Danai Gurira, welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Thank you. Thanks for having me, Trevor.
Now, Danai, there was something you did recently
that really struck me on Instagram, and that was,
"Difficult Conversations with my White Friends."
And you posted this video, I think it was 19 minutes long,
where you talked to a white friend--
and I believe this is something
you're gonna be doing going forward.
I mean, it feels like some people have
the opposite attitude, they're like,
"I'm tired of talking to white people,"
and you've gone, "No, you know what?
"I'm gonna have these difficult conversations
with my white friends."
And I love all of those words: Difficult, conversation,
white friends, specifically.
Tell me why, what is the messaging behind this,
and what are you hoping it will achieve?
I've always had this, uh, desire--
my first degree in college was around social psychology,
on dealing with race-- and I always wanted to...
I actually wanted to go into that issue
in a more, like, professional way,
'cause I always felt like we don't tend to have
this conversation around how we dismantle racism
in this country, which is around racial socialization,
and often that is about whiteness.
But we don't often see the work happening,
uh, from our white... our Caucasian brothers and sisters,
in the regards of how do we dismantle this issue
from both sides.
And so, to me, it was very much about, I just was so tired
of not seeing this conversation happening,
and it just felt like it was something
that we just miss having, so we then point out,
uh, an individual, versus looking at a system.
-Right. -And that was the thing that really was, like,
I want to start really dismantling...
how do... how do I contribute to the dismantling process?
And I just felt like having these sort of conversations
-was a start. -Have you... have you...
have you discovered... have you discovered anything
in these conversations, is there a light bulb that went off,
either in your head or in one of your white friends' heads?
Was there something where you realized, "Oh, man,
"we're missing something when we're talking to each other,
or talking at each other, as people of different races"?
What was... what was one of the realizations
you may have come across in these conversations?
I think the key thing was really about, you know,
what we did was, there was an exchange of that idea
that often it's-- and that's why I think
a lot of black folk alike-- work on it yourselves.
It's 'cause it's always the burden on black people
to explain and to say, "This is what I go through,"
"This is what I experience," and to have to relive
and rehash things so that white people can...
can come on board and understand that there's a problem.
And what I said... what I wanted...
I wanted to do an in... an inverse situation there,
where actually I was putting the questions on him
and the bur... and saying, take this labor
and let's see you guys get to work in this area.
And that was the-the-the... sort of the shift.
You know, and I think it's also worthy of saying
it's not about condemnation.
That's not the point.
-Mm-hmm. -And it's not...
it's not gonna... it's not gonna get us to a place
that we want to go, which is to heal and to transform.
And, um, so it's truly about actual, like, transformation,
which, you know, can be a very shockingly un...
unexpected experience.
But yeah, that's kind of the thing I-I kind of...
I'm kind of... I want to continue to dig
in this area with folks.
I did do a talk, I've had a conversation
with a dear friend of mine, Zach Quinto,
and I'll be posting that soon.
-Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. -There's a lot of work that, uh,
you know, that comes with, you know,
the i... aspects of white privilege
and-and those sort of components
that causes, um, you know, a disconnect,
you know, when it comes to the... that conversation
between-between black people and white people,
and-and causes it to be, you know,
"You're exaggerating," or, "You're pulling a race card,"
and how do we get past that
and just get into the real stuff,
so that we can start working towards the real work,
which is, you know, changing policies in this country
that... that work against, uh, black people
and people of color as a whole.
You've been somebody who's always been an advocate
for, you know, social justice,
who's always been an advocate for equality,
whether it's been in the plays that you've written,
the stories that you tell, the characters that you play
or even the work that you do.
Love Our Girls is a very specific initiative
that you... that you have been passionate about.
Tell me a little bit about it, and-and why you've chosen
to keep it going, and what it means to you,
especially during this time.
Love that women and girls need, if we received that,
which comes with respect, which comes with attention,
which come with... with equity,
we would be so much further along,
and we would see so much less problems and-and, uh,
you know, injustices that women experience.
So it really stemmed from that.
Like, how do we bring people on board
to actually become actively connected
to the ways that women and girls are marginalized
and working against it.
So highlighting organizations every month
became the thing I really wanted to do.
There's so many amazing women's organizations
really fighting a really good fight,
and I just wanted to give them a platform
and-and give them voice.
And then... (chuckles)
uh, in these present times,
it is... it is so... it feels even more, um, pertinent
that I really keep it going and that I keep very connected
to what's happening and the voices that need to be heard
in this moment.
It's a mo... it's a moment we're in
that we are hoping is truly a transformational moment,
and how do I make sure that I'm contributing
in all the ways I can.
And I'm still figuring that out every day.
When you look at these organizations,
and when you look at what we need to be aware of in society,
what is something you've learned, even,
that you could teach some of us or anyone out there
who's watching to go like, "Oh, this is something
"I wish we paid more attention to,
"to get help, or-or-or...
"or, rather, you know, get the necessary attention
to the certain... to the places where we need it."
You know, I think that the key thing that, uh,
has really helped me is leaning in on the experts.
That's kind of the way in which I have found...
some sort of, you know, almost...
almost sanity in this time,
is to hear from those who are on the front lines
and who have a wisdom and a clarity about where we are
and how we move forward, and... So leaning in on folks
who are paying attention to those things,
and then how do we help with that information?
I love what the ONE... ONE organiz...
Campaign did, ONE Campaign,
that I've worked with for years.
Um, Bono is one of the founders.
And what they did, uh, very recently
was the Pass the Mic campaign,
which was so powerful, I thought,
because it allowed the experts to have a mic.
You know, where at a time where we needed to hear,
and we need to hear from those on the front lines
who can tell us how we move forward day by day.
This is an ongoing, evolving issue,
and to really take the, uh...
They married the platforms of celebrities
and the voices of experts.
-Right. -And that, um...
They started that, and then after that came,
you know, what happened with, uh, George Floyd
and the movement that started to happen there.
So then that started to grow into Pass the Mic
and that realm.
So it's just a, it's-it's such a brilliant idea,
because they, they, they hit 258 million people.
-Uh, by handing the mic to the experts. -Wow.
Right now, they are who we need to hear from the most.
So we know how to get through this together.
And the key thing that I keep learning
is about the collaboration, the cooperation
we need to have globally.
And if we don't-- like, they-they think that
no one's safe until everyone is safe.
-Right. -And I don't think that's always how we think.
There's a way that it's like, you know, this is, this is
our country and these are our borders, you know?
And it's, that's not how we're gonna get through this.
We're gonna get through this by working as a, as-as a global,
uh, functioning of cor--
of cooperation and collaboration.
Hopefully, next time we speak, we'll be talking about
how, you know, this was a moment in time
and we can all live in Wakanda once again.
So thank you so much for joining me, uh,
socially distanced on the show, um...
-Thank you, Trevor. -Um, I hope you have a great day.