WEBVTT - Can America Move Beyond the Two-Party Trap? | MiniPod 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.760 Native Lampod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with 0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:04.840 Reizent Choice Media. 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:11.360 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome. 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.160 Home, y'all, this is Native Lampod and we are here 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:15.880 for our mini pod. Joining us today is the National 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:19.720 director for Working Families Party. Working Families had a really 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:21.920 big week this week. We're gonna talk to Maurice Mitchell 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:26.640 about the historic wins that they saw and some other 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:30.640 things around our politics. So more Welcome to Native Lampod again, 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:32.159 good brother, Yes. 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:36.680 Yes, Oh, it's good to be a repeat visitor to 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:38.600 the to the pod, and it's really good to be 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:40.040 with y'all you. 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:43.199 Too, brother. Welcome a big week indeed, and not just 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:46.760 in the New York State, but really around the country. Man, 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:49.839 I'm curious if we could probably kick off the conversation 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:53.720 with you going down the list of highs lows, what 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:56.640 people are to be watching, paying attention to, and we 0:00:56.640 --> 0:01:00.440 weren't as a result of this week's elections. Yeah, give 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:01.160 us the rundown. 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:06.640 Yeah, I mean there's a lot to parts and you know, 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:09.840 in some races there's still kind of votes, but you know, 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:13.880 as it stands today, you know, we'll talk about New York. 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.040 But I'm excited by the fact that in New York 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:21.320 State we had victories in the city of Albany, the 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:25.240 City of Syracuse, the city of Buffalo, And in Albany 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:29.560 and Syracuse we have Sharon Owens in Syracuse and we 0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:33.560 have Darcy a Players in Albany. They would be the 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:37.560 first black women ever to hold those seats, right, and 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:41.400 so we I mean, it is incredible that we were 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:44.360 able to build a coalition around these black women. And 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:47.000 the same money that was fighting us in New York 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:49.560 City was fighting us in these races, right, And they 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:53.880 represent the same politics, focusing like a laser on affordability, 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:56.360 wanting to make the city work for working people. 0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:59.640 So I'm excited about that. I'm also excited by the 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:00.120 fact that. 0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:06.240 You know, in in Georgia, a black woman was able 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:09.840 to want run and win statewide, right, and we need 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:12.880 to put a spotlight on that seat because you know, 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:16.280 she was able to build a coalition that included clearly 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:20.960 a lot of Republicans because she molliwopped her opponent. That's 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:23.600 that's a critical win. And we know we endorsed in 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:26.480 that race, and we're really proud of her. You know, 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:32.239 in Detroit, a brother, Denzel mccampbell. Keep an eye on him. 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:37.359 He ran as an outsider in city council. We endorsed him, 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:40.280 We supported him from the very beginning. He's going to 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:43.440 be sitting on city council in Detroit, you know. And 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:47.080 then there's these these very particular races that are very 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:51.040 close to my heart because I build the Working Families Party. 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:55.480 These are people who ran in the general election not 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:58.639 as a Democrat against the Democrat and the Republican, as 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:01.560 an independent Working fan These party person and they and 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:03.320 they were able to actually win. 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:03.960 Right. 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:08.120 And so we we have a case in in New York, 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:14.480 in New York, uh, in Newburgh, in Newport, New York 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:20.200 City Council Ta Meeka Stewart, a black woman who ran 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:23.760 as an independent under the Working Families Party. She will 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:27.880 be sitting and governing in Onondaga County, that's the county 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:30.720 where Syracuse is in. There will be a county legislator 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:34.280 Nicole Watts, a black woman who ran and won in 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:37.200 this election as an independent Working Families Party person. And 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:41.160 then in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Uh, we we had a we 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:44.960 had a victory. Uh actually in Hartford, sorry, Hertford, Connecticut. 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:47.720 We had a victory with with Chante Browdie. She's gonna 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:51.440 be sitting at the Hartford Board of Education as an 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:58.640 independent WFP candidate, where the Democrats in that in that election, 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:02.520 the Democrats in the Board of Education all joined together 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:04.280 to make sure that she could lead the Board of 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:08.080 Education as a WP independent. So you know, those are 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:10.400 things that we're not going to hear because the story 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:14.440 understandably has been about Zoramm Donnie in New York, and 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:16.360 we could talk a lot about that. But in terms 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:20.440 of like independent black politics and power a black first 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:23.960 and doing it on our terms, there's a lot happening 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:24.760 around the country. 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:25.840 That's good. 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:27.839 That's good. 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:29.240 Can I help out? 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:32.240 I'll ask the question. Thanks for getting us, Marie. I 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:36.560 want to read you something. There was an article in 0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:41.360 Political this week, an interview with Steve Bannon, who is 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:48.640 of course Trump's former strategist White House Strategists, and he 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:52.800 has a warning for Republicans and he named checks. Yeah, 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:56.640 not specifically, but the WSP. He says, forget the Republican 0:04:56.680 --> 0:04:58.640 Party in New York that's a joke, but the National 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:01.039 Republican Party and some of the artist strategists do not 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:04.680 realize the power of the Working Families Party and the 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:08.560 Democratic Socialists of America for ground game. Modern politics is 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:12.040 now about engaging low propensity voters, and they clearly turn 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:15.200 them out tonight. And this kind of and this is 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:17.279 kind of the Trump model. This is very serious. 0:05:17.320 --> 0:05:17.440 Now. 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:20.760 Unfortunately the reporter does not fact check him. This certainly 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:23.560 is not the Trump model. Trump is copying that model 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:26.560 from what black folks have done for decades. But a 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:29.800 lot of our audience, quite frankly, is not familiar. They're 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:32.560 not familiar with you, they're not familiar with Working Families Party. 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:34.960 They don't know that this exists. So some people are 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:37.600 tuning in saying, who is this? Why do I care 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:40.839 about those races and states where I don't live? Why 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:44.039 should I care? So, how can they plug in? And 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:47.680 what's your like thirty second elevator pitch to them, especially 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:49.919 since you've fallen on the radar, the party has fallen 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:53.240 on the radar of such right wing conservative extremists like 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:53.920 Steve Bannon. 0:05:57.120 --> 0:05:59.000 Well, you'll know me by my enemies. 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:05.200 And so the Working Families the Working Family Party was 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:10.280 born in a moment in the late nineties when the 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:15.600 Democratic Party decided to get in bed with wall Street. 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:18.520 And that's the same Democratic Party that passed the ninety 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:22.160 four crime Bill. That's the same Democratic Party that supported 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:24.839 welfare reform quote unquote welfare reform that made it harder 0:06:24.880 --> 0:06:27.400 for her for a working class and poor people to 0:06:27.480 --> 0:06:31.160 access to access those services, and you know, using a 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:34.520 lot of racist tropes to do that. And at that time, 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:38.480 the Working Families Party was born because many many people 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:41.920 felt that the Democrats were portraying the base and the base, 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:45.280 the heart of the Democratic Party base has historically been 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:49.040 the black community, specifically working class black people. And so 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:53.160 this multiracial coalition of grassroots organizations and labor institutions came 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:56.320 together that was more than twenty five years ago. And 0:06:57.040 --> 0:07:00.760 what we do is we build from the grass roots up. 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:05.040 We recruit candidates that otherwise wouldn't run because they don't 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:10.840 have access to money, educators, organizers, folks in unions, everyday people, 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:14.720 and we primarily focus on the local level school boards, 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:18.760 city council. That's the pipeline to people learn how to govern. 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:22.960 And then eventually, like Summerly for example, that cut her 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:25.640 teeth in the state legislature and now is in Congress. 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:29.400 Eventually you could develop those skills of governing on the 0:07:29.440 --> 0:07:34.080 local level and find yourself in Congress. It's that slow, steady, 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:37.840 consistent work that is going to build a movement that 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:41.360 could actually sustain victories for our people instead of sort 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:45.120 of flashing the pan politics and theatrics. Look, anything that 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:48.320 you want done, you take. Anything worth doing is going 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:50.920 to take some work. And we've done the work to 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:54.000 build a pathway for independent politics. I'd be remiss if 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:57.520 I didn't bring up Attorney General Tis James. She entered 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:00.440 politics through the Working Families Party party in two and 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:03.160 three because the Democratic Party didn't know what to do 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:06.080 with the independent black woman. But we did, and she 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:09.880 ran as an independent Working Families person in city council 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:12.800 in Brooklyn, and that's how she started. And eventually, once 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:14.920 she got in you can't be in them to join them, 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:17.280 the Democrats embraced her, and she rolls all the way 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:20.680 to the top and was able to hold Donald Trump accountable. 0:08:20.960 --> 0:08:22.200 So it's those politics. 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:25.080 If you're really serious about independent politics, if you're serious 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:27.880 about black people governing, then you have to do the 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:32.720 hard work of truly governing, but also of recruiting the 0:08:32.880 --> 0:08:36.520 hundreds and hundreds or thousands of volunteers to develop the 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:39.320 skills to figure out how to use people power in 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:42.959 order to get somebody elected and push back against the billionaires. 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:46.959 Right Zorn's campaigns is a perfect example. They spent forty 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:51.720 million dollars against him and they lost. They completely collapsed. 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:54.480 Because we have the people power, but that people power 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:59.240 doesn't come overnight. You have to assiduously build the people power. 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:01.760 You need to be in the community. You need to 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:06.080 actually be organizing year round, something that unfortunately both parties 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:09.800 have either forgotten or are never interested in doing so. 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:13.320 Then, how do you just just to follow up quickly 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:16.040 on Tiffany's question, for people who are not in places 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:19.040 where there is an active formed working families party but 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:23.240 are really upset at being quote taken for granted or 0:09:23.280 --> 0:09:27.640 not represented, not seeing the afterthought, where could they go? 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:30.480 Because I almost see it as somewhat of a bit 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:34.400 of a bargain, right, if you want us, you got 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:36.280 to come with what you're going to get us, and 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:38.959 we'll bargain with you about where we then put our support. 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:42.080 Our votes are, our time, attention, volunteery, so on and 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:44.400 so forth. So how do you equip other places of 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:45.760 the communities with that kind of power. 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:52.679 Sure, So the Working Families Party isn't an organization that 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:56.040 comes into a community. The Working Families Party is built 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:59.319 in each community from the ground up. So if people 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:01.560 are interested, did I would ask them just go to 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:04.120 our website and see if there is a chapter or 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:07.040 if there's an organizing committee in their state, and if not, 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:09.840 and they're and they're serious, they should reach out to 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:13.240 us and and we are down to talk. 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:13.640 Listen. 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:17.000 The the interest is really intense about building the WFP, 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:21.280 and we're interested in building WFP everywhere. The other thing 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:24.560 is that we have volunteer opportunities for people even in 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:26.840 the places where we don't have staff or we don't 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:30.640 have a chapter and people. We support people everywhere to 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:34.400 build basically like violent what we call. You know, we 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:37.880 don't have, uh, the the elephant or the donkey like 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:40.400 the Democrats or the Republicans. We have the wolf and 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:42.560 so we have our wolf packs and we support them 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:45.800 in places where we don't have staff. And those those 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:48.720 wolf pasts, they were they were getting down in this election, 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:52.680 all across the country doing work both in their in 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:56.040 their communities and also supporting candidates around the country, and 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:59.120 so anybody who's listening to this and they're like, yeah, 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:02.560 I believe that people have been taken for granted by 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:06.480 the Democrats. I understand that the Republicans are racist, I 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:10.200 understand that they are problematic, but if we continue doing 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:13.079 what we've been doing, we're going to get the same results. 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:17.000 The WFP is a viable option for people who want 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:19.760 to do politics different but also do politics in a 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:23.040 way that's effective and strategic. And yeah, we invite anybody to, 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:25.720 you know, figure out how they could get down with us, 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:27.679 and we try to make it as easy as possible 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:29.800 based on what level of commitment people have. 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:33.880 Well, I want to ask you about Detroit. 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:38.320 When you spoke earlier, you mentioned a city council race 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:40.960 that you are really excited about. Who did Working Families 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.160 Party support in the mayoral race in Detroit? 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:48.000 Okay, so we didn't endorse in the mayoral race. We 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:51.080 often focus on the places that we think we could 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:54.120 have the most impact. I think, you know, we're pleased 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:57.679 with the outcome of the mayoral race, but we're fairly 0:11:57.760 --> 0:12:01.440 new in Detroit, and so at the stage and the 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:04.360 level of capacity that we have, we focused on two 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:07.160 city council races where we felt like we could have 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:10.760 the most impact, and that was Denzil mccampbell and Gabriella 0:12:10.840 --> 0:12:14.760 Santiago Romero, who is currently on the city council. And 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:17.880 so there's times where we what we don't like to 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:21.080 do is just kind of slap our logo on a 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:24.360 particular race or just give a paper endorsement. We like 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:28.360 to be really hands on and provide real capacity and 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:31.160 be the difference maker and the races that we're in 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:35.440 and in those races we had a deep relationship, we 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:38.280 were able to make a real difference, play a role 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:42.079 on the independent side and also inside of the campaign. 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:44.839 And you know, we're always making choices like that with 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:48.200 our capacity, with our brand, with our endorsement, how we 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:50.480 can have the most impact. And so in Detroit, that's 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:50.839 how we. 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:54.440 Show that when you all are deciding, and I know, 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:57.920 especially for you, we talk about being a first or 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:01.480 the only and being you know black in spaces where 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:06.720 we have you know, critical influence. How do you all 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:10.960 thread the needle when there's a black elected official, you know, 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:13.959 at the top of the ticket and you're being faced with, oh, 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:16.840 there's this particular white opponent, maybe you agree with the 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:17.920 black elected official. 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:20.360 We just had this conversation on our main show as well. 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:23.440 But sixty seventy eighty percent of the time, but this 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:27.040 white person with no political experience is saying that they're 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:27.840 gonna ride with y'all. 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:30.120 Tell the wheels fall off. How do you make that decision? 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:34.080 And talk about the personal difficulty you encounter if you 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:37.079 have any in making those types of decisions. 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:41.120 Sure, so, I'm very careful. 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:45.360 As a black man and as a black person in politics, 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:50.800 I'm very careful and very precise as it relates to 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:59.040 offering public critiques of black elected officials, challenging black elected officials, 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:04.679 and I've done, but I am very careful about it 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:11.680 because sometimes those critiques could, when. 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:14.959 In bad faith, could. 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:20.520 Could become basically venues for anti blackness, which doesn't serve 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:26.040 the broader agenda of black politics. And so if you 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:30.280 hear me critique a black elected official, it has been 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:34.640 very very considered, right, I would say, in general, when 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:37.560 it comes to all of our endorsements, there isn't a 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:41.200 WP endorsement that doesn't go through a very rigorous process 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:43.760 that considers a number of things, and there isn't a 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:50.360 WOP endorsement that doesn't fundamentally go through a lot of 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:55.600 vetting with grass roots organizations, labor institutions, and movement organizations 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:58.760 on the ground in any particular city or state. And 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:03.880 there isn't a organizing committee which is one of the 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:07.520 bodies where we deliberate, or a state committee that where 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:11.200 we make these decisions, where there isn't a significant presence 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:14.640 of black folks who have been committed to black power, 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:19.280 and oftentimes those conversations happen. It was in real time 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:22.200 where we talk about racial justice, we talk about what 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:25.840 it means to challenge sitting black elected official, where we 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:29.000 talk about how being an elective official is very different 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:32.560 for black people than for white people, where we factor 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:36.720 in things like experience, and what gives me the confidence 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:40.440 to support we on Tuesday we have more than seven 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:43.200 hundred candidates on the ballot. It gives me the confidence 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:46.760 to support all of our endorsements is I know that 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:49.720 that process was done in a very rigorous way. And 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:53.920 so that's how I hold that tension both personally because 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:56.800 I am the party leader and I represent the party. 0:15:57.600 --> 0:16:00.560 I make sure that the things I communicate there's always 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:03.240 a racial justice lens, and there's always a lens around 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:08.000 black politics. And I've demured from taking shots at sitting 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:11.440 black elected officials because of the larger framing, and I 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:14.400 didn't feel like there's a way to call that question 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:17.800 that wouldn't add to a anti black pylon, even if 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:20.320 there was some validity to that critique. And then I've 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:22.920 also taken those those those shots when I thought it 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:26.800 was really important to create some contrast between the independent 0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:31.120 black politics that is rooted in the grassroots and the frankly, 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:33.920 the bought and paid for black politics of the establishment. 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:35.080 Let me ask it. 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:36.840 Let me ask you a question, because one of the 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:40.680 things that I've been I bring a slightly different perspective 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:44.320 because I come from like the deep rural South, and 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:48.920 I've noticed that there's some political policies like school choice, 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:53.600 for example, which works in major cities, but that doesn't 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:57.600 necessarily work in rural areas. So my question is political 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:03.560 movements like WFP, like, how how do you replicate the 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:06.560 involvement you all have because we have a Working Families 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:09.439 Party here, but it's by no and it's they're alsome. 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:11.520 I know them all, but it's not nearly as robust 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:14.760 as it is in major cities, and I'm pretty sure 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:17.040 it's the same in some other areas that we were 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:19.560 looking at throughout the South. How do you replicate that 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:24.960 robust effort in urban areas compared to rural areas where 0:17:25.000 --> 0:17:28.480 I dare I say the overarching majority of black folk 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:29.800 live in the pool rural South. 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:34.159 That's right, That's right. Yeah, that's a great question, bro. 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:36.480 I mean, I think you know, we had a so 0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:42.320 we were able to leverage fusion voting in New York, Connecticut, Oregon, 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:46.440 and in South Carolina up until so we actually had 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:51.680 until until very recently when the Republicans outlawed fusion voting 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:53.679 because I think they were they were frightened of of 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:56.879 what we could build using fusion voting. But that's a 0:17:56.920 --> 0:18:02.320 whole other conversation. But that I approached that the way 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:05.040 that we approach at the Working Families Party is, you know, 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:13.880 there's an amazing sister, Britney Whaley, who leads our Southeast 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:17.800 work and is based in Atlanta and has built the 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:21.040 Georgia Working Families Party and over the next few years 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:24.240 is really investing in a Southern strategy for independent black 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:27.679 politics that is going to look very different than the 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:30.040 work that we did in New York over the past 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:33.840 few years, right, And so it's not so much about replicating, right, 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:37.760 because I would never replicate the model of the New 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:40.280 York Party with what we're doing in Georgia and what 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:45.119 we're doing actually around the South, because a lot of 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:48.800 that is based on the particularities of the South, the 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:52.639 particularities of what it means to build black political power 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:55.760 in a red state, which is just vastly different, right. 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:57.800 And so one of the things that we always try 0:18:57.840 --> 0:19:01.000 to do is to be nimble so that the character 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:06.000 of that state or that locality could really embody what 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:08.600 the WFP looks like. And I think that's the lesson 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:11.320 from from today. From today and from election, a lot 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:14.840 of people are talking about Zora Mamdani, and I think 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:17.359 that's appropriate and I think there's lessons that we could 0:19:17.359 --> 0:19:22.639 glean from that. And also Zoron's race is particular to 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:26.400 Zoron in New York, So there's both things that are 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:29.720 true across the country. Like, I think there's an affordability 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:33.600 crisis that is facing working people everywhere, and that's it's 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:36.520 a crisis of the affordability crisis is it's not just 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:39.359 about economics, it's about dignity. And I think this is 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:42.359 one of the reasons why people rebuked the Republicans. I 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:45.600 also think there's a broad rebuke of trump Ism everywhere. 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:48.919 And yeah, you know, like New York is not the 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:52.080 Royal South, and we shouldn't pretend that it is. And 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:57.160 you know, the conditions of black people in rural counties 0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:00.439 in South Carolina or in Georgia, where I recently was 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:04.000 aren't the same as the conditions of even black folks 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:08.159 in Bedstye or Flatbush. And we do have commonalities. So 0:20:08.160 --> 0:20:10.280 I think it's kind of like a bolt and the thing. 0:20:10.320 --> 0:20:14.480 The through line though, is that the basis of independent 0:20:14.560 --> 0:20:19.159 politics and to prize our independence and to value our 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:22.560 political power which has been taken for granted, and to 0:20:22.720 --> 0:20:26.479 challenge the corporate politics that have captured our politics in general. 0:20:27.000 --> 0:20:32.040 You know, unfortunately, because our politics are so expensive, elected 0:20:32.080 --> 0:20:35.520 officials are constantly dialing for dollars, and that means even 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:40.080 the elected officials with the best intentions are dragged towards 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:43.080 being on phones with very wealthy people and corporate packs 0:20:43.160 --> 0:20:46.760 in order to fund their elections. And there's something fundamentally 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:50.120 wrong with that that leads to a poor outcome, especially 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:52.600 for working class and poor Black people, and so we 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:56.080 need to build a different type of politics where if 0:20:56.160 --> 0:20:59.600 I'm a working class Black person in the rural South, 0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:02.000 I could run and win and I could do so 0:21:02.800 --> 0:21:06.040 and prize my independence not feel like I have to, 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:10.320 you know, do the dance with the corporate donors. And 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:13.159 it's something that everybody has to make a decision around. 0:21:13.200 --> 0:21:16.159 And if we don't build that third space, then you know, 0:21:17.160 --> 0:21:19.440 we can't. I think we can, in one side, critique 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:23.320 people for doing that dance with corporate donors and not 0:21:23.359 --> 0:21:26.520 build that third space where people could thrive without corporate money. 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:28.320 And so that's one of the things that we're trying 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:32.840 to build, a third space in politics where principal people 0:21:33.280 --> 0:21:36.320 could thrive, run and win without that corporate money, without 0:21:36.320 --> 0:21:38.280 the ad PAC money, or the AI money, or the 0:21:38.280 --> 0:21:41.240 crypto money, or pharma or the real estate lobby, which 0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:43.639 is a watch in our politics at general, both the 0:21:43.640 --> 0:21:52.600 Democratic Party and the Republican Party. 0:21:54.280 --> 0:21:57.240 Well, you just brought up a pack and you posted 0:21:57.240 --> 0:21:58.240 a video recently. 0:21:58.440 --> 0:21:59.679 I want to run that clip. 0:22:00.040 --> 0:22:02.240 I just got a text from an organization called the 0:22:02.359 --> 0:22:05.800 National Black Empowerment fund. I just checked the website because 0:22:05.800 --> 0:22:07.000 I'm kind of a nerd al like to do my 0:22:07.080 --> 0:22:10.159 due diligence, and went on the about us page, and 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:12.920 you know, I see two very official pictures of two 0:22:13.000 --> 0:22:15.800 very official black men. But it turns out they're anything 0:22:16.000 --> 0:22:19.320 but official. Those two men are all but and paid 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:22.840 for by a pack. Yeah, and the same corporate lobby 0:22:22.880 --> 0:22:25.480 that has ties with bb net and Yahoo and the 0:22:25.680 --> 0:22:30.840 ultra far right, authoritarian racist government that has pursued a 0:22:30.840 --> 0:22:34.200 war against the palest Indian people. Yeah, that APAC. Black 0:22:34.320 --> 0:22:37.680 Empowerment and the Black Agenda and APAC are like oil 0:22:37.680 --> 0:22:40.000 and water. My folks told me that you can only 0:22:40.040 --> 0:22:42.520 serve one master. There's no way you could serve APAC 0:22:42.560 --> 0:22:44.719 and the billionaires and serve the interests of black people. 0:22:44.960 --> 0:22:47.840 That just doesn't happen. This is silly season and elections. 0:22:47.880 --> 0:22:50.520 The people that are supporting Andrew Cuomo, the right wing 0:22:50.560 --> 0:22:54.240 agenda APAC, they're pulling out all the stops because they're desperate, 0:22:54.520 --> 0:22:58.880