WEBVTT - Modeling Possibility 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:14.640 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to wok F Daily with 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:19.320 Meet your Girl Danielle Moody, Recording from the Home Bunker. 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:23.400 The folks, I'm excited about on today's conversation, which is 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:28.120 uh will be coming up shortly with Justin Lofton, who 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:33.159 was recently elected to local office in Mississippi. And you know, 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:35.280 I'm going to tell you you're going to want to 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:40.160 listen to this interview because what is surprising about Justin 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:44.400 is one, he is young, he is black, and he 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:48.800 is also openly bisexual. Those are not the things that 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:52.720 we think about when we necessarily think about Mississippi and 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:57.840 a new elected official. So his story is coming up 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:00.880 on how he made what many would thing to be 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:05.720 the impossible possible. But before we get into that conversation, 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:09.400 I just want to talk about a couple of things. 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:19.000 Which is first George Santos, like, what a fucking disaster 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:23.240 of a human being. Twenty three charges I think that 0:01:23.319 --> 0:01:28.160 he has against him now finds himself on cameo, which 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:30.319 is a site that you can go to to get 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:36.880 celebrities from A to apparently Z record messages for you 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:41.400 for fee. And George Santos clearly hasn't grifted enough because 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:45.000 he's recently joined that platform, which I'm like, who the 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:47.400 fuck is gonna pay? But maybe people will and it'll 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:49.240 be like a funny joke, but the joke will be 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:52.600 on you, because what you're doing is just continuing to 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:56.680 fund somebody like this. The other piece about George Santos 0:01:56.800 --> 0:02:01.639 is that you know he now that he's gone, makes 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:07.960 the Republicans very very very paper thin majority even slimmer, 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:11.400 and I think that we would all do ourselves a 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:17.960 good service by looking at his expulsion as an opportunity 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:22.840 to regain the House from the least functional House of 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:26.120 Representative session since the Great Depression. 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:29.200 I'm not saying it. That's what's coming out of news reports, 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:34.000 which should be embarrassing, but apparently it takes an outward 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:38.600 grifter like George Santos to make the Republicans move from 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:44.040 their Orange Jesus worshiping into recognizing that maybe this guy 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:48.640 is not the vibe that we want for our party. 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:52.880 It's amazing to me that they can expel Santos, who 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:56.560 basically would not have existed if not for Donald Trump 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:59.799 being the blueprint on how to fucking grift off of 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:06.559 your constituents, right like Donald Trump, president former twice impeached, 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:11.800 multiply indicted former president of the United States used his 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:16.120 hotel that was in walking distance to the White House 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:22.240 as a way to use his political influence to gain 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:30.240 monetarily right for both himself and his kids. But like, oh, 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:34.280 you want to talk about George Santos's ethics violations, and 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:37.840 I'm like, Donald Trump has a bevy of them, but 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:41.720 we don't pay attention to that. It's just like, I 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:44.920 don't know. I want to say that it's hypocrisy at 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:49.280 its best, but I mean, that's what the Republican Party does. Nonetheless, 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:52.480 George Santos is out. Maybe you'll see him or get 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:56.640 a cameo video for the Happy Holidays or Hanukkah where 0:03:56.680 --> 0:04:00.680 he'll say something to the effect of happy Jewish Holiday. 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:04.840 What a piece of trash, but so perfectly associated with 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:09.280 the Republican Party, and you know who they are, who 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:13.840 they are and what they embrace. Sadly, Matt Gates is 0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:18.120 so upset that Republicans wouldn't let this play out because 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:22.480 winning is more important than having any type of integrity 0:04:22.680 --> 0:04:26.919 or values. But you know, does this shock anyone coming 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:32.080 from Matt Gates props not so coming up next, Dear friends, 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:36.839 my interview with Justin Loft it. I hope that you 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:44.240 enjoy it. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, Folks. 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:48.960 I am very excited to welcome to OKF Daily for 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:54.920 the first time, a newly elected Justin Locksim, who will 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:59.320 start your tenure as the next Pike County District one 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:04.719 supervisor in January of twenty twenty four and it'll be 0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:08.800 a four year term. And what is amazing aside from 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:10.760 I mean, as I was going through the bio, I 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:13.560 said in Mississippi. 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:23.800 Got elective, we sure first out black bisexual man who unseated, 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:28.440 by the way, a twenty four year incumbent, Is that correct, 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:31.760 a twenty four year incumbent in McComb, Mississippi. 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:35.320 Talk to me first of all about McComb, Mississippi, and 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:40.160 then why you decided to run and think you winning 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:41.520 was possible. 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:44.919 Yeah, thank you for that, and first thank you for 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:45.440 having me on. 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:49.160 I want to say that I truly appreciate this forum 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:53.480 to share space. So McCombe is located in Pike County 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:56.360 and Pikee County is a proximate about thirteen thousand people, 0:05:56.880 --> 0:06:00.600 and so with this particular seat, it actually is not 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:03.720 only the city of Macombe, but also the town of 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:07.360 Summit as well. Everything that kind of lies, what I 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:08.960 would say, in the more. 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:13.080 Eastern part of the county and so that little region. 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:19.840 And what really inspired me to run for office was 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:22.640 when I drove around my community. It's a simple fact 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.479 that it did not look like the way it used 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:29.479 to be. And I started to question whether we were 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.760 electing the person or whether we were electing. 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:34.080 The purpose in our community. 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:37.599 And I think as I continued to dig and do 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:40.680 research and really try to figure out, like, Okay, here 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:43.400 are these factors that could be against me if I 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:48.240 decided to run, But what are the opposition details that 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:50.960 I could utilize to figure out like where my opponent 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:54.400 is weak and maybe why our community looks the way 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:57.960 it looks. And as I Doug, I began to uncover 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:03.360 his lack of responsibility or accountability. We're completing road inventory 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:06.240 reports and if you drive on our roads, they're dilapidating 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:09.760 right beneath us. Potholes everywhere in a mostly black community, 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:12.600 and we expect our black leaders to show up. 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:16.600 For us when we elect them you look at the businesses. 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:21.000 That are in the middle of our community that we're 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:24.480 black owned. At one point they no longer really exist, 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:26.360 with the exception of two of them. And of course, 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:29.120 in our part of our community, we have our own 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:34.200 little community ecosystem, our economic system as well. Where that 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:38.200 business drives employment, it drives opportunities for families in their areas, 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:42.640 access to nutrition and gas and important resources and necessities. 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:45.440 So I begin to look at that and the economic 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:48.960 development factors, and I said, well, I have nothing to lose. 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:51.800 It's never been my passion to run for office. But 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:55.960 at the same time, I can't expect change to happen 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:58.000 if I'm not willing to step up myself and be 0:07:58.120 --> 0:07:58.800 the change. 0:07:59.040 --> 0:07:59.560 I love this. 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:01.560 I love the fact that, first of all, you grew 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:05.280 up in this area, right, so you have your own 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.520 perspective and insight on how things were and what they 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:13.000 look like. Now, give us some idea of you mentioned 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:16.000 a mostly black so give us some idea of the demographics. 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:20.880 And you know, as you're beginning to think about your opponent, 0:08:21.680 --> 0:08:27.080 how your being a part of the LGBTQ community could 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:31.080 be seen as a death set right, as a blockade 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:34.040 to you being able to win this seat. 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:38.760 Yeah, thank you for that question. So my district, which 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:40.880 is District one, is comprised of about. 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:43.480 Sixty eight to seventy percent Black people. 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:46.199 Majority of those folks are Democrats. 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:51.000 The district has since expanded to create opportunities for more 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:54.000 educated and more diverse groups of people to be a 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:57.600 part of our district, but still heavily Democratic. Most of 0:08:57.640 --> 0:08:59.960 the folks that live in our district, not all of them, 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:03.160 but a good number of them are more distressed. So 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:07.480 you'll see a lot of apartment communities that are some 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:10.320 ways shape or form dilapidating things of that nature. You'll 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:13.640 see a lot of families in our community that may 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:18.199 be benefiting from much needed social insurance programs that are 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:21.040 helping them to stay above while they pulled themselves up 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:25.040 by the bootstrap. And so, given the context of the 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:28.160 environment that I live in and where I come from, 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:32.679 it's very hard for anyone from the LGBTQ community to run, 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:36.040 and especially when but I decided that when I ran, 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:37.959 I was going to run very hard, and I was 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:40.360 gonna put every resource I had into it, including moving 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:42.719 savings out of my account to make it happen. So 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:46.600 I was fifteen thousand dollars campaign altogether, which is big 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:49.840 for my type of race. But that being said, some 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:51.880 of the challenges that I felt like I faced was 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:55.400 that my opponent would certainly use my sexuality against me 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:59.000 as political ammunition to say why I'm not. 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:00.760 The right ca for the job. 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:06.280 That he would utilize the fact that my job was 0:10:06.320 --> 0:10:10.600 one of those jobs that really had me travel some 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:13.640 contractually to do work, and that oh, I'm not from here, 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:16.559 I don't pay taxes here, and lo and behold, that's. 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:17.400 Exactly what happened. 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:21.880 In fact, there is this one instance where my opponent actually. 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:24.440 Was around my dad. 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:26.440 My dad walked up to him and just wanted to 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:29.439 have a general conversation about you know, hey, I don't 0:10:29.480 --> 0:10:31.439 appreciate you, you know, really coming at my son the 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:32.400 way that you're doing it. 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:33.520 You know, can we tone. 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:35.640 Down that type of rhetoric, the narrative that you're presenting 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:39.120 and just run on our platforms. He gets upset with 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:42.320 my dad and it becomes this really aggressive. 0:10:41.840 --> 0:10:46.240 Thing and he reaches for a gun and tells me 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:49.400 a punk ass bagget in the process. No, and so 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:50.439 here I am. 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:54.200 I'm like, okay, here's this twenty four year incumbent who 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:57.200 is supposed to be representative of all the people, who 0:10:57.320 --> 0:11:00.240 is also seventy four years old at the time, got 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:03.760 in when he was fifty one, and he lacks the 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:09.400 very basic principle of respect and equality and equity for 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:13.440 the mere existence of a person of my lifestyle where 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:15.880 I come from, and so I knew those are going 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:18.880 to be barriers, but I didn't let those things stop me. 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:22.440 I actually utilized that as motivation to work twice as hard. 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:25.160 If you're going to come at me, I'm the type 0:11:25.200 --> 0:11:29.040 of gonna be jazz and that's just how I see things, 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:32.120 And so it didn't deter me. Of course, my feelings 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:35.720 were hurt because I really looked up to him throughout 0:11:35.720 --> 0:11:38.760 the years as a pillar in our community. 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:41.600 So to have you say those things, it was super hurtful. 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:45.920 But also he put his hand on his gun and 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:50.640 said those things like that's that's an attempted hate crime, right, 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:54.080 like that's not so just I mean and aside, but 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:57.120 not really did you press any charges or did. 0:11:57.000 --> 0:11:59.720 You just well, he didn't do it to me. He 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:01.480 did it dad, reaching your dad. 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:04.959 Okay, this you weren't there, Yeah. 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:07.560 This is regurgitated information to me from the people who 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:08.920 were around the scene. 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:09.360 At the got it. 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:16.840 I mean that is but that that type of vehement hate, 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:22.120 right that, like your father is saying, can't you run on? 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:24.560 Like you twenty four years you would think that you 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:27.760 have a platform to run on, right, but most likely 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:32.360 haven't been challenged in all that time in any considerable way. 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:36.440 That's the thing that gets me so angry, is that 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:40.080 what I realize is you know, and you're saying this 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:42.840 is a largely democratic place, that this is not. It 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:47.040 wasn't about oh, this republican said X, Y and Z, right, 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:50.520 like this is somebody that supposedly has the same political 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:56.199 affiliation as you do, but was using your sexual orientation 0:12:56.400 --> 0:13:07.720 as a way to demean and potentially threaten you. Yeah, 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:11.920 so when you were deciding to double down, right, to 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:16.520 knock on more doors and to create a platform, you know, 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:21.160 what were some of your constituents' pauses? And then what 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:24.360 were who the people obviously event you know, did have 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:27.040 your back because you're you know, newly elected and will 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:29.880 begin your term. But talk to us about some of 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:32.800 you know, what would you come face to face with 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:34.400 when you were door knocking. 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:41.120 Honestly, to my surprise, I was actually a welcome face. Now, 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:44.400 I think more of the pushback came from, here's this 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:47.760 young person, and we've had another young person to run 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:50.000 for office. I think he got elected at age of 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:53.320 twenty one and he was elected as to city council, 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:58.760 and he, in my opinion, lacked a level of mature 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:00.920 to show up in the space, which caused some friction 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:03.280 and it turned some of the voters away from you 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:06.160 letting young people. And so a lot of the question was, well, 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:08.040 how are you going to be different than this young person? 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:11.680 What makes you qualified? And in our community, yes, it's who. 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:14.280 Your mom and them. Well you're going to church it you. 0:14:14.280 --> 0:14:17.560 Know, that's the southern thing. And so it was being 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:20.160 able to name drop, Oh my dad is so, and so, 0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:24.040 my family is this, and that allowed the welcome conversation. 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:25.600 But I didn't see. 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:28.360 Those things as really like a barrier to connect with people, 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:34.560 because my approach wasn't about all these identities that I 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:37.520 bring to the table. My approach was coming to folks, 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:41.000 not trying to sell myself, but to listen, after listen 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:43.600 to the interviews, how my name is justin Lawton. If 0:14:43.600 --> 0:14:45.240 you have a I want to know what you care 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:49.360 about in our community and some ideas that you may 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:51.320 have to fix it. And people will let you sit 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:53.120 on their porch and on their couch and they talk 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:55.640 to you about it, and that's when you introduce, Well, 0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:57.920 I'm running for this office and I love to have 0:14:58.000 --> 0:14:59.800 your support, and this is the plan that I've come 0:14:59.840 --> 0:15:00.200 up with. 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:01.200 Now. 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:04.160 Of course I have my general kind of platform and plan, 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:09.680 but in these conversations I'm able to really gather additional 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:13.680 ideas or solutions from the people. That way, it's for 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:16.400 them and buy them and they can see me putting 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:19.080 their ideas and pin to paper in the process of 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:23.080 it as well to expand those platform ideas. So not 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:26.960 too many barriers in that sense of the voters. And 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:28.440 I'll be honest with you, not a lot of them 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:30.440 ask me about my sexuality. 0:15:31.720 --> 0:15:32.840 So let me ask you this. 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:38.680 You know, the south right has been very much and 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:44.120 offices outside of national offices. I think Democrats in general 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:47.160 have not paid attention to right. When we're talking about 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:50.480 school boards and city councils and superintendents and these things, 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:54.760 Democrats have allowed those spaces, in my humble opinion, to 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:57.760 just go by the wayside, let us concentrate on who's 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:01.160 in Congress and who's in the White House. What message 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:06.240 do you give to folks you know that they need 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:08.960 to pay attention to these offices and not let them go. 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:13.040 And why it is important for folks who continually look, 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:14.920 you know, what can I do? How can I be 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:17.880 of service? What should I do? Why it's important for 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:20.680 them to run for offices like yours. 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:23.480 Yeah, And I think it goes back to a basic 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:28.920 ended lesson for me is that what happens locally is 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:33.520 then what also impacts us nationally. And I say that 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:37.760 for those who might be interested in running, because oftentimes 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:40.880 people look at DC or what's happening at the state 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:43.960 level as like the major things. They don't recognize that 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:47.800 the infrastructure money that's disseminated down from DC to the 0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:51.080 state is then disseminated down to the counties for disbursement 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:54.920 for their everyday resources for them to have. 0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:56.880 Safe and reliable roads and bridges to drive on. 0:16:57.320 --> 0:16:59.960 They don't think about how the federal dollars come down 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:04.640 for Tana for our assistance benefits for people in our community, 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:09.359 and how our state legislature is. Yes, they're disseminating money down, 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:12.320 but it's also the role of the county and the 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:16.080 city government to create an equitable quality of life. Sometimes 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:19.480 streamlining those funds are creating access to those services and 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:23.400 funds as well. And so I think if any pop 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:25.520 body is going to run, they have to be able 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:28.160 to paint the road map about how all these things 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:32.480 kind of really meld together and how each whether it's 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:35.320 the down ballot races at the local level, the legislative 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:37.359 races are even at. 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:40.840 The federal level those elections, that they all work together 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:42.400 for the greater good of the community. 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:45.720 And you can't have one and not emphasize it without 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:46.840 having the others. 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:52.840 What advice do you give to justin to young queer 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:59.280 people right who are now being faced with a climate 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:02.679 that is incredibly hostile, which you know you experienced by 0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:06.280 virtue of telling the story about your dad and what 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:10.840 he had to face, what advice do you give to them, 0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:15.399 first as just people right, as just young people living 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:20.679 in environments towns you know that can be dangerous for 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:21.639 them to be out in. 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:26.119 Never settle. 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:34.200 For delineating parts of yourself to satisfy anybody. People will 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:35.840 either have to accept. 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:37.720 All of you or none of you. 0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:41.200 Because one of the things that I've had to learn, 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:43.879 and I will give this to any other queer candidates running, 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:48.479 is that I wasn't willing to curate some inauthentic version 0:18:48.720 --> 0:18:53.320 of me to be elected. And the main reason is 0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:56.959 that when it comes to my sexuality, maybe clothes are 0:18:57.040 --> 0:19:00.720 for closets, not people, not our identities. We are who 0:19:00.760 --> 0:19:03.680 we are and at the end of the day, recognizing 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:06.000 that it's not who you sleep with, who you love, 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:08.600 who you share space with, but it's about what you 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:10.320 do when you get into that boardroom, when you get 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:11.680 into that legislative seat, when you. 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:14.840 Get into Congress that matters. It's the impact. 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:21.280 Because if sexuality defines success, well, heterosexual people have owned 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:24.240 the public office for a long time and we send 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:25.000 a lot of failures. 0:19:25.040 --> 0:19:27.480 So it might be the right time. 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:29.880 In the right place for queer people to start running 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:33.200 and winning because we may be able to change things 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:34.000 that haven't been had to. 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:35.159 Be changed in a long time. 0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:45.160 Justin last question for you, what are you most excited 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:48.400 about come January twenty twenty four when you start your 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:49.160 four year term. 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:57.119 Good question. I'm excited about impact. I know that's very 0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:00.960 broad to say. But even before getting into office, I've 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:03.960 already written a grant to the Office of Juvenile Prevention 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:07.639 to help with juvenile diversion programs to reduce the burden 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:11.480 on our jails and save taxpayers money. I've already began 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:15.080 working with economic development, where there's a group of folks 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:18.200 who are looking at spaces in my district to. 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:21.000 Bring jobs, hundreds of jobs to the area. 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:23.440 So being a part of those conversations, so I want 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:26.879 to see those things flourish and come to life. What 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:31.679 I'm more excited about is proving that young people and 0:20:31.760 --> 0:20:36.439 queer people are the leaders that our society has been 0:20:36.480 --> 0:20:39.639 waiting on, and that when you've been given the chance 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:44.040 to show up and deliver, that we can do the job. 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:46.920 And so I want to prove to everybody in my community, 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:49.919 to every voter who may be hesitantly voted for me, 0:20:50.359 --> 0:20:53.560 that you made the right choice and that the results 0:20:54.240 --> 0:20:56.439 is driven by the impact that I've helped to make 0:20:56.480 --> 0:20:57.160 in our community. 0:20:57.280 --> 0:20:59.560 So that's what I'm looking forward to. 0:21:00.359 --> 0:21:03.680 Well, justin I wish you all of the success. I'm 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:08.000 so excited by the fact that you ran, that you 0:21:08.040 --> 0:21:10.800 had the courage to run, and that you won, but 0:21:10.840 --> 0:21:13.200 I think that you're going to You've already made impact 0:21:13.320 --> 0:21:16.800 because you've already shown that the you know, what some 0:21:16.960 --> 0:21:20.560 would have said was impossible is possible. And so being 0:21:20.640 --> 0:21:24.800 that possibility model, being able to show young black men, 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:28.840 young queer people, everyone who lives at the intersection of 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:33.040 multiple identities that they can, particularly in this really dark time, 0:21:33.160 --> 0:21:34.000 is incredible. 0:21:34.160 --> 0:21:36.280 So thank you, Thank you. 0:21:37.320 --> 0:21:38.920 I appreciate the opportunity to share. 0:21:44.320 --> 0:21:47.440 That is it for me today, Dear friends on woke 0:21:47.440 --> 0:21:50.840 app as always, power to the people and to. 0:21:51.000 --> 0:21:55.240 All the people. Power, get woke and stay woke as fuck. 0:22:00.119 --> 0:22:00.320 Yah.