You all may hear a tiny voice in the background or, you know, some knocking objects, but that's

because the two and a half year old wouldn't leave me alone today. And frankly, I needed that.

Because I need some joy. And this episode is coming out on Friday because I needed a day.

Colors! I needed a day. I needed a day to breathe, to grieve, to just not have to be on.

And I know y'all are frantically texting your friends. And frankly, I'm doing the same. So I'm

putting a pause on our usual programming to get to what I think we all need right now. And that's real rap,

raw reactions to the 2024 elections, to voting, honestly to the state of our entire democracy.

And it's coming to you courtesy of the group chat. That's, of course, Dr. Brittany Cooper,

Britney Squared, as we like to call ourselves.

She's an academic focusing on the intersection of race and gender and my dear friend and our brother, Dr. David J. Johns, who leads the National Black Justice Coalition.

So, Anamore's talking for me. Let's get into it.

Oh, my gosh.

Hi, friends.

Hi.

How are you?

Yeah.

That feels like the collective sigh of Black America on today, of lots of corners of America, but certainly of ours.

Yeah.

No, but I truly just want to ask, like, Coop, how are you feeling?

I feel bone-deep exhaustion and grief.

And as much as I try to fiercely maintain my hold-on joy, but today I feel deep despair.

Holding space for all of that.

...