EPISODE 116 | Infusing Social Justice into Everyday Life for Non-Activists with Nashville Activist and Policy Influencer, Timothy Hughes
Watch Timothy Hughes' interview on Human Amplified with Brandi Fleck.
Show Notes Contents:
Category: Society & Culture
Listen to Timothy Hughes' Interview
Get to Know Timothy Hughes
Timothy Hughes is a native of Baton Rouge, LA, and is a cum laude graduate of Fisk University in Nashville, TN.
An activist, blogger, commentator, columnist, community organizer, civic educator, human rights advocate, & public intellectual, he works at the intersection of public policy and social justice.
He is actively engaged with several local, community-based, grassroots coalitions; as well as several statewide, regional, national, & international organizations.
Intro - Episode 116
Now, y’all know this isn’t a political podcast. It’s a podcast about humanity. This podcast serves to unify each other and unify you with your own authenticity. We’ve always sought to humanize one another and therefore understand each other and ourselves better. And with that sometimes comes difficult and necessary conversations regarding the political arena, where policies shape our society and how we interact with it.
No one is immune from it.
With that in mind, I’m extremely honored to be bringing you a conversation with local Nashville activist, blogger, commentator, columnist, community organizer, civic educator, and human rights advocate, Timothy Hughes. He oftentimes finds himself working at the intersection of public policy and social justice. He comes from a line of activists, community organizers, and educators who have sought to change the world.
As Timothy and I convened for our conversation, neo-nazis were protesting at the city council meeting in Nashville. This has become a somewhat common sight in the last several years here, where white supremacy has been allowed to flourish in our most basic levels of government —the tip of the spear — as Nashville representative Justin Jones has called it. There has been an ever increasing and louder presence as we’re leading up to presidential elections in 2024.
Speaking of, Timothy and I had decided to do this podcast episode together before the attempted assassination on former president Trump, but the conversation seems to have a special punctuation on it now — what is behind this type of political violence? It’s bigger and older than you think.
Timothy shares insight into how our systems have evolved from a lens of experienced exclusion and also a lens of prioritized inclusion -- something which the neo-nazis of our day, just like the one’s in our grandparents’ day, want to extinguish.
So where do we want to go from here?
Stay tuned for not only a quick big-picture education and context, but also tactical advice for what you can do in your everyday life to change our political trajectory, which is really our human trajectory, even if you’re not a front lines activist.
Quick Reference: Things You Can Start Doing Now (Even When Not on the Front Lines)
Fill in the blanks and the historical context around political violence moments to stay informed and be able to call out the ways in which we need to be addressing the settler-colonial project of America.
Do what you can to educate yourself about the ways you can be a better person, citizen, and contributor to society. That looks like:
Following information sources that are credible
Not operating in silos (especially on social media) to actively break outside of your own worldview and biases being reinforced
Have a level of patriotism and believe that good things are possible. Look at and tell the good historical stories of social justice and activity as well, alongside the challenging stories, for motivation.
Hear and understand stories of people that are oftentimes problematic and painful with a sense of empathy to understand how the fires have been stoked historically.
Actively choose to not supply purveyors of political violence with products and services
Do the inner healing work required to be non-complicit
Deal with fears around lack and scarcity
Realize this is a legacy project — it may not be finished in your lifetime, but ensure you can pass a good baton
Take care of yourself and the planet
Get sunlight, grass under your feet, and get grounded
Take some deep breaths
Get therapy
Find ways to reduce harm
Recognizing the value and importance of other perspectives
Have important conversations and connect
Give self opportunities to build community and relationships (over time and through trust), which helps break down stereotypes.
Celebrate each other and the opportunities we have to get to know one another.
Act, even if you’re afraid of making mistakes - ways to get involved are listed below and some are linked in the next section.
Be intentional with actions you take
Get involved with the NAACP
Get involved in your local school board
Follow the school board races
VOTE with your friends, family, and community in mind
If you are unable to vote, encourage your friends and family members to vote your interest
Provide mutual aid for folks who are need of resources, such as those experiencing homelessness and who are in marginalized communities
Show love, kindness, and generosity to people
Read the Interview Transcript - Episode 116
Coming soon, hang tight!
Links and Resources - Episode 116
FREE Workshop on Healing Trauma
Hey friends. I’ll make this quick: in times of intense political turmoil when you’re trying to do something, anything to help, you need to take care of yourself. I’m echoing the same message that Timothy provides in part of our discussion you’ll see here today. And in case you don’t know, I’m a trauma-informed certified coach and want to support the inner healing work that’s oftentimes required to even start doing human advocacy work.
So, I have a free, self-paced workshop that’s all about identifying your trauma responses and calming them in the face of triggers. This can come in really handy when you're confronting injustice. I won't lie — it's not easy or fast to do this inner healing work, but it’s fulfilling and worth it to get you moving in a direction that is productive and so you can feel more in control of how you choose to live your life. There’s no catch — I simply want to help.
You can go brandifleckcoaching.com and check out the free workshop link at the top of the home page. Register, and I’ll see you there.
CREDITS: Original intro and outro music by Ryan Sauls. Episode creation, editing, production, and graphics by Brandi Fleck. Sound effects from zapslat.com. Bio and photos provided by Timothy Hughes.
Related Posts
Hi, I’m your podcast host, Brandi Fleck. I’m a recognized communications and interviewing expert, a writer, an artist, and a private practice, certified trauma-informed life coach and trauma recovery coach. No matter how you interact with me, I help you tell and change your story so you can feel more like yourself. So welcome!
Find More Podcast Episodes
Topic
- Atlanta
- Black and BIPOC
- LGBTQIA plus
- Los Angeles
- Nashville
- St. Louis
- abuse
- addiction and recovery
- adoption
- afterlife
- anxiety management
- art
- awakening
- beauty
- behind the scenes
- being human
- body image
- body work
- breathwork
- career
- caretaking
- clean products
- communication
- community
- confidence
- conflict resolution
- dating
- death
- disease
- disruptor
- divorce
- emotional health
- energy work
- entertainment
- environmentalism
- expert advice
- fashion
- fitness
- gender
- ghosts
- grief
- healer
- healing
- holistic wellness
- holistice wellness
- home
- human advocacy
- identity
- intuition
- leadership
Recent Episodes
Shop Merch
Latest from the Blog
