1 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:19,080 Speaker 1: Oh jamaatral in California introduce the biz Tape. You're all 2 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:23,079 Speaker 1: Things Music, business and Media podcast. Join me, Joe was 3 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 1: Leski and my co host Colin McKay every Wednesday, where 4 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: we've discussed the breaking news changing the music industry and 5 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: what your favorite artists and creatives are up to. Listen 6 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: to new episodes of the Biz Tape every Wednesday on 7 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 1: the Nashville Podcast Network, Available on I heart radio app, 8 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. He's Chuck 9 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: Wigs from Love Country Talk to Chuck, where we bring 10 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: you what's really happening in the country music family. We 11 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:53,319 Speaker 1: also if you love country, here's the deal. You love 12 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: country music, you can be on the podcast. So if 13 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: you're a fan country music, what you call in anytime 14 00:00:57,760 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 1: you like, Oh, I want to talk about this? Haul 15 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 1: Cogan called in. He's like Chuckster. I love your podcast. 16 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: Jason al Dean, Jimmy Allen, Carley, Pierce, Ringa, Lena. Listen 17 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: to new episodes of Love Country Talk to Chuck every 18 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,680 Speaker 1: Monday and Thursday on the Nashville Podcast Network, Available on 19 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you 20 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,520 Speaker 1: listen to podcast It was when I was eight years 21 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:22,680 Speaker 1: old growing up in Selma, when my life was changing 22 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:30,319 Speaker 1: without me even Norman. My name is Cheyenne Webb christ Burd. 23 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: I was a little eight year old girl growing up 24 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: in George, Washington, Carbo projects. It was rough. Both my 25 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 1: parents worked in the factories to feed us, to take 26 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: care of us the best way that they knew allowed. 27 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: But I'll never forget the day that I met Dr 28 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: Martin the King Jr. As I would know him to do, 29 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: I would always have to walk past now the historic 30 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 1: browns Appolaamily Church. In nineteen sixty four, Martin Luther King, Jr. 31 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 1: And his civil rights organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Council, 32 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,480 Speaker 1: came to Selma, Alabama to start a voter registration campaign, 33 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: and little eight year old Cheyenne was immediately swept up. 34 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 1: He told us, I want to see you children before 35 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:24,639 Speaker 1: I leave, because I'm coming back to sell to start 36 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: a movement. But I became very disobedient as that little girl. 37 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: My parents just couldn't do anything with me. They didn't 38 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: want me to be a part of anything that reflected 39 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:44,079 Speaker 1: being a part of that movement. Despite her parents misgivings, 40 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 1: Cheyenne began sneaking out of the house to attend community 41 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:51,400 Speaker 1: organization meetings that were being held at the church. It 42 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: was at those meetings that she was exposed to the 43 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: ministry and principles of Martin Luther King. Dr King would 44 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,119 Speaker 1: talk about the Afican Americans who didn't have the right 45 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: to vote, and he started talking about a march that 46 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:11,640 Speaker 1: would be taking place and sell my Alabama for African 47 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: Americans to gain their right to vote. I'm Katie Couric 48 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: and this is Turnout this week. We're exploring how America's 49 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: fight for voting rights is wrapped up in the ongoing 50 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:28,359 Speaker 1: struggle for racial justice. And all I remember is trying 51 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:32,200 Speaker 1: to explain to my parents about what Dr King was 52 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: talking about. And I asked them that they have the 53 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: right to vote, And of course my dad didn't even 54 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: want to talk about it. He told me, no, black 55 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: folks couldn't vote. But why not? After all, when the 56 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: Fifteenth Amendment was ratified in eighteen seventy, it guaranteed that 57 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: the right to vote could no longer be denied based 58 00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. So why 59 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 1: did so many black people not vote before the nineteen sixties. 60 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: You may remember from our last episode that author Gilded 61 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: Daniels asked her grandmother that very same question, why didn't 62 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: she vote before the nineteen sixties, and got the same answer. 63 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: Black people didn't vote because they could lose their land, 64 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: they could lose their lives. It was not because they 65 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:24,839 Speaker 1: did not want to vote. It's because of all these 66 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 1: mechanisms they were put in place to certainly prevent them 67 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: from doing so. To understand why black people couldn't vote, 68 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:35,920 Speaker 1: we have to go back about one hundred years to Reconstruction, 69 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 1: when the country was trying to knit itself back together, 70 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: reintegrating the Confederate States as well as four million formally 71 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:49,360 Speaker 1: enslaved people into the United States. It was a turbulent time, 72 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:53,359 Speaker 1: to say the least. After the Civil War, there was 73 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:58,480 Speaker 1: a period where the violence was so intense against African Americans. 74 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: I mean just this unmitigated rage that they had the 75 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 1: audacity now to not be property. Dr Carol Anderson is 76 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:11,840 Speaker 1: an African American studies professor at Emory University an author 77 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:16,360 Speaker 1: of One Person, No Vote, How voter suppression is destroying 78 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: our democracy? And we had a president Andrew Johnson, and 79 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: he was horrifically racist and shortsighted. And he was fine 80 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: with what Harvard law professor Annette Gordon Reid called the 81 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: slow motion genocide that was happening to black people in 82 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,719 Speaker 1: the South. Well, the radical Republicans, and I love that term. 83 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:44,239 Speaker 1: We had radical Republicans. The radical Republicans in Congress looked 84 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: up at what Johnson had done and just said not today. 85 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 1: It may seem a little strange given today's politics, but 86 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 1: Andrew Johnson was a Democrat. Radical Republicans believed blacks were 87 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:02,760 Speaker 1: entitled to the same political and opportunities as whites. What 88 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: also made them radical was that they wanted the federal 89 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: government to do something about it, to directly intervene in 90 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:13,560 Speaker 1: the state's affairs to help get the country and all 91 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 1: of its people to a more perfect union. There was 92 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:21,719 Speaker 1: the Civil Rights Act of eighteen sixty six that dealt 93 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:26,360 Speaker 1: with citizenship to make it clear that black people were citizens. 94 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: Then there was the Reconstruction Act of eighteen sixty seven. 95 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 1: All men twenty one years and over will be registered 96 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: to vote. That meant that black men would be registered 97 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: to vote. Oh. Then the radical Republicans were concerned that 98 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: if they just had these laws at some point there 99 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 1: may be a shift in the balance in Congress, and 100 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: they wanted to make sure that the rights of all 101 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:59,840 Speaker 1: American citizens were protected. And that wasn't going to have 102 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,360 Speaker 1: and with just a law that could be easily overridden. 103 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 1: So they embedded it in the US Constitution. The fourteenth 104 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: Amendment dealt with birthright citizenship. If you're born here, you're 105 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 1: a citizen. Wow. Then came the Fifteenth Amendment in eighteen seventy. 106 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:25,640 Speaker 1: The fifteenth Amendment said the United States nor the States 107 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: shall abridge the right to vote on account of race, color, 108 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: or previous condition of servitude. One of the other things 109 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 1: that they did is they passed the Enforcement Act. It 110 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: was the third Enforcement Act of eighteen seventy one. Because 111 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: the ku Klux Klan was reigning down massive domestic terrorism 112 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: on black people who were trying to vote, and the 113 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: federal government did not have the full authority it felt 114 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 1: to go in there and stop them. The Enforcement Act 115 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: was to in domestic terrorism and to pretend heck, African 116 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: Americans right to vote. So this is just I mean, 117 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 1: it's like boo bool bool. The radical Republicans were building 118 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 1: the House of Democracy. What happened next was a period, 119 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 1: a very brief period in the eighteen seventies of political 120 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: prosperity for blacks in America. In the South, more than 121 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 1: half a million black men became voters in several states, 122 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:32,160 Speaker 1: including Mississippi. Black people were the majority of the population, 123 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: and during that decade, Mississippi actually sent two black senators 124 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: to Washington. But then came the backlash. The white state 125 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: legislators looked up in Mississippi said oh, well, we can't 126 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:49,360 Speaker 1: have this, and so they come up with the Mississippi Plan. 127 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:54,200 Speaker 1: And what the Mississippi Plan does is it says, how 128 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:57,599 Speaker 1: do we stop black people from voting without writing a 129 00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:03,080 Speaker 1: law that explicitly says, we don't want black people devunt ah, 130 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 1: We're going to couch it in the language of democracy, 131 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:09,560 Speaker 1: protecting the integrity of the ballot box, ensuring that there's 132 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:13,600 Speaker 1: no corruption in our elections. But what it does is 133 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: it uses the society imposed conditions on African Americans and 134 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:25,839 Speaker 1: makes those conditions the access to the ballot box. And so, 135 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:30,720 Speaker 1: for instance, the poll tax, the poll tax couched in 136 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:35,120 Speaker 1: this language says democracy is expensive, and so if you 137 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,679 Speaker 1: really believed in democracy, you would be willing to pay 138 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:42,079 Speaker 1: a small fee in order to ensure that this democracy 139 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:46,439 Speaker 1: runs smoothly. So what you see there is this language 140 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:51,560 Speaker 1: that flips the responsibility of free and fair elections off 141 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:56,200 Speaker 1: of the state and onto the individual. So it's a 142 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:04,480 Speaker 1: wickedly evil rhetorical device and also very effective. And what 143 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:07,160 Speaker 1: it does is it makes it seem like the poll 144 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,640 Speaker 1: tax is nominal. How hard is it to pay just 145 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:15,760 Speaker 1: this little fee. Well, after you have had centuries of 146 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:22,520 Speaker 1: unpaid labor because of slavery centuries, and then you have 147 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: had the Black codes coming out of the Civil War, 148 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 1: which reimposed slavery by another name, and then after that 149 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:37,920 Speaker 1: you have share cropping, systemic endemic, societally imposed poverty rained 150 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:41,960 Speaker 1: down on that black community, so that the poll tax 151 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:48,680 Speaker 1: actually required between two to six percent of a Mississippi 152 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 1: farm famili's annual income. Imagine paying two to six percent 153 00:10:55,320 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: of your annual income to vote. Then there's the literacy test, 154 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:06,560 Speaker 1: when you have killed the enslaved who dare learn how 155 00:11:06,679 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 1: to read to then require the reading of a complicated 156 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:17,840 Speaker 1: legal text in order to be able to vote. In 157 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:21,960 Speaker 1: the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that the poll tax 158 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:27,040 Speaker 1: and the literacy test did not violate the Fifteenth Amendment 159 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:35,120 Speaker 1: because everybody had to pay the poll tax and everybody 160 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:40,000 Speaker 1: had to read, so how could this be racially discriminatory. 161 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:44,880 Speaker 1: After that, you saw a number of states revised their 162 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:52,320 Speaker 1: state constitutions to include the Mississippi Plans disfranchisement policies in there. 163 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:57,360 Speaker 1: And the result was that by the time we get 164 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:04,240 Speaker 1: to nineteen forty, only three percent of age eligible African 165 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:09,319 Speaker 1: Americans in the South are registered to vote three percent. 166 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:14,880 Speaker 1: The Second World War has already started, and we're looking 167 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:18,360 Speaker 1: at a democracy that is so warped, is so gnarrowed 168 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:23,960 Speaker 1: in the United States, where of black eligible voters have 169 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:28,480 Speaker 1: been blocked from the ballot box in the South, and 170 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: the majority of African Americans lived in the South. By 171 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:42,760 Speaker 1: the time we get to Selma in Dallas County, where 172 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:49,520 Speaker 1: Selma is only point nine percent of African Americans age 173 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:55,680 Speaker 1: eligible African Americans were registered to vote point nine percent. 174 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:08,040 Speaker 1: We'll return to Selma right after this short phrame. Conquer 175 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:10,960 Speaker 1: your New Year's resolution to be more productive with the 176 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:15,240 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast podcast. In each bite sized daily episode, time 177 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:19,280 Speaker 1: management and productivity expert Laura Vanderkam teaches you how to 178 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 1: make the most of your time both at work and 179 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 1: at home. These are the practical suggestions you need to 180 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:28,000 Speaker 1: get more done with your day. Just as lifting weights 181 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:31,079 Speaker 1: keeps our body strong as we age, learning new skills 182 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,679 Speaker 1: is the mental equivalent of pumping iron. Listen to before 183 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: Breakfast wherever you get your podcasts. Raffi is the voice 184 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 1: of some of the happiest songs of our generation. Baby 185 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:48,560 Speaker 1: So who is the man behind Baby Bluga? Every human 186 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:53,040 Speaker 1: being wants to feel respected. When we start with young, 187 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 1: all good things can grow from there. I'm Chris Garcia, comedian, 188 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 1: new Dad and host of Finding Raffie, a new podcast 189 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:04,200 Speaker 1: from My Heart Radio and Fatherly. Listen every Tuesday on 190 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:07,199 Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. 191 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:10,520 Speaker 1: When P. T. Barnum's Great American Museum burned to the 192 00:14:10,559 --> 00:14:13,600 Speaker 1: ground in eighteen sixty five, what rose from its ashes 193 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:17,440 Speaker 1: would change the world? Welcome to Grim and Mild presents 194 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 1: an ongoing journey into the strange, the unusual, and the fascinating. 195 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:25,040 Speaker 1: For our inaugural season, we'll be giving you a backstage 196 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:29,280 Speaker 1: tour of the always complex and often misunderstood cultural artifact 197 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 1: that is the American Side Show. So come along as 198 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:35,480 Speaker 1: we visit the shadowy corners of the stage and learn 199 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:37,480 Speaker 1: about the people who were at the center of it 200 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 1: all in a place where spectacle was king. We will 201 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:44,000 Speaker 1: soon discover there's always more to the story than meets 202 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:46,880 Speaker 1: the eye. So step right up and get in line. 203 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:50,120 Speaker 1: Listen to Grim and Mild Presents now on the I 204 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:54,280 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 205 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:58,600 Speaker 1: Learn more over at Grim and Mild dot com slash Presents. 206 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:10,800 Speaker 1: Congress passes the most sweeping civil rights bill ever to 207 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: be written into the law unless we affirms the conception 208 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:17,480 Speaker 1: of equal In nineteen sixty four, President Lyndon B. Johnson 209 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 1: signed the Civil Rights Act. The Civil Rights Act is 210 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 1: a challenge to all of us to go to work 211 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 1: in our communities and our states, in our harms and 212 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:33,560 Speaker 1: in our hearts, to eliminate the last vestiges of injustice 213 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:38,840 Speaker 1: in our beloved country. It was a landmark piece of legislation. 214 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:43,520 Speaker 1: It banned segregation in public places and discrimination in the workplace, 215 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:47,600 Speaker 1: but with racism running deep. Just listen to Alabama Governor 216 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:57,320 Speaker 1: George Wallace in nineteen sixty three, there was so much 217 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:00,640 Speaker 1: it didn't do to ensure blacks had the to vote 218 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 1: which brings us back to Selma and Cheyenne. I'm Shyenne 219 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:10,480 Speaker 1: web christ Burg. Dr Martin Luther King's smallest freedom fighter 220 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:15,480 Speaker 1: and Dr King's voter registration campaign. Beginning in January nine, 221 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:21,720 Speaker 1: freedom fighters staged non violent demonstrations in Selma to push 222 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 1: for another piece of legislation guaranteeing all Black Americans the 223 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:33,880 Speaker 1: right to vote. As I continue to participate in the movement, 224 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:38,760 Speaker 1: where many other freedom fighters would come from other places 225 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:42,680 Speaker 1: of the states to join that movement to change things 226 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:47,160 Speaker 1: into helping fighting for the right to vote, and I 227 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 1: started bringing them to my home and asking my parents 228 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 1: could they live with us and stay with us, and 229 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 1: soon they would be living in our homes. But I 230 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:06,560 Speaker 1: level forget what was the most traumatic experience of my life, 231 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:12,720 Speaker 1: and that was the Bloody Sun to March. The march 232 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,480 Speaker 1: was meant to be a big push by organizers to 233 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:21,640 Speaker 1: register black voters across Alabama and to attract national press coverage. 234 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:25,879 Speaker 1: The plan was to walk peacefully from Selma to the 235 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: state capital of Montgomery, fifty four miles. Many threats have 236 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:35,080 Speaker 1: been made about the possibilities of what would happen to 237 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:41,040 Speaker 1: anyone who would participate on that particular march, and I'll 238 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:46,000 Speaker 1: never forget my parents talking to me the night before 239 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:50,320 Speaker 1: and telling me that something could possibly happen to me 240 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 1: if I participated in that march. Governor Wallace ordered the 241 00:17:56,600 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: Highway Patrol chief to use quote whatever measure necessary to 242 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:05,960 Speaker 1: prevent the march from happening. Organizers, including the late Congressman 243 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:10,200 Speaker 1: John Lewis and jose A Williams, decided to proceed anyway. 244 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:16,879 Speaker 1: On Sunday, March seven, at around noon, six hundred protesters, 245 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:20,800 Speaker 1: walking in two lines, left the Brown Chapel Amy Church 246 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:24,879 Speaker 1: and headed for the Edmund Pettis Bridge. Tucked into that 247 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:29,280 Speaker 1: group of freedom fighters I'll never forget was young Cheyenne. 248 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:33,680 Speaker 1: The special instructions that were given by Congressman John Lewis. 249 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: He asked that all marches walk quietly, keep their heads 250 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:47,120 Speaker 1: straight and forward, and regardless of what happened, everyone would 251 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:53,040 Speaker 1: be none wound. At the base of the bridge, the 252 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:56,400 Speaker 1: marchers were met by one hundred and fifty Alabama State 253 00:18:56,440 --> 00:19:01,240 Speaker 1: troopers and sheriff deputies. A state trooper made this announcement 254 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 1: over a bullhorn, I'll go you. The marchers did not disperse, 255 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:15,200 Speaker 1: They did not go home or back to their church. 256 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:21,080 Speaker 1: They stood still, and I remember vividly as I looked down, 257 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:28,119 Speaker 1: it was like a seal. I saw hundreds of police 258 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:34,359 Speaker 1: were with tear gas, masks, billy clothes to say, troops 259 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: on horses. I saw the dogs, and my heart had 260 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:44,879 Speaker 1: begun to rumble and beat fast. I just knew, as 261 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:51,560 Speaker 1: that little girl, that something was gonna happen for there. 262 00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:58,439 Speaker 1: The troopers advanced slowly at first, but then picking up 263 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:02,560 Speaker 1: speed until they plowed right through the merchers, knocking them down. 264 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:11,479 Speaker 1: Racism unleashed its brutality of policy. Tear gas have begun 265 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:16,800 Speaker 1: to burst in the air, and tear gas is a strong, 266 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:23,800 Speaker 1: burning sensation where you can't hardly see your way, And 267 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 1: as people have begun to run, people were being beaten 268 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:36,360 Speaker 1: down with billy clubs. The dogs and the horses were 269 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:40,280 Speaker 1: pushing their way into the crowd and trampling people over 270 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:53,640 Speaker 1: as if they weren't human leadings. You can see people crawling, falling, crying, bleeding, 271 00:20:56,080 --> 00:21:01,359 Speaker 1: and of course my eyes were burning and I was running, 272 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:05,640 Speaker 1: like many others, trying to make my way home. I 273 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:11,840 Speaker 1: was very frightened, trembling and really not knowing what to 274 00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:18,160 Speaker 1: do except to get home. And as I was running out. 275 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:24,919 Speaker 1: I could still see the horses, the dogs still trampling 276 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 1: over people as they were trying to make their way 277 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:33,680 Speaker 1: back to Brown's Chapter church. And as I was running, 278 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:39,960 Speaker 1: I'll never forget the late Josean Williams picking me up, 279 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:43,919 Speaker 1: and my little legs were still galloping in his arms. 280 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:50,879 Speaker 1: My eyes were burning. I couldn't hardly see. And I 281 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:54,359 Speaker 1: turned to him and I said to him, in my 282 00:21:54,520 --> 00:22:00,280 Speaker 1: own childish voice, put me down, because you I'm not 283 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:10,119 Speaker 1: running fast. And that picture of bloody Sunday has never 284 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:16,600 Speaker 1: left my heart. By my man. The events of that 285 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:21,400 Speaker 1: Sunday afternoon were captured by newscasters and journalists, and that night, 286 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:25,359 Speaker 1: Sunday Night Movie Will present Stanley Kramer's Academy Award winning 287 00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:33,640 Speaker 1: Motion Picture Judgment at Nuremberg. Forty eight million people were 288 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:38,600 Speaker 1: watching ABC's broadcast of the star studded movie Judgment at Nuremberg, 289 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,960 Speaker 1: about the trials that took place in Germany following the Holocaust. 290 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:48,440 Speaker 1: And here in our decision, this is what we stand for, justice, 291 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:56,480 Speaker 1: true and the value of a single human being. But 292 00:22:56,600 --> 00:23:00,520 Speaker 1: the network interrupted the movie to report on what happened 293 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:05,359 Speaker 1: in some of that day. We interrupt this program to 294 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:09,240 Speaker 1: bring you a special report from ABC News. In the 295 00:23:09,359 --> 00:23:13,520 Speaker 1: days and weeks that followed, public support for the protesters surged, 296 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:16,879 Speaker 1: and a federal judge ruled in favor of the marchers. 297 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:21,520 Speaker 1: They told us we wouldn't get here. Fourteen days after 298 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:25,160 Speaker 1: bloody Sunday, olds who said that we would get here 299 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:30,160 Speaker 1: only over that dead body, Martin Luther King Jr. Successfully 300 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:35,119 Speaker 1: Led thousands of demonstrators across the Edmund Pettis Bridge and 301 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:40,560 Speaker 1: onto Montgomery. All the world today knows that we are here, 302 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:44,359 Speaker 1: and we are standing before the forces of power in 303 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:47,640 Speaker 1: the state of Alabama saying we ain't gonna let nobody 304 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: turn us arid. And because America could not unsee the 305 00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 1: horrors of that bloody Sunday last March, with the outrage 306 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:07,119 Speaker 1: of Solomon still Fration, legislators were motivated to do something 307 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:11,560 Speaker 1: about it and asked the Congress and the people for 308 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:18,400 Speaker 1: swift and for sweeping action to guarantee to every man 309 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:27,159 Speaker 1: and woman the right to vote. The bill passed the 310 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:34,600 Speaker 1: Senate by an overwhelming majority, seven to nineteen. Thus, this 311 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:37,760 Speaker 1: is a victory for the freedom of the American and 312 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:40,399 Speaker 1: my parents, but it is also a victory for the 313 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:44,680 Speaker 1: freedom of the American nation became registered votes and every 314 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:49,360 Speaker 1: family across this great, entire searching land, and when they 315 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 1: went to vote, they lived stronger in liberty. They took 316 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:56,600 Speaker 1: me with That was one of the most prouder to 317 00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:02,879 Speaker 1: be American, happiest momentous feeling and laws for me that 318 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 1: I've ever had, the Act that you have passed that 319 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:14,680 Speaker 1: I will sign today. On August six nine, President Lyndon B. 320 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:22,960 Speaker 1: Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. To understand 321 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:25,359 Speaker 1: how important that law has become in the history of 322 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:29,680 Speaker 1: this country, author Gilda Daniel says, you can simply look 323 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:33,640 Speaker 1: to how presidents have described it. President Ronald Reagan called 324 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:36,919 Speaker 1: it a crown jewel. Lyndon Baines Johnson said that it 325 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:40,880 Speaker 1: was monumental, and it was monumental. Indeed, when you think 326 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:43,480 Speaker 1: about the power of the Voting Rights Act, you do 327 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:47,240 Speaker 1: think about the ability to elect representatives right for people 328 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:50,879 Speaker 1: who can represent you and represent your viewpoints. And and 329 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:56,000 Speaker 1: even President Barack Obama attributed the Voting Rights Act to 330 00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:59,240 Speaker 1: his success because of campaigns like this, essentially said that 331 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:01,400 Speaker 1: he would not have been possible the Voting Rights Act 332 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:05,159 Speaker 1: was passed. There was that a Voting Rights Act of 333 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:10,359 Speaker 1: political and economic and social barriers came down, and the 334 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:13,280 Speaker 1: change these men and women wrought is visible here today 335 00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:17,240 Speaker 1: in the presence of African Americans who run boardrooms, who 336 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,360 Speaker 1: sit on the bench, who serve in elected office, from 337 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:25,119 Speaker 1: small towns to big cities, from the Congressional Black Caucus, 338 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:30,520 Speaker 1: all the way to the old Office because of what 339 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:33,639 Speaker 1: they did. But in two thousand and thirteen, the Voting 340 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:37,000 Speaker 1: Rights Act of nineteen sixty five faced a major setback 341 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:40,160 Speaker 1: when the Supreme Court ruled that the Voting Rights Act 342 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:45,920 Speaker 1: had essentially served its purpose and significantly weakened it. That 343 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,840 Speaker 1: led states to implement their own laws. For example, within 344 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:54,040 Speaker 1: twenty four hours of the Supreme Court decision, Texas announced 345 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,080 Speaker 1: it would put in place a strict voter I D law. 346 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:03,360 Speaker 1: In oral arguments, we space voting discrimination still exists. No 347 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 1: one doubts that the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg led 348 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:09,800 Speaker 1: the descent the great man who led the march from 349 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:13,560 Speaker 1: Selma to Montgomery. In her argument, she echoed the words 350 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:18,520 Speaker 1: of Martin Luther King Jr. Who in nineteen seven presciently 351 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:22,720 Speaker 1: said the road ahead would not always be smooth. The 352 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:26,639 Speaker 1: ak of the moral universe is long, he said, But 353 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:31,639 Speaker 1: it bends towards justice. If there is a steadfast commitment 354 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:39,240 Speaker 1: to see the task through two completion. That commitment has 355 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:53,439 Speaker 1: been disserved by today's decision. We'll be right back. What 356 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:57,399 Speaker 1: grows in the forest trees, Sure, no one else girls 357 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:01,080 Speaker 1: in the forest, Our imagination I sent of wonder, and 358 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:04,440 Speaker 1: our family bonds grow too, because when we disconnect from 359 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:10,920 Speaker 1: this and connect with this, we reconnect with each other. 360 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 1: The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest 361 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:18,160 Speaker 1: near you and start exploring. I Discover the Forest dot org. 362 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:21,040 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and 363 00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:27,000 Speaker 1: the AD Council. The Gangster Chronicles podcast is a weekly 364 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:31,000 Speaker 1: conversation that revolves around the underworld, the criminals and entertainers 365 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:34,360 Speaker 1: to victims, crime and law enforcement. We cover all facets 366 00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:37,760 Speaker 1: of the game. Gainst the Chronicles podcast doesn't glorify from 367 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:41,760 Speaker 1: motilicit activities. We just discussed the ramifications and repercussions of 368 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,360 Speaker 1: these activities because at the wall, if you played gainst 369 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:47,640 Speaker 1: the games, you are ultimately rewarded with Gangster prizes. Our 370 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:50,640 Speaker 1: Heart radios number one for podcasts, but don't take our 371 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:53,560 Speaker 1: award for it. Find Against the Chronicles podcast and my 372 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:59,000 Speaker 1: Heart radio app or wherever you get your podcast. Hey guys, 373 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:02,760 Speaker 1: it is Bobby Bones from The Bobby Cast, Nashville's most 374 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 1: listen to music podcast. In depth interviews with your favorite 375 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,200 Speaker 1: country artists. They tell stories behind the biggest songs in 376 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:12,040 Speaker 1: country music and share personal stories that you won't hear 377 00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:16,440 Speaker 1: anywhere else. Reba Christapleton, Luke Combs, Dan and Shake, Kelsey 378 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:20,320 Speaker 1: Ballerini and more. Long form and all from the comfort 379 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:22,920 Speaker 1: of my own home, so it gets a little more 380 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,680 Speaker 1: laid back. I also talked with the biggest songwriters and 381 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:29,240 Speaker 1: producers in Nashville. Find out about the process and how 382 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:31,400 Speaker 1: it goes from being an idea in a writing room 383 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:33,480 Speaker 1: to a song that you hear on the radio. And 384 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:35,800 Speaker 1: if you're looking for new music, I share my top 385 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:39,360 Speaker 1: five new music releases on every week's episode. So if 386 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:42,120 Speaker 1: you love country music, I think you'll really enjoy this podcast. 387 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:45,640 Speaker 1: And there are so many episodes to binge. Literally hundreds 388 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:49,640 Speaker 1: listen to new episodes of The Bobby Cast every Friday 389 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:53,120 Speaker 1: on the Nashville Podcast Network, available on the I Heart 390 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:57,120 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. 391 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:04,320 Speaker 1: When you look at all of these issues together, you 392 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:10,080 Speaker 1: see the system. This is a system of discrimination. Again, 393 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:13,680 Speaker 1: author and law professor Gilded Daniels. It takes a lot 394 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:18,440 Speaker 1: different names. In the nineteen hundreds we called it a 395 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:20,680 Speaker 1: poll tax, and the day we called it voter I 396 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:22,800 Speaker 1: d or it would used to be a literacy test. 397 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:25,520 Speaker 1: Now it's proof of citizenship. So you might have called 398 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:27,720 Speaker 1: the different things, but it still has the same impact. 399 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,320 Speaker 1: It still has the same effect, and that is that 400 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:34,640 Speaker 1: it disproportionately disenfranchises people of color. A big part of 401 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:39,760 Speaker 1: that system of discrimination, our felony disenfranchise meant laws which 402 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:44,240 Speaker 1: bar people from voting because of prior criminal convictions, and 403 00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:47,520 Speaker 1: there are some alarming stats that show the racial disparities 404 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:51,680 Speaker 1: of those laws. In two thousand nineteen, the Sentencing Project 405 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:54,960 Speaker 1: reported that Black Americans who are old enough to vote 406 00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:58,000 Speaker 1: are more than four times as likely to lose their 407 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:01,479 Speaker 1: voting rights than the rest of the adult population. In 408 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:06,840 Speaker 1: some states, one in five black adults is disenfranchised. All told, 409 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:11,040 Speaker 1: there are about two point two million Black Americans who 410 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:15,520 Speaker 1: are banned from voting because of past convictions. How do 411 00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:26,400 Speaker 1: you want me to address you, Katie? Really? Okay, alright, no, no, Luckily, 412 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:30,320 Speaker 1: there are people fighting to right, that wrong. The loss 413 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:33,040 Speaker 1: of civil rights is not something that's highlighted doing fleet 414 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:35,320 Speaker 1: bargain right. At the end of the day, what you're 415 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:38,120 Speaker 1: concerned about is how much time you will or will 416 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:40,760 Speaker 1: not have to do how soon you can get out 417 00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:44,400 Speaker 1: of President Desmond Mead is the president and executive director 418 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:48,640 Speaker 1: of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, which is dedicated to 419 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:53,920 Speaker 1: ending the disenfranchisement and discrimination of people who have been incarcerated, 420 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:58,760 Speaker 1: also known as return citizens. I remember a priest many 421 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:02,160 Speaker 1: years ago said that a person is caught for committing 422 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:06,120 Speaker 1: a crime, he's convicted, sentenced to prison, who serves this 423 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:08,960 Speaker 1: time In the minute he walked out of the prison gates, 424 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:12,560 Speaker 1: that's when his real sentence starts. Now. The reason I 425 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:15,840 Speaker 1: wanted to talk to Desmond is that in two thousand eighteen, 426 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:21,600 Speaker 1: he was instrumental in passing Amendment four, amendment to Florida's Constitution, 427 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:25,280 Speaker 1: the amendment that will restore voting rights to one point 428 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:29,120 Speaker 1: five million people who already paid their debt to society 429 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:33,120 Speaker 1: and had felony records. That passed, So whatever happens tonight, 430 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:35,800 Speaker 1: that amendment is going to be hugely important. It was 431 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:41,280 Speaker 1: an extraordinary achievement personally and professionally because he is also 432 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:45,360 Speaker 1: a return citizen. As a young man, Desmond was convicted 433 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:48,840 Speaker 1: on drug charges and spent time in prison for possession 434 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:53,760 Speaker 1: of a firearm. But his lowest point when he was released, 435 00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:57,720 Speaker 1: I was standing in front of railroad tracks in South Florida, 436 00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:00,600 Speaker 1: waiting on a train that comes I can jump in 437 00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:03,080 Speaker 1: front of it. That day that I stood there, I 438 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:05,960 Speaker 1: was a broken man. I mean, I was homeless, I 439 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:11,200 Speaker 1: was addicted to drugs, recently released from prison, unemployed, didn't 440 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:13,280 Speaker 1: own anything but the clothes on my back, and I 441 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:15,400 Speaker 1: didn't see a light at the end of the time. 442 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:19,520 Speaker 1: But own had other plans and that train didn't come, 443 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:22,960 Speaker 1: and so I crossed those tracks and I walked about 444 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:25,320 Speaker 1: a couple of blocks further and I checked myself into 445 00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:28,600 Speaker 1: drug treatment. Desmond was able to turn his life around. 446 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:31,240 Speaker 1: He went back to school and did so well. He 447 00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:35,240 Speaker 1: eventually earned a law degree. Yes, and so the add 448 00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:39,560 Speaker 1: to that what you said, I'm also a first time author, right, 449 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:44,040 Speaker 1: I just wrote my book let My People Vote, that 450 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:49,880 Speaker 1: actually talks about the journey. Congratulations, Desmond, that's quite an 451 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:53,040 Speaker 1: inspiring story. When did you realize that you were not 452 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:57,960 Speaker 1: considered a full citizen by the state of Florida in 453 00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:03,120 Speaker 1: the summer of two thousand and six. It was the 454 00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:06,280 Speaker 1: first time I realized it because I was introduced to 455 00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:10,000 Speaker 1: for the Rights Restoration Coalition, and that's when I first 456 00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:14,480 Speaker 1: learned about the loss of civil rights. It started taking 457 00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:17,560 Speaker 1: a more prominence when I was in law school and 458 00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:20,920 Speaker 1: and and and really discovered that even though I was 459 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:24,160 Speaker 1: able to overcome so many obstacles, even though I was 460 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:27,320 Speaker 1: doing well in law school and I would eventually graduate 461 00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:30,880 Speaker 1: with my law degree, uh, the Florida Bar would not 462 00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:34,680 Speaker 1: even allow me to sit for the exam until my 463 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:37,640 Speaker 1: civil rights have been restored. And then I guess the 464 00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:41,280 Speaker 1: final blow that was like a punch to the gut 465 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:45,520 Speaker 1: was in twenty sixteen when my wife Sena ran for office. 466 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:50,680 Speaker 1: She wanted to uh become a state representative for Florida. 467 00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:54,520 Speaker 1: And in the middle of her campaign, someone approached me 468 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:57,640 Speaker 1: and said that Desmond, I know that you're excited about 469 00:34:57,640 --> 00:34:59,520 Speaker 1: being able to vote for your wife, and it like 470 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:02,160 Speaker 1: it was like a blow to my gut. Reminded me, wow, 471 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,600 Speaker 1: does I live in Florida. I can't even vote for 472 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:09,120 Speaker 1: my own wife, you know, forget the fact that presidents 473 00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:11,640 Speaker 1: in Puerto Rico were able to vote. Forget about the 474 00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:14,040 Speaker 1: fact that in Maine of Vermont, you know, presidents are 475 00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:17,800 Speaker 1: able to vote, and throughout this country in Georgia and Texas, 476 00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:20,800 Speaker 1: uh that people are able to vote after they've served 477 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:24,640 Speaker 1: their time. Because I lived in Florida, I wasn't even 478 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:27,600 Speaker 1: allowed to vote for my own wife. What were the 479 00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:32,439 Speaker 1: rules that were in place that we're disenfranchising all these people? Well, 480 00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:36,640 Speaker 1: let me tell you, um, prior to Amendment, for anyone 481 00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:40,840 Speaker 1: convicted of any felony offense lost the right to vote 482 00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:45,480 Speaker 1: for life, lost all of their civil rights. Now, let 483 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:48,359 Speaker 1: me tell you in Florida, that means that if you're 484 00:35:48,440 --> 00:35:51,160 Speaker 1: driving with a suspended license, you can lose the right 485 00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:53,960 Speaker 1: to vote for life. If you burn a tire in public, 486 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:56,680 Speaker 1: if you go lobster hunt and you catch a lobster 487 00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:59,440 Speaker 1: which tell is too short, you can lose the right 488 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:02,280 Speaker 1: to vote for life. If you're walking on the beach, 489 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:07,279 Speaker 1: you know know, admiring the sunset, and you disturbed turtle nesting eggs, 490 00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:09,799 Speaker 1: you would lose the right to vote for life. If 491 00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:14,120 Speaker 1: you're like this gentleman in Broward County on Valentine's Day, 492 00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:17,640 Speaker 1: rather who, rather than giving his wife a dozen roses, 493 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:22,000 Speaker 1: released twelve red balloons in the air. You could lose 494 00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:25,640 Speaker 1: the right to vote for the rest of your life, 495 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:29,479 Speaker 1: and the only chance that you would get those rights 496 00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:34,800 Speaker 1: back were if you were lucky enough to appear before 497 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:39,279 Speaker 1: the governor and beg him for clemency. Right, bravo, let 498 00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:43,000 Speaker 1: their feet and understanding that their decision about whether or 499 00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:46,000 Speaker 1: not to let you be able to vote again is 500 00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:49,719 Speaker 1: a purely arbitrary decision. You know, let me let me 501 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:53,399 Speaker 1: give you some numbers. You know, the current policy that 502 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:57,480 Speaker 1: we were under before Amendment four require the person to 503 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:03,160 Speaker 1: wait either five or seven years after they have completed 504 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:07,160 Speaker 1: their sentence before they're able to just apply to have 505 00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:11,240 Speaker 1: their civil rights restored. And then once they apply, we've 506 00:37:11,239 --> 00:37:15,160 Speaker 1: seen waiting times between eight to ten years, and so 507 00:37:15,320 --> 00:37:20,440 Speaker 1: you're seeing a person waiting upwards of eighteen years after 508 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:24,399 Speaker 1: they have applied to have their righteous stored, and when 509 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:28,080 Speaker 1: they walk into the climacy hearing, they stand less than 510 00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:31,040 Speaker 1: point zero zero one percent of a chance of getting 511 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:33,600 Speaker 1: their righteous story. And you know what, this is no 512 00:37:33,680 --> 00:37:38,719 Speaker 1: longer theoretical right because I myself just went through this 513 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:43,840 Speaker 1: process right to where over nineteen years. Not only have 514 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:47,840 Speaker 1: I remained crime free, but I have dedicated my life 515 00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:50,960 Speaker 1: to give it back to my community, so much so 516 00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:54,799 Speaker 1: that I've been named Central Floridian of the Year, Floridian 517 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:58,800 Speaker 1: of the Year, and even Time magazine one hundred most 518 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:02,960 Speaker 1: influential person in the world. And I appear before the 519 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:07,760 Speaker 1: Clinacy Board and they can't even make a decision on that. 520 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:11,960 Speaker 1: And so that is the type of process that have 521 00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:15,719 Speaker 1: been in place prior to him and been four and 522 00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:19,719 Speaker 1: so you know, we knew that, you know, at the 523 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:21,960 Speaker 1: end of the day, that was too much power for 524 00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:26,040 Speaker 1: four politicians to hold to decide which American citizens get 525 00:38:26,040 --> 00:38:28,920 Speaker 1: the vote and which don't. Right, no matter what their 526 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:32,680 Speaker 1: political party is, whether it's Democrats, Republicans, or whatever. No 527 00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:37,319 Speaker 1: politicians to have that absolute hour like that, because that 528 00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:43,080 Speaker 1: leads room for partisan politics to impact those decisions, right, 529 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:47,399 Speaker 1: especially when their arbitrary decisions. And so that was one 530 00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:52,400 Speaker 1: of the flashpoints that made me believe that we had 531 00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:55,680 Speaker 1: to take that power out of the hands of politicians 532 00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:57,879 Speaker 1: and put it in the hands of the people. That's 533 00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:01,200 Speaker 1: exactly what we did. I wanted to ask you, you're 534 00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:06,600 Speaker 1: talking about felony convictions, but putting twelve balloons into the 535 00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:10,799 Speaker 1: air instead of giving someone twelve roses. That's a felony. 536 00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:13,640 Speaker 1: That's a third degree felony in the state of Florida. 537 00:39:15,239 --> 00:39:17,600 Speaker 1: And a quick Google search you will find the story 538 00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:20,279 Speaker 1: he released the twelve balloons in the air and the 539 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:23,600 Speaker 1: and the law enforcement officer seeing them and promptly arrested. 540 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:27,640 Speaker 1: So when we hear I think, when the average person 541 00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:31,880 Speaker 1: here's felony Desmond, they think a serious crime. And you know, 542 00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:35,240 Speaker 1: let me tell you something and that and that, uh Katie, 543 00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:37,600 Speaker 1: let me tell you that is part of my mission 544 00:39:38,239 --> 00:39:43,799 Speaker 1: is to really expose how politicians can use rhetoric right 545 00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:47,400 Speaker 1: to divide our country right and and and they divided 546 00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:51,840 Speaker 1: through through hayden and and fear and create these narratives 547 00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:56,160 Speaker 1: that make people think about something that actually doesn't exist. Right. 548 00:39:56,640 --> 00:40:00,000 Speaker 1: And so, for instance, when you talk about the felony convicts, 549 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:02,200 Speaker 1: and you're gonna think of the worst person in the world, 550 00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:04,680 Speaker 1: and you're more than likely going to think African American 551 00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:09,839 Speaker 1: because we're paraded more than anyone else. But here's some realities. 552 00:40:10,320 --> 00:40:13,760 Speaker 1: Even though Florida convicts about a hundred and seventy thousand 553 00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:17,520 Speaker 1: people a year, less than of them or even sentence 554 00:40:17,600 --> 00:40:22,680 Speaker 1: to prison. And then even of the overwhelming number of 555 00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:28,120 Speaker 1: that small group are there for less serious offenses. When 556 00:40:28,120 --> 00:40:31,560 Speaker 1: we looked at the entire population of people who have 557 00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:35,520 Speaker 1: been convicted and incarcerated, what we found was that people 558 00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:39,040 Speaker 1: convicted of murder and all kinds of felony sexual offenses 559 00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:42,800 Speaker 1: only made up you ready for this, less than three 560 00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:46,160 Speaker 1: percent of the total amount of people right who have 561 00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:50,920 Speaker 1: been impacted. Right. And so we we we know that, 562 00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:55,560 Speaker 1: you know that we have this challenge of fighting back 563 00:40:55,640 --> 00:40:58,920 Speaker 1: against a narrative that's been created not by the people 564 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:02,920 Speaker 1: but by politicis that seek to divide this country, because 565 00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:05,560 Speaker 1: as long as this country is divided, they can't be 566 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:09,840 Speaker 1: held accountable. Right. And so though we fight back at 567 00:41:09,880 --> 00:41:13,880 Speaker 1: that at every turn, every opportunity that we have to 568 00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:17,200 Speaker 1: really set the story straight, at the end of the day, 569 00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:20,440 Speaker 1: at the end of the day, it is in society's 570 00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:24,520 Speaker 1: best interests that don't matter what a person does, right, 571 00:41:24,760 --> 00:41:28,439 Speaker 1: if they're convicted, if their sentenced, they paid their debt, 572 00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:32,240 Speaker 1: and they're they're released back into our community or already 573 00:41:32,239 --> 00:41:36,200 Speaker 1: in our community, it's in everyone's interests for them to 574 00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:40,840 Speaker 1: be able to successfully reintegrate it is in everyone's interests 575 00:41:41,120 --> 00:41:45,600 Speaker 1: for all of our citizens to participate in election because 576 00:41:45,600 --> 00:41:49,400 Speaker 1: the more people that vote, the more vibrant our democracy becomes. 577 00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:53,640 Speaker 1: And that's good for everybody. Tell us about Florida Amendment 578 00:41:53,840 --> 00:42:00,480 Speaker 1: for because you designed it. Yeah, Yeah. Amendment for was 579 00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:06,479 Speaker 1: um basically to create a pathway. And and I tell 580 00:42:06,520 --> 00:42:10,680 Speaker 1: people today that in spite of whatever subsequent legislation may 581 00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:13,600 Speaker 1: have emerged, the one thing that we know is that 582 00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:17,360 Speaker 1: we've already won. We won when we pass Amendment for because, 583 00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:24,400 Speaker 1: now enshrined in our states Constitution, is an alternate pathway 584 00:42:24,440 --> 00:42:28,960 Speaker 1: to be able to participate in our democracy without having 585 00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:35,520 Speaker 1: to beg any politicians. It restores voting rights two individuals 586 00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:38,680 Speaker 1: who have been convicted of a felony offense who have 587 00:42:38,760 --> 00:42:42,239 Speaker 1: completed their sentence, as long as they have not been 588 00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:45,560 Speaker 1: convicted of murder or they have not been convicted of 589 00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:50,040 Speaker 1: felony sexual offenses. If those individuals have been convicted of 590 00:42:50,080 --> 00:42:53,719 Speaker 1: those crimes, there are still a pathway to be able 591 00:42:53,800 --> 00:42:56,120 Speaker 1: to vote again, but they would have to go through 592 00:42:56,160 --> 00:43:01,240 Speaker 1: the clinacy process. But everyone else, once they completed their senates, 593 00:43:01,719 --> 00:43:04,919 Speaker 1: they have the right to vote. We had over five 594 00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:07,200 Speaker 1: for one million people that voted yes for amendment. For 595 00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:09,920 Speaker 1: we had a million more people that voted for us 596 00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:12,520 Speaker 1: than any candidate that was running for governor, which shows 597 00:43:12,560 --> 00:43:15,719 Speaker 1: the broad base of support that we had. And we 598 00:43:15,800 --> 00:43:18,960 Speaker 1: showed the world. We showed the state of Florida that 599 00:43:19,160 --> 00:43:22,239 Speaker 1: love can, in fact, when the day that we can 600 00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:25,960 Speaker 1: bring people together, that we don't have to tear each 601 00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:28,800 Speaker 1: other down, that we could come together along the lines 602 00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:32,600 Speaker 1: of humanity, in spite of our political differences, in spite 603 00:43:32,600 --> 00:43:36,480 Speaker 1: of our racial anxieties, that we can bring people together 604 00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:44,320 Speaker 1: and move major issues that benefit society. But love didn't last, apparently, Desmond, 605 00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:47,640 Speaker 1: because after this was passed in two thousand and eighteen, 606 00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:54,000 Speaker 1: things got complicated. The Republican legislature passed a law s 607 00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:58,840 Speaker 1: B seven oh six six, basically clarifying the amendment and 608 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:01,759 Speaker 1: saying in order to register to vote, felons had to 609 00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:05,960 Speaker 1: pay their financial penalties. Out of the nearly one point 610 00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:09,800 Speaker 1: five million felons who regained the right to vote, seven 611 00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:13,720 Speaker 1: hundred and seventy four thousand lost the right because of debt. 612 00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:16,920 Speaker 1: I won't say, Katy, I wouldn't say that they lost 613 00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:20,560 Speaker 1: the right. I said that they were delayed access to 614 00:44:20,600 --> 00:44:23,640 Speaker 1: the right that was conferred upon them, you know, and 615 00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:26,400 Speaker 1: then the other piece of that. Okay, yes, seven hundred 616 00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:30,040 Speaker 1: and seventy four thousand individuals have some type of legal 617 00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:33,600 Speaker 1: financial obligation that they have to satisfy before being able 618 00:44:33,640 --> 00:44:37,239 Speaker 1: to register the vote. But what that also says is 619 00:44:37,280 --> 00:44:41,040 Speaker 1: that there are five to six hundred thousand returning citizens 620 00:44:41,120 --> 00:44:43,680 Speaker 1: that don't have that barrier in front of them, that 621 00:44:43,760 --> 00:44:47,680 Speaker 1: they can also right now today register to vote and 622 00:44:47,719 --> 00:44:51,799 Speaker 1: be a part of our democracy. What my ancestors had 623 00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:55,120 Speaker 1: to fight through the lynchings and the and the dogs 624 00:44:55,160 --> 00:45:00,279 Speaker 1: and the fire hoses for that. This franchise is old, 625 00:45:00,360 --> 00:45:04,160 Speaker 1: dog going important that it needs to be accessible to 626 00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:07,319 Speaker 1: everyone because the one time, you know, when I walk 627 00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:10,359 Speaker 1: in that voting move, Katie, I have just as much 628 00:45:10,400 --> 00:45:13,880 Speaker 1: power as Jeff Bezos. I have just as much power 629 00:45:13,920 --> 00:45:17,920 Speaker 1: as Bill Gates. That is the one equalizing force in 630 00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:20,919 Speaker 1: this country is that voting booth. And it should not 631 00:45:21,360 --> 00:45:25,520 Speaker 1: be barricaded. It shouldn't We should not be prevented from 632 00:45:25,560 --> 00:45:28,759 Speaker 1: being able to experience that just because we're too poor. 633 00:45:29,640 --> 00:45:33,360 Speaker 1: Who will be able to vote in Florida on November three, 634 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:37,040 Speaker 1: Oh my god, on November three, They're gonna be like 635 00:45:37,239 --> 00:45:44,120 Speaker 1: returning citizens who have satisfied their legal obligations or have 636 00:45:44,280 --> 00:45:47,880 Speaker 1: had others satisfied their legal obligations for them, and have 637 00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:50,839 Speaker 1: registered to vote. We're gonna be able to show up 638 00:45:51,200 --> 00:45:54,879 Speaker 1: and participate in election. And you know what, Katie, They're 639 00:45:54,920 --> 00:45:58,600 Speaker 1: not coming by themselves. They're bringing their family, they're bringing 640 00:45:58,640 --> 00:46:02,440 Speaker 1: their friends, they're bringing their immunity to celebrate the expansion 641 00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:05,080 Speaker 1: of democracy. And I know on November three that they're 642 00:46:05,120 --> 00:46:07,920 Speaker 1: going to be people that's gonna be walking into that 643 00:46:08,040 --> 00:46:12,520 Speaker 1: voting booth with their shoulders thrown back in their chests, 644 00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:15,719 Speaker 1: out right knowing that they are now finally a part 645 00:46:15,760 --> 00:46:18,680 Speaker 1: of this democracy. And there's gonna be some tears. I 646 00:46:18,719 --> 00:46:21,560 Speaker 1: know they are. I know I'm gonna be crying right 647 00:46:21,719 --> 00:46:25,319 Speaker 1: knowing that that we exist and that I've voiced the matter. 648 00:46:25,360 --> 00:46:28,120 Speaker 1: And they're people that's waiting. There are people that's literally 649 00:46:28,640 --> 00:46:32,239 Speaker 1: dying to get to that point right there. And so 650 00:46:32,320 --> 00:46:40,000 Speaker 1: I can't wait to see what happened. While Desmond Mead 651 00:46:40,120 --> 00:46:43,360 Speaker 1: continues to fight on behalf of return citizens in court, 652 00:46:43,960 --> 00:46:48,759 Speaker 1: others are fighting on the ground or over zoom. Good morning, everyone. 653 00:46:49,640 --> 00:46:51,879 Speaker 1: My name is and if Scott. I'm from the League 654 00:46:51,880 --> 00:46:55,000 Speaker 1: of women voters. And what I do with three entry 655 00:46:55,040 --> 00:47:00,760 Speaker 1: programs is I give voter education, registration and thatte Scott 656 00:47:00,960 --> 00:47:05,440 Speaker 1: volunteers to help return citizens understand their rights. There's a 657 00:47:05,480 --> 00:47:09,320 Speaker 1: lot of misinformation out there what people with criminal records 658 00:47:09,360 --> 00:47:13,480 Speaker 1: can and can't do very state by state. But luckily, 659 00:47:13,719 --> 00:47:17,280 Speaker 1: and that's a history buff who love sharing her research, 660 00:47:17,600 --> 00:47:20,920 Speaker 1: most people in New Jersey do not know. The law 661 00:47:21,360 --> 00:47:27,719 Speaker 1: that prevents people who are incarcerated and previously on albervation 662 00:47:28,080 --> 00:47:31,640 Speaker 1: has been in effect since eighteen forty four. The half 663 00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:34,440 Speaker 1: a dozen people who have joined this call have been 664 00:47:34,480 --> 00:47:38,200 Speaker 1: recently released from prison and are on parole or probation. 665 00:47:38,880 --> 00:47:40,879 Speaker 1: The fact that they now have the right to vote 666 00:47:40,880 --> 00:47:44,000 Speaker 1: in New Jersey is a new law that went into 667 00:47:44,080 --> 00:47:48,680 Speaker 1: effect just this past March. And when anyone who is incorpirated, 668 00:47:48,800 --> 00:47:52,879 Speaker 1: as soon as they leave, they can register immediately too. 669 00:47:53,440 --> 00:47:56,160 Speaker 1: Now what a lot of people do is they asked me, 670 00:47:57,200 --> 00:48:02,960 Speaker 1: is well, I committed two, three, four whatever felonies, so 671 00:48:03,000 --> 00:48:05,680 Speaker 1: I can't vote in New Jersey. And that's not true. 672 00:48:05,960 --> 00:48:10,240 Speaker 1: Once you're release from any correctional facility, you can register 673 00:48:10,320 --> 00:48:12,879 Speaker 1: to vote. There's a lot that a NETTE has to cover, 674 00:48:13,239 --> 00:48:19,080 Speaker 1: like key voting deadlines to receive your application is October thirteenth. 675 00:48:19,200 --> 00:48:21,920 Speaker 1: How to fill out the registration forms and how to 676 00:48:22,040 --> 00:48:25,239 Speaker 1: send them in. If you do it online, you're okay. 677 00:48:25,400 --> 00:48:27,759 Speaker 1: If you don't, just post it on it and you 678 00:48:27,880 --> 00:48:30,960 Speaker 1: print your own form and she does it one voter 679 00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:34,840 Speaker 1: at a time. Does anyone have any questions for me? 680 00:48:36,360 --> 00:48:40,440 Speaker 1: What is the name of the website to register? Okay? 681 00:48:40,800 --> 00:48:44,120 Speaker 1: What you can do? Use your local one, which is 682 00:48:44,560 --> 00:48:48,920 Speaker 1: um Middlesex County dot James. She loves her work, but 683 00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:51,799 Speaker 1: says the hardest part is hearing why people think the 684 00:48:51,880 --> 00:48:56,640 Speaker 1: voting isn't important. I think it's a waste of time. 685 00:48:57,480 --> 00:49:00,840 Speaker 1: I don't want, I don't vote, I never have voted. 686 00:49:01,920 --> 00:49:07,080 Speaker 1: It doesn't count. It means nothing. Okay, Now, if they 687 00:49:07,160 --> 00:49:12,960 Speaker 1: saw me, I would be read as a beat tomato 688 00:49:13,400 --> 00:49:17,319 Speaker 1: and anything else you could say. Because I get so 689 00:49:17,560 --> 00:49:21,839 Speaker 1: upset when the citizen does this, because they don't know 690 00:49:22,000 --> 00:49:24,880 Speaker 1: the history. So then what I do is I go 691 00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:30,360 Speaker 1: back and tell them. When I was a young child 692 00:49:30,400 --> 00:49:35,840 Speaker 1: growing up, every night on the news, I watched people 693 00:49:36,120 --> 00:49:41,640 Speaker 1: trying to register, not vote. Register. They were had dogs 694 00:49:41,640 --> 00:49:46,200 Speaker 1: set upon them, the police beat them with batons, they 695 00:49:46,239 --> 00:49:50,879 Speaker 1: were fire holes and the most horrible, horrible thing. Of all, 696 00:49:51,600 --> 00:49:56,520 Speaker 1: they were killed, so nothing else. I vote in their honor, 697 00:49:58,400 --> 00:50:01,879 Speaker 1: and some will say to me, oh, oh I never 698 00:50:01,960 --> 00:50:07,479 Speaker 1: knew that. Oh okay, our register and there's a few 699 00:50:07,560 --> 00:50:10,399 Speaker 1: that will say, yeah, okay, well that was then, But 700 00:50:10,719 --> 00:50:13,919 Speaker 1: I still don't see no use in it. And then 701 00:50:13,960 --> 00:50:21,320 Speaker 1: I have to tell myself and that you can't convince everyone. 702 00:50:21,560 --> 00:50:25,399 Speaker 1: If you convince eight or nine out of ten, you're 703 00:50:25,400 --> 00:50:32,319 Speaker 1: doing good. The tent leave and maybe another day. But 704 00:50:32,440 --> 00:50:39,000 Speaker 1: in that Scott refuses to quit. Well, I'm hoping all 705 00:50:39,040 --> 00:50:42,360 Speaker 1: of you will register, and more than anything, I'm hoping 706 00:50:42,400 --> 00:50:45,680 Speaker 1: you will vote this year. Whoever it's for, it doesn't matter, 707 00:50:46,080 --> 00:50:50,560 Speaker 1: but please exercise your right to vote. I thank all 708 00:50:50,600 --> 00:50:53,960 Speaker 1: of you. I wish you the very best, and if 709 00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:57,640 Speaker 1: you have any questions and anything else that I can 710 00:50:57,680 --> 00:51:02,440 Speaker 1: help you with registration. I started will next week on Turnout. 711 00:51:03,120 --> 00:51:05,680 Speaker 1: You've taken the challenge and you've chosen to be a 712 00:51:05,880 --> 00:51:10,360 Speaker 1: disinformation fighter. Put on your cape Democracy Heroes, it's time 713 00:51:10,400 --> 00:51:14,040 Speaker 1: for your training. You are a newly deputized troll buster. 714 00:51:14,360 --> 00:51:16,960 Speaker 1: We're so glad to have you on our team. Voter 715 00:51:17,120 --> 00:51:20,640 Speaker 1: suppression looks a little different these days, and our viral 716 00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:25,799 Speaker 1: virtual world. How to combat the spread of disinformation. That's 717 00:51:25,880 --> 00:51:31,640 Speaker 1: next week on Turnout. Hey, listeners, before we go, I 718 00:51:31,719 --> 00:51:34,319 Speaker 1: just want to remind you that though we're getting down 719 00:51:34,360 --> 00:51:36,960 Speaker 1: to the wire, there is still time in some states 720 00:51:37,200 --> 00:51:39,960 Speaker 1: to check your registration to make sure you can vote 721 00:51:40,200 --> 00:51:44,240 Speaker 1: in this very important election. To make that process easier, 722 00:51:44,520 --> 00:51:48,640 Speaker 1: I've partnered with the social justice organization Do Something. Find 723 00:51:48,719 --> 00:51:51,760 Speaker 1: out how to check your registration or registered to vote 724 00:51:52,000 --> 00:51:56,560 Speaker 1: by texting Katie to three A three eight three. You 725 00:51:56,600 --> 00:51:59,200 Speaker 1: can also go to vote dot org to find out 726 00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:02,160 Speaker 1: where and how to vote in your state, and of course, 727 00:52:02,200 --> 00:52:05,360 Speaker 1: subscribe to my morning newsletter wake Up Call for the 728 00:52:05,440 --> 00:52:09,759 Speaker 1: latest election information. Turnout is a production of I Heart 729 00:52:09,800 --> 00:52:13,720 Speaker 1: Media and Katie Currek Media. The executive producers are Katie 730 00:52:13,760 --> 00:52:18,920 Speaker 1: Curic and Courtney Litz, Supervising producers Lauren Hansen. Associate producers 731 00:52:19,080 --> 00:52:23,760 Speaker 1: Derek Clements, Eliza Costas and Emily Pento. Editing by Derrick 732 00:52:23,800 --> 00:52:28,440 Speaker 1: Clements and Lauren Hansen, Mixing by Derrick Clements. Our researcher 733 00:52:28,800 --> 00:52:32,319 Speaker 1: is Gabriel Loser and special thanks to my right hand 734 00:52:32,360 --> 00:52:35,880 Speaker 1: woman Adriana Fasio. You can follow me in all my 735 00:52:36,000 --> 00:52:41,400 Speaker 1: election coverage at Katie Currek. Meanwhile, Yes, I'm Katie Currect. 736 00:52:41,480 --> 00:52:44,640 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening everyone. We'll see you next time. 737 00:52:46,360 --> 00:52:48,640 Speaker 1: Kenney Jansen here, three time all star in WILF series 738 00:52:48,719 --> 00:53:03,000 Speaker 1: Champ Hope Yay in California. You always had the feeling 739 00:53:03,040 --> 00:53:06,640 Speaker 1: that there's something strange about reality. According to the Stuff 740 00:53:06,680 --> 00:53:09,440 Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind podcast, there is. On the show, 741 00:53:09,560 --> 00:53:14,880 Speaker 1: post Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick examine neurological quandaries, cosmic mysteries, 742 00:53:14,960 --> 00:53:19,120 Speaker 1: evolutionary marvels, and much more. Prosthetics are true testaments to 743 00:53:19,200 --> 00:53:21,920 Speaker 1: not only human craftsmanship and ingenuity, but also to the 744 00:53:21,960 --> 00:53:24,600 Speaker 1: plasticity of the human brain. Listen to Stuff to Blow 745 00:53:24,640 --> 00:53:26,680 Speaker 1: Your Mind on the I Heart Radio, Apple wherever you 746 00:53:26,719 --> 00:53:28,600 Speaker 1: get your podcast brought to you by doc dot Go. 747 00:53:28,760 --> 00:53:32,520 Speaker 1: Protect your privacy online for free with dot dot go. Hey, 748 00:53:32,560 --> 00:53:35,759 Speaker 1: it's Bobby Bones from the Bobby Cast. We are Nashville's 749 00:53:35,800 --> 00:53:38,880 Speaker 1: most listen to music podcast. In depth interviews with your 750 00:53:38,880 --> 00:53:42,680 Speaker 1: favorite country artists plus the biggest songwriters and producers in Nashville, 751 00:53:43,000 --> 00:53:44,840 Speaker 1: all from the comfort of my own home, so it 752 00:53:44,840 --> 00:53:47,839 Speaker 1: gets a little more laid back. They're sharing stories behind 753 00:53:47,880 --> 00:53:50,600 Speaker 1: the biggest songs and country music and personal stories that 754 00:53:50,640 --> 00:53:52,879 Speaker 1: you will not hear anywhere else. So, if you love 755 00:53:52,880 --> 00:53:56,320 Speaker 1: country music, I think you will love this podcast. Listen 756 00:53:56,360 --> 00:53:59,799 Speaker 1: to the Bobby Cast on I Heart Radio, Apple Podcasts, 757 00:54:00,040 --> 00:54:01,320 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to podcasts.