In this episode, Brandon speaks with Joy Melody Woods (PhD student in Communications Studies at UT Austin) about co-creating #BlackInTheIvory, the many levels of activism, and learning the power of NO.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In this episode, Brandon speaks with Joy Melody Woods (PhD student in Communications Studies at UT Austin) about co-creating #BlackInTheIvory, the many levels of activism, and learning the power of NO.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"http:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2020\/07\/2020-07-10_L-I-V-E_Joy-Melody-woods.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"91.4M","filesize_raw":"95842496","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":""},"tags":[41,38,37,40,42,36,39],"series":[2],"class_list":{"0":"post-67","1":"podcast","2":"type-podcast","3":"status-publish","5":"tag-academia","6":"tag-activism","7":"tag-black-in-the-ivory","8":"tag-communications-studies","9":"tag-dr-brandon-jones","10":"tag-joy-melody-woods","11":"tag-race","12":"series-live","13":"entry"},"acf":{"related_episodes":"","hosts":[{"ID":68,"post_author":"39","post_date":"2020-07-20 20:29:28","post_date_gmt":"2020-07-20 20:29:28","post_content":"","post_title":"Dr. Brandon Jones","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"dr-brandon-jones","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2020-07-20 20:33:17","post_modified_gmt":"2020-07-20 20:33:17","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/?post_type=speaker&p=68","menu_order":0,"post_type":"speaker","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"guests":[{"ID":74,"post_author":"38","post_date":"2020-07-20 20:46:36","post_date_gmt":"2020-07-20 20:46:36","post_content":"\n
Joy Melody Woods holds a M.A. in Educational Policy & Leadership Studies with a concentration in Sociology of Education. She is currently pursuing my doctorate in Interpersonal Health Communication at the University of Texas at Austin. Her specialization and expertise lie at the intersection of mental health and equity. Additionally, she is the co-founder of a new consulting & research firm Arc + Node with a focus on improving emotions and health in the workplace through interpersonal communication. <\/p>\n","post_title":"Joy Melody Woods","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"joy-melody-woods","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2021-01-13 17:18:28","post_modified_gmt":"2021-01-13 17:18:28","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/?post_type=speaker&p=74","menu_order":0,"post_type":"speaker","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"Transcript":"
[0:00:10 Brandon Jones] welcome the live leadership, Innovation Ventures and entrepreneurship. Ah, podcast that showcases the talents, skills and abilities of UT faculty, staff and students. I’m your host. Brandon Jones, associate director for student learning and development in housing and dining, and we’re excited to have you listening to us. Hello, everybody. This is Brandon Jones, associate director for student learning and development and housing in dining at University. It’s that Austin and you are listening to the leadership, Innovation ventures and Entrepreneurship podcast. Today you have coming to the stage for the very first time. Joy Melody Woods, PhD student in communications studies here at University of Texas at Austin, And we’re so excited to have her with us on today. She’s gonna talk about, uh, her recent project, one of her most recent ventures, the Hashtag Black in the Ivory. What, ah, hashtag that she co founded with Dr Chardonnay Davis. And she’s gonna tell us a lot more about that and some of her upcoming projects that she’s working on this Well, hopefully we can get the tea on that. So, joy, how you doing today?<\/p>\n
[0:01:22 Joy Melody Woods] I’m doing pretty good. Thanks so much for having me<\/p>\n
[0:01:25 Brandon Jones] glad to have you Listen, um I want to die right on here. So you started hashtag black in the ivory. I just remember waking up one morning and saying this hashtag being used by everybody all over the world, in country, people, scholars that I know. I cited in my dissertation and some articles that I read, plus some colleagues in the field right now sharing their different experiences about Liam blacking in the academy. And I’m like, Oh, my goodness. I wonder when this took off, only to find out that I knew one of the co founders of the hashtag. So why don’t you tell us first before we get into the hash tag? That’s a little bit about yourself. Where you from? Give us your background and then we can dive into, um, black India.<\/p>\n
[0:02:14 Joy Melody Woods] Yeah. Um, of course. So, um, yeah, it’s crazy. We do know each other. Um, I am joined Melody Woods, As he said, I am a native of Fort Worth, Texas, over the greatest city in the state. And, um, I graduated from Texas Wesleyan University with my bachelors in political science. I actually started my college career out at Prairie View A and M University the greatest HBC in the land on due to some health issues, I transferred back home and, um, finish my bachelor’s out at Texas Wesleyan. Um, I did my master’s at the University of Iowa. Yes. You heard me correctly. I packed my life up. Um, I moved all the way across to the Midwest, um, to go to university Iowa, And I have my master’s of arts in this sociology of education and I’m now here Came back to Texas. Can’t keep me way too long. Um and I came back to Texas to get my PhD in communications studies with a concentration in a personal communication. And I focus on in a personal communication within health context. It’s like the boring part. Oh, I see<\/p>\n
[0:03:26 Brandon Jones] you got the private school background. You also got the HBCU experience. You got life at a true Pierre at a Pwr in the Midwest, cause that’s similar and different, you know, in a pwr in the south so way get with time permitting will definitely dive into that as well. But I want to give you the floor to tell us what was the driving force behind creating black in the I’ve<\/p>\n
[0:03:54 Joy Melody Woods] Yeah, everyone asked that until it’s so funny. Sell Me and Dr Davis were colleagues and friends were both black women in interpersonal communication. And there’s Onley. There were three interpersonal scholars that were flak, but one of them left the field due to how racist it is. And so it’s just me and her remaining that arm, you know, in the discipline in the sub area. When we go to the conferences, we grow the business meeting. So, you know, just like black people everywhere we find each other. But she also graduated from the University of Iowa. That’s where she finished her PhD. So we knew each other and we were friends. And so, um, everything going on in the world, um, we were just up talking one night. You’ve been talking more frequently anyway, because the world on fire, we’re all checking in on each other. And I had just gotten really tired of seeing universities, um, posting these black squares on social media and I got tired of the silence from departments and from places that I went places that I’m currently at where it was like, Wait a minute, like we can no longer be silent and as a communication Scarlett, I was like, we’re communication scholars. We should be able to communicate about this toe. Let the few black students cause very few black students in this department know that they support us, right? And so I just want spilling tea left and right all over social media one day and like multiple days, telling my husband story about what happened with him telling my story what happened with me and telling a few tidbits. And so chard a Davis on Dr David’s Excuse me? Text me was like, you know, um, she started sharing on Twitter one night to when she was like, I think I’m gonna use this hashtag black and ivory She’s like, How does it sound? And I was mid tweet when she texted me. So I said, Plop it on my tweet Tweeted it out said, Sounds great, just tweeted it. And then I quoted my tweet was like Dr Davis came up with this and it’s great. And then I was like, Anybody have stories like just share it. So at the time, Dr Davis had just gotten back on Twitter and so she had like, 300 or so followers and I have been consistently on Twitter. It’s so like I have, like, you know, 3500 followers. So between her idea matched with, like the reach that I had, like just being someone that I have a platform people we talk. I talk a lot with black graduate students across the country. I’m in group chats with black creatives who are graduate students, and we we talk about this stuff. So between her, her half shag, my reach, me just tweeted it out and talked a little bit. I was like young going to sleep. It was like, you know, 11 oclock my time. She was in California at the time, So she was. It was, you know, nine or so there. So I woke up the next morning at my normal time, and I had, like, all these notifications and, you know, Twitter now only tells you like 20 plus ramifications. Other. Okay, Typical typical Random day must have said something funny. Ours, I don’t know. And then I was like, Oh, these are new followers. These are people using the hash out of these people, quoting the hashtag. So I click the hash tag. And I was like, I don’t know who these people are. And so I’m calling chard a cause she’s asleep because, you know, it’s like six oclock seven years. She Not that I know you’re not a morning person, and I’m like, wake up, get on Twitter right now. Like, what are you talking about? Like I go look and so that’s the rest is literally history. We’re watching history unfold. Yeah,<\/p>\n
[0:07:28 Brandon Jones] well, so I mean, so a zoo, this recording I mean, cause that’s been over a month now. Um, as of this recording, I don’t know if you ran any analytics or not, but I was curious if you know how many times the hashtag has been utilized.<\/p>\n
[0:07:44 Joy Melody Woods] The last Bran Analytics. Probably about two weeks ago. Because people stopped asking now of like, how many times it just knows it’s there. People should know what’s out there. Um, over 10,000, 15,000 times. Most likely<\/p>\n
[0:07:58 Brandon Jones] it was trending like trading by the time because when I got ahold of it, like probably the day after you all posted it, it was already trending and that was it, like 1500. At that<\/p>\n
[0:08:10 Joy Melody Woods] way, and it was trending in different places to so I randomly throughout the 1st 2 days, it was like training in Canada. And then, like Randy was trending in Denver and then randomly was training in Austin and then ran away. I was turning the whole nation and like we were top 25 trending carpets, like a few hours. You know, that’s pretty big for people who didn’t plan on starting a trending topic. So, yeah, that’s how it came. And I think it just it really showed the ability and no not show that gave people the ability to like Okay, there’s strength in numbers. And now let’s talk about it because I have that, um, I always think about, you know, when you’re in a group and like you’re doing something you shouldn’t be doing take off running. It’s like they can’t catch us all like that. Things like that can fire us. You know the case because all out, Yeah.<\/p>\n
[0:09:02 Brandon Jones] So one of the things that I want to make sure I clarify is because we’ve got students that listen to this. Aren’t familiar with black in the ivory. Yeah, it and then we’ve got folks that are tenure track faculty that listens in this. We’ve got folks in student affairs all over the country. Pregnancy, um, explain to folks what black in the ivory means for those that may not be familiar with some of the in group dialogue.<\/p>\n
[0:09:30 Joy Melody Woods] Yeah. No. So, like, you know, the higher it is called the ivory tower, right? Cause it sits up on this hill and looks out and it’s supposedly this, you know, really liberal, thinking, free, creative space, right? That’s what we think with me. That’s what people who aren’t in academia State, the rest of us like, Well, um, and so there was a play on words like we’re black. And then there’s this ivory and it’s literally this white space until what isn’t me to be black in higher education. And it was a little more, you know, clever black in the ivory, right? And so what does it mean? What we experienced? What what are the experiences that we haven’t talked about? Because I’ve been very fearful. Um, and they’re not just fearful, but traumatized. I mean, some of these stories that people are telling were traumatizing. I know they were re traumatizing to tall and there’s even people saying like you know what? I support this movement. Just understand that I’m not ready to share mine because I just that healed from it. I’m not ready to re traumatize myself. And I think the outpouring in the numbers and the the just the ferocious, treacherous woman say treacherous. Okay, um, stories and things that have been done to people no one could really ignore. And that’s when people that weren’t black started being like, Oh wow! And then you have the realization of people realizing like, well, some light and non black folks realizing like I might have been the perpetrator of this and I didn’t know and those were very interesting realizations of like people saying, You know, I might have been a perpetrator of this, and I’m going to read as many of these stories as I can because I didn’t know. And I urge every last white person in white person in power and deans and shares and presidents to read this because there are things were doing that we don’t even realize, Um, and then some of them are just blaming. It’s like you know what she was doing uh, so yeah, that’s what black in the ivory is. It just created this space that was safe, even on Twitter, because it’s, you know, hit or miss with Twitter, right? And so, yeah, you just saw these horror stories And I think it gave people this solidarity of like, I wasn’t alone because for a lot of times, even through my stuff my first year, my master’s I thought I was I thought I waas there was something mentally wrong with me because no one really believed what I was saying. Like, you have your friends, right? And you’re like, Okay, we believe you, because most my friends are black and that we’re all in the academy and relate. Yeah, that I get you. But the people in power that are like, That’s not No, we didn’t do that. That’s not what I’m saying. And so it’s like this whole second guessing of yourself. And I think in that moment people were like, freed of that, like, feeling like you should be like in a padded room somewhere locked up, because, like you were, there was a one lady who said she did check herself in to a mental institution for a week. Um and she that was her black in the every story she shared because she literally thought that there was something mentally wrong with her because no one everyone was making her believe she was making it up. And that’s<\/p>\n
[0:13:04 Brandon Jones] and they’re gonna be people with As with any movement, as with any experience, there are always people that are because they don’t have the awareness or because for some of them, this was knew. What I liked about this was that this this hashtag suddenly became this anthology. It became this collection of stories which I’m a firm believer in the art of storytelling. I’m a believer in narrative and the power of collecting that narrative. You know, when I think about black family reunions, when I think of service and sororities, when I think about just going to graduate school and the camaraderie and the fellowship that that creates just to survive I appreciated about this was that these stories did just what you said. It provided solidarity for those experiencing thes traumas, but also it provided awareness to people. What’s your plan with the hashtag beyond the making sure that this collection exists But is there a plan or even Dr Davis thinking about taking this and archive and get in a way or publishing or doing something with them? Because you know how we do in the academy way? See something like this and we’re gonna be like, Oh, can we do this toe, uh, collect data in our car because I didn’t see somebody attempt that on. You know, you didn’t check that like it was about that off.<\/p>\n
[0:14:31 Joy Melody Woods] Yeah. What do you know? And in that regard, we really wanted to say, like, Hey, we see this is taking off and we know where all scholars, um don’t we can. I mean, we can’t tell you not to collect it cause it’s twitter. Uhm is open and your growth, but what we want it. What we said was, You know, if you really are saying you want to learn from this and that’s what that’s why you want a pub, it and you want people to know, then you’re learning. Needs to be. If you are a white or non black person trying to take this and publish it. What are you doing that for? Who is that helping? Because if anyone needs to publish this, if anyone wants to publish it, they need to be black or brown because these are our stories. And one of my mentors, Doctor Joel Mullen from she actually is the associate dean of health equity at U T and L Med. She told me she tweeted out to, uh she’s like, I’m gonna tweet it out. I’m not gonna tell her mom do it, but she tweeted out, you know, always remember you’re the researcher and not the researched. And and so that’s what we were really telling people of like this we’re done with you researching our trauma, but to your regard of a place to archive it. We’ve been approached by academic presses of, you know, putting to the other collection and recruiting stories from people who shared and seeing what that looks like. And, you know, apparently a lot of the black people who have shared um have asked, Hey, are you going to do a book? I should do a book. And before we do anything, just like we did with, um, you have a website now in some of the merch, we would obviously take it to take it to a pole, right? Because even because this is, we want them. We want everyone to know that this isn’t just about me and Dr Davis. This is about all of us. This is a collective right, um, insure all skin folk and careful. We understand that, but we put but broadly speaking, this is our truth. And this is Maar story. And even though people are coming to us, we’re gonna ask y’all what would you all feel if this was an academic press book and people started using it in higher ed classes? We want that feedback because if the feet the overwhelmingly is no, we we will be the same will be doing the same type of thing that others will be doing taking trauma and turning it into, you know, research. Eso There is conversations about that. We’ve been approached by quite a number of active it presses, which is cool. Um, in the sense<\/p>\n
[0:17:05 Brandon Jones] that just the business on,<\/p>\n
[0:17:06 Joy Melody Woods] yes, the business side of it. And I’m a grad student to have these academic approaches of presses like, you wanna be a do it edited collection. And I’m like, I’m just trying get a Journal article. To be honest, right? This is a lot.<\/p>\n
[0:17:21 Brandon Jones] So what would you say? Because I wanted ownership years here for what would you say to undergraduate students who are listening to this And they’re just beginning their collegiate journey. And they’re trying to figure out who they’re going to be, uh, as college students during this pandemic, at any institution, not just using, but any institution. What would you say? That those students, in the way of advice as to how to make their voices heard?<\/p>\n
[0:17:55 Joy Melody Woods] Um, you know, and I tell people that everyone is different. I I’ve grown into this person of, like I must say, it is what it is, and you can do with it what you want. That’s a you problem, not a me problem. Um, but what I will say And I think we all black, white or brown, whatever we all get caught up in trying to be something we’re not because it’s a new environment, because it’s like no one knows why. And I could be this. I could be, you know, I was a nerd in high school, cause I really was, as everyone called him. So now I’m in college and I could be, you know, uhm the cool person Do not lose yourself to try and fit in whatever that looks like. And I especially for my black people in my black women, um, the one thing that I noticed when I transferred to a PW i for undergrad and even when I was in Iowa when I first got there, um, because I did meet my husband there, and he is a black man. Praise God. Amen. But there was something that we, you feel was a black woman. If you want to marry a black man or you want to date a black man, there’s this feeling of that. You’re not enough because you don’t see a lot of black men and in the black men that you see, depending on what they look like, they’re not really checking for you. And don’t try to change and become that person that they’re trying to check for. And that’s his. And that’s where anybody Yeah, that’s for anybody but the people who need people who need to hear that they know what I mean. Because that, like, I think that’s the hardest part, right, because you want. You want that college experience, right that you’re seeing on TV or that people told you about. But for black people are college experience is completely different. And don’t try and change what you were growing up and who you are in those tenants that you learned that build you to try and fit into something that doesn’t want you. This is a business. At the end of the day, this is a business. Do I love coming to U T? Yes, I’m a Texan. Of course it was either. You know, you either go to A and M r ut. Those are the places have to attend, right to be a part of the, you know, history of Texas, but in so that’s cool. But this is a business. I came to get my degree. So always remember, this is just a path and you’re here to get your degree. Whatever that degree is in and you figure out what you’re good at. Don’t listen to other people because I spent a lot of my time listen to people. Tell me what I should do because what would make money and you know creatives don’t make money stim is where it’s at you, doctor. You need do. They told my sister my older sister, my older sister has a PhD in, um, molecular medicine, I think. Oh, wow. And then my middle sister is an m d. So I was like, OK, I’ll be laughter to everyone Thought and biology told me No, you won’t be those graves like no girl.<\/p>\n
[0:20:59 Brandon Jones] My mom is Ardian. And it took until the recruiting visit on Abilene Christian University, where she sat there listening to people tell her like, Oh, yeah, your son pretty talented, he should he he’ll do OK in graphic design. And it took until so that an actual professor told her at the end of the university, and he could actually do quite well for himself that she finally was like, whatever it is, you know. So I understand that<\/p>\n
[0:21:29 Joy Melody Woods] it also<\/p>\n
[0:21:30 Brandon Jones] said something else. I you But you dropping some major Jules and I want to make sure that everybody listening to this is picking up on that. So I want to take some time to highlight one of the things that you talked about. Yeah, you started down this conversation I want to give you a chance to unpack this more where you started sharing. About what? What? You’re here for the business on this, right? I was in a meeting the other day where some of us were talking, and one of my colleagues had said, You know, how much are we asking students to take on in addition to going to school? Especially during this time? Because right now we’re asking them to speak up. We’re asking them to make their voices heard. We’re also asking them t advocate for social justice. We’re asking them to speak out for black life, which I agree they should. But at the same time, this, those students and every student is coming here with different expectations, different experiences, different baggage, different demands on their life, their time and their energy. And so, in addition to all of that, right? No, we’re asking them to do these other things. What would you say? Toe your colleagues in higher education? My, me being one of them because I worked at this institution, right? What? What would you say to all of us who work for universities about what we’re asking students to take on In addition to going to school.<\/p>\n
[0:22:58 Joy Melody Woods] You know, it is multiple things. 11 thing, cause I was just talking Teoh Yaki Smith. Yeah, it might have mind college. And I was talking yesterday and I was like, I said something and I said, Oh, no, I said no or something. All the problems they know he’s like, I’m still learning the power. Like to say no to when I was, like knows a full sentence. Hey, laughed. I was like, No, but really no period. I don’t hear other people having to explain why they say no. Um, and especially as a woman, we explain a lot. I’ve been my you know, my advisor told me, was something one time and I was like she started explaining in the were cool. And I think that’s cool. I said, Look, it’s about so once you know, you wouldn’t have to tell me any reason. I would have said Okay, so understand that as faculty staff, you know, um, students know is a full sentence and no meaning when someone asked you because you have a supervisor, your supervisor, possibly or anybody. You proverbial have asked you to do something and you have to say No, I don’t know. And that they asked why? Because, you know, in a work situation, you might have to happen responsive. Like I just don’t think right now that’s what we need to add. I also challenged people to think of Would you have been doing all that in college? Have been successively.<\/p>\n
[0:24:20 Brandon Jones] Come on now.<\/p>\n
[0:24:21 Joy Melody Woods] And the answer most likely is No. Because if we go back and look at your CV from undergrad Well, you what? You were a part of my mama. And if you weren’t a part of all the things that you’re telling the students to be a part of been one you shouldn’t do that. Two were in a different time. And we are at a time where when my dad went to school and our grand bread with the school, they’re not saddled with the debt. I mean, they’re saddled with that, but they could still work and afford more to go to school. Right? And so we’re looking at students who have so many more things and bills to pay and, you know, like, yes for me when I was an undergrad and part of my masters until I got to my masters and got insurance. Even though I could still be on my father’s insurance, New was cheaper for me to be off because of what they would have to take out of his check. Right? I had two older sister as and all he kept my older sister on because there was gonna be a time where she needed a little bit more because he was a med school. She was insurance and he was like, You’ll find a plan that’s cheaper. So it was like, this thing of like, but where is that money? I’m sorry. Where’s the money coming from? People are understanding that, like that’s real life and so<\/p>\n
[0:25:38 Brandon Jones] another. And these are real life experiences not to cut you up there. I want I want to emphasize that because sometimes we get so far removed from the day to day experiences and lives of our students that we forget that like, hey, they’re making real life decisions and everything. And 19 just because their freshman doesn’t mean that they’re you know, we’ll talk about athletes in just a minute. But that doesn’t mean that they’re not sending money back home. That doesn’t mean that they’re not taking a piece of that pale money and making sure that the lights stay on at home. So when a pandemic hits and I can’t stay in school, come on now.<\/p>\n
[0:26:16 Joy Melody Woods] So noticed. I’m the youngest, and my older sister went Teoh TCU first and then transferred to Prairie View. And then we all have going through Pretty right. My sister, she also would help out because she was the oldest and then my other like and so it was this train of helping out. So by the time I was in college, there was no one left to help out, so I might not have been saddled with that same burden. So therefore, when it came time for me to get off my when my dad to make a decision about okay, you know, let’s someone has to get off my insurance. Well, you know, Grace isn’t making any money right now because she’s in bed school and she was given back to you. So now is your time. These are conversations, I’m sure. Yes. White white families probably have, but we know because numbers tell us that black and brown families have to have these conversations way more. And I think about my husband, who started at community college and then went to a school of Philly, graduated and then had to get a job while I was in his masters and kept Didn’t have a car for sometimes catching the bus an hour out in Philly and then catching working because he had news to have the move back in with his mom, and they both had to work to pay. But like, there’s so many things. And so when people ask, you have to take so you have to take yourself Won’t side of yourself. Be quiet. You have cheese. Agree with me. My dogs, I amen. Uh, yes, Mom, but you have to take yourself outside of yourself and sit back and ask. Okay. What are the possible one of the things that I’m doing as an adult? Right, But one of the things that I’m doing, OK, so you’re you have get you have gas, wouldn’t call. You have car insurance, you have health insurance, you have groceries, you have to eat. So what makes you think that just because you might be on administrator and a fast it might be 45 Plus, what makes you think that an 18 year old don’t have to do the same thing if you if you address everyone at this level of everyone’s probably got a lot of stuff to do? Everyone don’t have a check from Mom and Dad. You know, parents. Do you know parents do buy everything for college students? Dorms? I use my graduation, Lynn. That’s what I use, right? That’s like graduation money because everyone’s so excited You graduated. And then whatever the left is what you used to hopefully get you through the semester, right? Slumber like that. So I leave work, right? And so people don’t really. And you Do you want to buy your books? You know, I’m Celeste like, if you are an adult and works were saying that these 18 year olds who are coming in are adults as well. Then why aren’t we saying they might have adult bills<\/p>\n
[0:29:14 Brandon Jones] and see you? You can’t drop it. These jewels, man.<\/p>\n
[0:29:20 Joy Melody Woods] Oh, I just don’t like this assumption that everyone is still a child because guess at 18 you still if you still got team behind on age, your questionable but in a lot in the eyes of the government does. You’re an adult. You can vote good Lobo. Everybody in November. Anyway, you’re an adult, so we toe. If we’re saying if we’re asking students to act like adults in other areas, well, then think about what other adult issues that they might be faced with.<\/p>\n
[0:29:52 Brandon Jones] I got two questions for you before we transition to that. Medics for a second. I want to go back to the power of No, because I’ve been working in higher education since 2006.<\/p>\n
[0:30:03 Joy Melody Woods] You know, I<\/p>\n
[0:30:04 Brandon Jones] Okay, listen, I get that I get that I had some questions this morning waking up like and it wouldn’t like this in March 1 of these let these late thirties. Kidding. But one thing that you say that’s so important is what that power of? No. But in the almost 14 years I’ve been doing this, I noticed that it’s becoming more and more difficult, especially at bigger schools. Like, you know, I worked at Tennessee work the Clintons and I worked in Darlington and now here in Austin, and I’ve noticed that it is a struggle for those first year students, especially our first Jim students. Who you know are excited in this new place but will sign up for everything, will be on every executive board for every organization and struggled to narrow it. There’s and then, by October and November are burned out because they can’t meet the demands off every organization. Can you? Ricky? You I really want you to hold in on that power of no for our student listeners that are listening to this podcast right now because that that weren’t no is hard for so many<\/p>\n
[0:31:13 Joy Melody Woods] of it is hard. And I’m not the only comparable black woman perspective. I mean, we’re told to say we’re taught to be nurturers and carers about everyone, right? Um and so it’s really hard to say no, but I think about and this is first gin, especially on I’m not first in. But I could speak to the fact off other people who aren’t first and who are white. They do things. I served them, and for a long time we have been approached by black and first Gen. Students have been approached by the university, whether it’s the institution or the organizations within the institution student letter, not that were coming from a deficit meaning that we have to do all these things to catch up. And that is a work that you personally have to do in yourself to understand that you’re not coming from a deficit and you belong here. So you don’t have to do 30,000 things to prove that you belong here. And you need to You need to find some older student, a mentor on campus, somebody who look at you be like you don’t go sit down. I I have conversation like that with my friends. I’m in a group chat with black creators and were in grad school when my friends wanted to do this on something and it was a great idea. So we’re in the group chat, did it? Uh, So I called her outside the group chat, and I was like, This is a great idea of a sit down like I needed that. I said, I know you needed it because I said you just this just happened. This just happened. You need to take care of yourself. And she was like you and the Communist earlier top. But you need those people to check you. And it all comes from that imposter syndrome that we don’t belong, that they’re gonna find out they accidentally accepted me. And yes, I’m so excited. But I’m so excited. And I see all these peers doing things, so I got to make sure that I said it. So I’m always busy. Just because you see other people being always busy, you don’t know what they grades are like. You don’t know what their home life was like. You don’t know if they gotta work or not work because nine times out of 10 people who are successful quote unquote that one of those things on their plate is not there. And so we’re not coming. Just remind yourself you’re not coming from a deficit you’re coming from, you have your experiences, and that also is an institutional problem of treating people that are other quote unquote, as if they don’t know things as if we are. We need to catch up. As if African American vernacular English isn’t a thing in a dialect that is, you know, useful. And if you don’t know it, that’s where we’re coming on. Twitter said. We bilingual. I said, You’re right. Okay, we are. But thinking of it like that. So you just, you know things. You’re valued, you can learn. You don’t learn by, um, trying to do everything at once. That’s why you take it intro level, class, and then the next class, and then you build yourself up. You can’t come in jumping into advanced statistics,<\/p>\n
[0:34:29 Brandon Jones] but wait a minute, hold up. Let’s listen. I’m not I’m not trying to stop that. I will again. I want to make sure people like hearing this. I know there’s little that this might be the name of the episode. There’s levels to this there because that because there are no oh my God, there are levels to this and I don’t want you to get back on that track, but I want to make sure people pay attention to that<\/p>\n
[0:34:50 Joy Melody Woods] level.<\/p>\n
[0:34:51 Brandon Jones] Pick that thing back<\/p>\n
[0:34:52 Joy Melody Woods] their level of their A levels, and you should use your first semester to acclimated yourself, period. Even as a graduate student, I wanted to be in black. Graduate students wanted to be in Black Granderson association when I got here, but I was like I just moved from Iowa. I’m back in Austin. It’s way more expensive. I just got married in the previous march. So, like we were newlyweds and that I’m like, You know what? I’ll be out during the group chat and then next year. And don’t feel guilty about it, is it? Especially when you’re finding that community you’re like, Oh, I’m not, You know, they probably think I don’t wanna hang out the black people. Are they probably going out with this, the Mexican group of people Or, you know, the lad Next at the whole people are African Student Association, whatever it may be. But you have to realize effin right, because you matter. And we live in the society That has really told us that hustle culture is cute. House of Culture is cool hustle culture. It’s sexy, but it ain’t because when you get to be 30 you struggling.<\/p>\n
[0:36:01 Brandon Jones] I feel like you read my mail over<\/p>\n
[0:36:05 Joy Melody Woods] 27. Look,<\/p>\n
[0:36:07 Brandon Jones] think about that. That’s what so many I mean, I came from that, you know, I know everybody until I say it every episode, especially the recent with, uh, I was born in 84. So by the time I hit high school and college, we on the tail end of the gangster rap error going into the new millennium. Eso all the nineties error programming going into colleges was the save the blackmail programs, like every college was getting even our sisters behind and developing anything for black membranes with the data is showing that that women are succeeding in auto and hustle culture was getting everything go out there, prove yourself and you could look that gives birth to is professionals. Because now I want to talk to professionals that gives birds of those of us from underrepresented backgrounds that we become professionals that feel like we got to do the same thing at work. We gotta sign up every committee. We gotta go in there and over Conference eight. We got to go in there and participate in every group in there. One day we meet somebody like I had to do professionally. That says, Hey, you struggling but hostile? Carter says. Fake it till you make it. But the reality is you’re doing more damage by taking it and subscribe into that mindset rather this other than just say, you know what, I am struggling and I appreciate you know, thankfully here at UT, I’m in an environment where my support system, including my supervisor and my supervisor supervisor and are being the students is very much like, uh, I can’t do nothing with you if you don’t see how you gonna pour into those students that you love so much. But your gas tank is on heat, so I don’t know it. Don’t be coming in here on e trying to talk about self care. And you over there about to collapse.<\/p>\n
[0:37:54 Joy Melody Woods] Doctor, let’s play Smit. I was in her office. Yes, I love her so much. I check on her periodically for both Golden Girls fans. But, um, you know, I was periodically meeting with her, you know, before Corona. And it was, um it was, um I was just I have a in and out of the hospital. My first semester of graduate school because I couldn’t figure out was going on, and I was go over there and meet with her. You know, I’m really passionate about student athletes and I’m real passion about maternal health. And so I’m like, talking to when we were our plan was to talk about something and she looked at me, you know, close the door and we’re tongue and I like how you doing? And she said, You seem off. Um, what is it? And I just started crying, crying, and she said, You know, the same thing about you can’t Well, you are no use to me like I love you, but you’re no used to trying to change anything if you are hurting, if you aren’t dealing with yourself. But we have been taught and this is specifically for black people. I’m sure other cultures have, but I can’t speak Teoh. Black people have. What have we been taught? Suck it up. Deep going. We’re not We’re not slaves. We could be worse. We think about like I said that to my dad and he was like, Well, you know, when I was out, you know, they was getting sprayed down by water hoses. So, you know, you have it good. And it’s like we are never given the grace in this space to actually sit down and say, I’m not okay. I’m not well, because we have been Generally, we are reminded of the generations and the shoulders we stand upon that we’re always telling ourselves, like, you know, our ancestors did this. My answer. My great great great great grandmother was a sleigh in the So when’s the next generation was free and they registered two button all this stuff. So it’s like, this isn’t this is nothing but it iss it is. This is our something. And I hate when people try toe be like, you know, joy. Other people have it worse. And I really have to tell people. Yes, you’re correct. Other people might have it worse. But you know what? I’m not those people. So this is my worst current. And until you get to a spot and we have to get to that spot where we say this is, I’m not okay and make that normal make make that normal, make men making normal black women making normal. And I’m so thankful that, like you said, I’m so thankful that I’m around not just black women, but I my advisor who’s a white woman, was like I said, Well, I don’t know. I won’t do that. She’s like, Yeah, I don’t think you should, but you’re really good at saying no anyway, so I figured<\/p>\n
[0:40:43 Brandon Jones] you didn’t. I’m trying to fight between episode titles. This, like this levels to this or the power of no<\/p>\n
[0:40:51 Joy Melody Woods] power? No, it’s just I think that we we want to a special, more black. We want to make sure we we put on for us, right? But because I had I had a conversation with my advisor one time when I first got here of like, I just feel like I don’t wanna let you downside miss classes and emergency room. They’re trying to figure us they’re gonna let you down, because if I mess up and I’m an interpersonal and that means like there, no one can come after me because there’s only two black people interpersonal. And I want that to change. But if I mess up, then you’ll never take a chance on another black person. Well, and she was like, You know, of course, she doesn’t fully get that, But she was like, I didn’t Well, one That’s a lot of pressure to have on yourself. Yes, And she said, and I won’t. I can’t say I understand. But she said I didn’t take a chance on you because you were black student, should you belong here. And if you can’t, if you’re not healthy, then you can’t do all this amazing stuff you want to dio,<\/p>\n
[0:41:51 Brandon Jones] and I want that to be a message for every student right now who’s struggling with the idea of women to come back or stay home or to go online and all that stuff. You know, you do what you need to do, and when we wait, Oh, my gosh, that somebody just dropped in there. It’s so important to recognize we and accept you just because of one thing, like you’re here for a multitude of reasons<\/p>\n
[0:42:19 Joy Melody Woods] and it anyone tells you differently. Tell him to shut up on a business<\/p>\n
[0:42:23 Brandon Jones] rocks there, right? Let me transition this here. It’s that student athletes, right? Because you and I have. I think I was friends with you and your husband on Twitter long before we ever physically met face to face. It’s because of our interest in student athletes we share, Ah, lot of mutual friends in highlighting, you know, and and and that’s the beauty of this work. No, I thoroughly just enjoy getting to know you, your husband and our mutual friends, you know, and it’s like a week when we physically together it is a family reunion<\/p>\n
[0:43:02 Joy Melody Woods] church, too, so<\/p>\n
[0:43:03 Brandon Jones] Yes, if you click on that. And the other thing, another thing that I like about it is just the fact that, you know, we read each other’s, weren’t we check in each other. I love that.<\/p>\n
[0:43:14 Joy Melody Woods] And then I<\/p>\n
[0:43:14 Brandon Jones] talked to everyone about your interest in student athletes and where that came from because for those that might be funneling enjoy on social media, you may notice that she has a lot to say about student actors. I want people toe ghetto. I want people I want without context.<\/p>\n
[0:43:31 Joy Melody Woods] No, um, speaking of our mutual friends, I was just talking to Jen Fried today. Yeah, she shot up to doom Fried cause I’m gonna happen. One of her webinars. But she also was telling me to, like, do something of like, no girl, you need to do this. Make sure you get your money. I stopped. I was like, Come on, check me. I need that. Uh, but how about in the sports research and I’m not doing it? It’s not my main focus anymore. I just realized it was a passion, but it couldn’t carry me through. PhD. So there’s anybody listening is interested in PhD understanding. You study something that can carry you through. Um, that’s but that’s a whole another podcast. Eso I’m from Fort Worth, Texas, And, um, football is God, right? Some days it’s church football and you know, beer, right? Um, and it’s so funny that I just I know people in the league. I know people who didn’t make the league. I know people who are who were, like, you know, top recruits. Because it I’m just in Texas. Um, and I also played a ran track and played basketball. So you’re kind of in those, you know, suckles. And, um, I really was starting to think of like when I was an undergrad and even growing up a cycle one. Of course we hear these terrible stories of drug use and, um, you know, alcoholism and all this other stuff because I said when I am stressed and I want a therapy, my therapist tells me, you know, go work out, make sure you’re getting your exercise. I was other stuff and I said, Well, what happens when working out is your job? And then I thought about well, what happens to these people who have played this sport and they don’t make it. They don’t make it. They don’t get a d one offer. They don’t are. They get a deal on offer and they don’t make it to the league are they? Don’t even make it to it. Really? Don’t make it a nearly. There’s just they have their glory days of college or they can injured on. And I really just started thinking about like, I have seen too many friends, put all of their wait and eggs and one basket of like, I’m going to get a deal on offer. I’m gonna go the legal to all these things and, you know, me being the person of like, I support you because you know I’m a route for you, whatever. But when you approach them look like but But, you know, like one person of America, our professional athletes and that’s all the sports. But NASCAR included OK, and then, like you doubting me. No, I’m not doubting him to shine a I’m just trying to do you know, I’m not gonna Mac either. Some shot, you know, help you understand? Because I just learned something. The past is knowledge on and I just really started to like, get concerned of this. The mental health toll, more black men in these sports When you know this could be a controversial statements, you can edit it out if you want to. When they’re really just like the book title says $40 million slaves. Because a lot of people say, Oh, no, I used to be of the my instead of like student athletes shouldn’t be paid because you know Abbott’s I grew up here, and that’s what people said. But as I started digging and research that you get a free to green, I worked into the athletics at University of Iowa and I was like, Free what? Every holes host what you’re getting. And so I just like, What are we doing? How are they talking about it? Who are they talking to? Not just a sports psychologist. That’s performance space so they can get back out on the field, on the track or on the court. But a therapist of like like you, we already touched on a people sending money back home, people where they’re coming from, somebody dying, somebody something. People got kids just like any adult possibly could, and then you throw them into these PW eyes. And as we’re seeing us coming out in the news of different programs of like, these cultures don’t even know how to treat these people. And so they turn the alcoholism are they turned us? They turn to something that they can get because they<\/p>\n
[0:47:32 Brandon Jones] and the research supports<\/p>\n
[0:47:33 Joy Melody Woods] research, supports that. That’s just not<\/p>\n
[0:47:36 Brandon Jones] listening. This thing in a dress conjecture you got to sleep would have done research on this<\/p>\n
[0:47:42 Joy Melody Woods] is not even in here to think. Even if there had been a study done, there’s been enough. You’ll have come out and said that. Come on. So you know, we ain’t we believe you believe we believe way more for a lot. Let’s, uh and so I just was like, You know, I can’t I want to do something because I love watching football. I love I was more used to be more of a Sunday girls NFL that I just you know, one hbcu everyone Washington for a long time that I’m not ill and I love my hot guys and I still do. And that’s also that tension in Yeah, like I of course I love Texas to you, but I have been to a game. I feel a little disconnected. But, like, you know u t too, But like because I knew some of those players because I worked there because, like you, you Iowa smaller, like the stadium was right there and then there was like, where I work, you know, um and it is like, I love the sports and I will goto our football, go to gymnastics. I would you name it? I was probably going to swimming. Um, only what? I didn’t make it to probables, wrestling and maybe field hockey. Um, in silence in here, like this is I love. I love watching these people who are experts and elite and they trained in their discipline, but, like, are they taking care of their mental health? And that’s really where it all came from and why I’m passionate about it and why I yell on social media about it because it’s like I know what it’s like to be silenced. I know what it’s like not to speak her truth and then still have the function at a high level and then be second guessed when you speaking your truth.<\/p>\n
[0:49:24 Brandon Jones] And I think that That’s the part that a lot of people, especially given the activism, which I want to talk to you about next, Given the levels of activism that we’re seeing more of this particular year, especially within the last 3 to 4 months from our student athletes are especially are black student athletes. But that’s that. You talked about that tension. You talked about that. You know I love the school. I love this sport, but I can’t ignore the inequities. I can’t ignore the fact that I know what’s going on with him or her or doom, and I know that they’re not expressing that to 81. And I know that they haven’t told anybody in the athletic department about what they’re struggling with. And so in performance politicals, they’re gonna blame it on strength training or something like that. We need reality is you know, as one of my participants said in my dissertation, my grandma just died like, How can you really expect me to be in here and go hit this dude? And my mind is 400 miles across the country, so you but you want me to be active and engaged. And so when those fans,<\/p>\n
[0:50:32 Joy Melody Woods] and I’d say that’s to help magnet it. And this is when I really got interested in was, um um Rice. They think the guy An elevator, right? And then we heard all these other stories of domestic violence, right? And I’m like<\/p>\n
[0:50:47 Brandon Jones] Ray Rice, right?<\/p>\n
[0:50:48 Joy Melody Woods] Ready girls like<\/p>\n
[0:50:50 Brandon Jones] Baltimore Ravens,<\/p>\n
[0:50:51 Joy Melody Woods] right? I was like, That’s not Jerry. That’s the other one. Uh, but I’m senior light. I’m not condoning domestic violence, but this is what I do. This is what I would say. Wait a minute. So even tell me that Wendy’s boys gunmen goto work out there told to imagine being angry so they can make another weight goal. To make another, you make another personal record of lifting weights. And then you told him to imagine being angry and run somebody off the field, and then they’re just angry. And that’s your job. And you’ve also been passed along throughout the education system because studies do show that as well. If I’ve watched it happen of all your failing. But we need you for this playoff game, we’ll just go ahead and, you know, maybe a 70. We’ll get you. There has never been You’ve never been told. No, because And you’ve also been kicking people sits five years old and that we already know Study show your brain is nowhere near developed a five, much less 17. 19. So here you are never been told No, that playing this violent sport. And then you’re met with someone that said no,<\/p>\n
[0:52:05 Brandon Jones] it is actively resisting<\/p>\n
[0:52:07 Joy Melody Woods] are actively resisting you in the only way that you have been taught to solve in resolve conflict is by running people over. Well, I said, Well, what do we think? What happened? And that was like another piece of why I got into was like, It’s wrong as all get out. But we need to address this system in place because we are training black men and black women not to address emotions<\/p>\n
[0:52:40 Brandon Jones] and his mental health state as well. Because the truth of the matter is, we didn’t It didn’t get released what he himself had been actively dealing with during that time. And so as a result, whenever I present and whenever I do workshops, I’m very careful to talk to the coaches and administrators About what I’ve what I call that, that this village concept right because if it takes, we say it takes a village to raise a child. It’s gonna take that same village to nurture and develop them into and through adult looted from the cradle to the grave. And so it can’t be. We can’t be hate to make a political, but here it is. Um, we can’t be pro life. And then when the life is<\/p>\n
[0:53:22 Joy Melody Woods] here, don’t matter. Come on,<\/p>\n
[0:53:24 Brandon Jones] you gotta hear about that life from the womb to the tomb.<\/p>\n
[0:53:27 Joy Melody Woods] And honestly, I don’t as people who disagree. That’s not that’s not political. That’s honest, because we have to understand that my life, this is where black lives matter and activism comes in. My, we’re not saying no other lives matter weirdness, holding up a mirror to your system and saying, You see this? We apparently don’t matter to you and it. Sure, when we have these coaches go into families and recruit and say, you know, it’s like a family. When we come up here, we’re gonna take care of your boy. We don’t take care of yourself. It did indeed, and and and they spoil him and they show him all they show him, like the you know the world and they show him the secret vault of all the fun on recruitment we kid and they make sure the people who might dissent I am around. And then when? When when they come Oh, it’s like he was on the first day. We all know we put the we put on our good shoes and a good she’ll be I am We actually, you know, you might shower that day. I don’t know what you do, but, uh, but that’s what goes on. And so I just I was just like, you know, again, we’re coming. We’re treating people like they’re coming from a deficit mindset like conduct their deficit. But also, why are we saying that we’re Onley allowing these men to come here under these pre Ted’s<\/p>\n
[0:54:55 Brandon Jones] voices? Or that their voices<\/p>\n
[0:54:57 Joy Melody Woods] don’t matter and lessen yelling? What the play is on the field or on the court? And I think what you saw me present, I don’t know if you were Were you there when I presented at the black student athlete,<\/p>\n
[0:55:08 Brandon Jones] I actually had to get up to go do it. My own other presentation. Literally. I called your name You went to the polio and I had to go. Yeah, you’re a piece of<\/p>\n
[0:55:18 Joy Melody Woods] presented on like I dug in the archives of the University of Iowa. That’s where did my masters of the president it for class about. There was a quote unquote protests the the same time. I was a little bit like the summer before the lipid protests by the black football players because they were there and they weren’t allowed to eat Monk camp is they weren’t what we call now the Afro house on campus. It’s that’s what it is called Africa Drill Center. It was a real house. He will usually go live there. Um, and they were like, what? Tired of this. We’re not getting treated fairly. They couldn’t hang out with non black student athletes because the coach, you know, basically I was like, you know, they’re troublemakers And, um, it was just a lot of the archives I’ve dug in the archives. I found reports. I found news reports. I found documents of people’s interviews, just stuff that was out there that was said by these players during that time. And that’s kind of what I presented on of like this entrance convert interest convergence of, you know, um, they’re only allowed here really allowing these big black bodies here because they sort of our interests. But we’ll tell them we’re also serving their interests by saying they’re going to get a degree and so injected. Now say, that’s just a full circle of, like, this passion of like I just didn’t want I want it black bodies, especially black male bodies. Because those are the ones that are part of the revenue generating sports. Because patriarchy and sexism, No one really cares about women’s basketball, Apparently. But that’s a whole another thing.<\/p>\n
[0:56:56 Brandon Jones] I worked at Tennessee. They cared about limits.<\/p>\n
[0:56:59 Joy Melody Woods] Yeah, I e<\/p>\n
[0:57:01 Brandon Jones] That something got a hold<\/p>\n
[0:57:04 Joy Melody Woods] it in my state overarching You, right? No. Human is the WMD a, um And I just wanted to I wanted to give blag boys and men the knowledge to make an informed decision because I think what happens is at the end of the day, because you’re like, Well, they know what they signed up for. Another. Don’t Do you know what you were signing when you were 18? Because I guarantee you ain’t read your housing contract.<\/p>\n
[0:57:28 Brandon Jones] Well, it was It was just a letter of intent. That thing got a whole lot of language in there, right?<\/p>\n
[0:57:33 Joy Melody Woods] And you and I were talking about you, make you These players didn’t have their own attorneys now, so it’s like all these things, always like people say they knew what they were signing. No, they didn’t. Because if they get an attorney than they’re not on amateur anymore and they’re not a amateur, they can’t play. So you gotta have someone in your family that just might know what that word means. So anyway, that’s why I got. And that’s why I like it’s my passion and I’ll still do work on the side. But now I do a black maternal health.<\/p>\n
[0:58:04 Brandon Jones] Well, I appreciate that. And thank you so much for all the wisdom that you shared, what I want to do now is give you an opportunity just to kind of talk about any upcoming projects you got. How if people want to find out more about black in the ivory? I know you got merchandise now. You gotta hope you got a whole thing going with you. And I love it. And I want to get you a chance to plug that You sold it If people it back with your list and I want to know mawr their students who wanna who are trying to find their activists voice, um, give you a chance to kind of close us out there.<\/p>\n
[0:58:38 Joy Melody Woods] Yeah, so black in the ivory. You could find us at black in the every dot com real simple. And we also bought any of the neck like the three names that might be similar to that. So noting coop like black in the ivory tower, black being black. No, we bottom. You can’t happen. You’re welcome. Um, also black in the every dot com where you can find us. You. If there’s the origin story on there, there’s about me. And there’s about Dr Davis and she’s pretty. She still just fellowship about the fellowship she stays getting, um, and then we have the grab support black graduate student support on there. And so what that is is soon. I hope maybe in the next two weeks will open the Google for him back up. But we have a global foreign for black graduate students who go submit their name. The program have a programmer in and then the way they, like, accept payment, paid how Venmo cash up or Hartsell. And then this spreadsheet was posted. And if you want to just less a graduate student, you can bless them directly because a lot of what we’re talking about is you’re asking us to solve a problem that you’re not paying us. And so we closed the Google floor. I’m just because it was you got so many and we wanted to make sure more people are getting paid. Um, and then we would open it back up. So we’re gonna do that soon. That is housed on the black and the every website under resource is, um, you can also find march. So there is typical black and the I re stuff. This is back in ivory. And then there’s 23 merchandise that two of them. We did a poll and we let I said, Hey, what would John Funny sayings, which I would want. And so people submitted stuff on Twitter and then we I did basically a poll of like, Adam Head all and so there’s a mug that says not the diversity hire because we always get talked over the never see higher. And there’s another one that everyone like called. I don’t do potlucks on so and then the 3rd 1 is a lot of, um, um, white and non black colleagues and, you know, people who are like we’ve been donating, he support, like, you know, we want merch because I just like t shirts and I feel weird when black and the Ivies air, you know, Are you gonna create anything that’s different if not let schools s so weak? Uh, girl, that is a PC student in art at Northwestern That I’m a colleague with was like I said, you give me an idea, like, what would you say? Because you’re really good at this. And she was like, um, actions over ally ship<\/p>\n
[1:01:01 Brandon Jones] love that way. A little<\/p>\n
[1:01:08 Joy Melody Woods] bit division sign over Ally ship. And so that one has moved up to, like, second best seller, the not<\/p>\n
[1:01:16 Brandon Jones] allowed out alone.<\/p>\n
[1:01:17 Joy Melody Woods] Well, hopefully we the distributors don’t You already had to, like, change distributors because we’re getting out of sizes. Yeah. So, um, there’s there’s merch and so partly you can also donate on there too, if you are you. If you’re out of your international or you can’t figure out how to do all the pay, pal. And all that stuff you can just donate, um, and then a portion of the proceeds we have in the term we haven’t said what portion, but a portion of proceeds will go back to given to a student because, yes, we’re doing the work and obviously want, you know, we would not to miss a make a profit like we gotta pay us to. This is a lot of work to upkeep the website. Hard active every day. Yeah, but also, we want to get back. And so, um, we’ve we’ve only been up a week, and we have sold almost $1000 worth stuff. Um oh, and stuff gets rolling in every day and, uh oh, in their stickers to with our little logo. And so there’s something that’s cheap. Us $3 to something as expensive ists, which is most expensive being of sweatshirts, like 35. Um, and so yeah. Yeah, which is reasonable. Um, and we’re not out here gouging, and we’re still giving back and we hope to have if you if you tweet something like that, you need like way Retweet. If you’re collecting participants for studies, we retweet. If there’s a job application that someone put like, Hey, we’re hiring someone first retweeting with the hash tag and then our actual Twitter page retweets it. So we’re really just trying to be a voice and just a amplifying station for people. And we hope that, um, we hope to do more. You know what I would hope? And I talked to Dr Davis about this. You don’t know what is going to come, but I would love to do a black in the every book club because I read so much and so I can handle that and just figuring out ways that we could support faculty, students, administrators, staff, anybody that’s black within the within the institution. And I have to say that others don’t matter because we always I know I was our circle back to that because someone will be like, Don’t else matters. No, everyone matter that this is for us, Um, because we know<\/p>\n
[1:03:31 Brandon Jones] we’re amplify. Ah, voice that my little low.<\/p>\n
[1:03:37 Joy Melody Woods] And as a black graduate student, you know, numbers and research so that we take longer to finish because we’re not properly supported. Um and especially I love ut, but thinking about especially at UT. Um, if you’re not in stim, your graduate student stipend is $15,000. So thinking about that on and spread that out over a year, um, in the pants and make it something like, Well, you know, you chose to cut down on the mountain, are you? Get a roommate and I’m blessed to be able to have a two income household. But there’s others who aren’t in understanding that, um, this is local. Like you said, a village. This is Ah, collective. This is, um we help each other out. We want to be able to have maybe set up mentor ships. People confined people and have directories of like, you know, I just think people don’t understand the value in the extra labour that black people do. Mom and institution. And so, um, like your podcasts, you’re part of your job. But like, you don’t have to do this, But you want to find people to amplify. You know, Dr LaToya Smith didn’t have to talk to, like, done have talked to me. She have to let me cry. Just hand me a box of Kleenex. Um, and Dr Lily didn’t have to meet with me when I met with her. And when I meet here, um, or doesn’t have to answer my message. One of my take. How you doing? There you are. Um, but so just thinking like, there are ways for you to support us on, and we want institutional change, but we understand that’s a That’s a process. And so, if you wanna go on black in the ivory and donate to a graduate student, donate to the website for the upkeep and for the work that Dr Anne Davis and I are doing, you know, And, um you want him all of our twitter information. Is there all of our personal twitter information? They want to follow me. You can. I’m loud. I’m reckless, huh? I’m still doing. I just I’m trying to get a free pellet on bike, but they’re not listening. Uh, I mean, you know, I’m still human, so yes, I talk about systems, but I also talk about like, why are they doing construction at 6 a.m. In the morning at my apartment complex? No, I’m still in<\/p>\n
[1:05:52 Brandon Jones] the person. Still Yes, Thank you so much for taking time with way we’ll be keeping up. We’ll be keeping up with everything. So<\/p>\n
[1:06:02 Joy Melody Woods] I know where to find you. Well, I mean, I go find your personal I know. I do know where to five.<\/p>\n
[1:06:08 Brandon Jones] Thank you very much. We hope you enjoyed today’s episode to catch the next instalment. Be sure to follow us on Spotify apple podcasts, Google podcasts and stitcher. We’ll see you next time<\/p>\n"},"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2022\/03\/LIVE-logo-TPN.png","download_link":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/podcast-download\/67\/episode-6-activism-and-the-power-of-no.mp3","player_link":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/podcast-player\/67\/episode-6-activism-and-the-power-of-no.mp3","audio_player":"