WEBVTT - Love is a Renewable Resource (Nsé Ufot) 0:00:02.200 --> 0:00:05.880 Because we're trying to change the culture of democracy, changed 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:09.680 the culture of citizen participation. People roll their eyes and 0:00:09.760 --> 0:00:12.119 grown when they think about like having to show up 0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:15.840 and vote, Like its election season again, right, and we 0:00:15.960 --> 0:00:21.840 wanted to change that. Welcome to How the Citizen with 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:25.439 Baritune Day, a podcast that reimagined citizen as a verb, 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:29.200 not a legal status. This season is all about how 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:32.120 we practice democracy, what can we get rid of, what 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:34.560 can we invent, and how do we change the culture 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:38.240 of democracy itself. We're leaving the theoretical clouds and hitting 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:42.159 the ground with inspiring examples of people and institutions that 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:50.000 are showing us new ways to govern ourselves. The first 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:53.880 time I remember really getting involved in electoral politics was 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:59.800 as a resident of Somerville, Massachusetts. I had just graduated 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:02.440 from college and this guy named Ivy Green was running 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:04.840 for state Assembly. I liked what he was hoping to 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:07.840 do an office, and one day he was outdoor knocking 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:11.440 and asked me, would you join me in walking your neighborhood. 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:15.880 Now I had been asked to canvas, I'd been asked 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:18.480 to phone bank, I'd been asked to put stickers and 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:23.399 signs in the windows for candidates. I had never been 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:28.640 invited to campaign with them, so I said yes. Going 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:30.960 door to door with him. It felt like running for 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:35.319 office without all the responsibility of actually being the candidate, 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:39.320 and it made me see my neighborhood differently. I learned 0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:42.120 more about how people on my block experienced our city 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:45.800 and what and who they cared about. And I also 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:47.760 learned that I was living down the street from a 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:52.920 literal Confederate flag waving Nazi. Trust me, we walked away 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:57.360 from that house real quick. But despite that ugliness, what 0:01:57.560 --> 0:02:02.000 stuck with me twenty years later is A's invitation, the 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:04.760 invitation for me to get to know my neighbors and 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:07.040 to get a sense of the issues and realities that 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:09.760 influence how each of us vote. If we do at 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:15.360 all to build a healthier culture of democracy, we need 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:19.800 to address our collective role in deciding who operates it. Specifically, 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:23.200 we've got to talk about how it feels to vote. 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:31.080 I'll say it. The culture of voting is trash. It's 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:34.520 text messages from unknown numbers, people begging you for money. 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:38.720 It's folks selling your email address. I mean, come on, 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:43.080 it's people only showing up when they want something from you, 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:47.799 and never offering something in return, or if they do us, 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:50.320 not being able to trust that they'll follow through once 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:54.320 they're in office. And I could go on, because there's 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:58.000 a lot about voting in this country that feels bad, 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:03.680 But there's opportunity here too. We can create a culture 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:08.120 around voting that's inspired, one that highlights these pillars of 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:13.160 citizening as a verb, showing up and participating, investing in relationships, 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:18.280 understanding power, and valuing the collective. And I know it's 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:23.080 possible because there are people already building it. Voting rights 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:26.840 organizer and strategist in say Oufat is one of those people. 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:34.560 In our first two episodes of this season, Adrian Marie 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:38.920 Brown and John Alexander emphasized joy as necessary to infuse 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:42.680 into our practice and democracy, especially the practices that feel 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:47.000 like work. Well, what could feel more like work than voting? 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:51.320 For eight years, Insay served as the CEO of the 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:55.720 New Georgia Project in GP. This is a non partisan 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:59.760 organization founded by Stacy Abrams. Now Abrams you might remember 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:03.040 the former minority leader of the Georgia State Senate and 0:04:03.240 --> 0:04:06.560 two time candidate for the Governor of Georgia, or you 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:09.280 might remember her as the most famous Star Trek fan 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:13.040 you've ever heard of. Either way, n GP is dedicated 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:15.880 to registering and engaging the growing majority of people of 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:19.520 color and young people all across the state. For the 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:23.039 better part of the last decade, in Say worked tirelessly 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:27.279 to build this New Georgia, engaging and registering hundreds of 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:31.240 thousands of eligible voters, and in twenty twenty, her mobilization 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:34.880 efforts helped turn Georgia blue for the first time since 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:38.480 nineteen ninety two. I had to figure out how she 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:41.320 did it, so I spoke with her via zoom and 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:44.200 while we were talking, a get out the Vote volunteer 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:47.120 from the New Georgia Project knocked on one of our 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:51.320 live audience members doors. I'm not kidding you. Gotta stick 0:04:51.320 --> 0:05:00.440 around for that magic moment after the break in Say 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:03.440 Oofat on what it takes to build a better, more welcoming, 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:10.719 and fun voting culture. Our guest today is the former 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:14.919 CEO of the New Georgia Project Action Fund and the 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:19.320 New Georgia Project, which he describes as a statewide, multi racial, 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:23.920 multi ethnic, cross class, intergenerational movement that is breathing, inspiring, 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:28.600 and organizing a New Georgia and a New South into existence, 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:33.280 who welcome voting rights organizers, strategist and all around badass 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:38.120 and say oofat what's up and say hello Barrens today, 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:41.240 I'm so excited to be here. I'm excited too, Thank 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:44.240 you so much for being here with me. Now, the 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:47.240 premise of our show is that citizen is a verb, 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:51.840 not a sort of immigration legalistic now, but it's a 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:54.360 verb in that there's many ways for all of us 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:56.919 to shape our communities. And we tend to stress that 0:05:56.960 --> 0:06:00.719 this goes beyond voting, especially because so many people legally can. 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:05.000 But most of us know you because of your almost 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:09.400 singular focus on voting. So can you tell me what 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:12.360 does voting mean to you in the context of ensuring 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:17.359 that we actually practice this thing called democracy and self governance? Yeah, 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:19.320 I mean I would be if I'm going to be 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:24.039 a great parents with you in your audience. Voting is 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:28.560 a tactic. Right. We are at our core a power 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:32.440 building organization, right, And when we think about power and 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:36.360 the working definition in this sort of Georgia context, the 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:40.000 New Georgia Project context is the ability to stop bad 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:42.719 things from happening, but also ability to sort of shape 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:46.000 the world, shape the policy environment, shape laws, shape the 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:49.600 context in which we are living and loving and learning 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:53.080 and raising ourselves and our families. And so who has 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:58.200 power who doesn't, Who makes decisions for our communities, Who 0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:02.120 decides where my money is right and how much of 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:04.400 my money is being taken out. I used to be 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:07.480 a union rep long long time ago and a union lawyer, 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:10.120 and one of the unions I worked for was asked 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:13.240 me the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:17.280 So I represented the lunch ladies and custodio staff in 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:21.840 public schools, and people would often be like, well, what's 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:25.040 asked me? This tax that I'm paying? Right? And so 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:29.160 again the people taking money out of our checks, and 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:31.880 you have no idea what they are for. They are 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:35.320 decisions that are made, wars that are being fought, Climate 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:40.680 science as being ignored in our name, and so voting 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:46.160 gives us the ability to hire and fire these people 0:07:46.400 --> 0:07:50.600 who are making decisions about the city, the county, the 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:54.800 country that we live in. And as an employer, I 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:58.720 take that responsibility very seriously, and as a citizen, I 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:02.400 take that responsibility very seriously. And so do I think 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:04.680 it's a magic bullet. No, there are people who we 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:08.720 organize with. There are family members that we contemplate when 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:10.680 we think about the America that we want to live 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:13.360 in that don't have the ability to vote. Right, But 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:20.040 the under eighteen right, the currently or formally incarcerated, the 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:23.320 new Americans or people who have yet to become citizens 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:25.760 are a part of our communities, are a part of 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:29.360 our decision making. And so again, voting is but one 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:36.120 tactic in our overall quest to build power, to build 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:40.120 powerful communities where we make decisions that are in the 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:44.920 best interest of the whole tactic. Yes, seeing ourselves as 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:49.760 employers much more empowering perspective on what voting actually is 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:53.880 hiring and firing. So thank you for that. And especially 0:08:53.880 --> 0:08:57.080 when you actually meet these jokers. Can you have a 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:03.839 meta state legislator like exactly? And I think what comes 0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:07.520 across already and say, and I've seen you on a 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:10.400 thousand zooms and I've met you in person at least once. 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:14.360 Your vibe, your energy, your smile. Even if someone listening 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:16.240 to this can't see you, I think they can feel 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:18.800 and hear it, and it helps that message go down. 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:21.800 So let's keep that good energy going, you know, m GP. 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:26.599 By our research registered, over six hundred thousand people registered 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:29.079 to vote, and I want some context, said, you don't 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:30.480 have to spend a lot of time on this, but 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:35.120 just the origins of New Georgia Project and your origin 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:39.000 story within the organization. What are those two tales. Yeah, 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.360 so there's a woman in Georgia. Her name is Stacy 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:47.280 Abram oh from Star Trek. Yeah. Absolutely, you might know 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:49.920 from Star Trek. I know her from being best friends 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:57.160 with Common and Kerry Washington. Right. Stacy Abrams was the 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:00.000 minority leader of the Georgia State Legislature at the time. 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:03.880 We were introduced by a dear, dear, dear friend, a 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:07.000 mutual friend who was working with a Georgia Democratic Party. 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:10.720 I'm living in Canada at the time. I'm living in Ottawa. 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:17.480 You got out, I did keep bringing back in. Okay, 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:19.719 It's so funny because you are the King of the 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:23.760 Nurse and so you have been around interneting for quite 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:26.360 some time, and I know that you're familiar with the 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:29.640 threat that when things didn't go well, people would always 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:34.360 threaten to move to Canada. I actually did it and 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:38.200 was living and working and organizing in Ottawa for a 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:40.520 number of years. A very good friend came to visit 0:10:40.520 --> 0:10:42.679 me and said, are you coming home for the holidays? 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:45.959 Are you coming home for Christmas? Like you've met Mama Ufat. 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:48.200 Of course I'm coming home for Rusus. That's really not 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:51.200 an option. And she says, well, I would love to 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:53.920 introduce you to a state legislator. And I was such 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:55.920 a jerk at the time. I was like, I'm really 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:59.479 just coming to Atlanta to hang out and do irresponsible 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:01.440 things with my college friends. And She's like, but you 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:04.319 should have brunch and I was like, well, that's a 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:06.640 favorite pastime of mine, so of course you should have 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:11.000 led with that. So I have brunch with Stacy. On 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:15.720 New Year's Day twenty fourteen, she lays out this really 0:11:15.840 --> 0:11:19.400 powerful vision of the New Georgia project. At the time, 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:23.360 there were one point two million African Americans, Latinos, and 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:26.400 unmarried white women in the state of Georgia who were 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:30.520 eligible to vote and completely unregistered. Why that number mattered 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:34.840 is that also at the same time, the successful Republican 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:39.080 was beating the losing Democrat over and over and over 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:42.920 again a decade by a margin between two hundred and 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:48.800 three hundred thousand votes. So there were five times the 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:51.840 number of people of color, young folks, and unmarried women. 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:58.199 Then what was necessary to swing any election in Georgia, period, 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:01.120 full stop. But they weren't even eligible to participate because 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:03.400 they weren't registered to vote. And there are a lot 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:06.520 of organizations and leaders who were claiming that that was 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:08.640 their work, but nobody was doing this work at scale, 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:11.520 nobody was being really intentional about it, and people didn't 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:14.760 understand why folks kept falling off the voter rolls. So 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:17.240 she says, yes, let's register a million black people to vote. 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:19.240 And I was like, oh, that's adorable, and I gave 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:22.320 her like thirty reasons why it would not work. I 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:25.439 grew up in the Georgia Democratic Party, grew up in Atlanta, 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:29.200 have dealt with the Georgia Democratic Party of the eighties 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:37.160 and nineties. The Dixiecrats baratun Day here with a quick 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:40.640 explainer tunday for those who haven't heard the term or 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:45.080 don't understand the term. Dixiecrats refers to Southerners who seceded 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:48.360 from the Democratic Party in nineteen forty eight. They were 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:52.280 against the party ending racial segregation and extending civil rights 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:56.760 to black Americans. Thousands of Confederate flag waiving X Democrats 0:12:57.040 --> 0:13:00.240 formed a right wing splinter group called the States Rights 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:05.400 Democratic Party. This group pushed a white supremacist, segregationist agenda 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:07.640 and even ran a candidate in the nineteen forty eight 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:11.600 presidential election. While this failed third party officially dissolved that 0:13:11.679 --> 0:13:15.839 same year, the Dixiecrats influence on the Democratic Party, especially 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:20.920 in the South, has been lasting all right back to 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:25.120 Insa now with the Georgia Democratic Party of the eighties 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:31.000 and nineties. The Dixiecrats the sort of small c conservative 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:37.520 approach to building power, the gentleman's agreements between the Democratic 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:41.240 leaders and the Republican leaders that spoke to the needs 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:45.160 and priorities of a business class, and the elite fictions 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:47.880 and narratives about Atlanta being the city too busy to 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:51.440 hate while also being the city in the country with 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:54.360 like the worst income equality, particularly racial income in equality. 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:56.560 So like, there's these narratives that are like really really 0:13:56.600 --> 0:14:00.840 difficult to challenge, and a status quo and way to 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:04.360 do Southern politics and a way to do black politics. 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:07.640 So I hit her with all of that, and if 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:11.000 you know, Stacy, she had like thirty five reasons why 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:13.960 this absolutely could work. So we go back and forth, 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:16.280 we're doing back up the napkin math. I'm like, this 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:20.120 lady is brilliant but also delusional. Also, you're doing math 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:23.240 at brunch, which is not my idea of a great pleasure, 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:31.360 right listen, and our blurred status is certified. So we 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:34.800 have brunch, we go our separate ways. I get back 0:14:34.800 --> 0:14:36.840 on a plane and I got back to Canada and 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:39.520 I was like, that was nice. And then a couple 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:42.280 of months later, she calls me and she says it's time. 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:48.120 It's time to come home. There's music and it's like 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:52.040 a Wakonda esque vibe to it. It is time, my child, 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:56.480 It's time. I was ready. I packed up my truck 0:14:56.520 --> 0:14:59.480 and drove twenty four hours from Ottawa back to my 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:04.160 childhood bedroom in Atlanta. Wow. And started as the executive director, 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:08.240 eventually becoming the CEO of the New Georgia Project. Literally 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:11.840 like the next day, it's a dramatic move back. And 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:15.480 in the twenty four hour drive what pulled you? Was 0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:19.920 it the pangs of nostalgia? Was it Stacy's math plus charisma? 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:22.280 Was the healthcare in Canada not all it was cracked 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:25.640 up to be. No healthcare in Canada was amazing and 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:28.880 I was trying to get my whole family to move 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:32.960 with me. But you know what it was. So I'm 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:36.920 I was born in Nigeria and emigrated to the US 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:39.320 with my family when I was a young wom when 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:43.160 I was in elementary school, Okay, And you know, I 0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:46.680 became a US citizen with my mom in high school, 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:50.520 and my mom got a third job so that she 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:54.120 could hire an immigration attorney. And I was responsible for 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:57.640 making sure that we passed the citizenship exam, and having 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:03.400 studied the Constitution, studied this country's foundational documents, swore an 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:08.080 oath of allegiance. I'm a patriot. I love this country. 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:14.840 I am a radical, feminist, mouthy African working class kid 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:20.760 who grew up in the Deep South. Yeah. The vulnerability 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:25.000 that I sort of exist with, I think would have 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:27.240 put me. I would have been in jail if I 0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:31.280 were in Nigeria. With my commitment to free speech, my 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:35.000 commitment to challenging the status quo, there are very few 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:39.120 countries in the world where you can challenge leadership, challenge power, 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:42.960 challenge the government and still live to tell the story 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:45.760 about it. As we're seeing, you know, in Iran, in 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:50.920 China and another country by the time someone hears this. Yeah, 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:53.920 and so when I think about the opportunity to come 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:56.760 back home right that what I've known for a really 0:16:56.760 --> 0:16:59.960 long time is that Georgia wasn't a red state. George 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:04.600 isn't dominated by the GOP naturally, when you pull all 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:08.920 of its citizens, that there were one point two one 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:13.480 point three million people of color who were foreclosed and 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:16.760 not participating in the process at all. Why aren't people 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:19.600 voting when they get registered, Why aren't they making it 0:17:19.640 --> 0:17:22.280 onto the voter rules. Why do people go and vote 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:25.000 for president and then there's such a drop off on 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:27.919 the bottom of the ballot. What's happening with these elections 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:32.919 in Georgia and the opportunity to take my background and 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:40.440 marry and leverage technology with culture to have a more 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:45.679 representative democracy and contest for power in my home state. 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:48.359 Let me only jump in here because it's almost like 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:51.679 you're adding resolution to a simplistic picture most of us 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:55.640 have been presented with. And so we see, especially from 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:58.440 the outside and not the South at all, Georgia read 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:02.560 Georgia Republican, Georgia racist and people who vote for president 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:05.439 and don't vote locally was because they don't care you 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:08.399 know that we just have a very generally simplestic, generally 0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:13.680 binary and so you're coming in with this mathematical, technological, 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:17.399 but also cultural approach and you're helping people get in 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:20.560 the game. One of the ways that has stood out 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:24.119 to me about your work is not just vaguely registering voters, 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:25.840 as you said, a lot of people claim to be 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:29.000 doing that, some actually do. But then you have this 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:33.320 concept of super voters, and you wanted to create supervoters, 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:36.240 which sounds like some sort of magical serum that you 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:38.720 take and then your vote counts for three times as much. 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:41.119 But what is a supervoter? So the way I have 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:44.040 defined supervoters are people who vote in every election in 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:47.480 which they're eligible. And you know who are supervoters are 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:52.000 grandparents are supervoters. So senior citizens are super voters. Many 0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:55.000 black women, African American women in this country are supervoters. 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:59.240 If there's a ballot measure, there's a special election, there's 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:02.679 a runoff, is a primary. These are super voters every 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:05.640 election in which they're eligible. And so we set off 0:19:05.680 --> 0:19:08.639 to study and understand what is it that black women 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:14.399 know that despite the challenges of racism and sexism and 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:17.880 classism and how they intersect in this country. They still 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:19.919 show up and vote, and they vote in every election. 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:24.840 Right despite the limitations of you know, our elections and 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:27.399 voting not being a silver bullet, they still show up 0:19:27.400 --> 0:19:30.440 and do it. What do our grandparents know that has 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:32.800 them showing up and voting in every election? And what 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:35.800 can we take from that knowing and in part to 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:39.760 new Americans and to folks as they turn eighteen and 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:42.359 start wrestling with how they want to make change in 0:19:42.400 --> 0:19:45.960 their lives. So you've also said that super voters are made, 0:19:46.280 --> 0:19:49.480 not born there as how do you make a supervoter 0:19:49.560 --> 0:19:52.000 into You make a super voted by understanding what they 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:55.119 care about? Right, And so the way that we train 0:19:55.280 --> 0:19:59.240 our organizers is that you have twice as many years 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:04.840 as you do out and you black Grandma said to me, 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:08.560 what do you think I got it from? Its very 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:13.000 clear and so we should be listening. Yeah, And here's 0:20:13.000 --> 0:20:15.960 the thing. People will tell you what their hopes are, 0:20:16.359 --> 0:20:20.080 what their fears are for themselves, for their families, for 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:22.920 their communities. They will tell you what their ambitions are. 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:28.400 And people don't often connect the dots between policy politics 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:32.480 and their personal priorities. The things that they actually care about. 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:35.560 So you say you're a climate change voter, right, Jeff 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:38.840 Bezos is not inviting you to travel to the moon. 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:42.000 Elon Musk is not inviting you to participate in intergalactic 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:46.080 space travel. There's no Earth to right, And so you 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:49.359 are deeply concerned about the water that we drink, the 0:20:49.359 --> 0:20:51.320 air that we breathe, and making sure that there is 0:20:51.359 --> 0:20:54.800 a world for future generations to live in. And so yes, like, 0:20:54.880 --> 0:20:58.879 please continue to protest, please continue to write letters, please 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:00.840 conceive the recycle, and do all of the things that 0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:04.000 you're doing in your personal life. But also, what if 0:21:04.040 --> 0:21:08.680 I told you that Public Service Commissioner is an elected 0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:13.639 official in Georgia that sets energy rates, that sets energy 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:15.760 policy for the state of Georgia. What if I told 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:20.280 you that there haven't been any nuclear power plants built 0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:23.320 anywhere in the US in thirty years, and they're two 0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:26.000 being built in Georgia. What if I told you that 0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:29.760 if you're a Georgia power customer that you're paying for it, right, 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:32.960 that you can actually do something about it. And so 0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:36.560 we start by having meaningful conversations with people about the 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:40.600 things that they told us that they care about. And 0:21:40.640 --> 0:21:43.199 then you connect that to the power of the vote. 0:21:43.440 --> 0:21:47.840 But why it's effective is because it goes to the 0:21:47.960 --> 0:21:50.919 heart of what someone already cares for, what they already 0:21:50.920 --> 0:21:53.280 going to protest for, what they already give their money to, 0:21:53.680 --> 0:21:56.800 how they already see the world. So you're closing this gap. 0:21:57.160 --> 0:21:59.640 People are already being active in their community. You're trying 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:02.600 to add voting to the list. There's been such a 0:22:02.680 --> 0:22:06.760 level of poisoning of the collective mindset around the effectiveness 0:22:06.760 --> 0:22:10.120 of voting that I know so many people who care 0:22:10.520 --> 0:22:14.960 super passionately about this, that, and the other, and equally 0:22:15.359 --> 0:22:18.760 dispassionately about voting because they don't think it matters. How 0:22:18.760 --> 0:22:23.040 are you able to overcome the disinformation techniques that deny 0:22:23.160 --> 0:22:26.080 people knowledge of the power of their vote or their 0:22:26.160 --> 0:22:30.800 well earned pessimism that after having voted a few times 0:22:30.840 --> 0:22:34.439 they haven't seen the change that was promised. So how 0:22:34.480 --> 0:22:36.240 do you continue to close that gap in the face 0:22:36.280 --> 0:22:39.000 of those two counter messages that voting doesn't really matter. 0:22:39.320 --> 0:22:43.440 So there's a philosopher, a Mailcar cabravs as we never 0:22:43.520 --> 0:22:47.520 lied to the people, right, And so I think that 0:22:47.760 --> 0:22:49.960 one of the sort of knee jerk reactions and the 0:22:50.000 --> 0:22:52.800 instincts is to overstate the importance of voting as a 0:22:52.800 --> 0:22:58.600 way to combat against this information. And when you elect 0:22:58.640 --> 0:23:03.600 a Barack Obama and black unemployment is still at historic 0:23:03.840 --> 0:23:06.959 levels in the Deep South, then you have to go 0:23:07.000 --> 0:23:09.320 back to those people and be like, I know you 0:23:09.440 --> 0:23:13.639 voted because we said that this person would change things, 0:23:13.760 --> 0:23:17.160 but you know the system is limited, etc. You know 0:23:17.359 --> 0:23:19.840 that he's president, he's not king. And then he starts 0:23:19.880 --> 0:23:24.399 talking to folks about federalism and checks and balances and 0:23:24.960 --> 0:23:27.480 you know the role of the administrative branch versus the 0:23:27.560 --> 0:23:31.119 judicial branch, etc. Leading with what does it take to 0:23:31.160 --> 0:23:35.040 bring about the change? Elections aren't the event, right, and 0:23:35.080 --> 0:23:41.160 so elections are opportunities to test our power and flex 0:23:41.320 --> 0:23:46.320 our power on the way to getting wages that Georgians want, right, 0:23:46.520 --> 0:23:51.040 And so again it is not about the election itself. 0:23:51.080 --> 0:23:56.040 I mean they are events on a campaign timeline where 0:23:56.080 --> 0:24:00.840 the campaign goal is to live a better life. Right, 0:24:01.320 --> 0:24:04.960 is to have the things that we need in order 0:24:05.119 --> 0:24:07.439 to live the life that we deserve to live in 0:24:07.480 --> 0:24:10.480 the communities, the cities, the counties, the states that our 0:24:10.520 --> 0:24:13.640 families deserve to live in. I think that that's why, 0:24:13.880 --> 0:24:16.359 you know, when we focus on polling, and when we 0:24:16.359 --> 0:24:18.760 focus on the horse race, and when there's so much 0:24:18.800 --> 0:24:23.159 obsession about the elections themselves that we're actually doing democracy like, 0:24:23.200 --> 0:24:26.439 we're doing harm to democracy, to the democratic process, and 0:24:26.480 --> 0:24:31.479 to people's understanding about what is actually important. Yeah, and 0:24:31.560 --> 0:24:34.880 I'm glad that you named polling, which often acts as 0:24:34.920 --> 0:24:38.760 a sort of election event pre emptor. Right, if you 0:24:38.840 --> 0:24:42.040 tell me what's going to happen, you ensure that I 0:24:42.080 --> 0:24:44.440 don't have an ability to affect what happens because I've 0:24:44.440 --> 0:24:46.639 already assumed that it's going to happen the way you 0:24:46.680 --> 0:24:48.760 told me. So it can be a subtle way of 0:24:48.840 --> 0:24:54.200 draining people's power. You've been successful at registration, at getting 0:24:54.200 --> 0:24:56.879 people to the polls. I've seen y'all got music, you 0:24:56.960 --> 0:24:59.760 got events, you got good food, you know where it's allowed, 0:25:00.119 --> 0:25:03.800 and using apps in technology, all good things. And I 0:25:03.840 --> 0:25:07.960