonsense,
52:53
shit talking woman, A hidden figure that doesn't get enough recognition or accolades
53:04
for the things that she's done in our history. Why are we not more
53:10
like her? Why are we not trying to preserve our self worth? Why
53:22
are we not advocating for the rights of women, Black women in particular.
53:31
You'll see when we're able to come together and standing on the side of right,
53:40
we have the potential to get things done. But as long as we
53:46
keep allowing society to keep us separated, we'll never accomplish anything. It's always
53:57
strength in numbers. Can we stop advocating when shit is cool and start advocating
54:08
consistently and when we know it makes sense? Cause if it don't make dollars,
54:15
it damn sure ain't gonna make sense. And that's my final thought.
54:21
Huh, such a beautiful conversation about Florence Kennedy again an activists, an attorney,
54:38
a woman responsible for the second wave of feminism, a woman that fought
54:46
for abortion rights and being the catalyst to pivot New York to become the first
54:55
state in the nation to legalize abortion. She is definitely, definitely a legend
55:05
and someone who deserves her flowers. So to you, miss Florence Kennedy,
55:12
I salute you and may you continue to rest forever in the arms of God.
55:16
God bless a. So the upcoming episode, because we'll be back on
55:24
Thursday. We are closing out Women's National History Month by celebrating the Leesburg stocka
55:34
Girls. For those that don't know, these were a group of young girls
55:39
who were locked up in America's Georgia for over sixty plus days and their parents
55:46
didn't know where they were. But that's tomorrow. That's Thursday night, eight
55:52
thirty pm Central Time, nine thirty Eastern time. When it comes to Black
55:58
Girl Interrupted, you can always catch me live streaming on Facebook as well as
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of other countries that BlackGirl Interrupted is now streaming too. So thank you guys
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for the continuous support. Please keep supporting BlackGirl Interrupted. Baby. We are
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definitely pushing to make Black Girl Interrupted our household name. It will become a
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household name. Excuse me. Also, again, the website is now up.
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The link is now posted at the bottom. It is www dot BG,
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I podcast, dot or r G Again www dot bg ipodcast, dot
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57:37
you know I love that accent. My baby. I know girl, I
57:39
know my baby. There is the linked down at the bottom of the screen.
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I'll leave it up there again. Www dot bg, I podcast dot
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Bright, excuse me. She is a She can be your virtual personal assistance.
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She does will access all your needs. She will help build your website,
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Once I get her information, I will start posting that as well.
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We are working very closely together to push some more things out for black girl
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MS. Brown. Please can you post your information so I can go ahead
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this is your personal assistant. She will handle your social media management. She
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has been doing that for me as well. So anyone that is looking to
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collab with her, please tell her I referred you to her. I do
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this all the time. But yes, so here we go. So it
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is b Bright Professional Services. Her website is not up, but we are
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looking to have the website up within the next week or so, but it
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will be up. So it is b Bright Professional Services again. Her website
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is now currently on the construction. Her price list will be on there.
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If you are interested in any of us services, please hit her up.
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I promise you. I believe her consoles or thirty minutes and I believe it
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Also, if you would like to be a guest on Black Girl Interrupted,
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that is looking to be a guest on Black Girl Interrupted, please shoot me
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we'll get with you. She'll set up the day of the time for
1:00:52
us to have our sit down and discuss the collaboration or whatever topic it is
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you want to discuss. I believe she did post her her so Brittany says,
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let me bring all of your corporate needs to the entrepreneurial needs. So
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if you have a business, if you are in corporate America, even if
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you're a small business owner, please let miss Brittany bring all of your corporate
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She is definitely a pleasure to work with. Been known her for about three
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or four years now, but she's absolutely a blessing. I thank her for
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everything that she has done to help me rebrand Black Girl Interrupted. So couldn't
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do anything without her. So thank you. Let me give you your roles
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as miss Brittany. I appreciate you for just coming in and swooping in saying,
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hey, I just need to know what you want me to do.
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Just give me your ideas and just let me do the rest. So definitely
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tap in with her again. That is be Bright Professional Services again the email
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black Girl interrupt. That pod will be changing. That is the temporary email
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address if you were looking to collaborate. But on that note, I just
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want to say thank you guys so much again for supporting Black Girl interrupted.
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I love you guys so much. Thank you for tuning in excuse me.
1:02:16
Thank you to joab Air for sending me all my stars. I appreciate it.
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Thank you so much, she says. I thank you, baby,
1:02:25
she says, you have been a light in my world and have helped me
1:02:28
become better. Thank you for trusting me and working with me. Absolutely.
1:02:32
I cannot wait because we have some things stirring up for April. We cannot
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drop any details on that as of right now, but we're very excited for
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you guys to see what we have brewin for April. Actually the last weekend
1:02:49
in April, so we won't show any of that until the first part of
1:02:53
me. So I can't wait for y'all to see I'm so excited for what
1:02:59
we have coming up. Oh my god, like I'm getting so anxious.
1:03:04
But on that note, I just want to say I love you guys.
1:03:06
Thank y'all so much for tuning in to another episode of Black Girl Interrupted.
1:03:09
Don't forget to like, share, comment, and subscribe. Don't forget bring
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Interrupt that podcast. Baby. So on that note, I will see y'all
1:03:22
Thursday, eight thirty pm Central time, nine thirty Eastern time. I love
1:03:25
y'all, And let me tell you something. Tomorrow is Wellness Wednesday, so
1:03:29
please be on a look out for all the beautiful Wellness Wednesday posts for you,
1:03:34
guys. I'm so proud of myself because I stayed consistent with doing that.
1:03:37
So I love you guys again. I will see y'all Thursday, eight
1:03:40
thirty pm Central Time, nine thirty Eastern time. Let me tell you something.
1:03:45
Don't meet me that baby beat me there. I Hila love y'all.
1:03:51
Please out. Bump bump, bump, bump bump,