Welcome to the Tweet Trends podcast. Hey, Evette, what's trending today? Hey, I'm Evette, hey girl. And you are tuned in to Tweet Trends.
It's the quickest way to find out what's trending today. Hello, welcome back to Tweet Trends. Better way to never, right? Well, today's Bourdain Day.
So I want to chat about that and a few other things that are on my mind. Let's get started. So I didn't realize it, but two years ago, Anthony Bourdain committed suicide. And so I was thinking, oh, is that why today's Bourdain Day?
And then the more I looked into it, I realized, OK, no, he actually committed suicide at the beginning of June. I believe it was June 8th. But today, the 25th is actually his birthday. And that is why he has this day set aside for him.
And so I was just kind of looking back over some old stuff, watching some of his old TV shows, like no reservations or parts unknown. And it's fascinating to me that through food, he basically just wanted us to break out of our comfort zones and to see the world through the eyes of people that we otherwise wouldn't break bread with. And I feel like this is so fitting for the time that we're in right now. Because there are so much misunderstandings going on, so much where people are not taking the time to try to see things through another person's eyes or through a different lens.
That for years, he'd been saying that, come on, guys, just give it a chance. I actually saw where there's a football player who he has a new show now called Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man. And although they're not sitting down over a meal talking, the fact is he is fostering a place and a safe area for people to actually come and sit down and talk to him, ask him questions, and just start that dialogue. I think it's amazing.
So I also ran across this one quote from Anthony Bourdain that I thought was really nice. It says, if I'm an advocate for anything, it is to move as far as you can, as much as you can, across the ocean or simply across the river, walk in someone else's shoes or at least eat their food. It's a plus for everybody. And that is so true.
It's so fitting that as long as we stay in our own corners and do our own thing, we cannot grow as a community. We can't grow, period, not even within our own community, because all we'll know is that one space, that one idea, and the world is so much bigger than your one little spot on the globe. So reach out, branch out, do great things, and take a moment to just try to see something through somebody else's eyes, through their perspective, and you would be amazed at how much your eyes will be opened. So while people are remembering Anthony Bourdain, I noticed too that I hadn't seen it in a bunch of places, but it kind of popped up here and there, that today people are celebrating World of the Ligo Day, because it also coincides with the passing of another great human being, Michael Jackson, 11 years ago.
It's hard to believe that it's been 11 years, but 11 years ago, he lost his life. And whether you like him or not, you may think he was a horrible person, you may believe the stories about him, you may think that he was a wonderful person, best thing since sliced bread. I don't know where you stand on that. But what I will say is that I think that all of us can agree that the music he put out, the message he was trying to get across in his music, it was always well-intended.
USA for Africa, we are the world, well-intended. Man in the mirror, definitely well-intended, and we actually need more man in the mirror-type moments right now in this particular situation that we're going through in society, because you have the people that are saying, let's take down these Confederate statues and let's get rid of this flag, and let's focus on being a unified country. And then you've got other people that are like, no, that's my heritage, you're trying to wipe my heritage out, and honestly, when people say that, I'm thinking, you know what, but what about my heritage that has already been wiped out? I have no idea where I'm from, because nobody thought that it was even worth keeping track of where slaves came from.
But this heritage that you have, you feel like everybody should hold it in high esteem and whatnot, and that's just not how it goes. Now, I'm not all about me, all about me, but when you hear somebody and that's what their argument is, then you can't help but to say, well, hold on now, let's look at this from another perspective. What about the Native Americans? What about them?
And you can go down the line of everyone else. So if America is that great melting pot where dreams come true and the streets are paved with gold and all that good stuff, then why are we not working towards a more unified country where everybody feels welcome, where everybody has a place, and not just that, but yeah, you can have a place over there, because this right here, we run this. So I don't know. It saddens me to think that Anthony Bourdain, Michael Jackson, both of them are being remembered today because I think both of these men had lots to say as far as bringing people together.
Prior to noticing that Anthony Bourdain or Bourdain Day and 11 years without Michael Jackson was trending on Twitter, I was already in my feelings about the situation with Rudy Giuliani on Laura Ingraham's show, where he basically went on this fear-mongering rant about Black Lives Matter and saying that the movement, they want to come and take your house away from you, do away with the court systems, take your property and give it to other people, call in it an orchestrated effort and that the upset about anti-racism, protest, and whatnot in regard to the killing of George Floyd had ended a long time ago, that this was something completely different. And because then also, there's that other fellow, Tucker Carlson, who last week was saying, basically along the same lines, about how they're going to flood the streets and they're going to break things and if you get in their way, they're going to hurt you, and when they want something, they're going to take it and if they want to bring your business down, they'll do that and if you get on their nerves, then they're going to take over the country and declare it their own and brand new and there's nothing you can do about it. You know, it's tough for me to even say this now and even talk about it because I'm Black. And I do believe that my life matters.
And as long as they've never had to think twice about a situation because of the color of their skin, they'll never understand this. And on top of that, because they don't understand, don't care to understand or they understand it and choose not to recognize it, I don't know where it falls on that whole spectrum. But I feel like when they say things like that, they put my life, the life of my children and my husband and my other relatives in danger. There's that situation with that guy in Charleston, South Carolina and I know his name, but I choose not to say it.
But he walked into a church and killed people at Point Blank Range and he did not know, he didn't know anything about these people. He didn't know them at all. But he murdered them because they were Black. And I just feel like when people like this go on platforms where people all over can hear, there are crazy people out there.
These people go out there and kill, maim, hurt, do all sorts of things to people, thinking that they're doing the right thing, thinking they're doing a service to the community. And that is not the thing. That's not it. That's not how it works.
But as long as there's racism, there's going to be an audience for that kind of talk. And as long as mental health stays unchecked, there's going to be people out there that are thinking that they're going to be the hero for their community by doing terrible things to people. And so I can't even lie to you. Normally, I'm not afraid of white people, but I will make sure that I'm cautious of them.
My first impression is not that they're bad people. My first impression is that everybody's good until you show me otherwise. But now, with that kind of rhetoric that's blatant, it's out there, I can turn on my TV and watch it. With that kind of rhetoric out there, am I afraid?
Yeah. Yeah. There's fear. Because I could be anywhere in my skin, my skin color.
It walks in the room before me. So if there's a reason that somebody has, they're feeling some type of way about black people, guess what? I could be a target and not even know it. My child could be a target and not even know it.
But yet, I want to move about this land freely. I want my child to be able to go to school and play out in the neighborhood. But do I really want her to do that? Am I really OK?
Because I don't know who's out there. I don't know where they are. So I'm sorry. It's just a sad day.
And that's part of the reason why my episode came out late today. Because I've had a lot on my mind. But thank you for listening. That was today's episode of Tweech Trends.
I know it was a little heavy today. So I'm about to get out here and do a little bit of self-care. And I hope you do the same. Enjoy your weekend.
Do something good for you. Enjoy your family. Enjoy your friends. The best way you know how and still do your physical distancing.
And I'll see you back here on Tuesday.