Kisses from Kenya Episode 18: Who Made These Rules?

EPISODE 18: Who Made These Rules?

It opens with a debate about Uno that is somehow also a debate about culture, community, and who gets to make the rules. From there: Virginia redraws its districts and Black women take it across the finish line, abortion rights get enshrined, New York taxes the rich, and an LA teachers' strike that nearly happened reminds us what happens when people organise. Oh, and Pope Leo. Brendan has feelings.

In this episode:

• Opening conversation - Uno's official position on stacking has been announced and it is causing problems; Vuyanzi does not know how to play Spades, which raises further questions
• Whose America Is It Anyway? - Virginia redistricting done, abortion rights locked in, New York taxes the wealthy: Brendan on what fighting back actually looks like; LAUSD nearly went on strike - Vuyanzi on teachers, power in numbers, and a teaching experience some colleagues were not thrilled about
• Queer & Black Joy - Pope Leo, Black, from New Orleans, and Brendan is not calm about it; a Black priest explains Pope Leo and why Trump has him completely wrong

Democrats Abroad Kenya, Black diaspora podcast, American abroad Nairobi, Pope Leo, Virginia redistricting, LAUSD strike, abortion rights, living in Kenya, African diaspora, Black Catholic

Kisses from Kenya is the podcast for Americans living abroad who haven't stopped paying attention. Subscribe and hit the bell so you don't miss an episode.

#KissesFromKenya #DemocratsAbroad #PopeLeo #BlackDiaspora #AmericanAbroad #VirginiaRedistricting #LAUSD #AfricanDiaspora #NairobiPodcast #QueerJoy

Transcript

Vuyanzi 0:06

Hey, Kisses from Kenya is produced by Democrats Abroad Kenya, but everything you hear in this podcast reflects our personal perspectives. As Americans living in Kenya.

Brendan 0:20

Yes, nothing we say should be taken as the official stance of Democrats Abroad Kenya, Democrats Abroad Global, or the Democratic Party. And this is an entertainment space and not an official policy platform.

Vuyanzi 0:33

Thank you.

Brendan 0:37

I mean, it's like, I mean, the last the one we did last time was like very natural. Yeah. Mainly because we were just yapping them, but it was like, all right, we got our episode.

Vuyanzi 0:44

Yeah, yeah.

Brendan 0:45

And so this is good because it kind of like splits a difference.

Vuyanzi 0:48

Yeah, I I'm I'm totally good with that. Uh let's see, what do we do?

Brendan 0:54

Oh, wait, I'm supposed to just talk first.

Vuyanzi 0:57

Yeah. Brendan conversation. That was on from last night. Yes, who didn't do their homework?

Brendan 1:05

So actually, no, I was gonna I wanted to talk to you about this. So the controversial thing, I was thinking about this when I was thinking about Sunday dinner, because you know we always play cards or like a game beforehand. Yeah. So did you see this thing on the internet that like who is it? Mattel Hasbro, whoever makes Uno has officially come out and said that stacking is against the rules. And I was like, what white woman and Mattel?

Vuyanzi 1:38

You cannot stack.

Brendan 1:40

They say you can stack.

Vuyanzi 1:41

Okay, you know what? But ain't no stacking. You're not supposed, you're you aren't supposed, I get it. Because last time we played, did we allow we didn't allow stack? No, the last time we did.

Brendan 1:50

Oh, we didn't first time we did. We played on Caucasian rules the first time.

Vuyanzi 1:55

Okay, so okay, maybe I grew up more to on Caucasian rules, but we know where you grew up, I guess. But it was It's connected with stack. You're not supposed to stack. You're not. You're not. And because also it makes the game like, why don't we just all stack? Why don't we just all just stack up our eighths?

Brendan 2:16

Stacking and green eight, and you get to be shouting. Like, you know, it's like when you play spades, you get to shout, and it's like, bow, motherfucker.

Vuyanzi 2:24

I okay, we can't even talk about spades. Like, you know how to play that? Yeah.

Brendan 2:29

Wait, you don't play? I don't know how to play. You don't play spades. We get you canceled on the internet every. She probably knows how to play cribbage, y'all.

Vuyanzi 2:42

Like my my I know how to play Spit. No, I know how to play Spit.

Brendan 2:46

That that's that white upstate New York right there. Because I haven't played that since the middle school at the Brown School.

Vuyanzi 2:54

And of course I play Solitaire on my phone. This is Kisses from Kenya. Welcome everyone. I am Boyanzi, and I don't know how to play spades.

Brendan 3:09

Are you gonna introduce? I'm Brendan.

Vuyanzi 3:12

Are you in chat?

Brendan 3:13

I'm like, I don't even, I'm like Deporter, but I don't know the way. Saskatchewan, Manitoba.

Vuyanzi 3:20

You're making me like I didn't know that that would come out during the I am sweating. I got an auntie.

Brendan 3:27

West Dallas, Wisconsin. I can send you right over there. The most important thing in town is the cheese shop, which lets you know just how white it is.

Vuyanzi 3:36

So I will tell you, okay, number one, I do get the no-stacking. Okay? Fine. We're not stacking. We're not going to. So my cousin came over to the city.

Brendan 3:48

She probably plays Mexican train dominoes, like the white.

Vuyanzi 3:51

Oh, I don't know. I don't know. Okay. So my cousin, um, my cousin came over to our house back in 20, 2000, maybe five or something. And he did show us how to play dominoes at that time. I don't remember how to play. Is that when you match the numbers?

Brendan 4:10

Uh-huh.

Vuyanzi 4:10

Oh, I know how to play it then. I think you just match the numbers the whole time.

Brendan 4:15

I have questions. Breathe, Brendan, breathe. I mean, the thing is, like, I will say, as someone who also, as someone who walks in both worlds and also knows how to play spit. Spit does get out ones like need to like bang things down on the table and scream at people. Which is like one of the best.

Vuyanzi 4:37

Like that.

Brendan 4:38

Do you know how to play umpe? We call the Egyptian rat screw.

Vuyanzi 4:43

No, but I know how to play bullshit. Do you know how to play bullshit?

Brendan 4:46

Of course. Everyone knows how to play that.

Vuyanzi 4:48

I don't remember how to play it though now.

Brendan 4:50

Egyptian rat screw is the one where it's like you go around a circle and it's like if it's like a jack, the next person has one chance to get a face card. If it's a queen, they have two chances. If a king, they get three chances. And if you win, you take the card.

Vuyanzi 5:03

Can we play this at Sunday dinner? Yeah.

Brendan 5:05

Okay. It's fine, but there's a lot of slapping. Just like in the city.

Vuyanzi 5:07

I'm okay with slapping. Where do you want to shit talk? There's a lot of shit talking. Where do you want to slap me?

Brendan 5:14

I told you, I'll slide it with the um. She is available. The weather is getting cold here in Kenya, and she's gonna need a lever to keep it.

Vuyanzi 5:22

I need someone to rub my cold feet on.

Brendan 5:27

If y'all didn't know, we are here in the southern hemisphere. So as y'all over there get ready to get baked by the sun, yeah.

Vuyanzi 5:34

We're we're coming down to the what is oh, this is actually called something. It's like bear weather or something. What did they call it? Like when you hug a bear and then you have to have uh thickums next to you. You have to have someone thick next to you in this weather because so you can snuggle up with them. Okay.

Brendan 5:52

Do you have someone thick to snuggle up?

Vuyanzi 5:54

No, I'm the thick one. Gee, Liz. You don't like a man who's thicker than you? Um, I used to, but now I get nervous. When with age, I get a little bit nervous with that thick. Because is that thick high collection?

Brendan 6:07

Well, are we talking about thick or are we talking about fat? Because those are two different things.

Vuyanzi 6:10

Because well, when you get old, I don't know if it's different.

Brendan 6:13

If there are parts of your body that I have to lift up to access other parts of your body, like if you have to lift your stomach up like a shelf to put it on my back. Let's not think anymore. We we've graduated beyond things.

Vuyanzi 6:33

So when you get past a certain age, that could be kind of iffy. So I tend to go for guys. Well, the guys have to go to the gym, but that's another story. Okay, I don't want to get into that. I don't want to get into that right now. What's the news?

Brendan 6:45

Well, I I I gave my news first last time, so why don't you give us your news?

Vuyanzi 6:49

Okay, fine. Um, this, okay, I want to say what it is, but I want to tell you what I thought about. So I just found out this has been going on for a couple of weeks. L A U S D, that's the Los Angeles Unified School District. I guess one of the largest, if not the largest, school district in the United States, was on the verge of going on strike. Let me be clear. It was three unions came together. So it wasn't just teachers, it was teachers, support staff. It may have been even custodians. People who worked at the school coming together. That would make about 85% of their workers were almost going on strike. And it seems like maybe they struck a tentative deal. Right as of now, this podcast, I don't know. I don't know what's gonna happen. Because every day is, you know, every day is one day. All right, Cheryl. So so it just made me think about just going back to when I was a teacher, we were both in the school system. I never was a principal. I was a social studies teacher for seventh and eighth grade. But thinking about how teachers and anyone who works in a school, they we are the invisible ones.

Brendan 7:58

I really feel like Were you a union member?

Vuyanzi 8:00

Yeah. Well, I mean, it's almost like you you weren't required, but you had to be.

Brendan 8:06

Yeah, no, a lot of a lot of places they'll take the dues out whether you join or not.

Vuyanzi 8:10

And that's yeah, that's what that was the case um in New Jersey, at least at that time, that those dues were coming out. Yeah. And it just worked in charter schools, so oh right.

Brendan 8:21

So you guys don't have unions. Well, the thing is, charter schools can unionize, but like they have to unionize in individually, or like like the charter organization has to unionize. Okay, okay. I got in trouble when I was a principal the the same time I was getting in trouble because I was talking about it. I well, the thing was I was like, I'm not gonna tell you to do it because I was like, I am the administrator, so like I'm not gonna say go form a union, but I am actively letting you know that if you go through the process, there will be no punishment for you in this work environment.

Vuyanzi 8:58

Did someone rant you out and tell that white lady?

Brendan 9:00

Thank God, no, because then they definitely would have well, I mean they did get rid of me eventually.

Vuyanzi 9:06

I didn't get rid of, I got devoted, but but okay, but let's talk about though the power, the power of unions. And I think about we're here in Kenya, and a lot of times um drivers of certain companies are not being treated fairly, but it's like yo, form a union. Because when all of you guys say we're gonna stop picking up people, period, when that economy hits, when if 85% of those uh workers struck and went on strike, and all those kids can't go to school, you know, you have to do something to be seen. It's easy not to see the teacher, right? Because you're oh just send your kid off to school. It's easy not to see, let's say, the driver. Because, but nevertheless, it's like sometimes you gotta do something to say, hey, stop overlooking me. We are here, and you have to treat us fast, like fairly, not fastly, but you have to teach treat us fairly. So I don't know, it just um oh, and also it made me think about as a teacher, I was fake hated by my colleagues. So you see how I am. I've been like this.

Brendan 10:10

I hated her.

Vuyanzi 10:11

No, it was a fake hated. She deserved it because I did fun things in my class. I had a fun classroom. Social studies is boring inherently. History, if you're just sitting there, I have 12, 13, and 14-year-olds. We had we played music, we made songs, we sang songs, we did pictures, we did all this.

Brendan 10:31

This is her dangerous mind story, y'all.

Vuyanzi 10:33

No, but then aren't you Michelle Pfeiffer? No, no, uh-uh, because I didn't have like those.

Brendan 10:41

You were Hillary Swake and Freedom Writer. You were Hillary Swake and Freedom Writer.

Vuyanzi 10:49

But we had fun learning. I hated school. And so when my kids would go to their next class after they finished, you know it was a problem because none of the other teachers might be like, you're always actually.

Brendan 11:03

Especially later, my kids wanted to stay at my room.

Vuyanzi 11:05

Yeah.

Brendan 11:06

I told them I was like, this got to be the coolest room in the whole school. Remember their teachers used to be real salty when them kids were active in their class, but not in my class.

Vuyanzi 11:17

I'm serious. They're like, they all you do is give parties, but anyway, that's what it made me think of. So power to the power to the staff, the support, the workers and la USD. Yeah, yeah. If they gotta walk out, then they gotta walk out. Get them! Get them! All right, what do you have to say? What's the new speaking of getting them?

Brendan 11:35

Yeah, obviously, this will not be new news by the time this comes out, but this week, I don't know if you've been following some of the news of what's happening um with the primary elections. So Virginia had a vote about whether or not they wanted to redistrict. Uh, Trump is mad to offset what happened in Texas. Trump is mad. And so I don't know if you saw, but all but I think one district in Virginia is about to go blue. Yes, yes, and it was a black woman in the state legislature who like delivered the response because, like, you know, when they were all butthurt and blah, blah, blah, she was like, Y'all started it, we fucking finished it. Yes. That was her quote.

Vuyanzi 12:22

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. So I love that.

Brendan 12:27

Oh, this they also have enshrined um abortion rights in the state constitution I think, I believe in the state constitution in Virginia. They're trying to ri take it away again. No, they're enshrining it. It's being protected by the state.

Vuyanzi 12:41

Oh, thank God. Okay, okay.

Brendan 12:43

So it's been expanded. Okay. And I don't know if you saw the news in New York, but they are taxing the rich. Are they really taxing the rich? Mom mom Donnie bullied Kathy Hochul into accepting his fight. She hasn't yet accepted his push to increase the tax on the top income earners. But the first step is that they've introduced what they call a pied de terre tax. So anyone who has their non-primary residence as a condo or apartment or whatever within New York City is paying now an additional tax on that. Good. And they're saying that it's going to be enough to at least almost balance the New York City budget, which is going to have a deficit for what?

Vuyanzi 13:29

Oh my gosh. Okay, this is beautiful. When we fight let's go, let's go. Um you know, isn't that so? You know, we're so used to that fight about taxing the rich, it doesn't even sound crazy anymore. But if you remove that, it sounds crazy. That why aren't the rich taxed? You know, why because it it sounds like you know whose fault it is.

Brendan 13:54

I mean You know who started this because you lived through his presentation. I did not.

Vuyanzi 14:01

You first of all, wait, was it Reagan?

Brendan 14:03

Yeah.

Vuyanzi 14:04

Why do you have to say that like that? By the way, Brendan called me an elder. He called me an elder earlier.

Brendan 14:11

I'm also an elder! In the gate, you're gonna be in cuts like 20 years later. I've been telling people I'm an elder, about to be an ancestor.

Vuyanzi 14:22

I will not receive you.

Brendan 14:27

I feel like I'll appear in a whisper of smoke to give advice to the bottoms of today. Hello. Hello, hello, bats will actually fly out.

Vuyanzi 14:42

Hello to the cavern.

Brendan 14:43

Okay, listen. You remember there was that there was that scene in Scary Movie 2. Remember when she like opened up her panties and the big old push came out, and then the the bats came out, and the tumbleweeds came out. That's gonna be me. Give it two years. Once I have 40, I'll be an invalid. It's gonna have to be like cuckoo. I'm gonna have to go swimming at swimming pool with all the pots so I could be young again.

Vuyanzi 15:06

Okay, um, you're making my stomach hurt so bad. Oh Lord. Do you have your black joy?

Brendan 15:12

You you start off with your queer joy. Yeah, fighting back. Yes, yes, yes. My queer joy for this week is I mean, I don't know if it's queer or not, but I'm queer, so it is. Yeah. So Puff Leo. I don't know if you've been first of all. Yes. First of all, y'all, like, the Vatican don't want to say it. That is a man of color because he is a Creole. He is from Louisiana, he has mixed race ancestry. Yes. Yes, he's. They don't want to say it. Put him with Dr. What's the guy who looks up everyone's ancestors? And you notice, like, even though he's from Louisiana, he moved to Chicago, but is he a Cubs fan? No. That man is a White Sox fan. And anyone who knows anything about Chicago will tell you that only people from the South side, which black side I did not know that. The White Sox. I just I never heard of that.

Vuyanzi 16:03

That's um, that's some western, south, southern, west, all that stuff. You know, East Coast, we we rock with it and roll with it right there. You used to be from the East Coast, but you left. Yeah, no, but still. You left, and then you became a part of the South.

Brendan 16:19

I mean, and what about it?

Vuyanzi 16:21

I don't know all these things you're telling me.

Brendan 16:24

But I mean, there's there's plenty of similar, like Well, Mets and Yankees.

Vuyanzi 16:29

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, my father was a Mets fan. Or like the Nets and the Knicks. Even when you say the Nets, it makes me make a face. And and yes, I lived in New Jersey, but it's something about when you say the Nets, like my cheeks go like that. I don't know what they're doing nowadays. I don't know anything.

Brendan 16:47

Do you hear that, Jay-Z? Come and get her, support her. I don't know where we send her because she all they don't want her back home either.

Vuyanzi 16:55

They do want me. Sorry.

Brendan 16:58

Anyway, so he's been in a whole fight with Trump.

Vuyanzi 17:02

I know. Trump is being so disrespectful, too. So fucking disrespectful.

Brendan 17:07

Yeah, but then these ding dogs, like, I mean, it's like, how are y'all like so stupid and unable to read the root? It's like at the end of the day, like, I mean, first of all, I think it's hilarious that like we've looped back so far around that now the Catholic Church is like the progressive church. Imagine. Yo, can you imagine? Like, I've been waking up sometimes. So there's a whole thing, there was a whole thing that just came out that said that in England that Catholics outnumber Anglicans. Because you know, like Church of England was Anglican when you know King Henry VIII started because he wanted to like get some new coochie, and the Pope said no. Yeah. So historically, like British people have not trusted Catholics. Like that was that's actually where the American distrust of Catholics came from. So, like, you know, if you were Catholic, you must be Irish. I'm like, you know, we don't like each other. Well, yeah. So Catholics now outnumber Anglicans two to one amongst millennials and Gen Z and Gen Alphas in the UK.

Vuyanzi 18:11

What? That's telling you something. That is telling.

Brendan 18:16

So I don't know. Pope Leo, I'm like, I might need to make like one of those little fangirl edits where they like uh put them over some music and shit and like have things flying around.

Vuyanzi 18:25

Yeah, he's doing the thing. He is doing the damn thing. And you know what? Let me just go to Black Joy because let's just stay there. Um, I as soon as you said that, I remember what gave me joy. I just saw it. He must be a spokesman maybe for the Vatican. He's a black man and he was on this news show, and the way he was just communicating about, he's like what Pope Leo said, it's not about um politics. It is about, you know, humanity and morality, and what is it that we're seeing, and how could this be going on? This priest, I don't know who he is, I don't know where he's from, but he was black. He made a sister proud. I was like to some, I'm sure. To his mother, I'm quite sure.

Brendan 19:08

But I mean he best aren't you calling that man that man a god.

Vuyanzi 19:12

I didn't say that. I said to his mother. He had a only a mother could but he was when I tell you in the most intelligent sounding way, ripping apart all that you know Trump has said and supporting, you know, being a voice.

Brendan 19:32

I mean it's not like there's anything of substance to that anyway, with that ding dong as I am.

Vuyanzi 19:37

First of all.

Brendan 19:39

I mean, look at it. Like like the lights are on, but nobody's home.

Vuyanzi 19:42

Hello. I'm gonna have to Hello. Hello, the clapper. Hello, hello, hello. Echo at the end of the day. You can see all the hello into each other.

Brendan 20:00

Coming out on Truth Social at 3 a.m.

Vuyanzi 20:03

Maybe something will wake up. There used to be this something called the clapper for lamps. Do you ever used to see that? Of course. We all know the clapper. Oh, you know the clapper, and so maybe if you clap, something will happen. Clap off the clapper.

Brendan 20:19

As seen on TV.

Vuyanzi 20:20

Basically.

Brendan 20:21

So speaking of which, as seen on YouTube and other podcasts.

Vuyanzi 20:25

Yes, where can they find us?

Brendan 20:27

Thank you so much for being here with us. Please like, follow, subscribe. Yes. Share with a friend. You can also send us the monies on the internet. Yeah, well, they can donate. Yeah, you can absolutely donate. Buzzsprouts. If you go to our Buzz Sprout link, you can donate.

Vuyanzi 20:42

Yeah, and folks, if you get tired of looking at us in YouTube, I don't know why you would, but if you do, don't forget, go to Apple Music, Spotify, wherever it is, you get your podcast, and you can listen to us on the go.

Brendan 20:54

Thank you so much.

Vuyanzi 20:55

This is Kisses from Kenya. See you next time. Bye.