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Speaker 1: Good morning, peeps, and welcome to book af Daily with

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Speaker 1: Meet your Girl Daniel Moody recording from the Home Bunker. Folks,

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Speaker 1: you know, what we have come to realize with each

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Speaker 1: and every passing day is that elections do, in fact

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Speaker 1: have consequences, and elections are important not just for our

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Speaker 1: day to day but for the health and well being

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Speaker 1: and preservation of our democracy, which is crumbling with each

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Speaker 1: and every passing day. Case in point, let's look at

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Speaker 1: what the absolute fuck was happening in the Senate Help

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Speaker 1: Committee this week. My god, I swear to you folks.

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Speaker 1: You know, when I come back out into the world

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Speaker 1: to engage in the new after taking some much needed

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Speaker 1: time to celebrate my birthday, recenter and ground, it's like

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Speaker 1: I just want to go back, build a tiny home

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Speaker 1: in the woods and be done with this place. Honestly

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Speaker 1: so GOP Senator Mark Wayne Mullen, which also Mark Wayne

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Speaker 1: give me a break anyway, he decided in the midst

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Speaker 1: of the Senate Help Committee where they were discussing labor

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Speaker 1: unions and the Teamster's President Sean O'Brien was there to

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Speaker 1: testify before the committee. Mark Wayne Mullen must have had

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Speaker 1: some type of flashback to high school, where he thought

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Speaker 1: that it was appropriate for a sitting senator to challenge

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Speaker 1: the teamster president to a fight. Yes, folks, let me

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Speaker 1: just say that again, that a sitting United States Senator

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Speaker 1: thought that it was appropriate for him to challenge someone

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Speaker 1: who sent a mean tweet about him to a fight.

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Speaker 1: I want to express that this man, Senator Mullen, is

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Speaker 1: not even the least bit embarrassed. He goes on Fox

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Speaker 1: News later that day, because of course, all of this

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Speaker 1: is a performance. All of this is the performance of

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Speaker 1: toxic masculinity for his toxic constituency that put this kind

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Speaker 1: of person in office to represent them. Then you look

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Speaker 1: around at these states that have these kind of representatives

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Speaker 1: and you look at where they are in education, You

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Speaker 1: look at where they are in jobs, You look at

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Speaker 1: where they are in health and wellness. You look at

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Speaker 1: all of these things, and you wonder why their demographics

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Speaker 1: look the way that they do. So Bernie Sanders tried

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Speaker 1: to get the committee hearing back on the rails after

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Speaker 1: Mullen throws it off the rails by saying, you're a

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Speaker 1: United States senator, But this motherfucker goes on Fox and

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Speaker 1: says that that is Oklahoma values to be an ignorant bully,

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Speaker 1: that's the values of that state. Like I just I

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Speaker 1: don't understand, folks, who the people are that vote and

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Speaker 1: send this kind of trash to Congress. I just, I honestly,

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Speaker 1: I genuinely don't understand it. I used to have such

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Speaker 1: esteem hold Congress, hold representatives, hold senators in such esteem.

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Speaker 1: I tell you all the time about working on Capitol Hill,

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Speaker 1: about the first time that I stepped foot on Capitol Hill,

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Speaker 1: and the pride and the history as you're walking through

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Speaker 1: those hallways, and this is the fucking sewer rats that

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Speaker 1: are there now. It's despicable and so unbecoming, but just

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Speaker 1: so on fucking brand for the disaster that America has

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Speaker 1: become because of Donald Trump. I'm telling you, I really

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Speaker 1: hope that people are heeding the warning that Hillary Clinton

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Speaker 1: offered on the View a week or so ago, where

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Speaker 1: she said, if Donald Trump is reelected, America is done.

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Speaker 1: She tried to warn us in twenty sixteen. But America

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Speaker 1: hates listening to women, right, particularly those that are smart

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Speaker 1: and powerful. So I pray to God that people are

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Speaker 1: paying attention and not just shrugging off the shit that

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Speaker 1: Donald Trump has been saying at his rallies and on

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Speaker 1: the campaign trail, where he's talking about the fact that

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Speaker 1: if he is re elected, he is going to what

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Speaker 1: detain the people who don't like him, right, yes, That

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Speaker 1: he is going to throw those people in jail, That

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Speaker 1: he's going to deport them, that he's going to build

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Speaker 1: tents for migrants, that he's going to persecute and indict

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Speaker 1: all the people that he doesn't like. That he's going

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Speaker 1: to gut to the Department of Justice. He's saying all

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Speaker 1: of these things, taking all of these authoritarian actions. And

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Speaker 1: just in case you think that this is all a joke,

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Speaker 1: I want you to understand that there is a billion

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Speaker 1: dollars that has been invested in the Heritage Foundation. You

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Speaker 1: can go look it up Heritagefoundation dot org and see

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Speaker 1: their twenty twenty five plan where they have already in

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Speaker 1: place all of the people that they're going to fill

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Speaker 1: up our departments with so that they can dismantle them

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Speaker 1: from the inside out. That in the first one hundred

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Speaker 1: days of a Trump administration, we are done. Democracy is finished,

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Speaker 1: and the Constitution is toilet paper. He is saying all

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Speaker 1: of these things out loud and just a reminder. This

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Speaker 1: week in The New York Times, Jamel Bowie wrote a

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Speaker 1: piece where he says very clearly that everything that Donald

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Speaker 1: Trump said that he was going to do when he

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Speaker 1: was elected in twenty sixteen, he did. So when people

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Speaker 1: tell you who they are, fucking, believe them the first time.

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Speaker 1: We do not need a repeat because again, this will

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Speaker 1: be the last time Donald Trump gets in. He's not leaving.

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Speaker 1: And just so, like we learned from testimony from Jenna Ellis,

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Speaker 1: he had no plans to leave the last time. So

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Speaker 1: folks understand that elections, dear friends, have consequences. You don't

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Speaker 1: get multiple bites at the apple. Coming up next on

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Speaker 1: the show today is the executive director of the Power

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Speaker 1: Coalition for Equity and Justice, Ashley Shelton, who will talk

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Speaker 1: about what is happening in Louisiana politics, why we should

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Speaker 1: be paying attention, and why it matters that we invest

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Speaker 1: in the Democratic Party not just in the areas that

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Speaker 1: are blue, but that we build a pipeline in the

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Speaker 1: areas that are red as well. Folks, I am very

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Speaker 1: excited to welcome to wok F Daily Ashley Shelton, who

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Speaker 1: is the executive director of Power Coalition for equity and

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Speaker 1: justice and has been mobilizing black communities across Louisiana parishes

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Speaker 1: for years. You know, let's just jump right in Ashley.

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Speaker 1: Before we started recording, I was telling you that I

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Speaker 1: have visited now your state twice this fall after having

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Speaker 1: never visited, and you know, as a person from the

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Speaker 1: East Coast, I think that there are a lot of

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Speaker 1: generalizations that are made about the South, right, like that

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Speaker 1: when folks see right wing governors and mayors elected, they say, well,

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Speaker 1: the people get what they vote for, right, And there

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Speaker 1: is this natural blame game that happens largely put on

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Speaker 1: the shoulders in the backs of black people, right, they

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Speaker 1: should have showed up, put on young people. We can't

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Speaker 1: count on their vote. So tell us what it is

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Speaker 1: that you think that folks get wrong when they're making

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Speaker 1: those blanket assertions.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, you know, there's so many things that

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Speaker 2: are wrong about those you know, those you know, those

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Speaker 2: thoughts and the way that people kind of try to

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Speaker 2: unpack it and figure out who's that fault. I mean,

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Speaker 2: the reality is is that we had, you know, one

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Speaker 2: of the lowest voter turnout rates for this state in

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Speaker 2: a very long time, and it was black and white voters.

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Speaker 2: Black folks make a third of the state, you know,

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Speaker 2: but there were plenty of folks that stayed home across

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Speaker 2: the board. And I think one, you know, black voters,

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Speaker 2: you know, like we also want to don't want to

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Speaker 2: talk about poverty and the power of power already, you know,

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Speaker 2: because folks are like, well, what happened, I was like

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Speaker 2: racism and crushing poverty, you know, apathy led by crushing poverty,

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Speaker 2: and we have to be real about like what that

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Speaker 2: looks like. In some southern states, especially as Louisiana and Mississippi,

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Speaker 2: you know, are on a consistent race to the bottom,

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Speaker 2: and we're the second poorest state in the country. And

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Speaker 2: so when you start and so it doesn't it doesn't,

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Speaker 2: you know, make it okay that folks didn't turn out.

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Speaker 3: But what I do think is important.

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Speaker 2: Is that what it does say that is that people

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Speaker 2: are experiencing a lot of pain in their lives. And

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Speaker 2: even though we have had so many successes with voters

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Speaker 2: in the state of Louisiana, you know, working with our

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Speaker 2: partner Voice of the Experience, we have ended nine unanimous

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Speaker 2: juries with the sixty four percent vote of voters across

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Speaker 2: the state and in this practice that only Louisiana and

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Speaker 2: Oregon had had in place. We have reinfranchised, formally incarcerated people,

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Speaker 2: you know, like we have expanded voting rights for the

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Speaker 2: last five years. You know, like all of these things

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Speaker 2: that are uncommon in the South. We've been able to

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Speaker 2: have the wins. But even in the face of those winds,

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Speaker 2: I think that, you know, they're incremental right for the

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Speaker 2: people that are living in a poor state, trying to

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Speaker 2: access jobs, outcomes, you know, and better you know, better salaries,

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Speaker 2: and the reality is that the jobs just are not there.

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Speaker 2: And the reality is that their experience again, it's just

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Speaker 2: a lot of pain, and so you can't look past

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Speaker 2: that and just say, oh, it's their fault. Well, the

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Speaker 2: reality is that, you know, again, people are going through

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Speaker 2: a lot, and I don't you know, I don't believe

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Speaker 2: in shaming voters and blaming them, you know. I think

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Speaker 2: at the end of the day, it's like we've got

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Speaker 2: to go continue to do the work we've been doing,

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Speaker 2: which is listening, Like we've got to go back into

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Speaker 2: community and do that deep listening so that we understand

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Speaker 2: where people where people are. Because I think that again,

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Speaker 2: I know, you know, because I haven't done this job

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Speaker 2: since twenty fifteen, and very proudly have worked with voters

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Speaker 2: in black voters in particular across this state, and we

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Speaker 2: have done some really powerful things, including about to realize

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Speaker 2: the second minority majority congressional seat and so and of

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Speaker 2: course lots of folks have called in a question, well,

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Speaker 2: if you can't turn people out for governor's race, how

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Speaker 2: are you going to do it for these congressional seats?

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Speaker 2: And you know, I think at the end of the day,

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Speaker 2: powers power the people. The voters, Black voters in this

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Speaker 2: state fought for that seat, and they're going.

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Speaker 3: To show up for this scene.

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Speaker 2: And so I think, you know, like I think it's

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Speaker 2: about all the journey and the process that people go through.

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Speaker 2: And I think that we've got work to do. I mean,

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Speaker 2: that's the bottom line. We've got to do some more listening.

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Speaker 2: We've got to you know, do like our friends in Georgia,

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Speaker 2: start to really understand, like what what is going to

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Speaker 2: get someone to come out of the out of their

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Speaker 2: house and go vote on election day?

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Speaker 1: And that's what I was going to say, is that

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Speaker 1: you know, what we've seen over the past couple of cycles, right,

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Speaker 1: is that in you know, Georgia. We've seen that Georgia

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Speaker 1: did not turn blue overnight, right, that there has been

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Speaker 1: a lot of elbow grease and work over decades to

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Speaker 1: get Georgia to where it has been a lynch pin

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Speaker 1: in holding on to the Senate right for Democrats, where

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Speaker 1: it has been a place that we have seen, well,

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Speaker 1: wait a minute, why haven't we been investing in these places?

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Speaker 1: Why hasn't the National Democratic Party been investing in these

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Speaker 1: places that you've just allowed the Republican Party to run

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Speaker 1: rough shot in? And so when you talk about the

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Speaker 1: pains and the trauma, can you speak to when you

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Speaker 1: are listening to folks, what are they offering? Right that

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Speaker 1: the larger mechanism of party is essentially trying to blow

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Speaker 1: pass and just shuffle them into a voting booth.

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Speaker 2: I think that what they're what they're missing is is

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Speaker 2: that you know, when we're you know, the power collition

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Speaker 2: for equity and Justice is RC three. We do have

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Speaker 2: a C four power collition for electoral justice. But in

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Speaker 2: our C three work, and when we're doing that deep

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Speaker 2: listening in communities, you know, what they what we're hearing

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Speaker 2: is is that there's so much low hanging fruit that

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Speaker 2: nobody's addressing, right, whether it's fines and fees that keep

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Speaker 2: people in a never ending cycle of poverty and criminalisation,

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Speaker 2: or addressing the you know, you know, the zero to

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Speaker 2: three childcare you know, pipeline and access to seats and

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Speaker 2: making things accessible to the focus in community so that

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Speaker 2: they can attain better jobs and actually have safe, you know,

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Speaker 2: thoughtful you know child ed, you know, curriculum based education

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Speaker 2: for their children. You know, like, these are all of

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Speaker 2: the things that we don't want to talk about, but

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Speaker 2: these are the things that we have been winning and

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Speaker 2: bringing home on a consistent basis over the last several years.

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Speaker 2: And it has mattered to those voters in a way

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Speaker 2: that we have been able to consistently be able to

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Speaker 2: have a decent turnout. But they do think that there

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Speaker 2: are a couple of other you know things that you know,

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Speaker 2: the machine kind of collapsed around us. I mean, we

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Speaker 2: are a c three person organization, you know, focused on

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Speaker 2: black and brown voters in the state of Louisiana in

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Speaker 2: particular infrequent and so we're talking to the voters nobody's

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Speaker 2: talking to. And so if the campaigns aren't talking to voters,

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Speaker 2: if the party isn't talking to voters and the only

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Speaker 2: one of the few groups is Power Coalition, that all

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Speaker 2: of our partners are the only peopeople knocking doors, you know,

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Speaker 2: making phone calls, sending the text messages, doing events, in

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Speaker 2: trying to engage folks in early voting, regranting. You know,

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Speaker 2: we've regranted over half a million, and we'll do way

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Speaker 2: more than that before before November eighteenth. And so again,

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Speaker 2: if we're the only it just shows that we can't

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Speaker 2: do this by ourselves and we need more, you know,

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Speaker 2: like there has to be there was no energy for

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Speaker 2: this election. Yeah, I mean, nobody even knew anything was happening,

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Speaker 2: and that was intentional. And also too, like there's the

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Speaker 2: part the citizen in me is also really frustrated that, like,

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Speaker 2: you know, they didn't even spend any money, and they

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Speaker 2: did it on purpose, and not that I need them

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Speaker 2: to spend money, but like that money is a part

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Speaker 2: of how people know or what the.

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Speaker 3: Signs are that there's an election coming up.

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Speaker 2: There's a there's a drum beat to it, and that

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Speaker 2: drum beat just never you know, and you know, it

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Speaker 2: never came to be. And even when we put the

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Speaker 2: resources we've done radio, billboards, digital ads, streaming apps. I mean,

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Speaker 2: we've done all the things to trying to engage folks

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Speaker 2: as much as possible.

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Speaker 3: And what we know is.

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Speaker 2: Is that at the end of the day, like there

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Speaker 2: just wasn't enough momentum energy that we could create on

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Speaker 2: our own. And so, you know, I do think that

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Speaker 2: one of the things that we know is that when

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Speaker 2: we listen, people move right like, they get more engaged,

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Speaker 2: and that in a typical and one of the reasons

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Speaker 2: we've been able to be successful in the past is

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Speaker 2: that nobody's talking to black and brown voters. Nobody and

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Speaker 2: especially if you're an a frequent voter. And so we've

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Speaker 2: had those successes of changing infrequent voters to chronic voters

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Speaker 2: and being able to do this work in a way

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Speaker 2: that is really you know, made significant change in the South.

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Speaker 2: But I do feel like, you know, in Louisiana in particular,

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Speaker 2: like black and brown voters need a political home and

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Speaker 2: we've tried to be that political home because they're not

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Speaker 2: being served. It doesn't feel like they're being served in

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Speaker 2: any way in the traditional political infrastructure, and so how

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Speaker 2: are we making sure that their voices are heard? Like

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Speaker 2: why are we one of the most you know, one

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Speaker 2: of the richest places and natural resources, but the poorest

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Speaker 2: places and the whole you know, in the whole country,

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Speaker 2: the most incarcerated place in the whole country actually per

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Speaker 2: capita of the world, right Like, so all.

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Speaker 3: Of these things that don't make sense in the midst.

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Speaker 2: Of such a you know, such a rich state with

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Speaker 2: so many assets, and then constantly putting industry before people.

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Speaker 3: And so that's the work that has to happen, is.

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Speaker 2: That, you know, we have to keep bringing people forward,

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Speaker 2: you know, through a process of helping them to see like,

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Speaker 2: you know, because I think nobody talks about the fact

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Speaker 2: that things, you know, like things were better, but they

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Speaker 2: weren't better, and you know, like they hadn't gotten you know,

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Speaker 2: better enough for it to really matter to people in

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Speaker 2: the ways that they wanted. And then I think nobody

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Speaker 2: talks about the real ugly part of this, which is

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Speaker 2: that things can get worse. And I don't think we

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Speaker 2: ever talk about what worse looks like, and nor do

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Speaker 2: we want to dwell on that either, Right, Like, I

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Speaker 2: don't want to give it, you know, give it life,

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Speaker 2: but I do feel like that's also a part of

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Speaker 2: this conversation and also talking about leadership. I you know,

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Speaker 2: I've been frustrated. You know, I tell folks all the time,

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Speaker 2: we want leadership to be a positive value, and leadership

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Speaker 2: it can also be negative. It can also be there

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Speaker 2: to hold the status quo. And at some point we

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Speaker 2: have to look at how we got here and and

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Speaker 2: and that all the folks that are in unbelievable positions

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Speaker 2: to be able to get things done. I mean, this

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Speaker 2: is an off year. I don't understand how, you know,

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Speaker 2: when almost forty five other states to have absolutely going

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Speaker 2: nothing going on this year and it's you know, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia. Like,

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Speaker 2: I mean, it's a handful of us that have racism.

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Speaker 2: You need to tell me you can't raise money, you can't.

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Speaker 2: You know, that does That doesn't fly. That doesn't fly.

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Speaker 3: You know.

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Speaker 1: It's interesting. The other day, actually, I interviewed an investigative

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Speaker 1: reporter UH who was covering the Louisiana Fifth Circuit and

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Speaker 1: the disturbing case that came out of there about how

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Speaker 1: these judges who were elected decided for thirteen years to

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Speaker 1: ignore the pleas of people that said that they were

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Speaker 1: wrongfully convicted at the Central part of their job. And

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Speaker 1: what I realize is that when we see stories like this, right,

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Speaker 1: both people inside the state and outside the states say, well,

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Speaker 1: that's Louisiana. And I'm wondering how that narrative shifts if

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Speaker 1: it is something that is internalized by the people of

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Speaker 1: your state that are just like, well, they've never shown

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Speaker 1: up for us, right, they lock us up, they throw

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Speaker 1: away the key, right, never to be seen or heard

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Speaker 1: from again. They've destroyed families. There's a reason why Louisiana

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Speaker 1: is one of the poorest states, right, and it has

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Speaker 1: largely everything to do with racism and Jim Crow and

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Speaker 1: the way that land ownership has happened right or not

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Speaker 1: happened or has been stolen right over centuries. And so

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Speaker 1: I wonder about how important it is to not only

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Speaker 1: like to be able to tell the truth right, to

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Speaker 1: be able to shift the narrative that it isn't just

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Speaker 1: the lies of racism that says that there is something

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Speaker 1: that is wrong or deficient in black people, but there

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Speaker 1: is something that is wrong and deficient and white supremacy

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Speaker 1: that has fed a larger monster right that has taken

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Speaker 1: over your state.

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Speaker 2: No, absolutely, and I think that you know one of

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Speaker 2: the things that's also frustrating is that, you know, out

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Speaker 2: of the Deep South states, right Louisiana has been able

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Speaker 2: to do some really hard things that we're now starting

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Speaker 2: to see Mississippi addressing, you know, reenfranchisement. We're starting to

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Speaker 2: see the courts, you know, kind of helping us move

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Speaker 2: the needle on things. But I do think that what

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Speaker 2: was such a missed opportunity in this moment is that,

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Speaker 2: you know, there's no pipeline for leadership development. There is

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Speaker 2: no you know, like there are all these things that

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Speaker 2: you know that have to be reaped, that just have

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Speaker 2: to be built. And I think for Power Coalition, we're

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Speaker 2: going to we I can't live one more year where

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Speaker 2: two percent of every elected official goes unchallenged at the

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Speaker 2: state level because there's no one challenging them, right, Like,

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Speaker 2: I can't continue to live in a space where we're

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Speaker 2: not developing a bench and a field strategy, you know,

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Speaker 2: like and field that is that you can touch, see

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Speaker 2: and feel, that is really connected to folks and there's real,

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Speaker 2: you know, deep connective tissue. And again we've been building

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Speaker 2: that and we have so much of it, which is

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Speaker 2: why again we've been able to do really hard things

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Speaker 2: in Louisiana. But again, now we're looking at four years

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Speaker 2: of you know, a really difficult uh leadership style that

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Speaker 2: does not prioritize the needs of anybody, much less black people,

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Speaker 2: black and brown people.

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Speaker 3: And then, you know, and then also to no one

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Speaker 3: talking about the.

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Speaker 2: Economic realities of what this kind of leadership is going

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Speaker 2: to do to a state like Louisiana. You know, the

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Speaker 2: majority of our you know, our state, our state tax

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Speaker 2: base comes from Baton roof South, so Baton Rouge in

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Speaker 2: New Orleans being the largest of the cities in the

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Speaker 2: deep in the in the southern part of the state.

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Speaker 2: A good whatever's not industry is hospitality and so. And

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Speaker 2: you have a partner that is don't say gay, We're

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Speaker 2: banning books, We're doing all of these things. And it's like,

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Speaker 2: all of a sudden, the super Bowl is not happening

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Speaker 2: in New Orleans anymore in twenty twenty four, twenty five,

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Speaker 2: whenever it's supposed to happen in New Orleans. All of

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Speaker 2: a sudden, tourism is taking a hit. And we saw

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Speaker 2: that in Florida. But the difference is is that Louisiana

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Speaker 2: can't Florida and Louisiana are not in anything. And also

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Speaker 2: Florida isn't not nearly as poor as us, and I

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Speaker 2: think that there's still going to be some backlash that

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Speaker 2: we see from all of those businesses that were destroyed

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Speaker 2: or decimated by I mean, you could see it on

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Speaker 2: TV that Florida was suffering, right, And also as someone that.

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Speaker 3: Goes to Florida a lot for the beaches and to.

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Speaker 2: Spend time with my family, I haven't gone in two years,

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Speaker 2: and I don't want to go. I don't feel safe there,

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Speaker 2: and I don't want people to feel that same way

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Speaker 2: about Louisiana.

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Speaker 3: Which is why we have to still fight. That's why

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Speaker 3: there's still work to do.

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Speaker 2: We've got a you know, we've got a runoff on

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Speaker 2: November eighteenth, and we are you know, I just left

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Speaker 2: Southern University where there was a second line, had about

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Speaker 2: three hundred students, you know, in the street, you know,

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Speaker 2: walking to vote what vote coming, which is like the

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Speaker 2: fiftieth you know, anniversary of vote coming for so the university,

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Speaker 2: and so really proud to be with these young people

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Speaker 2: and just.

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Speaker 3: Reminded that we've got a lot of work to do.

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Speaker 2: But you know, there are young people that are with us,

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Speaker 2: that are fighting, that are you know, that are understanding

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Speaker 2: what what work has to be done, and you know,

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Speaker 2: and even talking to folks like Lieutenant General Honore, who

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Speaker 2: you know is the Louisiana loved Louisiana native.

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Speaker 3: And who now lives here.

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Speaker 2: But he, you know, he just talks about democracy is

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Speaker 2: fragile and if you lose democracy, we'll never.

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Speaker 3: Get it back.

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Speaker 2: And he said, and he said, and yes, there's lots

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Speaker 2: of stuff that's broken, but democracy is not broken. The

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Speaker 2: only way that it works is if you vote. And

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Speaker 2: I you know, and I was, you know, just sharing

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Speaker 2: with him. I was like, I think that's the most profound,

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Speaker 2: simple breakdown of what we're you know, like, what's you know, necessary,

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Speaker 2: and that what gets in the way of democracy is

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Speaker 2: the fact that people are hurting. We're not creating the

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Speaker 2: kind of policies and opportunities that you know, make people

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Speaker 2: feel like they're part of something bigger than themselves.

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Speaker 3: And so we've got work to do. And I do,

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Speaker 3: you know, feel like.

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Speaker 2: Again, we've seen so many successes. We saw the election

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Speaker 2: of Devonte Lewis, who is the one of the youngest

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Speaker 2: in the first openly gay you know, black man to

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Speaker 2: actually win a Public Service Commission seat, which is which

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Speaker 2: makes him the highest ranking black elected official in the state.

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Speaker 2: And so you know, like so yeah, you know, and

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Speaker 2: so it is to say that, like, we know that

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Speaker 2: our work works, right, and we know that we're getting

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Speaker 2: things done. But when you talk about a state wide

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Speaker 2: election with every House seat, every Senate seat, and multiple

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Speaker 2: municipal races, shariffs, et cetera.

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Speaker 3: It takes.

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Speaker 2: It takes more than you know, It takes more than

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Speaker 2: just one vehicle being the voice out there trying to

434
00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:57,200
Speaker 2: move people and trying to help people believe in what

435
00:23:57,560 --> 00:23:59,960
Speaker 2: I know we've won and what what we've made better,

436
00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:02,359
Speaker 2: and that like we had you know, we had we

437
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:04,600
Speaker 2: had medicaid expansion when no one else had medicaid expansion

438
00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:06,880
Speaker 2: in the Deep South. Now we you know, like I said,

439
00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:10,200
Speaker 2: we've expanded voting rights instead of you know, you know, uh,

440
00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:11,400
Speaker 2: destroying voting rights.

441
00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:11,560
Speaker 3: Right.

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00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:14,280
Speaker 2: And so even even as those suppression bills did happen

443
00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:16,520
Speaker 2: and moved through our legislature, we had a governor that

444
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:19,080
Speaker 2: could veto those bills. And so now we're moving into

445
00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:23,080
Speaker 2: whatever this new administration will be and we've you know,

446
00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:24,680
Speaker 2: we've got work to do. We know we'll be playing

447
00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:25,320
Speaker 2: some defense.

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00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,040
Speaker 1: Tell us, tell us with the with the with the

449
00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:30,359
Speaker 1: few minutes that we have left For those folks that

450
00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:34,480
Speaker 1: are listening that are not in your state, but are

451
00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:36,879
Speaker 1: like they want something to do. Do you know what

452
00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,639
Speaker 1: I'm saying, Like, how can they be of support, be

453
00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:46,160
Speaker 1: of service to aid your organization in you know, in

454
00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:50,280
Speaker 1: in in sounding the alarm on why people need to participate,

455
00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:53,600
Speaker 1: on on you know, unpacking folks as stories and and

456
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,280
Speaker 1: and getting you know, to this place of feeling heard

457
00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:01,560
Speaker 1: and seen and then choosing to vote. What what can outside

458
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:02,119
Speaker 1: folks do?

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00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:02,640
Speaker 3: Well?

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00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:05,240
Speaker 2: What you know, the biggest thing I always tell folks

461
00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:07,359
Speaker 2: is don't give up on the South right, because I

462
00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:09,200
Speaker 2: truly believe if you can't do if you can't figure

463
00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:10,920
Speaker 2: it out here, you won't figure it out anywhere. If

464
00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:12,679
Speaker 2: you know, if if all the bad things in this

465
00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:16,040
Speaker 2: country were seeded by a like another institutions in the

466
00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:18,480
Speaker 2: Deep South on yep, and then brought whole skill to

467
00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:20,160
Speaker 2: the rest of the country in a very short period

468
00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:22,199
Speaker 2: of time, then all the good things also can be

469
00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:25,119
Speaker 2: seated here and brought wholesale to the rest of the country.

470
00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:28,000
Speaker 2: And so we're you know, like, so we need everyone

471
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:30,440
Speaker 2: to not act like we're a non factor, right, because

472
00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:33,560
Speaker 2: we're actually not a non factor because in fact, the

473
00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:36,119
Speaker 2: folks with some of the most money and power, you know,

474
00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:39,400
Speaker 2: are using us to you know, see these ridiculous policies

475
00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:42,560
Speaker 2: that are hurting, you know, hurting our communities. The other

476
00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:45,879
Speaker 2: thing I would say is also support organizations like Power

477
00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:49,280
Speaker 2: Coalition and other states of e engagement tables and folks

478
00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:51,199
Speaker 2: that are actually working on the ground. I think that

479
00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:55,920
Speaker 2: people misunderstand how hard it is to actually knock doors

480
00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:58,600
Speaker 2: and you know, make those phone calls. You know, I

481
00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:00,960
Speaker 2: think we've had almost forty two events, you know, this

482
00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:04,280
Speaker 2: election season, all across the state. Like that is the

483
00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:06,920
Speaker 2: hardest part of the work to do. And so, you know, one,

484
00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:09,360
Speaker 2: you know, definitely support us Power Coalition dot org.

485
00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:10,880
Speaker 3: You can volunteer the phone bank.

486
00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:13,639
Speaker 2: Your phone number gets cloaked, we you can phone back

487
00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:16,240
Speaker 2: anybody in Louisiana you want to. But also to to

488
00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:20,200
Speaker 2: support our efforts, you know, more broadly through financial support

489
00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:23,439
Speaker 2: and and also talking to your family members. We know

490
00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:25,639
Speaker 2: that you know, so many of our stories start in

491
00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:27,960
Speaker 2: the South, and so you know, it's it's on all

492
00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:30,480
Speaker 2: of us. We've been asking everyone like call a friend,

493
00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:32,960
Speaker 2: bring a friend, you know, like commit to take to

494
00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:36,119
Speaker 2: people through the voting process, right so that we can

495
00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:38,160
Speaker 2: make sure that you know, we're going back to those

496
00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:40,440
Speaker 2: old school tactics of you know, mom.

497
00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:43,560
Speaker 1: Work then you know they were so.

498
00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:46,600
Speaker 3: You need mama used to call Yeah, yeah.

499
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:50,640
Speaker 1: They absolutely work. Well, Ashley Shelton, thank you so much

500
00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:52,960
Speaker 1: for the work that you were doing, for the work

501
00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:56,520
Speaker 1: that Power Coalition is doing, for my reminding people that

502
00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,280
Speaker 1: are listening to this show not to give up on

503
00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:02,000
Speaker 1: the South, not to just chalk it up because Republican

504
00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:05,679
Speaker 1: Insurance hell have not, so really really really appreciate you.

505
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:13,879
Speaker 1: That is it for me today on wok F Daily,

506
00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:18,359
Speaker 1: as always, Power to the people and to all the people. Power,

507
00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:21,080
Speaker 1: get woke and stay woke as fuck.