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speaker-0: And welcome to Second Chances with Christy Bells Podcast. I'm your host, Christy Bells. Enjoy our array of talented, open-hearted guests and their thoughtfully curated stories of second chances, life-changing choices, and new perspectives. We are here to empower you on second chances in your life. Hey, welcome to Second Chances with Christy Bells, where I get to sit down with extraordinary powerful women in our community making a huge difference. I'm delighted to not only have an extraordinary woman with me, Daphne Michelson-Janae, but a person that I know as a friend and a difference maker. Daphne Michelson-Jenae is an author, a speaker, a community builder. ⁓ Former Colorado legislator and a longtime champion for people finding the courage to turn problems into action. I met Daphne in 2008 as part of a cohort of Leadership Dunver, where we came together. We were only three of the nonprofit leaders in that cohort and ⁓ unbelievable the journey that we have had since then. Daphne in 2009 embarked on her remarkable 50 and 52 journey, traveling to all 50 states in 52 weeks and meeting more than 500 people who were creating change in their communities. That experience ultimately led to the creation of the Journey Institute, dedicated to elevating, empowering, and engaging people to become active participants in solving problems around them. Daphne later brought the same philosophy to public service. She served in the Colorado House of Representatives beginning in 2017 and subsequently represented the Colorado Senate District 21 until her resignation this year in February. She is also an or award-winning author, international speaker, TEDx founder and speaker. And for 14 years, she curated TEDx events in Colorado. She also founded the first women's TEDx event, which I have been privileged to be a part of. Helping hundreds of people find their voices and bring their ideas to the stage. On a personal note, Daphna has played an important role in my own journey. The Journey Institute Press published my first book, O God of Second Chances, here I am again. Today, Daphne is entering another chapter of her own story, using her voice and experience to confront anti-Semitism and strengthen community at a time when both are deeply needed. Daphne Hi, hi, hi, friend, and welcome to the show. Welcome to the show. ⁓ yeah, so I always start my show with something I call permission to pause, which is where we just take a breath. You're comfortable, you just close your eyes. We're just gonna land here and the audience joins us in just a moment.
speaker-1: My friend.
speaker-0: Yeah, beautiful. God, I need to remember to pause a little bit more on a regular basis, right? Don't we all? We absolutely all need to pause. Absolutely do. ⁓ my gosh. So ⁓ I like to talk about how I know my guests. I shared a little bit about this, but ⁓ first and foremost I've asked off to be on the show because she is my nominee for the twenty twenty six Girl Scouts of Colorado Women of Distinction Award. I know ⁓ no other woman that has made such a significant difference in the life of women and girls and children, advocate for mental health as I am. And ⁓ I'm just so honored to be recognizing you this year at this event. So congratulations.
speaker-1: Thank you and thank you for nominating me. You always put me forward for the most amazing things and you're the best friend in that way. Thank
speaker-0: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I see you. I and I I recognize what you've done and how many times you've stepped out. And, you know, we can talk about second chances all we want. And a lot of times we talk about second chances as challenges, you know, and sometimes not the greatest ones. But what I know about you is that you step out in second chances and huge courage. You know, your journey, ⁓ your books, your your your decision to start TED X in Colorado. ⁓ your your choice to be a legislator for ten years in the state and make such a big difference. And now what you're doing with anti Semitism and your faith and your commitment to the Jewish population, I just like I'm always just so hum humbled. So let's begin 'cause this is totally about you and your story. And I wanna start with your fifty and fifty two journey. Tell us what motivated you because we were all after leadership dinner, we were like, what's she doing now?
speaker-1: Well it was interesting 'cause at the beginning of Leadership Denver they warned us that we might get a little scratchy in our jobs. Remember
speaker-0: Remember? Yeah, I do remember that. Yeah.
speaker-1: And I was in the grocery store with my husband. Amazing things happened to me in the grocery store, by the way. So I was in the grocery store with my husband. ⁓ he wasn't my husband at the time. I just gave away the whole story. Yeah. I was in the grocery store with my boyfriend, and ⁓ he noticed that the lottery was at four hundred and fifty million dollars. And he's like, Ooh, we need to get a ticket. And I was Standing there in the middle of the grocery store having an existential crisis because I don't buy lottery tickets and I don't buy lottery tickets because my parents bought lottery tickets twice a week growing up and they always preyed on the lottery. And they are wonderful, fabulous people who never won the lottery. So obviously the system is broken. Obviously. So I had a a grudge against the lottery, but here I am with this guy who's finally dating me with my two kids and
speaker-0: Obviously.
speaker-1: You know, I'm I'm like, I don't want to screw up this relationship because I have a lottery crisis. And he's like, Come on, I'm gonna buy a ticket. And he buys a ticket and we go out to the car and he opens the door for me, ever the chivalrous man, and says, Okay, what are we gonna do when we win the lottery? And I'm like, ⁓ my god, I can't believe you asked me that question. And sob, sob, sob, meltdown, crying all nine yards. And he's like, come on, you can't win if you don't play. And he
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said, just tell me what you would do if we would run the win the lottery. And I said, I'm gonna go to all 50 states and meet with every governor and ask them what they're doing to engage their citizens in solving community problems. And he just kind of looked at me because, like, that's not a normal answer. Fiji is the normal answer. you know, and I I guess I had this pent up. from Leadership Denver, because at Leadership Denver we kept meeting different groups and organizations that were doing amazing things for the city and county of Denver and the metro area. And I wanted more. Like I was not done. And we talked about it for four hours. And then the next morning, the PG version is I woke up and called him and said, so did we win the lottery? And he said, so we did not. And ⁓ I said, I think I need to do this anyway. He said, Okay. And I started meeting with all of the amazing people we had met through Leadership Denver. My network was large with brilliant people. ⁓ and they all to a one said, This is totally crazy, but if anybody can do it, you can do it. And with that, Encouragement, I took the deep dive, and on October 31st, 2008, I quit my job. That is a significant date, not because it's Halloween, but because it was the day of the first bank, the Enron collapse. And all of a sudden, things started to change rapidly. And I was going out of the country for an award I had won. I left, I came back, and the country was in a
speaker-0: Mm-hmm.
speaker-1: Totally different place, was in massive crisis. And I had a colleague, ⁓ a dear friend who is a great supporter, say to me, You need to get on your hands and knees and crawl back to that hospital and beg for your job back. And I said, Well, if I thought I needed to do it before the economy collapsed, I need to do it even more now because we need to be able to. See that ordinary people, no matter what you look like, what you sound like, how much money or education you have, that you have the power to solve a problem in your community. If I felt like if I could show people what that looks like, and that it looks like every age and race and economic background, from recently homeless to multi-billionaire and everywhere in between, that it would inspire people to step up and say, I'm the I'm the answer to the problem that I'm
speaker-0: Yeah.
speaker-1: Basic.
speaker-0: Yeah. My gosh. Unbelievable. And you wrote a book about your journey.
speaker-1: Yes, it's called it takes a little crazy to make a difference.
speaker-0: It takes a little crazy to make a difference. Yes, it does. And that was crazy that you did that. And you did that and it became such a inspiration for so many people, Daphne. Like unbelievable. Thank you. So people can pick up your book, we'll put it in the show notes. But I want to move on because there's so much to talk about with you.
speaker-1: Before you move on, ⁓ I'm about to release the blog from the entire journey. It has never been released. We have been working on it
for many, many years and that will be coming out soon.
speaker-0: Terrific. Well, we will promote it and talk about it. That is so cool. So the blog that you wrote while you were on the journey. Yeah.
speaker-1: So you can follow along day by day on the journey.
speaker-0: ⁓ I love that. ⁓ my gosh. You guys, if you haven't already figured out, Daphne is an amazing communicator and anything she writes and anytime she's talking, like I just want to sit at her feet. ⁓ I I I I'm transitioning us to the TEDx experience that I had with Daphne for many years because I had the privilege of standing on the stage with her as we introduced the TEDx women ⁓ to the stage, which Daphna was the original license holder in the state of Colorado. You want to tell us.
speaker-1: More than just the standing next to me person. You were the co curator of the event.
speaker-0: Thank you for that. It was it was quite the quite fun, quite the adventure, and it certainly fed my passion for empowering women's voices and women's choices in the world. So but let's talk about that first license because I love this story and I think it's another inspirational second chance where what how did you d how did it come to be, Daphne, that you got to get the first women's license for TEDx and
speaker-1: You know, TEDx was just starting to grow in two thousand and nine. That's ⁓ that might have actually been when TEDx was created. I can't I can't remember in particular, but ⁓ it was around two thousand and nine that the concept of TEDx came about because there were all of these TED conferences that most people couldn't afford to go to and still most people can't afford to go to a TED conference. But TEDx Enabled the TED style to spread around the world. And in 2009, it was just starting to spread. And I was doing my journey and you know, keeping my eye on this thing that was very interesting to me because it was all about sharing ideas. And I was like, this is exactly what I'm doing. And at the end of my journey, I noticed there was going to be a TEDx Denver ed. in Colorado. And I applied to be a guest in the audience because you used to have to apply to attend these events. Right. So I applied to be a guest in the audience and I got a call from them and they said, we want you to be on the stage. Because I told them about my journey in my application. And I was like, okay, I'll do this. And ⁓ I was very excited and got my talk together and Definitely the worst talk I've ever given in my life. So that was
speaker-0: Surprise me, but I anyway.
speaker-1: Talk, it's not so good. Yeah. ⁓ but I realized I was one of two women on the stage and everyone else was men. And this was a pattern. And I called up Ted and I was like, because I have a I have a thing that says I won't complain about a problem unless I'm willing to work on the solution. I found myself complaining. So I was like, okay, time to work on the solution.
speaker-0: Love that.
speaker-1: So I called up Ted New York and I was like, I want to do a TEDx event that is only women. And they said to me, That's cute. We'll give you a license, but you have to have both men and women. You can't have just only women. I was like, okay, no problem. So I held my first event and it was eight women and two men. And I was very proud of myself. Because I had followed the instructions, but I had still given a platform to many more women than had ever been given the platform on TED, in my experience on the TEDx realm. So about three months later, not even about three months, it was about a month later, I get a call from Ted New York saying, Hey, the reason you couldn't do a TEDx women event is because we're starting this thing called TEDx Women. And if you want a license, you can have it, but it's in three months. So I of course said, Yes, we'll take it. We can put together an event in three months. And and we put together an event in three months. And my my my husband likes to talk about how all the hair on his head started popping out. You know.
speaker-0: Yeah, I want to say. ⁓ Yeah, yeah. 'Cause they just produced an event. And Michael is the producer of the TEDx. And so the then boyfriend, now husband, now producer of TEDx and all things like Yeah. Yeah. He lost all of his hair, we like to joke about in that doing two events within three months because doing one event in a year is a lot.
speaker-1: It it is. And we found ourselves doing many events and it was ⁓ an amazing journey. Yeah. And when you came into the picture, you changed everything. And ⁓ our event went from a small kind of hidden event to an event that was seen by people. And ⁓ we even did an event with 900 people. Do you remember that? That was in intense and not the way we wanted our community to be built. So we never did a 900 person event again. Right. But we experienced really giving out this TEDx message and this opportunity for women to build their platform so much more because you joined the story.
speaker-0: Well, I love to tell this story because Daphne was having a a moment where she came to me as a as a coach at the time and we were having a conversation and I ⁓ had several other people in my practice at the time and I thought, God, there is something happening bigger than us here. So I called them all over and we sat in my backyard and I said, Something's happening here, like collectively. This isn't just about each of us having our existential crisis, something's happening and and Daphne said, Well, I have a TED license and I'm like, this.
speaker-1: What?
speaker-0: We're doing TED Talks. That's what we're doing. Daphne said, Yeah, we can do them if you do a TED. I'm like, I'm not doing a talk. I'm not doing just as Daphne said, my you know, you look back and you think, but eight years later, I mean, we we had a ride. And I know hundreds of women appreciate the fact that they were given a space and a place to be able to share those ideas and step into their own in their big world. And shout out to
Michael. Janae for his extraordinary patience and love and support of us as we took crazy into the next level of Okay. So let's talk about crazy, like yeah. Let's talk about then your decision to step into a political platform and run for office.
speaker-1: Yeah. was also a grocery store story. What? I know. God listen, go to the grocery people. P things happen in the grocery. Okay. So I'm in the grocery store and one of my city counselors, I live in Commer City, which is a small city. We have our own city council, the whole nine yards. And so one of the city councilors worked at King Supers. And he said to me, Hey Daphna, I need you to run for office.
speaker-0: I didn't know that.
speaker-1: And I said, Hey Steve, I'm wearing my pajamas. And he said, I don't care if you're in your pajamas. Faith Winter told me that if I wanted more women to run for office, I had to ask them. And so I'm asking you to run for office. And I went home and was thinking about the training I went to probably seven years before, that was with the White House project to train women to run for office, where they made us. promise we wouldn't wait to be asked that we would just run for office. And I was like, ⁓ no, I waited to be asked. And I came home and I said to my husband, I waited to be asked and I think I need to run for office. And we started exploring running for city council, but then I was reached out to by the Democratic rep who had lost the seat to a Republican in our community. And she said, I actually need you to run for this seat. And ⁓ I was like state house, you know, that was a big jump from city council. ⁓ but we were looking at the challenges we were facing in our own family, and there were many. And and we can talk about my son whenever you want, but he was my inspiration. And I said, Yes, I will run for that seat. And we flipped the seat and held it, ⁓ still hold it to this day, and then Then I became a senator.
speaker-0: Yeah. Yeah. So extraordinary. Daphne has done so much work on behalf of ⁓ families and children and mental health. And yeah, let's talk about your son and the inspiration that he has been for you and the work that you've been able to do and and the policy that you've been able to effect because of your lived experience.
speaker-1: Yeah, so my my son is both of my children, all three of my children, let's get that right. All three of my children mean the world to me. ⁓ my youngest son struggled ⁓ tremendous amount in life and in school. And ⁓ when he was nine years old in the fourth grade, he attempted suicide at school. And our world sort of Changed in that moment ⁓ because he was saying to us, You're not getting me enough help. I don't have enough help. And we had been trying desperately to get him the kind of help that we thought he needed in the education space, in the life space, but it wasn't nobody was taking s him seriously enough. And And even when he was six years old, he had talked about wanting to die. You know, we we were at a friend's house and the all the mothers were sitting in the backyard and all the kids were tearing apart the house, as you do. And ⁓ Etan goes up and pulls open the screen of a window and starts screaming out, I wanna rip out all of my hair and all of my skin until I die. And he was six years old, you know, and and you know, learning to take that. threat seriously and that desire to end his life and understand what that means in a six and a seven and an eight and then a nine year old who's like, okay, you're not listening to me. I'm done. I'm out of here. And we went through the whole process of we're going to sue the school to get him into a program that meets his needs because we couldn't find a program that met his needs. And I was, you know, he was a Denver public school student at the time. And we were going through the process of suing Denver Public Schools, and I couldn't stomach it. I couldn't stomach the idea of suing the schools. So when the idea came of running for office, I knew that if I were in the state house, I could make changes to the school system that would impact not only my son, but all of the kids like my son. Because here's the thing. While my son was going through this, I was volunteering at two of our correctional facilities, juvenile correctional facilities, a boys' facility and a girls' facility. And when I was in the boys' facility, I asked the the way our ⁓ correctional facilities for youth work is their schools. So I asked the principal, you know, what learning disabilities do the kids have? Knowing that, you know, we had discovered ANS learning disabilities very late. ⁓ but I could work with learning disabilities. And he's like, ⁓ no, no learning disabilities, just you know, just just go on with your your curriculum how you have it. And I walked into that room with the boys and I saw that they were exactly like my son, two a one. And you know, they weren't getting help. They weren't getting any help. And if we were getting them all the way through into, you know, we call it the school to prison pipeline. Right. We're getting them into prison without recognizing that they have learning disabilities. Right. There are so many things that we could do to stop this pipeline. And, you know, my son was on that pipeline. Right. The police were called on him twice in elementary school. He was on that pipeline. And we needed to stop it. And running for office was my way of stopping his decline in his in its tracks and also helping the other kids of Colorado at the same time.
speaker-0: I ⁓ my heart is just so full of and gratitude for you because one of the things as a social worker that I've dealt with over the years that just is so frustrating is is that we institutionalize or incarcerate our mentally ill instead of supporting them through services. Like whenever they decided to dismantle the mental health system, we we absolutely do such an injustice to not supporting and we incarcerate them, which makes it even
more challenging and children, I mean, you know, once they start into a system, any of these systems, whether it's Timber Human Services or the Criminal Justice System, right? Once you get into a system, it's so challenging to be able to transition. So talk to me a little bit about what are you most proud of when it came to supporting your son and the work that you did in mental health and really trying to ⁓ change this systemic issue of incarcerating versus treating. ⁓
speaker-1: One of the challenges we faced directly was ⁓ his father and I were divorced and ⁓ didn't agree on whether or not he should have therapy. And that is a common concern in families. So the age of consent for therapy was fifteen years old. So think about that. You couldn't decide for yourself that you needed therapy until you were 15 years old, which misses all of the middle school years. And those middle school years are the key years of self identification, of pulling away from your parents, of becoming a young citizen. And we were saying if your parents said no therapy, then no therapy. And one of the first thing I I did in it was it was twenty nineteen. It took me it took me three legislative cycles to get it passed, was lower the age of consent from fifteen to twelve. So that twelve year olds in school who were going through a crisis, even if they couldn't reach the parents, the twelve year olds could consent and say, Yes, I need help. I want help. And that was a really big change systemic change. And I hear from school counselors and I hear from parents and I hear from children who were able to get help when they needed it because of the ability to consent to their own care. That was one thing. The second thing was we created the i Matter program. And the I Matter program offers free therapy to any Colorado school-aged youth who wants it. No matter if or where they go to school, and it's in English and in Spanish right now, and hopefully coming more languages. We realized that our own experience in the emergency room after his suicide attempt was we were given a list of therapists that we could go see, and none of them accepted our insurance. Some of them weren't accepting new patients, some of them weren't even in the state anymore. And We we found that we're putting people back out into the community with no support. With i matter in place, anybody can get support. It doesn't matter if you have insurance. It doesn't matter if you never had insurance. It doesn't matter if if you're as long as you are living in Colorado, this
speaker-0: It is it.
speaker-1: is available to you.
speaker-0: I love it. ⁓ my gosh. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Like you are, you're just badass. You're just badass. All right. We're just gonna take a quick break here. We'll be right back with the amazing Daphne Michelson Janae. Let me ask you something. Have you ever noticed how the same patterns keep showing up in your life, your work, or even your relationships? That's exactly why I
created Uproot. Uproot is a transformational framework that helps you uncover the unconscious patterns running your life, reconnects you with your authentic self, and intentionally creates what comes next. For years I've taught this work in coaching, leadership programs, and workshops. And now, for the first time, Uproot is becoming an evergreen online course you can take anytime. If you're ready for a real shift, not just another inspirational idea, join the waitlist now at Christybells.com. Backslash uproot. Your next chapter starts with awareness. Hey, welcome back to Second Chances with Christy Bell's podcast with the amazing Daphne Michaelson Janae. man, if you aren't blown away, every time I sit with this woman, I just I just have such a deep, deep appreciation for her courage and her willingness to step forward in big, big ways and what she does to make a difference in the lives of those that she touches is just amazing. So this year earlier, Daphne, you decided to step away from the legislative position. how what what brought that about? What made you decide after ten years that you needed to do something else?
speaker-1: You know, there was a lot that went into it and it was not an easy decision. and it's definitely one that every once in a while I'm like, what it what was I thinking? But there was a lot going on. I was dealing with a lot of anti-Semitism and was overt and it was undercover and it was in my face. You know, it was all all sorts of different different ways that it was delivered. And a big part of that had to do with October 7th and the terrible massacre Hamas committed on my people. And the anti-Semitism since that happened was through the roof. And the the anger and pain and real deserved pain of what was going on between Israel and Gaza. was turning into anti-Semitism. It didn't need to, but that's where it went. And so I was working on that a lot. And I had been looking for a part-time job. ⁓ the legislature is supposed to be part-time. It's not, but I needed more money because they paid forty thousand dollars a year and we weren't able to meet our financial needs. And so I was looking for a part-time job and This job that I took came across the line. And I called them and I said, Do you think you would consider letting me remain a senator and take the job? And they said, No, absolutely not. And ⁓ I said, Okay, so I won't apply. and a year later they were still looking. And I saw the job again and I thought, This is my moment. You know, we talk about windows in politics. When there's a window that opens, you have to jump in, jump through it and take it because you don't know when another window is going to open. This has looked like a window to me for the next stage of my life. And, you know, we're term limited in Colorado. I I I would have had seven more years to serve, but then what? Is the window gonna be there in seven years? When I'm 60 years old, and a lot of concern that I had about what comes next. And this felt
like if there was any job that I would leave the legislature for. And the legislature was the best job I ever had in my life. The hardest job I've ever had in my life ⁓ had the most impact on my physical and mental health of any job that I've ever had in my life. But This opportunity to run the David Mirage Foundation for confronting anti-Semitism felt like it was made for me. And ⁓ so I jumped through the window and applied for the job and got hired and and here I am.
speaker-0: I you know, I I'm a big believer and teach and talk about, you know, we when you align with your values and you live your values and you're courageous in stepping into that, like going through the window, you didn't know, right? But what I do know about you, my friend, is that you have been very devout in your faith as in being Jewish and proud of your heritage and you've worked in ⁓ Holocaust Museums. I mean, you've done so much work on behalf of the Jewish population and are committed to that. So when I heard that you were leaving, as shocking as it was and disappointing as it is that we don't have you in that leadership role, I think you absolutely, Abchills, have stepped into the role that belongs to you in your value base and in what you can do to make a difference. ⁓ so kudos to you and congratulations for having the courage to go through the window to step fully into that. So for our population, I don't think a lot of people fully understand. I mean, we hear, you know, the very public views and we hear the divisiveness and we hear all sorts of bull beas, I'll say, you know, but can you really describe that Jewish identity, anti-Semitism, like make it common language for the audience so they really understand what it is that you are passionate and you're doing now with your work?
speaker-1: Yeah, so the Judaism is an ancient, ancient religion. And if you read the Bible at all, the the the first part of the Bible, it is our history. It is the history of our people and our history in Israel is laid out in that book. And we are a people that have been All over the world. So people like to call us a race, but we're not a race because there are Ethiopians who are Jews. There are Indians who are Jews. There are Asian Americans or Asians who are Jews. All throughout the world, there are Jewish communities. And we talk about the 12 tribes of Israel. And the 12 tribes of Israel went. all around the world when we were excommunicated and ⁓ expelled from ⁓ israel time and time again and ⁓ so we we're not a neat little group of people that you can put into a box we're a very diverse population and very devout based on the Bible. And based on the laws in the Bible. And so if you want to know more about the Jews, read the Bible.
speaker-0: Which book which books in the Bible so people are concrete if they wanna know more, which books should they read?
speaker-1: But ⁓ Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, I'm missing one.
speaker-0: That's okay. The first five books of the Bible. I'll help you out here. This is how we roll.
speaker-1: The first five books. Yeah, I'm sorry. I don't know which one I'm missing and I apologize. ⁓ but the first five books of the Bible will give you the story of the Jews. And the story of the Jews really evolved throughout time. And you know, we were slaves in Egypt, we were decimated in the Holocaust, and we continue to have second chances, you know, and come back as a community. And now the community is facing the worst anti Semitism since the Holocaust and it
speaker-0: Which is just let's simplify it. Anti Semitism is how would you define that in normal language?
speaker-1: Anti Semitism is hatred towards Jews.
speaker-0: Yeah, I'd say it.
speaker-1: But it's you know, a lot of people think they're not anti-Semitic, but they'll say the Jews are responsible for the weather. That's anti-Semitic. Right. The Jews are responsible for the media. That's anti-Semitic. Right. The Jews control the government. That's anti-Semitic. Yeah. And people don't understand that the things that they're saying are anti Semitic and they see the the the lies. And the tropes that have been around for generations. Read Shakespeare, anti-Semitic. Like there's there's the the tropes of anti-Semitism have been in our lives forever. And what our goal is at the David Mirage Foundation is to teach people that it's not okay to be anti-Semitic because all of the sudden it's okay. People are Proud of their anti-Semitism, they're advertising their anti-Semitism, they're putting it on display, and that just makes it work.
speaker-0: Right. How would you, this is a Christie question here, how would you ⁓ differentiate anti-Semitism and racism towards the African American community?
speaker-1: Totally different things, both built on hatred and fear of the unknown. And and you know, the the lack of understanding of what the Jewish community is, or what the black community is, seeds the hatred.
speaker-0: Mm-hmm. Well, there's a bias, right? Is isn't it is it based in bias, or would you say it's even deeper? I mean, I get the hatred word.
speaker-1: Yeah, it's definitely based in bias.
speaker-0: Okay. Yeah, that that makes sense to me. Because we all have bias, right? And it ⁓ it probably just depends on where do you choose to put your bias because we all have it and we are so unconscious to it a lot of times. So what you're saying, these examples I think are really good for the audience to hear, right? These are these are real issues and real things that happen, right? When you classify something as all that.
speaker-1: Okay.
speaker-0: Right, they're responsible for or right. And it's really I think biases b is based on just not understanding or not knowing. ⁓ so when did you realize that you just couldn't be quiet about this anymore?
speaker-1: Well, actually it was in my first year in the legislature. ⁓ in my very first year in the legislature, we were having a memorial for someone who had served in the the state
legislature and had died and was in his most recent iteration president of Colorado Christian College. And so the chamber was filled with people. Who were coming to view this memorial. And the legislators who were running the Morit Memorial got up at the at the what we call the well, which is basically our dais, got up at the dais and said, ⁓ I'm gonna do what he would have done, and started banging on the dais, saying, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. And they invited the entire room to s to join them. And so everyone around me all of a sudden is chanting Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. And they're passing out buttons like this big that said Jesus, Jesus, Jesus on them down the aisles to all of the legislators. And I'm just sitting there thinking, wow, what is going on here? And less from the anti-Semitism perspective, you know, that wasn't directed. Only at Jews. It was directed at all religions that there is one way to pray, and there is one name of God. And we at the legislature are supposed to be representing all of the communities of Colorado with which have many names for God and many ways of worshiping. And I was really uncomfortable. And I sat there after the memorial and I said, Is it my job to say something? And I had the question: Am I a legislator who happens to be Jewish, or am I a Jewish woman who happens to be a legislator? And to me, that Judaism comes first. And I sat there and I called my rabbi and I called the Anti-Defamation League and I called All sorts of different agencies to try and get framing around what I had just experienced. And I wrote up a statement, and I have that statement if you ever want to see it. I wrote up the statement that you know basically talks about our job as legislators serving the entire community. But I started with love your neighbor as yourself. And
speaker-0: Of course I do.
speaker-1: At the end of the statement, I said, I am your neighbor. And the people who made the Jesus, Jesus, Jesus argument, if you will, all went into a corner and started conferring. And within 20 minutes, there was an ad out against me on Facebook that said, with me in my pussy hat, because that was, you know, the year, right? With the pink hat. And the statement was meet Daphne Michaelson Janae. She feels uncomfortable hearing the name Jesus from the well. Call her and tell her what you think. And then they put my phone number. And it was the start of kind of a a ball of conversations. What I didn't tell you is that at that point, we were probably in April, and then the legislative session starts in January. And I had been going to Bible study every Tuesday morning with the evangelical Christians. Because when on my first day in the legislature, the the leader of that group got up and said, Hey, we have Bible study every Tuesday morning. It's open to everyone. And I felt that meant me. You know, I love to study Bible and I want to learn. And I also believe that I legislate from my value system. We all do. And and if I could learn their value
system by studying Bible with them, maybe we could make legislation together that made sense.
speaker-0: Mm-hmm. You are an amazing collaborator, Daphne. That's something else I just love about you that it's just so amazing because as fixed and as strong as you are in your value system and as articulate and powerful as you are in your voice, your heart is expansive and you are inclusive. And this I know from knowing you for twenty years, like you are really an extraordinary human being and somebody that we're so fortunate to have. legislated for us for ten years, somebody now who is fully stepped into your values and doing something that is so significant for such a vast for everybody. I mean it's not just about the Jews at this point. Like we live in a very divisive world and it's very challenging. You and I could go on and on and on and I I have to honor time because it's my podcast and it's only forty five minutes and we're already over. So I want to I wanna end with something I just do rapid fire questions. ⁓ and then we're gonna ⁓ let let's just start there. So what's one word that describes your life right now? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And what's something you do every day that you that grounds you?
speaker-1: That's two words, passion driven. It's funny, I look for my children and my children ground me.
speaker-0: Mm-hmm. I love that. What's one thing you're most grateful for?
speaker-1: My husband
speaker-0: Mm-hmm. He's an extraordinary guy. ⁓ my gosh. He's very extraordinary. All right. Let's tell people about your husband, the publishing company, about you, how they can get to know more about you and the David Mirage Foundation. So let's just spit it out. How do people if they want to know more, which I'm sure they will, want to know about you, what we've talked about today, how do they find you, Daphne?
speaker-1: Well, if they wanna find my husband and me and the publishing company, go to journeyinstitute.org and you'll see Journey Institute Press. Click on that and that will bring you to my husband's work, which is the publishing company. if you wanna find out more about the anti-Semitism work, go to David Mirage Foundation dot org and you can find out what we're doing and what we're up to. ⁓ and how you can participate.
speaker-0: And socials for you.
speaker-1: And I am on Facebook, just Daphna Michelson, and I'm on LinkedIn, Just Daphna Michelson, and I am on Instagram, Daphna ⁓
speaker-0: Yeah, beautiful. I love you, my friend. I love you. I love you. I just, you know, you you expand my mind and my heart. And I just feel so blessed that you our paths have crossed and that we've been able to keep this friendship going over all these years through all of the trials and tribulations. So thanks for being a guest on the show today. If you want to know more about me, Christy Bells.com. com. ⁓ keep an eye out for Uproot. It's coming. And I also have a new children's book being ⁓ brought forward at the Girl Scouts of Colorado Women of Distinction event on September tenth. You can go to the Girl Scouts website to learn more about that event and ⁓ support these young girls coming up doing amazing stuff and the ten amazing women that we are featuring along with Dif Daphne at this event this year. So Blessings to all. Thanks for listening. And we'll see you next time on Second Chances with Christy Bells. It is the joy of my life to showcase the voices of people and the messy details of life's journey. As you have experienced, my guests are thriving with purpose and style, but that does not mean that their life is easy and without challenges. I've dedicated my life to you and your journey. Thank you for listening to Second Chances with Christy Bells. Please subscribe and learn more at ChristyBells.com backslash second chances.