HDxLiberation: A Human Design Podcast

Season 2, Episode 6 Black History is Our History

• Courtney Napier, Andrea Ward Berg • Season 2 • Episode 6

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In this episode of the Human Design and Liberation podcast, hosts Andrea and Courtney delve into the intersection of human design and liberation theology, emphasizing why every month should be Black History Month. They discuss the performative aspects of Black History Month, the challenges posed by the current political climate, and the importance of knowing one's history as part of the deconditioning journey. The hosts reflect on historical figures and movements, highlighting the value of diversity, resistance, and the importance of understanding shared history for collective liberation. They also recommend key literary works and resources that provide deeper insights into Black history and its significance.


Resources:

1. Jermaine Fowler is an excellent public historian who has created learning tools for adults and young people alike!

2. If you enjoy some levity with your history, check out Michael Harriot's Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America

Contact and Support:

For more insights and to join the conversation, follow the HDxLiberation podcast on social media at @hdxliberation on Instagram, subscribe to their YouTube channel, and join the Liberation Lab on Substack for exclusive content and community benefits.

Andrea Ward Berg:

Hi, I'm Andrea.

Courtney Napier:

Hey y'all, this is Courtney and welcome to the Human Design and Liberation podcast.

Andrea Ward Berg:

This is a space where we explore how human design and liberation theology intersect with the past, present, and future.

Courtney Napier:

With the intent of sharing the beauty and pain of the human experience to encourage you in your liberation journey.

Andrea:

Hi.

Courtney:

I'm so happy. Oh, so happy today. And how are you?

Andrea:

I'm good. I'm good. Yeah. I'm excited. I'm excited to talk about history.

Courtney:

Yes.

Andrea:

One of my beloved.

Courtney:

Yes. Yes. I think that's like one, I think this, that's the second thing that we connected on,

Andrea:

Yeah, for sure. For sure. For sure.

Courtney:

maybe third human design being Southern and and history.

Andrea:

True True. True. Yes. Hmm. Um, so today we are gonna talk about why every month is Black History Month.

Courtney:

Yes.

Andrea:

In the Month of Love. And we could talk about that too, but, um,

Courtney:

Yeah,

Andrea:

yeah, I'm excited.

Courtney:

I am, too. I wrote, I wrote a piece, um, a few years ago and I usually recycle it around this time because it, um, it's called, uh, Black History Month Blues.

Andrea:

Hmm.

Courtney:

um, it just kind of goes into why I, this is like such a hard time of year for me. Um, it feels really heavy. It feels really, uh, it feels like striving. It feels like, Um,

Andrea:

pretense.

Courtney:

feels, yeah, it feels like pretense. Yes. It feels performative in a lot of ways

Andrea:

It is, yeah.

Courtney:

totally. And it's interesting how that is compounding with this year and the way that, um, Chuckie 47 nam. 47. is like, Yeah. Oh man, Yeah. in the White House, um, are attempting to erase, uh, this, you know, these, these times of year that we have fought for collectively, which I don't think people really understand fully, but we have fought for collectively to de center whiteness and misogyny and patriarchy and, and integrate. the various identities of Americans and America into our consciousness on a yearly basis. So we're talking about, of course, Black History Month, but also women's history. You know, when we, when we set aside time for Hispanic heritage and history and, indigenous history and pride and all of these times that we de center. The, the, um, white supremacist, patriarchal narrative mm to expand our awareness of who we actually are.

Andrea:

Yeah.

Courtney:

Um, and so I, it's not like I don't value this time of year, but this year precisely illustrates why it's so laborious.

Andrea:

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think the thing we have to is that supremacy delusion is, is going to delude. And so

Courtney:

that part,

Andrea:

when, you know, when you have an honest effort, like Black history month was created by a Black historian. And, and it was created from this place of, we don't know our own history, like within the Black community, we don't know our own history. Right. Um, and so then of course it got co opted because whiteness is deathly afraid of anything that is going to point out its weaknesses. Because then it's going to lose its grip, right? And so, um, for sure, the way that we look at 100%. Black history as just a month is part of the delusion. And that's why I love what we're doing because we're looking at Black history every month because it's part of Black history is our history, right? Black history is just as much my history as it is your history. And so to me, you know, I have the 4764. So I'm like a little history nerd. Um, and I mean, you have the 1156, which is the other part of that channel or of that stream. So, um, it's really about knowing the past, so you know where you need to go. And, you know, regardless of what you might think about the current administration, the current administration has zero interest in you knowing the past. Because if you know the past, then you have access to your power.

Courtney:

100%. I, I, I want to even like pull out there's something that you said about Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who, um, is yeah, like one of the most influential historians. In the United Statesperiod.. mean, starting Negro History Week, that became Black History Month, and, um, oh my gosh, he has a really, really popular book, and I have it somewhere on my shelf, and I can't find it, but, um, but it's essentially about, um,

Andrea:

the Miseducation of the Negro, right?

Courtney:

yes, the miseducation of the Negro, yes, and I think, I wanna, I wanna, like, illustrate what you're saying, that most Black people didn't know about the history. Most Black people don't even know their original names.

Andrea:

Of course.

Courtney:

And so like, if we, like, I just, I want to just illustrate how intentional and forceful and uh, thorough the power structure that brought me and my people here were about severing our sense of self and severing our sense of history, connection, heritage, um, humanness.

Andrea:

Yeah.

Courtney:

Um, knowing your history is, is an extension of knowing who you are and, and your connection to your own humanness. And, and so it's, I, this is almost like renewing for me why as much as this is such a hard time of year, it's such an important time of year. Um, but I also feel like why what we do is really important is because. We are decompartmentalizing in a way that white supremacist delusion capitulates by compartmentalizing. Right? So like, you know, that's, that's the capitulation. If they can't kill it and if they can't become it, they will commodify it. They will capitalize on it and, kind of put it in a certain box to where, um, it almost feels as if the existence of the thing is dependent on their accepting, their acceptance of the existence of the thing. Does that make sense?

Andrea:

Yes, absolutely. And I think that's the reason why we have to remember that the way the delusion persists is through amnesia. It's through forgetting. That's the way that it continues to exist. I think this Chuckie 47 is such a great example of that. Like a good 15 percent of our country had amnesia.

Courtney:

Yes.

Andrea:

for years of things feeling like people were actually being honored for being human beings, but global factors that were costing us more money

Courtney:

Mm-hmm Mm-hmm Mm-hmm

Andrea:

created amnesia and the amnesia. It's fed by money. It's really, that's what it comes down to. And that is such a human wound that we have to address. Like, we have got to get underneath the scarcity that we come by honestly. We come by it honestly, right? It has been used as a tool to oppress. For millennia, especially for those of us with European history, for those with different histories, right? You have a much more recent history with scarcity, which is partly why it's easier for you to connect with the fact that it is an illusion,

Courtney:

right, right.

Andrea:

right.

Courtney:

Um, thinner, it's thinner

Andrea:

much thinner, much thinner. So I mean, but again, like. Everyone gets conditioned around it. It's ubiquitous. And even, you know, like I have, I have many friends who are literally came from sub Saharan Africa and they deal with scarcity healing. So it's, you know, it's, it's still present in areas. It's just like, you know, you have to understand the lineage of how it got there back to your point of like, knowing your history, liberating, knowing, you know, whether it's. You know, for them, a lot of it is tribes and violence and, you know, colonizers come in stripping them of their resources.

Courtney:

Yeah.

Andrea:

enslaving their people and, you know, just all the mistreatment that was normalized and then putting barbaric people in power and putting all these power structures in place that never existed before, you know?

Courtney:

Mm hmm.

Andrea:

Um, so they still, they still have to, they still have to navigate it too.

Courtney:

Yeah, I really appreciate, I really appreciate how you are framing this because I think the, this is really good. The biggest, back to Carter G. Woodson, Carter G. created Negro History Week, which became Black History Month. For Black people. So first and foremost, I think think it's really important just like pride month was for is for queer folks, LGBTQIA plus folks. Um, it is a moment. And I think that that kind of hits the root of why I have such a hard time with it, but going back to what you were saying, um, it is, and this ties in so much with human design too, that it is an opportunity for us to. It was created to be an opportunity for us to turn the conditioning down for turn to like to point out this wider narrative that is also hollow, because it's not, it's not even intending to be the whole story. It's intending to be its own fable, its own myth, and it's about coming back to our truth, coming back to our roots and rediscovering in a myth that dehumanizes and exploits and just flat out lies about we as people. It's about coming back to our truth and, and I want to just kind of like spend just a little bit of time talking about my own story, which I've, I've talked about in previous episodes, so it won't be long, but just the fact that I had to, I was raised in the South in the nineties in predominantly white spaces in with a very, uh, conservative ideologies and the white evangelical church, all the places where you can imagine the Blackness and queerness are not appreciated, they are not embraced, they are not welcome, they are exploited, and they are demonized in these spaces. I mean, point blank period, I can speak from experience and also from study that that is the bedrock of a lot of these spaces, not just. some, you know, like, floaty kind of abstract idea. It is like the intention in the bedrock of a lot of these institutions. And so

Andrea:

well, because that immediately dehumanizes,

Courtney:

yes, like

Andrea:

the quickest way to wrangle control.

Courtney:

100%. And, um, I was controlled. I was deeply controlled around who I believed I was and what I believed I was capable of and the life that was available to me. And it affected how I saw myself and my people. I did not value my Blackness. It was it felt much more like a liability than a, than a gift for many, many, many years. And so, I went through the process, um, in my 20s of teaching myself my Black history.

Andrea:

Mm.

Courtney:

You know, um, having like my own Black history experience, my own, like, intellectual homecoming. And the places that I started were not places that, um, I knew existed before that point. Like, literally, going into a used bookstore. I think I have it somewhere up here. I have so many books, as you can tell. But I, I found this. box set of these slim volumes of Black poetry from like the 1800s. Um, uh, Frederick Douglass's slave narrative, um, a book of poetry from, um, Paul Laurence Dunbar and a book of poetry from Phyllis Wheatley. And they were just slim little things. I don't, probably less than 10 dollars. And I remember picking it up and reading Frederick Douglass's slave narrative. And particularly his essay about the, the American Christian Church and its failure to holding up the values of Christ and, um, the way it devalued Black people. And I felt. So seen in my own history for like one of the first times in my life and it ignited as a generator, it ignited such an insatiable hunger for me. Um, this was around the time of, uh, not Trayvon Martin, but, um, Mike Brown's,

Andrea:

Mm

Courtney:

uh, tragedy, tragic murder. Um, and, and getting to read about Frederick Douglass, getting to read about Rosa Parks and her real life story, not the pieces that we're given, you know, in school, but her entire story of being this incredible, um, like, defender of women and civil rights, not just civil rights, but like women's rights and then learning about Coretta Scott King and also on the other side reading from, um, um, Nicole, Hannah Jones, and Ta Nehisi Coates and these new voices who are bringing to light ideas around, um, segregation in schools and, um, reparations and all of these things that were like, like affirmative action, these things that in the circles that I was raised in were laughed at.

Andrea:

Yeah.

Courtney:

They were taken so unseriously,

Andrea:

Yeah.

Courtney:

like, and like our injury was so unserious

Andrea:

Yes.

Courtney:

to so many And almost comical and like, and so imagine what that does to a child being raised in that space,

Andrea:

Yeah.

Courtney:

you know, and so come in and and have my own like homecoming to my story. Was one of the most healing processes I've ever been through, but it really highlights to me how the deconditioning journey, you know, when you're following a strategy and authority is so potent and life changing and how. For me, it was, I believe for everybody is going to be coming back to like their origins and where they come from. But just speaking, like from experience, speaking to how it literally transformed my life. I know the transforming power of this. Our enemies also know the transforming power of this,

Andrea:

They do, which is why they use every tool in the arsenal to shut that shit down.

Courtney:

Yeah. Yeah.

Andrea:

But they can't stop life force. I think that's the thing that we have to remember is that they can't like, they can't stop that which is naturally expressing.

Courtney:

hmm. Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So true.

Andrea:

They can stop one here or there, right, but When we are all collectively liberating, that is not a force that can be reckoned with

Courtney:

100%. Hmm.

Andrea:

I have this quote here from when we were talking about this episode, um, you said your liberation work means more to the movement than anything else. Certainly more than any corporate PR scheme, which not, you know, we talked about this episode, I think in like December. So, you know. This, that was before everyone and their brother started rolling back DEI policies, you know, but I think what that quote does for me is it puts it in perspective of like, that was never what it was really about anyway.

Courtney:

Right. Right.

Andrea:

So the fact that it's going away. They're just revealing what we already suspected. Right. and like, they're also the fact that they, there's an expiration date on their existence.

Courtney:

Yeah. here's thing. I mean, there's, um, Pamela Newkirk is an incredible journalist and wrote a book called, um, uh, diversity Inc. Mm. Excellent book that specifically talks to DEI in various. So education, entertainment, um, sports, and just like business, like corporate. Um, the corporate world and she and she, she's a journalist, incredible, like Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and she puts like a, uh, a micro, um, what am I trying to say? A magnifying glass. That's what magnifying glass. Yes. Yeah. On these different companies who really built very robust, like really impacting, um, DEI, like diversity initiatives and structures. And what's like undeniable that I got from the book is that these things are profit beasts.

Andrea:

Oh,

Courtney:

Innovation monsters like when you really believe and invest and embrace the literal objective fact that when you have people from various backgrounds and perspectives ages abilities in a single space, putting their energy towards a goal, you are going to get much more out of the yes,

Andrea:

Yeah. Yeah. The problem is, is you are entering into it for the results and not for the values. It's not sustainable.

Courtney:

That part. It's not sustainable. That's also true.

Andrea:

Because I worked at a corporation that talked about, like had the talk. G E had all the talk. I was on the diversity council for multiple years. I led the women's network. Um, And there were so many problems with the whole approach that

Courtney:

Yeah,

Andrea:

I sensed as a projector, I knew was happening and, um, yeah, it just it felt like we're never going to get past this because this isn't really, truly something that is valued. Like it's something, it's a box to check and, and more than anything, I think in a lot of these big corporations, um, it becomes a like a way to protect yourself from litigation.

Courtney:

Yep.

Andrea:

Like it's justified through protection from litigation. And so when you look at it through that lens, then of course they're rolling it back because now they're using that same justification of protection from litigation to not have it because the values were never there.

Courtney:

Exactly. The values are never there. It's not. And I think, yes, the values are never there. And I think one of those values is profitability.

Andrea:

for sure, extortion

Courtney:

because I believe it's truly about power, it's about exploitation. It's about any, it's about being on top and being, um, how far top can you be? You know what I

Andrea:

Well, the interesting thing is, is it's really about being unnatural. Right. And like a natural is what you're striving for. Like you want to beat the odds or beat the market or,

Courtney:

you know,

Andrea:

um, we look at the natural world, like the natural world has cycles. It has ups and downs. And yet we have this whole. Like pseudo culture because I economy doesn't even really like capture it. It's this whole mind. It's a mindset. It is a belief system. It is a pseudo culture of, um, constant linear growth, right? Even like, let's say on a personal, like on a very personal level, we have this idea that we should make more. Next year, then we made this year, like you should always be making more every year, right? Like, where does that make any sense? Like that's on a micro level, right? So then you have these corporations who have this expectation that they're always going to be making well, in order to keep that up, you have to dehumanize because it is not a human thing. Like that is not part of the natural world. Like the only way you can keep that up is if you are going against nature. And so That shit is going to catch up with you. And now I'm sitting from a very different place. Like when I left GE was seeing all these problems and was like, could not reconcile being in another corporation. That's the reason why I didn't go somewhere else was because I was like, it's going to be the same. Like all these people have the same illness. Um, and then within, you know, I guess. I left GE in 2015. So within like seven years of me leaving, the whole company falls apart.

Courtney:

Wow. Oh my god, you're right.

Andrea:

Like literally has. So I mean, within a month of me leaving, they started massive layoffs. And then seven years later, like GE, the GE I worked for does not exist anymore. And, and you can thank Jack Welch for that. Like it was Jack Welch that created the problems that sunk the ship.

Courtney:

Mm.

Andrea:

And yet he still is running a business management school. Like come learn how to manage a business. Like me, look, people stay far away from that shit. Um, anyway, I just think that it's, you know, The, the way that we, because corporations are just matching what we do, try to back into these things is the source of the problem.

Courtney:

Yes. It's so true. It's so true. And it makes me think of, um, I don't know if you're ready to move on yet, but there's, it just makes me think of like monoculture crops. It's like the monocrop, the idea of monocrop.

Andrea:

Totally, yeah.

Courtney:

It's like that, like, we know this, we've known this since indigeneity, like

Andrea:

Yeah. Like we've known this for hundreds of thousands of years.

Courtney:

yeah, that literally is how plants thrive and is how we thrive from the plant life. And the, and the food and the animals that we can, you know, that we feed off of. And so the idea of having thousands and thousands of acres dedicated to a single crop that is

Andrea:

Hundreds of thousands.

Courtney:

Hundreds of thousands

Andrea:

of acres. Yeah.

Courtney:

all the chemicals they have to pump in and all that. All the splicing and dicing and, and we are, we can see it like we can it clear as day how we are exploiting the earth for something that does not work.

Andrea:

Yeah.

Courtney:

And that's the same thing that we're doing to each other.

Andrea:

Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly right. So that's the reason why you're going to get Black history every month here.

Courtney:

I know, right? Yes.

Andrea:

And because Black history is our history and I mean, I'm so grateful for Black history month in like my own experience. It was my favorite month. And we always had, I mean, I grew up in Georgia. Like we have the best Black history stories. Are you kidding me? Like so many amazing Georgians. And so, um, it really was almost in a lot of ways, like a celebration of Georgia history when we were celebrating Black history, you know, um, uh, that is how I hope, I mean, that's definitely how my kids are experiencing it right now. And I hope that's how they continue to experience it, but it weaves into conversations every month of the year. So, um, it's not just reserved, but I do think, you know, having, having a moment in time where we're going to center. These stories that do not get centered on a day to day basis is such a healthy thing for all of us. Representation matters. It just, it just does.

Courtney:

Yeah, it allows you to see yourself because I think the other thing is like race is a construct, right? So it's really beautiful. I don't know if you, I think I showed you this video about the history of the CripWalk and and how it was a Black man in like the twenties or something who was an amputee and developed this dance.

Andrea:

I think in like world war one or something, like he was a veteran or something. Yeah.

Courtney:

yes, exactly. And it's like, this is, this is. Black history. This is disabled history. This is, um, veteran history.

Andrea:

Mm hmm.

Courtney:

This art history. And I think, like, you say, like, Black history is our history, and I just wanted to, like, expand and, like, you know, kind of tease that out because these categories, like we were talking about, kind of unrelated, but these categories were created to, were not created to free us.

Andrea:

No. Mm hmm. No, they what I They were not. Yeah. I, one of the things that I was reading, um, earlier today was about, um, the Arkansas nine and how, um, the untold piece of it, like this is why when I say Black history is our history is because what happened to Black people in our country?

Courtney:

Yeah.

Andrea:

What Black people have persevered through is a lesson for what our country has been about.

Courtney:

yes,

Andrea:

It is our history. So apparently, um, the untold story of the Arkansas nine, and this was, um, from a podcast that Sharon McMahon recorded, um, I'll find the real and we can link to it in the show notes, um, is that, um, The governor of Arkansas shut down all of the high schools

Courtney:

ooh, mm

Andrea:

and in some parts of the country, they were not the only ones to do it. The high schools were shut down for five years to resist integration.

Courtney:

wow,

Andrea:

Public schools were shut down. So when we talk about like, nobody talks about that. You do not hear like, Oh, you know, Brown versus the board schools had to be integrated in 1956. Many of those schools were shut down until the 60s. So like, these are not like we didn't come by access easily.

Courtney:

yes, ooh, that's so good,

Andrea:

And it affected the white students. It affected the poor white students just as much as it affected the Black students. The only people who are unaffected are the same people who are unaffected today and are trying to fly to space. Okay? So,

Courtney:

so true, oh my god, it's

Andrea:

it's our history. It is our history. We have to know it so that we don't repeat it.

Courtney:

yes,

Andrea:

One of the, one of my favorite quotes from Reshma is if it's hysterical, it's historical. Ha ha ha

Courtney:

so true. We live in a you can't make this shit up country. We really do. And the more we can lean into that, the, I mean, the empowerment that waits on the other side. There is, I, I created a, um, a workshop that I have to do again. I keep saying I need to do it again. And I do, but my, um, uh, how to be an ally workshop where i, I, something that I love and another, another, uh, perspective of like Black history is our history is that like there've always been allegiance and alliance

Andrea:

Mm hmm.

Courtney:

between the races, between the ethnicities, between genders among genders. And That's something that is strategically missing I think even from too many Black history celebrations, even though Black history is Black history, and I understand that, but the fact of the matter is, it's not like, you know, white people were okay, just in general, okay with, for instance, slavery, until the Civil War broke out.

Andrea:

Yeah.

Courtney:

I mean, the Civil War broke out because of a white person. Yes. Like, John Brown has a lot to do with why the Civil War started. John Brown was a militant militant abolitionist.

Andrea:

A militant abolitionist.

Courtney:

Yeah. And his, his capture and execution was seen in many ways as the start or spark for the Civil Rights Movement. W. E. B. Du Bois is one of the first people to write a biography about the John Brown.

Andrea:

Wow.

Courtney:

And, um, i, just one illustration of the fact that, like, when you believe the narrative that we are in, in some way diametrically opposed, Mm. that our existences cannot be reconciled in a liberative, egalitarian way, you know, that the whites, that the It's a lie that white supremacist delusion tries to feed. What you miss is that white folks have never been completely onboard. Not all white people want supremacy. Not all people value this. And not just from a idealistic place. There are people who've put their lives on the line for us from the beginning.

Andrea:

And continue to. I mean, one of the lawsuits that is existing that was just brought forward is from the Quakers against 47, you know, I mean, it's, it, there are very, very long lineages of resistance. I think that was one of, one of the, one of the things that we talked about. I can't remember if that was in the, in episode four, I think we talked about, there's always been. There's always been a resistance to these ideas.

Courtney:

There's always been a resistance. Yes. and I want to correct it by myself because I said like for us, it was for them,

Andrea:

Sure.

Courtney:

You know? Like, John Brown is like, no, I don't want to live in a place with slavery. Like, this is not good for me. This is not good for us. To have this reality. The

Andrea:

not good for humanity.

Courtney:

yeah, not good for humanity. Albert Einstein. Um, like we can go like on and on and on. Mab Segrist, who is still an incredible writer here in North Carolina, in Durham. A feminist, lesbian, uh, civil rights activist. Like this is not good for anybody.

Andrea:

No. And for as long as there has been the, the You know, taking of people, there have been people speaking out against it, because even before the transatlantic slave trade, there was other forms of enslavement, and there have been abolitionists for as long, um, because, you know, the, the practices. have always been used to distort, to steal power, to, you know, dehumanize. And that's just never going to get you where you want to go as a human being in the end. Right? Like it'll get you somewhere, but it's not going to get you where you think you're going.

Courtney:

It's so true. It's so true. Yeah. At the end of the day, Black history is resistance history. It's differentiation history,

Andrea:

Mm hmm. Yeah.

Courtney:

You know, it's the of deconditioning and that's why it's for all of us. Like. Anybody who is in the process of differentiating and deconditioning and on their experiment. We need all the opportunities, opportunities we can get to expand our imagination about what that can look like.

Andrea:

Yeah.

Courtney:

And that's the power of story. I mean, that's part of my line is like, that's the power of these stories is because it, it, it's about our humanness at the end of the day, you

Andrea:

hmm. Yeah. And And when your humanness is. Questioned is oppressed, is denied the life force and the creativity and the brilliance that comes is a natural law.

Courtney:

Mm.

Andrea:

you are not going to shut somebody down with those tools. You are going to refine them and turn them into a fucking diamond. Okay. Like, no question. And we just, I mean, we just, we see it on display today, like Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar and Serena and right, like the list goes on. We are so to live. Dochi, I mean, good Lord. So. You know, what's ironic is that the oppressor's tools are just so surface level and they're so they're so ridiculous, like they're so not creative, right? It's like the only thing they know to do is to go back to the same. That's why like this administration is, is laughable because the only thing they know to do is to go back to the same and it's like, have you not learned that create more of your problem by doing that?

Courtney:

Yes. It's so funny because like the, the, the Audre Lorde quote that everybody likes to say is the master's tools will not dismantle the master's house, I believe is true. But I think what we're seeing more and more is that the master's tools don't dismantle shit.

Andrea:

They don't. They really don't.

Courtney:

They are not effective tools period. They are toys. know, like that are pretending it is pretend.

Andrea:

And sure, they destroy. They absolutely do destroy. But the thing that we have to remember is that our collective life force is so much more powerful than what will be destroyed and we will have to grieve the destruction. We are grieving the destruction um, but and also we have already won

Courtney:

Mm

Andrea:

Like I love the AOC live that she did like winning is a decision We have already won.

Courtney:

Yes.

Andrea:

The question is how? The question is how are we going to use that life force? The question is how are we going to honor those that have come before us? How are we going to continue learn? How are we going to continue to be on this liberation path?

Courtney:

yeah, yeah. Absolutely. And like Asada Shakur, like, it starts, the revolution starts in yourself. You know, like our life's force collective is going. We are building this new world, and the building blocks is us, is each one of us liberating ourselves. The inner revolution of peeling back the layers of, you know, uh, James Baldwin. was like I had to vomit up all the things that people said about me in order to love myself. And, um, that when people talk about that's the work, the work, the work, the work, that's it.

Andrea:

Yeah. And it's not pretty and it's not fun. not fun. I mean, you can speak to this, especially when you've been a few months with this.

Courtney:

Oh,

Andrea:

Mars Retrograde it's not fun. It's not pretty. And we think in the middle of that mess, That like we are unlovable. And that's where, again, the inner child work and connecting with the inner being is so powerful because you have never not been loved. You have never been unlovable ever. It's not possible. the delusion that doesn't love

Courtney:

Yes, yes. It's the delusion that we aren't loved. It's the delusion that we didn't exist. It's the illusion that we are wrong or bad or broken,

Andrea:

Yeah,

Courtney:

but it's the reaching back, um, the learning stories, learning about, um, like, like Bayard Rustian and Ella Baker and. Audre Lorde and particularly for me right now, like James Baldwin, of course, who I've loved. I mean, James Baldwin Lorde are my, like, they are my chosen ancestors, but their queerness is like, that's. A, a thing I'm reaching for myself, like reaching to big time right now is like, yeah, I've been Black forever. I've been, you know, like the queerness is there to loving me throughout going back generations and forward, you know? Um, and we all have that. We all have it. Even if you don't, you're not experiencing it or not, or don't, or not experiencing it in the way that you want to. In your present, it's there all around you. yeah, and that is something that I'm finding a lot of comfort and strength in personally right now.

Andrea:

Yeah. You sent me, um, an Audre Lorde quote, Our feelings are our most genuine path to knowledge. Immediately. I was like, she's gotta be emotional authority and she is, she's,

Courtney:

You said what? one,

Andrea:

she's an emotional, mg.

Courtney:

Yeah, of Yeah.

Andrea:

And James Baldwin was also a five one emotional emotional projector.

Courtney:

Wow.

Andrea:

Yeah. it's cool being able to go back and look at the designs of some of our. Great thinkers, you know,

Courtney:

Yeah, yeah.

Andrea:

eye opening

Courtney:

And just the insight they gave into their emotional journeys.

Andrea:

Mmm.

Courtney:

You know, so powerful, so profound, like the fact that Audre Lorde, she documented her cancer,

Andrea:

Mm hmm.

Courtney:

has, there's a cancer journal, she documented her, her, her cancer journey and what a gift, you know, presence you have to have to be able to write down how you are, how you are feeling at your lowest, you know,

Andrea:

Yeah.

Courtney:

with a body that's so weak, but like her pen and her emotions, like she shared all that with us. And that's, well, so so grateful for these stories, so grateful for Dr. Carter G. Woodson, um, creating this space for us that no stupid Google calendar or tech bro can take away from us.

Andrea:

Nope. Good luck.

Courtney:

good fucking luck,

Andrea:

Yeah. Golf of America. Google. Okay. Sorry. You lost all credibility. the any shred you were holding onto is gone, my friend.

Courtney:

audacity,

Andrea:

we'll be able to look back this day and be like, Oh, that's when the death of Google started. Cool.

Courtney:

that part, that part. The enemy disqualifies themselves every single time.

Andrea:

Absolutely. Every time. we hope that you all have enjoyed this episode. We hope that you are digging into some Black history, not just this month, but every month.

Courtney:

Every month.

Andrea:

Jermaine Fowler is like my just favorite human, the humanity archive. I have it many books just at my bedside. Um, which for those of you who frequent your library, I was able to borrow it from the library. Um, He also has very accessible, um, digital learning opportunities. He has, um, a new digital learning space for, uh, high schoolers that I think is cool, um, for anyone raising kids. Um, there's going

Courtney:

to be more and more resources that he's going to bring out. Um, and yeah, I just, I think that learning the, the truth behind every story is that we were all present. And so anytime Yes.

Andrea:

not representation, then you know, there's not truth. Because everyone was there, Black Americans were there, Native Americans were there, white Americans were there. When you only focus on white Americans, you are not telling the whole story. And so

Courtney:

Facts.

Andrea:

we are able to learn the whole story when we are, yeah, queer people were there. Everyone was there. So that's why we need, we need more of those stories so that we can have more access to the truth.

Courtney:

Six lines remind reminding us all.

Andrea:

Six lines unite.

Courtney:

Yes. I also want to say one other want to say one other book. One other book I just looked up. Michael Harriot's Black AF History. If you want to read history with a heavy, heavy, heavy dose of humor,

Andrea:

Hmm.

Courtney:

Michael Harriot is one of the funniest people, funniest writers I've ever encountered, um, and levity is very important in the struggle, especially in the struggle against authoritarianism,

Andrea:

Yeah,

Courtney:

pick up, yeah, Black AF History by Michael Harriot. It is gold.

Andrea:

Amazing. And we'll link to all this in the show notes and Put some more thoughts in the sub stack for you. So come find us the liberation lab and be in conversation with us and yeah, more, more goodness to come.

Courtney:

So good. Love it. Always love you.

Andrea:

Love you.

Courtney:

All right, y'all.

Andrea:

Bye.

Courtney Napier:

Thank you so much for tuning in to HD and Liberation podcast. We hope you've gained valuable insights into human design and its role in building a life of peace, success, satisfaction, and wonder. If you've enjoyed this episode, please show your support by liking, following, and sharing our podcast. on YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. Your engagement helps us reach more people who can benefit from this wisdom. For exclusive content and to join our thriving community, consider becoming a Patreon member. Your support allows us to continue exploring the depths of human design and its potential for life and community transformation. Stay tuned for more fun, thoughtful, and impacting discussions. Together, we're unlocking the path to a more liberated and authentic life. Thank you for being a part of HD and Liberation Podcast. This is the end of the video.

People on this episode

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Andrea Ward Berg

Co-host
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Courtney Napier

Co-host