Speaker A
Okay, this, I don't even know where to start. I am so pumped up about talking to Jabari Paul because he works at literally my favorite company. So, Jabari, will you introduce yourself, tell us who you are and what you do?
Jabari Paul, Ben & Jerry's U.S. Activism Manager, discusses activism, favorite flavors, and collaboration with John Lewis to inspire civic engagement.
Key Takeaways
- Ben & Jerry's integrates activism deeply into its brand and operations, led by dedicated leadership like Jabari Paul.
- Collaboration with influential figures such as John Lewis amplifies the company's social justice efforts.
- Non-dairy options reflect Ben & Jerry's commitment to inclusivity and evolving consumer values.
- Storytelling and visual exhibits are powerful tools to inspire civic engagement and voter turnout.
- Activism at Ben & Jerry's is purposeful, community-driven, and focused on systemic change.
Summary
- Jabari Paul introduces himself as the U.S. Activism Manager at Ben & Jerry's, leading advocacy and campaign work.
- He shares his favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor, non-dairy Cherry Garcia, highlighting the company's vegan options.
- Discussion about the unique role of a head of activism within an ice cream company.
- Jabari details collaboration with the late Congressman John Lewis, including a graphic novel-inspired exhibit at the Waterbury factory.
- The exhibit uses imagery from Lewis's March trilogy to encourage voter participation.
- Jabari reflects on his personal background, including his family's pioneering roles and his religious upbringing.
- The conversation touches on Ben & Jerry's commitment to social justice, racial equity, and community advocacy.
- Jabari emphasizes the importance of purposeful activism embedded throughout the company’s supply chain and community work.
- The video highlights the impact of storytelling and partnerships with NGOs in shaping Ben & Jerry's activism.
- Jabari discusses the challenges and rewards of activism, underscoring the company's bold and brave stance on social issues.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction and Jabari Paul's Role at Ben & Jerry's
- 02:17Favorite Flavors and Vegan Options
- 04:38COVID-19 Impact and Rescheduling Plans
- 07:14Collaboration with John Lewis and 'Good Trouble' Special
- 09:49Shared Values and Company Activism
- 12:36March Exhibit at Waterbury Factory
- 15:17Personal Background and Education
- 17:49Legacy, Social Justice, and Activism Philosophy
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
well first thank you for having me on your podcast jeff uh i'm very excited to be here i'm jabar paul and i'm the u.s activism manager at ben and jerry's i lead our advocacy work in our um all of our
Speaker A
Well, first, thank you for having me on your podcast, Jeff. I'm very excited to be here. I'm Jabari Paul, and I'm the U.S. Activism Manager at Ben & Jerry's. I lead our advocacy work in all of our campaign work that we do for the U.S., and of course, I work with a broader team of people, but I lead that work for the U.S.
Speaker A
ice cream company has a head of activism you know um all right so so let me ask this first do you have a favorite flavor or is that like asking who your favorite child is no no you better have a favorite flavor
Speaker A
That's amazing, but it's just like, I hope people think about that for a moment: an ice cream company has a head of activism, you know?
Speaker A
non-dairy is great you know and that's a classic you can't go wrong with cherry garcia so here's the thing i i we've been at my house ben and jerry's you know obsessed forever um our favorite flavor by the way i know
Speaker A
All right, so let me ask this first: do you have a favorite flavor, or is that like asking who your favorite child is?
Speaker A
in waterbury vermont there is a flavored graveyard so oh that's funny because you know what um i'm not kidding you my wife and i were going to go up to vermont um in march of this year uh or last year rather 2020 and of
Speaker A
No, no, you better have a favorite flavor if you work at Ben & Jerry's.
Speaker A
you should actually you should absolutely reschedule um you know knock on wood i'm i got a wood desk nearby so i'm knocking on it not the wood that we're through the woods with um with cove in this pandemic
Speaker A
Uh, so I am vegan, so I love that we have non-dairy options, and my favorite flavor, I don't know, I love the non-dairy Cherry Garcia. I'm gonna have to go with Cherry Garcia.
Speaker A
to collaborate with the late congressman john lewis before his passing um as you all know he's also an author of this graphic novel trilogy called march and we were collaborating about how to use the imagery of march to inspire our
Speaker A
Non-dairy is great, you know, and that's a classic. You can't go wrong with Cherry Garcia.
Speaker A
check it out it's a wonderful exhibit you'll love it your family i love it oh that's amazing well yeah being from atlanta um we're big john lewis fans and that's how i came to learn about you so oh really i so when when you guys did
Speaker A
So here's the thing: we've been at my house, Ben & Jerry's obsessed forever. Our favorite flavor, by the way, I know you have a direct line to the decision makers on what flavors live and die, but the s'mores flavor has been discontinued, and it was—
Speaker A
something but we got it up on the tv and my kids and i and my wife we all sat down and we watched it and i saw you up there and i was like oh my gosh i gotta try to talk to this guy
Speaker A
Oh, it's in our flavor graveyard, as we call it, which is actually a literal place in Waterbury, Vermont. There is a flavor graveyard.
Speaker A
got to talk to him so did you get to spend a lot of time with congressman lewis well he actually one of his last um official kind of trips that he made was to vermont and it was to uh do a reading
Speaker A
Oh, that's funny because, you know what, I'm not kidding, my wife and I were going to go up to Vermont in March of this year—or last year, rather, 2020—and of course, that got canceled, but we were going to see about doing a tour. I mean, that was one of the reasons we wanted to go, and we would actually stop by the graveyard if that was the case.
Speaker A
whole bunch of fun and we had a good time that day but that's when the will started to turn about how we could collaborate i think what we instantly bonded over was that we realized that as a company
Speaker A
You should actually, you should absolutely reschedule. Knock on wood, I got a wood desk nearby, so I'm knocking on it—not the wood that we're through the woods with, with COVID in this pandemic—sooner rather than later, but you absolutely have to do it.
Speaker A
involved in the review process for everything that we did and once his passing happened this was something that we said ourselves and you heard me say this in the video but it's absolutely true that we must do this
Speaker A
One of the things that I'm most proud of right now with our factory at Waterbury is that we actually had the privilege to collaborate with the late Congressman John Lewis before his passing.
Speaker A
is a was a lot that was at stake at this election from you know lgbtq rights to uh racial justice just so much at stake and so we knew that we had to carry this forward and that's why
Speaker A
As you all know, he's also an author of this graphic novel trilogy called March, and we were collaborating about how to use the imagery of March to inspire our fans to really exercise their civic duties and get out the vote.
Speaker A
it was initially only supposed to be an actual physical exhibit that was going to live at our factory at waterbury and it evolved into both a digital exhibit and a physical exhibit and that's why i said you still have to go
Speaker A
There's this very unique exhibit that we have there that takes the character caricatures of March and basically uses them to encourage people to vote. So you have to go, you have to check it out. It's a wonderful exhibit. You'll love it, your family will love it.
Speaker A
carolina did you grow up in north carolina i did not and i i've only been in north carolina for a very short period of time so i initially was a vermont resident for a short period of time and i worked
Speaker A
Oh, that's amazing. Well, yeah, being from Atlanta, we're big John Lewis fans, and that's how I came to learn about you.
Speaker A
university i'm a rattler and i i went on to get my graduate degree at northwestern university but i'm i'm yeah i'm a proud floridian awesome so one of the things i like to do jabari is talk to people who um i i feel
Speaker A
Oh, really? So when you guys did the Lifetime of Good Trouble, I think it was called, it was a John Lewis—I think it was like an hour, maybe an hour and a half, I want to say TV special, maybe it was YouTube or something—but we got it up on the TV, and my kids and I and my wife, we all sat down and we watched it, and I saw you up there, and I was like, oh my gosh, I gotta try to talk to this guy.
Speaker A
back and you know just based on the limited uh amount that i know about you that seems like who you are so without making too much of an assumption i it's pretty clear to me even just on this conversation so
Speaker A
Because I'm not kidding, Ben & Jerry's to me is such a brave, bold, important company, and we'll talk about that. I'll talk about why I feel that way, I know you feel that way, but seeing you up there, I thought, I've got to talk to him.
Speaker A
lot to do with it um in in them being change agents within uh the community um i had a whole lot of firsts in a generation before me um my grandmother was the first black clerical worker at florida state
Speaker A
So did you get to spend a lot of time with Congressman Lewis?
Speaker A
black bread delivery man uh given a route to work um for a mayflower bread company in tallahassee florida um so i think that certainly i was inspired by that generation my father was not in the first group but
Speaker A
Well, he actually, one of his last official kind of trips that he made was to Vermont, and it was to do a reading of the third book in the March trilogy series, and we reached out to him and extended an invitation for him to come and speak to our employees, and he was eager to do it.
Speaker A
had a big part to do with it i also think you know i am i am an ordained minister so i i think that church um in in my religious upbringing had a lot to do uh with it
Speaker A
He made ice cream with us, so it was a whole bunch of fun, and we had a good time that day. But that's when the will started to turn about how we could collaborate.
Speaker A
that i feel like it's a calling and i've always done that type of been fortunate enough to have an opportunity to do that type of work um you know i always tell people when they ask me because my background let me step back
Speaker A
I think what we instantly bonded over was that we realized that as a company and him as an individual—which it feels like he was an institution all by himself—we had a whole lot of shared values, and so that's where the conversation started at.
Speaker A
company that values people with different lived experiences and um saw a skill set in me that they thought was transferable and could work in a role like an activism manager at ben and jerry's um so i come out of an organizing
Speaker A
And, you know, he was very involved in the review process for everything that we did, and once his passing happened, this was something that we said ourselves—and you heard me say this in the video, but it's absolutely true—that we must do this, we must continue this.
Speaker A
christian leadership conference in tallahassee where we saw one of the earliest uh successful bus boycotts in the south montgomery got a lot of attention because that's where dr king was but dr king actually trained reverends and leaders all across the uh
Speaker A
It was something that we started together. It felt right to do. We knew that this upcoming election would be one of the most consequential elections, if not the most consequential election in our lifetime.
Speaker A
uh reverend still had passed away but one of the people who helped him organize that bus boycott in tallahassee was a reverend named aryan goodin and aaron gooden was the president of the slc when i was uh a child and um
Speaker A
There was a lot that was at stake at this election, from LGBTQ rights to racial justice, just so much at stake, and so we knew that we had to carry this forward, and that's why—
Speaker A
and i later went on to become very involved with the naacp i had the privilege of being one of its seven youth board members because the naap is unique in reserving some of the seats on its board of directors for young people so i got
Speaker A
You know, we launched what you had an opportunity to see, the digital version of the exhibit, but the whole idea, because we started collaborating prior to the pandemic, was initially only supposed to be an actual physical exhibit that was going to live at our factory at Waterbury.
Speaker A
education fund and working around electoral issues um there was a group started uh i don't know how many people remember the organization that once existed and then conservatives attacked it and it went away unfortunately called acorn but a lot of the
Speaker A
And it evolved into both a digital exhibit and a physical exhibit, and that's why I said you still have to go and see the actual exhibit that lives at our factory in Waterbury.
Speaker A
caribbean empowerment alliance and it was based out of um seiu 1199 headquarters in miami and um i went on to be an organizer with that and helped to work with that and then i was fortunate to land a role with
Speaker A
No doubt, I mean, count on it, encounter.
Speaker A
years and long story short uh eventually found my way to ben and jerry's people asked how i got the job and how i got the job is a boring story what inspired me is more of an interesting story because truth be told
Speaker A
But all right, so let's go back then, because you're not there at that headquarters. You're in North Carolina. Did you grow up in North Carolina?
Speaker A
role and you know shock even myself when they called me back for the final interview and then ultimately offered my job but the interesting story behind what inspired me was that um ben and jairus is very unique um
Speaker A
I did not, and I've only been in North Carolina for a very short period of time. So I initially was a Vermont resident for a short period of time, and I worked out of our corporate office in South Burlington.
Speaker A
basically um what the board has charge over is the social mission of the company so basically it protects us and allows us a certain autonomy and being outspoken with issues that that we believe in from a values standpoint
Speaker A
But I'm a native of Florida, so I'm a southerner. I grew up all my life in Tallahassee, Florida. I'm a graduate of one of the baddest universities in Tallahassee, Florida A&M University. I'm a Rattler.
Speaker A
was like they're never gonna call me back again but i i started to do my research anyway and i read this article about him and basically he described the company as a social justice company or social justice organization that sold
Speaker A
And I went on to get my graduate degree at Northwestern University, but I'm a proud Floridian.
Speaker A
you know i know i may get the flack about going over to the dark side but if the company is talking this way then i can i can work for a company like this and and then the rest is history i've been
Speaker A
Awesome. So one of the things I like to do, Jabari, is talk to people who I feel have essentially dedicated their lives to helping others, and I like to try to dig into why or how they ended up in that place where they feel like they have to make sure that what they're doing is giving back.
Speaker A
um and so i i believe that um business has maybe the last best chance to really help cause change in in our society um you know nonprofits are doing their thing but they're underfunded and underappreciated government's not trusted
Speaker A
And, you know, just based on the limited amount that I know about you, that seems like who you are. So without making too much of an assumption, it's pretty clear to me even just on this conversation.
Speaker A
my company dragon army were an a marketing agency we build websites and mobile apps um you know technology we get to do really fun creative cool things um but i took my leadership team at one point and i said all right i wanna i want you
Speaker A
So as you think about growing up, did you always have a heart to help others? Did that come from someone in particular? Did something happen that sort of put you on that path? How did we get there?
Speaker A
agencies that created the the great campaigns and whatnot and the two that got the most um votes were ben and jerry's and patagonia and i'm wearing patagonia right now yeah right and and it's it's interesting to me too
Speaker A
I definitely, family and loved ones had a lot to do with it, in them being change agents within the community.
Speaker A
need to come together it was all about that you know incident in our country and then i went to some other brands that espoused to be good citizens and for purpose and you know they weren't talking about that at all it was you know buy our
Speaker A
I had a whole lot of firsts in a generation before me. My grandmother was the first Black clerical worker at Florida State University in Tallahassee.
Speaker A
cookie dough and then two days later i can get a complete voter registration email that talks about how i can you know go where i need to go to vote and how i can register and and it's just i just think that's
Speaker A
My grandfather was the very first bread delivery man. I know people may find it hard to imagine that bread used to be delivered to people's doors like milk, but my grandfather was the very first Black bread delivery man given a route to work for a Mayflower Bread Company in Tallahassee, Florida.
Speaker A
feel like you're one of you're at one of a few for-profit corporations that could fulfill you i mean there can't be many right yeah you know there are there are some companies that that do a good job at this you name one
Speaker A
So I think that certainly I was inspired by that generation. My father was not in the first group but part of the first wave of Black firefighters that came on to work.
Speaker A
i've come to realize that it is uh you know it is a rarity you again you got to put everything in context because i i i hadn't worked in the corporate space before coming to ben and juries and then
Speaker A
Both of my parents are public servants. My mom taught school for 35 years, and my father was a firefighter for 28 years, and so I think that had a big part to do with it.
Speaker A
i will say that you know so one you can do both you can walk into gum at the same time i think that you can you you can um you know sell your product but you can also have a very
Speaker A
I also think, you know, I am an ordained minister, so I think that church in my religious—
Speaker A
approach right so we really put people at the heart of our approach and what look we're very kind of clear on who we are we're ice cream companies so um we you know the the positions the statements that we put out
Speaker A
those are our words those are are shaped by us but they are influenced by the people who we place at the center of our work right uh they're influenced by our ngo partners because those are the people closest to the
Speaker A
closest to the ground and we believe that that's our way of impacting systemic and positive social change in the world right is to be able to look at uh groups out there who have the subject matter experts who are the experts on the
Speaker A
ground and are closest to communities that align with our values and work with them to help them over those watershed moments um in campaigns and help them to be able to grow their face and that is that doesn't look like
Speaker A
transactional relationships those are transformative relationships and being intentional about you know really um creating an authentic bond with people in the in to kind of go full circle here uh you know with regard to everything that we pulled out when you have those
Speaker A
types of relationships with people you're in constant contact with people with everyday people who are on the ground it helps inform your thinking and and really kind of gives you the right words to say when you have to be outspoken
Speaker A
about issues of injustice so a lot of you know the the key to what we do is really having a people-oriented approach in in that you know keeping keeping those thoughts and whatever they're lifting up at the forefront of mind before we
Speaker A
before we speak about anything yeah i'm really curious when when when i think about why other brands aren't as bold or willing to chew gum and walk at the same time right i think it's scary because they're worried like there's no doubt there are
Speaker A
people who will not eat your ice cream because of your stances on issues and there's no doubt that there's people who won't work at ben and jerry's because they don't agree with those issues but i have to believe that um
Speaker A
you know other than the um the great work and the the feeling that comes with that and the knowledge that the business stands for something more i bet it also helps the business far more than it actually hurts
Speaker A
the business right like can you talk about some of the ways that you think the business itself benefits from being so active yeah i mean i so it yes what we have noticed is that whenever we've taken a a stance on our values that
Speaker A
the kind of reward or the return is much greater than you know any kind of backlash but that's not why we do it at all i mean why we do it is is that early on our co-founders and our co-founders are
Speaker A
our north stars we still collect they're not a part of the day-to-day business now but they still collaborate with us on some of the things and i appreciate that the kind of trajectory that they set for the the company and
Speaker A
um we early on they kind of established this system of what we call link prosperity right and the long and short of it is is that the notion of linked prosperity is the belief that your business should add
Speaker A
uh benefit or value to the lives of everyone who it touches everyone in your supply chain so everyone from the customers who shop at the retail locations that sell your product the workers in those retail locations those who
Speaker A
source the ingredients your vendors your distributors your suppliers that your company should add value to the lives of everyone that it touches and so that's what really kind of is at the heart of drive that drives our social mission as a
Speaker A
company and drives what we do because you know a lot of people say well stick to making ice cream or well what what does this have to do with making ice cream we do what we do because we believe that
Speaker A
you know the that our impact should go beyond that that you know the again every everyone around the communities where our product is sold that we should be using and leveraging our platform as a business to try to
Speaker A
make their lives better and so when you walk into our corporate headquarters one of the first things that you'll see on the wall is not only our three-part mission statement our product our economic and our social mission and we lay those out in a very
Speaker A
particular order because all of whenever you see our mission statement each part of it is adjacent to the other part right no because there's no hierarchy to it our social mission as a company is just as important as our product mission in our economic
Speaker A
mission and vice versa and then next to that you'll see this uh theory of link prosperity and so that's a daily reminder to us um you know during the times when we were walking into the building but that's a daily reminder of us
Speaker A
uh why we why we should be doing what we're doing to improve the lives of the people who are surrounded by our company and every part of our supply chain yeah it's so it's just so purposeful the way it's been put together and
Speaker A
yes you've got ben and jerry the north star and that's that's amazing the way they structure the deal with unilever um is also i mean i think it's outstanding like usually that's the trade-off right you're gonna sell your company and with
Speaker A
it sort of the soul of the company and it just becomes part of a big conglomerate so i i that is also very inspiring to me um i got a question for you over the years i wonder um is there a specific activation or
Speaker A
cause that you helped or organization you know you you uh partnered with that is you know either one of your favorites or a great story where you feel really good about um having helped them you're gonna get me
Speaker A
into trouble here just one of i know you've got dozens well i you know if i you know give a can give a shameless plug right now not for the company but for uh the the great organizing that we've
Speaker A
been working to support in st louis missouri certainly those organizers are very awe inspiring in the work that they're doing in saint louis missouri has been very awe-inspiring i don't know how much you've been following um following the the situation up there jeff and we
Speaker A
see this happening in communities across the country so two years ago we launched our justice remix campaign and our justice reeve mix campaign was a broadly in support of you know well the purpose of it was to you know fix
Speaker A
our broken criminal justice system and it was broadly in support of the work of color change and their work around prosecutor reform as well as advancement project national office and uh we work with some of their local affiliates specifically the affiliates
Speaker A
of uh advancement project and one of their local affiliates was or is a coalition in st louis called the closed workhouse coalition and the workhouse in st louis is a jail uh the medium security um uh institute and at one point
Speaker A
ninety percent of detainees there were pre-trial detention just too poor to build themselves out and we thought that it was wrong to have a system in america where you know people can be kept in jail not based upon
Speaker A
guilt or innocence but based upon whether or not they could afford to bail themselves out or not we felt that that was wrong and still do and so uh this coalition the coalition is made up by three local
Speaker A
organizations on the ground um action st louis uh the bail project which is the national organization that they have a local uh affiliate there and art city defenders and they've been working to pressure the board of aldermen to close
Speaker A
the medium security institute it has a horrendous um reputation because of its inhumane conditions there's another facility there for one they shouldn't be holding so many people on pre-trial detention anyway but um there is uh you know certainly enough
Speaker A
to house people in one facility and shut down this facility like i said this just very horrendous in terms of its conditions it um used to cause or it still does um cost 16 million dollars to operate annually
Speaker A
the reason that i said it uh it used to is because they did slash the budget but it uh has been in previous years 16 million dollars to keep that facility open and uh this coalition has been working
Speaker A
to get the city uh to divest from the prison industrial complex and take those funds and invest into programs that uh divert people from going into the system in the first place so put this into community programming that will help
Speaker A
keep people out of jails and prisons and um they were successful you know we we supported their work for two years uh in in terms of helping our whole kind of model is how do we help to drive our consumers
Speaker A
up a ladder of engagement so that they can work in support of these campaigns so we help to increase awareness help work with organizations to help them increase awareness um to take actions and ultimately we want to you know conversion you know have them
Speaker A
be active and become a part of the groups that we were to support and they were successful in getting the uh board of alders and saint louis to pass a resolution this past summer to close that workout unfortunately and this is just
Speaker A
indicative of the times that we are where people refuse to accept the votes or the wills of you know the people but now the mayor um lydia crewson is walking back her decision and so we've remained um focused and we are remaining focused
Speaker A
with them and continuing to put pressure on the local decision makers to make sure that that workhouse indeed closed and that they honor the legislation that they pass to close the workhouse and the only reason i lift them up is
Speaker A
because it is so awe-inspiring to see these young people just you know against all odds just continue to push and push and push and you know try to do what is good for their community despite you know the
Speaker A
lies that is puddled by politicians to be persistent in pushing this issue so they've been inspiring but so many you know so many i can name so many examples of of activists on the ground who are inspiring but i'm certainly inspired by
Speaker A
young people who are on the front lines you know i think that that's what encourages me more than anything to see that up and coming of activists and to also remember you know as we approach this king holiday
Speaker A
that um you know when we look back in retrospect we think about uh certainly when you're young we think about movement leaders of the civil rights era as if they were older people but these were young people and and so that i think that that's the
Speaker A
reason why i'm so encouraged by all of the young activists a part of black lives matter and the movement for black lives and the climate justice movement and the you know the metoo movement i'm inspired by all of the young people
Speaker A
who are saying that no we won't sit back we won't stand down we are going to continue to kind of carry this mantle forward and fight what is uh for what is just inhumane for all of the citizenry and that
Speaker A
that circles back to the beginning of our conversation um i i read john meacham's book on john lewis as soon as it came out last year and um it's just staggering how young john lewis was when he was in the middle
Speaker A
of it i mean we're talking 19 years old 20 years old out in front um and so yeah that that movement of young people um is what it takes um and i think that is inspiring let me ask you a question um
Speaker A
you know i i don't know if you've read um america in the king years by taylor branch no it's epic i mean it's it's three volumes each about a thousand pages and it goes from like i don't know 56 to
Speaker A
68 i think and it's just very comprehensive it's fantastic i had a chance to have the author taylor branch who won a pulitzer prize for it on the podcast um and one of the things that occurs to me and my question is going to be about
Speaker A
racial justice as it applies to sort of the awakening that happened in 2020 um that when you read about dr king and john lewis and you know it was almost like there had to be you know just awful things that were publicized to get
Speaker A
the attention um of the broader country and certainly of the electorate um and unfortunately right but it was like they go through periods where there wasn't a huge sit-in or wasn't something terrible and you know it would sort of wane
Speaker A
right the the momentum would wane so my question for you is one of my fears is that in this past year when we saw you know starting with george floyd just so many horrific scenes and most of america because of the
Speaker A
pandemic couldn't escape it right and had to sit with it and had to process it and then you had this you know what i'll call a bit of an awakening um to systemic racism and and the problems that
Speaker A
surround people of color in this country do you i know you're a hopeful positive person i get that so far from our conversation do you have a good sense that you know the the tide has risen that there's going to
Speaker A
be continued activism on this or or do you think that you know it's going to start to wane again until the next thing happens i think both i think that we're you know there certainly was a seismic shift
Speaker A
after the george floyd incident i mean not only did people have to sit with it in terms of um not being able to go out as much during the pandemic but um the other tallahassian that is a mentor
Speaker A
of mine and has long been a mentor of mine is uh benjamin crump attorney trump who's of course the attorney that represented the family of george floyd and um in a conversation not too long ago with him you know
Speaker A
and he's certainly done this on on on during media interviews too but spoke about how people had to sit and watch the seven minutes as this man struggle for his life and it hits you in a different way when
Speaker A
you actually watch someone's death and it's a slow death right like someone is like this man who clearly posed no harm laying on the ground and you're on his neck and you hear him cry out and the clock is ticking and you hear
Speaker A
him call on his mom and beg for mercy and beg for help i think that that struck america in a different way because you know like you you hear about these shootings in like a mod aubry and everything and
Speaker A
though and you see that but it's kind of like the clip of that is bang bang boom and then it's over right like and and and i think it's easy to kind of file unfortunately i think we've become so
Speaker A
immune to images like that and that's a that's a sad statement but you know it's easy to kind of file something that happens rapidly away kind of easy but the george floyd video i think that what was so powerful and moving about it
Speaker A
not in good way is is that you you you had to sit there and watch this clip of this man struggling for his life so i so i think that there is a shift that has taken place and there
Speaker A
is you know the tide is at a new level but i also believe um you know in the just like in the nature of physics that you know everything eventually subsides and i think that it is up to us to make
Speaker A
sure that you know we don't slip back to the place where we were before the george floyd incident happened so yes you know the the consciousness of white america has been a awaken awoken in a different way um i think that we must be persistent in
Speaker A
uplifting this narrative of injustice like take for instance what we saw this past week at the capitol right and i think that we could do a split screen in our mind because you know what was it the day before you
Speaker A
had the announcement that there were no charges in the blate of the jacob blake shooting in kenosha wisconsin of this young man with his back turn right this army a man with his back turn shot in the back with
Speaker A
officers by officers but yet this this this event at the capitol happened and you know this militia of rioters and of domestic terrorists let's call it for what it is right this this this militia and you see the law enforcement there
Speaker A
handled them with kid gloves right just just in just treat them actually assisting them you know when they got pepper sprayed in their eyes and you know so showing compassion does not afford it to everyone in our society and so we must be
Speaker A
persistent in saying that something is wrong with this picture that they're in this uh that there's a discrepancy here that there is a double standard here in that this double standard is wrong i think that it is it is up to all of us
Speaker A
to keep calling that out and that's the only way that we that progress won't totally subside in the aftermath of the george florida incident thank you for saying that um and and i'm encouraged because i know your company has been fighting that
Speaker A
fight for quite some time and will continue to do so and keep that persistent you know foot down on on trying to um you know break down racial injustice and systemic racism so thank you for that um let's do some
Speaker A
a little bit lighter topic that's what we do we do a little bit of ice cream a little bit of cherry garcia a little bit of heavy i love it i love it um perfect so yeah so on the ice cream side of
Speaker A
things i always like to ask people toward the end what some of their favorite books are of all time that they would recommend this could be fiction this could be you know serious it could be anything in between it could be something you read
Speaker A
yesterday something you read when you were 14 just love to hear some of your favorite books so you know this is a nod to all of the the uh and i'm gonna keep it light here but i got to give a shout out right
Speaker A
so this is a nod to the extraordinary organizing and activism of all of the black women across uh the country who just you know help to save democracy you know uh latasha brown dwana thompson you know so many others
Speaker A
i'm gonna i don't want to call out too many names i don't want to get in trouble but especially in georgia i know you're in georgia and you know look shout out to first shout out to all of the organizers
Speaker A
in in georgia that put it down and help to save democracy because that and that's not even a partisan statement that's just that's what you did by turning out to vote you helped to save democracy and so you know wait what i've been reading
Speaker A
i've been rereading people like tony morrison and my angelo and from my home state zornell hurston because you know i've been so motivated and inspired by the leadership of black women who you know again talking real who i think
Speaker A
have always faced a double barrier not only you know as as uh being women of color uh but being women and being and being people of color and i think that um you know time and time again even before
Speaker A
now they have showed up and they showed out and they have you know they have stepped up even in um the face of peril to their their personal sales and in on the face of all sorts of barriers so
Speaker A
i've gone back to uh you know to to books written by maya angelou and tony morrison and zoran neal hurston um because you know it's it's good to to remember the leadership of all of our forebears too who really carried this now of
Speaker A
leadership uh even before us and they too are a reminder why we cannot let the hands of the clock turn back i love that that's a that's a great way to end our conversation that's very inspiring um i got to say
Speaker A
jabari um i i had high expectations for this conversation as i said i i knew i didn't disappoint no it exceeded expectations but i i hope i didn't fanboy out too much but i i honestly like um the work you all are
Speaker A
doing i mean the fact that you exist at a ice cream company it's i mean it's inspiring because there's companies that you know there's companies where their product actually does connect a little bit more logically that could maybe be inspired
Speaker A
by you all so i just can't thank you enough for the work that you're doing um and hopefully people hear this and they want to get involved and want to support um at the very least they should subscribe to the email newsletter you
Speaker A
guys send out it's so informative but there's just so much great content um on the website you guys are involved in so many things so thank you so much for taking the time but really for all great work you do
Speaker A
thank thank you too and i must give i i sincerely mean that on the depths of my heart because i think that we need more platforms like this and more people like you to uplift positive messages like this and certainly
Speaker A
you know what yeah there's a lot of great work you're you're doing too uh with the eight pledge and everything else so thank you too for your leadership jim oh thank you jabari i appreciate that we'll see you soon
Speaker A
bye
Topics:Ben & Jerry'sJabari Paulactivismsocial justiceJohn LewisMarch graphic novelvoter engagementnon-dairy ice creamcorporate advocacycommunity impact
