WEBVTT - Texas Dems on the Run | Angela Rye SoloPod 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.720 Native Landpod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:09.960 Reason Choice Media. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome. She 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:13.840 is in fact a lawyer, and she's also a member 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:18.400 of the Texas State House representing Districts one hundred and 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:22.520 forty seven. We are joined today by State Representative Jalanda 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:25.400 Joe Jones, and you just heard a clip of her 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:32.519 talking about the governor talking about subpoena and issuing warrants 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:36.519 for the arrest of the legislators who left Texas to 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:42.320 avoid a vote on a very unconstitutional, racial, racist, frankly 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:47.320 Jerry Mandarin process that the Texas government is currently going through. 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:50.200 And they're not the only ones. This is happening, y'all 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:53.880 in Missouri, it has happened in Louisiana, and there is 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:56.640 a case before the Supreme Court right now about this 0:00:56.840 --> 0:00:59.800 very issue. So I'm three Native lampod fam I normally say, 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:01.959 well a mom, but we jumped right into it. To 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:04.679 be joined today by State Rep. Jones. How are you 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:06.039 doing today? 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:08.240 I'm well, I'm well very good. 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:10.319 Where are you because you're on the run and this 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:12.280 is not good for them because you're a former track 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:13.160 and field athlete. 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:15.640 So are you sure right, I'm a four time United 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:16.360 States champion. 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:19.000 Don't play. Yes, I can't tell you where I'm at. 0:01:19.560 --> 0:01:21.759 Okay, all right, Well we're on the run and it's 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:24.440 a secret. So can you talk to us about what 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:27.720 you all are doing While you all are ensuring that 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:31.120 the Texas State House cannot have a quorum on this very, 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:34.039 very important issue. You are on the front lines of 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:36.600 the fight that so many people in this country have 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:39.800 been pleading for since January. Talk about how you all 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:42.480 arrived at this destination, the importance of you all standing 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:43.440 this ground right now. 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:47.120 Well, we arrived at this destination because we saw that 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:49.640 the fix was in for a variety of reasons, Like 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:53.400 one reason was so we got our committee assignments in January. 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:57.120 I was on the redistricting committee. I was like, why 0:01:57.160 --> 0:01:58.360 I'm on a redistricting committee. 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:01.080 This ain't no, this ain't this has ain't just happened, 0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:05.400 So what's that about? So that sort of cued me. 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:08.360 But then we had no meetings during the regular session, 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:11.960 so I was like, Okay, maybe it's just a standing committee. 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:13.680 And then all of a sudden in the spring, we 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:17.880 start hearing talk about redistricting because Trump's numbers started coming 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:20.600 in and everything he's doing is terrible. 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:21.960 You know, He's got that. 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:26.160 Big, horrible, tragic bill that he forced down our throats 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:32.640 by one vote. And interestingly, Congressional District eighteen didn't have representative. 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:37.480 The governor didn't set the special election until really far away, 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:40.520 so things just started making sense. And even when he 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:43.640 first called the special session, he didn't put redistricting on 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:46.120 there because he didn't want no heat. And then he 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:48.560 put it on right before it started, and then they 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:51.320 had three sham hearings. Again, I was on the committee 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:54.280 until I stepped down, but he had won in Austin, 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:57.480 won in Houston, won in Arlington, and they literally had 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:01.720 no maps. So how can people testify on redistricting and 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:03.840 how it's going to negatively affect them if there are 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:06.880 no maps? So we were like, and then because there 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:10.160 were no maps, they were forcing people came to testify, 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:13.720 to testify as neutral when legally you have to be 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:16.960 four or against. And they kept saying, when you have 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:18.760 to do that, and I'm saying, ah, they're trying to 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:22.000 lay this legal framework for this so that when it 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:24.440 goes to court, and it is going to court that 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:26.560 the course would be will no one was against it, 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:30.000 and then they ended up and then again it was 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:33.640 a worst kept secret in Austin. I'd heard that the 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:35.920 map was gonna drop on Wednesday. It ended up dropping 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:38.080 on Wednesday. I'd heard that we were going to have 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:41.360 a marathon hearing on Friday, and it happened on Friday, 0:03:41.800 --> 0:03:45.680 and then people were only given two minutes to speak. 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:49.360 The chair of the committee kept saying, the chair is 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:51.480 not advised. The chair is not advised. That means I 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:53.480 don't know no answers for you can ask me questions, 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:57.080 which if you knew our chair, he's a lawyer, he 0:03:57.160 --> 0:04:01.240 knows everything during regular session. For him to be willfully 0:04:01.280 --> 0:04:05.480 blind or ignorant didn't pass muster to me. And they're 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:08.280 eighty eight Democrats, I'm sorry, eighty eight Republicans and sixty 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:11.480 two Democrats in the House, and sixty two doesn't meet 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:14.400 eighty eight. It only takes seventy six votes to pass 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:17.719 a bill, but it takes one hundred votes to do business, 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:20.760 and so they have to find twelve Democrats to go 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:22.920 with their eighty eight votes to be able to have 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:23.479 a quorum. 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:24.960 And that's what we had to do. 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:27.760 We had to stop them because people weren't paying attention 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:33.359 when they racially redistricted in North Carolina where they literally 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:36.720 stole three seats and they divided up the black and 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:40.040 bround community, which is racist. And don't let anyone tell 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:42.560 you anything else. This is not a power graph. This 0:04:42.600 --> 0:04:47.360 isn't an effort to disenfranchise black and brown voters, and 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:51.360 that is illegal under the constitution. Power grabbing is actually 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:54.640 legal under this Trump Supreme Court that he owns. It 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:58.040 used to be illegal, but it's now legal. And so 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:01.119 we saw that we didn't have the number, so we left. 0:05:01.160 --> 0:05:04.279 That's exactly what we did. And right now they're relegated 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:06.920 to wining. And in fact, they winded so much I 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:10.440 need some keys, some grapes, some salami to go with 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:13.440 all that wining. And they can keep winding, and they 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:17.120 can keep making threats that need nothing because we ain't 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:18.919 scared and we ain't going back. 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:22.240 Well, and to this point, I think that what's so 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:25.520 fascinating about this, as you know, is being reported that 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:30.440 Donald Trump met with legislators to say how many CT 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:33.560 needs right for this twenty sixth election. Now, Julyan, I'm 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:35.480 gonna tell you the truth. I have been on our 0:05:35.520 --> 0:05:38.359 podcast on Native Lampard regularly saying, I don't even know 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:41.760 why we're doing this countdown for the midterms when there's 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:43.680 not going to be an election. Perhaps we got a 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:46.839 fascist in the White House. And all right, well, here's 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:50.040 the thing. I was corrected by a brilliant civil rights 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:53.640 lawyer who shall remain nameless. She said, now, I can't 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:56.240 tell you a thing about twenty eight, but twenty six 0:05:56.680 --> 0:05:58.919 there will likely be an election, because why would he 0:05:58.960 --> 0:06:01.960 be going around telling this the stay time many ct needs. 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:04.800 There's something else he's trying to do. So if we 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:08.560 could for a minute, Representative Jones talk about why Texas. 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:11.160 You already brought up the fact that the late great 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:14.600 Sylvester Turner passed. We know, of course, before that, Congresswoman 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:18.040 Sheila Jackson Lee passed. Governor Abbott was not going to 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:22.880 allow for a special election until November, and the big, ugly, terrible, awful, 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:25.720 ain't no good bill passed by one vote the first 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:28.119 time it came to the House floor. So talk about 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:30.320 why Texas. Why is this so critical right now? 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:33.919 It's critical because it's what allows him to have his votes, Like, 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:35.840 let me be clear, had I been in Congress how 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:37.520 to vote it against it, and it would have failed, 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:39.680 and we wouldn't be having the things going on that 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:43.400 are that we're having going on that negatively affect Americans. 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:45.919 You know, with all these tariffs that have increased the 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:49.880 prices of everything, where he's wiped out people and they 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:53.839 don't have health care we're Medicaid and Medicare, people don't 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:57.000 have it. Where people can't get good jobs, where he's 0:06:57.040 --> 0:06:59.840 at war with other countries which is increasing the cost 0:06:59.880 --> 0:07:03.560 of goods, where people can't afford affordable housing, where he 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:07.080 is decimating public education. I'm a product of public education. 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:10.120 That's why I know them bad laws because I went 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:14.120 to good public schools, public elementary, middle school, high school's college, 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:17.400 and law school. So we need a strong public education system. 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:19.800 And I don't think it's a coincidence that the people 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:22.640 that vote high for him aren't very educated. I believe 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:24.960 he wants a dumb electorate so that he can sell 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:27.920 them wolf tickets and that he can continue to be 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:34.640 a monarch in this country and totally ignore the constitution, 0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:37.960 ignore it. He wants to take us back to Jim Crow. 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:40.800 He wants to take us back before the Voting Rights Act. 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:42.920 He wants to take us back to before the Civil 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:45.880 Rights Act, and black people, I'm speaking to you if 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:48.480 you think, if you think it can't get worse, it can. 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:51.200 And the reason that you don't know how bad it 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:53.960 is is because of the efforts that people made long 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:58.160 before us, John Lewis, Martin, Luther King, Malcolm X, Barbara Jordan, 0:07:58.160 --> 0:07:59.960 you name it, to get us the rights we have. 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:02.640 At least during segregation, we. 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:05.440 Knew that we depended on us and that we had 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:09.160 to provide for us from education to banks, to jobs, 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:12.080 to everything. But then we went and got integration, and 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:15.200 we done lost our minds and we literally think we've 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:18.120 made it, when the truth is, during segregation, we made 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:22.240 sure everybody came up. During integration is some special negroes, 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:25.000 and then there are others that nobody cares about. And 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:28.080 I'm a person who believes that a country should be 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:31.640 judged not by how the best of us live, but 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:34.760 how the disenfranchised, at least the last the loss live. 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:37.640 And right now we are doing a horrible job. We're 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:39.920 doing a horrible job. And if you think you can't 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:42.240 be one of them, like one of those who can't 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:44.880 pay their bills. You wrong, Like, I don't know what 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:47.320 land you're living in, but you're not living in the one. 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:50.480 I mean, in what world did we ever think us 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:51.640 citizens could be deported? 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:52.760 What world? I know? 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:55.800 And we's threatening it. But let's let's put a pin 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:57.680 in that right there. Let's talk about this just for 0:08:57.720 --> 0:08:59.960 a moment. One thing that was used to describe is 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:04.240 presidency in twenty twenty was unprecedented. Right this time, it 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:07.959 is unprecedented times fifty, and I think or maybe it's 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:11.400 times twenty twenty five. Pun intended here, but here's the 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:13.560 thing that I think is important for folks at home 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:16.240 to know, you know, a representative Jones better than anyone's, 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:20.959 especially serving on the redistricting committee. Redistricting generally happens every 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:25.959 ten years, aligned with the census. The census is twenty twenty, 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:30.000 twenty thirty, twenty forty is twenty twenty five. The only 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:33.120 thing that's happened in twenty twenty five is Trump's election 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:36.880 and project twenty twenty five. Can you talk about why 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:42.720 this in particular is so troubling, especially because it's Texas, 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:46.120 it's Missouri, it's we already talked about North Carolina, you've 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:49.079 been speaking to North Carolina over and over again. Didn't 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:51.160 they test this a little bit in North Carolina first 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:54.160 to see if this would pass? Muster with other Republican 0:09:54.240 --> 0:09:55.839 legislators talk about the piece. 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:58.320 So what they did was they went to like a 0:09:58.400 --> 0:09:59.720 smaller state, and they did that. 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:00.839 They were successful. 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:03.679 They literally stole I mean, Trump was a thief, so 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:06.880 we shouldn't be surprised that a thief is thiefing, right, 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:09.280 We just shouldn't be surprised of that. And he stole 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:12.520 three seats that belonged to black and brown people in 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:15.319 North Carolina, which again gave him the majority that they have. 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:16.520 In Congress right now. 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:20.480 So now since he controls Texas, I mean, he has 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:23.719 shown us with vouchers and with other things that when 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:28.800 he tells Greg Abbott to jump, Greg Abbot jumps, however. 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:29.320 How he tells him. 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:32.880 And the reason that that is is because there were 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:37.720 twenty four Republicans in Texas that voted against something that 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:39.960 was very important in the eighth in the eighty eighth 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:44.200 legislative session, and literally when there was time for reelection 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:47.880 for the eighty ninth legislative session, they targeted those twenty four. 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:50.960 They took out fifteen of the twenty four. It is 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:54.320 very very very very very hard to take out an incumbent. 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:57.920 But they Trump endorsed against all of them and poured 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:02.280 millions of dollars against them. The Republicans are leading, and 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:05.280 I actually don't believe it's leading by fear and not 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:08.800 by courage, by cowardice and not by courage. And so 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:11.760 he's already showed them I can take you out if 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:14.880 you don't do what I say. So they are all like, okay, fine, 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:17.880 and they've been the neee and so they have allowed 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:21.240 themselves to be bullied, and they would they're worried more 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:24.280 about staying elected than they are about what's best for 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:25.360 their constituencies. 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:28.719 When I'm sorry, and. 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:30.640 I'm sorry you asked me a question and I sort 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:34.400 of went on a tangent. Here's the reason why twenty 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:37.320 twenty five is so important is because I believe that 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:39.719 Trump wants to get the Supreme Court and all the 0:11:39.760 --> 0:11:43.760 federal courts stacked, which he needs the government to function 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:46.120 in these Congress not to vote against him, not for 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:50.640 judicial appointments, but for his twenty twenty five policies, and 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:53.920 he needs for to be able to pass laws to 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:57.760 abridge states rights so that he can control them. And 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:00.320 so he needs to make sure that he has enough 0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:04.480 Republican districts so that in the twenty twenty six elections 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:08.199 that they don't lose Congress, because we now know that 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:12.880 despite his actestations that he's sold popularly, he has never 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:15.880 had more He's never been more popular, which reminds me 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:19.600 of like a middle schooler or an elementary school person 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:22.080 saying I'm the best, I'm the best, I'm the best. 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:22.640 Which is what he does. 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:25.200 He got to vouch for himself because people don't vouch 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:28.199 for him, but he needs he knows he's going to lose, 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:30.960 so he's got to rig this so he can keep control. 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:36.040 Because the only people that can stop Donald Trump is Congress. 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:41.559 Congress can vote against his shit right, Congress can investigate him, 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:45.720 call hearings, pull his records, pull the Epstein files, and 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:49.680 that's what he's really terrified about. And Congress can impeach him. 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:52.880 The Senate doesn't do those things. That's why it's important 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:54.080 that he hold on to Congress. 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:57.400 Well, and let me ask you this, I know you 0:12:57.480 --> 0:12:59.160 have to go. You're literally on the run. So we 0:12:59.200 --> 0:13:01.920 can't hold you in one location for too long. I 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:04.320 want to ask you, you know people are watching you 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:07.840 all think outside the box and be really strategic, not 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:11.240 just in resisting the agenda, but really adamantly opposing it 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:14.120 and providing it with an alternative. You all are showing 0:13:14.120 --> 0:13:16.480 people what democracy should look like, that you have the 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:19.520 right to oppose and say not on our watch. This 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:21.240 isn't the right thing to do. This isn't how we 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:24.600 normally operate. But for folks at home who are saying, well, 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:27.040 how long can you be on the run, And when 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:29.000 you all are no longer on the run and have 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:32.240 to face whatever is coming, what can we do at 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.840 home to support you all in this agenda to ensure 0:13:35.960 --> 0:13:39.600 that this particular thing doesn't just not pass in Texas, 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:41.640 but not in these other states that are at risk 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:42.080 as well. 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:44.959 So one, I hope that we're an example to other 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:47.439 people that you can stand against tyranny, you can stand 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:50.120 against bullies. But I almost stay running for as long 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:53.000 as I need to run. And let me be clear, 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:57.000 I ran away from things that are very important to me. 0:13:57.200 --> 0:14:00.400 I'm a new grandmother, I missing my granddaughter. Have to 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:03.520 be okay with facetiming because I'm fighting for her. I 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:07.560 need for her, as a mixed race black slash Indian 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:11.640 child to have the opportunities that doctor King and John 0:14:11.720 --> 0:14:13.880 Lewis fought for. I do not want for her to 0:14:13.880 --> 0:14:16.920 be a second class citizen by virtue of her being 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:22.160 at a mixed race child with immigrant relatives. And so 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:25.080 I've got to fight for her. And if I don't 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:27.040 do it, who will? And if I don't do it now, 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:30.840 then when? Because we literally have to stay gone, and 0:14:30.840 --> 0:14:33.520 what we need for you to do is to support us. 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:34.200 We are. 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:37.440 I left a business. My son is a lawyer. We 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:40.400 practice law together. He's got to hold a four down 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:42.480 right this morning, I'm talking to him like, you got 0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:44.040 to go to this course, you gotta go to this court. 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:46.960 He's handling my clients because I have bills to pay, 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:47.520 just like y'all. 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:48.320 Y'all think we're rich. 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:52.359 We literally make six hundred dollars a month as state legislators. 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:54.960 That's what we make, and that pays for our insurance 0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:58.040 in our retirement. True so, And I'm a dues paying 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:01.440 member of the Texas State Employees Union. So I'm a 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:05.400 union girl as well, because I believe strong unions and 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:06.960 you've got to have dues paying members. 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:10.720 But my point is this, if we want in America. 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:13.080 Where we can get the Civil Rights tect, the Voting 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:16.280 Rights Act, and have a black man be president and 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:19.520 a black woman beyond the US Supreme Court, we've got 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:21.760 to have a country that allows that. 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:23.680 And Donald Trump is trying to take that away. 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:27.040 He literally doesn't respect anybody black who's in any position 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:29.760 of authority. He calls it affirmative action for the most part, 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:32.760 and that's some bs. And so somebody's got to fight. 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:36.040 And at this moment, and this time it's the Texas Democrats. 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:39.400 And what happens in Texas will affect you, just like 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:41.920 what happened in North Carolina has affected you. And that's 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:44.160 why your life right now is way harder than it 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:47.280 was before Donald Trump took office. And the Supreme Court 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:50.560 is afraid of him, the media, mainstream media is afraid 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:52.560 of him. You're not afraid of him. So thank you 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:55.160 very much, But let me be clear, We've got to fight. 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:56.040 We've got to fight now. 0:15:56.080 --> 0:15:56.800 We need your help. 0:15:57.000 --> 0:16:00.720 Please give to the Texas Legislative Black Caucus. You can 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:02.840 find the link. I don't have it on me right now, 0:16:03.080 --> 0:16:05.240 but I've literally got to go because they're waiting on 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:07.840 me because we got to keep it moving like this 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:08.920 is life on the run. 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:13.120 Absolutely, will you keep running and we'll keep talking. State 0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:15.840 Representative Jelanta Jones, thank you so much for all you 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:17.640 do is this. We lift you up, we hold you 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:20.000 up how you are in our prayers and we'll we're 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:21.760 definitely supporting you. Everybody. 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:22.840 Thank you. I appreciate you. 0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:28.440 Thank you. Okay, everybody, We'll be right back after we 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:41.440 pay some bills. Oh wow, so you all, I don't 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:44.080 know if you're following redistricting at home. I tend to 0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:48.280 believe that our native lampod listeners understand these issues a 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:50.120 little more than others. But I just want to make 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:53.120 sure you all understand what is all at stake and 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:55.560 why I wanted to back into this. Our good sis 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:57.240 could make a little bit of time for us and 0:16:57.280 --> 0:16:59.640 literally as a track and build star. She's a runner, 0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:02.360 she's a t and that's real life. So I just 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:07.159 want to back into this for a moment. Jerry Mandering 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:11.919 isn't in and of itself wrong. Racist jerry mandering and 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:15.000 redistricting is wrong, and the challenge that we have right 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:17.879 now as a country. On the sixtieth anniversary, y'all can 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:20.680 look this up of the Voting Rights Act. Donald Trump 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:23.320 is doing all he can to decimate that with the 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:27.080 help of his little Republican imps that are including state representatives, 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:30.280 state senators, and of course some of these governors where 0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:33.040 they have supermajorities. They plan to challenge this at on 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:35.560 every side, because what they want to do is to 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:38.359 get to a point where there is so much unanimity 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:43.200 in the federal government that there's nobody there to challenge him. 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:46.200 Those are the kinds of things that the Voting Rights 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:48.600 Act guarded. Again, so let me tell you what happened 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:51.800 in twenty thirteen, there was a case that went to 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:56.480 the Supreme Court called Shelby versus Holder. In that case, 0:17:57.320 --> 0:18:03.959 which just so happens to be after Barack Obama's second election, 0:18:04.760 --> 0:18:08.920 not by accident, they decided, Hey, do we really need 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:10.960 all of this stuff in the Voting Rights Act? Do 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:15.879 we really need Section four's formula that ensures that Section 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:19.600 fives states that need to be pre cleared to ensure 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:21.600 that there's no discrimination. Do we need to do that? 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:25.159 Y'all got a black president. I think discrimination is gone. 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:27.639 But let me tell you something. While they were making 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:31.120 that decision, and by the way, spoiler alert from twenty thirteen, 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:35.240 they decided to gut Section four, which pretty much renders 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:39.960 a Section five nullan nullan void of the Voting Rights Act. 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:43.360 They decided to say that we no longer needed those 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:47.040 protections that we shall overcome has now become we have overcome, 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:48.840 we don't need it. That's what they did in the 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:52.480 Supreme Court. While that was happening, there was an organization 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:56.600 called it, actually it still exists, called the American Legislative 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:59.879 Exchange Council. It goes by Alex some of you all 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:04.680 got to know Alec from the Stanyard Ground Law, which 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:08.960 is what George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin's killer, relied upon to 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:11.840 get out of that case and to be quitted. Now, 0:19:12.600 --> 0:19:15.320 at the same time that case was making its way 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:19.200 to the Supreme Court, the American Legislative Exchange Council, which 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:23.080 includes state legislators from all over the country, had a 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:28.960 boiler plate template bill that legislators could literally copy and 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:32.479 paste for voter ID. And there are a lot of 0:19:32.520 --> 0:19:36.040 folks y'all who say, well, voter ID is not racist, 0:19:36.200 --> 0:19:40.200 It's fine it doesn't hurt anyone. We're all good. It's okay. 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:42.560 We just want to make sure that we identify you. 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:46.159 Here's the thing. A lot of advocates said that the 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:51.919 voter ID legislation was a solution in search of a 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:55.280 problem that by the time some folks who live in 0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:58.960 rural areas go to get their ID just to vote, 0:19:59.080 --> 0:20:02.640 it is equivalent to a poll tax. A lot of challengers, 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:07.000 So remember that's happening. There was also a template bill 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:10.080 they introduced to cut back on early voting days to 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:13.920 make absentee voting more challenging. I believe at that time, 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:17.600 between twenty ten and twenty tail twelve, the one hundred 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:21.040 and thirteen measures were introduced in state legislatures all over 0:20:21.080 --> 0:20:23.680 the country. Why am I bringing this up in twenty 0:20:23.720 --> 0:20:28.080 twenty five again, there's something that happened in twenty eight 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:30.960 and twenty twelve that they never wanted to see happen again. 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:34.960 His name is Barack Hussein Obama. He was your forty 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:38.800 fourth president. Do you understand? So this is all by design. 0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:41.720 Project twenty twenty five did not pop up and get 0:20:41.760 --> 0:20:44.240 birth yesterday. This thing has been in the works for 0:20:44.240 --> 0:20:47.560 forty plus years and now because there was a place 0:20:47.600 --> 0:20:50.160 where it seemed like we had arrived, we had reached 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:52.720