00:00:00
When we watched Once We Warriors growing
00:00:01
up, we thought that was a comedy. We
00:00:02
would compare Bethesy's black eyes to
00:00:04
mom's black eyes. Oh, mom's black eyes
00:00:06
are way bigger than Biff. Like, I know
00:00:08
like dad's way crazier than Jake the Mus
00:00:10
because he was derogatory, abusive
00:00:13
behavior was just a constant part of my
00:00:15
childhood. Um, one of my experiences of
00:00:18
childhood trauma was being stripped
00:00:19
naked as a kid and laughed at and mocked
00:00:22
at because of how my body looked.
00:00:24
Whenever cousins and family members came
00:00:26
around, if they wanted a good laugh, my
00:00:28
mom would just yell out to my siblings,
00:00:30
"Go get Matt, come in, strip them naked,
00:00:32
and just laugh. Laugh at me and my
00:00:33
genitals."
00:00:35
The push back I got from my community
00:00:36
speaking up at 15 was massive. Bro,
00:00:38
don't talk about this, bro. You're
00:00:39
bringing dishonor to our families,
00:00:42
especially your parents. So, it was
00:00:43
either speak up or take my own life. My
00:00:45
mom held a machete to my neck. And she
00:00:47
said, "You're not leaving." And I said,
00:00:48
"Well, mom, either you kill me now or
00:00:50
I'm going." And then her arm just
00:00:53
dropped and she just cried. And I think
00:00:55
she she she cried because she knew she
00:00:57
felt that she had failed.
00:00:59
>> Had she failed?
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>> No one's asked me that.
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>> How do you reflect on her life?
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>> Sad.
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[Music]
