Episode 2: Learning from Brianna Henries

Jocelyn Bell  00:00

Jocelyn Bell, this is from ideas to impact, where students, professors and professionals explore the question, how do you change the world in creative ways, no matter what industry you're in? I'm Jocelyn Bell, the professor who teaches the human spark a class at Bryant University in which we delve into the sociology behind the overlap of creativity and innovation and a love ethic.

Jocelyn Bell  00:36

Today's episode is the recording of Brianna Henry's discussion with the human spark class. A shout out to the hocksburg Women's Center for sponsoring her visit when we opened the class to the Bryant University community. You can find the link to Brianna's bio in the episode description, and also a link to the transcript for this episode, a rough transcript for this episode. Brianna is the Director of Communications at the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, but that is only one of the many hats she has worn over the years. Brianna is an inspiring example of someone whose life is characterized by a love ethic intricately interwoven with the creative way she seeks to impact the world. I know that, like it's not it may sound a little trite, a little corny, would I say that? But that doesn't make it any less true. Honestly, she's amazing, and I was honored that she took time out of her insane schedule to join the human spark class. A quick reminder one of the goals of the class is to help students learn how to organize a guest speaker event and interact with professionals in various fields. So the questions were primarily crafted by students before Brianna's visit and the CO facilitators of the discussion were drew Kyle and myself. As with the previous episode, in which you all heard from Tino, at least, I hope you all heard from Tino Chow, if you have not listened to that episode, you should. But as with the previous episode, I ask for Your pardon, with the audio quality, some technical difficulties with the room sound equipment meant my laptop had to double as the audio recording device as well as the reference point for the notes on the flow of the discussion. So let's begin by hearing from Brianna herself.

Speaker 1  02:54

This is pretty full circle, so I actually considered Brian when I was looking into schools and I did the whole tour and everything was this close to being a bulldog, but life had other plans for me. My presentation to you all is when I grow up, a journey fueled by creativity, curiosity, care, however you want to order them, it's all in there. So I'm going to start with a couple of, like, slightly interactive questions, because that's just who I am having talked before. I don't like to just talk at people. I want to know what your thoughts are. But my first question is pretty easy. Well, what would you like to be when you grow up? It's, it's that weird question we've been asked since we were, like, in kindergarten, right after you made that macaroni frame after nap time, you're like, Oh, what do I want to be? You draw the picture, and you're expected to, like, uphold that desire for like, your whole life. So whether it was like an astronaut or a ballerina or something else, that was like, put on you, and to this day, it still haunts you when you go to a holiday party and your divorcee aunt comes up to you and wants to know all about your future. So I ask you, what do you want to be when you grow up? Does anyone know?

Speaker 2  04:09

Yes, I guess, like one thing I've always said, like a business owner. Business Owner. Yeah, true. Say a role

Speaker 1  04:17

model. Role model. All right. Cool. I hmm, all right, still thinking on it, good. You should be thinking about it, because if you really thought about what you wanted to when you grow up, it's going to change a million other times. And I know that for myself growing up, I wanted to be everything from a Broadway actress to an entrepreneur, to a lawyer, anything that you can think of. I was like, yeah, that's gonna be me, including a Spanish professor. At one point, I thought I'd be in academics, but that's not quite what happened. My second question, what do you think lipstick, Juneteenth, theater and gender based violence? Have in common,

05:04

they all have, like an effect on the community.

Speaker 1  05:06

It's a good answer, for sure, somewhat rhetorical, it's me, or at least some version of me. When I was born, I had no idea that this version of me would be the version that it is. So I'll explain a little bit more about what those intersections look like. So since I was like 13, I've always been in some type of service industry or something like that. These are probably, like, my more recent ventures as an adult, probably within like, the last decade. Surprisingly, when I was 13, I was, like, put into, like, babysitting courses. I was gonna be an entrepreneur. Then I had a whole babysitting business, Binky babysitters. I was ready to go from there. I had a job as a routine at Providence Public Libraries, where I tutored and encouraged younger students to read more, get more engaged. And then I ended up kind of doing this weird somersault into a whole bunch of other things, other jobs that would kind of pretty much put the bricks down for what you see right now. So most of my years were spent in the beauty industry. I am a retail vet of 15 plus years, a moment of silence for all of the customer tears. I own a bridal freelance business. I was licensed aesthetician and certified makeup artist. So that's probably when most people have asked me, What's your trade? What's your thing? That's probably the core However, I've done so many other things, and somehow they got connected. I've been a theater teacher at a school. I also wrote a play, which I didn't think I would do. I've also modeled, and I've been a creative director on different photo shoots. I've created different political art and then a lot of visual storytelling. I've also somewhere in the middle of all this, still not sure how it happened. Became a state rep from lipstick to legislation. It's really weird, but it happened while covid was going on. I kind of didn't know what the world would actually look like and how I can make it better, and how I can continue to change things. One of the things that really inspired me was that we were going through a lot of unrest in our nation, as we continue to be but I was so tired of sitting at home on pause that it didn't make sense to me that everything we were worried about couldn't be fixed, that we couldn't figure out some way to make things better. So flash forward to 2020. In my double parlor on an air mattress. I had just gotten a new puppy Cooper. He was a baby, baby puppy. He had peed just about everywhere in the apartment. At this point, my then boyfriend had covid for the first time, and we were quarantined, so he was staying in the room, and I was staying in the double parlor on the air mattress. I get a Facebook message that says, hey, we would like for you to run for office. I was like, What are you talking about? I ignored it. I thought it was like an MLM. I thought it was like Herbalife. I thought it was like a pyramid scheme. I was like, There's no way you're trying to reach me, so I've been right. And they said, no, no, we're your friends. Cynthia Mendes, who will get the pleasure of knowing much later, mention that you should be politics. They said, For what reason do you need a PTA member? Do you need, like, somebody to run like City Council, like I'm so confused, like we want you to run for state rep? And I said, Absolutely not. So I go back to my friends. I'm like, Guys, you will not believe what just happened to me. I'm obviously delirious from cleaning up puppy puppy puddles and taking care of my sick partner at the time. And I'm like, guys, they just messaged me and said I should run for office. Isn't that hilarious? Everyone just looks at me and goes, duh. No, I don't think you guys are hearing me. They said I should actually be up at the state house, making decisions, creating legislation, like making the laws and stuff. Yeah. Brianna, obviously. Well, the obvious wasn't there, like I do lipstick and I do the theater thing and I run around and I do photo shoots. What do you mean? You want me to legislate? Well, your leadership has been present in everything you do. You you serve in so many of your capacities of your life that it obviously makes sense that your life experiences would lend you to be a state rep. So somehow, someway, with two months to run a campaign, which is not average, most people run for, like, a year, year and a half. I ran for the first time and I won. Didn't expect it. It happened. I ended up in this, like, weird space with a bunch of people creating. Laws for Rhode Island, and it was the most bizarre four years of my life. However, one of my claims to the fame is that I got Juneteenth recognized as a state holiday here in Rhode Island, so wasn't too proud of a run. And then somewhere in the middle of all that, I became Director of Communications. More recently, I served as the digital media designer for the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence. And so all of these things have lent themselves to inspiring one another. There was service, there was creativity, there was some type of problem solving happening no matter what I was doing. So it was almost inevitable that some of these things kind of came together and created what you see today. Well, after thinking about it, I realized there's some pillars involved. All of the work that I've ever done has pretty much carried out these three values, curiosity, creativity and care. What does it mean to be curious? Well, being hungry to just learn more, to ask questions, to have better understanding, that was the kind of thing that made me wonder if I could actually be a state rep, like, what are the possibilities I could do it? Why? What would what would be the worst thing that happened if I did try it, if I was doing makeup? Well, what is it exactly that you need? What is it that you do for a living? How does your lifestyle affect your get ready routine? If I was teaching my kids, what are you stumbling on? How can I help you better understand the material? So that allowed me to try new things, shift careers, engage with people from all types of walks of life, and it allowed me to have better understanding when I was in certain spaces. Then, as Jocelyn mentioned, creativity death center to my core, doesn't matter what I'm doing. Even if I became a CPA tomorrow, I would still find a way to make tax somewhat creative, whether it be like colorful spreadsheets or something. I would allow my creativity come through, but it's more than just like, esthetically creative, right? It's more than just the arts. It's being able to imagine possibility outside of what's there, solutions, reframing, adaptability, being able to express what's right in front of you, but then also kind of peeking around the corner to see what else is there. So that's the kind of thing that actually helped me to build everything I've done, makeup looks, public policy, tomato, tomato, right? And lastly, care. You have to give a damn. I don't care what it is you're doing. You have to care about what it is you're doing, the commitment to show up with empathy, responsibility and community in mind. I held all of those pieces, all of those positions in closeness with community. I did not succeed in my campaigns without community support. I did not have a successful sales career without first caring for the person that was in front of me, I showed care to my students as they were continuing to learn their own set of values, as they were continuing to grow. That is where care comes into play. It's an even exchange of those things, but it also just grounded me. Allowed me to kind of make sure that I was showing those things to my students when I talk to survivors as I create public awareness campaigns, and also when I've advocated for those who are underserved. So how does that all relate to what you guys are learning? To be honest with you, like you can swap them back and forth, and to be honest, I feel like they're the same thing. To be able to embrace love. Ethic means to have the character and the trust, responsibility, respect and knowledge. I kind of just took a couple of these words and bucketed them together, but that's a lot of how I've operated, and it took being asked to come here to kind of have that lens on. We were talking about this earlier with Drew, but I was like, telling Jocelyn, what is it that you want me to say to these students, like, what is this love ethic thing you're talking about? I don't understand if you're in it already, though it's really hard to, like, witness it, right? Like, if you're already naturally doing the thing, of course, you're not gonna recognize it. So it took me actually writing this out, giving some like layout of the land to say, Oh, well, when you think about it, I guess, yeah, all of my careers have been like sitting within the love ethic without thinking about it. That is where the success comes in. So that is my spiel, which is a record. I am very impressed. Are you impressed,

Speaker 3  14:43

like you? You hit the exact time, nicely test. So okay, thank you. All right,

Speaker 1  14:56

so you're welcome. What do you want? I. Such stuff on that. So it's like

Jocelyn Bell  15:03

so now it's time for us to open to the more structured questions that we have in play. DREW You have the first of the questions for Bri All

Speaker 4  15:14

right, my first question is, how have your experiences in the beauty industry shaped your approach to policy making and community engagement?

Speaker 1  15:21

Do me. So being in makeup, specifically sales, you you have to customize solutions. You can't give the same red lipstick to every woman. Well, five women can come to me right now and be like, I want a red lipstick. The experience around finding that red lipstick will be different depending on who I'm talking to. We used to call it style, stepping in the work that I was doing, so basically meeting someone where they're at. That principle of choosing to listen and to hear someone out where their experience is is part of what made me successful, and I think is what allowed me to then transfer that same type of listening and in depth, like Curiosity, moment or question asking to everything that I did, whether it was like, why are we passing this bill? Who does this help? How will this serve them equal or equity in housing? Does not look like just giving people houses, but it means being able to allow them to have the ability to pay for rent, to be able to have the job, to afford sed Ren, so on and so forth. So it's all about that customization and that listening piece that allowed me to kind of then transfer that to everything else. But ultimately, service was a big part of it, too. When you've worked customer service for a long time, you kind of learn to kind of bend a knee where you need to, you still stand, but you can bend a knee where you need to.

Speaker 2  16:47

So the next question I have a nice job, Kyle before, I'm sorry, but kind of the question I had was, how do you think love and innovation come into play for politics, especially when debating with people that are opposing a bill that you support or you don't support.

17:07

Oh, Kyle,

Speaker 1  17:10

all right, so probably one of the most interesting things when I was in politics specifically was like choosing to have an openness. So my mom raised me very much so with like, Devil advocates mindset. Like, if you guys are familiar with that like, principle, like, it would be one of those things where I would, like, cone rat on someone who, like, wronged me. And my mom was like, Well, did you look at it from the other side? And I would get so pissed off, like, I like, I don't care. Like, this person's like, bullying me. She's like, Well, have you considered maybe they're just from like, a you know, they're having a hard time. And he used to drive me nuts. But that exact level of like, empathy or wanting to understand is what made it so much easier for me to be in the chamber. Because, let me tell you, there was a lot of times where things would be happening and I would be mad like, I would just be like, there's no way this is going down. I can't believe this is happening. Or sometimes I'd be really pumped about something, and someone else would be mad at my decision. I'm like, Well, what's wrong with what I said, What I said was exactly from my lived experience. Like, how can that be possible? But you would find out like, Oh, your walk of life is what is influencing your experience, or your perception of what's happening, your walk or where you're coming from is exactly, is exactly why you're responding this way. So having an understanding of that was important, but more specifically, like in a space like that where it was like really hard, because there's a lot of times where I had to be challenged in my authenticity and in my natural state, because I didn't quite fit the bubble of a politician. Right? Is that love itself is what kept us human. In these hard spaces, like it was so hard, you would be having full on debates about someone's right to exist, someone's right to choose, like, all these things are so hard, and you would hear like people's pain or where they were coming from, and you kind of had to turn your like right and wrong spectrum off and say, Okay, so where are we what are we talking about here? And when you realize that the fights actually not about the fight, but really just kind of either about, like, losing control or, you know, having an issue with, like, their upbringing or the trauma piece, you're like, Okay, I can see you doesn't mean you're going to agree, just means you can understand better. So then when you're going back for the approach to kind of disagree. It makes it a little bit easier.

Jocelyn Bell  19:27

So there were a couple of students who had this question, how do concerns about education, racial justice and economic policy overlap in your vocational trajectory and current work? It's just like, where, where's that? Where's that overlap?

Speaker 1  19:43

So they're they're interconnected, and they're quite inseparable, especially in my story. So I, when I was going into college, I was on academic probation, like I almost didn't pass high school, and not for lack of. Intellect it was I just stopped feeling like at my education was the thing that was fueling me. I had been working already. I was working in retail already, and I was bringing home money. So, you know, I'm like, wait, I'm making money. I don't really need to do all this other piece here. So my studies like fell off because I started to focus on where I could, like, better myself, and survival kicked in. We had talked about this a little earlier, was like this instinct of, like, I need to do more to survive, which was my own detriment, right? So then I started to fail in school, almost didn't graduate, so on and so forth. End up in academic probation. Then I get out of the whole thing because slick talker politician is amazing. Let this administration know, hey, I do need to graduate. I do care. It's just this is what's happening. They understood I graduate, I then get into a smaller school. And when I went into the classes, I had like, a couple of courses that were, like, one on ones, and I was above a 101, like, naturally, just, I went to a college prep school, so it was just like, why am I in this class? So people in the class were kind of at these different levels, and it was predominantly black and brown kids, but, like, it was an English 101, a lot of people didn't know what the teacher was talking about. She had to, like, reduce her syllabus to, like a front and back page, like it was originally, like three pages. She had to reduce her syllabus. She had to change everything she was teaching, and she told me and my other three friends, who we were called the fabulous for she said, Hey, you guys can come to my office hours if you want, but I'm just going to pass you because you obviously know. You know what you're talking about, what you're doing, but I have to adhere to my department head, the four of us pissed off that we were paying for private education, went to the department head and said, Hey, so here we are paying this money for an education, and we don't have access to it because you've made the decision that like you're not creating equity in this in the classroom space. You've made it that it's harder for some and you're not meeting people where they're at, you've made the assumption that those coming in, whether it's academic probation or whatever have you, need to be here, and they're all going to get lumped together, and we all get the same treatment, right? And so we all pay the same cost, we all get the same treatment. That's not equity like that doesn't make sense. So we went after the department head, and she was like, she didn't know what to do, because we were students going to department head first of all, like, I don't know what we got into that day. I was like, we're just going, and everyone's like, yeah. So we we went and we talked to her, and she was like, I understand what you're talking about, but it was hard to see like, education system fail in that at a high level, right? I had this idea that like, college was like the pinnacle, like, nothing goes wrong in college. That's not true at all. And I was like, that doesn't make sense. And I wanted to be at this point. I was going to be a Spanish professor. That's why I was there. Was going to become a teacher at a college level. So I'm seeing like this treat, this mistreatment of my teacher. I'm seeing like the lack of resources for the students here. And then I'm also seeing, like, a further down picture of like, why don't my peers know what anti means as a prefix? Like, that's a bigger problem, like, what education system failed them before college that we are at this discussion point. And so naturally, all of that turns into this, like, big yarn ball of like, Oh, these systems are, like, made this way. A lot of people will say, Oh, systems are broken. Systems aren't broken. Systems are working exactly as they were meant to be. Specifically when it comes to, like, redlining, like the idea that certain areas get better education over others because of, like, who lives there, that's bizarre to me, and so that when you see it at a high level, like a college classroom, you're then awoken to, okay, like other people, like have other experiences and have lesser, lesser resources, lesser accessibility, all types of things that don't allow for them to succeed. I have no idea where the rest of my classmates landed, and nor did I see where I was going to land, but you just know that there was such a difference based off of something like that

Jocelyn Bell  24:10

all day, like I'm loving that you mentioned the red lining. I'm bringing that up in my principal's class. Oh, preview. Okay, all right, Drew question about civic engagement,

Speaker 4  24:24

so this is actually one of my personal favorites. But what were some of the main struggle getting the Juneteenth bill passed? And how'd you open Monday?

24:34

All right, so

Speaker 1  24:37

biggest struggle with Juneteenth by far was having people understand what Juneteenth was. Okay, back to that education piece, right? It is not fully taught or discussed to a point where my peers in the chamber. So there's 75 house representatives in the state of Rhode Island. That's where I served. Of the 75 there was like handfuls of them as we were going. To pass this bill into law that didn't even know what the holiday was like, whispers and murmurs were having. What's Juneteenth? What are we talking about? I'm not sure that was like the biggest thing. Why was this important? Why should it be prioritized? Why should we even be why does it go up for a vote? Why? Why are we getting loud about this? Education, by far, was the hardest piece. The other piece was that I had made it my personal choice in my political career to be unwavering in my principles and Buck against leadership. And that meant, just for like context, when you first get elected, you vote for who the speaker of the house is, and the two terms that I had I had abstained my vote, basically saying I will not vote for you, which does not go over well for the most powerful person in the room, they often see that as like a well, thanks for nothing. You know, it's a slap in the face, but that's not what it was meant for. In my case, I had a lot of principles about, first of all, the system in which we vote for a speaker, you know, you're expected to vote for this person. Like, the next day, you're supposed to pledge to vote for this person, and then furthermore, uphold that pledge once we get inaugurated, and you have never met this person in your life. Like, I was a new legislator at the time. So it's like, well, what's your what's your plan? Like, I want to know so much more about you. Like, I'm just going expected to give you power. Like, this person is the most powerful person in the state of Rhode Island. They oversee the budget spends in the state. And I'm supposed to just be like, Yeah, okay, cool, whatever you say. Like, because all all of your friends want you to be up there. Everyone else wants you to be up there. I should just, like, also do that. So that was a hardship for me, because I had stood in principle. I had stood in my curiosity, my care and my creativity, like those pieces there of like, well, why should I vote for you that wasn't answered? Well, I care about the people I'm serving. What are you going to do for them that wasn't answered? So like, those pillars and those values allowed me to make that vote, which I made it a lot harder to get bills passed. So you have to imagine, when you're about to get a bill passed, you have to go to the speaker and say, Hey, this bill has to pass. I want this done. Doesn't go over well, when you you've set a precedent of, I'm not really feeling what you're doing. And it wasn't like a full like, wasn't like wasn't like a lack of endorsement. It was a I need to know more. I need to be more invested in your leadership. Do you follow people blindly just because? No, you would like to know who they are as a leader before you decide to, like, Get behind them. So that was a big piece. But I think what helped ultimately, was that I sit on the shoulders of those before me, like the request for me to put the bill in in the first place came from like elders in the community that really wanted to see it happen, that needed it to happen, and it just made sense for me, because back during covid, Dr Bell and Our friend Kwame Michelle, who you'll meet next week, we during covid, had to choose to educate ourselves as three black women, what the heck Juneteenth was because it wasn't taught to us. So we took it upon ourselves during like 2020 to learn that and then share that with our community during covid. So we had to then take that virtually and create a separate platform to educate our communities about what Juneteenth was, and to kind of live into that joy around the holiday. And I think that feeling, or that need to kind of bring that to the forefront of the conversation is what pushed me over the hardships.

Jocelyn Bell  28:39

All right, one more curated question. So the question, how can people this came up, how can people who aren't public officials support those struggling with discrimination in environments where they should feel safe, like school or the workplace, and how have you done so as a public official and private citizen.

Speaker 5  29:02

Oh, okay, I see the thing is, like, I kind of made some of the questions when I was like, I forgot. But you have, like, a

Speaker 1  29:10

clip that answers that perfectly honestly, it's like, start to get comfortable with uncomfortable. It like advocacy is not comfortable. It never has been. It never has been like it's not always feel good. It's not always like the end result. There's a lot of hard work that goes into like the end result. It's not just a snapshot of the victory piece that you're looking for. And so when it does come to standing up for others. It where you can speak up, where you can advocate, choose to do so, apathy should be avoided at all costs. That doesn't mean you can't shut down or like, take time away. Rest is always important when you are talking about these movements. My. Right now, like stepping down from the role of state rep, I am in an era where we're like, so much unrest is happening. So many people have concerns about where we're at politically. And like so many people are like, well, Brianna, like, why did you go? Where did you go? And I'm like, I need to rest. Like, there's no way I can keep pushing myself, because then you're pulling from an empty cup. Um, but I think apathy, though, that is different than resting. That is that is different from like taking a step back, um, you should always operate in empathy. Always operate in care. I think for me, as an elective, it didn't matter if I, if I shared an identity or not. Wasn't about just being a performative ally. It wasn't just about doing the thing because it looked cool. Wasn't about just doing it because, you know, it was going to get me something. I did it because I would like for if I, if I was in a space and someone was speaking about my existence in a way that they would want to choose to speak up for me. So I do it as if, like, any one of my identities is under attack, and for me, I just entered care and respect. So it didn't matter like there was plenty of times like I was like super chummy across the aisle. There was times where I was more closely engaged with my Republican peers than my own Democrat peers, and that just comes from having a moment to just listen, to take care, to show each other respect. So many times we'd be in conversation and like, you'd be on a debate on the floor, and you would think, like, oh, like, as long as you're not being disrespectful, we're good. There's few times that people did get to that point, and I had to, like, tell myself, I wouldn't want to be disrespected like this, so I have to speak up. So then that's when I would jump in, and I would say, that's that should be, like a barometer for a lot of people. It's like, Would you be able to handle this if this was, like, someone coming after you for whatever reason? Like, probably not. So why are you letting it happen? Because when it does come around to you, because at any point, any any aspect of your identity can come under attack, doesn't matter. So you would want to have that be reciprocated to you. I think that's just like the thought, just be empathetic, be a good human. No, it sounds like the Hallmark slogan, but damn it, just be a good human. It's not that hard.

Jocelyn Bell  32:21

Well, we have gone through these curated questions that are aligned with certain themes that came up amongst their questions about the multi industry involvement and the civic engagement during your state rep role, and about the love epic and some advice for students. So we have gone through curated questions now I want to open it up to any questions that students may have had that came up that wasn't mentioned. Yeah, and if there's or if there is anything, if no one has any questions come up, there are like, more questions that were already like, set up. So we do have things Drew, kind of already illustrated,

Speaker 4  33:04

a piece of it, at least. But I was just wondering why you didn't decide to run for re election, and what avenues have you have not running for re election allowed you to explore instead? Damn Drew.

Speaker 3  33:19

I will say Augie is he's the one who first, like, made that question, so it's just like, so yeah,

Speaker 1  33:28

the choice is a hard one, and to be honest, I'm still, I'm still sitting with, like, what that means for me right now, not being in office, it's hard to let go of such a platform, and I felt kind of, I did feel some guilt in letting it go. I did feel some like, ugh, but before I even ran, I said that I would absolutely, without a doubt, only serve two terms, because I do believe in term limits for electives. I believe innovation should exist within politics, and that means turning over to New lived experiences and new things for for the conversation that's happening within these chambers. Ultimately, there is a mental health piece of it's really hard to continue to be in a love ethic where you are probably more often than not, pushed to be inauthentic to yourself, or you're told to people, please, I refuse. I won't. There's a lot of me that also felt like I was fighting from within the belly of the beast. So when you think about it, if you're fighting from within, something especially like the bell of ease, it's dark, and you're just taking swings, and you don't know what any of the casualties look like. You don't know what kind of damage you're incurring. You're just swinging to swing, and you're hoping you make it out. For me, what made the most sense is to be able to fight from the outside, and what I saw. Law as a huge disparity, especially in a political landscape, is that so many people have no idea what the hell is going on. Most people don't know how a bell comes to be or how it happens, like what the civic engagement piece is like. People don't know the process. They don't know how the sausage is made, how the cake gets baked. No one seems to know that, and yet we're, we're beholden to, kind of, like, put the vote in to do the thing and, you know, wash and repeat. And I hate that, so like, for me, the next Avenue is to continue to educate people on what the process is and what that looks like, and how they can be involved, whether it's inside or outside of that building, and not just this building, but whatever building that comes up, like all of these things are, like, super critical to making the shift and the change that we need to see, like just talking more about it. So eventually I knew that the idea of taking the beast on from the outside, where I can more clearly see my shots made more sense.

Jocelyn Bell  36:10

Other questions,

Speaker 2  36:12

yeah, so I know you worked in the government, and then you've also worked at like schools and doing makeup artists. What like industry or, like, which position that you had gave you the most pride so far,

Speaker 1  36:26

you are not allowed to help me. It was being a theater teacher, yeah, okay. I I love those kids down with, like, my heart and my soul, and it did tie into, ultimately, what I ended up doing later on the line, I'll share this little anecdote, is that, so when I was running, actually, so I did, I did a lot of these in overlap, by the way, it wasn't like, I was just like, Oh, I'm just gonna do this one thing for some time. No, I was actually working full time retail, as a manager, teaching theater part time, and then going to the state house three times a week. And that was part of the burnout, was that I was just doing way too much. And so when I was running though, one of the things that kept me going, especially in like the work that I was doing in the State House, was I would talk to my students, and I just have real conversations, like, Hey guys, what are you guys up to? And they ranged anywhere from ages six to 16. So it was pretty broad range. I would ask them, like, how they felt about things going on, whether it was like in the world or things in the classroom, how they're feeling about, you know, whatever came to mind. And we would discuss that. Well, one day, two of my students, they were sort of like, they're they almost look like twins, but they were like Irish twins. They came in and their mom was like, oh my god, we saw your, um, your campaign cards flying around the Stop and Shop parking lot. It was a windy, blustery day. They got blown everywhere. So the girls were like, oh my god, we have to pick them up. So they start picking them up, and they start handing them out at the end the exit of the Stop and Shop to people. And they said to mom, like to their mom, like, oh, we have to hand them out for Miss Brianna. And the reason being was that they wanted to tell everybody that their teacher was running for president. For me, it may not seem like a big deal, but to have like those two young, especially black girls, see themselves and see their teacher as a possibility for a president, like, whether that was happening or not blew my mind. Like, I didn't have that kind of scope growing up. I didn't have that kind of idea, but them seeing it and being like, Oh my God. Like, Miss Brianna, the teacher, the crazy cookie teacher that teaches us how to, like, scream across the room for projection, or, like, act silly. She's gonna run for president, and there was no questions about it. Ta, questions about it. They were like, obviously, obviously, she's running for president. And so it was like, in seeing the youth and seeing the future, it made me feel really good about what was coming. So that was probably my most rewarding. I don't do it now, and I told her not to tell our good friend, but it's recorded. If she decides to use this against me, she would love to have me back as the theater teacher, but it's just, it's a, it's a huge undertaking. But also, in addition to the that role, I was able to write one of my first shows was hair I am and it was a show about black hair like because and that tied back to politics. I was representing the crown Act, the ability to not be discriminated against wearing your natural hair, whether it be in the work or the school place. Those kinds of things were happening in my political life. But then I made it happen in the theater aspect, and then I got to teach that to my kids. The kids took that on, and we created this awesome production about so many different conversations in the diaspora around black hair, whether it was like colorism, hair texture, discrimination, all that while doing dancing and music, and it was the most fulfilling I got to do social justice and a creative piece all at once. So if I could go back to theater, I would I. All right,

40:03

we have, we have good lists, but

Jocelyn Bell  40:04

any other questions before that,

40:07

I popped up, yeah, okay.

Speaker 4  40:12

Another question I had was, what is your favorite part about your job? I'll tell your current job now, knowing what you just told us, what makes it your favorite part and how has it changed that's helped you as a person?

Speaker 1  40:29

Okay, so when I first got hired by the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, we call liquidity. Call it Rick Adibi, I first went in being like I've never experienced domestic violence. I didn't grow up with it around me like it didn't happen in my household. So therefore, it's not that it's not an issue, but it's just not an issue. I'm very, like, well aware of and being a part of, like, our public awareness campaigns, and then soon, quickly finding out, like the data. So technically, right now, in the state of Rhode Island, 46% of women have experienced domestic violence that's one in two, that's half, that's way too many. And that kind of lens will change you and shake you to your core. Then I realized, as I was working there, wait, when I was working in the makeup store, two girls had come to me experiencing whether it was by, you know, an abusive father or an abusive partner. I had seen it. I had tons of women in my life come up and say this, but that's not to say it's 40% for men. So having a lens of an issue will will drastically change how you feel or see things, you will instantly, kind of just like, have that removed from you as a blinder. That was a big shift for me, was that originally I was like, well, it doesn't happen to me, so therefore, like, how big of an issue is it? And I think you could say that about a lot of things, right, like, like, understanding some of the pieces around. Perfect example in this room, because there's a mix of gender in here, is like most people don't understand things around, like menstruation, poverty and how access to tampons and pads affects women, and what that looks like, because it's not something you've had to experience. But it doesn't mean that it shouldn't be fixed, and it's it's it's one of those things where it's like, if you're not paying attention or trying to learn or understand or have curiosity around it, you wouldn't know. But it doesn't mean you're like, inherently a bad person. It just means you should ask more questions. So it's, it's definitely along that line of, it's been an awakening around a bigger issue within the state I've also loved that I've been able to, again, be really creative in storytelling, especially visual storytelling, in creating several of our campaigns. Another example is our Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, one in seven teens in Rhode Island has experienced dating violence, being able to create an art contest around that to get teens to be the youth and to be the actual narrators of the issue by creating artwork and presenting it in a gallery space was super critical, because they're tired of hearing from adults. They think adults don't hear them, so I just opened the floor for them to talk, and they did it with art. They did it in creativity, and we had a gallery, and it created broader conversations. So being able to do that is, like, really, really cool.

Jocelyn Bell  43:28

I mean, I also have stuff just locked and loaded,

43:33

so

Jocelyn Bell  43:37

something that we started talking about and during lunch. So you say went through was this love ethic thing and the way that you were like, Oh, I didn't recognize that I was doing it until I stopped for a second and thought, oh, yeah, of course I was doing it. So can you explain a bit more about how now that you're like, Oh, I see where it is. How is it you have intentionally gone about interweaving and interacting with community? Because I see it not only like I've seen it, not only in the work that you do, but it's just part of what this whole love ethic thing is that I want to bring in and present to the students. But as I've been working in my own life, is that it's not just about what you create at the very end of the work, the work that's on external it is about how you're interacting with colleagues. It's also like how you just live your day to day life. And like the fact that you stop and talk with the different

Speaker 3  44:51

truck vendors. It's just like, and they just know you now, like, it's just like the way that even at your reception where I was talking to they're like, they were just. Gushing over you during their social Yes, love ethic, and how you're seeing that

Speaker 1  45:06

in, yeah, um, I think so this is, like, really great, and I'm really honored again to be here and to talk about this, because it is a good exercise and kind of taking stock of, like, the work that you do, um, and I hope that, like, one of the takeaways when I was talking to Drew about this earlier, was like, It's not about, like, how you will be valued, but the values you hold that's most important in this world. Like, doesn't matter the title I've had, you know, I've been brave, Miss Brianna, you know, the Honorable like, I've done all of that, and it doesn't matter. Like, for me, what holds true is that the values that I've instilled in myself, or that have been kind of like sewn into me over time, whether it was through upbringing or experience, has allowed me to have such amazing interactions and carry that through. So in reflecting on all of that and trying to better understand love ethic and how it, you know, has transpired, a great example, again, is my connection to one of your other discussants, Cynthia Mendes. We went to church together, and I served on the heart ministry, which is just pretty much the greeting team. You know, Hey, good morning. Welcome in. Come on in. That was, like the whole thing. And so for me, it was like, all about being big bold and kind of obnoxious, because that's my brand, and I would just say hi to people, right? And so it was like, one day where, I think Cynthia came in with a pair of glasses, and I was like, oh my god, I love your glasses. And all we did was just like, chat about something like, we just found a connecting moment about glasses. Flash forward, she's one of the people that saw in me, like, this compassion and this, like leadership piece. And even funnier, before Cynthia was Tiara Mac, Senator. Tiara Mac currently, who also went to church with me, and again, we just connected in the pew, and we're like, Hey, good morning. Like, connected on our values and who we were and like, our identities, but like, just had a conversation and just, like, chose to see each other. Like, literally, just like, hey, like, I see you. The two of them were the ones that nominated me to the group that asked me to run for office. Later, you have the three of us on the State House steps representing several different like generational breaks within our state house. So if I'm not mistaken, Tara is like the first black queer senator, female senator in the state of Rhode Island, Cynthia, I believe, was like the first woman. Cape Verdean. I think she'll, she'll. I'm not going to speak on her, but she, she was a first in her right? And then you had me, where there wasn't exact proof, but it was pretty sure that, like, I was one of the first, like, Native American legislators to be in the building. So you had, like, these women who were tied by simple compliments, wow, I really like your sweater. That's a great color on you. That turned into, let's change the freaking world together. And We caused the problem like we actually so funny enough, in our in our joy, in our celebration. I don't know if you remember this period in life for me, but we took a celebratory picture on the Statehouse steps, and this caused a ruckus across new channels. Yeah, I know, um, it caused a full ruckus because we were standing there we were, I was wearing this blazer, which is why I still wear it. And we were just like, you know, posing, being fierce as hell, because we were so excited. You've gone through like, months of campaigning, beating out. They had beat out two incumbents. One was serving for 30 plus years. Harold Metz was up against tiara. She took him out of his seat, and then Cynthia took out the Finance Chair. Oh, my God. Why is his last name failing me either way, she took him out, and it was like such a big moment that we had all had these like victories. So we're just celebrating on the State House steps in the best way we know how, with some good old makeup and some cute outfits. And we're just like we did it the news outlets. Jean Bell sente was pissed. Was so mad, he called us scorched earth. He had to apologize to us on TV. We had to go to news channel 10 and talk to him, because it was this big misconception around you portrayed three women on stage, on stairs, just I think I have the picture in my thing, but you portrayed three women in office, newly elected, as like a threat for what reason doesn't make sense, but that was part of it. But love ethic. And my point is, like all of that came about, like the shifts and changes and moves that we made, like Cynthia has had a lot of her story, and I won't tell too much of it. Because I'm sure she's got plenty to share with you. You all like it allowed us to be really different legislators overall, like we had to. We saw it differently than everyone else in the room and not in like that picnic, like, we just know better. No, it was like we had so much we lived through that was just different than what was going on in the actual room. So ultimately, something is being kind. Something is like taking a second to see someone and really see them and honor them leads to full change.

Speaker 3  50:39

I like that, like I did good bringing you in, like, I'm just, I'm a congratulating myself.

50:48

Any other questions? Oh, yeah, I look

50:55

good. Yes, yes, we

Speaker 1  50:59

had, it was, like a whole photo shoot we did just to kind of, like, celebrate this win for us. And, yeah, got pulled entirely out of context, as I guess we, like, put up that we, you know, like, I think my caption for the photo was along the lines of, like, proving to people that this the State House was everybody's house. Didn't matter how old you were. Like, I've seen six year olds testify at Bill hearings. I've seen like, 90 year olds testify at Bill hearings. I've seen White, Black, Asian, like every I've seen people testify in Spanish, like, I've seen like, that house should be open to anyone and everyone who sees fit. Whatever you need the state to be doing for you. Should be readily available to you by your legislators. We should be available to you. And that was what we were saying, is that it's the people's house. It shouldn't be beholden to those who are in power, those who have favors, those who have you know, connections. We wanted it to be about the everyday people. And that was our stories that you had three regular degulars. I was just selling blush the day before, you know what I mean, like, so it was like it didn't it. That was like the whole point was to be able to continue the conversation around what change looked like from all all perspectives.

Jocelyn Bell  52:22

So, question came up around the theme for advice for students. So we recently read some articles that argued that as part of like a larger system of creativity and innovation, individuals who are trying to create something have to have multiple drivers that motivate them. There have to be multiple drivers for a creative product to actually end up becoming so. What have been your main drivers for you to be creative across multiple industries, and what advice do you have for keeping motivated amid unexpected vocational shifts,

53:05

repeat the

Jocelyn Bell  53:07

second half. What advice do you have for keeping motivated amid unexpected like shifts in career? Vocational shifts?

Speaker 1  53:16

Nothing is finite except for death and like, probably that one tattoo, but even now they have lasers to remove that. So like, for me, it's kind of like I had to get so for longest time, people ask me, like, are you more afraid of success or failure? And I would tell you success. I was terrified. I'm still terrified of succeeding. And most people are like, wait what? And it's because success ultimately feels like it could just only lead itself to failure. But I had to tell myself along the line that success is not finite. It is not like one location or one destination. It is multiple places that you experience and looking back at, like, my career paths and like, what I've done, I've I've had success in all of it, and they were all interruptions of each other. There is like, points where, like I said, I was, I was teaching, and then I was also doing retail work, and then I was also doing this, I was doing that, at some point, the intersection or the interruption of each other didn't really deter me from succeeding. I just kept going. So, you know, it's easy to say, like, when I had to leave the studio the teaching theater, I felt a little bit of like, oh, I failed. Like, but I didn't. I had succeeded in, like, salvaging myself. I think a lot of people think like selfishness is a bad thing, that it's in contrary to love, that it's in contrary to like being like giving to the world. Why is the word failing me? But I think in a lot of ways, by. Choosing to kind of guard self and, like refuel self through those principles that I mentioned, it's allowed me to kind of be able to adapt and change and and see where else I can problem solve, see where else I can make a difference. I've learned to say no a lot more. I think it's so easy to think you have to say yes to everything as a success factor, and it's actually not the case. Having the discernment enough to know when something's not for you is really important too. And that's actually the whole piece with my legislative career, right? So I was successful. I passed Juneteenth. But success is not the destination. It was killing me on the inside to be in the chamber. It was, it was hard for me to be in the chamber, not because the job itself was hard. A lot of people like, Oh, are you leaving because it was hard? I've done hard, you know, I was, like, unhoused as, like, I like, we were, we were evicted when I was much younger, you know, when you know how to make a full five course meal in a microwave, you've done hard. Like, there's not really, it wasn't the State House wasn't hard. It's just that it's hard on you, you know, and that's different. And so I had to, like, learn that that wasn't, that wasn't failure, to step away my therapist, which, if you don't have one in this day and age, get one. They're great. She told me very specifically, she's like, if you have a microphone, and let's say you have this microphone, and you're beating down bugs, right? There's like, bugs everywhere. You're beating them down. You're smashing bugs with the microphone, this, that and the other. You're effective. You're smashing bugs, you're getting you're killing the bugs, you're getting rid of the problem, right? But that's not what a microphone is supposed to be used for. So like usage versus like purpose are different. Success is not finite, nor is failure finite. Either like failure is often the times the LEAP board for the success like, or it's the next thing. So for me, I just had to remind myself, like, every, every now, every, not now, every not today, was just like a redirect was a Oh, okay, then I'll do this. And that's exactly what happened. I was telling drew I was gonna go to I thought about coming to Bryant, that didn't happen. Thought I was gonna go to University of Nevada, Reno didn't happen. I went to makeup school. Instead me going to makeup school allowed me to be the artist that I am, allowed me to be the creative that I am, that allowed me to be in the retail space that I am so like so much of like this success now that you view there's like a whole trajectory of like missteps behind it, but not one without the other.

Speaker 6  57:38

Thank you. I lived in Rhode Island a long time, and one of the things I love about it is its smallness. Yeah. It also

57:47

bothers me at times, yeah,

Speaker 6  57:50

but I live in Providence, so I feel like you're my You are my state rep, because, such as most states, thank you for all your hard work. And I have lived in Rhode Island a long time, mine's more common question, and one of my I'm really proud of your Rhode Island, Rhode Islander days, was when Juneteenth legislation was passed. So really, thank you for that. And my, my question was going to be but you kind of talked about a little bit about self care, because being in house, working for the Rhode Island coalition, etc, requiring compassion, requiring empathy, requiring a lot of ethics, seems to me, would be exhausting, and so I was going to ask a question about self care, but you talked A little bit about it, so if you wanted to add anything more to that, yeah,

58:47

you've already answered it sufficiently. Yeah. JP,

Speaker 1  58:54

Professor Bell has known me long enough to know like, rest is not something I do easily. I like, am adverse taking a nap. I know strange. I just didn't have that gene. I still don't. I have to be. I'm like, getting there. I'm on the choo choo train to nap city. Like, Heck, yeah. But as it stands right now, I am still learning the beauty of the resistance of rest, and what resting actually looks like, to not be guilty in resting and choosing to put things down. And it's like so much more than just like, glass half empty, glass half full. Even if my cup was full, I can still choose to rest. I think a lot of people think like, oh, like, you choose to rest when you're, like, burnt out. No, the goal is to not get you to burn out. Like, that's actually you want to do that before you get to that point. To your point about, you know, yeah, I held a lot of spaces that were really hard. One of the things that we do at the coalition is we also report out. On TV homicides. So when someone dies in the state, we have to guide the media in their reaction to a domestic violence case and let them know the what the proper ways to report it and talk about survivors and victims of these horrendous acts. And those days tend to be really hard, because you're talking about someone's life being lost at what cost. Like, you have no idea some of these stories are horrific, not some of them, all of them. And so it's like, sometimes you just have to, like, lay it down and just, like, put it away. Like I've learned really easily how to, like, compartmentalize and not as a way to be again. We're not trying to choose apathy, because I don't, I don't think that's smart or wise. It doesn't really help the world, nor does it help you to kind of go numb to it all. However, being able to kind of reflect and rest or to shut off for a little bit, it's been what's most helpful. But also, I've become a lot more joy seeking, and that's been really fun, as mentioned in my bio. I'm a big DND nerd. I do love Dungeons and Dragons. I do love like, trying new foods and stuff like that. So it's like trying to restore myself too. So there's rest, and then there's also restoration. So being able to then repair some of the damage that you take on, because it's inevitable. In a lot of this, there's a lot of heavy lifts that you do, being at the State House, one of the things I did, and I don't know now that I'll be recorded to the world, is in my last year, my mental health was at such a break point that I had to put on a uniform my last year. And what I mean by that is I literally went into the state house in all black and a red lipstick. And it was my way of telling myself that when you go home and you take off this black outfit and you take off this red lipstick, you get to be who you need to be. And I had to do that like I had to put on a uniform. I had to remind myself it's a job. You're you're working, you're in service. But it is not solely like everything you are like. It is not your Definer. It is one aspect of you. But you get to, you get to lay it down. So I had to give a visual, a visual representation, to myself. A lot of my peers just thought I was, you know, serving chic, serving beers. But it was, it was a, it was a survival technique for me to be able to, like, take everything off at the end of the night and say, I don't have to be the honorable right now. I can just be brief.

Jocelyn Bell  1:02:37

This isn't the end of the episodes related to the discussion with Brianna Drew and Kyle created episodes reflecting on ideas brought up during her visit. Thank you to Brianna for coming to the human spark class the Hochberg Women's Center, for sponsoring that visit, and youth for joining us on the journey today from ideas to impact you.