Do not get weary
We’ve collected some wins over the last week and you may start hearing people say, “Is it over yet?” and “Why are you still mad?” In this episode I want to have an open and honest conversation about how the Black Lives Matter movement isn’t over and what we’re really after.
We need you to stay in this fight and not grow weary and this conversation will help. Thanks for being here friend. These conversations can be uncomfortable but are worth it. Alright head over to Instagram and share your thoughts with me. Let’s talk about this together.
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Hey friend, you’re listening to The Nicole Walters Podcast. I’m a former six-figure corporate executive who woke up every morning feeling stuck in the life that I built for myself but using my corporate skills I took to the Internet and built a multi-seven-figure business, showing others how they can build a life they love. Now on this podcast, I share stories of being an entrepreneur, a mom to my three amazing girls and a wife to my crazy, cooky dancing Hubbin. I’ve had a couple of viral videos too. So you know there’s going to be a lot of laughs here. So whether you’ve seen me on my viral vids or on the Today Show or read about me in Forbes, this is the place where we can meet, share stories, share laughs, and share fun. I’m your best friend in your head. So sit back, listen close, and let’s get started.
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Hey everybody. Hey guys. I wanted to come on because a lot of stuff has just happened recently and I wanted to unpack some of the recent news with you to help you internalize it really, really well, and to apply it to your life even better. And to hopefully get ahead of possibly saying some things that you may not want to say that could cause a little bit of confusion or not really help things move in a positive direction. So if this is your first time, thank you so much for jumping on. If you just have five minutes, this will help a lot. And like, I always like to start out. This is an open, honest conversation in a safe place and safe, meaning that the intent here is to know everyone’s intention is forward moving progress and everyone’s intention is to learn. And everyone’s intention is application of the things that we’re learning, not just performative, listening, right?
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We actually want to deep down be the person that we say we want to be, right? So here’s what I want to talk about. And it may be a smidge uncomfortable, but I promise you, it’s not going to be the type of uncomfortable that isn’t going to leave you better off. So you may have heard recently, especially if you are one of my lighter brighters right, which is a term I use for anyone who may be Caucasian, white or white presenting. Right? So meaning you’re afforded some of the benefits and perks of being white, even if you’re not. So here’s what we’re going to talk about. You may have heard that the other officers in the George Floyd murder have now been charged and there were three other officers that weren’t charged right away. Uh, the primary officer involved in the crime was charged, you know, not right away, but before these other officers were charged.
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So this is just, I’m just explaining just general news, right? Like this is not an opinion. It’s not political. It’s just the news. Right. And furthermore, the original primary officer was also, his charges were upgraded from third degree murder to second degree murder. Right? So that’s the latest and the greatest in terms of the news. And it doesn’t matter how you feel about that portion of it. Right? I want to talk to you about what comes next, because I think that it’s possible. And I’m not saying this is how you feel, but it may be how other people around you feel, that some people are going to think that this is what’s going to make everything stop. And I wanted to come on just before people even start getting on Facebook or being on Facebook arguments or things like that to kind of give you some perspective.
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Because it’s very possible, I just want to prepare you as like your friend. I’m just hear me out. It’s very possible that this is not going to be the thing like, um, and I’m going to use the sentence here. Cause you may hear it. I’m not saying it’s what you’ll say, but it may be what you hear other people say or people around you say, “Well, now they got what they want. So why are they still mad?” or “Now they got what they want so why are they still protesting?” or, “They got what they want. So why is this still happening?” And you’re going to hear, you’re going to hear that language just because racism isn’t gone and a hashtag, right? It’s not gone in a thing. You’re going to hear that type of icky language and perspectives and odds are those perspectives are from people who just may not understand some of the things you’ve been working on or some of the things you’ve been reading and diving into.
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But the reality is part of why people are so, so upset right now, people meaning black people is because it isn’t about just one isolated incident. It’s about the whole fact that our, that black lives have not been treated well in this country. And they’ve been at risk. So because we have such a long history of basically being like, please pay attention, please pay attention. We swear, this is serious. Can you please just investigate, please take it seriously. Like it’s really, really scary. Like I really need some help and not getting any reaction from it. And sometimes even being told, yeah, you’re making it up. The fact that this one thing has happened, isn’t going to be enough to have people say, Oh, okay, good. Well, I’m glad everyone understands. Like that’s not going to be enough. And furthermore, believe it or not, a lot of black people are going to be scared that even though they’ve been arrested that the justice system’s not going to work to do its complete job, which means really doing a full trial, really doing a thorough investigation, really calling the best witnesses in and making sure that if they’re prosecuted, right.
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Even if they’re found guilty, you know, by the full justice system that they’re going to get enough time in jail rather than a Oh right. Well, you met what you meant. You know, like we know where we get it. We did the process. And so I say all this to kind of prepare you to let you know that it isn’t over yet. And it’s really important that if you start one of the things you’re going to start hearing from people who, you know, may have been all about the, like I get this whole black lives matter thing now, but they’re going to be like, is this done yet? Like, they’re just eager to feel. Cause here’s the deal. It’s been uncomfortable for everyone. Right? It’s been overwhelming to let this consume our lives for like the past week. But for black people it’s consumed our lives for our entire lives.
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And so for a lot of people, they’re going to look at all of this and say, I cannot not wait to get some air. Right. I cannot wait to get some air. When are we going to get back to posting gym selfies? I didn’t do squats for no reason. I want to post that on Instagram. Right. And you’re going to realize very quickly that it’s not over, it’s not over. And so I know that we all probably want a little breathing space right from this situation. But the problem is that because people weren’t able to breathe and they were killed, this is going to keep going. And so what’s really important. I think what matters most to so many black people that are in your life and that you will see continue to speak up about this and what we’re probably most scared of more than anything, because a lot of us are prepared for this to not even work out in terms of a trial.
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A lot of us are prepared for just in case this doesn’t work out. Right. Cause we’ve been here before, but at what I think most of us and I don’t want to speak for all black people, but what I, what I can honestly say, I feel for sure and I’m hoping you hear and understand is that I’m more scared that you’re going to be over it. Oh, I don’t want to get emotional. I don’t want to cry about it, but I’m most scared that you’re going to be over it. And that you’re going to say this was too hard and I don’t want to do this anymore because it’s not my thing. You know? And I just want to let you know that even if you decide that you’re tired of doing this, and even if you decide that like, well, they got what they wanted.
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I’m still going to be scared in the car. And I’m still going to be scared. Like when my daughter, so I have an 18 year old daughter that is amazing, right? She’s a firecracker. She beat stage four cancer, she’s a 4.0 student, she is easily one of the most amazing humans I’ve ever met in my life. Like she inspires me and I can’t even believe I get to be her mom and I, my family, my three girls are adopted and I feel so blessed that I was even chosen to like be in their world. And my baby girl, like she always asked me, I thought about his day. She was like, Oh, so I think I want to go walk the dog today. And I’m like, sure. And then I’m like, but make sure you come in at this hour and don’t go further than here and just be really careful.
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And if anything seems off, don’t do it. Like I have to give her kind of a paragraph whenever she wants to go out and walk the dog. And those sorts of things won’t change until we know that there’s like stuff in writing in law that says that if anything, like George Floyd happens or that the officers aren’t even going to think to do something like that. So that’s kind of, that’s what we’re actually fighting for. So even though there’ve been a lot of calls to bring the other officers to justice, I really want you to understand that what we’re looking for is actual real world, like paperwork stuff, saying that like, guess what? Another George Floyd won’t happen. What we want is to make sure that there are no more George Floyd’s, not just justice for George Floyd.
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Does that make sense friends? I hope so, because I know that there’s going to be an immediate sort of like, can it be over? And because we haven’t gotten paperwork that says like, no, like we are going to make sure that cause you know, I’m not defending officers, but every black person knows that not every cop is a bad cop. Every black person knows that. But what we’re concerned about is that the system is also failing police officers. Can you imagine that? It’s also failing them and we want to make sure they have all the tools to do their job well, so that the aren’t any more George Floyds. Meaning they shouldn’t be out on the street after a 30 hour work shift. If they have had several incidences of showing bad behavior, that needs to be noted and consequences need to be dealt and they need to make sure they can’t go and work other places.
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Think about it if you had a police officer that you knew did a lot of things that weren’t right, and that police officer was able to go get a job as a security guard at your kid’s school, how would you feel about that? That’s scary. Right? That’s scary. It’s a scary thing. And we don’t have systems and paperwork to just keep track of those types of things and even better. If you’re someone who is a big, huge, like, you know, I’ve always really supported a lot of police officers and I’m really a big like, you know, law and order type of girl. I want you to understand that you should want these things too, because it will actually help your officers, military people get safer because if your husband or brother is a good cop, you want them to be loved, appreciated, and respected for the work they do.
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And it’s very difficult for us to do that because we just like, you can’t tell who’s a, you know, just cause they, like they say, they can’t tell who’s the looter, who’s trouble because of, you know, systemic problems. We, we can’t really tell which cop is a good copper, always scared. Cause you guys the ones with the guns. Right? So knowing that that’s why it’s so important to not let up, because this is also your fight to make sure that your police officers are safe and to make sure that they’re able to, right? And so that’s why we want to make sure this helps everybody. So even though we are thrilled, we meaning all black people everywhere and hopefully you too, right? Hopefully you two are super thrilled to hear that we are going to engage the justice system. I just really want you to understand that it’s not over yet and you may still see people protesting and it’s likely that you’re still going to see hashtags and it’s really, really possible that we’re still going to need you to donate.
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And we’re still gonna need you to speak up for your kid on the playground. And we’re still gonna need you whenever you’re having an event or a party or whatever else to invite your black friend, because we want to make sure that you understand that there’s still work ahead. And if you’re a mama of a toddler or have a little one or a mom of kids, I do want you to understand that if you think about it, you’re a mama for a lifetime, right? And if you’ve got a little one, you’ve got 18 years of teaching, 18 years of teaching to make sure that kid grows up into a great adult that understands the importance of seeing everyone’s color and being a helper for people who have dealt with so much oppression for so many years. So there’s work to be done, right?
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And I don’t want you to let up. That’s my biggest fear is that I just, I don’t want the fact that we’re bearing our souls and that we’re having these conversations because this news just came out for anybody to back off. So please stick with it with us and keep calling for a fair trial and keep voting for people who are paying attention to policies, right? Not voting party, not voting people, but voting for policy, right? What do these people think, believe and do and is that the direction and the world that I want to live in. Those are the types of things we want to do. So that’s all I wanted to share with you guys. I just wanted to give you guys an opportunity to when you hear this news, come be well equipped to have those conversations because you’re going to be surrounded, especially if you’re a lighter, brighter, or you’re white person, you’re going to be equipped to.
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Now, when you hear people around me who may not have spent time doing the work, you’re going to be able to actually say, Hey, Hey, Hey, you know, I know that you’re saying you wish that it was over. And boy, you can’t understand why people are still mad. I want to let you know, they’re mad because it’s not over. And we want to make sure that things have changed all the way, all the way. I am so grateful because I’ve gotten so many messages from so many of you about, you know, trying to increase your understanding and really trying to lean in and trying to hear where people’s hearts are and wanting to learn what to do. And I don’t think we have all of the answers, but you’re doing the work, you’re showing up and you’re getting uncomfortable. And I’m grateful that we get uncomfortable together. Like this, look at us, we got uncomfortable and we all, we made it right. But it wasn’t that bad. Right. See, and we can keep having these conversations and we can still love each other afterwards. All right. So go out, do something, do something, act, make a difference. Today’s a good day. Justice is in motion.
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All right, guys. Thank you so much. Bye guys. Thanks so much for listening, friend. If you enjoyed this podcast, head over to NicoleWalters.com. I’d love for us to stay in touch, so make sure you drop your email address so I can send you inspiration, business details and the occasional funny story and because I’m so generous, there might even be a selfie in the mix. Thanks again. Make sure you subscribe and come back soon.
In this episode, I cover:
- Why you may start hearing people ask, “Is it over yet?”
- How to keep yourself from growing weary,
- What really needs to happen for use to feel safe, and
- Why we need you in this fight long term
Resources and links mentioned in this episode:
- In addition to using your voice and voting, consider donating to organizations like:
- Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter
- Write a review for the show on Apple here!
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