Hello I'm doctor Malcolm Glover and welcome to healing the divide.

Will we reach for open dialogue and common ground in these socially turbulent times?

We focused this edition on a new generation of activists because the concerns of young people matter, especially during times of great.

Economic uncertainty and social instability.

This program continues important conversations about injustice and inequality from the perspective of young change agents who are making a difference.

We will discuss community concerns and explore the need for reform and reconciliation in Arkansas and across America are powerhouse panel includes Emma Davis, a college student and activist, Kendro Collins, an attorney and community builder, detective Kindle Harper of the Little Rock Police Department, Drikke Rights.

The Co founder of the movement and Irvin Camacho and immigrant rights advocate and there will never be a better time for this conversation because our country is at a crossroads, research shows.

Young adults.

Are earning less and income and have more debt.

They are not doing as well socially or economically as their parents were at the same age.

The COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic is limiting educational opportunities and job prospects for the next generation.

And the killings of unarmed black Americans in the treatment of undocumented immigrants at our borders show that.

There are major concerns about policing.

As it relates to our courts and the criminal justice system, we're going to deal with all of those because we recognize that systemic racism exist and personal biases exist and they have to be addressed.

So let's get to the conversation an I think one of the easiest ways to do that is start off by talking about what it means to be an activist.

Because there are many ways that you can stand up and be counted and speak out against injustice is.

Let's start with you, draco.

What does activism mean to you?

So if we think about the root word of activism, it's to act.

So to me.

Activism is acting and being a participant in bringing forth change.

So personally, I'm an artist.

I teach poetry and creative writing, and I use my art to participate in activism by teaching at risk youth, especially how to use art.

As a way to increase their comprehension skills, communication skills, and to teach them how to use it as a coping mechanism, it's always been my desire to be able to help educate a child on how to govern themselves on an internal level so that they can go out and be strong and show up in the world as a, you know, just a great individual who also brings forth change Irving.

What about you activism?

What does it mean?

For me?

It means alot of things, of course, of the root of of it for me is to be active.

I specifically work with immigrant communities in northwest Arkansas, so activism is also empowering.

People empowering them to know how to vote, you know, and went to register to vote, but also for them to know their rights to make sure that they are protected in case any situation comes up, whether it being with police or whether it being with ice.

Different situations like that.

So I definitely think that it does route from trying to make society in the world.

Our country, our stay.

Our city.

Abetter place activism does can drill.

To me, activism really is about centering the needs of humanity, and so in activist is a person who has a vision of the kind of world that they want to live in, and that's a more just more equitable, more loving world.

But it's also doing the work on a daily basis in my life.

Most of my work is in the criminal justice field, so I work as a public defender and also serve on the governor's task force.

So working at the policy level is also important when people think about activism though.

I think they think about the grace, the heroic individuals that Martin Luther Kings and Malcolm X is.

But it's also about the everyday activism that people can do in their lives as a student at the University of Central Arkansas, I'm constantly surrounded by organizations on campus from people with different cultural and racial backgrounds.

An I'm also constantly learning and so to me, being a student activist is learning, learning new things about who I am as a black person.

Learning things about issues that affect the Latin X community, the indigenous communities, and it's also helping others educate on a lot of the institutionalized racism that's going on in America.

And it's not so much as just providing them with material, but it's also helping people get into the mindset of learning and being able to accept what's happening in America.

Kindle, I said, but for me it's just.

It's just actively making my impact.

So in my field I'm a detective for Little Rock Police Department an especially now.

The problem is there's a huge gap in the bridge between police and community, so.

My part in active as activism right now is to reach out have those relationships.

You know I didn't know drinker before all this happened, but you know, getting out of the car, having these conversations, letting people know that you're human, know that you care and just impacted my world.

My small little world, if we can impact our small little worlds as far as my friends, my family's my coworkers internally with the Police Department.

Whatever changes I can make that's me being active.

So like he said, it doesn't take.

You know you don't have to be doctor Martin Luther King or Malcolm X. But long as you do your part and stay active in your impacting your inactives, one of the things I want us to do is take some time to discuss how activists raise awareness and keep the momentum going for the causes that they care about.

But first, let's hear from local community builder doctor Phillip Fletcher, the founder of the city of hope outreach in Conway.

One of his goals is to stimulate honest discussions on what it means to be human in a difficult world.

Let's hear his take on the steps necessary to sustain social movements and solve persistent problems.

Hello everybody.

2020 has given us an opportunity to confront many difficulties from the coronavirus to issues of race.

We, as arkansans have the opportunity to support and improve the lives of one another.

Race is a very difficult topic for many to discuss.

But the opportunity for us to sit down at the table together to figure out ways to sustain change so that we can support the dignity of one another is vitally important.

How can we do that?

Well, one it is recognizing the human dignity of worth of every individual, regardless of skin color.

Two is the recognition that we should approach one another in love to listen to one another to hear one another story, and then find out ways to act.

But Thirdly, it requires us to remember that we should approach one another as individuals and not as a group.

Four, it is remembering to judge one another on the basis of our character and integrity and not on the basis of our skin color.

Five we need to recognize that we cannot do this alone, that we need our black brothers and sisters, our white brothers and sisters are Latino brothers and sisters are Asian brothers and sisters, all of us to come together around the table and to figure out ways.

That we could improve the lives of one another and finally to sustain change.

It begins with one on one personal relationships, reaching out to those existing relationships that you have already.

In order to stimulate change.

We can do this as we continue to heal the divide in Arkansas and America.

Doctor Fletcher raises some interesting points.

An urban I'm wondering, is there something else that you'd like to add to that, particularly when we recognize that sometimes the people that activist advocate for fight for may not necessarily have grown up in the United States may not necessarily speak the language, but they still need an advocate.

Yeah, for me, I think the most important thing is like listening to folks you know in our immigrant community specifically.

Everyone has such a diverse, interesting an personal story an A lot of the times, these stories do influence and change the hearts of a lot of people that were against us in the in the past years I've seen so many folks who will talk about, you, know, their journey to America.

The fact that they didn't have a drivers license like.

Normal teens did whenever they would graduate high school, seeing them struggle having to pay triple tuition that a citizen pays to go to college.

So all of these stories make impact whenever there told Ann it's difficult and I don't.

I don't want to.

I don't want to say that like everyone has to say their story, but I do want to say that when those stories are said, I've seen that hearts change and it does cause some sort of change in our society when people understand that sometimes they put in circumstances that.

Are out of their control, Emma, one of the things that constantly comes up when I was preparing for this program, is young people, particularly those in Generation Z. An interesting Lee, enough generation Alpha.

Some of those who are in elementary school and all the rest right now.

One of the things they say is that they're concerned about so many of these issues, but they also feel like adults don't always necessarily listen to them or give them a seat at the table so that they can express themselves and then bring about change.

What are some of the things you're hearing and how can those voices be heard more?

You're absolutely right.

A lot of the younger generation, like even myself, included things that sometimes adults, the older generations kind of look down on us and say, Well, you're just being an naive.

You know, I remember when I was your age and I was all like crazy doing all these stuff.

But really what it comes down to is.

This gap that we're dealing with is so deep that it does affect how generations interact with one another, and I think that in order to truly heal.

There has to be a conversation.

There has to be a time where older people just need to sit back and listen to young people.

Some of the things that we're experiencing and some of the traumas that we're going through.

We're not necessarily seeing back in.

I guess you could say the day, and so having time and having generations listen to one another and say, you know, maybe this is a valid issue.

Maybe this is something we need to look at you.

Because if we ignore it now, 1020 even 50 years down the road when it comes up again, we're not going to have a way to deal with it properly.

2020, 2020 has been a lightning rod.

We were all talking about it before, and particularly when it comes to issues of racial inequality and injustice.

George Floyd Ahmad Aubrey Brianna Taylor, just to name a few.

And as we sit we know that there are protests that are happening across the country as a relates to the Brianna Taylor case.

This young woman, 26 years old and emergency medical technician, someone who we consider now during the pandemic, an essential worker who was killed in her home because police use and no knock warrant, entered her home, killed her firing.

Into the home, and Interestingly enough, it turns out that the people that they were looking for were already in police custody and they were at the wrong house and now it turns out that both prosecutors and the grand jury have decided to not charge those three police officers with Brianna Taylor's killing Drikke.

When you heard what was happening and the result of that case.

What did you think of 1st off?

I'd like to say I'm 26 right now, so to know that another black lady who was 26 lost her life and that way is such a devastate devastating thought like it was really painful when I was watching the live of.

The decision that they made it just made me say you know the.

The most I can say is that is really tragic that that's happening that people are being allowed to just get away with something so atrocious.

So it really bothers me on a deep level and I'm just really sympathetic and you know, my heart really goes out to the family, you know, because this situation they really touched me in a deep way again because I'm 26, you know that could have been me.

So we have thoughts like that, and that's for black people.

I feel like we live in a time that so traumatizing like we are literally.

We take in things subconsciously that people don't even have to think twice about like the things that we take in.

It's a lot, you know when we go into space is, you know, I. I'm usually in spaces where I'm the only black person and you know.

Not that it should be uncomfortable, but it is because I'm having all these other thoughts, you know so.

Just going back to the situation again for a black 26 year old to lose her life.

You're absolutely right and I think it's important for us to know that there was a one officer who faces criminal charges but not for Brianna's killing just because he endangered others lives when he shot into her apartment.

And some of those bullets went into neighboring apartments as a law enforcement officer, Kendall as a detective.

I know that you wear the badge, but you also understand the community you come from the community.

What kind of conversations have you had and how do you make people realize that you may not be like others?

I'm just me.

I try to remove myself from the badge in the gun and I try to make people see me as Kendall.

I'm human.

I have emotions.

You know what I mean?

As far as going back to the Brianna Taylor incident just because I'm a law enforcement officer doesn't mean that I don't have.

Those same raw emotions they drink as and my emotions was first fear, second concern.

First of all, is fear because.

How are we getting to this point?

It's like it's getting worse is like no change is coming in.

The concern is where do we go from here?

Because we just went through this whole ordeal with the George Floyd incident and we're talking about a nationwide movement nationwide movement of young, old white, black, all races and creeds coming together trying to let their voice be heard.

And then here we are.

In another situation to where is kind of like the voices are being heard, so it's fear 'cause we don't know where we're going.

As far as a law enforcement officer.

All I can do is do my part as far as the grand jury.

As you know, kendrell there's levels to it.

You know you got the police out of it and you got the court side of it.

So as long as I do my part genuinely with a pure heart on my part, all I can do is pass the torch and hope for the best.

And the problem is the torch is being blown out on the past and that's where we need to hone in on his wise.

Just torch getting blown out.

And the fire is not staying lit till the end to get justice for people.

And I think that's where we where we are right now.

Andrew, I'm wondering if you can chime in.

I know you're a member of that governors law enforcement task force, but just in terms of your work as a public defender, what are you hearing about, reforming or reimagining policing what's coming before you?

Well, first of all, to go to the Brianna Taylor situation are responses out here pretty often is, well, you know this is going to keep happening until Peoples Hearts and minds change.

But the issue is we've been waiting for that for a really long time and I think what you're seeing from people of my generation and younger.

Is that we don't want to wait on that but but I think was more important than the individual level is the systemic level, and there are some real systemic problems.

How do we get to the point that the Brianna Taylor even happened?

And so you have to say, well, what is the policy decisions?

I remember doctor King saying that even though the law can make a man love me, it can make him stop lynching me.

And that's important.

So we begin to change the policy's Well Police Department should change its policies, and even though.

Uh, no knock warrant entry may be legal is not moral, and it's not safe there.

There are safer ways to execute that warrant in that situation, especially when we're talking about and not a nonviolent drug offense.

And so if we changed the policy, then maybe we have somebody like Brianna Taylor who gets to live.

Or if we re imagine the way we think about policing an obviously, you know there are tasks that police officers have to face that they're not necessarily equipped to face an it's too much.

On the officer and one example is mental health and you have people who have are dealing with mental health.

Crisis is and we need people who are trained to go into those situations and maybe somebody like Mr Daniel Pruitt in New York also gets to live.

If we change policies, eliminate chokeholds and neck restraints that maybe somebody like Mr George fluid gets to live.

I think those simple policy decisions are important but also thinking larger systemically about how we approach.

Law enforcement and also the criminal justice system as a whole.

Absolutely, we're going to talk more about that as well.

Just some of the different perspectives from local law enforcement to immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the views from classrooms to community about that.

But first, advocating for fundamental change is not easy, and many young activists from around the state often feel frustrated when they see our political and legal systems moving with.

All deliberate speed to address issues that require immediate action in this segment from the new Arkansas PBS Digital Series titled the glow, we see how activism can also inspire creativity.

Thank you.

Hey.

Poetry and just showed it spoken where it isn't just boring and it isn't, and it isn't something that that all white guys do that you read about in class.

Like is entertaining and PowerPoint entertaining in powerful exactly.

That's what I was trying to say don't.

And I'm guessing by the last name in the current hair curl pattern shower later right?

Yeah.

For sale result, so I'm going to follow you off awhile and especially in this time being after post George Florida murder and yellow being active his own phone lines.

Do you feel that your creativity has to be shown in other forms in terms of protest or African?

See yes I feel like it is very important to do anything because just doing nothing that just doesn't say right with me.

So I feel like what was more important to be doing them any type of process like what what could I possibly be doing just?

Chilling at home playing the game.

Eating something like I I should be out here trying to make the country better for the future.

Trying to make trying to make change happen so I feel like it's very important to do anything with this.

Handing out water bottles and you don't necessarily have to March you hand out the water bottles.

You can make mess for for protesters to where you could do.

You could do anything and so many different avenues you could take to help the fight and for me I feel like just being a black girl.

It's kind of in my essence and I've always kind of tried to be an example for people that this is what a smart black girl looks like.

This is what a crew.

Gate of black girl looks like this is what a confident Blacker looks like.

So yes with my words yes.

With my performances in the way that I speak at these things, that is how I've chosen.

Used my voice in this movement but also just by being an example in showing other Brown skin girls that you can look like me and not have these horrible, stereotypical you know words associated with you.

Or you can be more than what they expect out of you.

So I've always been kind of humbled at the fact that I can inspire other people who look like me to show them that there's so much greatness, Justin who you are.

And that's what I try to live my day by.

We're not just speaking for ourselves, we are the voice for those who feel like they don't have a voice.

So whenever I go up and do a poem in front of friends, hundreds in front of thousands of people, and everybody can resonate with it, does?

That's powerful.

That's that's that's a purpose that something this this for the greater good everybody look around.

Celebrate, I celebrate, I celebrate, I celebrate, I celebrate, I celebrate I celebrate celebrate water brother Dun Dun celebrate what we bout to come from.

Facebook to ain't about no I celebrate special thanks to Jamie McAdoo, Norell McAdoo, an Epiphany, Big Piph Morrow for their contributions to that piece and panelist.

Let's talk more about the important connections that exist between art and activism.

And of course, I'm looking right at you.

Drink it 'cause I know that's your wheelhouse.

So I'm actually working on initiative called quote of eight because.

I don't know if you ever heard of Hank Willis Thomas, but he's an artist and he had an exhibit of called All things being equal, and with that exhibit.

His biggest message he was trying to convey is that what we consume with our ears and our eyes affects how we feel about ourselves and how we behave in life.

And I remember when I was in 10th grade, there's this nicely decorated poster and on it it said excuses stop at the door.

And that has always stuck with me, so I've never allowed myself to make excuses and because of it, because that one statement that one artistic piece that was on a wall in 10th grade and I'm 26 now.

Because it's stuck with me.

I've been able to accomplish so many great things in life right now I'm nursing education program manager for the state of Arkansas.

You know, I'll be the I'm the youngest community Advisory Board member on Little Rock School District.

I'm running for the Little Rock School District School Board unopposed, and I'll be the youngest member then.

I'm the first to graduate high school and go to College in my family, but because that statement stuck with me because it was planted in my mind, it has allowed me to carry myself through a lot of tough situations.

And I said that to say this with the.

Initiative that I'm working on quote of eight.

Basically what will happen is throughout the city of Little Rock will have murals.

Put a weight, quotes and decals on businesses where you know when people are randomly walking you see something that's motivational.

Matter of fact I went to a business being the other day and somebody posted a posted note on the meter and it just said, you know, be not live by fear.

And you know people need those little pick me UPS like we need.

We need things that are scattered.

You know that just feed our minds subconsciously so that we take it in.

You turn internally an we think, feel and behave in a better way.

So art is very, very important in activism, because if he's our subconscious mind and that creativity even moves beyond art because now what a lot of young people are doing is they're using the Internet and social media.

In all, the rest have come together to address some of these issues.

Can you talk about how you've used online opportunities to rally support for the causes you care bout?

Yeah, absolutely.

One of the things that Gen Z is notoriously known for is always being on social media and actually one of my friends, Leila Holloway.

We came together and we created a protest demonstration in Fort Smith, AR.

And we did that over social media.

We did that by using Facebook and another thing that is done is that like a lot of people will take their art to social media platforms such as tick tock to spread awareness about the issues that are affecting their community.

I can't tell you how many times I have seen people from who are indigenous, especially who would.

Talk about all the issues that are affecting their community, how black transgender women would come forth and talk about issues that are affecting black transgender women in America and to me like that is.

That's an experience that's a way for people to get educated and to take part in the movement.

Even though there are creative outlets for young and old activists, we are living through a pandemic.

And as you work with different grassroots groups and advocate for a different groups of people would have been some of the drawbacks to some of your efforts during this pandemic.

Has it been difficult and what creative ways are you coming up with to still make sure that people's voices are getting hurt?

I think one of the important things to point out northwest Arkansas.

We have a lot of people specifically left, the next folks and Marshallese folks who are Pacific Islanders working in the poultry factories.

What has happened is that a lot of folks within those two communities Have lost family members community members because of the virus.

So if you look at the numbers of folks who have passed away over there like the majority of them are Marshallese or there, let the next folks and this routes from working within the poultry industry at the same time.

Maybe not having the protections that they should have, right?

So what happens is that that causes fear within our communities and folks don't want to go out, focus to want to do extra things.

Don't want to be.

Part of community events simply because of the fear.

So what we do is try to make sure that if we do have a community event, there was several George Floyd protests over there, and there's been protests for the next community as well for Vanessa Gyan, who was the Fort Hood soldier that was murdered on the base and when we had those events, we reminded people that they should wear their face Max.

We had hand sanitizer Ain other precautionary measures to make sure that people feel safe coming out and supporting.

Movements during this pandemic, but we do know that folks specifically older folks don't feel safe simply because they don't want to go out and risk and then bring the virus home.

So we completely understand that, but we've been able to work around that just by informing people through social media like Emma and just let them know that we're going to make sure that they are safe and it's optional if they want to come out or not to support these movements.

Kindle, I'm wondering if we continue thinking about creativity.

One of the things that I thought was interesting before in our conversation is how you serve as a bridge builder.

You understand both the perspective of law enforcement but also the perspective of people who feel marginalized within the community.

And So what kind of creative solutions have you come up with to continue to make sure that people understand each other well?

I think the first thing is you gotta, you gotta create the space or the environment.

So the way that I do that is through my my fitness business.

So I do outdoor bootcamp fitness business and we have good conversations within that that our that were together and also just using my platform.

As far as my Instagram in my my Facebook, I send out motivational quotes everyday my sending that to my group every day just to kind of put out that positive energy and fitness man, it plays a therapy for some people.

You can have the worst day I could have the worst day.

At work, the longest day at work, but once I get home kind of get myself together and get to session, all that stuff is gone and I've had several clients say man, I just really appreciate this hour that you gave me and just laugh.

And having a good time and at the same time when all this stuff was going on, having those conversations, having those conversations with people and like I said before, humanizing myself.

I'm a human at the end of the day.

That's that's that's my career.

I chose but.

Listen, you can talk to me so I just try to make sure that I'm approachable to people that don't know me any any aspect as far as fitness or as far as law enforcement 'cause I mean everybody knows it around here is not.

I know you.

I know you shared with all of us earlier.

You're kind of quote for today.

Brace turbulence, embrace until tell us more about that.

What does that mean?

So basically what it is is all of us travelled.

We've traveled before and you're on your flight.

And you hit turbulence are rough.

Air is what they call it an in the midst of that turbulence you have a sense of fear.

Do you have a sense of doubt?

You have a sense of uncertainty, but once you come out of that turbulence and you finally get to your destination, it makes you appreciate you getting your destination even more safely.

Life is the same exact way in my opinion.

We hit rough air, an those bumps, those bruises, those fears, those those uncertainties, those doubts that you are or want.

Accomplish those goals you set for yourself.

Once you finally get to the other side of the table and actually do it makes you appreciate it even more.

Anne with what's going on our world right now.

This is just rough air.

Is turbulence OK?

And once we get to the other side of this turbulence, we're going to appreciate what we had to go through to get here, so it's necessary.

I think it's necessary and it's getting bumpy is getting bumpy.

It's getting rough and like you said, it's getting uncertain, but I have no doubt that we will make it to the other side of all this stuff.

And then, and we would appreciate that destination that we finally make it to, which will be a much more loving, peaceful, happy America.

And that's what we need.

Can drill to get to the other side.

It's going to take some hard work and as a writer, but also as an attorney you kind of had to deal with some of these weighty issues in a variety of different ways.

What do you see as the way forward, whether it's in your interactions with clients or serving on these tasks, force or even in those personal moments when you're just writing down personal thoughts, how do we move ahead?

Yeah, I wish I had the answer for that question, but what I do know is that confrontation is key, and dealing with these issues head on, I really appreciate the title of this conversation.

Healing the divide, because when I think about race and racism in America, it really is.

Our oldest wound and in a lot of ways we have never taken the time as a country to nurture and to deal with that one.

And it's it's begun to infect all areas of our society.

An being in rooms.

You mentioned the task force earlier.

I'll be Frank at the beginning of when it all first started back in June there was a lot of distance, alot of tension because what you have is people really fearful like.

Kendall say it people are afraid and they're afraid because we fear the unknown and we really don't know each other when it comes to specifically white people and black people.

In America, the black community, an police officer.

We don't know each other.

And so we had to get past that.

That initial not knowing each other an begin to engage in dialogue and share our stories.

And you hear my pain.

And I hear your pain and actually listen instead of talking at each other.

And when we began to do that, we actually realized that.

There's a lot that we can agree on.

Of course we do disagree on a lot, but the things the core things having a more just and more equitable, equitable society that we are in agreement on it when we stick to those core values as our starting point, were able to get to some solutions and I think like that conversation is important because people feel like they got to choose size.

And as the son of a police officer and a black man, and Mr Harper is.

Aware of this as well, you have to deal with two different identities an those don't have to be separate.

You can understand the sacrifices a law enforcement on one side, but also the history that we have between law enforcement, the black community, and being able to confront those things is important.

One of the things I'm hearing is to move ahead.

We have to be inspired.

We have to listen to one another.

We have to think outside of the box, but we have to be willing to have a conversation come together and up.

Next we brought in this conversation.

With Jimmy Warren from the Ark and talk podcast, he talks with arkansans from Fort Smith, Fayetteville Searcy about their efforts to speak out against injustice, and he takes a closer look at a new hate crimes legislation in the state.

Thank you.

This is Jimmy Warren.

We are here with healing the divide and this is a virtual session.

We have doctor Ingle, he is a professor at an Arkansas institution.

We also have representative Nicole Clowney.

She is in the Fayetteville area and also you see a student Miss Layla Holloway.

Thank you all for joining us on this panel today.

So Layla I just kind of want to start with you being there at the University of Central Arkansas.

Ann, just representing the gens ears that are there.

How is Gen Z as a whole feeling about all that's going on currently?

I think Gen Z is kind of torn right now as a generation.

I feel like we've been alive solely through trauma.

I mean, some of us we were born during all of these wars.

I was born in like 7 months before, so you know.

We've had a lifetime of just political trauma, social trauma an I think we're a little bit fed up and so I think that's partially where you're seeing.

All these protests.

Were you seeing these demonstrations?

Because we're very fed up with the life that we've, you know, the world that we've grown up in.

Can you talk about the protest that she had there in a four Smith County weather?

Any certain circumstances that started that?

Well, I think the protest is as Gen Z as it gets.

So Emma Davis and I after the murder of George Floyd were on Facebook.

And we had commented on each other's posts and I said Yeah, I'm about ready to go protest and she said to me too.

So I created a Facebook event and I mean it was two days prior to the actual protest an for some reason 500 people showed up and showed their support and love an you know, honor for the life of George Floyd.

So it says Gen Z as it gets social media rallying us together, awesome, awesome representative Clowney.

I was scrolling through Facebook and I saw a couple of weeks ago.

Up in your area of Fayetteville that there were several for lack of better words, just a vandalism attack where white supremacist groups were spray painting naughty messages and things.

Can you talk about that experience?

Maybe six or eight weeks ago there was a side of a building on, you know, the main thoroughfare through South Fayetteville MLK.

And it was white supremacist language, an imagery Anna local artist covered it up.

She got donations from the community and she's assigned painter, and she went in.

She covered a giant.

She covered it up with a giant mural that said Love Unites us.

Last week the mural was vandalized.

The portion that said Unites was covered so that it now says love weakens us and there were really graphic and just.

Horrifying white supremacist.

Slogans tagged in on the side of the building so you know, this is sort of a struggle that we're having right now in Fayetteville, and I know in so many parts of the country where these folks who used to hide in the shadows where the racism used to be quiet or just as just as violent but quieter, is now, you know, those people are now feeling emboldened and this was just a very tangible and visible.

Reminder of the fact that we are moving in the wrong direction.

Do you want to go to doctor angle real quick?

An as representative County miss Holloway talked about things that were more recent.

My understanding is that you have experiences that you can share from the past and not just from the shadows you actually saw first hand or having first hand of account of an interaction in Mississippi with the Ku Klux Klan that year that I graduated high school group of.

People from outside the state largely came to to blow and decided that they were going to make our city the headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan, and so the whole year that I was graduating my senior year of high school.

Every weekend there were marches by the clan and then opposing marches by.

A black group and they were usually timed to coincide so that they would meet somewhere on their routes and get into shouting and spitting matches and a lot of name calling.

But almost every weekend the clan was burning crosses at I remember they burned one at the Ramada Inn right on the main drag of Tupelo.

Several motels, they would just kind of take over for the weekend and have their rallies and burn crosses.

That kind of leads us into where we are today when we combine the events of the past that are now interjecting to where we are as a present.

I think the most important question is how do we move forward as a nation?

As a state you know as a community and Leila I want to ask that just from the young persons perspective.

What do you think is going to take for us to be able to move forward?

I think we need to have conversations like this.

I don't think we're ever gonna get over the hump of racism of sexism.

Anything until we actually start having those conversations because you can't fix a problem that people won't acknowledge.

And so I think you know conversations like what we're having right now.

People to watch these conversations, people to participate in these conversations.

That's the first step, in my opinion.

We have to talk about it.

We have to acknowledge it, and we have to start understanding that when black people specifically.

Or any marginalized group is talking about how their oppressed talking about how they've been taking advantage of in there.

You know, life.

It doesn't necessarily mean that we're attacking the other side or the side that has historically been the oppressor.

It doesn't mean I'm attacking, you know representative Clowney.

It doesn't mean I'm attacking my white friends.

It means I'm just telling people my experiences and people need to accept the fact that I'm a black woman.

People need to accept that other people have been marginalized.

Other people have been oppressed and stop taking it as if.

We are telling you you did this to me.

I think once we get over that hump of understanding that this is systemic and systematic, then we can start having these conversations.

Then we can start seeing progress.

It represented cloudy.

Sometimes racism is fixed by policy, or at least there in the law wise when we look at the Civil Rights Act of 1965 or Brown versus the Board of Education.

Recently Governor Hutchinson has come out and shown his support for a hate crime legislation bill here in Arkansas.

Just during your work in the Legislature in and looking at it from the legal standpoint do you have any thoughts that you can share on that bill?

Yeah, so he crimes legislation is long overdue.

In our state, 47 states in the country habit.

For those who don't know, hate crimes.

Legislation increases this version.

The version that that has been introduced in Arkansas would simply increase the penalty for a crime that was committed if that crime was committed to target somebody based on a number one of a number of characteristics, be it sex or race.

Or religion or gender identity, sexual orientation.

Any of those things.

The bill is so important because, you know, I know I don't think that any legislator is naive enough to think that one piece of legislation will fix hate in our state.

But I also take very, very seriously my responsibility as a leader.

An I am grateful that the governor takes that responsibility seriously too, as leadership for our state.

It is up to us to say.

This is what we will and will not accept in Arkansas.

Does that mean that it will stop?

No, but it means that we hope that everybody who's paying attention will hear that this is where the line is for us.

This is not going to be.

We are not a state.

That should be one of three in the country that will tolerate.

Targeting based on any characteristics of any person, and so this piece of legislation would fix that gap in our law.

I'm thrilled with the governor.

Has expressed his support for it.

It is a bipartisan piece of legislation.

It has Republican and Democratic sponsors.

I don't anticipate that that Arkansas will put up a fight and say, no, we will not accept this kind of legislation that fixes this glaring problems.

So I'm hopeful that.

We will do the right thing as soon as it is before us.

Doctor Engle, as someone who is even a self admitted to being a beneficiary of white privilege.

An I know during your younger days you would even seen some things where your father was working the day that doctor King was assassinated.

An have always just been someone who is noticed that there is a system of racism around you.

Can you kind of talk about like your experiences?

Then to where you are now and how your mindset changed.

Actually, my father in law was working downtown Memphis at Lowenstine's Department store.

The day that doctor King was assassinated.

He's told me about the writing that followed that and just the chaos that ensued, and he actually took down.

If you can read this or not, he took these signs down off of.

The restrooms when the Department store was.

Forced to.

Accommodate people equally.

I use those signs in my classes and I would just say that part of my journey involves reading a lot of African American writers and learning about their experiences and just a lot of conversations working with men and women over the years, learning their stories and finding out.

How were different?

I would say that a lot of the people I know would not acknowledge or even believe that they have racist feelings or that they are part of a racist system or that they benefited from a racist system because.

They just don't understand it, they haven't.

Experienced enough, they haven't talked to people outside of their own.

Group, and so I think it is important that we.

Talk to other people and hear their stories and.

Kind of confront our past and think about how people like me have benefited from a good educational system.

All sorts of opportunities that.

A lot of the people I've worked with in the past didn't have those options, so I think that you are exactly correct.

In order for us to move forward as a nation as a state, as a community, we are going to have to sit down and have these conversations about race so that we can heal the divide.

Thank you.

It's always important to hear other voices, and one of the things that I think is pretty cool is that every activist has a story.

The story that brought you to this point that made you want to speak out or stand up for the least of these, and so I'm wondering where you are right now in your journey at what's on the horizon?

What issue are you concerned about?

What are you working on right now?

And let's start with Emma.

It's really been lifelong.

I mean, it started when I was a birth, I would argue.

Honestly, I was.

I'm adopted into a white family and so it's like I don't understand like the biological factors of being right biracial but but the social factors.

I can understand that.

But when it comes to where I am right now, right now I'm continuing to learn how to heal from the racial trauma I'm currently on.

Like the governor's task force and where we are as an organization right now is trying to have the difficult conversation.

Of race and how it has a relationship with law enforcement and even the broader subject of the criminal justice system.

Our good friend Jimmy Warren.

At our recent task force meeting was talking to law enforcement to citizens alike, saying, You know, this is this task force was all created because of the protests that were happening because of institutionalized reason because of police brutality.

Because of racism in general.

And so he said we cannot keep tiptoeing around race, it's everywhere, it's everywhere.

It's in every system.

It's not just in the criminal justice system, it's an educational.

It's in economic systems.

It's in housing.

Food everything and so.

It's having those conversations, and when it comes to the task force, especially right now for what we're going to do in the future plans in the future is we're working on reforming the training.

We're working on reforming community relations, which my friend Layla Holloway, is currently the chair of, and we're working on so many different factors as to how there can be a safer, healthier relationship between law enforcement.

And the citizens urban in northwest Arkansas specifically were confronting these programs that are anti immigrant programs like 287 G. So less than a year ago there was 3 three counties in Arkansas that had 27 G active programs and these programs are used to discriminate against people that look like me, specifically immigrants.

And they were active in Washington County in Benton County.

An in Craighead County now.

And there was a little under 50.

Programs active throughout the entire country, and we have three of them here in Arkansas.

Unfortunately little under a year ago, we were able to get illuminated in Washington County, so it's not active there anymore, but there's still people being held at the gels, with federal holds from ice.

So what we want to do is come front Benton County come front craghead County and put a stop to these programs that are causing fear in our communities.

There's folks who are victims, survivors of domestic abuse and other type of abuse.

Who won't call police?

Because they fear that if they called police somehow, they're going to find out their immigration status.

They're going to end up in jail.

They're going to end up at the prison in Louisiana and eventually deported and separated from their families, so these are fears that they live with everyday.

Some folks don't want to drive, don't want to go to the store to buy food for their families because they're scared they're going to get stopped.

They're going to get sent to jail.

Going to go to prison and then deported.

My father was deported afew years ago, and I know what the separation of family can cause and how it can affect.

For an entire lifetime, after my father got separated, got deported.

I never got to see him again 'cause he passed away in 2010 and that type of separation from a family member is horrible.

It causes trauma for many, many years to go, so I know that when this happens, too many people with in northwest Arkansas and also all around Arkansas, it can be very traumatic and I can definitely affect them for the rest of their life.

And it's not fair.

People deserve an opportunity to come here and thrive and hopefully get legal status so that they can be here and be.

Successful and happy with their families.

There's a reason why they are not in their countries of origin and a lot of it is our fault.

Our country went to these countries cause damage over there.

Another dollar flying here and there wanting to to get a job there, wanting their kids to go to college and.

We will confront these issues.

We will make sure that people feel safe and we will do everything in our power to make sure that everyone has an equal opportunity to be successful and be happy.

Can drew.

My mission is to transform the criminal justice system an what I see is there's a there's a focus right now on policing and law enforcement, which is very important.

But that's just one aspect of the larger criminal justice system.

In fact, I think of it.

As a micro system, you got policing which is the entry level point and then you have the prosecution.

The courts, the judge who does the sentence Ng.

You have the actual correctional facilities where people are housed in the conditions that they're in.

And so I think it's important for us to examine each aspect of that system and begin to change it.

From simple things as just having body cameras for officers at the front end choosing to.

Go into certain communities you know.

Sometimes we can over police certain communities and then of course it leads to the pipeline.

But I think also at the larger level, rethinking our entire approach right now our system is such that if you're the Doctor Ann, I have a headache.

You give me an aspirin.

But if Emma has a stomach ache, you give her an Aston.

If Mr Harper has chest pains, you give him an aspirin.

Well, obviously medically, that makes no sense.

It's not going to work for each one of us, but we do that.

In criminal justice, we say, Well, you have substance abuse issues.

Jail, you have mental health issues, jail, you have trauma that you're dealing with, and we use that.

And so I think it's time for us to rethink that.

I think it's important that we have representation in our justice system that we know that black and Brown people are over represented on the defendant side, whereas you know, even in Arkansas, black people only make up about 15% of the population.

But when it comes to the state prison population we make up.

About 42% and so on that side were well represented, but when it comes to the power structure, the judges, the attorneys, the prosecutors, the police officers we need, that representation there as well, because those experiences that you bring to the job or important in creating equal justice, appreciate that we have a few more minutes remaining and want to hear your story Giriko where you are right now with the movement and with all of the other work that you're doing and where you're taking things from there.

So I am with the group.

The movement is composed of Tim Campbell who's also on the governor's task force, oyata poet Junyoung and Aaron Kid, and I know we all have our role in this fight and I know my role is to use my voice guy gave me a voice to you, so I'm going to use it to continue to Uplift and inspire people because just like he said were not represented on the other side.

I have two brothers who are incarcerated.

One is in the state penitentiary, one is in federal penitentiary and I remember going to court.

And.

The only black people that are in there was me and my brother and I watched them since my brother to 20 years for an additional 20 years for a cell phone and it really bothered me because I'm just like you know we need more people.

In these places of power to represent us, so they were not taking advantage of you.

Know and unjustly sentenced.

So again, I'll continue to use my voice to Uplift and inspire people, because again, my background isn't working with at risk youth specific specifically because I feel like they are future and individually again using my art as activism.

Because again, I believe what we consume without using eyes is very important to our personal development.

So through my initiative quote of eight again, it's.

An initiative where you'll be able to see visuals and murals throughout the city decals posters you'll be able to see random motivational quotes and Sayings and pictures throughout the city so it can again feature subconscious mind because.

That's where I know I belong in this fight.

Just accountability and self reflection for me man.

So on the professional side, accountability like the late John Lewis said, getting good trouble.

I want you to know that if you're around me, I'm zero tolerance for it.

So you're going to feel my stamp when it comes to that self reflection is in my personal life as far as making sure that I keep myself center.

That I don't get jaded that I stay motivated and positive and had these positive thoughts because change can happen.

Change will happen.

But the deal is I just think that as long as I do my part on the inside out.

'cause we gotta work this problem on the inside out so long as long as I do it on the inside out inside his professional out is my personal life impact.

Those in my world.

Like I say my small little world.

Just make my positive impacts and will be I'll be good so that's my that's my journey daily.

We've come to the end of our program.

Thank you to our panelists and the awesome team that made this conversation possible.

young Americans want to inherit a more equitable society, and young activists are doing their level best to make it so.

New generation of leaders, educators, advocates, and organizers are raising awareness, challenging the status quo, and finding ways to repair Fishers that exist in our society.

As young activists work to improve their communities and address.

Systemic disparities, they seek support.

There are practical solutions to the problems we face, but we must be willing to work together for the common good I'm doctor Malcolm Glover, and from all of us here at Arkansas PBS, thank you for watching.

We hope this program has been informative and thought provoking.