Florida! You helping people or just banning them? Dancing through the chaos with Marinda Davis

In this maiden episode of "Slap the Power", Maiya Sykes and Rick Barrio Dill introduce themselves and the show, which aims to turn artistry into advocacy through the lens of music, comedy, movies, visual arts, and more. Special guest, the one and only Marinda Davis (Dancing with the Stars, Broadway Dance Center). Together they try and raise awareness on key issues affecting young people and women especially in Florida but also republican state legislatures nationwide.   And how we can try and make meaningful small changes together that can lead to voices being heard louder in our communities and worldwide.  And as always, they aim to make fun of everything.   Because EVERYTHING today seems like its insanely important and ridiculously stupid, all at the same time.  

And BIG SHOUT out to our show sponsors, the awesome new card game @rollorbounce and https://rollwithitorbounce.com

Also, we could not have launched properly without the BEST Tequila company in the business having our backs, EL CHRISTIANO!  Thank you guys so much for the support and make sure to get you some!!!    El-Christiano.com and @elchristianotequila

Transcript

00:00 | RBD | But if out the gate you're saying that because I believe that Rosa Parks sat on a bus and didn't refuse to not give her her seat that I'm woke. I don't understand how you can call me this new derogatory term that you've created when this is just a fact that happened.
00:17 | Maiya | I don't know where we start here, Mams and Sirs and non-binary paths. Hey, what we gonna slap today? All right, all right, all right. How is everybody today? Wonderful. How are you, honey? I'm fucking fabulous. The world may not need another podcast, but it definitely could use a slap. That's right. Welcome to Slap the Power, the show that aims to turn artistry into advocacy through the universal power of music, comedy, movies, visual arts and beyond. I am so, so fucking happy to have my co-host, Maya Sykes on the panel right here for this ride. You might
01:11 | RBD | recognize her as a finalist from The Voice or singing with... I've been singing with Bibi Rexha and Billy Idol as of late. Oh, wow. Never heard of... Never heard of... Little lesser known folk. No, I'm killing it. But my girl also got a poly side degree from Yale and a fellowship from Oxford. So she ain't playing, y'all. She ain't playing. And my wonderful co-host is none other than world touring musician and bassist for the band Vintage Trouble and creator of the Slap podcast network, Mr. Rick Barriodil. Now, we at Slap the Power aim to fuse the unique power of artists talking with their art and their stories together to try to raise awareness on key issues
01:56 | Maiya | and work together to make meaningful changes in our communities and worldwide. And because it seems so much of today is both ridiculously important and insanely stupid, all at the same time, we're here to help you keep track of what is what and make sure that we make fun of it all. Because if
02:10 | RBD | we can't take the piss out of it, it ain't no good. Facts. Facts. So let's do this. Let's do this. Right here. Sonics. Love. Action. Progress. Let's slap the power together. Today, we are talking about this state. She a little cray cray. She a little swampy, but she beautiful. So we can't discount her. That's right. We're talking today about Miss Florida. That's right. Florida ma'am.
02:38 | Maiya | Florida ma'am. She's really Florida-ing lately. Yeah, she is Florida-ing. What's happening in one of the largest electoral count states in the union and why this drugstore level fascism that's happening in Florida right now is bad news for democracy, how we got here, and what we can do to learn and help each other because I'm from Florida. And so this is near and dear to my heart, but also from Florida and joining us in the studio today to discuss all of this is a true legend in the dance world. Choreographer to the stars. Yes, ma'am. That's right. And she has put the dance in. So you think you can dance bitches, please welcome one of my favorite humans ever manifested,
03:21 | RBD | M-Star Miss Miranda David. Yes ma'am. Hi. Welcome to Slap the Power. So I just wanted to really get the chance to dive into, you do so many wonderful things in this industry and I wanted to get the chance to dive into your mindset and how this new Florida attack on democracy affects you because you work with young kids, kids approaching voting age. So what is your insight about where dance and art have a place in this, you know, trans kids are being attacked. There's the whole being woke thing has, you know, got this really weird assignment. What are you personally seeing in your own changes and in your own approaches to young people right now?
04:10 | Marinda | Yeah, it's very relevant for me. The age group I mostly work with is 15 and up. So like you said, they're approaching voting age and they're very affected by all of this and I work with kids from different parts of the country. So it depends what pocket you're in. But, you know, one of the biggest things I've seen is the level of anxiety in their generation. Almost all of them are medicated. Jesus. And it's interesting, you know, when you're a high level dancer, typically at some point you might homeschool, right? Because dance becomes like a 12 hour thing. And I noticed more and more people were homeschooling and I would say like, Oh, is it because of dance? And they'd literally say to me, no, it's because I'm scared I'm going to get shot at school. Oh my God. So just imagine that, you know, it's just a dagger in my heart. These babies. It's a horrific reality. So I always try to make a statement with my art. I want people to walk away and, and question something. I want people to as important as representation is, it's also equally as important not to recognize yourself on stage or screen, because there's a story. And we then empathize with somebody that is different than us. Right. So I'm constantly pushing it and as much as I can, I can't go home with them as their parent and change their minds, but I definitely have a big place in their lives and try to move the needle as much as I can. As I know they're
05:45 | Maiya | approaching that age. I understand. We are in California. We, you and I moved here and, and it was just like fish to water, right? It was just like, this is my favorite city on planet earth. It is a different thing in so many ways. We are the most liberal and it feels the most worldly. The thing that's, that's concerning me is I, I think the woke thing that's going on, this attack against woke and everything blankets us as another and bland. And that's why it was
06:13 | RBD | designed. That's why it was designed. All of these things are tools. Yep. All of these things are tools to dissuade natural dissension. Yep. If you can get people to abdicate control over what they have access to and the knowledge to which they have access, then you can get them to abdicate control over their person. And then people are so scared of what they don't understand. They're easily manipulated and that's been the way there and it's working. The reason why we have to pay attention is it's not just in Florida. It's now in North and South Carolina. It's in Mississippi. It's in Arkansas. So these things, those things spread like wildfire, especially to areas that feel like their way of life is being threatened. We aren't saying we're threatening your way of life. We are saying we're asking you to accept these people as well because this is their way of life. Their response to this is no, you don't get a way of life. But what I don't get is it's not like you're going to make these people go away. Right. That's the part where I'm just like,
07:28 | Maiya | got to acknowledge their existence. Yeah. If we want a multicultural, multi racial democracy, then we should be able to start there because somehow being for government, it became being anti the other side or anti the things that all of us or most of us want. We want to, you would want our kids to be able to go to school safely. We'd want the freedom to be able to control my own body if I was a woman, if I was younger. But nonetheless, it scares the crap out of me just as a man on behalf of those people. And it feels like this is something that is an issue that we had moved past on. You know, 80% of the country, I think even 60% of Republicans are for a fairly decent woman's right to choose and a fairly decent sort of middle landing ground,
08:18 | RBD | if you want to call it 16 weeks or kind of where we sat on for the last 50 years. But why are those Republicans not making more of a vocal push? It seems like they're willing to, you know, dissent privately, but not publicly and, you know, to the detriment of their party. So if you're looking at, especially looking at some of these new Trump trials where you're seeing whole dozens of people say the man has defamed me, he's done this against me, but I'd still vote for him for the next election. Then what am I supposed to do with that? Especially when you're the platform of ethics and such. Again, it's power. Power has sort of Trumped ethics. And it's also Trumped political discourse because it used to be that you could have a conversation of civility with a person who had opposing views from you and you could find some kind of common resolution. But if out the gate you're saying that because I believe that Rosa Parks sat on a bus and refused to not give her her seat, that I'm woke. I don't understand how you can call me this new derogatory term that you've created when this is just a fact that happened. I don't know
09:36 | Maiya | where we start here, Mams and Sirs and non-binary pals. If we do not believe in science, where's the middle ground? If we do not believe in historical facts, where are we starting, Mams and Sirs and non-binary pals? I don't know. I have a theory that when Kellyanne Conway went on television and said alternative facts that we were already in our own algorithmic silos. But that she was allowed to say that nobody sanctioned her. There's no such thing as alternative facts. I understand that people say, something was one way and now it is not. You learn things. That was the interesting thing. None of us had been through a pandemic together and we all had to go through it together. There's science and it has a percentage that it is. But somehow the 1% of the science deniers had enough of a voice with AM radio disinformation as long as it could coerce the power that was needed from that 1% quest. Then it seemed that it was successful because if you can sway enough with the 1% of disinformation, the truth, it takes a long time to make itself aware around the world that a lie is heard instantly. That's where I feel like we're at. Like you said, where do you go when one side wants to destroy a kind of way of life that has been there in the name of feeling threatened on their way of life? To the extent that they also want to deny its existence. Let's do this. Here's what we know so far. Just so we can start off the bat with this, Florida's 2023 legislative session is only halfway done and some of the legislation passed is seriously disturbing. As the governor gears up for an expected presidential run, things are about to get uglier. Here's what's happened under his watch so far. A bill that allows people to carry
11:33 | RBD | concealed guns without a permit and proper training. A bill that makes it harder and more expensive to sue insurance companies and businesses and that was a big one because they basically allowed insurance lobbyists to just sneak that bill right on through. How about a law to ban abortion at six weeks of pregnancy, not presidency? That's another big one because that law has no exceptions or exemptions. So it is condemning women with ectopic pregnancies or who have been raped or victim of incest to not have advocacy because if you go through some programs, and I can speak to this from firsthand experience, you have to wait a two to three week period to be signed up for their Medicare programs to get some of these services. If it now takes that long, but you don't find out until you're at the four to five week, you don't have the... So basically what this bill does is it only makes abortion accessible to the very, very wealthy and that's by design. But it's hilarious because it's going to backfire. I really believe that they think that this will make more white people, but the people who this will disenfranchise the most are people of color. So really you're just making more people of color. Their next thing is really interesting too. They made a bill banning classroom instructions about sexual orientation, gender identity in all grades, a felony to provide gender affirming healthcare to transgendered minors and a bill that has made it legislatively possible for people to deny trans people care due to their religious affiliation. And the reason why that's problematic is because in 2012, there was an incident in which a transgendered woman who was born a man went into diabetic shock. And when the EMS responders arrived, they found the victim to be transgendered and they failed to render services. So if this is allowed to happen, in this case, it was the NYPD, but if this is allowed to happen as a state initiative, you can see how this could be problematic overall in a statewide initiative because you could then train people to then say, I will not provide care because of my religious affiliation. So then you have to, as a trans person, say, hey, I'm trans. Can you send the person who doesn't have a religious affiliation against me, but be able to say that in a moment of duress when you need urgent care? That's statistically impossible. So it's just things like this that send a quagmire into what should be a protected idiom, especially given the Hippocratic oath is save a life. There should be no religious exemptions at all. And yet this ban now makes that possible. I feel like this must scare the crap out of you as
14:35 | Maiya | a person who educates kids. Yeah, it's funny because you also talked about gender reassignment, surgery and things like that. All I know is from what I've seen from afar that it's grossly, grossly overblown. It's like an anecdotal thing that's then used to scare parents, suburban moms and things like that into voting for this man that then does these things. And I'm interested, are you finding that a lot of the parents, because I actually heard this yesterday, somebody said they're moving to Florida so that they don't have to deal with a teacher telling their child that they're going to be a different sex. And I was like, that doesn't happen. That doesn't happen. That is anecdotal. I can't claim to speak for someone's story or walk in their shoes, but these are anecdotal things that are being used to manipulate power on a massive millions of people level. And do you find that for yourself, the parents kind of does that sort of seep over into it? We can't make gun regulations and things like that. Do you find that it's getting easier
15:41 | Marinda | with more vocal kids or harder? It's interesting because obviously artists are usually others. So I obviously see a lot of gender fluidity and the kids, they are the most woke. We go around in a circle before every class and say our pronouns and just make sure everybody feels accepted. And it's hard because I don't know what they're going home to. You know what I mean? And it's worrisome, but the majority of kids accept other kids for who they are.
16:19 | RBD | They recognize that their rights are getting stripped from them. Yes, absolutely. They're very aware. And how are they responding to, especially the new legislation that's been blocking diversity in public colleges and federal things? As a person who went to school, I relied a lot on that kind of funding to receive higher education. So how are those kids navigating through this new blockage and new lack of access?
16:50 | Marinda | Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, I think so many artists since the pandemic have stopped going to college because a lot of them their first two years were in masks in a dorm room. Or on Zoom. I didn't even think about that. But yeah, it's interesting. College feels further away than ever for them. So I don't know if I can speak to that specifically just because so many are making other choices now.
17:17 | RBD | I get that. And I also forget that we have an entire generation of kids that didn't get any of the regular milestones that most kids get, like a prom, school dances, school classes, school class projects, things like this. They didn't have any of those things. You know, grad night. They didn't have any of those things. And there's an entire generation, not just one generation, but like three high school years that didn't have. So that's an entire generation of students that didn't have any of those things. And I'm just wondering, given this lack of resource, missing time and this new Gestapo thing, how is that affecting their anxiety?
18:02 | Marinda | Yeah, it's every kid in this generation, if they're 18, they're 16. And that's how I deal with them. If they're eight, they're actually six. Like it has been an at least two year regression. Wow. Because you're missing socialization. Yeah. More so than education. And that's so important. Socialization and you're missing those milestones, which are huge events in life. They're huge. Learning to drive.
18:28 | Maiya | Another thing that's going on right now that has actually just passed that I want to talk about is there's a bill that bans people from entering bathrooms other than their sex assigned at birth and requires bathrooms to be listed as men, women, or unisex. I think that is something that is on the table. You can talk about that because you could make these kind of Tucker Carlson kind of straw man arguments about some perv went into the wrong bathroom and things like that. But the encroachment upon kids that are confused and if you're not giving them the ability to work out their confusion and you can't talk about it up to age 12 and then they can't deal with a bathroom that is based on the way that they are feeling or identifying as,
19:11 | RBD | I don't understand how that is tenable. It's an affront to science as well because there's enough statistical data that shows that pedophiles and people who are considered perverts, 99.9% of them are not homosexual or transgender. And there is way a whole lot of data that supports that. If you want to at me, go ahead. I will give you the data to back up what I'm saying because it's a long list of it. Just because you found one source on YouTube that counteracts what I'm saying when there's like 20 different doctors from about 17 different universities that say what I'm saying factually. Don't at me. I'm just letting you know I'm not the one today. And because of that, I don't understand how these, the reason why I know these policies are being made is because
20:00 | Maiya | first to get them to work, they debunk science. There's a bill that bans children from drag shows and revokes the food and beverage license of businesses that admit children to these performances. Now I want to say something about what, I would like to know what defines a child in this bill, but I mean some of the greatest times I ever had was being 16 at drag shows.
20:19 | Marinda | So I don't understand. But what defines drag? There are characters that do drag in Disney shows and there's a Disney world right there. Mrs. Doubtfire. Oh word. Mrs. Doubtfire. Word. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, exactly. Okay, so what made a Broadway show about it? Okay, so that can't come
20:34 | RBD | to Florida. So this is Doubtfire can't tour in Florida. Is that what he's saying? Okay, there, I know there's a scene in Aladdin where the genie dresses up as like a girl character, whatever. And they do that. And they do that in the live action show. So now you're going to say
20:50 | Maiya | that you're going to take out, this is just dumb. Yeah. Yeah. And again, it's like people, people might say, okay, well, this is Florida, especially we have people who listen to us from all over the world. If this is Florida, why should I care? And it is, it's one of those things. It's a virus. It is a, it's a virus with a hefty electoral count in determining the complete and total power levers on ostensibly a complete government that is if, you know, that is six to three conservative Supreme Court for the rest of our lifetimes likelihood, right? That is also, you have a house that is, it's a narrow lead on the right, but it is one of those that it's only job on the right is to really gunk up a government. All they want to do, really do is stop government from working from the inside, which means rights like these go by the wayside, you know, because you don't have the levers in power to control, to control it. And if, and if Florida controls the electoral college in 18 months, we're all looking at a completely, completely different country. You know, one of the things we have here is considered the impact of his agenda on the state of Florida so far. Parents and families are selling their homes and moving because of school censorship, book bans and healthcare restrictions that have made the home state, their home state
22:04 | RBD | less safe for children. And they basically bankrupt with this new ban of not being able to give funding to diverse, you know, for diversification and universities that is crippling the HSB, you know, the historically black colleges there because, you know, of which there are a few. And if now you're diverting their funds, you're effectively cutting off their source supply. So you're making it so that people now have, who already had very limited choice have now none.
22:37 | Maiya | I think I've heard arguments on both sides where, where, you know, he's gaining strength with this sort of Christian nationalist dog whistle, right? Which, um, it does not allow for what I, what I think I've, I'm aware of, of the Bible, you know, of what I've read of the Bible. We read a different Bible. We were, we read in a different one. I think we were talking off air. The only King James that it seems to represent is the guy that plays with Lakers. But I, I am interested in, you know, if you look at the numbers, I think most people don't are starting to figure out, oh, wow, we don't, this is, we don't like this. We don't like this guy, you know, getting, doing these things. We
23:21 | RBD | don't like some of these things going too far. But it's interesting too, though, because you see one presentation, like I was, okay, I was trying to do my research about this and I would watch, you know, some clips from MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, a couple of others. And they would say that there are a whole lot of pockets in Florida. They're like, yeah, we're really against DeSantis. But then you'd watch a couple of other CNN and Fox clips and they'd be like, no, these counties are about this. They got, you know, no woke dies here, banners in their bars and the restaurants and
23:52 | Maiya | whatnot. So I'm like, who do we believe? Yeah, there's a discussion to be had about everything from, you know, security to fear of, you know, if you come from a country like Cuba or Venezuela or something, and you hear the word socialism and whatever your opinion is on that sways you to the one team or the other in this country, because it seems like you have to be that way. And this is why, again, this episode was so interesting is because I do think there's a lot of things that we agree on. But at the end of the day, most of this stuff is not a good faith argument. This is not, it's kind of for cruelty sake to push that power lever and keep pushing that power level. And I question right now, much like in 2000, when, you know, when basically the Bushes willed their way, you know, into an electoral win in Florida, which then tipped the balance of the presidential election. That's why we're trying to spotlight this right now is because I think it's going to once again come down to the kids. It's going to come down to registering the kids to vote. It's going to come down to increasing awareness about these laws that are coming online or that are already online if they're not aware about it. And really just, you know, it's kind of a lot of us say, you're going to the kids and saying, you're going to have to help us, please.
25:04 | RBD | No, but I think we need to stop doing these children. Stop being like, okay, we fucked up. No, no, no. What I mean, but no, how do we empower these kids so that we're not saying take our mess?
25:16 | Marinda | I feel like that's the question we need to be asking. Yeah. I think it's by empowering them and telling them that they can make a difference. Okay. Because I mean, I am at home a lot and just thinking, I don't know what else to do. You know, I think a lot of people feel like their hands are tied, but I think kids, when you tell them their vote actually matters, that they can change that.
25:36 | Maiya | Do you think there's a responsibility? Because in the case of Disney, I find that like I don't, when the whole Bud Light thing went on with Kid Rock and shooting the Bud Light and everything like that, I saw some billboards that's called the, called the right that was mad at that commercial snowflakes, which I thought was awesome. If Bud Light really did that was, you know, I don't like the necessarily the taunting back and forth and things like that. But in some way, Bud Light is kind of like, from a money standpoint, it makes way more sense to be inclusive, right? It's bad business to be white Christian nationalist. I wish that they had gone and gotten a bunch of kids and said, holla at the, that's what I would have done. I think they did in the comments though. Like I think a bunch of kids jumped on Anheuser-Busch and was like, fuck your beard.
26:28 | RBD | Kid Rock, when was the last time you had a hit song? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And like, don't you shoot Bud Light in your backyard anyway. I just thought that was a Tuesday for you. Exactly.
26:41 | Maiya | And you also are a little redneck dude who got famous off a black idiom. So yeah, yeah, yeah. Respect. I mean, it's interesting because again, the cultural appropriation, everything like that,
26:53 | RBD | I, I'm here for that. I think it's great. My thing is if you're going to be a cultural appropriator, stay in your damn land. Don't switch up because you're like, oh, well that didn't work. And the black people don't mess with me no more. So let me be conservative and sing with a country twang. So now white people like me. Nah, you came from the gutter with a black lady with dreads playing
27:15 | Maiya | no drums and bitches dancing in cages. Stay in your damn land, sir. Yeah. I love when a company is going to flex. If that was a Bud Light flex back, I actually, I'm here for that kind of stuff. I love it. But how much do you think that the art actually should lean in harder? Like Disney World or Hollywood here, we try to make diverse films. We try to do a lot of things. That's what's so great about California is it is so multicultural, multiracial. It's just a beautiful thing. It's got all, it's full of all of its problems. It's got mad problems and things, but we are definitely planet earth here. And I think so the, so the art that comes out of here in a lot of ways represents
27:51 | Marinda | that, but in the dance world or in other ways, do you think it's, we should actually lean in harder? Always. As an example, we had the first gay couple on World of Dance. It was dope. Thank you. That was yours. That was yours. And we had to fight for every piece of it. The kiss that happened was the biggest meeting, the longest meeting, the longest fight ever. And I'm very thankful that NBC ended up airing it, but it was a fight. But I saw a direct reflection we got. I can't even tell you how many hundreds of thousands of emails and letters, some of them hate mail, but so many of like a 15 year old kid in their room and, you know, Alabama, and this is the first time I've seen what I think I am on TV, or this is the first time I've seen any representation of that. And
28:41 | Maiya | it made them feel okay. So yes, I say always lean in. It's always gonna do good. Amen. I mean, yeah, I hope that we get to, you know, feel more. I mean, we feel it here because again, we're just we're kind of planet earth, but I hope we feel it more in some of the more super deep red states, because some of the, you know, anecdotes on the bad things that are the results of all these sort of heinous bills that have been going on since Roe versus Wade fell since, you know, the Republican state elections where they did win in the midterms, it almost seems like it was a pulling back Roe versus Wade and having the sort of blessing of the Supreme Court gave all these state legislatures a green light to just stiff arm these super super like, you know, draconian policies and things that are, you know, that are and should scare the crap out of all of us. So I hope we see more art coming out of that or coming out of, you know, coming out of places where I guess this would be, you know, if I was somebody right now and I was frustrated by my state's government, I definitely would be either trying to figure out, yeah, I would definitely try to get my friends and be like, look, because it's going to take all of us, it's going to take
29:57 | RBD | all of us banding together to stop this train. It's already out of the station. And Florida is a beautiful place. It deserves that opportunity. It's got, you know, it is some of the best marshland country. It's it's a beautiful, beautiful area. Yeah. And I don't feel like the conservatives make it bad either. I feel like they're being gaslit. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Which is
30:20 | Maiya | what we want to talk about is like we have a lot more things that I think we're together on. We're
30:24 | RBD | being made to believe that we are either Hatfield or McCoy. It's not because if you're allowing this bubble to exist where your kid never has to learn about, I don't know, civil rights or gay people or whatever. Yeah. Then that means that they only going to live in that county like how they're going to go out into the world because in the world these things exist. Mam serves a non-binary spouse. So how are you preparing your child to live if all you're saying is just live in the house? Yeah. You're stunting the growth of these people by telling them, no, we're going to do everything in our power to make sure these people are eradicated, I guess. But that's impossible. So
31:14 | Maiya | I don't understand its merit. Right. It feels like you don't know where these laws are going to stop because it just keeps encroaching, encroaching, encroaching. The only place it can stop is like, for example, full and total ban on a woman being able to have an abortion even in cases of rape or incest because that is much of the stated position of the super far right. Friends and family I know that have stated that. That's their number one only issue that they care about. And I get it. We can have a conversation about that. I wonder why though? Is it strictly religious reasons? You know, again, it's the chicken and egg argument and it goes around where if you believe in life but then not life once it's born, to me it's not a good faith argument. It breaks down.
31:56 | RBD | I usually have conversations with people like that because I'm like, I just really want to have a realistic understanding of what your position is because your position is I should be dead. So I would like you to tell me why I should be dead according to you. Fair. Because I suffered from an ectopic pregnancy. I had to have an abortion to survive said ectopic pregnancy. And under this new law, I die. So why do you think that I'm allowed to die? Please tell me.
32:23 | Marinda | I very much relate to what you're saying. And thank you for being open enough to share that. I relate to it in a lot of ways. I'm adopted and I get thrown the phrase all the time. Well, you could have been aborted. And I'm like, yeah, I'd find my way here. Yes, I know you were. The other thing is like, I'm not really interested if we're not going to protect the people that are here. Yeah. Why are we so worried about, you know, protecting the people that aren't here until there's emotional and financial support in the adoption triad of for the adoptee, for the birth family, for the adoption family. Like it's not interchangeable. It's not a substitute. And that doesn't negate the pregnancy. There's still the burden of the pregnancy. There's risks. I have a genetic disease and I could potentially carry a baby, but it would kill me. And so again, it's like, you're okay. You're pro-life.
33:21 | RBD | And you decided that I should die. Yeah. Because my technicality doesn't fit your doctrine. So please explain to me why that is. And usually they just sit there and go, but I can't because it's not a good faith argument. But you're so adamant about it. And you're changing laws about it. And this is never coming to your purview. So I'm going to interrupt your purview. I have had one ectopic pregnancy and I have had one pregnancy that I couldn't carry to term because it had an ovarian cyst. I had to have two different abortions. In both cases, I wanted to keep my child. I was not given the option. And so the abortions that I received saved my fertility. So I may have a child in the future. Why are you telling me I don't have that option? Why are you telling me that I should go to hell for saving my life and wanting to bring a child into the world, but just being denied that right because of my body? Why are you saying that to me? And why do you feel that you get the right to say that to me? Tell me to my face why I'm supposed to die, sir. And it's usually sir.
34:28 | Marinda | Oh, yeah, sure. Yeah. Usually is.
34:32 | Maiya | For us, touring through the South has become problematic, especially during the Trump years. We have a black lead singer. I don't know how it kind of slipped into this almost sort of permission to kind of push back on this, but like to have now, you don't even need anything to carry a gun in Florida. You don't need a permit. You don't even need, I don't even think you need a driver's license. You can get at me in the comments and shit, but I don't even think you,
34:56 | RBD | I think you just need a pulse and you can carry a weapon. People are fleeing and people and artists are saying, yeah, like on our, you know,
35:05 | Maiya | major artists like Florida, we might skip it. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. 400 million guns and you're allowed to carry them. Maybe y'all should try to Atlanta. Yeah. Yeah. Me too. Said the Claremont.
35:18 | RBD | Shout out. You know what I'm saying? Like, and that's sad because there are a whole bunch of people in Florida who are like, yeah, we with y'all. We don't get it. Eva. Yeah. You know? So then you're making these people suffer because, you know, a few anti-wokes are, you know, woke, but I feel like that's their own version of woke. I was like, I feel like you're woke yourself. It's just a different title. So I feel like we should demonize their version of woke and call it a term. Well, that's, yeah, it's good on that. Yeah. You know what I mean? Oh, you're fake blessed or whatever, because that's really what it is to me. Oh, you, you got the faux blessing.
35:55 | Maiya | Oh, you got the faux blessing. I'll see you. You in with God. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The Lord. You in with JC. You got the bracelets and everything. Yeah. I don't, if it isn't with the Lord, then again, we're going to have to get on, we're going to get on the same page. Yeah. We're going to get on the same page. Cause I was reading what the Lord said and the Lord didn't do none of that stuff. No. The Lord stood with the meek and the outcast. Yeah. Yeah. Love thy neighbor. That's what we're here to do. And the other cheeky Vince, a lot of the things that we talk about, like we say, they are ridiculously important and insanely stupid all at the same time. So one of the things that we're going to, we're trying to do is also make this, make this where, like we said, we can take the piss out of it and we make it to where, you know, it's also a little fun too, because somehow relationships and just living your life does inevitably spill over into all these sort of societal issues and these policy issues, which is, you know, politics and politics and everything. But one of the tricks we're going to do shout out to one of the show sponsors, which is the roll with it or bounce. Hey, but roll with it or bounce. Check it. Check it out. Yeah. Exactly. So before we go, we'd like to close out all of our shows with something we call a sonic boom. That's right. A way we can go and leave something with you where you can implement small and actionable items to hopefully help you or someone you love in life make a difference,
37:17 | RBD | even if in the smallest ways. And today we are offering up a checklist on this wonderful Floridian subject. We want to let you know ways that you can be of action and where you can slap
37:32 | Maiya | the situation. So what you heard today was like, yeah, yeah, it was anything that interests you. If you're like, man, that's that's messed up. How can I save democracy for planet earth?
37:43 | RBD | This is what we can do. This is what we can do. So here's some ways you can get involved. One, you can support equality Florida. That's an organization advocating for equality across the state with a focus on fighting back against the Santas and allies slate of hate. So if you can't donate, they're always looking for volunteers. So if you're in the state of Florida, especially if you're a young person and you're like, I got money like that, but I want to do something or want to be in that number. They do have some wonderful rallies that are coming up. They have a rally coming up at the Capitol to raise awareness and fight against attempts to take away people's freedoms and infringe upon their rights. So if none of that's appealing to you, that's cool. But we do want you to have your own awareness so you can do something of a personal nature and fill out a speaker request form. And they'll arrange for a speaker to discuss the topics that
38:35 | Maiya | are near and dear to your heart with your audience. One of the primary causes that we've sort of built the show around is vote, save America, go to vote, save America.com. And they are probably the best source of information and initiatives to help you get involved and get out the vote because that is ultimately what all this comes down to. It's just that the vote is going to be what's going to save us. It's not going to get saved as state legislature level. It's not going to get saved in anything but the vote. So go to vote, save America.com, get involved and engaged in what VSA is all about, which is basically it's a key to saving democracy in places like Florida. So again, we know that donating isn't always an option. And so there are tons of other things that you can do. You can start by signing up there for their newsletter to keep you in the loop on the most important things to know and how to get involved. You can also volunteer and attend key campaigns and parties, even if virtually, which is incredibly has been amazingly powerful over the last three election cycles. So by joining their community, their votes of America.com, you also gain access to training, resources, networking that it's going to empower you to take action and get others to listen and act. And I tell you, when I say this, it literally, you go to vote, save America.com. It's like one
39:41 | RBD | click and you have everything you need to know to how to help. So that's great. You can also do grassroots types of things. You can support other organizations, advocacy groups, and you can do small things that appeal to just your circle of friends. Like if you know a certain issue is very nuanced, you could do a TikTok on it if you know how to explain it and circle that just amongst your group of friends to help them understand some of these issues better. There's a whole lot of ways that we can participate. And we have to look at not just the ancillary things that are available, but the ways that we can disrupt the consciousness using the same tactics, but using them in a we go high when they go low kind of way because that's the overall arching method here. We're not saying that in order to exist, we need to eradicate you, right? We're saying that we exist, include us. That's what you're going to have to do. So figure out your tolerance because we've had to tolerate you for a millennia and we've done. Come on, Michelle.
40:42 | Marinda | And real quick, are you promoting anything? What are you working on? What's your big project you're working on right now? My big project right now is I have an intensive that's for dancers 15 through 25. So and how can people find ways to participate in your intensive? Yeah, they can go to my Instagram, which will lead you to the storytellers intensive Instagram. That's Marinda Davis at Marinda Davis. Thank you. Yeah, that's the IG Marinda Davis. Yeah. And we do a lot more than dance. We sit in a circle a lot and journal and reflect and get to the issues that
41:17 | RBD | we're talking about. It also sounds like there's some life coaching. There's a lot of life coaching. I love that. But you know, in lieu of kids not having access to things like guidance counselors,
41:28 | Maiya | services like these are really, really important. I would not be alive without my mentors. So I know the importance. Well, thank you for taking that energy and helping an entire new generation. That's really commendable. Amen. Amen. It's an honor to do it. Amen. All right. Well, that's our show. Thanks for listening to slap the power and special, special, special mad love. And thanks to
41:51 | RBD | Marinda Davis, our guest host today too. We can't forget our sponsors roll with it or bounce. That was such a little fun game. So if you're looking for a great party game that will appease a whole bunch of people, don't forget this wonderful, wonderful card game that's on the low low. That's right. The low low. All these other things are digitized and cost millions of dollars. Like
42:14 | Maiya | this is on the low low. Like you could get this. That's right. We'll put that. We'll put their link in the show notes as well and roll with it or bounce, which way it's actually a cool game. Join us every week when we chop up real issues from a local and global perspective and cross
42:28 | RBD | with how as artists we can make a difference by branding together in small but massive ways. And you can add us on your socials on IG. We're at underscore slap the power and make sure that you sign up for free at slap the power.com so we can make sure that you never miss out on every new thing that we're doing. We have a lot of new sponsorships that are giving us some cool doodads and we might throw one year away. Yep. And if you like what you heard on this show, please be sure to write a review, like and subscribe because community is based on the
43:03 | Maiya | word of other people in the community. Amen. Amen. And we do these these shows and the only thing we ask a little gentleman's agreement. The only thing we ask is, you know, you know, just give us give us some love, you know, and tell your friends about it and things like that. But as always, if you want to know how you can affect change yourself and issues that really matter to so many again, make sure to go to both save America.com and you can get there through our
43:23 | RBD | site slap the power.com. Now go slap some love into the day. See you next show. Bye. Slap the power is written and produced by Rick Barrio, Dill and Maya Sykes, executive producer, Duff Ferguson. Our senior producer is Sabrina Seward, associate producer, Brie Corey, audio and visual engineering and studio facilities provided by slap studios, L.A. with distribution through our collective home for social progress in art slap the network. If you have any ideas for a show you want to hear or see, or if you would like to be a guest artist on our show, please email us at info at slap the power.com.

Swell AI - StP EP 1.1 Florida. Umm. You helping people or just banning them? Dancing through the chaos with guest Marinda DavisFL Man AUDIO ONLY.m4a