This week’s Yes, Girl! podcast featured two incredibly intelligent women: political commentator, Angela Rye and author, Candice Benbow.

At the close of ESSENCE Fest 2017, Rye stopped by to talk about her background in politics, most triggering news stories and how she stays on top of the headlines. “Read things to not just know what’s going on, but see it from different varying viewpoints,” she said about digesting the news. “It’s critical.”

She also talked about practical things people can do to voice their concern about the state of this country.

“Just like you saw with the Women’s March, it’s an ordinary citizen saying, ‘This is something we need to do, let’s get it done.’ And trusting that you have every gift, every talent that you need to make it happen. That doesn’t mean you have to do it on your own, it’s just putting it out there into the atmosphere and universe, saying ‘This is what I need to do for my sanity.'”

“I promise you there are… other people on the same page. We just need to trust that we have all of the facilities to get it done. And that’s just where we are right now. Whether you want to do a letter writing campaign or a march or start a social media hashtag— whatever it is, know that there are people out there that are thinking exactly like you’re thinking and are also afraid to take that next and very important step.”

Listen to Angela Rye and Candice Benbow’s entire ESSENCE Fest discussion on the Yes, Girl! podcast subscribe (for free).