Stacie Freasier: 00:35

What are you gonna do after the rally? I know that's right up your alley. But when the folks are gone, you feel like you can't go on. When the marching is through, what are you gonna do? Head for home.

Stacie Freasier: 00:59

That's a wrap. Walk your dope. Take a nap. We need you at your very best. You don't have to quit, but you have to rest.

Stacie Freasier: 01:16

What are you gonna do after you write those letters? I know that makes you feel a little better. They may do some good, so we can always hope they would somehow. Oh, but what are you gonna do now? Eat a bowl of ice cream, unplug the TV, go out in the garden, climb a tree.

Stacie Freasier: 01:46

I know you wanna get it off of your chest, honey. You don't have to quit. Oh, but you have to rest. What are you gonna do when you leave the voting booth? That's when they told us we would learn the truth.

Stacie Freasier: 02:04

But when the counting is done, or whether you've lost or won, when that scoundrel takes a bow, what are you gonna do now? Try your hand at haiku, meditate, daydream, hurry up and wait. Feed the birds, feather your nest. You don't have to quit. But you know what to do.

Stacie Freasier: 02:37

Yeah. What are you gonna do to keep your mind open? What are you gonna do to keep your heart open? How will you stay engaged when another war is waged? Maybe it's the same old coup.

Stacie Freasier: 02:56

What are you gonna do? Now when you've rested and you got your second wind, get back out there. Grab a friend and make sure you tell them the lessons you learned to keep your fire burning without getting burned. Talking to you, Stacy.

Stacie Freasier: 03:24

Oh, thank you, Lisa. I'm going to continue my yoga, bodywork, and weekly qigong to keep my fire burning. Alright. Thanks for asking. Welcome, y'all.

Stacie Freasier: 03:35

You are listening to another month of nonviolent, Austin Radio Hour. We are part of the Austin Cooperative Hour, which is a collection of Austin centric news and public affairs programs covering diverse topics, and our specific purpose and topic is to educate and engage our listeners on the principles and practice of nonviolence as an active source for personal, social, and political change. I am joined monthly by either or and brother Jim Crosby and brother Robert Tyrone Lilly, who is, here in spirit only today. He's heading to Dallas for a conference with his mentor. And I have two lovely human beings who I call friends and comrades, Lisa Rogers, who you just heard grace us with her musical gifts, and Jill Henderson, who is a nonviolent Austin, Kengan nonviolence trainer.

Stacie Freasier: 04:43

So, and and many other things which she's gonna share with us today. So with that said, I will say that the views expressed here are not necessarily those of Co op Radio or its board of directors, volunteers, staff, or underwriters. We are I came into this whole fold many, many years ago and probably lifetimes ago, but concretely, because Jim Crosby, had started Nonviolent Austin here. And Nonviolent Austin is a is rolls up to a a mother organization called Pache Bene Nonviolence Service. And Pache Bene, I'm serving as the development director for Pache Bene now as of February.

Stacie Freasier: 05:32

And I just wanted some to give a little bit

Stacie Freasier: 05:35

of light to Pachy Benne itself because there I have some amazing colleagues there, including Rivera Sun, who along with Ken

Stacie Freasier: 05:47

Boutigan, a series recently called Rise and Shine. And the sub line is, it's resistance time. And so if you're interested in these alarming times, the invitation from Pache Benet is to rise to the challenges and shine with love, truth, and the power of active nonviolence. If to learn more, pachebene.org. That's paceebene.0rg.

Stacie Freasier: 06:24

And you can always call the studio or ask a friend to connect with Stacy, and I can give you more information about that. Alright. That was just a big old ramble, but I feel like it was all important. So I don't know about y'all. Let's let's do a quick round robin check-in.

Stacie Freasier: 06:41

Lisa, one word that you want to bring into the room as a centering word.

Stacie Freasier: 06:52

Resister.

Stacie Freasier: 06:55

Resister. Jim?

Jim Crosby: 06:57

Two words or names, and I'll go into it further later. John Lewis.

Stacie Freasier: 07:01

John Lewis. Jill? Focus.

Stacie Freasier: 07:05

Focus.

Stacie Freasier: 07:08

Alright. So evoking those words to guide us through this next hour. I will say my word is gonna be steadiness. Has been for a while now and will continue to be. So let's

Jim Crosby: 07:24

go Stacie. Steady ahead.

Stacie Freasier: 07:26

Steady. Stay the course. So let's go next to what feels like a very long time ago, but it was only a matter of weeks ago that Jill, you and I, embarked on it keeps coming up in my mind as a pilgrimage to Selma. And wanna share that, our experiences with folks, for a moment here. Jim, you please chime in on this because you have, you've been to Selma too with me for our level two training.

Stacie Freasier: 08:00

So Jill, welcome.

Jill Henderson: 08:02

Thank you, Stacy. Stacy. I would just say that the experience that we had was a pilgrimage. It was something that I will never forget and my husband will never forget because we were Let's get

Stacie Freasier: 08:19

you a little louder so the folks can hear. Get a little closer to the mic. It's like an uncomfortable distance to the to the microphone in here.

Jill Henderson: 08:26

Is that better?

Stacie Freasier: 08:26

Yeah. That's better.

Jill Henderson: 08:27

Okay. Okay. Sorry about that. So, yeah. It was definitely a pilgrimage and one that my husband, Phil, and myself will never forget.

Jill Henderson: 08:36

I am so thankful that we met and you invited me and that I on a whim said, yeah, that sounds like something I would like to do because it is definitely aligned with what we do in our organization. So we needed to experience that firsthand. So thank you.

Stacie Freasier: 08:57

Thank you. Thank you for being the first yes. You really did take a leap of faith. And for my nonviolence journey, leaps of faith are a a requirement. Kingian principle number one is nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people.

Stacie Freasier: 09:18

And so, Jim, how

Jim Crosby: 09:20

I wanna ask you, were there for about a week, and I was there in October for the level two training, one of the great things for me, experiences, was just being around Doctor. Bernard Lafayette. So I wanted to know if you kind of go through the week, what were your impressions of Doc as you were trained by him?

Jill Henderson: 09:41

Yeah, that's a good question, Jim. We were overwhelmed with the knowledge that he had. I mean, was nothing you could get in a textbook. I mean, there's no textbook that you could ever get that wealth of knowledge from. And even his wife, I mean, they have the best warm welcoming spirits.

Jill Henderson: 10:01

But then the wealth of, knowledge that they shared with us about their personal experiences. We had the honor of going to dinner with them to learn more about what they do and how they walked through the civil rights journey. So I would say that that was one of the most powerful pieces of it is to actually learn from a foot soldier. Thank you.

Jim Crosby: 10:25

Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. I'd like to know from both of y'all what what the, you know, I know you wound up being able to do celebrate the sixtieth anniversary ride and and do the the bridge walk. So what what was the course of the week?

Stacie Freasier: 10:42

Yeah. Well, I have an answer for that because I created an itinerary and just, you know, I I I really care about this stuff. So I I put my heart and soul into making sure that the the the five folks who traveled, with me this time had, as few barriers as possible to, getting that quality time with Doc and mama Kate, Bulls Lafayette. And, so we started we spent all five, days in the classroom in Selma, and we stayed in Montgomery. So it was early rising and strange gifts.

Stacie Freasier: 11:24

There was a military base near our Airbnb, and we heard the call, the every morning. Every morning. Every morning. So, you know, we were What time? That's the question.

Stacie Freasier: 11:36

We we were foot soldiers for the for the movement. Right. So, yeah. So so we got up out of our barracks and made the one hour drive to Selma every morning and started about 9AM and then we were with the Selma Center for Nonviolence Truth Reconciliation till, end of day, and then, made the the journey back. And then starting on, Thursday this year, was the historic mass meeting at the Historic Tabernacle Baptist Church.

Stacie Freasier: 12:10

And this was a the meeting place for the movement, leading up to well, through all the campaigns, including the Bloody Sunday, march across the bridge. And so that was a deeply moving service, mass meeting. And, Jill, what was your memory or recollection of of mass meeting?

Jill Henderson: 12:33

I thought it was really powerful, and I remember the fun fact that we learned. The door that we went through was the side back door, I guess you call it, and that was the door that they had to enter during the civil rights era because they couldn't go through the front door. So just learning all of those little quirky things that happened back then made it even more meaningful. And let me just say that Stacy was the hostess with the mostess because this itinerary was like immaculate. It was just wonderful.

Jill Henderson: 13:07

It was like a huge spreadsheet of like minute by minute play, and then she got up every morning and well, no. Every night before we went to bed, she made the coffee, which was ground coffee, ready to go, timed. So and picked the perfect location. So everything was just it was it was amazing.

Stacie Freasier: 13:28

So regarding the coffee, that's what I call self-service in the service of others. Thank you for that compliment. So then on, Thursday to up to Sunday morning, there were so many events that we couldn't possibly attend. And this happens every single year for Jubilee in Selma. And so the group, I don't remember if we stayed together the whole time.

Stacie Freasier: 13:58

I think brother Rob, attended a couple of events on the side, but we did, in Montgomery, visit the Equal Justice Initiative, which I have a shirt on right now from the gift shop, and that says, injustice prevails where hopelessness persists.

Jim Crosby: 14:16

Hope

Stacie Freasier: 14:17

is your superpower.

Jim Crosby: 14:21

Tell us a little bit, y'all, about Anika and the staff and the the relation the the way she and Doc, in particular, divided the training?

Stacie Freasier: 14:31

Yeah. So Iinka Iinka Jackson Iinka Jackson Sanders is the founding executive director of the Selma Center, and Doc Bernard Lafayette is the founding board chair. And, you know, the Selma Center was created to as part of marching orders from Martin Luther King Junior specifically to Doc to institutionalize and internationalize Kingian nonviolence. And so Doc and Ainka, Ainka in in her own right is such a movement leader. She is an attorney.

Stacie Freasier: 15:13

She has done many she was a public defender. Her parents are have devoted their lives to the civil rights movement. And so it's really lovely, the the the interaction between Doc and Iinka. Doc is telling, infusing the training with his personal stories of how nonviolence resistance, the the will and the skills literally saved his life on multiple occasions. And he goes into detail as to in that moment how Kenyan nonviolence can do that.

Stacie Freasier: 15:53

And so he's he's the storyteller, oracle, living legend in the room, and Iinka has, I would say, does both a great job of being an ambassador and an evangelist for why it's important for Selma to be invested in today and beyond and why we this is not something that the that happened in history. This is still relevant as ever. And so, Iinka and then I also have to give a shout out to Nikisha Tilton, who is the, programs director at the Selma Center. Nikisha is making sure everybody checks in every day, has their handouts. We she keeps us on track and all the way to the point of making sure everybody gets their training certificate at the end of the week.

Stacie Freasier: 16:45

And so, since we're talking about Selma Center, I actually just received word, that we the Selma Center has a racial equity training tomorrow, from eleven to two. And that is actually how I entered into relationship with Selma Center was not through Kenyan nonviolence, but was from this workshop that is happening tomorrow, which is, beyond divide and conquer. So, Selma Center is selmacntr.0rg, if you're interested in

Jim Crosby: 17:21

So that's online.

Stacie Freasier: 17:23

It's online tomorrow from eleven to two. And that's again, that that was the seed planted for me to do everything including be have it creating this radio show.

Jim Crosby: 17:33

And the full name, folks, is the Selma Center for Nonviolence Truth and Reconciliation.

Stacie Freasier: 17:37

That's right.

Jill Henderson: 17:38

Yeah. And there's no fee. Right, Stacy? It's free.

Stacie Freasier: 17:41

It is I believe so. But I think have that at fingertip. And and the registrations, are barrier the barrier of cost should not be there. And so all of the registration fees are going as donations to the Selma Center in the gift economy. So yes.

Stacie Freasier: 18:03

So back to our trip. So, yeah, Equal Justice Initiative is Brian Stevenson who wrote, Just Mercy and has devoted his life to, helping, specifically, folks of color who are incarcerated and facing death row penalties without adequate representation. And so the legacy sites continue to expand in Downtown Montgomery, and they are beyond words in describing how powerful that is, for everyone regardless of their location to racism. For white folks, it's, it's, you know, important for us to face the truth and to reconcile and to heal together. So Jill, what was your experience of the EJI and the legacy sites?

Jill Henderson: 19:01

Yeah. That was really, really, really spectacular because it's not something that you can describe in words. It's really something you have to experience. And I will say we thought we could do it in a day. There's no way to really do it in a day.

Jill Henderson: 19:20

It takes several days to get it done. And so we're all talking about going back in October to get our level two. So I think we're gonna have to plan, like, a day ahead and a day after so we can really absorb everything. And I think one of their new locations will be open by then as well. Like you said, the expansion is continuing, which is wonderful.

Stacie Freasier: 19:41

Yeah. If you're just tuning in, you are listening to ninety one point seven FM Co op Community Radio. Thanks for y'all who are not, within our radio frequency listening online, k00p.0rg. We stream, everywhere. And, we will also have this show available on the Co op website afterwards, and I pull it and archive it and share it out, within the organizing community on the channels I can too.

Stacie Freasier: 20:10

So wanna just get our get this information out to as many people as possible. Jill Henderson has been, our guest, and my colleague, comrade, friend, co traveler to Selma, Alabama for the sixtieth anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the passage of the 1965, civil rights act. So, Jim, do you have any I'm looking at you because you weren't with us there, but you were certainly there in spirit the whole time.

Jim Crosby: 20:46

Well, as I said, I think at the potluck, a Sunday night or two ago, you know, I'm really thinking of it as being becoming as we do this and pursue this and especially in relationship with the Selma Center, part of a legacy, you know, and just that the tacit learning from somebody like Doctor. Lafayette just is totally inspirational. And Jill, I want to give you the chance to say, okay, what's it out most of the week and how you see it affecting your life and work going forward?

Jill Henderson: 21:17

Oh, that's good. So the whole concept to me can be boiled down to one word, and it's love. And so that's my overall word for everything is love, because I think love helps people heal. So I think it just bridges into the way everything is happening these days. People are really hurting.

Jill Henderson: 21:37

There are a lot of people that have lost their hope. And so just finding a way to take this training to the next level with Jim and Stacy and the others that traveled with us, and hopefully doing some type of sister partnership with the Selma Center so that we can start to expand into Texas where we know there are so many people that need this information, but also need to have that hope that you learn through this training.

Jim Crosby: 22:04

Yeah. I'm I'm really excited to hear that you and others may be thinking about going back in October and getting the more of us that can get the level two training and and train others would be great.

Stacie Freasier: 22:13

Mhmm. And, to give voice to those who are not in the room today, Rayna Gradford, is also now a level one trained Kingian nonviolence conflict reconciliation trainer and went with us on the trip. And Rayna is the daughter of Judy Gradford, who is one of our closest comrades in nonviolent Austin. So

Stacie Freasier: 22:35

I'm curious to know when y'all are gonna bring this training home. Mhmm.

Stacie Freasier: 22:40

Good question. So we have floated some well, first of all, I will say I've been reflecting on this. I've been taking my breath from going, because it, it it is a big commitment. And so that that that sense of, importance is certainly there. That sense of urgency, we have to move at the speed that we are able to sustain ourselves, and, and that is something that I'm being mindful about.

Stacie Freasier: 23:19

We have Reyna

Jim Crosby: 23:20

In in accord with Lisa's opening song.

Stacie Freasier: 23:22

Exactly. Reyna is a works in AISD in a local high school as a restorative practices practitioner. And, I imagine the short answer is I don't know the exact date yet. The longer answer is, gosh. We are all out there doing working the principles and the steps in the way that we're all moving individually through the world.

Stacie Freasier: 23:51

Brother Rob is a tireless advocate for a number of causes. You know, his biggest cause is a direct reflection of reflection of of his lived experience, but to end incarceration and to, you know, ensure that that, you know, access that that comes about. And Jill and Phil, this is probably a great time, a good segue to say talk about Bakari Foundation a little bit. And Jill has been on my show on racism on the levels in the past and unfolded this story a bit more, but tell us a snippet of what Bakari Foundation is and what you're working on, what's coming up.

Jill Henderson: 24:36

Okay. So the Bakari Foundation is a foundation that was, I guess, conceptualized out of the murder of our son Bakari, who was murdered in Greece in 2017. And now what we do because he was a recent graduate over there trying to really, get his clothesline off the ground, we decided to continue his legacy. And we launched the clothesline, but also we have launched a hand, which is a helping hand, so to speak, which is the foundation. So, anything purchased from the Cari luxury resort, so it goes into the foundation.

Jill Henderson: 25:16

But the foundation also has taken on a whole life of its own, and we take families who've lost loved ones at the hands of another on a healing retreat. And we take a licensed therapist with us and it's a whole experience. It's not a vacation. It's a healing experience. And it's for seven days at no cost to the families.

Jill Henderson: 25:35

And then we also do financial literacy and entrepreneurship for underrepresented youth here in Austin, mental health advocacy. And this is one of our principles is to eradicate hate. And so this training really does speak to the core of who we are. And we feel like you have to eradicate hate by healing people so that healed people can heal people instead of having more hurt people hurt people. So that's what we do.

Jill Henderson: 26:03

Then we have an event coming up like Stacy said.

Stacie Freasier: 26:06

Let's say three events. Walk us through the weekend.

Stacie Freasier: 26:08

Walk

Stacie Freasier: 26:09

us through the That's true.

Jill Henderson: 26:10

It is three events. One price gets you three things. So starting on April 11, we're having the pre party, which is at Speakeasy from seven to eleven. And then on and we'll have food first hour and a half, I think, is open bar also. And then on Saturday is our main fundraiser, our gala, which is at the Archer Hotel, and that's also from seven to eleven.

Jill Henderson: 26:39

You'll have food and entertainment, silent auction, live auction, all kinds of fun things. And then on Sunday, we have our very first healing event. It's called leave a legacy of love, health and healing event. And it's from one to four at the Central Austin Library. And that's free to the public, so you don't even have to buy a ticket or anything to go to that.

Jill Henderson: 27:08

Anyone can go. And Stacy is gonna be there with table for nonviolent Austin. So we can get sign ups to answer Lisa's question about when do people want to see this training and, you know, where can we possibly host it?

Stacie Freasier: 27:24

So yes. And, I haven't even begun to say, well, I've I've committed. I will be there with my table, and and I hope because some of my comrades, will also join me, at least a couple folks, to be able to show that, you know, Nonviolent Austin, we are a participatory grassroots organization. We are flat. We are volunteer led, and we are many people.

Stacie Freasier: 27:49

And we all oscillate in our you know, we show up when we can and we respect each other in terms of, you know, show up when you can, right?

Jim Crosby: 28:00

And you can tell we're itching to get nonviolence training spread around. So in answer to Lisa's question a while ago, I think anybody out there that's got a group of eight to 10 people or more contact us, whether it's via the Nonviolent Austin Facebook page or however. And yeah, let's get some training going.

Jill Henderson: 28:19

Yeah. So Can I also add that we when we traveled to Selma, there was a group of I think it was, like, six to eight students from high school students from New York? And they're gonna be doing, like a recap of their training virtually, and people can sign up. I don't remember the exact date. It's this week.

Jill Henderson: 28:39

I think it's

Stacie Freasier: 28:40

It's Friday. Yeah. Tomorrow. Tomorrow's Friday.

Jill Henderson: 28:43

I know. Know. Tomorrow's a busy day.

Stacie Freasier: 28:45

And, yes, Jose Pineda is the level two,

Stacie Freasier: 28:49

I don't

Stacie Freasier: 28:49

know if he's level two, but he's been with me in every training in Selma since I've been there. It is and it's on Eventbrite, and it's called After Selma Building the Beloved Community. It's free to attend, and, it's an online event. And the you can find it by, it's organized by After Incarceration. So Jose was also incarcerated for many years at a very young age, and he, came out of his, incarceration and became a Selma trainer.

Stacie Freasier: 29:27

And he is my role model and inspiration to even think and try to bring a group with me to Selma. And so I appreciate you sharing that, Jill. So, yeah, look up after incarceration on Eventbrite if you're interested in attending that report out. And it's gonna have some of the kids like like like Jill mentioned. It was really lovely to see multigenerational group in the room.

Stacie Freasier: 29:53

Also, Jose mentioned that he might want to coordinate and come down with one or two of the kids when we offer our training, our two day core. And so I think that that would just be lovely continuing to build bridges across geography with that concept of creating sister, sibling centers to the Selma Center.

Jill Henderson: 30:19

Yeah. I agree because the youth have to be involved in order to keep any movement going. Right now, I think they've been kinda silenced. So we need to let them lift their voices.

Jim Crosby: 30:32

Let me interject just for a second. People out there may be feeling more need for content of what these trainings are we're talking about, and I was so impressed when I I did online the the level one, and it basically focuses on Montgomery, the bus boycott, and then the Birmingham campaign in the civil rights movement, and then Selma nineteen sixty five. And then the follow-up, the level two training, really focuses, as we have in some of our former radio shows, on the six principles and the six steps of kinging and nonviolence. So just to give you a little more sense of what it is we're talking about and how amazing the history of it is, the development, and how energizing it is to begin to experiment with it in your life.

Stacie Freasier: 31:22

Thank you for saying that and bringing more and more folks into, what we're talking about. Jill, I brought with me your book. So I just wanted you to talk for a minute about your book. Okay.

Jill Henderson: 31:39

I, well, reluctantly wrote a forty day devotional on forgiveness. And I say reluctantly because it was probably a seven year process because I was fighting with God to not have to do that because I'm a very private person, would say. And so sharing things publicly like that was, quite a challenge. But I was also fortunate to have 13 other contributors share their forgiveness journeys, just like one. And the whole thing is on different types of forgiveness that people go through and trying to continue that healing process.

Jill Henderson: 32:21

Because a lot of times when people go through something traumatic, they bury it and then don't realize that that forgiveness piece really does help unlock a lot of your blessings and your hope and help you with your healing. So thank you for saying that, Stacy. But yeah, the name of it is bigger. I G G E R.

Stacie Freasier: 32:42

And Jill, what's your website?

Jill Henderson: 32:45

JillHenderson.com.

Stacie Freasier: 32:47

There you go. JillHenderson.com. And, in the very beginning, the opening quote is we don't get over hurt. We have to work through it. You can't avoid it away, push it away, or pray it away.

Stacie Freasier: 33:00

You have to walk through the entire process. Yes. And that applies, individually and also collectively. And we're seeing the neglect and the avoidance and the healing of the hurt in our society right now more than ever, arguably. Yeah.

Stacie Freasier: 33:23

And so, thank you for that. Mhmm. If you are just turn tuning in, we are, this is Nonviolent Austin Radio Hour, and we actually need to break for one moment, and we'll be right back.

Jim Crosby: 33:40

Hi. This is Richie Havens. Go off the Beatle path each week with Rush Evans right here on KOOP.

KOOP: 33:51

The late great Richie Havens released covers of many Beatles songs in his long career, and so have many other artists of all types. That's what off the Beatle path on co op is all about. Interesting covers of Beatles songs in all genres, like Ritchie's version of Here Comes the Sun, plus music of solo Beatles, family members, Apple label artists, other random Beatlemania. That's every Monday right here on co op at high noon as we go off the Beatle path together. All you need is love and co op.

KOOP: 34:17

You

Stacie Freasier: 34:21

are listening to ninety one point seven FM co op community radio, and thank you if you are not in Austin, Texas and joining us as we are all connected. K o o p dot o r g. We stream everything, there. And so I am Stacy Frazier. I'm joined with Jim Crosby, Jill Henderson, Lisa Rogers in the studio this moment.

Stacie Freasier: 34:47

And Lisa is blessing us with music today. Jim is is holding down Lisa's too. So I just spontaneously asked to Lisa to play a song for us right now.

Stacie Freasier: 35:01

If you insist. God bless the planet Earth, land where we live. Stand beside us and guide us. Help us learn how to love and forgive. From the holy land to Afghanistan, from Bulgaria off to Nome.

Stacie Freasier: 35:32

God bless the planet Earth. May all god's children have a hope. God bless the planet Earth, our home sweet home. God bless the atmosphere, air that we breathe. Please preserve it, though we don't deserve it, since we keep spoiling it with our greed from the high cost of our exhaust and the places we all roam.

Stacie Freasier: 36:09

God bless the atmosphere, our home sweet home. God bless the atmosphere, our sweet by own. God bless the neighborhood, the whole world round. Those beside us, those who've tried us, those were lost and those yet to be found. From those next door to a distant shore, we all share a chromosome.

Stacie Freasier: 36:46

God bless the neighborhood, we say shalom.

Jim Crosby: 37:04

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Stacie Freasier: 37:06

Bravo. God bless Lisa Rogers.

Jim Crosby: 37:10

And the therapy sisters, we need Lisa to talk to us a little bit about therapy sisters history and what's coming up.

Stacie Freasier: 37:16

Yes. Tell us all about what's on your shirt right now, Lisa Rogers.

Stacie Freasier: 37:20

My shirt says Women of Note, which is the and shirts will be available at Women of Note on Saturday the twelfth from, like, noon to six at Princeton Palace, 20 5 0 5 Princeton Drive. Women Of Note is the is this the second year of what we hope to become an annual event where we showcase women and introduce them to one another and to their fans and to the community.

Jim Crosby: 37:47

Highly musical women.

Stacie Freasier: 37:49

Musical women. Well, at this point, it may be all different kinds of women in the future because there are all kinds of women of note. And we we would love to to share this with all you folks.

Stacie Freasier: 38:03

Who's who are some of the artists?

Stacie Freasier: 38:06

Oh, thank you. Yeah. Well, really excited primarily because it's gonna be our our headliner is Teri Hendrix, and Lloyd Maines will be accompanying her. And the event is to benefit Teri's nonprofit called Own Your Own Universe, which does an assortment of really wonderful events for well, in fact, we played their women's retreat a couple of weeks ago. But their let me see if I can read their mission is to which I can't I can't read because it's dark in here, but that's okay.

Stacie Freasier: 38:44

I already did. It's to okay. There you

Jim Crosby: 38:47

go. Okay.

Stacie Freasier: 38:49

The mission Middle of the

Stacie Freasier: 38:50

page there. Well, while you're looking for it, I'll tell you we've also got a hardened and tempered, a really interesting duo. One of the women, they they have great songs and award winning albums. One of them is an attorney who has argued before the Supreme Court, and the other is a PhD nurse practitioner, and they have a nonprofit, which supports caregivers. And then we also have Holly Frost, who's just such a wonderful artist.

Stacie Freasier: 39:23

We're having her back for the, like, third time. We just love her. And Naga Valley, who I haven't had the pleasure of hearing before, but I really have enjoyed everything that I've heard from her and about her online.

Stacie Freasier: 39:37

Yes. So, Own Your Own Universe. You can actually find it, Teri Hendrix's website, and the Women of Note, where do we find that?

Stacie Freasier: 39:52

You can find that at thetherapysistersmusic.com.

Stacie Freasier: 39:56

Okay.

Stacie Freasier: 39:57

And we've got a link to the Women of Note, as well as other Princeton Palace shows.

Jim Crosby: 40:03

And who are the therapy sisters?

Stacie Freasier: 40:06

The therapy sisters are the women mhmm. Women let's see. Well, I I am one of the original therapy sisters. My wife is another, Maureen McLean. Gail Lewis is an original one, and she has come back because for thirty plus years, we've had an assortment of, Ermanitas Therapistas playing with us, and we So I think that's a nutshell about the sisters.

Stacie Freasier: 40:49

That is awesome. And we sing every day in Selma, tying that in earlier. Singing is resistant and it's powerful and it transcends words. Melodies send words at times. Back to Own Your Own Universe's mission, it is to make the arts accessible to everyone and to particularly to empower and transform lives by connecting the mind, body, and spirit through music and the creative arts.

Stacie Freasier: 41:17

And that's Terri Hendrix in a nutshell. I just love her her music.

Stacie Freasier: 41:22

Awesome. So thank you for all of that.

Stacie Freasier: 41:25

So one one last note. Joe Hill said, you can read a pamphlet once and pretty much forget what it said. But you learn a song, you you know, you're singing it over and over and over, and the message is is gets in there. So

Stacie Freasier: 41:41

Great. Music. Thank you, Lisa. Thank you. Have just been joined by my my new friend, Dana Brodsky, who volunteers for Indivisible.

Stacie Freasier: 41:55

Dana, welcome into the studio and to Nonviolent Austin Radio Hour.

Stacie Freasier: 41:59

Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here. I'm so happy that we got in touch. I'm I think it's so apt that I'm here talking about this rally that we're gonna have on Saturday at the Capitol here on the nonviolent radio hour.

Stacie Freasier: 42:17

Because, one of the things that I've really been thinking about is how can we get people to feel safe gathering? You know, we're all really fired up, and we have so many things that we're passionate about. But some people don't feel safe. I remember I'm not like a big activist. Like, we talked about this a little bit earlier today.

Stacie Freasier: 42:45

Like, I'm I'm just a working mom, and I you know, but I feel like everybody else feels like there's just I just wanna do something. And the last time I got involved in any kind of like large public gathering was at the Women's March in 2017. And everybody in the room is nodding. Everybody remembers that and it felt so good. Yeah.

Stacie Freasier: 43:09

And since then though, there's been like, I'll call it like the kids say, a vibe shift. And things started to get a little dark and there started to be a lot of outside negative forces coming into peaceful gatherings. And so I think that the organizations that are putting this on are Move On, Indivisible, fifty fifty one, Resist Austin. And we are so committed to having a large, peaceful, friendly, family friendly gathering where we can all get loud, not, you know, not quiet, not timid, but we can loudly express our feelings together in a safe environment. So I think this is a perfect radio hour to be talking about this.

Stacie Freasier: 43:58

That's right. And count Nonviolent Austin Inn as a sponsor because our comrade Judy registered us. Registered us and, yeah, we're we're here too and we're on board. Thank you.

Stacie Freasier: 44:07

If we're not careful, the Raging Grannies might drop in to sing a song or two.

Stacie Freasier: 44:12

Yeah. Lisa, tell us who the Raging Grannies are.

Stacie Freasier: 44:15

Raging Grannies are a really international movement of women of a certain age who who who compose and perform political parodies at And wear funny at the drop of a funny hat. Yes. Yeah.

Stacie Freasier: 44:28

I hope that'll be a side event somewhere. Oh, it'll be there.

Stacie Freasier: 44:32

I mean, we'll be there some some. I mean, in some semblance of it too because it's it's in its well, who knows where it is. I guess it's in its nascent stage of the life cycle.

Stacie Freasier: 44:42

It's been here for a while. No no rally of today is complete without a version of all you fascists bound to lose. Woody Guthrie would have us sing that every chance we get.

Stacie Freasier: 44:53

Well, the funny thing about these very large gatherings, and we are hoping that this is gonna be a very large gathering, is that there's all kinds of things going on. Like, personally, you know, I'm deaf. I can never hear what the people up on the stage are saying. Thank you. You know?

Stacie Freasier: 45:10

But it's all about being there. And if you're in this large crowd over here, somebody starting a chant and they're saying something over there, the raging grannies are doing something. And it's really just about having our bodies together in that space saying that we all sign on to the general message about the signs? I thought it was about signs. It's about the signs.

Stacie Freasier: 45:33

You know, but it's like if you get there late and you're standing in the back and you can't hear or see anything, you're still making a difference. You're still there. That's It just it's a really great thing, and I'm so excited that Austin is so fired up about this.

Stacie Freasier: 45:47

Yes. Jill, I know you you have to go to another engagement. So I before you walk out the door, I just want to thank you for being your full, lovely self and being part of nonviolent Austin and birthing Bakari Foundation in honor of your son Bakari and, to be continued. And, Lisa, we're we're gonna get that workshop date determined soon.

Jill Henderson: 46:12

Definitely. And if the raging grannies wanna come out Sunday, feel free Sunday after your big event on the twelfth.

Stacie Freasier: 46:19

You mean the thirteenth?

Jill Henderson: 46:20

On the At the library. At the library. Yeah.

Stacie Freasier: 46:23

In the afternoon.

Jill Henderson: 46:25

In the afternoon. One to four. I love We'll have all kinds of healing activities, so you can't heal without singing. You need to bring some singing into our healing space.

Stacie Freasier: 46:34

Amen. So, Dane, how did you how did you hear about Indivisible? Like, how did you how did

Jill Henderson: 46:43

it come about?

Stacie Freasier: 46:44

You know, it's so funny. I in the last, I would say, six weeks, I've been on this winding journey where I'm like, again, like, I'm not an activist at all, but I I did wanna do something and Who are you? This website, Indivisible or Mobilize, I don't know. They have these they show that there's events and they were doing an event where they're protesting outside of John Cornyn's office. I don't know if you've any of you have been.

Stacie Freasier: 47:12

It's pretty fun. But Were you there, Jack?

Stacie Freasier: 47:15

Were you there, weren't you?

Stacie Freasier: 47:16

We were there. Yeah.

Stacie Freasier: 47:17

Yeah. Like, so you were there too.

Stacie Freasier: 47:19

I like to get people honking. But I the very first one they had, I couldn't go and I messaged the organizer and I said, you know, I'm so sorry I r s b p'd, but I can't go. And she ended up writing me back and her name is Kelly Holmes and she has since started sending out these emails. These like lengthy emails and she's named herself, her group, the the Molly's Yeah. Okay.

Stacie Freasier: 47:52

You guys know you're getting her email. So I kind of it's her personal email address still, so I feel weird about, like, saying that in public, but she started having information. And again, she's a mom, like, you know, sometimes she can't make it to things because she's got childcare issues or whatever, but I was so inspired by what she was doing and I was like, I wanna do something and I wanna get involved. And then I heard about this rally on April 5 at the Capitol, But my thing that I said to you earlier is I'm I'm a real rule follower. I'm a nerd.

Stacie Freasier: 48:23

I'm a lawyer. I I like to do things that are within the bounds of the law. And so, one thing about keeping an event safe and peaceful is to have it be permitted. I know it's like really uncool, but I I feel safer attending an event that has a permit. And so I thought, I'm just gonna try and find out who's actually organizing this event and make sure that they're getting a permit so that I can feel good about going.

Stacie Freasier: 48:48

And it took some work. I'm now on, like, a Discord, a signal, a Slack. Like, I've never been, like, more connected. Oh my gosh. When I got on the Signal, I was like, hey, everybody.

Stacie Freasier: 48:59

I'm on a Signal chat too. It was so great. And so then just, you know, I ended up somebody else was working on the permit and whatever, now I'm involved. I'm helping, and I'm so excited about it that I just have been, like, I wanna try and get the word out in my community.

Stacie Freasier: 49:14

Yeah. And, yeah, whether or not you call yourself an activist, you are engaging in activism. And there is no measurement of big or small in gestures because it's you never know that one action that is going to have a ripple effect that, you know, is beyond quantity.

Stacie Freasier: 49:34

Yeah. There's no license. No card to carry.

Stacie Freasier: 49:36

No. You're in. And, also, shout out to us mothers who are doing the work and fitting it in and doing it because I hear you. I am a daytime organizer. I do I'm not in the season of evenings and some weekends, again, with Rumi in tow, my son.

Stacie Freasier: 49:55

But, you know, there is a role for us in the movement. And, I really appreciate you Yeah. Stepping up. Yeah.

Stacie Freasier: 50:02

Thank you.

Stacie Freasier: 50:03

So what time and where?

Stacie Freasier: 50:05

Okay. So it is gonna be on the South Steps of the Texas capital. I would say if you want a good spot, get there at 02:00. The weather definitely is looking a little iffy on Saturday, but it should be clearing up in the afternoon. So do not let that discourage you.

Stacie Freasier: 50:24

The other thing I'm gonna say is, in this great wonderful city, there are so many events that are going on on Saturday. I heard there's a book fair going on. There's some kind of vegetable festival. There's a lot of things going on. You know what?

Stacie Freasier: 50:40

Just make a day of it. Come by for an hour. Go do something else. You know, it's like I saw the organizers of Indivisible talking about why April 5. And why April 5 is because Trump is consolidating power.

Stacie Freasier: 50:58

And the more power that he get, the harder it is gonna be for us to organize. And so it is easier for us to get together as a group on April 5 than it will be on June 6. And it is gonna be easier in June than it is in October.

Stacie Freasier: 51:12

And tell us what's happening in June.

Stacie Freasier: 51:14

Nothing. There's nothing happening in June.

Stacie Freasier: 51:17

Oh, yeah.

Stacie Freasier: 51:18

It's just an example. Yes. Good way. Yeah. What is happening in June?

Stacie Freasier: 51:22

So, I

Stacie Freasier: 51:22

don't know.

Stacie Freasier: 51:22

You said you used it as a benchmark as a reference

Stacie Freasier: 51:24

since No. No. No. I'm just saying like there's a reason why we need to make an effort to get out today even if, you know, we have other things on our schedule that we wanna do. We do need to get out there and, know, we as a people need to

Stacie Freasier: 51:42

I I have a a point of clarification. No. No. No. That I this this, hands off, April 5 used to be advertised, in Austin as noon.

Stacie Freasier: 51:52

And and then it was moved to two, and I thought, well, maybe that's because of the weather. But then I heard No. It's just Doggett is having a rally at noon.

Stacie Freasier: 51:59

No. No. Lloyd Doggett's gonna be at our

Stacie Freasier: 52:01

That's what

Stacie Freasier: 52:01

I thought. That guy, he attends the opening of an envelope as far as I can tell.

Stacie Freasier: 52:06

So yes. So so the education

Stacie Freasier: 52:08

vouchers Yes. Rally. Vouchers rally at 12:00. And then after Same

Stacie Freasier: 52:15

same spot?

Stacie Freasier: 52:15

Same spot. Okay. And then after the Voucher's rally is gonna be the hands off rally. And so that's why there's been a little bit of confusion about the time. Yeah.

Stacie Freasier: 52:27

It's just gonna be a big day of activism, and there's just

Stacie Freasier: 52:31

gonna be a lot of things for a lot of people to do. So my key takeaway, what I'm hearing is make a day of it if you can, hope you can, and there will be a number of speakers and people coming together all day Yes. On Saturday at the South Steps Of The Capitol.

Stacie Freasier: 52:49

That is true. That is true. And you can do any of those things that you choose. And bring an umbrella.

Stacie Freasier: 52:57

Yes. And where can, folks find a website to point to?

Stacie Freasier: 53:02

I would say just Google hands off April 5, Austin.

Stacie Freasier: 53:07

Hands off April 5, Austin. Yes. While you still have the mic, anything else you want to to share in the spirit of love and nonviolence and justice?

Stacie Freasier: 53:19

Just bring that spirit of love and nonviolence wherever you go. Yeah. And if you are choosing to go to A Valley on April 5, bring it there.

Stacie Freasier: 53:30

Yeah. Thank you so much. You are welcome back any and every time we meet. It's very nice to

Jim Crosby: 53:35

meet you.

Stacie Freasier: 53:36

Thank you. It's so nice to meet

Stacie Freasier: 53:37

you all. Alright.

Jim Crosby: 53:39

I promise to say a little more about John Lewis. May I?

Stacie Freasier: 53:41

Yes. You may. As soon as I say, you are listening to Co op Community Radio ninety one point seven FM, k o o p dot org, if you are joining us outside of Austin. And we are talking we have just had a wonderful show. I can't even recap what we've done because we've covered so much ground.

Stacie Freasier: 54:00

And Jim, I would love to hear about the book you just read about John Lewis and what's inspiring I have

Jim Crosby: 54:07

a big definitive biography. It came out last year. I think it's just called John Lewis Alive, and I think the author's name is David Greenberg. And it's massive. It's wonderful.

Jim Crosby: 54:17

And it's divided in half, which I thought was really interesting and appropriate. The first half is protest and the second half is politics, which is emblematic of John Lewis' life and the flow of it. And It especially grabbed me because of my contact with Doctor. Lafayette, thanks to Stacy, and the fact that they were college roommates. In 1960, they were trained by James Lawson and began with the sit ins.

Jim Crosby: 54:48

And then the following year, it was really the Nashville kids, these young college students who kept the Freedom Rides going when they met so much resistance and violence. So, they were just bold. Stacy brought up the nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. Their courage was just phenomenal. So, this book, John Lewis Alive, and also, if you want to go back a little further historically, The Children by David Halberst and written more nearly the time during the sixties when all this was happening.

Jim Crosby: 55:19

And it's just a phenomenal thing. The black elders in the churches in Nashville and elsewhere were calling them The Children because they were so young, but they had the drive and the courage to inspire their elders. So, yeah, just wanted to put that in there.

Stacie Freasier: 55:35

Thank you. I want to spend the next few minutes we have remaining, to tell you about what's coming up with nonviolent Austin and also give some light to the Austin Sanctuary Network. As Austin, we are, located right on the border with our sister Mexico, and we have a lot of people suffering right now due to some horrible policies. And so if you are feeling like you want to support our immigrant brothers and sisters, a good way to do that is to, if you're interested in that, is Austin Sanctuary Network. That's austinsanctuarynetwork.0rg.

Stacie Freasier: 56:29

And it is a coalition of faith communities, immigrants, and other community members of civil societies and organization providing direct support.

Stacie Freasier: 56:41

And they're having Know Your Rights trainings, a couple of them this month, you can find out about.

Stacie Freasier: 56:46

That's right. And they're also looking for venues for know your rights trainings to have on a rolling every couple week basis, capacity 50 folks. And so if you know of a venue for Austin Sanctuary Network to hold those ongoing trainings, please reach out. My email is stacy,stacie,@nonviolentaustin.org. That's n o n v I o l e n t, austin dot org.

Stacie Freasier: 57:17

And, we have a potluck coming up at the Princeton Palace, 20 5 0 5 Princeton Drive, with the host with the most, Lisa Rogers, offering up a lovely abode for this. Any all are welcome. Bring a dish. Bring your singing voice. Bring your nonsinging voice.

Stacie Freasier: 57:39

And, that is gonna be on April 27 from 03:30 to 05:30. And we try to do those monthly. So if you can't catch this one, go next one. We our central home for information is the nonviolent Austin Facebook group. We also have a a website that we're getting off the ground, but it is there, and that is nonviolentaustin.org.

Stacie Freasier: 58:06

And, yeah, find us. Google Nonviolent Austin, and you'll find us. We also hold organizing meetings every Tuesday, Fridays sorry.

Jim Crosby: 58:18

Friday at two.

Stacie Freasier: 58:19

Friday at two, also 2505 Princeton Drive. And then the visual at Eleventh in congress at four on Fridays.

Jim Crosby: 58:27

Four to five every Friday on the Eleventh Street sidewalk in front of the Capitol.

Stacie Freasier: 58:31

Exactly. So you're welcome to any and all of that stuff. What did I miss for this moment?

Jim Crosby: 58:36

That Lisa Rogers, our guest for the day, is a regular at those vigils.

Jill Henderson: 58:41

Oh, yeah.

Jim Crosby: 58:42

And, like you say, the host of the potlucks.

Stacie Freasier: 58:46

Okay. So we're gonna go out on song as we went in on song, and we will always be have song. And I wanna say that stay tuned for democracy now, which is up next. And then our next Nonviolent Austin Radio Hour is May 1, so I encourage you to

Jim Crosby: 59:04

May day. May day. May day. And before I'll cut into the song a little bit because I wanted to say, going all the way back to the top of the show, Stacy mentioned Pace Vene. And an easier thing Pace Vene is the way Saint Francis greeted people.

Jim Crosby: 59:18

It means peace and good or peace and all good to you. And but if you can remember campaign nonviolence as well, that's a that's a aspect of Pace Vene and started the Nonviolent Cities Project, which Nonviolent also is part of. But if you just Google Campaign Nonviolence, the Pace Vene website will come up, and I'm always promoting the store tab on that website. If you wanna follow-up any great reading and stuff, yeah, am I violating our norms, Stacy? So

Stacie Freasier: 59:48

Just to see my view on

Jim Crosby: 59:52

I have no financial interest in the website. So I wanted to close because everything we're talking about revolves around empathy and my song about empathy is other folks shoes. Well, she was white haired when I met her, a little bit bent over. Know thyself, she told me, and to thine own self be true. But I didn't have to know her long to learn the simple lesson that she'd become the self she was wearing other folks' shoes.

Jim Crosby: 01:00:44

I'll cut straight to the chorus. Well, it's other folks' shoes. It's other folks' shoes. It's walking in their moccasins a mile, maybe two. It's knowing yourself, forgetting yourself, seeing what yourself would do if you walked around this world a while in other folks shoes.

Jim Crosby: 01:01:08

Well, she'd how does it go now? She'd now see, I changed the order. We're just counting it down. Just remember, other folks' shoes, walk in them. Walk around this world while in other folks' Thanks, everybody.

Stacie Freasier: 01:01:24

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