Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha. I could be Stefan
Speaker 1: never told you a production of Ihart Radio.
Speaker 2: And today, y'all, we are coming back on with a
Speaker 2: friend of the show. I think one of the first
Speaker 2: friends that I made thanks to the show through the podcast.
Speaker 2: I fangirled really hard. I think I was so giddy
Speaker 2: when you came on that everybody was like, is she okay?
Speaker 2: Because I was so excited to have you on. And
Speaker 2: actually it was one of our last interviews that we
Speaker 2: did in that studio because the pandemic had happened, we
Speaker 2: quickly wanted to shut down. But with all of this, yes,
Speaker 2: I'm building it up. We are here today with Representative
Speaker 2: Park Canon of Georgia House District fifty eight. Welcome back,
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 3: I am still legislatively yours. I am still the youngest
Speaker 3: Democrat elected to the House in Georgia and now I
Speaker 3: am the secretary of the Caucus.
Speaker 2: Yes, you have done so much, and if you can't tell,
Speaker 2: I'm still fangirling because I have watched you continue to
Speaker 2: grow doing so much for our community specifically and being
Speaker 2: our voices, and very excited that you are continuing in
Speaker 2: this track with our interests in mind, and I really
Speaker 2: feel like you're one of the hopes that we have
Speaker 2: when it comes to politics, because it's been disappointing. Let's
Speaker 2: be honest, you know, I think we came back with
Speaker 2: a lot of heartbreak in the last four years, a
Speaker 2: lot of also, you know, restoration of faith as well.
Speaker 2: But you are one of the few that I'll still
Speaker 2: keep watching and have not been disappointed by. So thank you.
Speaker 3: Okay, Honestly, I feel like there are some lesbian fore
Speaker 3: mothers and some queer folks out here holding me accountable,
Speaker 3: and so the work is definitely of our office, but
Speaker 3: also I think of a lot of the people who
Speaker 3: feel like things are broken now.
Speaker 2: And of course you have given some of the things
Speaker 2: that you've been doing and you're still doing, and we
Speaker 2: have to put behind your title, you know, advocate. Of
Speaker 2: course style icons still are because you're killing it well.
Speaker 2: As I'm watching you on Instagram, I'm like, I need
Speaker 2: silent advice from her reproductive justice advocate in Doulah. And
Speaker 2: you've been fighting so hard with that. You're an author, Hello,
Speaker 2: yes you are, and yeah, you've done so much and
Speaker 2: we're so excited to have you back on And with that,
Speaker 2: how have you been. How are you doing?
Speaker 4: It's been interesting.
Speaker 3: I now have two therapists and my team at the
Speaker 3: Capital has grown to make sure that we've got everything covered,
Speaker 3: and ultimately I've started ballroom dancing.
Speaker 2: Cool.
Speaker 3: Yes, your girl did a chat shot competition, and I'm
Speaker 3: not going to get too much into it because it
Speaker 3: was for charity. But I got the highest points in
Speaker 3: the competition but walked away with no trophy because they
Speaker 3: had a sudden dance off in a totally different genre
Speaker 3: and I was just giving basic and they needed extra.
Speaker 3: So the moral of the story is I'm fine, but
Speaker 3: I'm still missing that trophy.
Speaker 2: God, come on, we need to see clips of those
Speaker 2: because I have questions.
Speaker 4: I will email it to you immediately.
Speaker 3: It's on my Instagram and your girl is still going
Speaker 3: to therapy over it.
Speaker 1: Too.
Speaker 2: I would too. But that's still amazing that you went
Speaker 2: and competed because for me, things like that, I'm like, no,
Speaker 2: thank you. I would be on the sideline eating popcorn
Speaker 2: watching you do it.
Speaker 3: No, I really have to move a lot of the
Speaker 3: stuff that happens at the Capitol out of my body.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And so I.
Speaker 3: Go to the sauna and I go to stretch class
Speaker 3: and physical therapy and just try to use some different
Speaker 3: herbs in my baptob you know, just really trying to
Speaker 3: get the white supremacy off of me.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Oh, and in the state of Georgia, I can't imagine.
Speaker 2: But with all that, you have been obviously very very
Speaker 2: busy being on the front lines in Georgia politics. You've
Speaker 2: been on the front pages of news all over the country,
Speaker 2: all of the nation, fighting for your people in your community. Again,
Speaker 2: that's a whole lot of responsibility being placed onto your shoulders.
Speaker 2: I cannot imagine, and I'm thinking I don't think you
Speaker 2: hit enough baths, enough of those to be able to
Speaker 2: completely relax. But again, like guys said, just watching you
Speaker 2: doing the work that you're doing, still fighting especially what
Speaker 2: feels like an uphill battle constantly has been so it's
Speaker 2: not just encouraging. There's so many words that I don't
Speaker 2: have enough of because we know, again after being disappointed,
Speaker 2: this is the moments where I'm like, yeah, I know
Speaker 2: I'm significantly older than you, but you're doing all of
Speaker 2: this work, and I know it has to be from
Speaker 2: people like you, unfortunately, because you're the ones who really
Speaker 2: really push it forward.
Speaker 4: And I love that.
Speaker 3: We're super future minded in my office, to the point
Speaker 3: where we're thinking past the wars that we're in. We're
Speaker 3: thinking past the brutality that we're seeing and past the
Speaker 3: mortality experiences, really into a world that is infinite with opportunity.
Speaker 3: So I think that this last session, I went in
Speaker 3: thinking how can I serve members even when they don't
Speaker 3: know they're being served, and how can I rest a
Speaker 3: little bit more. So I've been calling myself internally the
Speaker 3: sedentary secretary because I've been trying to sit down and
Speaker 3: do the work more because people would always say, like
Speaker 3: there goes part Candon, like her feet are going fast
Speaker 3: as down a hallway, and I enjoyed like the click clack.
Speaker 3: But I've also realized being sedentary, being settled, helping people
Speaker 3: see the power in, you know, being organized. So I've
Speaker 3: been enjoying the sedentary secretary role a little bit this year.
Speaker 2: Ooh, the power being organized. That's a statement that I
Speaker 2: don't I don't understand. I need it, but I don't
Speaker 2: understand it. Yeah, And as the secretary, I know you know,
Speaker 2: and the world knows that a lot is happening right
Speaker 2: now in Georgia. We are a pretty big focal point
Speaker 2: for a lot of things, and one of the big things,
Speaker 2: of course, has to do with the overturning of Roe v. Wade,
Speaker 2: and in before then, even before then, conservatives in Georgia
Speaker 2: have been working to completely dismantle abortion rights. We know
Speaker 2: that it's been a thing. They've been doing this and
Speaker 2: now have had the chance to run with that, unfortunately,
Speaker 2: and they have places that six week ban in full fact,
Speaker 2: and we know that access has been severely limited, even
Speaker 2: though there's more support for abortion access than not like publicly,
Speaker 2: but hey, who want Why do we care what the
Speaker 2: people want?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 2: What are some things we may not know about the
Speaker 2: law that just that was passed.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so the law makes it ambiguous on to who
Speaker 3: can drive into hov lane, because how does a police
Speaker 3: officer decide who's pregnant or not? And when do you
Speaker 3: decide that the pregnancy is viable enough to get out
Speaker 3: of a ticket. It also makes it so that the
Speaker 3: process of child support can be started while someone is
Speaker 3: in the womb, And it also makes it so that
Speaker 3: different health care facilities are criminalized ultimately for their role
Speaker 3: in dealing with miscarriages.
Speaker 4: So it's a pretty.
Speaker 3: Intense reality that we have here in Georgia, which is
Speaker 3: why I'm proud of organizations like ARC Southeast and the
Speaker 3: Feminist Women's Health Center that still provide access to abortion
Speaker 3: inside the state and also help you travel or get
Speaker 3: childcare or hotel care if you have to go outside
Speaker 3: of the state. And legislatively, we've been passing bills to say,
Speaker 3: if you're going to make it so that people have
Speaker 3: to remain pregnant and carry to term, then you're going
Speaker 3: to need to change some systemic issues. So this year
Speaker 3: we were able to create a new Commission on basically
Speaker 3: Maternal Equity and Excellence, and so it will convene fourteen
Speaker 3: different stakeholders who are not just obgi ns, but who
Speaker 3: are system administrators and pelvic floor specialists and chiropractors who
Speaker 3: can say what's wrong with George's healthcare system. As well
Speaker 3: as we've put some more money in the budget for
Speaker 3: our review committee, which when someone passes away in childbirth,
Speaker 3: there's this review committee that figures out how it happened.
Speaker 3: And that review committee has been so key.
Speaker 4: Because it has proven that.
Speaker 3: Eighty nine percent of the births that ended fatally in
Speaker 3: Georgia were preventable.
Speaker 4: So when things are preventable.
Speaker 3: That means that we should start compensating people. So just
Speaker 3: yesterday I put in a bill that would create a
Speaker 3: survivor's fund for families of those who pass away in
Speaker 3: childbirth right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and as in fact, that was something I was
Speaker 2: going to bring up because you've been sponsoring or introducing
Speaker 2: bills since the new policies have happened with the overturning
Speaker 2: of Roe v. Wade, trying to lessen the restrictions or
Speaker 2: at least help those who are most affected by those
Speaker 2: bills like HB one, I know, the Georgia pro Birth
Speaker 2: Accountability Act, which was amazing, Like you have some of
Speaker 2: the best I feel like, comebacks to, like the most
Speaker 2: archaic and all awful bills or policies that have happened.
Speaker 2: You just come back with like, Okay, well let's talk
Speaker 2: about this instead. And I love that because you do
Speaker 2: this in politics, you do this in policy form, and
Speaker 2: I'm like, damn, I don't know if people realize how
Speaker 2: artful this really is, and we don't talk about it enough.
Speaker 2: But bills like this, which is something try to hold
Speaker 2: people accountable for irresponsible bills that target pregnant people but
Speaker 2: don't want to actually help or give a sense after
Speaker 2: birth or in case of death. So you kind of
Speaker 2: already talked about it, but can you elaborate more on
Speaker 2: why these bills are important, why we need to keep
Speaker 2: talking about it, and actually we need to make it
Speaker 2: public for sure.
Speaker 3: So, for example, a mama who is on Medicaid in
Speaker 3: Georgia right now gets to have health insurance simply because
Speaker 3: that person is pregnant, but as soon as the pregnancy
Speaker 3: is over, they can be kicked off of Medicaid. So
Speaker 3: we expanded Medicaid for mama's only postpartum in Georgia, and
Speaker 3: that gives folks up to one year, which covers that
Speaker 3: postpartum possible mortality period. But what we've seen is that
Speaker 3: not only are people barely surviving that one year, but
Speaker 3: they're having a lot of other complications and issues that
Speaker 3: could be viewed from other medical perspectives if the system
Speaker 3: was paying attention.
Speaker 4: So, for example, we put a bill together this.
Speaker 3: Year that says, why wait for the six week ob
Speaker 3: visit to ask the mama how her mental health is.
Speaker 3: Why don't we just have that happen at the newborn visit,
Speaker 3: which happens within one week of birth and these bills
Speaker 3: are so important for medicaid mamas because they're expecting that
Speaker 3: the system is going to set off an alarm and say, hey,
Speaker 3: it's time for you to come in for this visit.
Speaker 3: Hey it's time for you to check in about birth control,
Speaker 3: and the systems are not. The OB's are not talking
Speaker 3: to the pediatricians, who are not talking to the labor
Speaker 3: and delivery nurses, who aren't talking to the doulas. So
Speaker 3: that's why it's so important that we put together this
Speaker 3: commission where everyone can finally talk to each other and
Speaker 3: get out of silos. And on top of that, with
Speaker 3: the Survivor's Fund. We've been hit with naysayers who will say, well,
Speaker 3: there is an anti gratuities clause in the state of Georgia,
Speaker 3: which means that same way that legislators can't get free
Speaker 3: tickets to things, that residents of Georgia can't just receive
Speaker 3: free government money and free government you know items.
Speaker 4: And so some naysayers have.
Speaker 3: Said, well, what does the state have to do with
Speaker 3: a mama who passes away in childbirth's child going to kindergarten?
Speaker 4: And our response is.
Speaker 3: Everything, how can we make it possible that this is
Speaker 3: not something that you can talk down on, but that
Speaker 3: you can publicize. And so the way that we're seeing
Speaker 3: this is if that review committee deems a death as preventable,
Speaker 3: that pros takes one year, so it's at least a
Speaker 3: year after the mortality, and then the family could apply
Speaker 3: and by that point, you know, some of the grieving,
Speaker 3: some of the trauma, some of the family issues might
Speaker 3: have resolved a little bit, so that now you can
Speaker 3: make a plan for that child's life and the guardian
Speaker 3: or whoever it's going to be. And we're hopeful that
Speaker 3: what we'll see is that people who have almost passed away,
Speaker 3: which we call morbidity, maternal morbidity or a near miss,
Speaker 3: that will start to catch some of their experiences too,
Speaker 3: as they start to reach out to the committee to
Speaker 3: share what's going on with them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, one of the things that we're seeing with all
Speaker 1: of these walls or legislations that are being proposed that
Speaker 1: are very anti abortion, anti reproductive rights is fear, I think,
Speaker 1: in confusion, just mass confusion. So technically abortion is still
Speaker 1: legal here and you've already talked about some things still
Speaker 1: legal here in Georgia. I mean, what do the listeners
Speaker 1: need to know when it comes to Georgia, and that.
Speaker 3: Here in Georgia, if you take a pregnancy test and
Speaker 3: you see that you're pregnant, you're going to need to
Speaker 3: follow up and find how many weeks pregnant you are
Speaker 3: because that determines your access to care. There are some
Speaker 3: clinics that are able to provide abortion pills to you
Speaker 3: if when you receive your ultrasound, if it says that
Speaker 3: you're less than six weeks gestation, and if you are
Speaker 3: over six weeks and it is not an extreme case
Speaker 3: of incest or rate that you have reported to the
Speaker 3: police and have a report for, then you will have
Speaker 3: to go out of state to North Carolina and receive
Speaker 3: services there, which they go a little bit further than
Speaker 3: we do, but they also don't go as far as
Speaker 3: the next state, which would be Virginia. So right now
Speaker 3: we are seeing a lot of families leave Georgia and
Speaker 3: head straight for Virginia without checking how far along they are,
Speaker 3: just to make sure that they can get the best care.
Speaker 2: Right, which is upsetting, Like, there's so many conversations that
Speaker 2: need to be had with these kind of restrictions. But yes,
Speaker 2: but they act like the fact of the matter is
Speaker 2: it is still technically legal six weeks and of course
Speaker 2: with the mini guidelines, that's just like we're like I
Speaker 2: can't even I get so angry. I can't even talk,
Speaker 2: like I'm just I'm just fumbling through the requirements that
Speaker 2: they have set up for access and it is almost impossible.
Speaker 2: It's kind of that same level of like they're hoping
Speaker 2: that you'll go to a pregnancy center and like being
Speaker 2: tricked into all of that. So I'm not even gonna
Speaker 2: go into all that because I don't. I will flip things.
Speaker 2: I will throw things apart right now, Like I just
Speaker 2: want to throw things. So I'm gonna calm down. But
Speaker 2: like there's so many things that need to be had,
Speaker 2: but that things like the organizations that you were talking
Speaker 2: about arec who I love. They are probably one of
Speaker 2: my favorite organizations. Really do so much, but make sure
Speaker 2: that they are fighting for reproductive rights in general, Like
Speaker 2: they're not just working to help their clients, are helping
Speaker 2: trying to help those in this area.
Speaker 3: Which yeah, they're in the Amplify Coalition, which is a
Speaker 3: collaborative of different nonprofits to amplify issues of reproductive justice.
Speaker 3: So the Amplify folks have been down at the Capitol.
Speaker 4: They have been doing great work.
Speaker 3: And I'm super grateful too that we get to have
Speaker 3: different converss, like about trans folks, about queer communities, about
Speaker 3: how COP City impacts queer folks, and Amplify is really
Speaker 3: leading on those issues.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and there's some big stuff I didn't even I
Speaker 2: haven't even tried to bring up cop City because I'm like, oh,
Speaker 2: that's another I bring it up in like sarcastic tone
Speaker 2: because it's just still so bleak being in Georgia and
Speaker 2: knowing what is happening here already, and you're like, well,
Speaker 2: what with the people who I thought I could trust
Speaker 2: in this city council? Really turned up disappointing, as I said,
Speaker 2: But like this is when I'm talking about the amount
Speaker 2: of disappointment that I've seen within our government who I
Speaker 2: thought would do what was for the best interest, and
Speaker 2: the fact that it's very like this is getting shorter again.
Speaker 2: You're still on my list, Thank you so much more. Yeah, okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: but you know, and on top of that, and in
Speaker 2: this conversation, we have to talk about the voter suppression
Speaker 2: stuff that has been happening and sat in the South
Speaker 2: and in Georgia as well, and the continued use of
Speaker 2: trickery and all the things that's happening here. And Georgia
Speaker 2: has become a swing state. We know this and when
Speaker 2: it comes to elections, and we've become a focal point
Speaker 2: for many when it comes to the results in elections
Speaker 2: and government. And even after both Kemp and Raethisberger confirmed
Speaker 2: that there were no fraud or illegal doings in twenty twenty,
Speaker 2: they still use that fear mongering to make it harder
Speaker 2: for marginalized folks to vote. And they did this nicklely
Speaker 2: and deceptively by signing the Election Integrity Act of twenty
Speaker 2: twenty one, which I feel like is a slap in
Speaker 2: the face in general, like that's such a lie. That
Speaker 2: is not that is not what's happening.
Speaker 3: That was their talking point for that year, integrity, and
Speaker 3: we really read through it and helped them understand that
Speaker 3: it was really just human rights violations.
Speaker 1: So right, right, and you you actually decided to take
Speaker 1: action on that. But before we get into that, can
Speaker 1: you talk about why acts like these are harmful for
Speaker 1: voters and do not put integrity into anything.
Speaker 3: Yeah, when you revamp the entire voting code, However, you
Speaker 3: don't get input from First Amendment organizations, voting rights groups,
Speaker 3: nor the offices at the local departments that are going
Speaker 3: to effectuate the elections, you know that there is no
Speaker 3: integrity to it. We have seen that in the recent elections,
Speaker 3: people have continued to show up to early vote more
Speaker 3: than they have shown up on election day. And that's
Speaker 3: been great because then it gives you an opportunity to
Speaker 3: vote in different places at different times. But also we
Speaker 3: have seen some voter confusion as to what district they're
Speaker 3: in because since I talked to y'all last we've gone
Speaker 3: through two cycles of redistricting, whereas we only should have
Speaker 3: had zero.
Speaker 4: So we had to.
Speaker 3: Come in in a special session re draw maps. Then
Speaker 3: they went to court, and then the court had to
Speaker 3: decide if they complied with the Voting Rights Act. And
Speaker 3: although we, along with ACLU and a number of other
Speaker 3: organizations argue that they did not comply with the Voting
Speaker 3: Rights Act, the Court's ruled in the favor of our
Speaker 3: opponents and said that the maps could go into effect.
Speaker 3: And so simply just helping people know what district they're
Speaker 3: in right now has been important due to these voter
Speaker 3: issues and changes over the past few years.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and of course, as Georgia residents and voters, we
Speaker 2: want to thank you because not only did you take
Speaker 2: action against something that was so harmful to us, but
Speaker 2: you helped bring attention to the n ethical practices and
Speaker 2: policies like these. No matter what, they did not come
Speaker 2: out looking good. There was nothing about this that was like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: they're doing great hiding it. But while you were going
Speaker 2: through this, you were a store, you were going on
Speaker 2: the front page news everywhere. I remember seeing it going, yeah,
Speaker 2: that's my girl right there, that's my friend. I was like, yeah,
Speaker 2: if there were, But what was going through your mind
Speaker 2: when all this came about when you were going at
Speaker 2: the door, Like, if you want to talk about it,
Speaker 2: you don't have going to detailed I know you've talked
Speaker 2: about it many times, but having to stand at the
Speaker 2: door trying to get their attention to be like, this
Speaker 2: is not the way this works, and then having to
Speaker 2: try to like just have an adult conversation is what
Speaker 2: it's like.
Speaker 3: This week is the three year anniversary of my unlawful
Speaker 3: arrest at the Georgia State Capitol, and the reflections that
Speaker 3: I have on it are twofold one that I am
Speaker 3: actively suing the State of Georgia right now in order
Speaker 3: for them to understand that they violated my rights and
Speaker 3: there is compensation as well as changes that need to
Speaker 3: happen so this does not affect another legislator. And secondly,
Speaker 3: that the world is watching, the world has seen these
Speaker 3: same officers arrest other elected officials in their capacity, that
Speaker 3: the world has seen them pass voter challenge laws in
Speaker 3: front of plantation photos, that the world has seen them
Speaker 3: continue to evade responsibility for interfering with elections in Fulton County.
Speaker 4: So as I reflect on it, I'm.
Speaker 3: So proud that Fannie Willis was recently elected the district
Speaker 3: attorney when my unlawful arrest happened, and she was able
Speaker 3: to drop the charges, and today we have been standing
Speaker 3: with her. I am now the Fulton County Chair and
Speaker 3: so as Fulton County elected officials, we have been supporting
Speaker 3: her through this.
Speaker 4: Time in which they have been trying to put her
Speaker 4: on trial. But they should.
Speaker 3: Be terrified because they have awoken so many other people,
Speaker 3: Like in my experience, they woke so many people who
Speaker 3: thought that voter challenges were of the past, and in
Speaker 3: her case, they have awakened many individuals who can see
Speaker 3: how masogyny plays into elected leadership and how at the
Speaker 3: same time she has been phenomenal with her pursuit of
Speaker 3: justice for all of Georgia and the nation. So I'm
Speaker 3: feeling kind of excited that this is where we are
Speaker 3: and that the eyes are still on Fulton County voters, right, I.
Speaker 2: Will say, Like watching the TikTok videos of the different
Speaker 2: testimonials and all that testifying happening, I'm like, Okay, I
Speaker 2: am a millennial genexer. So when this phrase stand on
Speaker 2: business came out, I was like, what now, I get it,
Speaker 2: Like watching her, like, oh, that's what that means. Like
Speaker 2: those are the moments and you doing what you did,
Speaker 2: like standing there and making sure that people will understood
Speaker 2: we're watching you. You can't hide this. We're not gonna
Speaker 2: let you hide this. Like both of those moments are
Speaker 2: like I get that, I get that phrase.
Speaker 4: I'm here now, Yes, we stand for Fanie. Yes.
Speaker 2: And I'm telling you what the level of professionalism that
Speaker 2: she has like this is the I feel like a
Speaker 2: battle of competence versus ignorance, Like the difference of like, yeah,
Speaker 2: this is what this looks like, Yeah, I like it.
Speaker 2: Thank you for representing Georgia in such a way for
Speaker 2: Fulton County. Right, but oh, I hadn't realized that you
Speaker 2: are a chair for Fulton County. You're very busy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're very busy. Well again, thank you for being here. Okay,
Speaker 1: speaking of we are back into presidential election season again.
Speaker 1: Feels like we never left. But they're very similar scenarios
Speaker 1: that we've seen before. But what are some things that
Speaker 1: we should all be paying attention to right now? What
Speaker 1: are some key factors we may need to know.
Speaker 3: So the reason why we vote in the March primary
Speaker 3: is to designate our party so that in the May
Speaker 3: primary that candidates like myself can reach out to their voters.
Speaker 3: And right now it's so important because we've had all
Speaker 3: these redistrictings. So as much as people have been like,
Speaker 3: I'm not interested in voting for either candidate, that's fine.
Speaker 4: I hear you.
Speaker 3: The progressivism has not been there, and we would regress otherwise.
Speaker 3: But this is a system of participation. It does not
Speaker 3: award people who do not participate. So I am pushing
Speaker 3: for voter participation as a process. I want you to
Speaker 3: know what district you were in last election and which
Speaker 3: one you're in this time. I want you to know
Speaker 3: what was your polling place and what is it now,
Speaker 3: because even my polling place change this election, and I'm
Speaker 3: the elected official, so I know that for other people
Speaker 3: the process of receiving a notice in the mail and
Speaker 3: saying this says my polling place has changed?
Speaker 4: Do I believe it? Is this real? Is this not?
Speaker 3: There is going to take more voter touches from myself
Speaker 3: the candidate, to help people feel like, Okay, yeah, this
Speaker 3: is real. I've gotten a notice in the mail. Park
Speaker 3: Cannon's office has told me on letterhead, and then I
Speaker 3: also received a campaign literature from her. But if you
Speaker 3: don't participate, you literally don't get put on the super
Speaker 3: voter's list. So you drop from being a person who
Speaker 3: has voted in three of the four previous elections to
Speaker 3: two of the four previous elections. And it wasn't because
Speaker 3: of anything other than your unwillingness to vote for a
Speaker 3: specific candidate to which you could write in. So we've
Speaker 3: been talking a lot about folks, you know, needing to
Speaker 3: understand the point of the primaries is really to help
Speaker 3: us figure out what is our database and so all
Speaker 3: the data folks out there, all the people who are
Speaker 3: good at Excel spreadsheets, all the people who do real
Speaker 3: estate and who do generating leads, you understand why having
Speaker 3: data that is accurate is important. Secondly, the issues that
Speaker 3: hit the federal level really come to pass at the
Speaker 3: state level. So when we're talking about issues of immigration,
Speaker 3: as much as it is the federal government's purview to
Speaker 3: determine policies related to how they treat people migrating, how
Speaker 3: they fund the resources for them, and how they deal
Speaker 3: with criminalities, it comes to bear with a local sheriff
Speaker 3: deputy pulling someone over.
Speaker 4: And so we need.
Speaker 3: To be clear that when we vote for the federal elections,
Speaker 3: we are enabling or disabling local actors to do what
Speaker 3: needs to be done to not violate people's human rights.
Speaker 3: And my concern right now is that people feel like
Speaker 3: this is us showing our loyalty to federal actors, when
Speaker 3: really this is us being the first line of defense
Speaker 3: for our lofe local people to be okay. And so
Speaker 3: our office can't wait to get out of session.
Speaker 4: We finish on the twenty eighth, and we are going.
Speaker 3: To be knocking people's doors hosting events, having rallies not
Speaker 3: for candidates but for.
Speaker 2: Cause, right, which I've seen you've been doing during the
Speaker 2: middle sessions as well. I know you've been doing those things.
Speaker 2: And I think, yeah, that important message of like how
Speaker 2: how it does affect what's going on in a local level,
Speaker 2: and we have to be careful and watch it, like
Speaker 2: all of these things interact together, and it does affect
Speaker 2: us all as we've continued to see things that have
Speaker 2: happened on a federal level in the Supreme Court has
Speaker 2: absolutely drastically affected all of us, even though it's supposed
Speaker 2: to be with that whole intent of being state rights bs.
Speaker 2: But you know, that's a whole different conversation, which is
Speaker 2: what the concern is. Which is that conversation, Because yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm definitely one of the I'm like, I don't like
Speaker 2: my options, but I'm gonna go with the lesser equal,
Speaker 2: and I know it's important that I have to stick
Speaker 2: to that because when we were laxed for a second,
Speaker 2: and I don't think I was that laxed to begin
Speaker 2: like I say this, and that I voted and I
Speaker 2: was concerned, and I remember people being like, it's not
Speaker 2: that big of a deal. When Trump came through, it's
Speaker 2: not that big of a deal, and we saw like
Speaker 2: it's been a wreck. It's been a wreck. Uh.
Speaker 3: My legislative life has been starkly different throughout the three
Speaker 3: presidencies I've served under Obama, Trump and Biden. And what
Speaker 3: I can say is that if you're not concerned with
Speaker 3: supporting a federal candidate, think about the impact that either
Speaker 3: of those presidencies would have on Queer local elected officials
Speaker 3: like myself who are defending against these issues. Like just
Speaker 3: scale back and think about how it empowered folks like
Speaker 3: us who are on the ground and who know our
Speaker 3: community as well, so that it feels less icky.
Speaker 2: Right, that's a good way to say. Sorry. I know
Speaker 2: it gives you the ick, but you got to figure
Speaker 2: out what it really does mean.
Speaker 3: Think about me, Think about me and my shoes and
Speaker 3: my glasses and me being bopping around the streets of Atlanta.
Speaker 4: Like, focus on that side.
Speaker 2: Here and before we end, because there's still several more
Speaker 2: things that we don't talk about, but we do have
Speaker 2: to throw it back to our last interview with you,
Speaker 2: when we talked about how you got into politics to
Speaker 2: begin with and your advice for others who are interested
Speaker 2: as well. And not only did you give us some
Speaker 2: great advice then and listeners, but you've actually written a
Speaker 2: book to give a step by step guide and insight
Speaker 2: into running for office that's titled The Universal Guide to
Speaker 2: Running for Office State Level, which, by the way, I
Speaker 2: found out the d KABA library. I was very I
Speaker 2: was like, yeah, library system and I was able to
Speaker 2: check it out and read through it, so I was like.
Speaker 1: Look at here.
Speaker 3: Honestly, shout out to my friend Michelle who has been
Speaker 3: getting my books into library systems in different places, and
Speaker 3: anyone who's listening. If you want a copy for your
Speaker 3: local library, just present it to them and they should
Speaker 3: be able to put it on the shelf.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's great. I was so excited to get it.
Speaker 2: And not only do you give straightforward practical advice like
Speaker 2: raising funds and campaigning and paperwork even and even about
Speaker 2: like yard signs, like you were all in it, but
Speaker 2: you talk about the need for justice inclusion care as well.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna quote from the book because you know that's
Speaker 2: what I like to do. Bring the issues of all
Speaker 2: types of justice to the forefront of your campaign, racial, economic, transit, healthcare,
Speaker 2: environmental ability, reproductive, criminal, restorative, global, and social to start
Speaker 2: a list of some that voters care to hear from
Speaker 2: you about. This is one of the most liberating parts
Speaker 2: of running for office because it truly allows many viewpoints
Speaker 2: and needs to be explored and expanded based on your actions.
Speaker 2: And I feel like, even though that sounds obvious, I
Speaker 2: don't think we get to truly witness this in many politicians,
Speaker 2: in many people in government. So can you expand on
Speaker 2: my practicing? I want to say this. I see this
Speaker 2: as empathy essentially and care intersectionality, But can you expand
Speaker 2: onto why it's important to have this type of lead
Speaker 2: in politics and policy.
Speaker 3: When candidates realize that people want to vote for more
Speaker 3: than just talking points, but for actual, lived experiences and
Speaker 3: opportunities for collaboration, then things are better. Because if I
Speaker 3: walk up to someone's porch and they've done some renovations,
Speaker 3: I'm excited to talk to them about who do they
Speaker 3: use and how did it work and why do they
Speaker 3: decide this style and etc. Versus me just walking up,
Speaker 3: putting the flyer on the door, and walking away. If
Speaker 3: I just leave my flyer, all they see are talking points.
Speaker 3: But if I actually try to engage with them, try
Speaker 3: to go to their neighborhood meetings. I get to hear
Speaker 3: about what's going on. And maybe for some communities the
Speaker 3: idea of renovating your porch is controversial because it needs
Speaker 3: to fit into a artistic.
Speaker 4: Mold of the neighborhood, you know.
Speaker 3: But for other communities it's a sign of economic prosperity
Speaker 3: to be able to, like redo your grandmama's porch, And
Speaker 3: so there's some code switching of course that takes place
Speaker 3: as a candidate, and really, campaign managers and campaign team
Speaker 3: members are the ones who can help you to stay
Speaker 3: to the ground. Like maybe out of a block of ten,
Speaker 3: you knock five doors and your tear em knocks five,
Speaker 3: but at least you have that come together conversation where
Speaker 3: you're like, Okay, what were they talking about over there?
Speaker 4: And I'm excited that now that we are.
Speaker 3: Experiencing the COVID a different way and people are open
Speaker 3: to seeing each other face to face and being out
Speaker 3: in community events, that candidates who are running this cycle
Speaker 3: will have the opportunity to be more external and to
Speaker 3: be more long winded. But it was just a function
Speaker 3: of the pandemic that I feel these past three years,
Speaker 3: candidates have really had to be concise, and so I'm
Speaker 3: hopeful to see more folks reach into our groups, reach
Speaker 3: into the book and try to come up with some
Speaker 3: like savvy slogans and interesting campaigns.
Speaker 4: And I've been seeing some of.
Speaker 3: Them around, Like the yard signs are coming out now,
Speaker 3: and people are really starting to, I think, pull their
Speaker 3: identities to the front instead of pushing them back.
Speaker 2: I love that. I also love that you put your
Speaker 2: glasses that's part of your yard sign.
Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, it was so good tested it it said
Speaker 3: looking out for you, for thinking, and so I want
Speaker 3: more candidates to do things like that. Like there's a
Speaker 3: young elected official who just got into the house and
Speaker 3: his last name is Bell. So on his yard science
Speaker 3: he has a bell and then like all of his
Speaker 3: things is like wake up, it's time right, or like
Speaker 3: you know, the bell is ringing for justice. And so
Speaker 3: I think that when candidates start to get into more
Speaker 3: creative ways of campaigns, that you get people to come
Speaker 3: to you instead of you having to go to them.
Speaker 2: Annie loves a good pun, so she's she's down for
Speaker 2: all those. And you, as you were talking, you are
Speaker 2: currently in election season yourself, and now you are a pro.
Speaker 2: You are a pro at this, but I'm sure as
Speaker 2: time has changed, as candidates have changed, as federal levels changed,
Speaker 2: and as our societies changed, you've had to adapt to it,
Speaker 2: like you talk about the pandemic and COVID and having
Speaker 2: to change in that way. Is there or maybe you didn't.
Speaker 2: I'm assuming this is my assumption, But is there anything
Speaker 2: different you're doing this time around than you were before.
Speaker 3: This time around, we're working backwards from the voter registration
Speaker 3: deadline instead of working backwards from election day, So we're
Speaker 3: thinking about by the voter registration deadline, people should have
Speaker 3: these three things they're polling place in mind, the candidates
Speaker 3: they're willing to vote for, and who it is that
Speaker 3: they're going to turn out, instead of waiting until after
Speaker 3: the voter registration deadline, when then you might not be
Speaker 3: able to get some registered or you might not be
Speaker 3: able to change your address. So I think that that's
Speaker 3: going to help us to increase our turnout by just
Speaker 3: making sure that folks know where to vote and have
Speaker 3: those decisions made sooner.
Speaker 5: Yes. Yes, So.
Speaker 1: One thing you did in your book that wasn't quite
Speaker 1: what we expected was that you had a whole section
Speaker 1: of affirmations. So can you talk about what made you
Speaker 1: decide to put that in there and why you think
Speaker 1: that is something that is important.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm a doula, so I'm always helping folks with
Speaker 3: their emotions. And I realized that candidates need a doula too,
Speaker 3: because you face the world as yourself and then come
Speaker 3: home and take care of your family life, and sometimes
Speaker 3: even the folks closest to you.
Speaker 4: Don't know how to help.
Speaker 3: So placing on paper some of your affirmations based on
Speaker 3: the things that you've gone through, I found can really help,
Speaker 3: especially when, for example, I was trying to figure out
Speaker 3: like am I gonna be ten minutes late to this
Speaker 3: neighborhood meeting or am I going to stop and get
Speaker 3: me a bubble tea? One of my affirmations is I'm
Speaker 3: going to get that bubble tea because my mouth is
Speaker 3: now juicier and I've got some you know, good feelings
Speaker 3: going on. I can kind of come into the meeting
Speaker 3: and people are like.
Speaker 4: Oh, she drinks boba. Yeah she drinks boba. Oh what
Speaker 4: kind of boba? You know?
Speaker 3: And so it helped me to get out of just
Speaker 3: the cookie cutterness of campaigns and so I have some
Speaker 3: really interesting affirmations in there that are things like related
Speaker 3: to the bubble tea, but then also things that are
Speaker 3: about your aspirations for the world, Like I'm so glad
Speaker 3: that I wrote the affirmation we can win without war
Speaker 3: in my book back in twenty twenty one, because I.
Speaker 4: Still feel that way.
Speaker 3: I still feel like the binary conversations that are happening
Speaker 3: about global justice right now.
Speaker 4: We can win this without the war. We really can.
Speaker 4: We got to figure it out.
Speaker 3: But letting folks write their own affirmations, I'm hopeful will
Speaker 3: bring them closer to their communities too, and then be
Speaker 3: like a journal that they can look back on in
Speaker 3: their candidate experience and not feel like it's all washed
Speaker 3: over them.
Speaker 2: Yeah. You know, one of the affirmations that kind of
Speaker 2: surprised me when I was ringing through it was I
Speaker 2: will hold myself accountable because that's not the typical that's
Speaker 2: not the typical affirmation that you you know, like we
Speaker 2: might joke about, I feel good today, I feel pretty
Speaker 2: all these things. But that was a surprising one because
Speaker 2: I'm like, ah, that's some real talk to yourself, Like
Speaker 2: that's that's an interesting affirmation in understanding that you're gonna
Speaker 2: have to take a minute and realize what that actually means.
Speaker 2: But with that, for us who are just trying to
Speaker 2: get through this year and hopefully not have a horrible,
Speaker 2: horrible result, can you share a good affirmation for us
Speaker 2: to start with, because that's not a typical thing that
Speaker 2: I do.
Speaker 4: Yes, we are.
Speaker 3: Of the practice that we practice. So if we practice
Speaker 3: to not vote, we are going to continue to see
Speaker 3: our access to the ballot go away. If we practice
Speaker 3: being in positivity with our neighbors, like not being gentrifiers
Speaker 3: who call the police on black people, then we too
Speaker 3: will probably face better circumstances when it comes to our policing,
Speaker 3: our mortality. And as legislators, we jump out of the
Speaker 3: legislative session into the campaign cycle overnight. But for voters,
Speaker 3: this is going to feel like a long time, like
Speaker 3: just from March until November. And so what are the
Speaker 3: practices that you can put in to make this chunky,
Speaker 3: to make this soup have some taste, to give it
Speaker 3: a vegetable and a tofu. And so I'm hopeful that
Speaker 3: people will be like, oh, you know what, I could
Speaker 3: do a voter registration check on my neighbors. I could
Speaker 3: text five people and ask them before the voter registration
Speaker 3: deadline if they're registered. I could go to a rally
Speaker 3: or plan a rally, like I could decide to drive
Speaker 3: some people to the polls and then I could vote.
Speaker 3: So hopefully we are you know of the practice that
Speaker 3: we practice like it.
Speaker 2: I like that you also added tofu like that's that's
Speaker 2: not difficult, like it's a super over here, soa and
Speaker 2: I love having to to all of it. Kimchichi k
Speaker 2: all the tofou play, thank you. Yeah, and uh, you've
Speaker 2: done so much and you've kind of already talked about
Speaker 2: it because you were talking about ballobagazing and realizing that
Speaker 2: you need to leave some of the darkness when it
Speaker 2: comes to policy being in government work behind and let
Speaker 2: it off of you a little bit. But can you
Speaker 2: tell us some things that you are some other of
Speaker 2: the things, or just even go into more detail on
Speaker 2: how you try to relax and pause from the chaos
Speaker 2: of all of this.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I learned from the legislator who left the seat
Speaker 3: before me that burning out happened within a system of people,
Speaker 3: within a group of people, and it's not always personal.
Speaker 3: So when I'm seeing other legislators be like, I don't
Speaker 3: want to qualify for reelection. I can't deal with this
Speaker 3: constituent reaching out to me about cop city, I don't
Speaker 3: know what to say about issues that are global or
Speaker 3: domestic issues, or I don't want to be a surrogate
Speaker 3: for this person. I can start to hear the burnout
Speaker 3: happening too, and I can be somewhere, maybe further along
Speaker 3: in my healing process to help them along too, And
Speaker 3: I can just ask them like, hey, you do know
Speaker 3: that there's this one organization that will pay for a
Speaker 3: therapist for us, or hey, do you want to come
Speaker 3: with me and work out before session? And I'm not
Speaker 3: solving all the issues that they have, but just kind
Speaker 3: of calming the collective burnout in some ways is important.
Speaker 3: And then when people decide that they do want to
Speaker 3: move on, that they are going to run for something
Speaker 3: higher or they're not going to run for reelection, like
Speaker 3: really taking the time to not just forget them. They've
Speaker 3: served the state of Georgia and there are a number
Speaker 3: of people who are not going to run for reelection
Speaker 3: who I am right now starting to figure out, well,
Speaker 3: what will my friendship look like with them? And what
Speaker 3: are the things that maybe I can learn from them
Speaker 3: in their time here so that I can continue forward.
Speaker 3: So check on your legislators, you know what I mean. Like,
Speaker 3: we need y'all to check on us. We need to
Speaker 3: check on each other. We need a lot of help.
Speaker 2: Let's go ballroom dancing. No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 4: I don't want to go Friday nights here dance studio.
Speaker 3: It is three okay, it is open floor and there
Speaker 3: are instructors there, and you just come in, get you
Speaker 3: a little savisa or a little wine water, gatorade, whatever you like,
Speaker 3: and then they'll call out like chatcha, and then everyone
Speaker 3: goes to the floor and you know the chat scha.
Speaker 3: You know it's a specific step, and so then they'll
Speaker 3: start calling it out one two three cha cha cha
Speaker 3: two three chat chat ya, and so you just kind
Speaker 3: of start getting in where you're fitting in. The song
Speaker 3: is over, then they'll call for sasa one two three
Speaker 3: one two three one two three one two three, and so.
Speaker 2: People kick it in.
Speaker 4: You could you could you gonna make it?
Speaker 2: I'll just say, I feel like I'm getting a lesson.
Speaker 2: I stick with Zoomba. That's the very least like I'm
Speaker 2: gonna do some zoomba. That's that's the level.
Speaker 4: It has elements of it all. So that's excellent.
Speaker 1: I love it. I love it so much. Well, thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you so much for taking the time
Speaker 1: to be here with us today. Hopefully we'll have you back.
Speaker 1: Hopefully you'll be a recurring guest.
Speaker 2: I would love quicker than this though years.
Speaker 1: No, yeah, not every four years. We we should shorten that.
Speaker 1: That gay. But where can the good listeners find you?
Speaker 4: Right now?
Speaker 3: I'm at the State Capitol in room six o seven,
Speaker 3: and that is where you can come hang out in
Speaker 3: my pink and blue chairs. I have a pink desk.
Speaker 3: The girl has signs that support folks of all backgrounds
Speaker 3: and a really diverse team. After April, we will be
Speaker 3: at the Lola, which is our community coworking space. It's
Speaker 3: a femme owned and operated coworking space across from Pont
Speaker 3: City Market, So come check us out at the Lola.
Speaker 3: And then heading up to November, we will be going
Speaker 3: across this country to try to raise money for Democrats
Speaker 3: in Georgia. We will be at the DNC in August
Speaker 3: in Chicago, and all times in between we will be
Speaker 3: on Instagram having a good time at Park Canon fifty eight.
Speaker 1: Yes, I love it. I love it so much, Thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you again, and we'll be we'll be in touch
Speaker 1: about future future discussions.
Speaker 2: More things, maybe dancing. I want to see eighty bottom dance.
Speaker 4: Yes, I love it.
Speaker 3: And we would also love to have y'all a day
Speaker 3: at the Capitol one day, you know, like sometimes we
Speaker 3: invite different media folks and they brought cast live from there,
Speaker 3: or we set up certain interviews, or you can just
Speaker 3: come for a tour.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: Have you all seen the two headed cow and the
Speaker 3: two headed snake?
Speaker 2: You know, the last time I was at the Capitol,
Speaker 2: I really think it was my eighth grade trip. So
Speaker 2: it's been a hot minute. Like I'm not gonna age
Speaker 2: myself but over Yeah, it's been a long time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we sound it.
Speaker 3: I would love to have y'all come visit me one
Speaker 3: day and thank you again for having me.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for coming on such a joy.
Speaker 4: I love this.
Speaker 1: If you would like to find us listeners, you can.
Speaker 1: Our email is Stephanie Mom steph atiheartmedia dot com. You
Speaker 1: can find us on Twitter at mom Stuff Podcast, or
Speaker 1: on Instagram and TikTok at Stuff when they never told you.
Speaker 1: We have a tea public store, and we have a
Speaker 1: book that you could get wherever you get your books.
Speaker 1: Thanks as always too our super producer Christina or executive
Speaker 1: producer Maya, and your contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks
Speaker 1: to you for listening stuff I ever told you. Suspection
Speaker 1: by Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,
Speaker 1: you can check out the heart Radio app, Apple podcast,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite show.