WEBVTT - Why The College Experience Is Not Created Equal 0:00:05.680 --> 0:00:11.160 Hey you, welcome back for the final episode of the season. Yep, 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:15.120 we've arrived, and what a great season has been, with 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:20.040 so many inspiring conversations with pretty dealp people talking about 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:22.520 everything from climate change in global health to the ever 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:27.480 present challenge of education access. Through these conversations, one thing 0:00:27.520 --> 0:00:33.320 has become very clear, the importance of togetherness, building spaces 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:38.720 for our communities by our communities, not by ourselves. I 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:42.160 want to continue the conversation we began last episode around 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:45.519 education now. In that episode, our guests touched on the 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:48.320 importance of collaboration and the well being of our educators, 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:52.000 creating safe spaces that allow the youth to be completely 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:56.240 themselves just as they are. In this episode, I'm going 0:00:56.280 --> 0:01:00.200 to focus more on that student experience. In the u US, 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:04.440 we've grown to accept college as this write of passage 0:01:04.600 --> 0:01:07.520 for so many young people, but for some of them, 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:11.400 especially students of color, going to college can be a 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:16.320 very difficult experience. It's another stressor a source of financial 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:20.039 and social burden that makes for a lonely experience when 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:22.600 you're the only person in a room that looks like you. 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:27.840 That's what makes today's guests so special through their resourcefulness 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:32.880 and collaboration. They've defied the odds, though their actions begin 0:01:33.040 --> 0:01:37.200 with themselves, through longing for something more, they proved that 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:40.560 no one action is ever too small, and thanks to 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:43.720 that work and their interests, they've become action leaders in 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:47.880 their own lives, becoming that force that multiplies beyond themselves. 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:52.760 Our first guest is a writer, democratic organizer, founder and 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:57.120 president of She the People, an organization dedicated to increasing 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:00.160 voter engagement and showing the power of the women of 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:04.880 color electorate. Amy Allison strongly believes that women of color 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:08.680 are the saving graces of our American democracy, and her 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:13.480 work kind of shows it. After we'll hear from Cheyenne Chambler, 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:17.520 a graduate and first year medical Sciences Master's student at 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:22.720 the University of Kentucky. Her educational journey wasn't always easy. 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:25.200 As a young student who had a father with a 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:29.400 chronic illness and a family stretched financially, she had to 0:02:29.480 --> 0:02:32.520 lean into her university's resources to complete her studies and 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:43.280 fulfill her dream of helping others. Amy, Welcome to Force Multiplier. 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:46.320 I want to start with your early years. Where did 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:48.520 this begin for you? Where did you grow up? And 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:51.080 what was that life like? I grew up in rural Ohio. 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:55.880 I'm one of six kids. My parents had met. My 0:02:56.000 --> 0:03:01.519 dad's last couple of years getting his PhD in plant pathology. 0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:04.640 For a black man, that's a very unusual and rare 0:03:04.919 --> 0:03:08.320 profession at the time. His job took him to the 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:12.079 middle of Ohio and it was a very, very white 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:15.120 town with a little section of black people, and we 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:18.080 went to the A. M. E. Church there, so I 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:21.639 had my dad's teaching me what it was to be black, 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:24.320 and then a few people at church and otherwise it 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:29.120 was a lonely, lonely existence. And I remember then thinking 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:35.520 and always searching for belonging. And I have always been 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:40.880 attracted to and building community with those of us who 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:45.280 were on the margins. And it became a foundational value 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:48.600 of mine, even before I could articulate those words. That's 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:54.960 where it all started. For young people like Amy, especially 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:59.160 in smaller working class towns, that sense of belonging mixed 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:02.080 with a combination and of what comes next is overwhelming. 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:06.240 But there is an institution ready to catch young minds 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:10.480 in their formative years. It's the military. So that's what 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:13.680 Amy did. She enlisted in the U. S. Army in 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:21.040 search of her own community. We're talking a lot about 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:25.880 access and the power of access, whether it's too health resources, 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:30.599 health care essentially to education and your educational journey. It 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:35.000 sounds to me financial resource was the primary driver of 0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:37.800 your military enlistment, like this just felt like the way 0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:40.000 to pay for school or is there more to it. 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:42.880 I didn't think it all the way through. Your teenager. 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:46.640 It's your job to not think things through that. Literally, 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:50.400 you have one job as a teenager, underthink things. But 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:52.480 I was also one of those kids where he said, oh, 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:54.839 you can't do it, as I Yes, I can. The 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:59.359 military recruiters have a lot of access to young people 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:01.719 for pticularly in a school like mine, whereas a lot 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:06.200 of working class kids. So when he laid it out, hey, 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:09.800 here's the economic argument. I didn't know that I could 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:12.359 have gotten a job at McDonald's and made the same 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:14.400 or a little bit more. But it was a job 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:17.560 I could quit. I didn't know I couldn't quit. I 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:20.240 didn't know. I had no idea that I was committing 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:23.239 myself for eight years. I wanted to be a doctor 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:27.240 at that time, and you know, in the subsequent years 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:30.440 where I would talk to young people who are considering 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:35.520 the military. So you know why, because service, public service 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:38.839 is an honorable thing. Why do you want to be 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:41.520 in the military? And I often will hear I want 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:44.080 job training, I want to get out of my parents house. 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:47.760 I want to opportunity to be free. And I said, well, 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.480 let me talk to you about freedom and what freedom 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:54.440 really is. It's a conversation that I keep having with 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:58.960 women of color everywhere, like the conversation about freedom. How 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:01.880 did you end up getting free of the U. S. Military? 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:04.640 You are no longer a member of the armed forces 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:07.120 of this country. How did you leave? The first I 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:09.320 should say this all happened a long time ago, in 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:13.400 my fifties. I have a chance to think about and 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:16.720 tell the story with new meaning. What happened for me 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:20.920 is after four years of being a combat medic. It 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:25.080 was a reservist, so I was working with vets at 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:27.920 the Palo Alto v A. I would go to my trainings, 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:30.159 you know, and qualify for my weapon and we would 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:32.279 still do MOP training. I was part of a mobile 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:37.000 hospital unit. Our unit was practicing for war. Was the 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:40.400 time where I was, you know, going to college classes. 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:45.000 I was learning about the freedom movement, the black freedom tradition, 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:50.600 and remember I'm still young. The Black freedom tradition in 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:55.440 America is the proudest tradition we have, and I started 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:58.600 to realize I'm part of that. But what does it 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:02.520 mean for me to study war even though the song 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:08.480 clearly says war no more so. My unit was starting 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:13.120 to prepare to deploy, and a lot of us have 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:15.480 this moment where we have to decide what is right 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:19.520 for us. We have to make a hard decision and 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:23.320 we have to have the courage. My dad actually told 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:27.200 me about a very obscure rule that people in the 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:32.240 military can pursue an honorable discharge as a conscientious objector, 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:35.680 which means that a person who wasn't opposed to war 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:38.760 in any form when they joined, which I wasn't. I 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:42.560 really hadn't thought of it to a person who based 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:46.120 on moral, ethical, religious beliefs, could not participate. I had 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:50.200 become that person, and I pursued one of the most 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:53.880 difficult discharges. Took me a few years. I still wore 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:58.000 the uniform, but I did earn that honorable discharge. I'm 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:01.080 very proud of it, and I know of no other 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:06.120 black woman who's won this kind of discharge. I did 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:10.000 it for moral reasons, and I thought so few Americans 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:13.600 serve in the military. People might say thank you for 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:16.720 your service, or remember the yellow ribbons which you might 0:08:16.720 --> 0:08:19.800 have been a generation ago, or they have this stickers 0:08:19.840 --> 0:08:23.000 on their car, but they actually don't understand what it 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:27.160 is to give to your country. And I still believe 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:30.440 in that, like, let's that's deep for me. It's just 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:34.240 I want to give to my country. Differently, we are 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:38.000 at a perfect point to talk about this time in 0:08:38.040 --> 0:08:42.320 this country. You've stated that women of color are the 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:46.600 saving grace of democracy. It's clear you're doing everything in 0:08:46.640 --> 0:08:50.800 your power to ensure these women have info, have access, 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:55.360 have tools to exercise this power to save us. All 0:08:56.320 --> 0:08:59.360 I want to talk about democracy and color. I want 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:03.439 to talk about get information and then the more present 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:06.440 work of She the People. Can you just give me 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:09.560 a brief overview and the path of the first two 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:12.760 and then we'll focus more on She the People. Democracy 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:16.600 and Color was about supporting courageous leadership that would stand 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:20.280 up for our issues, justice issues. But the thing that's 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:25.000 behind the curtain that people don't see often about the 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:30.200 business of politics is how we get the candidates on 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:32.840 the ballot that we get and what they stand for. 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:39.560 The ecosystem of donors and packs and party politics even 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:45.560 at the state level, and campaign committees and influencers who 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:50.520 say who's electable and not have a very definitive effect 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:52.079 on who we see on the ballot and what they 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:56.160 stand for. So the Democrats for many, many years, and 0:09:56.160 --> 0:09:58.760 that's what democracy and Color and ultimately She the People 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:03.079 continues to push on. I really thought the most important 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:07.360 voters to win through supporting particular candidates and the money 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:09.439 that they spend on you know, how they turn out 0:10:09.520 --> 0:10:13.800 votes was white voters. Yeah, and so we made the 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:17.040 case and I'm still making the case. White voters are 0:10:17.080 --> 0:10:20.800 not the Democrats best hoped for success. They just aren't. 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:23.880 The majority of white men and women vote for Republicans. 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:28.360 Those who are standing for abortion rights and climate justice 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:34.439 and trans rights and economic equality, those are women of color. 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:38.079 Those are the core. We did that work. Demarks and 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:41.400 Color made that case. We're continuing to make that case, 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:45.600 specifically for women of color. Now, what about good information. 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:50.960 We look at a state like Georgia where you have 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:55.480 this fantastic candidate named Stacy Abrams, who I've known for 0:10:55.600 --> 0:11:00.079 many years, who was making a run for governor, and 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:04.600 so here I am in California, knowing that we have 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:10.440 this remarkable, talented candidate who has a philosophy of building 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:15.560 a multiracial coalition in order to change the political landscape 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:19.080 in Georgia to allow a Democrat to win statewide. And 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:21.520 she had been doing that work for a long time. 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:27.120 So I founded a campaign called Get Information, explicitly to 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:33.720 call black women who were outside of Georgia together to focus. 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:35.800 Now listen. I went to Georgia. I had a friend 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:39.560 who's to live in California. She moved to Atlanta and uh, 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:43.720 I said, Hey, I'm here visiting the campaign of who 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:45.520 I hope is your next governor. She said who's that? 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:50.000 I said, Stacy Abrahams. And at that time she was like, oh, 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:57.480 she'll never win. A melanated, natural hair woman democrat had 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:01.880 no shot in Georgia. Getting formation was about activating the 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:05.760 power of black women before we were recognized. We are 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:10.800 the highest vote turnout, most likely to organize. We are 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:15.960 public servants extraordinary, and we whold division of democracy and justice. 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:19.160 We are unique, we are special. The country needs us. 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:23.280 It wasn't just black women who answered Latina's Asian American 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:29.120 specific Islanders and Native women answer the call. People gave 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:32.240 small amounts of money, they went to volunteer, and they 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:35.080 brought us to where we were today. Out of that, 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:39.280 we saw the potential, even though we were fighting against 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:43.080 these anti democratic people, both in Georgia and other places 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:47.000 in these frontline states, that we have tapped something very powerful. 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:50.160 So she the People was born out of that. It 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:52.600 was out about a vision. There's a thousand Stacy Abrahams 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:57.160 in this country, and if we are able to focus 0:12:57.240 --> 0:13:02.559 our resources our attention on those who have the strongest 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:06.400 vision and are most likely to build multi ritual coalitions, 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:11.400 we can win. I love the language of Sheeta people. 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:17.040 You explicitly talk about achieving a multiracial democracy, which is 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:21.280 something we haven't ever quite had. And I often think 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:24.280 of this country, which I deeply love and have only 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:27.559 ever really lived in for the past forty four years, 0:13:28.240 --> 0:13:35.160 as this unfinished journey, laudable goals, questionable execution, and we 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:38.800 talk about, you know, we're the longest standing democracy and 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:41.520 like whoa for who? You know, for most of our 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:45.360 history most of our people couldn't participate. So is it 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:49.239 really a democracy? You know? Starting what year are recounting 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:53.200 sixty four sixty never did have that equal rights Amendment 0:13:53.200 --> 0:14:00.640 for women, So maybe we can get to nickel on it. 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:06.040 But I appreciate the explicit nature of multi racial democracy 0:14:06.160 --> 0:14:10.880 and the terms of love, justice, and belonging as kind 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:15.080 of the spirit that moves this whole operation. So here's 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:20.960 the picture I want to paint. Abortion rights are being dissolved, 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:27.480 economic crises are emerging. Yet again, both of these land 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:32.920 disproportionately on women of color on the saving grace of democracy. 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:36.680 This current US administration, the Biden administration, has a woman 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:39.920 of color right there next to the president. He's only 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:44.880 there because a lot of folks got information and turned 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:48.960 up and turned out for him. It feels too many 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:55.400 like we're losing. How do you handle what feels like 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:59.680 a moment of regression for so many of us? Do 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:03.120 you see it? Is that? Remember when I told you, 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:07.280 m I grew up in this black church in this 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:11.240 really white area. Yeah, the African Methodist Episcopal Church and 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:15.600 Amy Church. The pastor used to talk about a scripture 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:20.280 that called standing in the Gap. Do you ever hear 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:26.360 about that? Hm? Standing in the gap refers to the 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:32.800 difficult ability to see what is like the truth of 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:35.920 what is at the same time hold what could be 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:42.040 the greatest people who have ever lived had an extraordinary 0:15:42.120 --> 0:15:45.400 capacity to stand in the gap. This is what we 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:48.680 have to do right now. Everything you said is true, 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:56.800 and the power and the possibility of justice can come. 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:02.200 The reason why we organize are found our values is 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:06.880 I deeply believe and am committed to gathering our people 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:10.800 based on a fundamental belief of who we are with 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:14.760 each other, to love our own and each other, to 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.600 make justice the law of the land, to make this 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:21.000 country a place where everyone belongs. If we can hold 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:25.240 that vision while seeing that, then we're doing something that 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:29.440 is remarkably difficult and needed. In this moment, I tell 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:33.520 people to be encouraged. Remember when I started this work, 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:36.960 the term women of color was never used in politics. 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:41.200 Women of color, including black women. Everyone talks about black 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:49.640 women now. That didn't happen until and beyond Latino's huge, 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:53.560 fastest growing part of the women of color population, Asian 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:59.000 Americans was always white voters until now. So what I 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:02.400 got to see, a witness and really be part of 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:06.240 is a changing of the culture that we are now 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:09.960 seen and we are heard. Yeah, right now, we have 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:15.800 all of these challenges that really come down to how 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:19.800 strongly can we gather power? How nuanced can we think 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:23.960 about power? Is it just about representation? It isn't. So 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:27.760 representation is not the answer. Values are the answer and 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:31.200 building power. So when we look at what's happening now, 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:35.119 we have to both prepare for the threat that is 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:41.840 and strategize deeply about using our power, grounded in love, 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:45.120 to overcome these elements in this country because they are 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:50.520 What are some of the specific ways that you've learned 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:54.199 to build this power and to mobilize communities? What does 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:56.800 that look like on the ground. Is it that use 0:17:56.840 --> 0:17:59.480 of technology is a type of messaging and their unique 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:02.840 forms of other ring where people are feeling this potential, 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:05.520 this possibility of what can be and not just what 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:08.960 is well to the last thing, you know, and it 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:11.560 seems like ancient history. But in twenty nineteen, when we 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:16.400 had this historically diverse set of presidential hopefuls, I said, 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:18.680 you know, what would be the power move to put 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:21.480 women of color in a power position is to have 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:24.560 the first presidential forum focused on women of color. And 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:27.920 that's what we did at Texas Southern, which is one 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:30.440 of the largest hbc U s in Houston and we 0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:32.960 got it like over a thousand women of color from 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:38.000 thirty states, and we had a presidential candidates and we 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:41.280 were up there asking them questions that had never been 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:45.600 asked to presidential hopeful. A lot of what we like 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:48.520 to talk about on this show is collaboration. We have 0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:52.199 folks on taken on big enough problems like of pandemic, 0:18:52.560 --> 0:18:56.360 like rebirth of democracy that no one person, no one 0:18:56.480 --> 0:19:00.920 organization could pull it off. How has collaboration Asian affected 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:04.160 your work in particularly was She the People? Are there 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:08.560 different types of partnerships and linkage. Is that you've been 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:12.600 able to build and benefit from that help you see 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:14.679 the clearer picture and help you achieve some of the 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:18.040 goals you set for. She the People is a network 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:23.359 women of color are the movers where the organizers were 0:19:23.440 --> 0:19:27.720 the most effective on the ground, holders of the vision 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:30.480 and actual turnout of voters. We just do all that. 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:34.600 So She the People is a network of women all 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:38.959 over the country that do that. There are really exceptional 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:43.920 organizing like Florida Rising, which is a statewide organizations actually 0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:49.440 themselves comprised of community and other groups that focuses on 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:54.680 speaking to voters of color, doing political education, listening to them, 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:57.919 getting people registered, turning people out to vote, building power 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:03.600 from the ground up, a Virginia Majority one, Arizona, Texas 0:20:03.680 --> 0:20:07.480 organizing project, and the list goes on and on. These 0:20:07.520 --> 0:20:09.720 are our partners. So I want to I want to 0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:12.359 bring it back as we started to close to the 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:16.920 initiating theme of this episode, which is about education access 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:18.760 and getting a little bit of that from your own 0:20:18.800 --> 0:20:22.399 story and thinking about the power that women of color 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:26.000 have and the connection of that power to education. You know, 0:20:26.320 --> 0:20:29.080 if there's a young woman considering her path the higher education, 0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:32.520 if there's someone considering a life in politics, do you 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:35.880 have advice to folks in terms of how to get 0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:39.320 that education and that access to unlock you know, the 0:20:39.359 --> 0:20:42.040 power to govern ourselves. At the end of the day, 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:44.919 there's so much to that question. It's a it's a 0:20:44.960 --> 0:20:47.280 great question. I will just focus on the aspect of 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:51.800 the third part of power is data. It's not just stories, 0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:55.720 it's not just knowing who our network is. It's data 0:20:56.119 --> 0:20:59.240 about ourselves. No one knows what we think or want. 0:21:00.640 --> 0:21:05.000 The education part goes on really figuring out who we are, 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:08.879 how many of us there are. It's astounding, you know, 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:12.840 in the last ten years, our vote share increased ten percent, 0:21:13.080 --> 0:21:17.119 white women's increase six where the majority of women in 0:21:17.240 --> 0:21:21.720 eight states. Now we are the majority of Democratic voters. 0:21:21.760 --> 0:21:27.080 So to me, understanding our power and educating is important 0:21:27.280 --> 0:21:30.919 in our contribution achieve the people. Is we're doing a 0:21:30.960 --> 0:21:36.520 listening session across ten states and listening to women I 0:21:36.560 --> 0:21:39.320 think will help to contribute. Is My dream is to 0:21:39.440 --> 0:21:43.960 retell the American story with us in it and so 0:21:44.280 --> 0:21:49.000 understanding and almost refounding, getting an education to understand who 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:53.080 America is with us in it, being powerful entities that 0:21:53.200 --> 0:21:56.359 shape this country, that served this country and continue to 0:21:56.440 --> 0:22:00.240 fight for ideals even if they weren't realized. That's the educationation. 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:03.480 Now would we go, look, there aren't the books, but 0:22:03.560 --> 0:22:06.040 we got to write the books. We have to write 0:22:06.040 --> 0:22:08.040 the books and have the data to have that kind 0:22:08.040 --> 0:22:11.239 of education, and once we do, we can understand and 0:22:11.280 --> 0:22:15.399 really embrace our power. We're far more powerful than anyone 0:22:15.440 --> 0:22:19.240 ever told us we were, and we're powerful together. That's 0:22:19.240 --> 0:22:22.600 holding the vision. That's the vision I got. I got 0:22:22.600 --> 0:22:25.320 one more for you, And it's the flip side of 0:22:25.359 --> 0:22:30.240 everything you've been describing. Writing women of color into the 0:22:30.280 --> 0:22:36.040 story is often perceived and certainly weaponized by folks as 0:22:36.119 --> 0:22:38.880 being written out of the story. How do you think 0:22:38.880 --> 0:22:45.480 about the fear and backlash generated by the shifting narrative 0:22:45.880 --> 0:22:50.160 that you're promoting. Here's what I say. There are more 0:22:50.200 --> 0:22:55.560 people then we know and recognize that share our values, 0:22:56.480 --> 0:23:00.000 that we have the power to overcome those who would 0:23:00.119 --> 0:23:06.720 say the future is this dim, violent, vile, white supremacist future. No, 0:23:07.200 --> 0:23:12.159 that is our past. We're building something new. So you 0:23:12.200 --> 0:23:16.240 have to ask yourself both how do you want to 0:23:16.280 --> 0:23:19.359 play in history? I decided I'm part of the black 0:23:19.400 --> 0:23:25.680 freedom tradition, and it's a tradition that's actually open to everyone. 0:23:25.760 --> 0:23:29.439 We can be part of that. I have seen the 0:23:29.520 --> 0:23:34.879 political power of black women, Asian American women, Latina's I 0:23:34.960 --> 0:23:38.399 have seen it grow in the time that I have 0:23:38.520 --> 0:23:42.359 started this work till now. We're just getting started. And 0:23:42.440 --> 0:23:45.320 the movement that She the people is part of building 0:23:46.040 --> 0:23:47.880 is for us not to give up on the country. 0:23:48.160 --> 0:23:50.560 It is to create our own future and to create 0:23:50.600 --> 0:23:56.399 a new language and thinking about where we're going. Yeah, 0:23:56.800 --> 0:24:02.239 Amy Alison, thank you for everything you're doing. It's an 0:24:02.240 --> 0:24:04.920 honor to spend this time with you. I appreciate you 0:24:05.080 --> 0:24:07.520 and the work that you are part of so so much. 0:24:07.960 --> 0:24:10.359 Thank you. I feel the same appreciate you having me 0:24:10.400 --> 0:24:23.840 on stand in the gap. You're listening to a podcast 0:24:23.880 --> 0:24:28.720 called Force Multiplier. Action meets Impact Now. I'm sure you've 0:24:28.760 --> 0:24:32.040 grown to expect ads baked into your podcast, but we're 0:24:32.040 --> 0:24:35.399 gonna do something a little different to walk the walk. 0:24:35.840 --> 0:24:38.800 We've donated our ad space to the organizations that need it, 0:24:38.880 --> 0:24:44.240 most organizations directly tackling today's greatest challenges. Be right back. 0:24:45.280 --> 0:24:49.560 The biggest threat to global health isn't a virus, it's injustice. 0:24:50.640 --> 0:24:54.280 The same scenario the ones denied life saving HIV medication 0:24:54.400 --> 0:24:57.320 to the world's poorest countries is now on repeat with 0:24:57.359 --> 0:25:00.640 access to COVID relief. We must act now to get 0:25:00.720 --> 0:25:03.080 doctors and nurses on the front lines to help they 0:25:03.200 --> 0:25:06.640 need to save lives. Join Red and learn how every 0:25:06.680 --> 0:25:09.480 dollar raised for the Global Fund results in thirty one 0:25:09.520 --> 0:25:13.160 dollars in health gains and economic returns. Visit red dot 0:25:13.240 --> 0:25:15.439 org for the many ways your money and support can 0:25:15.480 --> 0:25:19.600 become a force multiplier in the fight against pandemics. Hey, 0:25:19.800 --> 0:25:23.000 I'm still Baritune Day, your host for Force Multiplier, but 0:25:23.040 --> 0:25:25.080 I'm checking in with you with a little different energy, 0:25:25.160 --> 0:25:27.920 because if you're listening, you like the show, and if 0:25:27.920 --> 0:25:30.119 you like the show, you might like my other show, 0:25:30.480 --> 0:25:33.680 How to Citizen, where we take citizen as a verb 0:25:33.880 --> 0:25:36.800 and find out from people practicing the ways we can 0:25:36.800 --> 0:25:41.159 shape our community by showing up, investing in relationships, understanding power, 0:25:41.240 --> 0:25:44.400 and valuing our collective selves. Check it out at how 0:25:44.480 --> 0:25:47.919 to Citizen dot com or wherever you get your podcast. 0:25:55.720 --> 0:25:59.000 The more I think about Amy's story, the more impressive 0:25:59.040 --> 0:26:03.480 it gets. She's someone who challenges herself, doesn't take the 0:26:03.560 --> 0:26:07.600 common road from her honorable discharge, which is pretty hard 0:26:07.640 --> 0:26:11.840 to obtain to uplifting the voices of marginalized women in 0:26:11.880 --> 0:26:15.680 places that can be so incredibly unwelcome to them. She 0:26:15.920 --> 0:26:18.480 is a manifestation of what we can accomplish when we 0:26:18.560 --> 0:26:23.000 move as one. She also shows us that before helping others, 0:26:23.040 --> 0:26:26.639 sometimes we've got to help ourselves be kind and true 0:26:26.640 --> 0:26:29.920 to ourselves, even if the choices we make go against 0:26:29.920 --> 0:26:34.560 our initial plans. Much like Amy, our next guests also 0:26:34.920 --> 0:26:37.520 didn't allow circumstances to define the outcome of her life. 0:26:38.240 --> 0:26:41.680 As a recent graduate of the University of Kentucky, Cheyenne 0:26:41.760 --> 0:26:44.600 Chandler had to quickly learn how to leverage resources from 0:26:44.640 --> 0:26:52.960 the institution to complete her studies. Check it out. Hi, 0:26:53.240 --> 0:26:56.280 my name is Cheyenne Chandler. I am a recent graduate 0:26:56.320 --> 0:26:59.600 from the University Kentucky. So I have always really been 0:26:59.640 --> 0:27:03.480