Bookwild - Art As Resistance: Breaking Down Benito Bowl with MacKenzie Green

Episode Date: February 10, 2026

BONUS EPISODE!!MacKenzie Green and I were set to record yesterday (the morning after the Benito Bowl) for a Friday episode, but all we could talk about was Bad Bunny's performance, so I decide for timing's sake, it made sense to release it today!We discuss it all: why it felt historic rather than merely entertaining, how the show functioned as protest art, communal storytelling, and cultural affirmation, especially for Latino and Afro-Latino audiences. We also dive into how intentional details—language, symbolism, ancestry, refusal to translate or explain—created a moment that centered people who are usually asked to assimilate, while inviting others to listen, learn, or sit with not fully understanding, proof that creativity, empathy, and resistance exist loudly and beautifully even in times of backlash and fear. Check Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackGet Bookwild MerchFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrianMacKenzie Green @missusa2mba 

So I am with McKinsey, McKinsey Green, and we are recording literally like 12 hours after the Super Bowl. So that's going to be there. Just so you have context, we're recording the Monday after the Super Bowl. And we were both emotional. I was a mess. I told you, so I started crying this Super Bowl Sunday. This is not normal for me. So, like, I very much am.

Like, I feel like these last. few years of culture and significant cultural experiences have been these, for lack of a better term, they have been these very black things, right? It's been Cowboy Carter. And I think what's been fun is like, I have been a part of the cultures that have felt disrupted, have felt very like counter to what is happening in like politics and the mainstream. So it's like I get to enjoy those from a place of like, hey, yeah, uh-huh. Every lifetime. That's what I thought. and I watch friends like you or like my sweet boyfriend or anybody in my life who's like I watch you know like they're watching it and they're feeling this like pride and joy that I'm like oh okay yeah like I get to observe the joy in a way that's like okay that's cute but secretly in the back of my head I'm kind of like okay why are you all so emotional and like wow that was so powerful and I'm like because I do have moments where I think to myself like are these people enjoying this like is it really as impactful as they're saying right it's like because when you're talking

to somebody and they're like oh my god cowboy carter meant so much to me or like i'll even say that the the perfect one taylor strecker loves the song brown skin girl in a way that caught me off guard the first time when she was like i listened to it and i cry and i always had that thing where i was like and that's beautiful that it impacts you but i'm like but i'm like but I would think like, does it really? Is it really like, are you really hearing that song, Brownskin girl and being like, wow, this is so beautiful. I feel so seen.

And I was like, oh, okay. So obviously, we get to the Super Bowl. I've been making jokes of like, I'm going to learn Spanish so that I'm like ready. Again, I worked at Telemundo Deportes. I speak enough Spanish to like, I lived in Puerto Rico. It could be functional. Oh, I didn't know that. Literally, lived in Puerto Rico off and on for a year.

That's so cool. training for Miss USA because my trainer was a Cuban woman who escaped Cuba, landed in, yeah, landed in Miami, eventually moved to Boston, then after a while. Like this woman is a Guinness World Record holder for like most Miss Universe wins. Wow. First time ever for Miss Universe country to win back to back, all this stuff. And this lady eventually found her way to Puerto Rico, lives there. So I trained down there. So I went into the Benito goal being like, oh, this is going to be really good.

cute. Yeah. It's going to be a cute little time. This is so sweet. Oh my God. How cute. Then my mom calls me and she goes, oh, did you see Coco Jones do the Black National Anthem? Because I tuned in a little late. And so I was like, and I even laughed

about that part because I was like, oh, it used to be, for anybody that doesn't know, when they added the Black National Anthem to the broadcast, the way it used to go is the three songs ran close to each other. So you could imagine my surprise to tune into the broadcast 10 minutes late and have missed the black anthem. So I went online to look it up

and immediately looked at Coco's outfit and realized that she was dressed like Wendy Houston. So I got really emotional. I started trying to talk about it to my boyfriend and started crying. And he started laughing because he was like, and I said, oh no, why am I crying? Because the thing I was crying about is I was like, Wendy Houston has no business being dead. I was so sad about that for no reason. And so I caught myself down. Again, didn't even care. I was like, I'm cheering for the Seahawks because their owner doesn't give money to horrible people.

And happens to be a woman. Yeah, and happens to be a woman. Love it. And so I was like, anyway, moving along. And so when I was like, it's almost time for halftime, I was excited. But again, I was not like, this is going to wreck my shit so hard. I know. And I'm going to be like in the fetal position.

So truly to watch it. I think what I, I am realizing I am such a deep lover of authentic storytelling. Mm-hmm. Because to me, like somebody said it on threads perfectly. They were like, I don't know how to explain this to y'all. But the Gryot scene from sinners and the halftime show. I saw that on threads. Yeah.

It was like they are spiritual twins. They are the same thing. And I think that's what's so beautiful is like when you are watching someone, and I think especially with somebody like a bad bunny who now that I found out after the Grammys that he was wearing a bulletproof vest under his caparelli suit. That was true. Like, yeah. It's like all this, just knowing all of like the kind of conversation. Like when he jumped when Lady Gaga was there. Yeah.

Oh, it made me so sad. It's just like this world wind of things coming together. that then you're like, oh, and you're letting all of us see it. Like, and I think I watched it from this place of like knowing, because I know what Cowboy Carter bet for me, right? It's like, and not just the album, but the tour, like going to that tour and seeing and hearing things that were so specific. And I even remember like, this is so silly. But like the electric slide and before I let go are two things that all always happen at every black function. And I went with a brand to go see Cowboy Carter. And I remember

they did before I let go and they started doing the electric slide on stage. And I remember the rep from Levi's being like, wow, how do you already know the dance? But it was this thing where I was like, oh, you sweet, sweet summer child. Like, I will address you once I'm done having this moment with Beyonce and Blue Ivy Carter. And we have a very black moment right now, like myself. Because it was like, you look in the crowd and you're like, you're seeing like Issa Ra and Miss Tina also doing the electric slide and you're like, oh, we're having a moment. So then to watch that performance and you're like, oh, not only does Benito have, does he have the sugar cane represented, the power outages that Puerto Rico has been dealing with

for so long. Like, he's also got Afro Latinos because that is a huge thing. Like having to have lived in Miami for six years, you will meet like people. Like a perfect example, Coleman Domingo is Afro-Latino. It is so rare that people give him credit for being a Latino man. And so, but it was just like every little detail. Yes.

That I could recognize that I was like, this is beautiful. And then I just kept thinking, but there are details in here that I don't even know that somebody right now feels so seen and so included. and they feel so represented that it broke my brain where I cried so hysterically

and I basically cried myself to sleep and eventually had to be woken up by my partner to be like it's time to go to bed sweetheart and I was like I had to stay off the internet because any video I came across I was like no I'm a mess

yeah it was so beautiful it was just holy gorgeous Like, what a time to be a lot. Like, somebody else said it on threads too where I'm like, you watch a performance like that and I'm like, been great. Like how I'll watch a performance that's like black Americans doing something and immediately I'm like in every lifetime. I choose to be black in every lifetime.

I watched that last night and I really was like, oh, we've been like, we were always great. Like I know as a black person I love to poo and be like, when were we great? When did that happen? what point i know it's so hard to pull those apart yeah but watching that i was like that yes is that what we're going for because that i want to do this is the great i want to happen yeah that's always me it always makes me think of the the james bald james baldwin quote about how because he loves him he loves america that's why i'll critique her which is such a powerful quote but then like even when I got more information, I was talking about this with Tyler, I never doubted that America

did terrible shit. But once I learned like the breadth, the extent, yeah. The yes, like had the facts to have the conversations more and more. I'd be like, what do you love about her though, James? Like, I would feel so bad when I would see that quote still. So I've even been trying to understand it all because it's like, yes, those are the things that make America great. Or even, I think you and I were talking about it. The Minnesotans like ice fishing and putting like Mexican flags and cars. So they get pulled over. Like there are that's what we're talking about when we're saying there are great parts. Like I did have this funny moment where it was like as I'm watching other people on the internet cry and like all this stuff where I was like a little bit of people like, okay buddy you did it. You did make us great. You reminded us of what actually.

is like the best thing we do around here, which is like this vibe. I mean, there was a moment when he fell off the building and he got caught outside of all the bodegas and everything. By his people. Yes, by his people. He got caught by his people. And then when they set him down in front of the bodega and that older woman was in there, that made me cry.

Here's why it made me cry. And this is so silly. It made me cry because I did not recognize that woman. And so therefore, I was like, oh, this is like a Linda Martel moment, isn't it? Like this is like, this is somebody who's so specific to culture probably and has such a deep importance to like Puerto Rican, like New York Puerto Ricans. Because that is its own. Right. Again, as a former New Yorker, that is its own genre of Puerto Rican is New York.

New York, Puerto Rican, Spanish is its own language. And so, like, in that moment when he showed her, that's what made me cry. Is that I'm like, I don't know who that is. But I know she matters. So great. Yeah.

And he's explaining nothing to us. Like, that was the, because I guess when I watched Kendrick, it was like, what I loved is that I got every beat of it. Mm-hmm. And it immediately took me back to Tina Knowles talking about

Beyonce rehearsing for Beachella and how she was doing all the stuff and then she gets to lift every voice and say and I guess Tina tells this story about how she was like sweetheart like people aren't going to know what this is honey that like the first time Tina saw a homecoming in its entirety. Okay. All of it that she was like oh baby that was beautiful. But honey, this is Coachella. Like these people don't know what an HBCU is. They don't know what the. the Negro national. Like, honey, they don't know any of this. Like, sweetie,

this is beautiful what you've done. But nobody's going to understand a lick of this if they're not black. And that Beyonce's answer to that was Mama, they got Google. Yeah. And so it was making me think of our conversation about, like, Rinnick.

And like, I, like, we didn't know as much about, like, Ireland's oppression. Yes. And how, like, Googleed it. And like, that's the part that it's so, like it made me, now even as we're talking about,

about it. I'm like, it's, you know, because all roads lead back to sinners. It's reminding me why I love sinners. I know. Like, things happened with Grace Chow that I will never get. Yeah. Like, there are moments that happen between the Chow family that I, like, kind of understood peripherally. And then I would see, like, Chinese American people being like, hey, that moment when she says the only color I have is red, when that moment happened, I thought the joke was, Smoke loves blue. Oh, yeah.

Because you don't have his favorite color, he wants some money knocked off of this. But in reality, Chinese folks were like, no, actually red is bad luck. So when Grace says, the only color I've got is red

and she pauses, like, and then she and her husband and she and Bo look at each other, then that's them kind of being like, oh, I don't think he knows what that means. And like,

but it's that kind of stuff that's so joyful to me to just like realize like oh a thing happened in something i love that wasn't for me but the person it was intended for yeah it hit them perfect yes and it even like seeps into your subconscious a little bit yeah even if you didn't totally get it or i feel like you and i run into this too where it's like um stuff will happen that exists for another culture and then we are like, well, now I want to learn about that. Yes. Where do I go to learn more about your thing?

Like, how do I learn about what you have? Like, what's your pretty thing? And then the part that really, really wrecked me was one. Well, it was two. It was the fact that he didn't say anything in English. The only thing he did say in English was God bless America. And then listed off every country in America. Every country in the Americas.

Because it's a continent. Because it is not just the U.S. He said, I love America. And he said, let me be very clear. That's from Canada all the way down to the bottom of South America. Yes. That messed me up. And then the other part, what is it together?

We're better. Is that what the history all said? Yeah. It's just like, ugh. And then the other part that did make me cry is, when it was over and I was as emotional as it was, I felt such a deep, profound sense of sadness for others that could not open their heart up to something so beautiful. Yes.

Like it's the, you know how I felt this is so specific to books and I feel like you'll get it and your audience get it. I felt a level of sadness for them that comes from when you are someone that reads wildly and diversely, and then you talk to someone who only reads one genre of book by one type of writer. Like, here's the thing. And I'm going to use this specifically as I have all these genre fiction behind me. I love a gone girl, dead lady specifically. It's always dead white lady.

Of course. Missing White Lady book. Kelly Garrett. I love a Lisa Jewel. I love them. When they drop, I'm like, give me more. Yes. It's in my vein. But there is something so hard when you meet someone who only partakes in those books.

I know. Because you're like, because here's a perfect example, you're sitting with someone. Like, because I remember when I first encountered even your account and I was like, oh, cool. And we like met and you were like, oh, I do like thrillers and mysteries. And I was like, oh, that's dope. And then you were like, oh, if you checked at this book called Missing White Woman. And I was like, wait, well. Yeah.

And then you'd be like, hey, have you read this thriller? Have you? And it was like, it was the thing where I thought, oh, do other people know that you can like open yourselves up to different narratives, different stories? And so like watching Benito, it was, and this sounds so silly to say that my sadness is other people don't get experienced. But it's like, it's the way I felt when I read the lilac people and like was gutted. Yeah. And just thought to myself like, oh, and then I felt bad because I recommended the book online and all I could think to myself is there is somebody who won't read this because it's not a trans man. And how sad that you won't get to experience a piece of historical fiction like this.

It's the way I feel when I want people to read sky full of elephants. And I'm like, oh no, you will never know how well written this piece of like speculative. science fiction is because you won't open up your mind to experiencing a different way. It's like, it's, that's how I felt with heated rivalry too. Right. I was like, this is such a positive and hopeful and joyful show. And there's so many people who won't watch it. That's the thing. It's the sadness I had. It's the way I felt when I watched the Falcon and Winter Soldier. And I just thought to myself like, Right. And the same thing with Agatha all along. I was like, there are people who are never going to experience what this emotional ride was. Yeah. Because they handed the shield to a black man. And I was like, there are people who will never get to experience this magical witchy show. Because all they saw with all they heard about was queer witches. Right. It's like, it's the sadness I feel when I'm standing in an arena of a hundred plus thousand. like 100,000 whatever people all singing like a whole lot of red and that white and blue.

And all I can think to myself is there is somebody right now, not somebody that missed this concert because they couldn't afford it because they didn't have that person. I will always feel sad. It's a whole other thing. Yeah. The person I feel satisfied for is the person who's like right on the edge of deconstruction or asking questions of their surrounding that was curious about this. but shut that empathy nozzle off, right?

They felt the urge to buy a ticket. Yeah. And I'm like, you don't, you didn't get to experience real community. Right. And it's, and we talked about it. It's like last night. His white supremacy, by the way, doesn't feel like community. Doesn't feel like community.

And I think that's the other part too that you're watching when you watch in real time when I think people specifically, like, non-biased. pock people start feeling this deep sense of it is because it is not a communal culture and so when you get to see what community could look like that's exactly it and so like that's what i felt sad for is because in my mind i'm like all the people watching kid rock in his jorts right now just want to feel part of something and in community and that's what's happening over here yeah and it really felt like the embodies bodyment because I told you I couldn't remember if it was Clinton or Obama that said it at the last DNC but this idea that like there are people who have built they built the wall they wanted but it was a wall they built around themselves and they are trapped in a hell of their own making they are inside a prison trying to figure out why does it feel so insane in here and it's like because everybody else trapped in here with you all trapped with the shittiest people yes

You're trapped with the worst people. And it was. It was that sadness I used to feel where there used to be this bully in my high school. And I remember he reached a point where he had like nobody to eat with, nobody to hang out with, right? Like he had achieved his dream. Yeah. He was the ultimate.

He was alone. He was, but only people that wanted to be in his crew were like just the lamest burnouts that existed at the school. And I remember him being like so. shitty at prom and graduation. And somebody basically was like, yeah, he was complaining to like one of the football players he used to be friends with that like he just has to hang around a bunch of losers now. And it was like, yeah, you created that. Yes.

You were so mean to everyone that everybody just went, screw it. I'm not hanging out with him anymore. And it's like, but it is that thing where it was like, I just felt. such a profound feeling of gratitude that I got to experience it and that like Benito would share that with all of us that he would do that for us I sound insane now I'm talking about ex-evangelian language

I mean he wasn't even touring in the US it is though he wasn't even touring here because he was scared so like even on that level like he did he had to like choose to do it still Yes. And he and yeah. And the fact that like there is even a certain respect that you could argue with the way things are right now that everybody who chose to participate was putting themselves in harm's way. Yes. And so it was this crazy moment where I was like just this profound gratitude for both like the art and having to have experienced it washed over me. And then I was like, oh my God, there are people that will. never know what this feeling feels like to have such a profound sense of empathy and connection to your fellow man. And I was like, what a sad way to exist. Because like, and you've talked

about this with that toxic empathy book, it's like, what a sad existence. Yes. To think that kindness is a liability. The people are trying to manipulate you. Yes. By calling you unimpefell. Yes. Like, what? And that they're trying to manipulate you to kindness. Yes. Like, how dare I gaslight you to be a nice person? Like, what Bible did you read? It's just, it was like, yeah. And I think it's funny because it's coming off the Grammys where everybody was like, oh, Jelly Roll spoke about Jesus, but Bad Bunny spoke like Jesus. That I very, now here's the thing. Everybody has their moments where they become. they're like that take was a little too woke and I came across that thread I shared it I liked it but then in my head I thought that's a little bit too woke of a take I appreciate

what's happening here but okay guys I think we've got a little too far now we're saying Benito's like Jesus okay let's all let's take a break let's take a he did actually speak more like Jesus

but no but then here's why but this is where I'm going to follow it up Oh, okay, go for it. And I said, oh, so that wasn't too woke of a take. And I said, because he got everybody following him like or the picture of him. Because when he fell back, I said, oh, okay, let me shut up. I got it. When he climbed up.

All I could think was when he climbed up that power line, I said, okay. I don't think that was too woke of a take. I think that was actually a great take. I think it was fantastic. I go, I know this wasn't the intention, but I'm hearing that thread in my head, and I'm going, well, I think Benito is in fact, speaking a lot like, Jesus. I'm sorry, everybody. Let me back off. I tried to, I tried to bring us back.

Because it was just every single second is so intentional. Yes. Every choice. And I, because I told you before we got on air, like the what thing I compared it to, and I will talk about Rashid Newsom until the cows come home. is what he did with this Hollywood one. I can't wait either. What he did with my government means to kill me that I still think about. And I remember coming across a podcast interview of him about the book where he was saying like,

I wrote the book for black queer people. He was like, I hate when books say that they're written for a community. And the book that immediately comes to mind is true biz. True biz is a perfect example where it's about deaf teens. But there's so many. things that get explained that I kept thinking as I was reading it, this feels like you're, you are writing a book about deaf teens for hearing people. Because they, they explain that, you know, because in real life, I'm reading, I'm reading

unread or I just finished it. Same thing where he like helps you understand what it would be like to not read. Like, it's hard to conceptualize. Yeah. Because Trubis is a perfect example where in no world where two people who are born deaf are going to explain what ASL is. And that is its own, you know, it's like there would be moments where people would give exposition that I would think, this exposition isn't for you guys as the characters or for a deaf audience. This is for those of us that can hear that picked, like, I felt like it was a nice pat on the back of like, hey, you're an able-bodied person who chose to pick up a book about some of, with a disability.

Right. So we're not going to make this hard for you to understand the narrative that's happening. As for something like my government means to kill me is like, I am for the, I am a fubu book. I am for black queer by a black queer. And if you get it, great, welcome, enjoy the book. If you don't, they're a footnote. So you can flip back and forth between the back of the book and this page. Or you would just not read it.

But like, it makes no matter. to try to meet a reader where they are, doesn't understand it. Same thing. Tony Morrison. You want to talk about the peak of the mountain or somebody who said, either you get it or you don't. And it's not even all cultural. She's also just like a very, she said if you're not, writing is different. Yeah, she said if you didn't get educated in Ivy League, I can't help you if you don't understand.

Right. If you don't have strong media literacy, I can't help you. Have your dictionary with it. Yeah, she said if you don't understand black culture, you better pick up a history book. Like, she just goes. Like, you want to talk about, like, Tony Morrison, I'm so glad you're not here to experience bean soup theory because that shit would have driven you to an early grave if you had. And it's like, but that was what the performance was to me last night. Yes.

It was, there were no subtitles. It was, you're going to have to watch that. If you want to experience this and see it, you're going to have to just watch it and see it. right just like that moment when he was on the dolly talking my i'm over here just fully duolingo i haven't been they were in forever and i kept saying like i know he's saying something about believing in yourself and i was like i can't catch all of it yeah and so i was like but i just want to be here with him yes because thank you because at first i was like i don't know if he's telling me i should believe in himself or he's telling us that he believed himself i don't i don't know

but like right that's not important something about believing in ourselves but truly i was like the sheer fact that he's not going out of his way to do subtitles, Apple Music isn't, rock nation isn't. Obviously the NFL and YouTube TV have been told, keep your subtitles to yourself. Because I even saw some people who had captions on and the captions were in Spanish. Oh,

and people were like people, I think thought like, okay, maybe I'll get translated. No. No. Good. You still don't know.

And I, and that's the part that felt profound, like reinforce and like experience. like experiencing Rashid Newsom, like experiencing books that are, I mean,

I even joke to you, that's the way I felt reading, bury your gaze. Is that like, yes. As cheesy as it was, this whole B plot of like,

they never include the asexual and not even speaking of it all books to then be like, oh my God. Oh my God. And like that's what that performance felt like. And I think, yeah,

if nothing else to our like anti-intellectualism, it's like, and story, It's like, I hope this is when people see, like, art and story matter. Like, that was the other part that got me is I am somebody who has always wanted to be at entertainment and media. And it feels so frivolous and so silly. And when you tell people that you think you're going to, like, change the world, you know, it's like, and when I'll talk to people and know, like, you're so smart, you should be a politician. And I'm like, no, no, I want to change the world, but I want to do it this way.

And people are like, okay. All right. Not all of us. not all of us are meant to be politicians. And there are a handful of people who are always like, shout out, I get it. We refuse. We refuse is a really good book that kind of talks about all the different ways.

And it's like, and that's the thing. It's like people will be like, oh, you should. And I'm like, no, I think there's another, there are other ways to protest and to speak out and to do the thing. And so then when you watch the same thing, when you watch Benito, not just the performance itself, but when you realize like, this is story. Yeah. This is, this is protest art. Because I remember when I stood in the crowd for Cowboy Carter, I said, this is protest art.

Mm-hmm. Just this whole concert is a protest. I was like, we all just witnessed something so profound. Because, again, I will always say until the cows come home, that moment where Beyonce does Blackbird into Jim Hendricks National Anthem. and then in the middle on the screen it says never ask for permission for something that already belonged to you and you realize that that little section is to tell people you don't have to ask if you're allowed to be a country music fan you don't have to ask if you belong in this country and just to have that and so then to zoom out and be like somebody else just got that and it

happened on national TV and we had Kendrick a year ago and we had Kendrick a year ago telling, literally looking the camera dead in the eye. And I know people are going to think I'm talking about Drake. No, he looked America dead in the eye and said, I will not be doing respectability politics tonight. I will not be making this palatable. I will be specifically talking to black folks and telling them to resist and to fight back and to not, not let these people steal woke from us and all this other stuff. Wrong. Well, what was it?

The right time. No. Yeah, you got the right guy. Because that's my favorite thing. My favorite black phrase of all times, there's so many black looks that even goes, oh, you got the right one today. It means you do not. So when Kendrick said, you got the right guy at the wrong time, I was like, everybody does not realize that is a threat by him or say. Yeah.

There's a rallying guy. Yeah, I am not the one. You did not want it to be me. Somebody got to do that energy. Yeah. Of all the people that could have been confronting you, I am not the one you want because I pulled no punch. is and therefore Uncle Sam will be out here and telling me that I need to shuck and jive and do all of this. And it's like, so then to swing the pendulum, it felt like Benito made a response that Kendrick's

performance was about like, do not conform, do not give in to respectability politics. Do not let these people tell you who they are, who you are. Do not let these people try to take, you know, the core of who you are. Do not let them try to strip you from your roots. Do not let them take you away from where you are. And then a year later. We built us. Yes.

And we as, and we as black folks built this country. And therefore we want it on stolen land. And we want the doors open to everyone. It felt like Kendrick gave the preface of the book. Yes. And then Benito is like, so here's the story. Yes. And we are all Americans.

We are all Americans. No matter what anybody tells you. Like even somebody pointed out that people were like, oh, he forgot. Haiti. He didn't. No, he called it by its actual Taim name, which is Athe. Yeah. And it was like, we just don't hear it pronounced that way. And that's the thing where then I was like, so that wasn't for Americans. That was for Haitians who have spent the last two years hearing

some of the most abhorrent, vile, disgusting lies. That I was like, because he wasn't caught shouting them. out for us as Americans. Regular. Yeah. I was like, this is not for me as a black American to be like, oh, cool. I was like, he's speaking specifically to Jamaicans, Haitians, you know, Grenadians, like South America. I was like, he's not talking.

He's not telling us all the countries in the Americas. He's specifically talking to the people on the other end. on the other end who are either in those places or from those places who have felt unseen. And I think it is so rare when a storyteller can pull that off. Like you want to like you want to talk about somebody doing a thing where I have joked a handful of times since seeing sinners and since seeing pop demon hunters where sometimes I'm like, oh, the hon moon is sealed. Or I'm like, ooh, remix outside. I'm like, Remick was outside the Levi Stadium for sure asking to get in.

After Bad Bunny, like, opened up the veil and allowed, like, the past and the future to speak to each other. And, like, across the Latino diaspora, I was like, oh, no, Remick is in the parking lot playing Pigsmore Robin Clean and asked him to come in. Please let me be part of this. Like, truly. And that's what I felt, too. in watching those videos of people who were at the Super Bowl being like, I'm watching the turning point halftime show or people who were like had their videos. And I'm just like,

I get it. You are in the parking lot. Yes. Right. Like being like, I'm having so much fun out here. I'm right. And I'm like, but here's the difference, y'all. We learned our lesson. There is no Mary in this group that we have to worry about who is still clinging to her proximity to whiteness and thinks that she can talk some sense than to y'all. We all got to see in real time when the monkey photos got circulated that the Mary's in the group got to see oh so they're above reform. There's nothing I can go out in the parking lot and tell them. So truly I think that's the joy too is last night feels like sinners if they didn't get in the building. It's like if they didn't get in the building

this is what would have happened. You joyfully get to saying you know DTMF while walking out of I mean, with the flags with all of the, when they, when they came running in to begin that part, I was like. And when I realized, because the only other person I've seen do this is Beyonce Giselle Knowles Carter, where when they perform on a stadium floor on a football arena, they actually use the full field. Even as a sports lover to watch Benito carry the ball. Because that's like a small Easter egg that I immediately caught to start the performance with. had the ball, he passed the ball on to his friends, to his ancestors, to his kinfolk, like, to all kinds of people. Then he got the ball back. And then for the whole performance to move into the end zone and for him, I'm telling you, and for him to spike the ball. I know. I was like,

after listing everybody. Yes, after listing everyone and then walking off the field through the tunnel while doing I with all of his people all of his people and with the and with the entirety of everybody behind him yes I cannot I can't like it's always funny when you're living in history right now yes because again and somebody's going to be like this is a ranty episode in which McKenzie rambled but that's what I do so I remember when Kimmel got taken off the air. I was reading, we've talked about this, I was reading the lilac people, the transmission cut out in the book at the same time, they were like Jimmy Kimmel's been taken indefinitely off the air. And then the next feeling I had, and I got so upset about it is I told my boyfriend, I'm so mad that when our kids are taking AP American history, I'm going to have to say that the former co-host of The Man Show, amazing. The man whose show used to open with girls jumping on a trampoline and slow-mo and bikinis

was the start of us protecting the free speech. And I got so mad. I was so mad of all the brilliant at that point, all the brilliant black female journalists who had been kicked off air that weren't going, that I was like, I'm going to have to protect. My kids are going to learn that Jimmy Kimmel was some kind of great protector of the First Amendment. And I was like, I truly was like, that's not the messenger.

I was like, I know. I'll take Colbert. Yeah. On the other side, when Don Levin fully got arrested by ICE, I said, here's the thing I said. And four other black journalists. Here's the thing. I said, oh, thank God. Because now my kids in their AP class will be like, who was the journalist that like got arrested about the free speech thing?

And I'll be like, Don Lemon. and I'll feel proud to say it was Don Levin. Right. And so when I think about my kids, because I remember when I was in high school, I took a class called Modern Russia and China. Oh, wow. That literally covered like, and I would come home and be like, Mom, did you know Putin did blah, blah, blah? Yeah. And then I come back and I'll be like, did you know Xi Jinping did?

And she'd be like, yeah, it's crazy. And I'd be like, did you know Russia used to be like this? Did you know China used to be like that before all of XYZ? like and then she would be like oh let me introduce you to this artist or this song or this movie that was like because my mom studied Russian literature and she's like let me show you this thing yeah yeah that's where you have your hot takes about Russian authors oh yeah and I'm like and it would figure that you know I'm now in relationship with a Russian studies major I'm like of course that imago truly I'm like the way I test him all the time where I'm like

Are you sure you're not? Because he did study abroad and Russia, too. I'm like, you sure you're not a sleeper cell agent? Is this all part of an elaborate plan? Am I part of the resistance? Am I how old? You guys need to start watching the Americans. Yeah, truly every time I'm like, is this real?

Is this something? Are you real? But like, when I think about it and I think about them sitting in an AP history class in which the teacher will be like, I want to show you some artifacts, some things from that time that are a reflection of the time. I think to myself, my kid will come back and be like, mom, did you ever see this, um, this Benito bowl? I'll be like, yeah. I watched it live on TV. I was sitting next to your dad and I cried the whole time. Like it's just that's the stuff that gets me going is that I'm like, these are the,

like, and maybe it's because of my dad when I, when I'm sitting in the eye of the storm that is history happening, I think to myself like, yeah. oh, these are the people. Like, I'm just like, this is our Harry Belafonte. Like, because I look at it and think, Harry Belafonte was this incredibly popular actor who had mainstream appeal and who was willing to throw it all away so that he could start speaking out against segregation.

And I'm like, oh, Benito is that? Like, I look at Don Lemon and I'm like, okay, Don Lemon is going to be the Walter Cronkite that when we talk about these times, we're like, he reported, he didn't stop. And it's like, I love him. This is eons ago in one of my dad's speeches. I wrote this line. This was for the 60th anniversary.

I had a line at the time. Of Little Rock. Here's the crazy thing. Every anniversary of Little Rock, these last few years, have fallen while certain people, these landmark anniversities have happened while certain people are the president. Oh, of course. So the last time we had the anniversary, we were coming off. Charlottesville, Colin Kaepernick was kneeling.

Oh, my God. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. We're about to head. We're about to head into another one pretty soon. And it's going to be, and this is the world we're living in. But I remember.

Maybe you'll get a Black History Month gift. Listen, maybe you'll be a gift. But I remember writing this line of his speech where it was like, it was Emmett Till turns into Heather hair. Muhammad Ali turns into Colin Kaepernick. It was ultimately this kind of like, we've done this song in dance. It keeps half. having to happen.

Yeah. We keep doing this. And that's like a thing I noticed when sometimes, like in that moment, I'm like, oh, Benito is yeah, Belafonte. He has the option to be mainstream famous and enjoy his fame. Or even, hell, you could even compare him to Sammy Davis because the fact that he dated a car, a Jenner, he was enjoying. I was thinking about it last like that really popped to my head.

He was enjoying the silliness of it all. And then similar to a Sammy Davis who tried to do respectability to politics and fall in line with what was happening and not speak about the Negro problem. And then that sucker came to knock on his door the first time the rat pack went someplace. And they said, no, no, he goes through the back door. Y'all can go through the front. It's like that's what I see. Like when I look at what's happening, it's like that's the stuff that brings me joy where I'm like, oh my God. Like, these are the artifacts.

Like, because we all talk about this time. like we will be standing in the rubble of this country like it is the hunger games trying to explain to our children what was how we got to this horrible. Yeah. When in reality, I look at it and I'm like, I have felt almost guilty for feeling hopeful when people would talk to me about how bad everything is. And again, we can't only focus on it is the other important thing. Yeah.

Because I think, again, I am spoiled because of the. my dad because of the nine, because of Jesse Jackson, because of all these people, because of all of these people, I get to look at them and be like, history can be scary in real time. But the crazy part is, these guys are all

still here. These men and women are all still here. They are heroes. History remembers them fondly. And it's like that's the stuff when moments like the Benito will happen, I get emotional because I'm like, these are the people that history will remember.

no one will remember that man in Jorts running around, screaming ball with a ball. No. Who even knows if people will even know who he is? I might, and the funny part is, and I realize this is going to be the reality is I remember, like, I'm in school learning about, you know, what's happening. Bernie Gets, all that kind of stuff, cases. I'm saying things to my mom, and she's like, can I show you a really cool movie? And that was how I got to watch Do the Right Thing. Oh, yeah.

Was in response to, oh, wow, you're learning about this period of time. Can I show you a beautiful thing? And I'm just like, that's what this time is going to be as well because of storytelling and because of music. My kids will come to me and be like, was that man really as scary as he seemed? And I will say, absolutely. But can I show you what we all did in response? And I will play them the Benito Bowl. I will play them Cowboy Carter.

I will show them sinners. I will show them the book. I will show them that Heather Ann Thompson and Patrick Radden Keith and all of these. people did not stop speaking truth of power. I will show them that Taunahisi Coates and Ibra McHenny kept writing books that nobody asked for that. I will show them that Isabel Wilkerson told us. Just told the stories.

She told us that you don't ever have to call them the Gestapo. They learned it from us. I will show them all of this art to be able to counter whatever hate anybody tries to hold over from this town. and I'm so grateful that like these people just have given no fucks and have stood 10 toes down and have just like made made their shit tried and true and just you know and I'm just like and I feel so bad for anybody that will never experience any of this because they truly cannot just open their minds up to experience things because honestly that's the

funny part is you're like, that man didn't make you do anything. He didn't, they didn't even have a QR code. If you notice, there wasn't even a QR code after this performance to be like, to hear more bad bunny. Go to Spotify. Yeah. Oh, yeah, Apple. They just said it happened. We're done. We're done. You got to experience it. And it's like, holy cow. Holy cow. Yeah. It's just, wow, what a time to be alive that they let us experience that. Yeah. That, reminds me um oh and then it just left my head completely oh you shared it too i think it was i think this was after rene good was murdered um Ryan Holiday shared like he was just like walking and like so you think you're the first person to live through political turmoil yeah you think

you're the first person to like have a tyrannical overlord yeah you think you're the first person to be like wait my country's actually evil like He listed all of it. He's like, and you're not. And I can't even remember everything that was the rest of that one. But for me, like, as long as you're not minimizing it. And some people do use that knowledge to minimize it. As long as you're not minimizing it, his point is other people have lived through it.

And then for me, that meant like, oh, I can learn from other people who have been through things like this. I remember. And so then that's where like historical fiction and nonfiction. helped me. And I think it also, when I think about election night, like, I love how Benito has this all, like, pontificating on life. But when I think back to election night, I remember, you know, everybody had that same feeling. You wake up at 3 a.m. and you're like, I need to check my phone what just happened. Like, something feels off. Yeah. And I remember having, like, that cold feeling of fear. But to your point, I then also had this thing wash over me.

where I was like, and I think this is where it's also beautiful learning history that I was like, okay, the women that came before me survived enslavement. They survived Jim Crow. They survived. They survived a world pre-Rovey Wade as black women. They survived the post-Rovey Wade as black women. Like, you know, it was like all of a sudden it just hit me like, oh. Pre-civil rights. Yeah.

I was like, I have a bloodline that left me the blueprint to survive this. Right. And I think, you know, wow, this might be an overly woke take of the Benito Bowl. But I think the people that hate it. I would rather be overly woke than, you know, fascist. I agree. So. But I'm like, I'm just saying it because somebody might be like, girl, this is a rich. Right. But it's like, I think when I'm watching all those flags behind him, what I realized,

And we talk about this a lot with like reading narratives that aren't built for you, right? Where it's like and I think the reason, because when I think to myself something that causes me calm is like, oh, my ancestors left me a blueprint for how to survive anything. Right. If I'm honest, I feel like the people who are really mad who don't want this country to change who actually want it to go backwards, it's because I don't think they have a, they know that deep down there is no blueprint. Correct. Or resilience or survival or hard work or community. Or even just being a good friend is not written in their DNA. Because when I even think about recently this whole movement of adding more friction

that people are like our biggest problem in life, the reason for the male loneliness, epidemic, all this stuff is because we do not want to be inconvenienced so deeply. Like we don't want the- Yeah, under the, like, everyone wants to be, to have a village, but not everyone wants to be a villager. Exactly. Like, it's the, oh, God, I got to come to your birthday. I got to put clothes on. And drive to, oh, this is so inconvenient.

Oh, God, we all got to come over here and do. It's like, it's that thing where all the sudden you're like, oh, I could see why you wouldn't want to do this when you have never seen a glimpse of this. You've never seen a hint of this. You don't even know how to make this work. like you don't know how empathy works because you're like oh god if i feel things for other people what if i just feel sad all the time well funny part is eventually you realize oh if i feel sad all the time it's because things aren't good for other people yes can i help fix it can you mobilize that feeling oh my god it's like it's it's it's the it's the it's the memory i have of the anger people

had when you'd be like oh you have privilege and it was like i don't have privilege. I'm living paycheck to paycheck. Yes. True. You also, though, don't have to deal with this other thing. Yes. That is also. So it's like, hey, can you imagine living paycheck to paycheck and being less hireable? Yeah. Yeah. Like you try to go be a greeter at Walmart and they tell you they don't believe you can do the job. You know, it's like... Right. Right.

Yeah. And it's like that's the part that when I am watching something like that, that's the other part of the sadness is like, oh, wow. There are also people that are afraid of this because they've never seen this model. They don't know what it means to honor their ancestors. They don't know what it means to like take pride. Because even he could have very easily not included the sugar cane or the power package element, which you could argue are two things that it's like, oh, my God, you're talking about the subjugation of your people. And oh, the fact that there's lack of lack of government resources and you guys don't have consistent power.

But he's like, he's like, that's part of the story. Right. And it's something I was talking to my partner about recently. We were talk because, you know, we were talking about stuff. I know what it. We were talking about the fact because we were volunteering with the Girl Scouts. And we were talking about the fact that the Girl Scouts represent such a large black population. And we went to the 15% pledge event and all this stuff.

And as we were walking around and we saw all these like black owned businesses, he was like, he said something that felt fairly profound that he was like, this is the stuff I really enjoy because I feel like so much of my education focused on the suffering of black people. and then it was kind of like it was like it gave us a hint of the suffering and it was like but don't worry you don't have to get too far into that we fixed it because we caught the guy that shot MLK and like you know and Abraham Lincoln loves you guys and Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves

like you're fine and I think when I'm also watching Cougler and Benito include sharecropping sugar cane picking power outages when I'm watching Beyonce they still speak, like, Beyonce will put ebonics in her lyrics. And I will have moments where I balk and think to myself like, ooh, girl, don't say it like that because then people are going to say it the way you say it.

You know, but it's like how, how beautiful to share it so deeply. But then to realize, like, not every culture has linguistic specialties, even though I do think, like, look here, bud. There are. Y'all ate with that one. or yes or whatever i'm like can we go back to that that eight because it like and i think that's the part that i laugh about too is like so much you know because it goes back to jd vans being like you could be proud to be white

and i think your children are not and that's the thing is like and i think he's saying what last night was which is like a lot of people watch stuff like that and they're watching it through the window whispered and with a sense of longing. And they don't understand that longing. So then it turns to anger because they are wistful and sad that they are watching from outside the window with their face pressed against the glass. Because the only good thing Chris Brown has ever truly put in the lyric is, you know, how are you going to hate from outside the club? You can't get in.

You can't even get in. And I think that's the thing is like, I recognize like that is the anger is you don't. don't see yourselves. But like you said, maybe if you partook in these narratives, learn some history, all of a sudden, you'd be like, my family does something like that. Or I do something like that. Or my culture has something like that. Maybe I do. Or it will help you as someone who grew up in a lot of abuse.

When you were talking about community, that was like one of the biggest things for me recently in learning about both more African and African-American cultures and indigenous American cultures. I was like, oh, I thought I hated the idea of community. I just didn't like the idea of being policed by a bunch of people and calling it community. You're making me laugh. And then I was like when I took my partner to a breathwork thing. I've taken him to breathwork twice. One was in Venice Beach at a very woo-woo-she-she predominantly white studio. It was attached to the open app. Like we were out on the beach. We had on like headphones playing music like very very thin white lady at the front. Now mind you this fan is so white from the Midwest.

We go to this first work thing and the lady's like, I want you to feel it. And then you're going to take in and you're going to hold and now you're going to release. It ends. I've like felt great all this stuff. You know, because I love the woo-woo. I turned to him and I'm like, what did you think? And he goes, I felt like I was hyperventilating. What was this?

What did we just go to? This was a lot. I feel tired. I feel overwhelmed. I feel like I was having a panic attack at one point. And I was like, oh, were some feelings coming out? Yeah. And I was, yeah.

So I was like, ooh. Okay. He was like, didn't like it. And I'm like, oh, okay. Many, many months, almost like six months later. We go to Walk Good, which they, it's created by Shirley Rouse kids. It was a response to the BLM movement in 2020 is that he, it's a common Jamaican greeting. It's like, it's basically like saying like, bless you, like, save for you.

journey. Okay. Walk good when you, when somebody leaves. They started a whole organization around this that has to do with like physical, mental health, primarily focused on black and brown communities. They were doing a breath work event.

We go. Black guys up there. He's talking about African tradition, African heritage. We get into the breath work. He's talking about abundance. Now, mind you, this is one at the time when the snap benefits were being taken away. And he was,

but he was speaking about it from this place of like, not material abundance, but like this idea of like spiritual. abundance like you'll always have what you need you do the whole breathwork thing I'm so nervous because we already know that he didn't like breathwork in Venice with all that this one ends and to your thing he looks at me and he goes you'll see that I like

there you go because to your point of like community and seeing things is that he was like this felt real and authentic it wasn't we all weren't wearing 800 dollar headphones we weren't in a cordoned off part of the beach we're only few steps away are, you know, unhoused people desperate for resources. He's like, it wasn't a dude talking about abundance in the sense of like, imagine all the stuff you want.

You know, like, how was this guy talking about abundance of like, not only for yourself but for others, of wanting not just more than enough for yourself, but for others, all this. Then he was like, I can enjoy this because it felt like I was being, I was having this explained. And it makes me even think about the way the two of you will respond to how I speak about religion. Yes, that's what I was going to say too. Like we we call it playing video games in our house because he plays video games and when we first started dating, my understanding of video games was called like the violent ones, call of duty. Oh yeah. You know, all that kind of stuff.

Halo. And theft auto. And he would say stuff like, I don't play video games like that. And so that's how we talk about religion is like, that's a great analogy. Thank you. I'm going to use that. I will see these nutsos standing up there being like, he was like the Lord. We are one. this is what God wants. And I'm like, I don't play video games like that. Exactly. I can't relate to that. But when I watch, like when we talk about wokeness,

you know, it's like to me, Benito's performance, that's woke. Mm-hmm. It is. And the fact that that is considered radical is, I included everyone in my thing. Because he could have been, because, and not even saying this is selfish. Benito could have been like, this is strictly for Puerto Rican people. This is, he could, it could have just been all about him and his earlier hits. Yeah.

Or he could have put in a single mainstream thing that any of us know. He could have done, because people kept saying like he's going to do the song. He started with Titi Me Preiguto, though. That's like the one thing. But it's, he could have. It's still not like, not all Americans. Cardi B was upstairs. He could have been like, can we do that one song?

Everybody knows. I like it. I like it. No. He said, uh-uh. I'm doing everything. She just danced in the back. ground. I mean, and that's what I saw that part too. Like they were level like Pedro and

Cardi like they were just part of everyone else. The Casita where they're just in it with everyone. Yes. Also, shout out to John Hamm because he loves that bunny. And I was so sad when I didn't see him in the Casita that I was like, oh no. And then when I saw him on the sideline, you want to know what my next thought that made me emotional is I said, John Ham is such an ally that he would go. He's like, we don't put me on the side. Yeah. He's like, I just put me on the side. Yeah. like I just want to see you perform, but uh-uh, this is bigger than that. I don't want to. And I was like, that's so precious.

The same thing when Gaga popped up, I said to my boyfriend, I said in this, because he said, wait, what's the significance of Gaga? And I said, honestly, I don't want to know. And I said, because right now I'm hoping this is like the way black people are about paramoor that I'm about to find out secretly that Puerto Ricans love Lady Gaga on such a spiritual level. you're like you're included you don't understand because like that's black folks with paramo it's like you'll talk to a black person you're like oh do you like rock and they're like i don't know

and then you're like oh do you like emo and they're like i don't know and you're like oh have you ever heard of paravor and they're like shut up i can't talk to you about this amazing i can't talk about paramo i can't talk about my love of haley williams i cannot talk about that and like that was my hope i was like i hope i find out god is like so beloved in this community and i think she is. I do think that's at least part of it in South America. Yes. Because there was some video I remember seeing of her being like I always have the most fun with you guys here. I remember when she did, which, you know, separate and it's across the diaspora, but like when she did the concert in Brazil. That, okay, that's what I was. Yeah. And it was like, yeah, and it was like,

damn near a million people. And they set up screens as far as the eye could see. And I was, and the, and like you said that she was like, I knew everybody couldn't see the stage. And she was like, but I wanted to give my fans there this moment. And you're just like, okay, Stephanie, all right. I know. And then I like that she didn't really speak in English. She only sang in English, but she didn't talk. She wasn't like, thank you, Bethany.

She's shut up. No. She did her dances. And apparently what he said right before, he said, Dime, Dime, is what you wantres. So I think right before she started singing, he's like, this is what you wanted, right? To everyone, there was a little white lady.

I love it so much. I love the family. He was like, this is what you want, right? The blonde white lady, though, who loves queer people and... But then also, she's Italian, right? She's Italian. Italian, yeah, Italian immigrant family. Yep, Italian New Yorker who, you know.

But it's just... I was like, I know Italian's not Latino, but maybe we'll blend it since she's so open. But it also felt beautiful because it makes me think about, you know, all of these books that talk about like, hey, immigrants, like kind of white immigrants. Like at some point, you didn't, weren't afforded the beauty of all of this. I know. Because of the milder minority myth. Because, oh, yeah, e-viewing.

That it's like, oh, that it's like what's the reward for assimilation, whiteness? And it's like, and it was afforded to the Irish. It was afforded to the Italians. It was like, congrats, you've passed the test. Here you go. And so then even that feels. symbolic to be like Lady Gaga going like, hey, I would

like to divest from this. Yeah. This narrative that if everybody just did immigration, like, my people did it, they'd be fine. And it's like, because I'm choosing to cross this line. Which also now gets back to my moment when people are like, I can't believe Gaga

didn't say anything about ICE. I'm like, yeah, she was trying to remember what was coming up next week. She was like. Right. She's like, I got stuff to do. Yeah, she's like, I got some to do. I don't want to pull away from me. Benito, this is his night. Yes. For people,

what you were just bringing up, when we say races, a construct, that's what we're talking about. Because it was, it was Italian, I just read, I read a fever in the heartland, which was all about the clan just

really surging hardcore in the 1920s. It's a lot. But they hated Italians. They hated Italians. They hated Catholics. They hated Jews. They're Irish.

Like that's what and it took me into reading enough books to finally start really catching on to that part. We're like, yes, white is white, especially white and black. That's like really what we're saying. That's really. Yeah. That's really. Yeah. Because that was.

Because we're not even talking about ethnicity or nationality. And that's why it's so profound to see Afro-Latinos. because so much of the conversation around Latinos, specifically Latino women and like the beauty standards are rooted in Eurocentric beauty and white passing Latinas. And it's like, so then to see like dark skin Afro-Latinas, it was like, wow. Oh, wow.

You're really doing the thing. You didn't have to do what you really are. Yeah. And I have to say, because it's the one that got me the most. And I know you've done parts work as well. But when he gave the Grammy to the little boy, I was just like, I can't. That was when my dogs were like licking my face. I was like, that was when the tears really started.

And I said, I'm not a responsible enough adult. I can't. I can't be a part of it. So beautiful. Yeah. Two things. One, I think it's really cool because I think it can be interpreted as him giving it to himself. Yeah.

And him giving it to future generations. That was like. And that's what I like. It felt like. me that he was both giving it to his younger self and giving it to the next gen. Like that was where my head went too is that I was like, getting like the past present and future like together. Like linking up to be his most adult self. Yes. And then everyone thought it was Liam. And I when people thought it was that. I love that we got Liam out. There are a lot of others other than

Liam that are still in. And also this just felt like a microcosm that. like it i didn't think it was leam i'm not trying to my own horn but i didn't think it was that to me again is why you in in deal with art and story as a way to have conversation because even the conversation's happening today in the most like calling people in kind of way of like hey can you see how it's kind of crazy yes you all think every little let that there's only space for one little Latino boy one brown hair dark guy yeah five-year-olds do you see how that even in itself is a wild premise that it felt like when I got online started seeing that I was like oh no I was like you're proving some of the points again that's what I'm saying it's like that's why I was like my reaction was like

this is so beautiful and I was like so I'm going to shut up and I'm going to move to the side and I cannot wait for everybody today who is the qualified person to speak about this to tell me what I just witnessed. Exactly. I was like, I don't want a single person being like, hey, girl, shut up. I don't want to hear anybody else's opinion. I only want to hear it from people who are like, hey, this is my world. I'm like, even today, like when I logged on, I was like, refinery 29 unbothered.

I love my people, but I'm going to go to a refinery so almost. I need to see what they're talking about. Yeah. I was like, please, let me know. Yeah, I know. Even the other thing that stood out to me, so it's like they, for anyone who doesn't know, Puerto Rico experiences a lot of blackouts because of corruption with power, which is fascinating to me because it works on multiple levels.

Yeah. They were talking about like power lines. Power and power. But also power lines. Like we're talking about electricity and we're talking about people. But that was the other that that was in Kendricks as well, not for the same reason. But it's so fascinating to me how much power lines functioned so well. And I'm talking about corruption.

I mean, we could talk about the irony all day of waking up today to freaking Jill Zarin being like, there's no white people. And I said, of course. But where, then Jill's sweetheart, baby, honey. my love, then where are all the Bipak people on your weird Rony reboot on E that has all of you weird mega bitches? Yeah. Coming back together that none of us asked for.

No. No, no, no, no. But it's that irony where you wake up and people are like, well, there were not white people in the performance. I'm like, so you agree. Representation matters. That's exactly what it makes me. So you do understand what that feels like.

So you do understand. You do know what it feels like to look at something and not see yourself there and want to be included in a huge culture. Oh, but I thought you hated Bad Bunny. Why did you want white people included? I thought it was an abomination. I thought it was gay nonsense. Yes. We should have to have inclusiveness.

When the Beyonce bowl happened and people were like, there are no white women. I said, first of all, they were three. I counted them. I said, second of all, I think it's fun that I could count them on one hand. It's like when I went to see Black Panther and that movie got going. and I want people to understand the shock that went through my body when Andy Circus's character

got shocked right I said wait how is this I genuinely I'm not kidding I sat in my seat and thought how does this movie work now there's only two white people in it and one of them is dead

and the next thing I knew one of them was in a coma never to be seen again for the rest of of the film. So I really was like, I truly walked away and went Ryan Cooler, I did not know that was something we could do when I saw and the ancestors were dancing

through. And then the Chinese dancers went, I genuinely, I'm not kidding, because this is how much I have existed in a PWI world. I was like, where are the white people? Yes. Oh, they're not in fact of you. They're not in this.

They're not in this. And I was like, wow. And I said, oh, so now I really am up you're like Kendrick like we got to decolonize your mind baby girl because which is what it actually means when you see the quote that the revolution will not be televised it's not literally about that it's about don't even get me started on that that your mind trend on ticot i mean both are true he made it was going to be televised like i'm social media or regular tv or did he mean streaming. I said, oh no, oh no, I need you guys to open a book. I need you guys to listen to Gil Scott Herron. I need you to understand that there's context of the thing that you're

partaking in. And so I just really, I'm excited for the people waking up today who want to learn and be engrossed and be in conversation with immigrant narratives and immigrant stories. And honestly, in the case of Benito, he's not an immigrant. He is American. He's American. So my God, I would love for you guys to read more Puerto Rican authors. Yeah. You know how many non-American performers we've had for the Super Bowl, too? Don't, okay. Don't even get to be started.

Chris Martin is definitely not from these U.S.A. Yeah, go Google it. It's a lot. Yeah. Yeah. We don't tend to have very many Americans do the Super Bowl. I'm like, if you guys want a great book, I think it's America, America, America. It's written in different ways.

And it's like, it literally, it's almost like the, the Latin version of a stamp from the beginning. Okay. I need to add this one. Yeah. Hmm. Shocking didn't show up immediately on good reads. I know. We, I will dig and I'll just type it.

Yeah. And then I'll just think it's, because it literally, I can't remember. I think it is. I think it's America. America or like America three times. But it is literally like stamped from the beginning, the Latin version. Yeah. I need to read Stamped from the beginning still.

I know I do, too. Honestly, I like the teen version. That's always my go-to for everyone. There's a, like, the Y-A version. Written for teens. Okay, that's what I think. It's the same book.

It's just a little less dense and a little less academic. The reason I recommend it is because it is the easier one. Because I feel like if you hand most people who wake up today and are like, I want to be better, you have them a thousand page tome. Oh, it's long, long.

Yeah. They're like, oh, I will absolutely read this as where I'm like, no, no, here, read stamped. Not stamped in the beginning, read stamped the YA version. And so, yeah, now I'm, it's the same way I'm slowly building up as I'm calling it my trans canon of reads where it's like having. Yeah. I like, fly like people. I have stag dance. There's like a couple others.

And now I'm like after Benito, I'm like, oh, now I really want to build up my canon of Queen of faces is trans fantasy. So you can add that to your... You can say I'm the one who said it was good, but if anyone likes Dark Academia and Fantasy together, they will love that one. I loved it so much. Have you been reading anything that you loved?

So I am in a real weird book space. So I just finished not too long. I like see, and I feel like you're the only person. I will get this because people never understand this when I'm like when they're like oh you can't remember the last book you read I'm like shut up I'm like sometimes because like and I think you read multiple at a time yeah for me sometimes that's why it's hard to answer so I just finished these heathens and the compound mm-hmm what a show off these heathens these heathens I love as I call it a forest gump book I love a book that's like real like I love a historical fiction that is like

we're going to put real people in here but it's going to be really cute how we do it yes and then the coming of age. Yes. And then because it dealt with like repro rights, like again, I love these narrative. It's the same way I felt when I read Grown that I'm getting introduced to a young woman put in a situation that I've never been in that I empathize with, but I've never had the words to put to. And so then to read her narrative, particularly because I think especially abortion is spoken about of like in the case of like catastrophic things, but. that moment when she's talking to the woman and the lady's like, what choice do you want to make? Mm-hmm.

And she's like, I just don't want to have to make decisions for other people anymore. And they're like, great, that's enough. Yeah. That is reason enough. Like, because remember that moment when they're like, why do you want to be abortion? And she's like, I can't raise a kid. I don't make enough. And they're like, no, no, that's like, that's why you don't want to be a mother.

Like, like, that's why you're afraid to raise a child is like, but why do you want this? And she's like, I'm just sick of making decisions. I'm just sick of living my life for other people. And they're like, good. And so like, I love that about it. And then the compound was good. It could have been great. And so I'm like,

what most reviews seem to be. Yeah. I'm switching back and forth between a few things. I'm listening to the Dream Hotel, which I'm liking a lot more than I thought I would. Yes. Because I'm really loving. I have that on hold, too. Well, here's the thing.

Coming off, bury your gaze, I'm really starting to enjoy these books that are also commentary on algorithms and machines. Like, yeah, LLM and all that kind of stuff. I'm like, I'm really enjoying this. And then I've also been switching back and forth between the conjuring of America and then blood in the water. And then I went to Barnes & Noble yesterday and bought like four new books. So like, you know, I'm, you know, an ungovernable woman when it comes to book.

As all reading should be. And then what are your reading? And then I went to the store to get yesteryear. only to realize it doesn't come out until this week. It doesn't come out until April. Yeah, it doesn't go out to April. Like, I was in the store like screaming. I was like, where is that?

And I was like, oh, right. If I happen to get a physical copy sent to me, I will send one to you. So, yes, I finished yesterday year. It was, and everyone who reads it is like, it's not what you think it is. There's like no way for the synopsis to totally even describe it. But it is loose. It's by Carol Claire Burke, who also has like a pop colo. podcast of course.

It's about a woman who has been like cosplaying being a trad wife from like the 1800s who makes her own sourdough. Think Ballerina Farms. Yep. And they love to do. Erica Kirk. I'm just going to say it.

She was coming up for me too while I read this. So she's like performing that life and making millions as they live on live on this farm. And then she wakes up basically in the 1800s and is like what just happened to me. So it alternates back and forth between her modern memories and what she's trying to figure out. Because she's like, surely I'm not actually in the past, but she has no access to water or lights or anything. So that's the gist. It is so sometimes like especially for thriller readers, when I say like dark, you're going to think like

lots of murder or really dark murder and that's not what I mean it was I think it was more sinister than I even expected it was going to be like it absolutely is satirical and has commentary on like Phyllis Schaffley-esque womanhood but it is also very dark I do think I triggered so I have CPSD and I handle it pretty well especially now but I think it even and push some stuff around for me, which is totally okay. And sometimes you need to. And sometimes you need to look at the look at what it hit because I was feeling some weird things. And then I was having dreams about my parents chasing me in the woods. So I think it did. But we would do with that what we will. Yes. It is sinister and it is heavy. And it will feel triumphant for you if you

grew up. I'll say that. I'll say that. It'll feel triumphant for you if you grew up in it. But it is going to make you think about a lot of it again. So there's that. It's fantastic. But I also just finished unread a memoir of learning and loving to read on TikTok by James Oliver James. Yeah. I remember watching him reading on TikTok. And so then when I saw the book announcement a couple months ago, I was like, oh, my gosh. Yeah. This book, my review, I couldn't stop writing.

Oh, my gosh. It's so powerful. He manages to cover his, like, his, like, getting to the point where he finally was able to say it. out loud to people that he couldn't read. So he like talks about how terrifying that moment was even like starting it on TikTok. But then what I think is really neat about it is he tells stories about the different books that he read in that journey. And so he talks about like learning literally words and comprehension that way. But he also talks about books that made him feel seen. And so he also started to understand himself through other people, which is like what you and I

talk about all the time is one of my favorite things of reading. So like this feels like a love letter to reading in general to like being able to see yourself, uh, have your education taken seriously. He was a black kid. Yeah, he was a black kid with ADHD and we weren't diagnosing that. Yeah. Speaking from experience. Again, go read original sins if you want to hear the difference. We weren't really, we were not diagnosing that for kids who were not white at the time. Oh, yeah. And so he just couldn't sit still and come learn.

Yeah, my best friend got sent out in the hallway. When Evio and talked about that. He talks about that. Yeah, she got, I remember we had a teacher who literally told her, now mind you, this girl. Yes. Civil Rights Nepo baby as well. Her grandfather had been an advisor to MLK. Wow.

And was there, like he is in the shot. He is on the cover of so. many books. He is represented in every movie. Like he is an integral part of the story of MOK and this girl had ADHD and I remember the teachers would send her out to go run up and down the hallway. They'd be like, go get your energy out. Go run. Yeah. They told Oliver James to just sit in the principal's office. Yeah. And so he just, well, he literally says, I was the child left behind is like in one of the chapters. So it's a really powerful story because he also talks about about like the TikTok book talk community yeah which I know there's like very bad side of

some of them are horrible and I'm not trying to brag but I don't encounter I've never encountered yeah I've never encountered the stuff side even when that whole thing yeah happening like a couple years before heated rivalry with the the hockey player thing and then that went south I was like I didn't even encounter that side of it I did not either so I have just I mostly see like the beautiful sides of book talk is just what it's like for me. And he talks about too. Like there were like librarians that would like be on his lives and they'd be like, I think this would be a really good one for you next. Like it just, it gives you all the warm and fuzzy feelings that you feel in a bookish community. Yeah. How do people not

feel good about stories? I know. Well, um, so lastly, what I'm reading and I just have to tell people about this because one, I read multiple books that I think we're, we're pushing. my religious stuff back up and I was like maybe I don't have to just read the stuff and be like I can handle any story. Yeah. So my friend had told me recently that if she thought I would like a love song for Ricky Wild by you would. I haven't read it but it's one of those books that people keep recommending to me. So I also you are going to love it. Okay. So I also, how I said I'm like testing a bunch of books as soon as I'm done with Dream Hotel, I plan on reading. real because I have not read black romance in a minute and I'm like yeah I kind of want to because

yeah I'm like I don't know you you know I was dealing with this quandary on book talk where I was like I read black authors all year round like in February I feel guilty when I'm like oh I just finished dream hotel and it's like not by a black author and people are like oh I read Maya Angela I'm like okay pipe down I read her I read actual black authors throughout the year talk about them outside of like pipe down. Like you're not going to make me feel bad. So I think part of me too is like, fine. I will read like Kennedy Ryan.

I will read like. Yeah. Tia Williams. Yeah, Tia Williams. Like I need something chill because I'm already reading Heather Ann Thompson telling me about either Bernie or the Attica Prison Uprising. I'm like, I need a second. I know.

I started fighting with someone in the YouTube comments of Fear and Fury who was trying to say that the Jim Crow laws made it so difficult for white people. people. Okay. And I was like, okay. Well, I can tell you, well, we know one person that did not like, we're not going to get anywhere. Yeah. We know somebody last night who did not watch the halftime show. We have an answer. We know a name. We know what kind of YouTube videos they watch. Thank you so much. That's so weird. Yeah. Yes. So I as well was like, I, I, I just need to tap out for a second. My brain needs something simpler. And I thought of you because I was, kind of giggling though because I start listening it is fantastic the narration is so good I highly

recommend the narration heated rivalry taught me that they're just like a lot of genres there are subgenres of romance yeah that aren't like rom-com and it is like kind of like coming of age yeah it's just like the romance is there too yeah so that I think that this one is very much like that but of course it's all that deep yeah we're already getting yeah that's what we do here now that's So you'll have that experience. You'll be like, oh, okay. Okay, I can't wait. It's very sweet and very cute.

And Colleen Hoover fans, don't hate me. But Ricky Wilde is who Lily Bloom thought she was. Okay. All right. There we go. There we go. So that's what we'll end it on. If I can find my mouse.