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Speaker 1: Spending time with people my age who had just lost blocked,

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Speaker 1: ones that were murdered in a school due to gun

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Speaker 1: violence changed my whole life.

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Speaker 2: Maxwell Frost made history as the first Gen Z member

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Speaker 2: elected to Congress, but long before the Capitol, he helped

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Speaker 2: build one of the largest youth led movements this country

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Speaker 2: has ever seen.

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Speaker 1: And I got to the point where I said, you

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Speaker 1: know what to change the politics, We need to change

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Speaker 1: the politicians.

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Speaker 2: From gun violence to the housing crisis to racism. Congressman

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Speaker 2: Frost confronts the challenges defining a generation.

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Speaker 1: No, I try to be in the moment with people.

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Speaker 1: There's real pain in this country, and we were in

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Speaker 1: this place where the wealthiest among us owned the most,

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Speaker 1: and they want us to blame each other.

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Speaker 2: Joined by his dad and biggest cheerleader, Patrick Frost.

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Speaker 3: If you tell Max he can't do it, that's you're

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Speaker 3: just putting fuel on the fire.

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Speaker 2: Join hosts Martin Luther King the Third, Andrea Waters King,

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Speaker 2: Mark Kilberger, and Craig Kilberger. We're an unfiltered conversation with

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Speaker 2: Congressman Maxwell Frost about courage, compassion, and creating change.

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Speaker 1: He ended up being one of the biggest stories about

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Speaker 1: me to this day. I mean, I'll be walking around

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Speaker 1: a street of a random city and somebody will come

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Speaker 1: up and be like, honey, did you.

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Speaker 4: Welcome to my Legacy. Today's guest is Congressman Maxwell Frost.

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Speaker 4: His journey from organizing to the halls of Congress was

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Speaker 4: inspired by family, faith, and the fight against injustice. Congressman

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Speaker 4: Frost were thrilled to have you with us here today.

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Speaker 4: And as you know, at my Legacy, we don't only

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Speaker 4: invite extraordinary individuals, we ask them to invite someone who

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Speaker 4: knows them incredibly. Well, would you do us the honor

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Speaker 4: of introducing us to your plus one today?

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Speaker 1: Wow? Well, thank you so much for having me on.

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Speaker 1: So today I have none other than my dad, Patrick Frost,

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Speaker 1: who is you know, one of the biggest reasons I'm

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Speaker 1: a congressman today. You know, ever since I was literally born,

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Speaker 1: there's always been music in the house. That a lot

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Speaker 1: of people don't know this, but I'm a musician. My

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Speaker 1: whole life, I've really been a drummer. And my dad

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Speaker 1: has a love of both music and politics that I

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Speaker 1: have today, and so some of my most fond memories

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Speaker 1: are getting to perform with him all around Orlando, learning

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Speaker 1: about what music is, but not just on a page,

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Speaker 1: but on a deeper level as well. And you know,

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Speaker 1: something I always talk about is the fact that my

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Speaker 1: dad invited me to be vulnerable with him as we

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Speaker 1: listen to music throughout my life, which I know, especially

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Speaker 1: as a young man, is something that maybe it took

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Speaker 1: for granted growing up, but as I speak with a

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Speaker 1: lot of people my age and older, I find out

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Speaker 1: that I was one of the luckiest people in the

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Speaker 1: world to have grown up with someone who invited me

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Speaker 1: to be vulnerable, to put my heart on a table

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Speaker 1: through the arts and so here with my dad, Patrick Frost.

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Speaker 4: I love that that is awesome. As a dad myself

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Speaker 4: a heart kind of like, you know, swelling a little

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Speaker 4: bit here.

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Speaker 1: Of that one exactly, you know.

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Speaker 5: And we've had so many different common nations on the show,

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Speaker 5: but I believe this is our first father son combination.

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Speaker 5: So this is very exciting to have you all both

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Speaker 5: on with us today. And also we're very excited because

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Speaker 5: for our family March for our lives is you know,

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Speaker 5: something that's so close and dear to our heart. From

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Speaker 5: our daughter speaking, we've worked with you all, We've seen

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Speaker 5: you all in so many iterations over the years, so

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Speaker 5: it really feels like being with family today. And Congressman Frost,

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Speaker 5: one of the beautiful things that you speak about is

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Speaker 5: your multi cultural background. So not only are you the

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Speaker 5: first gen Z congressman elected, but I believe you're also

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Speaker 5: the first Afro Cuban elected to Congress. And you talk

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Speaker 5: about how your parents were open with you from the

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Speaker 5: beginning about being adopted at birth. How did that shape

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Speaker 5: your sense of identity growing up?

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Speaker 1: Interesting because my my yeah, my parents were always open

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Speaker 1: with me about it. Now, to be honest, as you

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Speaker 1: can see, I think we kind of knew too from

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Speaker 1: a young age. And but my dad and my mom always, uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, offered to give me, you know, more information

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Speaker 1: stuff like that, and to be honest, and and Dad,

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Speaker 1: I'm muchure if you remember too, Like when I was

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Speaker 1: growing up in church, there was a group of like

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Speaker 1: adoptees that I would there. You know, it wasn't like

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Speaker 1: a support group, but it was like a Sunday school

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Speaker 1: kind of thing. And I always felt like the auto

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Speaker 1: man out because you know, I was adopted at birth

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Speaker 1: and I never really had this want to find out

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Speaker 1: more if that makes sense, and it it didn't come

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Speaker 1: from like a negative place. I just didn't. I didn't

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Speaker 1: really care, like I have my mom and my dad,

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Speaker 1: my sister who's my life and uh and uh and

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Speaker 1: so I never really, you know, looked for more information.

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Speaker 1: It really wasn't until I was thinking about running for

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Speaker 1: Congress that I went to my dad and my mom

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Speaker 1: and asked them for some more information. To be honest,

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Speaker 1: up until a few years ago, I've been saying that

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Speaker 1: it's because I wanted to dig into my past to

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Speaker 1: feel inspired. But the real reason is because somebody who

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Speaker 1: has helped mentor me at different points said, Max, you

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Speaker 1: need to look in your past and see what's in

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Speaker 1: there before you run for office. You know, Yeah, you

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Speaker 1: gotta do some research. And so I spoke with my

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Speaker 1: dad and mom about it. But you know, part of

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Speaker 1: the thing is I my mom came here from Cuban

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Speaker 1: late nineteen sixties. My dad is he'll talk more about it,

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Speaker 1: like he is a steel pan player but also a

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Speaker 1: multi instrumentalist. He's a composer, very deeply and classically musically,

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Speaker 1: training and jazz and everything. Really and so I grew

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Speaker 1: up in this multi cultural house from the music that

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Speaker 1: I heard from like soca blasting in the living room studio,

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Speaker 1: which God bless my mom for letting my dad have

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Speaker 1: his studio in the living.

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Speaker 5: Room, and for letting you have a drum set as.

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Speaker 1: A child, and then then for letting me become a drummer,

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Speaker 1: and even the people my dad would bring over his

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Speaker 1: friends right from all around the world, playing many different

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Speaker 1: types of music to my mom and my mom having

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Speaker 1: you know her grandma or sorry, her mom, my grandma

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Speaker 1: yea yea, who passed away a few years ago, but

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Speaker 1: she only spoke Spanish, and so that's kind of like

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Speaker 1: one of the main reasons I would speak Spanish in

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Speaker 1: the house was to communicate with my grandma. Growing up,

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Speaker 1: every summer we go to Miami, and it was just

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Speaker 1: a normal thing. I feel like it partially grew up

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Speaker 1: in Miami just because we spent our summer's there. But

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Speaker 1: you know, it's interesting because I represent one of the

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Speaker 1: most diverse districts in Congress by far, and I feel

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Speaker 1: like I grew up like that as well in the household,

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Speaker 1: but also in the school I went to as well.

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Speaker 6: Patrick, You've said Maxwell has been precocious and driven since

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Speaker 6: he was a toddler. Can you share a story from

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Speaker 6: his childhood that gives a glimpse into what a young

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Speaker 6: Maxwell was like.

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Speaker 4: If I could just add though, as a dad, Patrick,

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Speaker 4: I actually have to say, I love how you were

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Speaker 4: smiling so glowing with a light bulb. That's the question

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Speaker 4: was even being asked.

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Speaker 3: The person that you see here is the same little

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Speaker 3: guy that that was, that we that was. My son

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Speaker 3: always has a plan and he's always producing. He's always

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Speaker 3: uh creating a show, creating or selling. Something I told

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Speaker 3: him one time when he was probably in junior high school,

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Speaker 3: I said, you could go across the street to the

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Speaker 3: car dealership and make more money than I do as

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Speaker 3: a performer at your age right now. You could go

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Speaker 3: over there and and and and this is the funny thing.

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Speaker 3: When he turned about I think maybe eighteen.

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Speaker 1: He did that.

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Speaker 3: He went across the street and got a job as

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Speaker 3: a car sales wow. And and he's said he was

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Speaker 3: doing very good. And then and here's what is they

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Speaker 3: put they and I hope I can. They brought him

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Speaker 3: into a meeting with the other car salesman and they said,

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Speaker 3: we want to teach you how to basically get people

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Speaker 3: in debt and get them to spend more money than

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Speaker 3: they should spend because we went to sell cars and

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Speaker 3: it's so, we're going to teach you how to get

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Speaker 3: people to make a mistake in their finances and over buy.

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Speaker 3: And Max got up and walked out and came. He

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Speaker 3: came home early. I said, what are you doing. Aren't

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Speaker 3: you at work? Why are you Why did you come home?

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Speaker 3: And he goes, I quit And I said why did

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Speaker 3: you quit? He goes, because they wanted to teach me

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Speaker 3: how to cheek people. That's really the truth. And he

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Speaker 3: said he wouldn't do it. He said, I'm not going

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Speaker 3: to do that. So he just quit his job and

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Speaker 3: walked out. He didn't give him two weeks notice, he

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Speaker 3: just walked out the door.

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Speaker 4: Well, I love that speaks to your heart.

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Speaker 3: I love it.

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Speaker 4: And I also, by the way, I love the honesty

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Speaker 4: I've passually you turning. It was like I said, okay,

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Speaker 4: if I shared this story. This is what we love

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Speaker 4: this conversation because it gets those great stories that often

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Speaker 4: you don't hear before.

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Speaker 6: Congressman, let me ask one question when when you look

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Speaker 6: back over your childhood and the fact that you always

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Speaker 6: engage with music with your dad, what did those years

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Speaker 6: of music together actually teach you about life, and how

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Speaker 6: do you apply any of that to what your job

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Speaker 6: is today.

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Speaker 1: Honestly, I brought this up at the beginning a little bit.

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Speaker 1: But one of the things people tell me a lot

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Speaker 1: after interviews or town halls or this and that is,

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Speaker 1: I appreciate how candid you are, and I appreciate your vulnerability.

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Speaker 1: You know, you're willing to talk about mistakes or like

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Speaker 1: the feelings you have that maybe people aren't used to

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Speaker 1: politicians kind of just saying. And I really do attribute

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Speaker 1: that to my dad, and I really do attribute that.

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Speaker 1: I actually to sitting in the studio, sitting in the

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Speaker 1: car listening to music and being invited to feel, you know,

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Speaker 1: being invited to express how I feel. And I remember

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Speaker 1: the first time, I think it's the first time, if

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Speaker 1: not one of the first times I ever cried to music.

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Speaker 1: And we were sitting in the studio and I think

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Speaker 1: I was like a round like seven eight nine or

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Speaker 1: something like that, and it was the Swan that you

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Speaker 1: played for me, which is a a solo or really

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Speaker 1: a duo with a piano, but it's a cello piece,

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Speaker 1: and and I just remember the young kids in there

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Speaker 1: crying I think we cried together at that song, and

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Speaker 1: it's and like, you know, you don't, you don't think

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Speaker 1: much of it. When you're a kid, You wipe your tears,

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Speaker 1: you just continue to go on. But there we had

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Speaker 1: a lot of moments like that, listening to music together,

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Speaker 1: going to concerts together, performing together. Like if you if

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Speaker 1: you go on if you go on YouTube and you

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Speaker 1: you go deep, deep, deep, you're gonna find a bunch

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Speaker 1: of videos of my dad and I performed together, usually

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Speaker 1: me auditioning for some jazz program and my dad's on

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Speaker 1: piano or whatever, and and growing and growing that. But

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Speaker 1: you know, for me, learning like being a musician, being

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Speaker 1: invited to be vulnerable and then being okay with putting

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Speaker 1: it out there, putting it out there in front of

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Speaker 1: my dad and then putting it out there in front

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Speaker 1: of an audience is something I'll, you know, have with

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Speaker 1: me the whole the rest of my life. In second grade,

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Speaker 1: my dad got me a drum set, which was important,

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Speaker 1: But there's actually the most important thing that he got me.

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Speaker 1: Even more important than rum set was the private lessons

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Speaker 1: that came with the drum set. But I always felt

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Speaker 1: like in school, at least for I had something that

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Speaker 1: a lot of other people that have. I had an

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Speaker 1: understanding of the music, not just because I, you know,

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Speaker 1: I'm better than everyone, but because of my dad, you know,

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Speaker 1: taught me how to listen to music, and I felt,

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Speaker 1: you know, and that's what I'm trying to say. He

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Speaker 1: taught me how to listen to music. And you know,

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Speaker 1: my band instructor in middle school, Russ Weaver, it was

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Speaker 1: very common for him to come in the band class

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Speaker 1: sixth grade. Right this is called beginner's band. Most people

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Speaker 1: in there have never really played an instrument, but they

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Speaker 1: showed proficiency and you know, music skills generally. But I

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Speaker 1: came in since the second grade playing music and having

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Speaker 1: musician dad. And something well mister Weaver would always do

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Speaker 1: is he would play a song at the top of

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Speaker 1: the hour and just have a sit in silence and

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Speaker 1: listen to it. And that's very hard for six grades

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Speaker 1: to do. And I honestly wasn't the most well behaved

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Speaker 1: kid in the sixth grade, but when he played the song,

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Speaker 1: I would sit there at my eyes and listen to

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Speaker 1: a degree where like I'd have friends in the percussion section,

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Speaker 1: which if you know anything about band, everyone has to

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Speaker 1: sit in their seat, but the percussionists are kind of

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Speaker 1: walking around the back being you know, you know, we

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Speaker 1: have a little bit more freedom, so we're usually making

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Speaker 1: jokes and stuff. My friends would always be like, why

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Speaker 1: so silent, Like you're always so loud and telling jokes

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Speaker 1: and stuff. But I felt like I knew how to

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Speaker 1: really listen to the music because of my dad, and

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Speaker 1: so I don't know, that's something that really means a

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Speaker 1: lot to me, and I still play to this day.

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Speaker 1: So when I go to events, Congressman, there's a drum

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Speaker 1: set here, why don't you play it? And so I

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Speaker 1: play a lot of Or when I go to churches,

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Speaker 1: I don't even get asked. The bishop will be like,

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Speaker 1: there's the drum set, Congressman. You know, like get on it.

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Speaker 5: So for all of our listeners, you should, if you

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Speaker 5: have a moment, go down the rabbit hole and find

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Speaker 5: young Congressman Frost and find some of his old videos

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Speaker 5: and and then let's do a contest who can find

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Speaker 5: the oldest one. Now, Patrick, Because I'm a big believer

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Speaker 5: that our children are our greatest teachers in so many capacities,

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Speaker 5: and I know that you've talked about many things that

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Speaker 5: you've learned from your son. In particular, you said that

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Speaker 5: raising Max, as you called him, open your eyes to

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Speaker 5: the discrimination that many minorities face. Is there one particular

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Speaker 5: story that you would like to share with us and

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Speaker 5: our audience that still sticks with you.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Max was probably maybe thirteen or fourteen, maybe fifteen years old,

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Speaker 3: and it was a Saturday afternoon, and he had gone

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Speaker 3: to the Loop, which is a shopping center near us,

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Speaker 3: probably with some friends. And he was gone for most

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Speaker 3: of the morning and part of the afternoon. And he

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Speaker 3: came home and he said, Dad, strangest thing happened. I

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Speaker 3: was in sports authority and I was just walking around

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Speaker 3: looking at stuff, you know, and uh I noticed this

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Speaker 3: this man. Every time I turned the corner, there was

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Speaker 3: this man was here and he was looking, watching, watching me.

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Speaker 3: And uh so, you know, when I was in college

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Speaker 3: at University of Miami, I I got into a retail security.

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Speaker 3: I was a store detective at a at a department

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Speaker 3: store at the shopping at the Midway Mall. And uh

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Speaker 3: I learned about store security. So when he started describing

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Speaker 3: this man kept he kept showing up wherever Max turned,

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Speaker 3: Denial and there was this guy I knew what it was.

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Speaker 3: It was a store attack and and and Max, and

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Speaker 3: I said to Max, I said, Max, that was a

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Speaker 3: store security guard. He was watching you because he thought

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Speaker 3: you were going to steal and and and and Max

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Speaker 3: said to me, why would he Why would he think

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Speaker 3: I was going to steal and? And I I remember

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Speaker 3: putting my head that because we'd never had this kind

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Speaker 3: of conversation. And I said, Max, it's it's most likely

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Speaker 3: because of the because of the color of your skin,

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Speaker 3: that is the most likely reason that he chose to

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Speaker 3: follow you instead of somebody else. And I remembered how

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Speaker 3: tough it was for me to telling that, and I

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Speaker 3: kind of remember looking at him and he looked confused.

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Speaker 3: And that is the one that sticks with me more

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Speaker 3: than any and is trying to explain that to him.

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Speaker 3: And I didn't understand it because it never happened to

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Speaker 3: me that way. You know. I never went to my

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Speaker 3: mother and father when I was in junior high school

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Speaker 3: or early high school and said somebody was following me

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Speaker 3: at the wol Coast or down at the shopping center.

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Speaker 3: That never happened. It's an experience I didn't have. And

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Speaker 3: so I was trying to teach Max but I was

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Speaker 3: also learning myself that this is not fake, This really

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Speaker 3: happens to people of color.

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Speaker 1: Do you remember that, Max, Yeah, very well? And then

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Speaker 1: what did that moment? Also?

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Speaker 5: Did it change you and even in your parenting or

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Speaker 5: even just seeing the world, like when you see other

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Speaker 5: young black men out in the world, did it in

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Speaker 5: any way or or even like with other black parents,

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Speaker 5: did it any way impact you in that way as well?

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Speaker 3: You know, my mother and father they're both gone now.

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Speaker 3: When when we had when Max was born, you see,

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Speaker 3: we didn't Max's birth mother couldn't positively identify who the

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Speaker 3: father was. So when Max was born, we didn't realize

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Speaker 3: he was going to be mixed race. And I remember

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Speaker 3: calling my mother and and I think that my mother

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Speaker 3: thought this whole idea of us adopting a baby from

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Speaker 3: from this woman at birth was was something that we

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Speaker 3: weren't going to go through with. It was almost I

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Speaker 3: think that she thought we were just kidding around. And

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Speaker 3: I remember calling her. She was in probably Ohio still yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 3: And and I said, Mom, are our son was born.

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Speaker 3: We have a son. His name is Maxwell, And she

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Speaker 3: I remember, uh somehow, And after she got a photograph,

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Speaker 3: we probably said I can't remember how we transmitted back

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Speaker 3: in nineteen ninety seven, but we sent her a picture

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Speaker 3: of some kind of and and uh, probably it was

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Speaker 3: kind of kind of quiet, you know, there was not

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Speaker 3: a celebratory thing happening. And what I wanted to try

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Speaker 3: and say is this, having Max in our family taught

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Speaker 3: my mother and father that they have to escape what

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Speaker 3: they grew up with. As you know, both of them

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Speaker 3: were raised on farms in the in the in the

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Speaker 3: out in the country, and they they brought ther you know,

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Speaker 3: I mean, it was it was an age of racism

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Speaker 3: was normal. It was normal.

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Speaker 1: They were good.

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Speaker 3: People that they had they had that they had that

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Speaker 3: component in them, and Max exercised that component in them

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Speaker 3: and gave them. You know, they went to heaven with

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Speaker 3: the peace that they they managed that racism, you know,

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Speaker 3: because of because of Max. You can't not love this kid,

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Speaker 3: you know, you can't not.

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Speaker 1: Love this All of America we love him.

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Speaker 4: Oh my god, Patrick, I was tearing up because it

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Speaker 4: is true and it is the reality of our world.

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Speaker 4: And I appreciate the honesty and I just appreciate the vulnerability,

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Speaker 4: Like clearly you muddeled this for your son, like we

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Speaker 4: understand where your son comes.

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Speaker 2: From, coming up the viral story that set off ten

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Speaker 2: thousand calls, texts, and females, fueling Congressman Maxwell Frost's biggest

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Speaker 2: fight for change.

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Speaker 5: Now back to my legacy.

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Speaker 4: Congressman Frost, So fifteen years old, you have this pivotal

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Speaker 4: moment as an activist when you're out of vigil in

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Speaker 4: DC and you meet family members who lost children in

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Speaker 4: the Sandy Hook massacre. Can you share with us those

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Speaker 4: conversations that were so pivotal for your life and how

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Speaker 4: those impact you even today.

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Speaker 1: Well, you know, Samuel happened right before I was getting

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Speaker 1: ready to perform in a jazz band concert in school.

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Speaker 1: We were there at a Chili's or something, eating and

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Speaker 1: this silence falls across the whole restaurant, like a palpable silence,

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Speaker 1: and everyone's looking at each other, like what's going on?

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Speaker 1: And we see that everyone's staring at the TVs at

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Speaker 1: the bar, and we look at the TV screens and

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Speaker 1: we see the news somebody walked into this elementary school

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Speaker 1: and murdered all these children and teachers at Sandy Hook,

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Speaker 1: And we all kind of went to the concert with

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Speaker 1: this eerie feeling. But I had an intense amount of anxiety.

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Speaker 1: I played one of the worst shows I've ever played

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Speaker 1: in my life, because you know where I was drumming

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Speaker 1: the stage doors right behind me, and I kept looking

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Speaker 1: over at the stage door, and I couldn't stop thinking

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Speaker 1: about it. And I actually, well, this is the thing

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Speaker 1: my dad and I share. We both have kind of

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Speaker 1: obsessive personalities, and so if something gets in our mind,

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Speaker 1: we just keep thinking about. And I kept thinking about

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Speaker 1: this horrible thing that happened in Sandy Hook. I never

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Speaker 1: heard of Sandy Hook. I don't know what new Town is.

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Speaker 1: I never heard about any these places. And I went

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Speaker 1: online and I started seeing on Facebook that, you know,

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Speaker 1: there were some young people speaking out about it. And

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Speaker 1: one of them, her name is Sarah Clements or her

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Speaker 1: mother Abby, was a teacher at Sandy Hook. She survived

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Speaker 1: the shooting. And I sent a message to Sarah. We

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Speaker 1: became kind of pen pals, and she sent me a

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Speaker 1: form and said, we're hosting a vigil and like this

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Speaker 1: week of action in DC if you want to come,

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Speaker 1: fill this out. So I filled it out, and I

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Speaker 1: asked my parents and I filled it out. I didn't

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Speaker 1: know this until about two years ago. As a member

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Speaker 1: of Congress. I went and spoke at the vigil I

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Speaker 1: went to when I was fifteen, and the board members

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Speaker 1: told the story of how they were, you know, doing

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Speaker 1: the manifest for the bus and everything, and then they

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Speaker 1: had this one application from a fifteen year old in

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Speaker 1: Florida that no one had ever heard of if that

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Speaker 1: was me, and they apparently they had a whole board

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Speaker 1: meeting debating should we allow him to come. He's going

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Speaker 1: to come alone, we don't know who he is. And

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Speaker 1: they decided to let me come, which you know, is

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Speaker 1: a huge decision in my life that they made because

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Speaker 1: going there to change my life. And I went alone,

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Speaker 1: but you know, they had chaperones and everything. But spending

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Speaker 1: time with people my age who had just lost loved

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Speaker 1: ones that were murdered in a school due to gun

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Speaker 1: violence changed my whole life. And the vigil was very powerful.

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Speaker 1: But I to be honest, it wasn't even just the vigil.

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Speaker 1: It was being with them and like being kids with them.

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Speaker 1: You know, the whole time wasn't completely five days of seriousness.

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Speaker 1: We laughed, we were telling jokes, we were bringing kids.

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Speaker 1: We were running around Capitol Hill delivering letters and inviting

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Speaker 1: people to the vigil, and then taking those first couple

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Speaker 1: days and then my last day there after the vigil

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Speaker 1: at the hotel, we were saying, like a Virginia hotel

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Speaker 1: like a dais in or something where the pools like

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Speaker 1: in the basement, and we're all in this basement pool

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Speaker 1: waiting our feet in the water, and everyone just starts

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Speaker 1: opening up about their sibling that they lost, and I

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Speaker 1: just kind of sat there and listened to everybody. And

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Speaker 1: I remember after that, I like ran in my hotel room.

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Speaker 1: I called my mom. I was crying. I was like, Mom,

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Speaker 1: you know, this was my experience. And then I ended

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Speaker 1: up coming home and started organizing. You know, I started

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Speaker 1: like organizing on a gun violence prevention locally. I'd go

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Speaker 1: to my school board meetings. I became obsessed with figuring

438
00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,119
Speaker 1: out how to use student government in schools to like

439
00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:26,119
Speaker 1: advocate for policies instead of it just being planning the homecoming.

440
00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:27,919
Speaker 1: And so I ran for student government president and got

441
00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:30,320
Speaker 1: elected there, and so then we started doing like real

442
00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:34,119
Speaker 1: political advocacy in the student government. And then I organized

443
00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:37,480
Speaker 1: all the student governments in my school district to do

444
00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:40,520
Speaker 1: a county wide thing where we'd all come together you know,

445
00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:44,560
Speaker 1: once quarter and it's just like that trip really did

446
00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:46,680
Speaker 1: change my life. But it wasn't just what we did

447
00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:49,800
Speaker 1: on that trip, but it was meeting those people my

448
00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:54,159
Speaker 1: age who were going through a sense of grief and

449
00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:58,320
Speaker 1: loss that I've never experienced in my life. Gun violence

450
00:22:58,359 --> 00:22:59,920
Speaker 1: wasn't a part of my day to day life, you know,

451
00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:01,920
Speaker 1: and so I think is part of the reason why

452
00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,520
Speaker 1: seeing those images on the screen jarred me so much,

453
00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:07,879
Speaker 1: and it really put things in a perspective for me.

454
00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:10,600
Speaker 1: And the good thing is the foundation was always there because,

455
00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:14,760
Speaker 1: like I mentioned before, my dad's you know, very musical obviously,

456
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:18,600
Speaker 1: but he's also very political. And uh, I'll they'll take

457
00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:20,320
Speaker 1: this the wrong way. But I'd grow up listening to

458
00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:26,080
Speaker 1: my dad yell at the news. But but it you know,

459
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:28,080
Speaker 1: it's I would listen. I wasn't you know. I wasn't

460
00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:29,520
Speaker 1: just saying, oh, there's dad yell at the news. I

461
00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:31,240
Speaker 1: would sit there and listen, and he would talk to

462
00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:32,840
Speaker 1: me about stuff to the point where I'd try to

463
00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,320
Speaker 1: go to school, elementary school and debate with people. I

464
00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:38,000
Speaker 1: don't know what the heck I was talking about, But

465
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:41,000
Speaker 1: but there was a foundation there that my dad laid

466
00:23:41,119 --> 00:23:45,560
Speaker 1: right on politics that you know, I knew like these

467
00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:49,399
Speaker 1: are these are where my values lie. But I had

468
00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:50,480
Speaker 1: to kind of you know, you have to figure that

469
00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:53,119
Speaker 1: out for yourself. What what what you believe?

470
00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:53,639
Speaker 6: You know?

471
00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:55,879
Speaker 1: And that was one of the first moments outside of

472
00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:58,359
Speaker 1: the home and outside of my community that I started

473
00:23:58,400 --> 00:23:59,720
Speaker 1: to figure out what I believe in.

474
00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:04,800
Speaker 5: Congressman Frost, you recently joined speaking of going out into community,

475
00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:08,439
Speaker 5: Senator to Chris Murphy for town halls all across the

476
00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:11,600
Speaker 5: country and many were in or not many, I think

477
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:16,399
Speaker 5: they all were in Republican districts. Yeah, so you actually

478
00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:19,800
Speaker 5: were stepping into rooms where you knew that many disagreed

479
00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:24,639
Speaker 5: with you. What have you learned about how to listen

480
00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:27,080
Speaker 5: and talk across disagreement on that.

481
00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:30,439
Speaker 1: Tour, Yeah, and this and you know, connecting all this together.

482
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:34,040
Speaker 1: One of the first politicians I ever met was Sata

483
00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:36,159
Speaker 1: Chris Murphy when I was fifteen years old at that

484
00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:39,200
Speaker 1: vigil and so it's just you know, full snirgle to

485
00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:41,200
Speaker 1: be on the road with him now. And we also

486
00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,400
Speaker 1: introduced the Office of Gun Violence Prevention built together now

487
00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:47,119
Speaker 1: through about three years ago, which you know President Biden

488
00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:50,720
Speaker 1: enacted through executive or Trump got rid of it on

489
00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:53,840
Speaker 1: day two. When I used to work for candidates as

490
00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:56,880
Speaker 1: an organizer, I was always you know, there was things

491
00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:59,480
Speaker 1: I took that inspired me. But I also kept the list,

492
00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:02,040
Speaker 1: the mental list of things I would never do if

493
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:06,320
Speaker 1: I was ever in that position. And something you learn

494
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:09,120
Speaker 1: from knocking doors, which is all I did right at

495
00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:12,000
Speaker 1: it fresh eighteen after I did my three months stint

496
00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:16,080
Speaker 1: at the at the dealership and then I started working

497
00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:20,119
Speaker 1: at on campaigns. Knocking doors solely you learn how to

498
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:22,960
Speaker 1: be a listener because for a few reasons, it's a

499
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,440
Speaker 1: tactical thing. Because you know, when you're out a door

500
00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:28,000
Speaker 1: and you're talking to people and you talk too long

501
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:29,800
Speaker 1: and you start seeing them, you know it's not looking

502
00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:32,040
Speaker 1: around either, get a little antsy either, trying to move

503
00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:33,879
Speaker 1: on with their life. But I need to tell you

504
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:35,480
Speaker 1: about the candidate. I need to tell you about this

505
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:37,240
Speaker 1: person who wants to fight for you that I believe

506
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:39,080
Speaker 1: in and I want to make sure you go vote.

507
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:41,280
Speaker 1: And so what you do is you put it back

508
00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:44,720
Speaker 1: on them. You ask them a question, and that opportunity

509
00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:47,200
Speaker 1: for them to speak. The longer they speak, the longer

510
00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:49,600
Speaker 1: you get to have that you know, conversation with them.

511
00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:52,960
Speaker 1: That experience with them, and so you want the other

512
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,520
Speaker 1: person to speak a lot. And I've found that, you know,

513
00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:59,800
Speaker 1: a lot of times, especially politicians, you have these town

514
00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:02,400
Speaker 1: hall that aren't really town halls, right, you know, there's

515
00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,639
Speaker 1: questions that have already been predetermined. And I try to

516
00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:08,479
Speaker 1: replicate being at the door with somebody as much as

517
00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:10,520
Speaker 1: I can and everything as part of what I tell

518
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,280
Speaker 1: my team when we're coming up with our messaging, will this,

519
00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:15,879
Speaker 1: will this sentence get the door slammed in my face?

520
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:18,919
Speaker 1: Or leave the door open? Right at the town halls

521
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:22,840
Speaker 1: when we're doing on traveling with Chris or with Senator Murphy,

522
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:24,920
Speaker 1: how are we you know, we're gonna give some of

523
00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,760
Speaker 1: the micro we'ren lew to say whatever they want to say, right,

524
00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:30,320
Speaker 1: and we're going to really listen to them. And I

525
00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:33,159
Speaker 1: don't know, I just feel like I've learned the power

526
00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:37,159
Speaker 1: of listening so much by knocking doors and how it

527
00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:39,560
Speaker 1: important it is to be an active listener and then

528
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:42,840
Speaker 1: given a real answer to people, because that's what you know,

529
00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:45,600
Speaker 1: we hear it all the time politicians they give non answers.

530
00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:48,200
Speaker 1: And to connect this to our conversation from before, I

531
00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:52,040
Speaker 1: think part of it is where politicians are usually that

532
00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:56,280
Speaker 1: risk adverse. And you know, the more vulnerable you are

533
00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:58,440
Speaker 1: and the more real you are, the more you might

534
00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:01,600
Speaker 1: say something that maybe five years or ten years down

535
00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:03,479
Speaker 1: the line, when you run for higher office, it won't

536
00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:07,080
Speaker 1: be advantageous to you. And I just don't really even

537
00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:08,960
Speaker 1: think about that kind of stuff. I like to, you know,

538
00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:11,400
Speaker 1: I try to be in the moment with people. There's

539
00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:15,479
Speaker 1: real pain in this country. The wealth inequality has gotten

540
00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:17,760
Speaker 1: worse and worse and worse and worse and worse, to

541
00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:21,240
Speaker 1: the point where people have done everything that you're supposed

542
00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:25,080
Speaker 1: to do still can't pay for everything. And we're in

543
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:30,840
Speaker 1: this place where the wealthiest among us own the most,

544
00:27:31,119 --> 00:27:34,639
Speaker 1: and they want us to blame each other, even you know,

545
00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:36,760
Speaker 1: down the party line. And I talk about this all

546
00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:38,720
Speaker 1: the time, and I'm in these districts where I say,

547
00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:40,680
Speaker 1: they want us to hate each other because you're a

548
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:44,600
Speaker 1: Republican versus Democrat, when at the end of the day,

549
00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:52,040
Speaker 1: there's these billionaires and mega corporations that have been leaving

550
00:27:52,119 --> 00:27:56,760
Speaker 1: us crumbs and for generations, really and and we have

551
00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:59,200
Speaker 1: to look beyond that. And you know, I always bring

552
00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:03,560
Speaker 1: up that Trump is is is that too? You know?

553
00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:07,040
Speaker 1: There's just this saying be ruthless to our systems and

554
00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:09,680
Speaker 1: great and give grace to people. And that's the way

555
00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:11,520
Speaker 1: I always think. I'm always very you know, I always

556
00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:14,960
Speaker 1: go through my emails and everything. When my staff is right,

557
00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:18,639
Speaker 1: I say, never just say republicans. Always say Republicans in Congress,

558
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,000
Speaker 1: or Republicans in the White House or this and that,

559
00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:23,399
Speaker 1: because I'm trying to reach out to people who a

560
00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:26,040
Speaker 1: lot of folks have been lied to and a lot

561
00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:29,760
Speaker 1: of people bought the lie. And you know, I mean,

562
00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:32,479
Speaker 1: look what I'm talking to. Movement, as we all know,

563
00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:35,879
Speaker 1: is about addition, not subtraction, and I'm always looking to

564
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:37,240
Speaker 1: bring more people into it.

565
00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:40,680
Speaker 4: Mike, follow and subscribe to the My Legacy podcast, and

566
00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:44,160
Speaker 4: most importantly, share this with someone who needs a reminder

567
00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:49,400
Speaker 4: of their strength today. Now back to My Legacy.

568
00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:53,120
Speaker 6: At twenty four, when you first ran from office, it

569
00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:57,280
Speaker 6: was certainly maybe not glamorous. You were driving uber and

570
00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:03,480
Speaker 6: count surfing basically just to make ends meet. How did

571
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:10,000
Speaker 6: living through those challenges prepare you to represent people facing

572
00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:12,960
Speaker 6: their own difficult struggles.

573
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:17,080
Speaker 1: It was just kind of the perfect storm that put

574
00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:21,000
Speaker 1: me in this position. So essentially there was a rent

575
00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:24,920
Speaker 1: hike more freeze in Florida during the pandemic, which was

576
00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:31,280
Speaker 1: lifted the rent. I was living with my partner and

577
00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:34,840
Speaker 1: my sister at the time, and we were living in

578
00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:38,680
Speaker 1: a part of town that essentially after the rent hike

579
00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:42,400
Speaker 1: was taken off, our rent went up like thirty thirty

580
00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:45,719
Speaker 1: three percent. Now I quit my job to run for Congress,

581
00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:47,680
Speaker 1: so I had some savings, so I didn't have a ton.

582
00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:49,240
Speaker 1: I thought it would be enough for a year and

583
00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:52,280
Speaker 1: a half. I quickly learned it was there, and for

584
00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:56,160
Speaker 1: two months we didn't have a place to live. And

585
00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:58,800
Speaker 1: the thing here is this wasn't the height of COVID

586
00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:01,400
Speaker 1: at the time. I was about my grandma. My ninety

587
00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:05,040
Speaker 1: seven year old grandma was living with my parents, and

588
00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:07,440
Speaker 1: this is when the Delta variant was going crazy, and

589
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,720
Speaker 1: I'm not doing campaigns, so going home was not really

590
00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:13,280
Speaker 1: to say what my parents was not really an option

591
00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:18,479
Speaker 1: for me due to COVID and my grandma, And so

592
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:23,240
Speaker 1: I ended up emptying all my savings into this airbnb

593
00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:27,040
Speaker 1: for a month, and I was like, future Max will

594
00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:30,000
Speaker 1: have a solution. Well, a month passed and future Max

595
00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:32,280
Speaker 1: did not have a solution. So then for the month

596
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:35,160
Speaker 1: after I just couchsurf with friends and different things like that.

597
00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:39,080
Speaker 1: And I quickly figured out I need an income and

598
00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:40,560
Speaker 1: I need to figure that out. So I decided to

599
00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:43,080
Speaker 1: do Uber because of the to be a little bit

600
00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:45,680
Speaker 1: more flexible, because what I didn't want to do, I

601
00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:47,640
Speaker 1: was actually gonna go. There was a time I also

602
00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:51,520
Speaker 1: worked at Olive Garden as a server because all my

603
00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:53,920
Speaker 1: friends were working there and I want to join them.

604
00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:56,680
Speaker 1: And I was actually a really good server, and I

605
00:30:56,720 --> 00:30:58,000
Speaker 1: was like, let me go back to that. I'll make

606
00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:02,120
Speaker 1: good tips. But we're on a campaign. You get those calls, Hey,

607
00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:04,440
Speaker 1: this person wants to interview you in an hour? Can

608
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:06,560
Speaker 1: you do it? And what I learned about running a

609
00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:08,400
Speaker 1: campaign for a year and a half is there's not

610
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:11,760
Speaker 1: like a silver bullet. It's the collection of all these

611
00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:14,400
Speaker 1: good decisions right that lead you to winning. And I

612
00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:16,400
Speaker 1: didn't want to miss one. I didn't want to miss

613
00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:18,680
Speaker 1: one of them. And I knew that either the job

614
00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,880
Speaker 1: would suffer or the campaign would suffer. And I'm not

615
00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:23,920
Speaker 1: one of these people that's gonna like, I don't want

616
00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:25,680
Speaker 1: to get a job and then be the person that

617
00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,080
Speaker 1: everyone hates because I'm calling out all the time. That's

618
00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:31,560
Speaker 1: why I decided to do uber, but I do think

619
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:35,080
Speaker 1: you know that those two years taught me a lot

620
00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:37,400
Speaker 1: about the housing crisis in a way that I'd never

621
00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:41,480
Speaker 1: experienced before, because, believe it or not, I didn't pay

622
00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:46,440
Speaker 1: my first I didn't sign my first lease until the pandemic.

623
00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:51,360
Speaker 1: And the reason why is because I was a campaign organizer.

624
00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:53,720
Speaker 1: And if anyone's worked a campaign before, you know that

625
00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:57,640
Speaker 1: you're moving around the country every eight months or every year,

626
00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:02,600
Speaker 1: and you're living in people's spare bedroom, right, You're living

627
00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:05,040
Speaker 1: at supporter housing, right. So I was always living in

628
00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:08,640
Speaker 1: a spare bedroom of some supporter of the campaign from

629
00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:13,120
Speaker 1: eighteen to twenty four or to twenty three. So it

630
00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:17,440
Speaker 1: was my first experience going for a lease, seeing the

631
00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:21,280
Speaker 1: rent increase, having to leave because I couldn't pay the rent,

632
00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:26,840
Speaker 1: experience essentially experiencing homelessness during that time, getting into a place,

633
00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:28,840
Speaker 1: saying if I get elected to Congress, I'll never have

634
00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:31,920
Speaker 1: to deal with this again. Getting elected to Congress, going

635
00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:35,560
Speaker 1: to DC, applying to apartments, getting denied every apartment I

636
00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:40,400
Speaker 1: applied to because my credit was poor because I wasn't

637
00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:43,440
Speaker 1: really making an income during the campaign. And this is

638
00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:45,360
Speaker 1: part of the reason why I'm doing so much and

639
00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:49,480
Speaker 1: introducing so much legislation on housing because it's very personal

640
00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:52,400
Speaker 1: for me going through that experience. In fact, my first

641
00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:55,600
Speaker 1: housing bill, the n Junk Bis for Renters Act, and

642
00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:58,080
Speaker 1: my second one that has to do with ending credit

643
00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:02,680
Speaker 1: scores edding credit score screening, all came from my story,

644
00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:04,920
Speaker 1: and it all came from that story. And in fact,

645
00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:07,760
Speaker 1: I remember in January when I got torn in I'm

646
00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:09,800
Speaker 1: doing an ABC interview and they're asking me where are

647
00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:11,800
Speaker 1: you gonna live? And I casually was like, well, I

648
00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:13,560
Speaker 1: just got denied all the apartments I applied to. I

649
00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:15,920
Speaker 1: think I'm gonna, like, you know, coutrip with a friend

650
00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:18,120
Speaker 1: for a few weeks and then figure it out. I said,

651
00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:19,800
Speaker 1: I didn't think it would be a big deal at all,

652
00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:22,920
Speaker 1: and ended up being one of the biggest stories about

653
00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:25,800
Speaker 1: me to this day. I mean, I'll be walking around

654
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:27,560
Speaker 1: a street of a random city and somebody will come

655
00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:29,920
Speaker 1: up and be like, honey, did you find a place

656
00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:34,320
Speaker 1: to live? And breaking news. I'm good now, having a

657
00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:38,440
Speaker 1: part of everything is okay. But when that news broke

658
00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:41,560
Speaker 1: and it became incredibly viral that this new congressman could

659
00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:44,200
Speaker 1: have had a place to live in DC. I received

660
00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:49,040
Speaker 1: over ten thousand letters, emails, phone calls, messages from people

661
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:52,840
Speaker 1: around the country telling me their stories of how they

662
00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:55,920
Speaker 1: experienced similar stuff. So we took those stories and we

663
00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:59,680
Speaker 1: wrote a bunch of housing legislation on you know, making

664
00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,720
Speaker 1: sure that we eliminate barriers to housing right. And I

665
00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:08,399
Speaker 1: experienced that as a new congressman. I had the income right,

666
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:11,399
Speaker 1: But what happened is because my credit was poor. These

667
00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:13,520
Speaker 1: algorithms just deny you and they don't look at the

668
00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:16,480
Speaker 1: vitality of a person. And we know every study shows

669
00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:18,600
Speaker 1: us that credit scores are not a good indication on

670
00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:20,400
Speaker 1: whether or not someone's going to pay their rent or not.

671
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:22,880
Speaker 1: Why well, number one, paying your rent doesn't help your

672
00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:26,240
Speaker 1: credit score, and number two, when a working person falls

673
00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:28,239
Speaker 1: on hard times, what are the first two things they

674
00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:31,680
Speaker 1: always cut from food and medicine, what's the last thing

675
00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:34,920
Speaker 1: they cut from rent and mortgage? It's literally the last

676
00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:38,000
Speaker 1: thing somebody will touch even when they're having a hard time.

677
00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:40,279
Speaker 1: And so it's keeping a bunch of people from having

678
00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:42,600
Speaker 1: the honor of paying the high rent. And then I

679
00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:44,840
Speaker 1: have bills to attack the high rent as well. So

680
00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:49,719
Speaker 1: it all comes from that, from experiencing it which is

681
00:34:50,200 --> 00:34:51,839
Speaker 1: part of the reason housing is one of my top

682
00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:52,839
Speaker 1: priorities right now.

683
00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:55,360
Speaker 4: Well, and I think no matter your political beliefs, to

684
00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:58,520
Speaker 4: all of our listeners have views out there. People appreciate

685
00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:01,880
Speaker 4: the fact that because do you have lived that experience,

686
00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:04,879
Speaker 4: you're able to advocate on that issue because so many people,

687
00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:07,200
Speaker 4: to your point, if a member of Congress, for goodness sakes,

688
00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:10,000
Speaker 4: and that's why I went viral, obviously is denied a

689
00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:13,920
Speaker 4: place to stay. How many are struggling. And Patrick, as

690
00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:16,799
Speaker 4: a father watching all of this unfold for your son

691
00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:20,200
Speaker 4: going into debt, experiencing homelessness, driving an uber just to

692
00:35:20,239 --> 00:35:22,839
Speaker 4: stay afloat, I'm sure if he was going to win

693
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:26,680
Speaker 4: running for Congress at the stage of his life. Reflecting

694
00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:29,880
Speaker 4: back on this, was there a particular moment where you

695
00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:35,399
Speaker 4: felt extraordinary pride or frankly extraordinary worry for him.

696
00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:38,399
Speaker 3: I want to push back on one thing. I from

697
00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:40,760
Speaker 3: the minute he said he was going to run for Congress,

698
00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:41,839
Speaker 3: I knew he was going to win.

699
00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:48,239
Speaker 1: Well, I knew, I knew. I love I love it.

700
00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:52,080
Speaker 3: This is twenty twelve, Barack Obama has been re elected

701
00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:56,160
Speaker 3: and his inaugural parade is on the on the event

702
00:35:56,239 --> 00:35:58,719
Speaker 3: screen and Max said to me, Hey, you know.

703
00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:01,239
Speaker 1: You come, I can.

704
00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:03,200
Speaker 3: He had a salsa band at the time. He had

705
00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:06,160
Speaker 3: created a sausa band with his friends. He said, you know, Uh,

706
00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:10,239
Speaker 3: I can still submit an audition tape to the inaugural

707
00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:13,200
Speaker 3: committee and they could maybe select us and we could

708
00:36:13,239 --> 00:36:15,640
Speaker 3: maybe be in the inaugural parade. I said, And I

709
00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:17,440
Speaker 3: was tired of come home home where I said, Yeah,

710
00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:18,799
Speaker 3: that's great, Max, go ahead, go to do it, do

711
00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:21,760
Speaker 3: your thing, and I went to bed. Uh. Next week

712
00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:25,680
Speaker 3: came and I and hey, Dad, guess what we submitted.

713
00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:28,600
Speaker 3: We put together a video and we submitted it to

714
00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:31,239
Speaker 3: the inaugural committee in DC. Uh, maybe they're going to

715
00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:32,799
Speaker 3: pick us. And I said, that's great, Max, I'm going

716
00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:36,319
Speaker 3: to bed. Two weeks later, I come home from work.

717
00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:38,880
Speaker 3: He goes, Dad, you're not going to believe this. I

718
00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:41,839
Speaker 3: got an email from the inaugural committee. They really liked

719
00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:44,040
Speaker 3: art video and they invited us to be in the

720
00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:46,719
Speaker 3: inaugural parade. And so then at that point, I set

721
00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:49,080
Speaker 3: my instruments down that are carried in the house, and

722
00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:50,840
Speaker 3: I was sitting in his room and I said, Max,

723
00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:52,960
Speaker 3: you can't do that. I've been in the music business.

724
00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:53,480
Speaker 1: My whole life.

725
00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:57,080
Speaker 3: You're gonna need to go to the inaugural parade. I said,

726
00:36:57,080 --> 00:36:59,400
Speaker 3: they're not. They're just inviting you. They're not paying for

727
00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:01,560
Speaker 3: They don't pay. And I said, so now you need.

728
00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:04,960
Speaker 3: You need two sober Ego buses with two drivers in

729
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:08,800
Speaker 3: each bus. You need, I said, bottom line, you need.

730
00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:12,239
Speaker 3: You're all minors, so you need sponsors, you need, you

731
00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:16,760
Speaker 3: need chafferones. You need fifteen thousand dollars. You need fifteen

732
00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:19,239
Speaker 3: thousand dollars, and you need it right now. You're not

733
00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:20,759
Speaker 3: going to be able to raise it. You're not going

734
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:25,080
Speaker 3: to be able to go without that. And Max quiet,

735
00:37:25,239 --> 00:37:29,840
Speaker 3: he said it nicer than this. And he met with

736
00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:32,680
Speaker 3: a woman who was kind of a local politician. She

737
00:37:32,719 --> 00:37:35,440
Speaker 3: was a mayor of a small town, and she was

738
00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:39,160
Speaker 3: her name is Donna Hart, Donna Harts. He's a wonderful lady.

739
00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:43,919
Speaker 3: She was in the school teaching also, and I saw

740
00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:46,960
Speaker 3: that her and Max had gotten together and they were fundraising,

741
00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:52,400
Speaker 3: and to long story short, he raised so much money

742
00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:55,520
Speaker 3: for this trip that when we I went up as

743
00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:58,719
Speaker 3: a chaperone, of course, I don't remember ever taking my

744
00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:03,640
Speaker 3: wallet out of my pants. Everything was paid for by

745
00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:06,160
Speaker 3: the money that that him and and Donna raised.

746
00:38:06,239 --> 00:38:10,320
Speaker 1: We took a few weeks and we put together, you know, uh,

747
00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:13,080
Speaker 1: the letter, and we we hand delivered it to tons

748
00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:16,360
Speaker 1: of businesses and we found incredible a ton of support.

749
00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:19,080
Speaker 1: And I remember, you know it was it was you

750
00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:20,520
Speaker 1: and the principal of my school, and a lot of

751
00:38:20,560 --> 00:38:22,880
Speaker 1: people were like, Max, it's great you did this, but

752
00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:25,759
Speaker 1: like we you know, our school is a very underfunded

753
00:38:25,800 --> 00:38:29,440
Speaker 1: public arts school, and so they were like, you know,

754
00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:30,919
Speaker 1: we don't We're not sure we can raise the money

755
00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:32,200
Speaker 1: in a week, you know, we need we had like

756
00:38:32,239 --> 00:38:35,400
Speaker 1: a week or something. But but Donna, you know, who

757
00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:36,640
Speaker 1: was a teacher at the school and she was the

758
00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:38,640
Speaker 1: former mayor of one of our small towns, was like,

759
00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:41,080
Speaker 1: let's do it. And so her and I went out

760
00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:44,160
Speaker 1: and we got every meal donated. We got the bus

761
00:38:44,239 --> 00:38:47,120
Speaker 1: was don I mean, everything was donated, and we ended

762
00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:50,160
Speaker 1: up getting our float donated too, and we all went

763
00:38:50,239 --> 00:38:52,839
Speaker 1: up and performed that We were the first salsa band

764
00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:55,560
Speaker 1: to ever perform in a presidential inaugural parade.

765
00:38:56,120 --> 00:39:01,040
Speaker 5: You have so many first already.

766
00:38:59,239 --> 00:39:05,080
Speaker 3: So I always tell people, if you tell Max he

767
00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:07,880
Speaker 3: can't do it, that's just you're just putting fuel on

768
00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:10,440
Speaker 3: the fire. He's gonna he's gonna prove you that. So

769
00:39:10,719 --> 00:39:12,799
Speaker 3: when Elon Musk came out and said that he was

770
00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:16,320
Speaker 3: going to fund a challenger for Max, I just laughed.

771
00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:18,319
Speaker 3: I said, you know what you need to do, Elon Musk,

772
00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:20,440
Speaker 3: you need to come down to Eatonville and march in

773
00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:23,920
Speaker 3: the Martin Luther King kared in Eatonville with Maxwell and

774
00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:26,239
Speaker 3: see if you think you have enough money to knock

775
00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:30,480
Speaker 3: him out. Because you don't. But you but you have

776
00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:32,160
Speaker 3: fun trying. You have fun trying.

777
00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:40,960
Speaker 6: Congressman, you know, my father's dream was for freedom, justice, equality,

778
00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:45,440
Speaker 6: and so many other things that have not happened in

779
00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:49,680
Speaker 6: our nation. Yet, how do you see yourself connected to

780
00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:55,239
Speaker 6: that dream or I'd say vision, because the vision has

781
00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:59,640
Speaker 6: not yet been realized. And some might even say we're

782
00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:03,960
Speaker 6: for they're away from where we need to be. So

783
00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:07,320
Speaker 6: as a young leader, as you know, Dad was twenty

784
00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:12,319
Speaker 6: seven when he led the Montgomery bus boycott after Miss

785
00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:16,480
Speaker 6: Parks had been arrested. And so people forget that, by

786
00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:20,759
Speaker 6: the way, yeah, because you always think about leadership as

787
00:40:20,760 --> 00:40:25,760
Speaker 6: being older. I know that your representation inspires so many

788
00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:29,600
Speaker 6: other young people and we badly need that leadership in

789
00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:30,560
Speaker 6: Congress today.

790
00:40:30,920 --> 00:40:33,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I appreciate it. And you know, I think

791
00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:38,959
Speaker 1: because I come from grassroots organizing and movement and work,

792
00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:44,040
Speaker 1: I'm very clear eyed about my role right now. And

793
00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:48,000
Speaker 1: what I mean by that is I spent most of

794
00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:54,400
Speaker 1: my advocacy in organizing career sitting in rooms with politicians

795
00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:59,200
Speaker 1: who would cry with us. I remember this, Marco Rubia.

796
00:40:59,239 --> 00:41:01,279
Speaker 1: We would cry with the US and hug US on

797
00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:04,360
Speaker 1: gun violence prevention, and then the votes were always the same,

798
00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:09,520
Speaker 1: and I always questioned, you know, are we doing it right?

799
00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:11,560
Speaker 1: You know, I was questioning myself, are we doing it right?

800
00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:14,200
Speaker 1: What did we do wrong? And I got to the

801
00:41:14,239 --> 00:41:17,080
Speaker 1: point where I said, you know what, to change the politics,

802
00:41:17,120 --> 00:41:19,560
Speaker 1: we need to change the politicians sometimes, and that's why

803
00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:23,080
Speaker 1: I decided to run for Congress. And but I think

804
00:41:23,080 --> 00:41:25,920
Speaker 1: part of the problem is sometimes we see politicians on

805
00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:30,680
Speaker 1: a pedestal or as the sole leaders of a movement.

806
00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:34,680
Speaker 1: And what I'm clear about is the fact that I'm

807
00:41:34,719 --> 00:41:37,400
Speaker 1: still an organizer. I just organized in a different place.

808
00:41:38,440 --> 00:41:40,959
Speaker 1: I organized in Congress. You know, so many people would

809
00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:45,480
Speaker 1: disparage me during my race. You know, it was distasteful

810
00:41:45,520 --> 00:41:47,879
Speaker 1: for people to say my opponents to say he's too young,

811
00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:50,040
Speaker 1: so no one would say that, but they'd say, he's

812
00:41:50,040 --> 00:41:53,240
Speaker 1: just an organizer, you know, all the he's just an organizer,

813
00:41:53,320 --> 00:41:55,800
Speaker 1: is just an advocate. And when I got to Congress,

814
00:41:56,640 --> 00:41:58,640
Speaker 1: I would sit in the back of the chamber and

815
00:41:58,719 --> 00:42:01,120
Speaker 1: just look around and encourage people at Curve and DC

816
00:42:01,200 --> 00:42:04,520
Speaker 1: go sit in the gallery during votes and watch because

817
00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:08,800
Speaker 1: what you'll see is a fish bowl of organizing. Everyone

818
00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:11,640
Speaker 1: talking to each other, trying to convince people, Hey, can

819
00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:14,040
Speaker 1: you come, can you sign on my bill for my constituents?

820
00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:16,080
Speaker 1: Can you come to this press conference? It's important to me,

821
00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:19,719
Speaker 1: it's important for my people. Everyone's organizing. I say, I'm

822
00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:23,760
Speaker 1: I so believe that it's we need more organizers in office,

823
00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:30,319
Speaker 1: especially in representative government and where you're serving as a

824
00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:32,520
Speaker 1: part of a body. I always tell people, you know,

825
00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:35,359
Speaker 1: I'm not a chief executive, I'm not a mayor, I'm

826
00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:38,239
Speaker 1: not a governor, I'm not a president. That you know.

827
00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:41,440
Speaker 1: This is something Nancy Pelosi says that is you know,

828
00:42:41,480 --> 00:42:43,040
Speaker 1: the way I like to think about it is the

829
00:42:43,120 --> 00:42:47,160
Speaker 1: job descriptions in the title representative, right, I'm I'm doing

830
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:49,080
Speaker 1: the same thing I did when I was fifteen and

831
00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:54,520
Speaker 1: sixteen years old, different level, different place, I'm an advocate

832
00:42:55,360 --> 00:42:58,279
Speaker 1: on behalf of the people in my home that I

833
00:42:58,320 --> 00:43:01,200
Speaker 1: live in and the brain this up because the connection

834
00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:05,040
Speaker 1: I see between this the work of your father, the

835
00:43:05,200 --> 00:43:07,319
Speaker 1: work of all of those in the civil rights era,

836
00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:13,799
Speaker 1: Ella Baker, Danny lu Hamer, all you know, organizers, is

837
00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:17,520
Speaker 1: that I'm just I'm doing the same thing I've done,

838
00:43:18,080 --> 00:43:21,880
Speaker 1: and I'm a small part in a very long timeline

839
00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:24,560
Speaker 1: for justice. And I'm honored to play to be a

840
00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:25,400
Speaker 1: part of that puzzle.

841
00:43:25,840 --> 00:43:29,960
Speaker 5: The power of speaking to people, not at people.

842
00:43:30,719 --> 00:43:36,640
Speaker 4: Yeah, Congressman Frost Patrick, thank you for sharing your love

843
00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:41,360
Speaker 4: of music, sharing your passion for organizing and impact, sharing

844
00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:45,160
Speaker 4: the importance of being vulnerable, and sharing both of your

845
00:43:45,160 --> 00:43:50,720
Speaker 4: remarkable life stories, and for Congressman for sharing the message

846
00:43:50,719 --> 00:43:53,799
Speaker 4: that this generation won't be silent. Thank you both for

847
00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:55,120
Speaker 4: sharing your legacies.

848
00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:58,080
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thanks for having us, Thank you, thank you

849
00:43:58,560 --> 00:43:59,319
Speaker 1: so very much.

850
00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:05,600
Speaker 2: Thank you for joining us. If you enjoyed today's conversation, subscribe, share,

851
00:44:05,680 --> 00:44:08,720
Speaker 2: and follow us on at my Legacy Movement on social

852
00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:13,680
Speaker 2: media and YouTube. New episodes drop every Tuesday, with bonus

853
00:44:13,719 --> 00:44:18,360
Speaker 2: content every Thursday. At its core, this podcast honors doctor

854
00:44:18,440 --> 00:44:22,280
Speaker 2: King's vision of the beloved community and The Power of Connection,

855
00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:27,400
Speaker 2: a legacy plus studio production distributed by iHeartMedia. Creator and

856
00:44:27,440 --> 00:44:31,880
Speaker 2: executive producer Suzanne Hayward, co executive producer Lisa Lyle. Listen

857
00:44:31,920 --> 00:44:34,839
Speaker 2: on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts

858
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