Speaker 1: Good morning, peeps, and welcome to bok F Daily with
Speaker 1: Meet your Girl Danielle Moody, recording from the home Bunker, Folks.
Speaker 1: Over the weekend, Kristin Welker took over Meet the Press,
Speaker 1: and you know, the era of Chuck Todd is over
Speaker 1: the error that we thought of softball journalism and lack
Speaker 1: of follow up and fact checking in real time and
Speaker 1: just you know, we thought it was done and then
Speaker 1: entered the chat Kristin Welker. Now, I have seen Kristin
Speaker 1: in you know, different situations and places where she has
Speaker 1: the chops and has been able to ask the hard
Speaker 1: hitting questions and really get to that they're there in
Speaker 1: an interview. This was not fucking that at all. And
Speaker 1: from the moment that it was announced that Donald Trump
Speaker 1: was going to be her first guest on Meet the Press,
Speaker 1: I knew it was already gonna be trash because in
Speaker 1: the eight years since Donald Trump entered into the political world,
Speaker 1: no reporter, not fucking want, has been able to do
Speaker 1: what actually needs to be done, which is to fact
Speaker 1: check that motherfucker in real time because you know exactly
Speaker 1: what he's going to say, because he's a repetitive right
Speaker 1: in terms of the lies that he tells not see
Speaker 1: the fucking ground to him and your platform, so that
Speaker 1: he can continue to lie and be justified for that
Speaker 1: line because mainstream media let him in and then think
Speaker 1: that you're doing a service to the viewers by saying, oh,
Speaker 1: we'll go to nbcnews dot com afterwards, where we are
Speaker 1: doing all of the fact checking. Are you fucking kidding me?
Speaker 1: And you know, I just realize that the media, corporate
Speaker 1: media wants twenty sixteen all over again, and they are
Speaker 1: going to do their absolute damnedest to make sure that
Speaker 1: they recreate and make the same mistakes over and over
Speaker 1: again until the white evangelical Christian fascist takeover of America
Speaker 1: is complete. There is no more freedom of speech, and
Speaker 1: they're all out of the jobs because they fuck themselves
Speaker 1: from the beginning. You know, there is a way to
Speaker 1: handle the moment that we're in, and it's with truth,
Speaker 1: it's with integrity, it's with passion, none of which I
Speaker 1: see anywhere in mainstream media. And I'm fucking sick and
Speaker 1: tired of it. If I'm a person in media, right
Speaker 1: and I just think to myself, my god, if I
Speaker 1: had the millions of listeners right and viewers in the
Speaker 1: way that these shows get in. I would never blow
Speaker 1: the opportunity to tell the truth. I would never blow
Speaker 1: the opportunity to tell the American viewer what a consequential
Speaker 1: time they are living in and how much power they
Speaker 1: still have to do what's right, and that all is
Speaker 1: not lost, and that Donald Trump does not have to
Speaker 1: be your person, and that the Republican Party does not
Speaker 1: give a fuck about you or your family. They care
Speaker 1: about power, and to show them here's history. This is
Speaker 1: why they don't want you to know it right, because
Speaker 1: this is what these white supremacists savages have done. This
Speaker 1: is how they have the wealth that they do. It's
Speaker 1: not because of the lack of know how and wherewithal
Speaker 1: of black people. It's because of obstruction and denial and
Speaker 1: terrorism from the jump. I just I'm tired of the
Speaker 1: farce at this point, and I get to a place sometimes, folks,
Speaker 1: where I just don't bother turning on the news at all.
Speaker 1: I'm like, I'll just read because it's easier to digest
Speaker 1: that way than to listen to these people play out
Speaker 1: this horse race in our politics right now, as if
Speaker 1: this is the twentieth century and we're under no threat
Speaker 1: of the evisceration of democracy that you're going to continue
Speaker 1: to platform, and people say, well, he is the Republican
Speaker 1: front runner. Your first guest could have been Joe Biden.
Speaker 1: Your first guest could have been Kamala Harris, right, your
Speaker 1: first guests could have been, right, the younger generation of
Speaker 1: Democrats in the House of Representatives. Right, it could have
Speaker 1: been talking about the changing of the garden politics. Is
Speaker 1: it needed doing a comparison even if you wanted to,
Speaker 1: between the Marjory Taylor Green and the Lauren Boberts and
Speaker 1: I don't know, the Maxwell Frosts and the you know,
Speaker 1: King Jeffries and the AOC's one party is moving you
Speaker 1: in the direction of fascism, without rights, without a voice,
Speaker 1: without a vote, and the other is trying to expand
Speaker 1: and strengthen our democracy. America is at a crossroads. That
Speaker 1: could have been your opening, but that's not what meet
Speaker 1: the press chose. And so I'm just tired of all
Speaker 1: of it. Right, I think that twenty twenty four, just
Speaker 1: by virtue of looking at at you know, the news
Speaker 1: over the weekend, it's going to be a fucking nightmare.
Speaker 1: It's going to be a fucking nightmare one that we're
Speaker 1: going to get through together, trust and believe that, but
Speaker 1: it is going to be one that you were going
Speaker 1: to need a consistent and serious amount of grounding and
Speaker 1: centering and sense of community in order to get through,
Speaker 1: because you know, we're still coming off of a global
Speaker 1: health pandemic and all of the consequences of that that
Speaker 1: we don't talk about, that we pretend didn't happen, just
Speaker 1: kind of in the same way we pretend that slavery
Speaker 1: and the ramifications thereof don't exist. We're coming off of multiple,
Speaker 1: you know, mass shootings, We're coming off so much tragedy,
Speaker 1: so much trauma, and then just continuing on. We have
Speaker 1: a entirely you know, just road filled with thorns and minds,
Speaker 1: and I don't even know what is ahead. But what
Speaker 1: I do know is that the media is going to
Speaker 1: do the same old shit over and over again. But
Speaker 1: you have a choice, right, just like you choose to
Speaker 1: listen to and support me on wok F, on the
Speaker 1: New Abnormal, on democracy ish, you know, you have a
Speaker 1: choice right to save your sanity, to dip in and
Speaker 1: dip out because these motherfuckers have learned nothing. And I
Speaker 1: realized that a part of learning, and I said this,
Speaker 1: you know, on one of my other shows, is that
Speaker 1: a part of learning and learning from one's mistake is
Speaker 1: to first identify the fact that you made a mistake
Speaker 1: that you were trying to then learn from so you
Speaker 1: don't repeat it. That's not what corporate media has done, right.
Speaker 1: They don't believe that they made any mistakes in twenty
Speaker 1: sixteen because their shareholders and their CEOs living high on
Speaker 1: the hob doesn't matter that democracy it has backslid, doesn't
Speaker 1: matter that Republicans have you know, opened up Pandora's box
Speaker 1: in terms of the shredding of our constitutions, right like,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter to them so long as the wealth
Speaker 1: and the money keep flowing for those at the top.
Speaker 1: So you have a choice, though, as a viewer, as
Speaker 1: a cable subscriber, to fucking cut the cord and turn
Speaker 1: them off, to demand better, you know, and to put
Speaker 1: your money in places that are actually going to tell
Speaker 1: you the truth, the unvarnished truth. Because this isn't even
Speaker 1: about just like opinion versus so whatever. Any fucking historian
Speaker 1: that is following fascism, authoritarianism, that rites on tyranny, that
Speaker 1: writes on you know, falling empires can tell you where
Speaker 1: the fuck we are. We just want to believe that
Speaker 1: America is somehow better and it's not gonna happen to us.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, we're in the crumpling, just like we're
Speaker 1: in the climate crisis, just like we're in you know,
Speaker 1: racial terror. But we still have choices, and that's what
Speaker 1: I want people to understand. And one of those choices
Speaker 1: is genuinely, you know, the choice to vote, the choice
Speaker 1: to lift your voice and your vote and get as
Speaker 1: many people registered. And you know me because I say
Speaker 1: that we need both, and you know, which is why
Speaker 1: I'm proud of the strikes that are happening right now.
Speaker 1: I'm proud of workers across industries. We have more power
Speaker 1: then we give ourselves credit for, and it's time we
Speaker 1: remember that and operate in that way. Coming up next
Speaker 1: is my conversation with Claudia Joli Ferla, who is the
Speaker 1: executive director of an incredible organization, Move Texas. And today
Speaker 1: is National voter Registration Day, friends, and I urge you
Speaker 1: that if you are living in Red state, make sure
Speaker 1: that you were still registered to vote and somebody didn't
Speaker 1: kick you off the ballot. That if you have people
Speaker 1: in your lives that have never voted before, take them
Speaker 1: to a place to go and register to vote. Do
Speaker 1: what you can where you can in your part of
Speaker 1: the world and universe right and then be done with it.
Speaker 1: But this coming up, this conversation actually did provide me
Speaker 1: with a lot of hope and with a lot of
Speaker 1: faith that there are still good people doing good things
Speaker 1: in this world, and Claudia Joli Ferla is definitely one
Speaker 1: of them. That conversation is coming up next, folks. I
Speaker 1: am very happy to welcome to wok F Daily for
Speaker 1: the very first time, Claudia Joli Ferla, who is the
Speaker 1: executive director of Move, Mobilize, Organized Vote and Empower, which
Speaker 1: is a Texas grassroots, nonpartisan nonprofit organization building power in unrepresentative,
Speaker 1: under representative youth communities through civic education, leadership development, and
Speaker 1: issue advocacy. Claudia, welcome. First, give us give us some
Speaker 1: more in depth understanding of of why move and what
Speaker 1: is important about what you all are doing right now
Speaker 1: in Texas.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Danielle, so it's so nice to see you nice.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me on your show.
Speaker 2: And hi to all the listeners. If you're a young
Speaker 2: person looking to get involved, this is the podcast for you.
Speaker 2: A little bit about Move Texas. We actually started in
Speaker 2: twenty thirteen as a student chapter organization at the University
Speaker 2: of Texas and San Antonio, when some local young people
Speaker 2: came together and said, Hey, we want to make a meaningful,
Speaker 2: meaningful change happen in our upcoming city council elections. And
Speaker 2: their theory of change was simple, if we register and
Speaker 2: talk to our peers about about the upcoming election, we
Speaker 2: can make sure that our voices, our lift experiences are
Speaker 2: represented at the ballot box and beyond. And from what
Speaker 2: started as a small student chapter organization, we've grown into
Speaker 2: now a statewide organization that's servicing many communities across Texas
Speaker 2: with a mission of building the political power of young people,
Speaker 2: and we're proud to do that through civic engagement. We
Speaker 2: are an organization that throws it down on voter registration,
Speaker 2: voter education, and turnout issue advocacy. We are an organization
Speaker 2: that advocates for voting rights, climate action, and criminal justice
Speaker 2: at local city council, local commissioner's court, and also at
Speaker 2: the state legislature. And an organization that most importantly works
Speaker 2: to build the leadership development of young people, understanding that
Speaker 2: we want to make sure that every single young person
Speaker 2: that is turning out to vote with turning out to
Speaker 2: vote with us for the first election, become lifetime organizers
Speaker 2: and the leaders of tomorrow. And so in many ways,
Speaker 2: Move Texas is a political home for many young people
Speaker 2: in our state at a time that is so crucial
Speaker 2: right where we need their voices, their leadership, their experiences
Speaker 2: at the front and center of the conversation on politics.
Speaker 1: What is the age range of the young people that
Speaker 1: you're working with and what are some of the techniques
Speaker 1: and tactics that you use in order to to get
Speaker 1: young people involved with move.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so we are really proud to be an organization
Speaker 2: that serves a base of eighteen through thirty year olds,
Speaker 2: although our leadership dement programs are specifically focused on young
Speaker 2: people between the ages of eighteen and twenty four, One
Speaker 2: of the ways, you know, the first way in which
Speaker 2: a young person more than likely talks to a Move
Speaker 2: Texas organizer is on their college campuses. We have amazing
Speaker 2: full time staff who essentially engage a young person in
Speaker 2: the conversation of are you registered to vote? What is
Speaker 2: the information that you need in order to you know,
Speaker 2: in order for your participation to happen, and what are
Speaker 2: the issues that you care most about, and how can
Speaker 2: we empower empower you right to become a civically engaged
Speaker 2: citizen in your community and an active organizer in the state.
Speaker 2: And so we have different tactics. Like I said, voter
Speaker 2: registration is often the first step into a young person
Speaker 2: really becoming civically engaged throughout their lifetime. But then our
Speaker 2: hope is to continue that conversation, and so we bring
Speaker 2: them up what we call a ladder of engagement. We
Speaker 2: have two amazing leadership development programs. One is our campus
Speaker 2: organizer Student Chapter program. So if you're a young person
Speaker 2: in Texas attending higher an institution of higher learning, more
Speaker 2: than likely we will have a chapter locally in your
Speaker 2: community that you can get involved in. And so many
Speaker 2: of our young advocates and young organizers learn how to
Speaker 2: organize through participation in their student chapter organizations. A lot
Speaker 2: of them run their own capstorm projects centered on some
Speaker 2: of the issues that we organize around. And then the
Speaker 2: second program that I'm really really excited to always talk
Speaker 2: about is our National Artists of Texas Fellows Program, which
Speaker 2: really hones in on building the leadership skills and the
Speaker 2: deep skills that artists need in order to become also
Speaker 2: leaders in our movement. You know, there's so many ways,
Speaker 2: and history tells us right of how art has been
Speaker 2: so important in the way that we communicate about the issues,
Speaker 2: especially with young people. Right, we don't really want to
Speaker 2: talk about all of the policy wonky things that happen
Speaker 2: sometimes that the legislature are at local city council government,
Speaker 2: but art is a really beautiful way and how we
Speaker 2: can help digest this information and also make politics fun
Speaker 2: and hopeful and exigitning for many mirror generations to come.
Speaker 1: You know, Claudia, I love all of this, and I
Speaker 1: particularly love the aspect of kind of using different cultural tools,
Speaker 1: whether it be art or music like you mentioned as
Speaker 1: a way to engage youth, because you know, oftentimes as
Speaker 1: we have a presidential election season come around is when
Speaker 1: we start to talk about this demographic in the media,
Speaker 1: and they're not spoken about in the best way, right,
Speaker 1: It's always in negative terms of they're not going to
Speaker 1: turn out to vote, they don't care. What are some
Speaker 1: of the things that you hear from young people. When
Speaker 1: your folks are out on college campuses, you know, working
Speaker 1: to get folks registered to vote about what are they
Speaker 1: feeling about the climate that they are living in? What
Speaker 1: are they feeling in this state of Texas where you
Speaker 1: know your governor is right up there with DeSantis in
Speaker 1: Florida in the ways in which he is trying to
Speaker 1: really suppress the vote, suppress the voice, suppress movement, and
Speaker 1: criminalize you know, immigrants and undocumented people in the state.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the word hopefulness, and so I'm just interested
Speaker 1: to hear what are some of the reasons why some
Speaker 1: young people want to get engaged and what are some
Speaker 1: of the reasons that stop them, you think from getting engaged.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I think Move Texas Right as a testament
Speaker 2: to the fact that young people care and care deeply
Speaker 2: about their communities and care deeply about their families and
Speaker 2: the future that we hope to leave behind for future
Speaker 2: generations to come. Organizations like Move Texas Full Stop would
Speaker 2: not exist if it weren't for really the hard work
Speaker 2: and passion of young people all across the state. So
Speaker 2: I want to start from that point. I think the
Speaker 2: second point to make is that young people are issue
Speaker 2: voters first, right, They are not necessarily in this fight
Speaker 2: because they want to see one party or another party
Speaker 2: elected over another party. They are here because they care
Speaker 2: about the freedom to vote, the freedom to decide if
Speaker 2: and when they want to choose to start a family,
Speaker 2: the freedom to leave behind a livable and a clean
Speaker 2: air and livable planet for other generations to come, and
Speaker 2: the freedom to fight back against some of these awful,
Speaker 2: awful things that we're seeing happen at the legislature. Young
Speaker 2: people are also really pissed because we've been fighting for
Speaker 2: essential human rights, especially in a state like Texas. And
Speaker 2: what we have seen with the participation of young voters
Speaker 2: increasing by almost six hundred percent since the last presidential election,
Speaker 2: is that young people are motivated more than ever. And
Speaker 2: let me just walk you through some facts and figures.
Speaker 2: Also in Texas, right, young Texans, young Texans and in
Speaker 2: our state are comprised one third of the electorate. We
Speaker 2: are one of the youngest states in the nation. And
Speaker 2: not only are we, you know, the largest part of
Speaker 2: the electorate, we're also part we're also the most diverse
Speaker 2: generat voting generation in history, and we are more progressive
Speaker 2: and more fired up than ever, and so this all
Speaker 2: means that we should be seeing the diversity right of
Speaker 2: our issue, of the issues that we care about, of
Speaker 2: the of the backgrounds that we represent, also represented in
Speaker 2: an inclusive democracy that welcomes young people, that welcomes us
Speaker 2: into the process. Young people also, right in Texas are are,
Speaker 2: like I said, are mad because we have a governor
Speaker 2: and out of touch politicians who are not actively responding
Speaker 2: to our needs. And so what we expect from our
Speaker 2: democracy is what all of us expect from our democracy,
Speaker 2: which are real issues, real leaders who take our issues
Speaker 2: seriously and actually pay attention to policy solutions that we
Speaker 2: know are best to represent and benefit our communities.
Speaker 1: What are some of the top issues, Because you say
Speaker 1: young people are issue voters, right, They're not just blankedly
Speaker 1: putting a D or an R or you know, an
Speaker 1: I next to their name and kind of voting down
Speaker 1: the ticket. They're voting issue by issue. What are some
Speaker 1: of the top issues that young folks in Texas are
Speaker 1: saying this is the reason why I'm getting out the vote.
Speaker 2: So many different issues. I think one of the top
Speaker 2: issues for young people is addressing the ongoing climate crisis. Right,
Speaker 2: we recognize that our generation is going to bear the
Speaker 2: worst effects of climate change, and that we have a
Speaker 2: responsibility to ensure right that we're holding elected officials accountable
Speaker 2: to take action for generations to come in addressing this
Speaker 2: real cloud crisis. You know, young people also care about
Speaker 2: advancing LGBTQ equality. We know that we are a generation
Speaker 2: that is comprised of many different gender identities, different sexual orientations,
Speaker 2: and again we should be seeing the diversity reflected into
Speaker 2: the people we're electing into office and the policies that
Speaker 2: we're enacting in our communities. Young people also are really
Speaker 2: passionate about voting rights, right. You mentioned what part of
Speaker 2: your question earlier was what is it the kid keeps
Speaker 2: young people out of the process. It's not necessarily a
Speaker 2: lack of wanting to be a part of the process,
Speaker 2: but rather that we live in a state that doesn't
Speaker 2: have access to online voter registration, that has done everything
Speaker 2: it can everything has done everything it can right to
Speaker 2: keep young people out of the process, with the removal
Speaker 2: of campus polling locations, which we know is an essential
Speaker 2: place where young people are able to access the ballot box.
Speaker 2: In so many other ways in which our vote is
Speaker 2: currently being suppressed, young people also like me, you know,
Speaker 2: young immigrants like me care about fixing or broken immigration system. Right.
Speaker 2: I am a doctor recipient. I cannot vote, but I
Speaker 2: know that through organizing, right, we will get to a
Speaker 2: day where we have access to a pathway citizenship for
Speaker 2: more than eleven million undocumented immigrants in this country and
Speaker 2: so many more issues. And like I said, we're mad, right,
Speaker 2: We're mad because we are seeing firsthand the way that
Speaker 2: out of touch extremist politicians are taking our rights away
Speaker 2: and we're continuing to show up and organized to ensure
Speaker 2: that we're protecting those rights not only for our generation,
Speaker 2: but for our communities as well.
Speaker 1: Buddy, let me ask you this on a personal note,
Speaker 1: Thank you for sharing with us the fact that you're
Speaker 1: a DOCTA recipient and that you can't vote. So what
Speaker 1: has motivated you to make this your life's work?
Speaker 2: Yeah, So, Danielle, I want to take you back maybe
Speaker 2: a little over ten twelve years ago, so many years
Speaker 2: here in Texas doing this work. But for me, it
Speaker 2: really was when the first REMAC failed to pass Congress
Speaker 2: at the national level. At the time, there were no
Speaker 2: protections of the doctor program did not exist essentially, and
Speaker 2: so It was really inspiring to see other young people
Speaker 2: like me right who did not have the protections against deportation,
Speaker 2: coming out to share their stories, coming out to organize
Speaker 2: their communities, talking to voters, rit eligible voters in their
Speaker 2: communities about why their vote is so important in the
Speaker 2: context also of our futures, and really that inspired me
Speaker 2: to get involved. I started making a few phone calls
Speaker 2: for a couple of candidates that I supported, that supported
Speaker 2: my issues, and that was my way to ensure that
Speaker 2: I can bring my voice to the table despite the
Speaker 2: fact that I could not vote. I think that in
Speaker 2: many ways, organizing is the tool that saves our lives,
Speaker 2: that saves our genera saves generations to come, and it's
Speaker 2: something that we've learned from even our ancestors in previous
Speaker 2: movements across history.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's extraordinary, and I so commend you and
Speaker 1: the work that you're doing, particularly as somebody that doesn't
Speaker 1: that is trying to protect the right that you don't
Speaker 1: even have yourself, I think is really like extraordinary. And
Speaker 1: I want to talk, you know, to a little bit
Speaker 1: about the measures that your governor has taken to try
Speaker 1: and either throwout people's you know, voter registration. How do
Speaker 1: you you know, and the folks that move stay hopeful
Speaker 1: when you know that one you have a governor that
Speaker 1: you know, through the course of many climate climate crises
Speaker 1: that that state has fixed I mean that that state
Speaker 1: has seen has refused to fix like electrical grids, has
Speaker 1: refused to do anything that would deter the kinds of
Speaker 1: storms and flooding and winters that you have all been facing.
Speaker 1: How do you continue to push that? And then two again,
Speaker 1: I like I said, has literally thrown out voter registration,
Speaker 1: has you know, thrown away ballot boxes, has shut down
Speaker 1: registration in you know, particularly deep people of color areas
Speaker 1: in your state. And how do you push back against
Speaker 1: those really insidious tactics that his party has been a
Speaker 1: part of.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so Danielle, I'd love to take a minute
Speaker 2: to talk about the fact that for many viewers right,
Speaker 2: or many people who live outside of Texas, they see
Speaker 2: Texas and they think, Oh, Texas is a lost hope
Speaker 2: or oh Texas is a red state. And I like
Speaker 2: to push back against that narrative. We unmoved Texas like
Speaker 2: to push back against that narrative because Texas is a
Speaker 2: voter suppress state. Right, Like I mentioned earlier, we don't
Speaker 2: have access to online voter registration. We have to register
Speaker 2: to vote thirty days before a deadline. I'm sorry, thirty
Speaker 2: days before an election. We don't have access to what
Speaker 2: other states have, such as same day voter registration, automatic
Speaker 2: voter registration, and sometimes we don't even have access right
Speaker 2: to even campus polling locations or equitable locations within our
Speaker 2: communities to be able to cast that ballot. And this
Speaker 2: is just all to say that there is and again
Speaker 2: an extremist party in our state right that sees the
Speaker 2: writing on the wall, that sees the fact that young people,
Speaker 2: young people of color, comprise so much of the electorate
Speaker 2: and are hungry, hungry to participate, and so all of
Speaker 2: these voting voter suppression methods are literally done and conducted
Speaker 2: in order for them to hold on to cynical power.
Speaker 2: So how do we fight back? I think the answer simple.
Speaker 2: We fight back through organizing. You know, in this most
Speaker 2: recent legislative session this year, Move Texas, alongside our partners,
Speaker 2: was really proud to put together an event called Youth
Speaker 2: Power Youth Capital Takeover, where we work to mobilize over
Speaker 2: three hundred and fifty young people, And I'm getting literally
Speaker 2: chills as I talk about it. Three hundred and fifty
Speaker 2: young people mostly you know, from communities all across Texas,
Speaker 2: not just here in Austin, to bring them into a
Speaker 2: one day of action. You know, we spent the morning
Speaker 2: training them about you know, what are the issues that
Speaker 2: you care about. How can you tell your story to
Speaker 2: a legislator, How does the Texas legislative process even works, because,
Speaker 2: believe it or not, in Texas, it's really hard to
Speaker 2: pass a bill, and more so hard to pass a
Speaker 2: bill if it's a bill that's actually benefiting communities on
Speaker 2: the ground because of the current unfortunate composition that isn't
Speaker 2: reflective of our of us, right of people like me.
Speaker 2: And then we spend in afternoon taking over our capital.
Speaker 2: We actually worked with artists drag Queens right around the
Speaker 2: time when there was a bill to literally ban dract
Speaker 2: queens from our state, and shit did a beautiful presentation,
Speaker 2: a demonstration of our stories bringing art into the work.
Speaker 2: And it's been one of the most radical, one of
Speaker 2: the most hopeful events that and I mean I've been
Speaker 2: doing this work for a long time, that I've ever
Speaker 2: seen at the Capitol and with a strong message of
Speaker 2: saying that hey, this building, unlike many of you all think,
Speaker 2: does not belong to the politicians in this building, does
Speaker 2: not belong to the special interest, but rather belongs to
Speaker 2: the people. And young people have always history has shown
Speaker 2: us that young people are always at the forefront of
Speaker 2: fighting for change in our community. And that's exactly what
Speaker 2: that youth capital takeover has done. And so the answer simple,
Speaker 2: we continue to organize, we continue to educate our base,
Speaker 2: and we never give up.
Speaker 1: Claudia, you are truly inspiring. I mean that sincerely, like
Speaker 1: because I look for inspiration everywhere that I can, because
Speaker 1: these days sometimes get very dark, right, and so to
Speaker 1: think that you are out there organizing on the ground,
Speaker 1: doing this work, engaging young people in a very hostile state,
Speaker 1: gives me a lot of hope. So please tell the
Speaker 1: listeners how they can get involved, how they can support,
Speaker 1: how they can learn more about Move.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so, viewers listening out there, you can definitely visit
Speaker 2: our website Movetexas dot org to get plugged in with
Speaker 2: some of our ongoing working campaigns. This is our tenth
Speaker 2: year anniversary, so we have a lot in store for
Speaker 2: you next week as national Voter Registration Day, which means
Speaker 2: that we will be hosting countless of events across the states,
Speaker 2: including also a National Voter Registration Day concert in San
Speaker 2: Antonio to really bring out the celebration of what it
Speaker 2: means to participate in your democracy. And then if for
Speaker 2: some reason you're not in Texas and you can't get involved,
Speaker 2: we'd love to take your donations because those grass for
Speaker 2: donations is what really fuels the work and allows us
Speaker 2: to do the critical work in states like Texas that
Speaker 2: we know not only impact our states, but really impact
Speaker 2: the country right because if we want to change the country,
Speaker 2: it starts with Texas and doing this work from the
Speaker 2: ground up.
Speaker 1: Claudia, thank you so much for making the time for
Speaker 1: ok APP. Thank you for the work that you're doing,
Speaker 1: and I hope that you know as election season really
Speaker 1: get presidential election season really gets going in the next year,
Speaker 1: that you will come back and tell us about the
Speaker 1: progress that you're making, the work that you're doing, and
Speaker 1: just continue to encourage more people to get involved. Really
Speaker 1: appreciate you.
Speaker 2: Now, thank you Danielle for the invitation and anytime open
Speaker 2: door policy. At Move Texas, we love nothing more than
Speaker 2: talking about the power of young people and the power
Speaker 2: of organizing. Thanks so much.
Speaker 1: That is it for me today. Dear friends on Woke
Speaker 1: ap as always, Power to the people and to all
Speaker 1: the people. Power, Get woke and stay woke as fun