This is an I-Heart podcast.

Guaranteed Human.

Welcome to checking in with Michelle Williams, a production of IHeart Radio and The Black Effect.

Hey everybody, it's Michelle Williams.

You guys, how many of us are guilty of saying, well, I don't do politics?

I'm not into politics.

Well, sir, ma'am, king, queen, prince, princess, you must be aware of everything that is going on around you. I'm not saying that you should know every person that sits in the House of Representatives, that you should know their names and

addresses who they're married to, what school they went to and if they graduated with honors.

But I am encouraging all of us to kind of study this stuff. Even if it's just a matter of studying how it affects your

city, your region, and your county, I'm encouraging some of us to even go to some of our city council

meetings because a lot of this stuff kind of starts in, I know there's a song out called

Where the Money Resides, where a lot of this political stuff starts in the city in which

you reside. Maybe it's because we feel unqualified or unworthy or maybe it's out of our league,

but we have to go beyond economics that's taught in high school. We have to go beyond social

studies that's taught in middle school or high school. It's making me want to dust off the books

and say, okay, what was I taught in politics in high school? What was I taught in criminal justice

while attending school, college for the short while that I did? I'm not a political commentator.

I am not an expert, but I am making a commitment to learn more. You know, I don't think anyone hasn't been

affected by the politics of this country in the last four years. In fact, in a recent article

from the Mayo Clinic, approximately 68% of American adults and black adults reporting the

election as a source of stress jumped from 46% in 2016 to 71% in 2020.

Those are rather fascinating statistics.

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