"Stop being a trend settler and start being a trend setter. Settler and start being a trend setter. If you want a different world than the crappy one we're leaving you, you're going to have to rise up and do something about it, because, obviously, what we've been doing ain't working."  - Fatima Bey

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 0:10

Welcome to MindShift Power Podcast, the world's only podcast built to empower the next generation. I'm your host, fatima Bey the MindShifter, because shaping tomorrow's world starts with conversations we have today, because shaping tomorrow's world starts with conversations we have today. And welcome everyone. I'm Fatima Bey the Mindshifter. Today's episode is going to be a little bit different. I'm doing another solo episode and I'm going to talk about something most of you probably aren't fully thinking about. Although this podcast is for the next generation, which is today's youth, teenagers and young adults, this episode is for everyone youth adults all around the world, and this is not just for people in Western civilizations. So listen up.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 0:56

One of the reasons I started this podcast is because I wanted to do something to help our youth. I wanted to bring together youth and adults in a way that is not usually done. There's such a large disconnection between youth and adults, generally speaking, in today's world, more than there probably has ever on earth. There's always a degree of it, but never like today, because we've never lived in the times that we live right now. But one of the other reasons I started the podcast is because I want to help youth. I want to help them have a better future. That's why I talk about career things. It's why I talk about college, it's why I talk about financial aid, etc. It's about helping their future. But today I want to talk about why there's a reason to talk about the future of our youth and what we need to do about it. I'm going to talk to adults and youth in this conversation and have different things to say to each of you. So, adults listening, we have failed our youth. They're inheriting a world that is broken and unsustainable, and this is an undeniable fact. I'm not going to sit here and sugarcoat shit and tell you it's chocolate. It is not. This world is not in a good place right now and we're leaving them with that. They didn't create that. We did. So what are we leaving them? We're leaving them climate change, which is a really bad thing. We're leaving them political unrest. We're leaving them economic instability. That's their inheritance right now.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 2:32

And again, I'm speaking in general terms, across the globe. I'm not talking about one particular country In this conversation. I'm talking about global, the whole earth. There are pockets for which some of this is not true, but they are the exception, not the rule. I'd like to put it like this we have handed them a bowl of shit and expecting them to bake a cake with it Doesn't make any damn sense, does it?

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 2:58

We have to stop telling our youth well, it was like this when we grew up. They don't give a crap what it was like when we grew up, because that's not the world they're living in. That is completely irrelevant to them. It goes in one ear and out the other because it's not relevant to them, because that's not the what they are experiencing. And adults listening. You need to understand that what it was like when you grew up is not the same for them. So let me give you some facts and figures to back up what I'm saying, just so you don't think I'm just talking out of my ass.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 3:28

Right now, the air that we breathe has more carbon dioxide than any other time in human history. Do y'all know what a big deal that is? How long have humans been on this earth? There has never been. Since we've been able to measure it, there has never been more carbon dioxide in the air than there is now. That is not a good thing, and for y'all non-sciencey people, that's bad. That's bad air, let's put it that way. It's gone up over 50% since factories and machines started running the world. Again, our youth did not do that. We did. Adults, we and our grandparents, we did that. And that extra pollution it is heating up the planet fast.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 4:11

I don't even understand why climate crisis is a debatable topic. It's real, it's happening, period. I really don't care what side of the aisle you fall on. That's the actual, scientifically proven truth. 2024 was the hottest year on record. Global temperatures were 1.28 Celsius warmer than the 20th century average, which means warmer than the average in the 1900s, following 15 consecutive months of record-breaking heat. So we've had a record-breaking heat in general terms on this earth right now. That's not good. And again, our youth did not do that. We did.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 4:55

3.6 billion people nearly half the world's population live in areas that are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts like drought, floods and extreme weather. 3.6 billion people, half the world's population. Do y'all hear that? This is the world we're leaving them? I really want you to get this picture. So cutting down trees is an issue too. We've heard about this. It's not just about losing forests. It's pumping more pollution into the air than all the cars in the world combined, and this is why Because trees clean our air, and the more we destroy them, the worse it gets. This is an actual fact. This is not opinions. This is facts. We're leaving them economic instability.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 5:37

So let's talk about some facts. With that, the world's money situation isn't as good as everybody wants to make it seem. China's like there's nothing wrong with our economy. It's great Lies. America, we're not in recession. Everything's great Lies. And a lot of other countries Japan, a lot of other countries are lying about their economy because nobody wants to admit it, nobody wants their citizens to freak the hell out and nobody wants their stock numbers to go down because you admitted the truth and you suck right now. The truth is the world economy in general terms. There are some countries that are not doing bad, of course, but in general terms, the world economy is doing really, really bad. Prices keep rising, and this is not just true in the US. A lot of businesses are struggling. There are whole countries facing financial problems, not just the US. A lot of people have been facing these problems for a little while, but in the US we're just starting to feel it.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 6:26

I am recording this in May of 2025. When this is listened to in the future, some of these facts may have changed. So I feel the need to say that I can only give you what is true right now. So people are working harder but getting less in return. And again, this is not just a US thing. This is across the globe and if this keeps up, this next generation will have even fewer opportunities.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 6:47

And again, they did not create the situation adults, my peers, we did Escalating trade wars. Now we all know that sheriffs are bad and they're doing bad things right now, and I don't know what they're going to do in the future, because I can only talk about what they are right now. And currently Trump is president and he has messed a lot of things up, but everything's not his fault. There was a lot of messed up stuff before he came on the scene that he had nothing to do with Trade wars. He made things worse with his trade wars, but there were always there were already some unstable issues before that. But either way, regardless of whose fault it is or isn't, none of our youth asked for that yet they're going to have to deal with it.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 7:28

40% of the world's population lives in countries experiencing economic decline, with rising unemployment and financial instability. How is anybody young supposed to feel hopeful about their future if they know this. I'm just being real with y'all. And again, these aren't opinions or feelings, these are facts. Political unrest and global conflict has grown so much recently and it's a shame. So 19 consecutive years of decline.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 7:58

Global freedom has been shrieking for nearly two decades. Do you hear that? Adults that means our teenagers, our young adults do not know a world where global freedoms are not declining. Adults some of us actually do know that world, but our young people don't know that world. They didn't grow up in it. That's not a minor detail. That's not a minor detail at all. And then you wonder why some of our youth don't think it's a certain things are a big deal that we do. It's because they're used to it. They're used to the negativity. They're used to people making a big deal about everything. They're used to it. We didn't grow up that way. Adults think about that. Take that in your mind when you're dealing with youth and when you're talking to them. They are not growing up in the world we did so. Global freedom has been shrinking for almost 20 years.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 8:43

Political violence, election manipulation and armed conflicts have always been around, but they're increasing. I would say there was a lot of this back in the 80s and we're starting to reach that level again and going beyond it, and again, our youth did not ask for that. State-based armed conflict is the number one global risk right now. Did y'all know that Wars, coups and terrorism are escalating worldwide, making 2025 one of the most volatile years in modern history? This is what we're leaving them. They didn't ask for that and I'm going to keep saying that because I want y'all to understand what a big deal this is. And youth listening I want you to understand the world that you are actually living in 102% increase in civil unrest since 2011. That is about it's 2025. So in the past 14 years, protests, riots, strikes, et cetera, and the like have increased by 102%. Y'all hear that 102%. What does that tell you? That's not good, but hold on y'all.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 9:46

This whole message is not going to be hopeless. I'm just giving you some facts and figures so you can put a dot on the map and see where we really are, because you really can't figure out where to go if you don't know where you are. Worldwide, there's an increase in people being dissatisfied with their leadership and governance. There's legitimate reasons for that, and I'm not talking about one country, because this is a global issue right now. There are many, many reasons for that and the details vary per country, but that's a whole nother conversation. But the fact that it's increasing makes a lot of bad things more likely. So, as I said before, today's youth didn't cause any of this. Yet they're growing up in a world where they're going to have to deal with it.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 10:29

How we got here is not their fault. It's our fault, my generation and the generations before us. We created the world that they are now growing up in, but that's not the conversation I want to focus on. How we got here is how we got here. That's a whole another conversation, that plenty of the podcasts that talk about that. But I want to talk about what do we do from here? Here is where we are, not a fantasy of where we want to be, not a hopeful future. Here is where we are. So how do we get from here to a better place?

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 11:02

I'm going to use this analogy we are in a ditch. How we fell in the ditch, whose fault it was. We fell in the ditch. Does that really freaking matter if you want to get out? It doesn't. Now examining how you fell in the ditch and whose fault it is, etc. Who owns the ditch. All of that after the fact examining will help you to not fall in a ditch again Great, but it doesn't help you get out of the ditch.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 11:24

So I want to focus on the conversation about how to get out of the ditch. I just sat here and explained only some facts about the ditch that we're in. How do we get out of the ditch? And I want to let you know that every single listener. Right now, you are part of that solution, so why does all of this matters? Right now, you are part of that solution, so why does all of this matters? Well, why am I talking about this? Adults? If we don't shift our thinking and get rid and shed some of the old bullshit that we were taught, this generation is going to suffer even more because, in order for things to change, they need our help. They need our help and if we want to get stuck in, this is the way it's been done for the past 45,000 years in my family. Well, guess what? It ain't freaking working, is it? Because we're in a ditch? It's time to help them and us climb out. We're going to need your help to do that.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 12:12

Youth, I want to plant a seed in your head today. If you are a young adult or a teenager, I don't care what country you're in A 17-year-old boy in China, 13-year-old girl in Zimbabwe, mongolia, guatemala, name a place. I don't care where you are in the world. I want you to rearrange your thinking to this. Stop being a trend settler and start being a trend setter. Settler and start being a trend setter. If you want a different world than the crappy one we're leaving you, you're going to have to rise up and do something about it, because, obviously, what we've been doing ain't working.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 12:50

This means adults and youth alike the systems, the traditions, the cultural norms that have left us fucked up as we are right now. They've left us messed up. They need to be challenged, they need to change. So what does this mean? This means adults. As difficult as it is, we're going to have to rearrange some of our thinking. We're going to have to undo some of the bad things we've been taught and some of the things that maybe genuinely worked for our grandparents' generation, our parents' generation, doesn't work now. We have to start recognizing what works and what doesn't. We have to start picking apart and do some critical thinking. If we don't take the time to do that, we are doomed, and so are our youth, and I don't want that for them. I would not bother to get here on the air and have this whole episode if I didn't care. I don't want that for them. I hope you don't either.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 13:45

And, youth, I want to challenge you today, right now, to rise up and stop settling for what you're being taught. I am not saying that you need to be a rebellious jerk and be disrespectful to the adults around you and you know everything. You ain't got to listen. I'm not saying any of that. What I'm saying is you need to question everything and stop just accepting what's been, because what's been doesn't work. If it did, you'd be in a great situation right now, and we're not. I want you to start challenging everything you're taught in school, everything you're taught in your culture, and I don't care where in the world you are. Question everything in your culture, and I don't care where in the world you are. Question everything. Now. You might arrive at some of the same answers, because it's not like everything is wrong. It's not like all traditions are bad. You might arrive at some of the same answers Beautiful, great but question them first.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 14:29

I want to challenge you to rise up and stop settling for everything you're told. Stop just believing everything you're told, because half of what you're being told is a lie. And I don't care what country you're from, I don't care what color you are, what culture you're from A lot of lies in every culture in the world. Stop just believing everything you're told. Practice some critical thinking. Try to figure it out. Do some research. Don't just settle for everything you're told and take it, because if you do, you're going to drown with everybody else. The told and take it, because if you do, you're going to drown with everybody else.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 15:02

The change that needs to happen is going to have to come from you. You're the one that's going to have to live in this world. You're the one that's going to have to navigate your adulthood not being able to buy a house. You're the one that's going to have to navigate your adulthood not being able to have a job or find a way to make a living because of the economic status. Now, that's not true everywhere in the world. There's still some pockets in the world where things are good, but I'm talking in general terms.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 15:21

There's a lot of you that are going to suffer because you're not doing anything now and within this conversation, who I really want to talk to? My youth, my teenagers. Some of you are undiscovered leaders. Some of you have the solutions to our problems, but you're too busy trying to fit in. You're too busy trying to be accepted, so you don't allow that big brain of yours to come out your mouth. You've got to stop doing that, please. We need the great gifts that are in you.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 15:54

There's so many of you who are under 24 right now who actually have the answers that this world needs, or at least a piece of the answer that this world needs, but we're not getting it because you're believing everything you're told and you're shutting up and conforming and falling in line with the bullshit that your culture is teaching you. Stop it. We need what's in you and, yes, as you can hear, I'm very passionate about this because I see what's happening and I see where we're headed and I see the damage that's been done and if we don't rise up and make some waves right now, there's no way it's going to get better. I'm sorry, but there's no hope for the future. We leave things the way they are. That's just the truth, and I'm the first person to speak hope, but I'm also the first person.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 16:39

To be honest, see, what I want you to understand is leadership doesn't always have to mean a position or title. Some of you are undiscovered leaders, because you don't realize you're a leader yourself. Your thinking is where the solutions are. When I said that, it's because some of the scientific discoveries that haven't happened yet is because you keep suppressing it. Stop suppressing the real you. We need you.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 17:01

There are so many of you that are so intelligent and so oh my God, so amazing, but you suppress the amazingness and you become like this mannequin dummy, just fitting in with everybody else. And the truth is is your greatness needs to be revealed. Everybody around you is not going to accept it. So, the hell, what? What do they know? I want you to understand that many of you are put on this earth to create change, and I'm encouraging you to make an effort at manifesting the things that are in your head, the solutions that you actually think about, but you think no one will accept. Those things need to be said out loud and let me explain this to you. I don't know if most of you realize this, but most inventions that we use right now, that are vital in our lives, were invented by someone who thought differently than everybody around them at the time, and that's why we have them.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 17:52

Many of you are the next innovators, the next politicians that are going to change countries, the next leaders that are going to help people to not starve and have clean water or whatever that are going to cure illnesses. But you're not going to get there unless you start rising up now and stop accepting everything as well. This is the way it has to be done. No, it doesn't. You are the one that needs to rise up and make this world better so that you can navigate it better, so that you and your future children can have a place to live in. That's good, that's decent, that's at least better. So again, question everything and don't just accept everything that we adults just tell you as well the way it is, so that no, no, no. Question everything. So this is not just a podcast episode where we tell you all the niceties and give you information. This is a movement and it needs to start now. Call it the mind shift movement. It needs to start now.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 18:51

Our, our youth. I want you to have a better future. I really do, but I want you to want that too. Stop accepting everything, and I want you to also know, youth, you have more power than you realize. If all y'all and we can, as adults say shut up, you don't know nothing, you're just young and stupid and all the other dumb stuff that adults say, we can say all that, but you have more power than you realize. You can move past that and do anyway. If all of you were to rise up together, us adults couldn't hold you back.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 19:22

Again, I'm not saying that you need to be crazy, rebellious and take over and try to kill all the adults or go crazy or whatever. I am not saying to go that far. What I'm saying is you need to rise up and take a stand. Become the next systems that actually work instead of the broken ones we're handing you. Create the next systems that actually work instead of the crumbling ones we're handing you. That's how you rise up. You rise up by taking a stand and not just settling.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 19:49

Demand better, demand better, and I don't mean spoiled brat. Demand better, I mean demand better systems. Demand better, and I don't mean spoiled brat. Demand better, I mean demand better systems, demand better government, demand better jobs. You don't just demand by walking up and say gimme, gimme, gimme. You demand by accepting not accepting less but at the same time, creating a solution that's better than what we have. You want a better world. Create the next solution instead of complaining about today's mess. The complaints about today's mess are very valid. However, don't just sit there and whine and complain. Stand up and create the systems that will do better than the ones that are failing you now.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 20:32

A global shift needs to start happening, and you know how a global shift will happen One person at a time. You think you're alone, but if you rise up, there's going to be two or three others that see you rise up and be like you know what. She's right, I'm going to rise up with her. And then two or three people are watching those two or three people and they start rising up too. Next thing, you know, you got the whole room risen. Change happens one person at a time, not a magical one-time movement. Change happens by you making a decision, one decision at a time.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 21:02

You know the reason why a lot of things are tolerated in certain societies, like domestic violence. I'll use that as an example. It's because not enough people stand up and say uh-uh, we're not allowing that. Oh hell, no. Because not enough people stand up and say, uh-uh, we're not allowing that. Oh, hell, no. So some of y'all need to have a hell no attitude when it comes to how things are handled in your school, in your church, in your mosque, in your government, at the job, at wherever. Some of you need to have a hell no when it comes to things that are actually wrong, not things that are uncomfortable, not just things that, well, I'm just, I don't like that. That's not good enough. I mean, when things are actually wrong and damaging, you need to have a hell no attitude. You know, where domestic violence doesn't happen, in the areas where the little coward who is the domestic abuser knows that he'll get his ass beat, he chooses another way. That's just a small example.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 21:58

If you make a stand, if you decide that you're going to take a stand, even if it's on something small, it's hard to ignore that. So, even though you might get on our nerves young adults and youth you might get on our nerves when you take a stand because you're not just making it easy for us. So the fuck, what? So what Do it anyway? Because you deserve a better future than what we're handing you. So this is your future. Don't let outdated systems and wrong ideas dictate it for you, my young adults, my teenagers, please don't let us keep fucking it up for you. This is your future. Take a hold of it, because we haven't. And adults? I've talked so bad about how we and our grandparents and our great-grandparents have left this world, and it's true, but it's not too late for us to make a difference. I am making a difference by creating a podcast and a space to have the conversations that spark some of these things that enhance what's already happening.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 22:57

What can you do? You don't have to have a platform like me to be able to do something. I'm a public figure. I'm all over the place. You can Google me, you can see. I'm all over the place. I'm a public figure. So I use my public vision, my public platform, to help. You don't have to be seen like me. You are just as important as I am. You can do something in your neighborhood. You can do something by helping the youth around you, encouraging them to start businesses, encouraging them to seek more and stop settling. Encouraging them to be their best instead of being okay. If you do that, you're doing just as much as me. You are just as important. You can do something too, and some of the things whose fault it is why we're here again.

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 23:42

I've stated some of that, but that's not really the point, and it's less important than the fact that our youth matter and if you want them to have a better future, start helping the youth around you now, not trying to bring them back to the olden times that we don't live in, but helping them to adjust and be realistic for the world that they're headed for, not just where we are, but where are we headed, and how can you help prepare them mentally to create a better world that they need? The world needs minds that are challenged and changed, and it all starts with you. You, listener. I don't care what age you are, I don't care what country you're in, what gender you are, what your economic status is. It starts with you, and I want to also state this real leaders don't wait for permission, they just take action, and some of you need to start doing that, because if we all started doing it, it would be hard to ignore and things would actually get done. So I want to ask you what are you willing to do today, listener?

Fatima Bey The MindShifter: 24:39

I'm going to leave you with this quote. It's my own quote Today can change tomorrow, but only if you do something. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow and subscribe to MindShift Power Podcast on any of our worldwide platforms and be a part of the conversations shaping tomorrow's world. This podcast is just one branch of the MindShift universe. Explore more at FatimaBaycom and always remember there's power in shifting your thinking. See you next week.