October 11, 2023 • 40 mins
The Therapy for Black Girls Podcast is a weekly conversation with Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed Psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia, about all things mental health, personal development, and all the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves.
The 2024 election season is rapidly approaching, and while we know just how important it is for Black women to use our voices – and our vote – in any election, we also recognize that staying informed can be difficult when the news seems bleak. To help make things easier, we’re here to break down some key factors you need to know ahead of this critical election cycle. To give us this rundown, I’m joined today by award-winning political journalist Errin Haines. Errin is the Founding Mother and Editor at Large of The 19th, a nonprofit, independent newsroom focused on the intersection of gender, politics, and policy. She is also an MSNBC Contributor and former writer for The Associated Press, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and Orlando Sentinel. In our discussion today, Errin breaks down the issues that are on the ballot for Black women voters in 2024, how to tell if a news source is trustworthy in the age of misinformation, and ways to stay informed while protecting your mental health & wellness.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome to the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast, a weekly
conversation about mental health, personal development, and all the small
decisions we can make to become the best possible versions
of ourselves. I'm your host, doctor Joy hard and Bradford,
a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information or
(00:32):
to find a therapist in your area, visit our website
at Therapy for Blackgirls dot com. While I hope you
love listening to and learning from the podcast, it is
not meant to be a substitute for a relationship with
a licensed mental health professional. Hey, y'all, thanks so much
(00:57):
for joining me for session three twenty eight of the
Therapy for Black Girls Podcast. We'll get right into our
conversation after a word from our sponsors. The reviews for
Sisterhood Heels are rolling in and I simply cannot stop
smiling at the hot girl books on Instagram shared finish
reading this warm hug of a book last night and
(01:19):
while it made me once a hug my sister friends
so bad, Sisterhood Heels is a beautiful guide on how
we as black women can use our community and friends
to aid in our healing process. Thank you so much
for the beautiful review. Have you grabbed your copy yet?
Get one for yourself and a friend at Sisterhoodheels dot com.
(01:44):
The twenty twenty four election season is rapidly approaching, and
while we know just how important it is for Black
women to use our voices and our vote in any election,
we also recognize that staying in form can be difficult
when the news seems bleak. To help make the easier,
we're here to break down some key factors you need
to know ahead of this critical election cycle to give
(02:06):
us the rundown. I'm joined today by award winning political
journalist Aaron Haynes. Erin is the founding mother and editor
at large of The Nineteenth, a nonprofit independent newsroom focused
on the intersection of gender politics and policy. She's also
an MSNBC contributor and former writer for The Associated Press,
(02:27):
The Washington Posts, The Los Angeles Times, and Orlando Sentinel.
In our discussion today, Aaron breaks down what issues are
on the ballot for Black women voters in twenty twenty four,
how to tell if a news source is trustworthy in
the age of misinformation, and ways to stay informed while
protecting your mental health and wellness. If something resonates with
(02:50):
you while enjoying our conversation, Please share it with us
on social media using the hashtag tbg in session, or
join us over in the system circle. To talk more
about the episode, you can join us at community dot
therapy for Blackgirls dot com. Here's our conversation. Thank you
(03:11):
so much for joining us today.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Erin, Thanks doctor jord for having me.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yeah, very excited to chat with you. You are one
of my favorite journalists. I'm very, very very appreciative you
took some time to chat with us today.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Well, Therapy and Black Girls are my two favorite comicies.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Right, how can you go wrong really with it? So
you're award winning political journalists. You are an MSNBC contributor.
You've been at the Washington Post, Associated Press, and now
at the Nineteenth. Can you talk to us a little
bit about how you got started in your career?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Sure, I would love to. Thinking back over my career,
let's see, so I'm not one of those people. Let
me just start off by saying you grew up with
inking their veins or thinking they were going to be
a journalist when they were little. But I did always
have kind of a natural curiosity and I have a
lot of black women, frankly role models when I was
growing up on broadcast television. So I remember when I
(04:02):
was growing up, we weren't allowed to watch TV at
dinner time unless we were watching the local news, and
so that was really my first introduction to news and
just the idea that black people, that black women could.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Do the news.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
So fast forward, I get to college, I need to
pick a major, write because my mom's like, you need
to get a job.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
So I'm thinking about what.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
I might be good at, how those skills might be
transferable to a career, and writing and being nosy equals journalism, right.
The idea that you actually get paid to call somebody
or go somewhere, ask people questions that they are supposed
to answer, and then tell everybody else what you learned
is really something that I fell in love with pretty
(04:41):
much from the beginning. And so my very very first
job in newspapers was actually at a black newspaper in Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
I shout out to the Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Daily World, where I wrote every single week about black
people doing everything from politics to small businesses and just
regular ordinary black folks and black life, which taught me
something very early on in my career, which is that
black people's stories matter, that they are important. They were
on the front page of the newspaper that I wrote for,
(05:09):
and so I just knew that I was never going
to really argue with anybody about why our stories should
be told, about why our stories were relevant.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Really just the idea that writing about the.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Bad stuff was not all there was to say about
black people, about Black Americans. So that's how I kind
of got started, and then I went on to work
at places like the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I spent the book on my career at the Associated.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Press, where until I had the role that I have now,
I had most recently been the Race and Ethnicity a
national writer for the AP, which basically meant that I
could write about any and everything we're related to race
that I wanted to for a national audience.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Which was pretty much my dream job.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
I'd been an intern at the AP almost twenty years earlier,
and it was the job that I knew that I
wanted because I wanted to tell stories about my people,
and I wanted to really just build a body of
work that left a record of who and where we
have been as a people in this democracy, and so
I was very proud to do that job. But then
(06:16):
we get to twenty nineteen, and you have this super
diverse field of candidates, six women running for office, multiple
people of color running for office, and yet the way
that we were talking about our political journalism was just
still too white and too male. And it was fine
for me to write those stories right individually, but I
really felt like as an organization, as an industry, that
(06:38):
we should be saying that race and gender are really
the story of our time and the unfinished business of
our democracy. And so when the idea for the nineteenth
came along, I jumped at it because for me, the
risk was not in starting this new venture, it was
really in daing and hoping that these institutions that have
(06:58):
not really changed nearly enough, we're going to make the
change necessary to really reflect who is in our quickly
shifting democracy right now.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
So you mentioned the hometown news heroes. Did you grow
up in Atlanta?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
I did.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
I hope you can tell I don't drink enough sweet
tea to keep my accent fresh, but I am from Atlanta.
My mom still lives on the South side of the city.
And yeah, born at Grady Hospital, and definitely still have roots.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
In East Atlanta. So very proud of where I come from.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
I think there's not a person that knows me that
does not find that out within.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
The first five minutes of meeting me. I'm going to
work in some sort of Atlanta reference.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
So who were some of the local news folks that
you grew up watching that kind of were your heroes
in the field.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
Oh my gosh, so my Atlanta peeps will know this name.
Monka Kaufman was my hero when I was growing up.
She was so beautiful, she looked like me. She was
this brownskin lady who was very smart, and she was
telling me what happened in my city every single day.
And she had authority, and she was charming and she
(08:05):
was glamorous. And so this is what I thought journalism was.
I mean, she was journalism for me when I was
growing up, and she was the news for me. In fact,
it wasn't really until I traveled. I went to journalism
conferences when I was in college, and I would look
to see what their local television broadcast would be, and
I'd be like, I can't believe there are two black
(08:25):
people in the anchor chair telling me what's going on?
There should be at least one black woman telling me
what the news is. It just really struck me how
fortunate I was to have that example, to really plant
that seed in my mind that this was a career
that I could do.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
I mean Atlanta now, so I'm very familiar with the
Atlanta newsbooks.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
My goodness.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
I mean, Jovita Moore was one of my She Rose
I miss her so so so dearly. But Joscelyn Dorsey,
Karen Greer, Blaine Alexander. I mean, there are so many
black women on air in Atlanta, and I do think
that all of them are just such an inspiration to
so many people, but especially to the black girls who
may be trying to figure out what they want to
(09:05):
do with their lives and can really look to those
examples as somebody who they can maybe fall in their
footsteps one day.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Mm hmmm. So, Aaron, I'm gonna do a little bit
of standing for just a moment. So two of my
favorite written pieces, not just from the nineteenth but in
recent history are the Summer of Black Women that you
recently wrote, and a piece about justice Katanji Brown Jackson's
Friends from College, which I thought was so beautiful, and
(09:33):
it just really feels like the pieces that come out
from the Nineteenth feel like pieces that you just don't
really see anywhere else. Can you talk a little bit
about how you all do your newsroom and you're publishing
very different than we might find in other places.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Well, first of all, thank you for saying that about
both of those pieces and about the Nineteenth, because that
is exactly what we are striving to do. We're trying
to do news that is distinctive, but also it is
seeing and hearing from people who have not really been
previously seen or heard in our democracy. For me, that
especially includes black women, who we know are the backbone
(10:09):
of this democracy, who we know are on the front
lines of what it is to push for progress and
fairness and equality in our country. So thank you for
saying that. Those are two of my favorite things that
I've ever written to, by the way, So thank you.
It was such a joy to talk to Justice Jackson's
sister circle. That story came from me at a time
where we're coming out of the pandemic and I was
(10:31):
actually thinking a lot just about my group chat and
the group chats of all of my friends and just
how sustaining those are. And even before the group chat
was a thing just like that sister circle that you
had that was so supportive through your good times, through
your bad times.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
The core group of.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
Women black women that you could just lean on to
laugh and cry and celebrate with. I mean, that's everything, right,
part of what helps us to get to where we
are and what we do. And so to talk to
them and to watch them cheering her on and for
them to feel like her success was their success was
just a deeply rewarding story to tell.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
So thank you for that.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
And then, man, some of the black women, I mean,
how can you not see that based on what we
just came through. I mean, I just had a couple
of girlfriends that went to see Beyonce last night in Houston.
I mean, like it is giving us so much life.
I just can't tell you how many Black women I
talk to coming into this year who were so exhausted,
but this summer just re energized us through the examples
(11:34):
of people like Beyonce and Cocoa Golf at the US Open,
and Simone Biles and Chicai Richardson and just like so
many examples of black women just being excellent and overcoming
and coming back from and so again, I think we
do tend to see these victories as.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Collective, and so that does energize us.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
So at the nineteenth we are really bringing our lived
experiences to our journalism. And I think see that reflected
me as a black woman. I can't write about black
women enough as the main story, right, which is the
difference between what I'm doing now versus what I've done
throughout my career. Writing about black women is to the
side issue or not the main issue. But I think
(12:14):
you see that with so many of my colleagues who
are writing about Latinas, who are writing about the Asian
American community, who are writing about the LGBTQ community, which
is under attack right now, for being honest, really writing
about the existential threat to their dignity, their humanity. That's
something that I don't see really centered in the way
(12:36):
that we do that here the disability community. We have
people who have that perspective, who are able to really
shine a light on the unique challenges that people in
our community are facing, who are grappling with that. And
even if it's not our direct experience, if there's somebody
in our lives that maybe plants that seed for us
older Americans and how what they may care about in
(12:58):
terms of our democracy and how that may motivate them
to participate or not participate is really important. So yeah,
I really do love our approach, which is still very
much a work in progress. We're only three years old,
but if you have ever seen our logo, we're the
nineteenth name for the nineteenth Amendment, which guaranteed some but
(13:19):
not all women access to the ballot box. We know
that black women were thrown under the bus, and so
that asterisk is really largely for them, but also for latinas,
for Asian American women who were barred from participation at
the same time around language barriers, Native American women who
weren't even recognized as citizens in nineteen twenty when the
Nineteenth Amendment passed, And so the asterisk is really kind
(13:42):
of also represents like a north star for us in
terms of who remains ignored invisible in our democracy and
how we can continue to bring them into the conversation
so that we empower them to be civically engaged in
our country.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Thank you so much for that, Aaron. So you all
started in an employee election year, and we are rolling
into yet another, I think very important election year. So
can you tell us one what dates are important for
us to pay attention to as we roll into a
new election cycle, and what exactly is going to be
on the ballot in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, so, I guess I would say a few things.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
One, we're still four hundred and something days away from
the election, so we still have a long way to
go people, and a lot can happen between now and
next November. The dates that I would encourage people to
pay attention to be empowered. Know when the deadlines are
for you to register to vote. Make sure that if
you are somebody who has been registered in the past,
(14:39):
that you are still on the rolls, that your voter
registration information is up to date. Know where your precinct
is so that you can vote or if you're not
going to vote in person, know what the process is.
What is the deadline for you to get an absentee
ballot so that you can still participate. These are important
dates to know and mostly should be available on your
Secretary of State's website wherever you live. So I would
(15:00):
encourage people don't wait to find that information out, find
that information out as soon as you possibly can pay attention,
and also share that information with the people in your life.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
We know, especially as black women, even.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
If we are not organizers in an official capacity, we
absolutely have that phone tree or even or just casually
mentioned and girl, are you registered? Girl, have you already voted?
When are you going to go and vote? I mean,
I remember my mom doing that on election day, every
single person that call the house, like the first words
out of her mouth after hello or hey, did you rose?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
And she was serious. So yeah, I would encourage that
for sure.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
And as far as what's on the ballot, I mean, look, one,
let me just say that all issues are women's issues
if you just ask women about them. We don't just
care although they are important issues. We don't just care
about the pay gap. We don't just care about abortion.
We care about faith, We care about education, we care
about the economy, we care about the Supreme Court, right,
we care about unemployment. Ask us anything we have an
(16:03):
opinion about that too. Not to mention the fact that
we are more than half the population and more than
half of the electorate, So why shouldn't we be weighing
in on issues? Of this democracy as the majority of
this country, right, So that's number one, number two as
far as what I personally think is going to be
on the ballot, I literally just wrote a column saying
that democracy is a kitchen table issue for a lot
(16:24):
of people. I know it's an issue for a lot
of the Black voters that I talk to. They are
wondering how they are going to be able to safely
and freely and fairly participate in this election, knowing what
we are up against in terms of voter suppression across
this country and what we've seen in response to the
twenty twenty election. And so democracy is on the ballot.
(16:45):
I think guns are on the ballot for a lot
of people. Gun violence is a real issue affecting a
lot of communities, and that is something that is gendered,
and a lot of Black women are very concerned about
gun violence. And that means different things depending on where
you live, but the issue is among the top issues
for a lot of the people that we hear from.
Reproductive access absolutely is on the ballot. I think we
(17:07):
saw that in twenty twenty two with the Mint terms,
and this is something that black women have been trying
to soundly alarm about for years before the Dobs decision,
and so black women know what's at stake. The maternal
mortality piece is just part of that, but that's certainly
a big part of it for Black women who are
just really worried about their personal safety. That's part of
(17:27):
that conversation. Education is on the ballot for us, and
that's whether you're talking about the affirmative action piece or
whether you're talking about the student loan debt piece, right,
those are both things that disproportionately affect us, and so
I think that is an issue that is going to
motivate a lot of Black women to the polls because
they are wanting to elect people who are going to
(17:48):
be able to do something about those issues because they
do see the connection between who is representing them in
their daily life in terms of what can happen around that.
So those are a few of the big ones that
I see, but absolutely, absolutely the issue of rights and
safety just overarching are weighing, I think on the minds
(18:10):
of a lot of voters, especially Black women heading into
next year.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Thank you for that, Aaron.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
More from our conversations after the break.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
So can you give us a rundown of some of
the key people who are running or teasing a run
across the country, Like, who are some of the people
we should be really paying attention to, and if you
could say a little about their platforms if you're aware.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
So, I do think you are going to see a
black woman returning to the Senate. Finally, we know that
with Vice President Harris's elevation, that did leave a vacancy
of no Black women in the Senate, which certainly is
not commensurate with our representation in this country. Right, So,
Lisa blanc Rochester out of Delaware is running for Senate
(19:03):
and seems to have a pretty strong chance of being elected.
This is somebody who was a key surrogate for President
Biden when he was running in twenty twenty, and whose
profile has really kind of risen in recent years. And
so I think Delaware is also and I learned this
in twenty twenty, the eighth most populis state for black
people in America.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
But even outside of that, I think that this is
somebody who could get.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
A lot of support even from people who don't look
like her, going into next year. I'm also looking though,
in terms of a Senate race, you got to look
at Barbara Lee out in California and what her chances are.
That's a very tough race that probably is going to
be pretty expensive. Kamala Harris was a Senator out of California,
and so when there was talk of who was going
(19:50):
to be the vice president, Barbara Lee, Karen Bass, their
names were certainly out there. Karen Bass now the first
black woman mayor of Los Angeles, and now Barbara Lee
is seeking to be another black woman representing California in
the Senate. So I'm very interested to see what happens
with that. Interestingly, I don't know that we're going to
(20:10):
immediately have a chance to see another black woman running
for governor right now. You know, you had this stretch
where you had the Staceaboms effect, if you will, multiple
black women trying to break that glass ceiling that still
has not been broken. By the way, we have never
elected a black woman to serve as governor of any
state in this country. But yeah, I think the Senate
(20:31):
races are something that I'm just really interested in because.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
There is zebra representation there too.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
But I think that there might be an opportunity for
that to change in twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
So you know erin it feels like in the past
four years throughout the pandemic, so we need people have
decided to get up and move and because of not
only for I think pandemic reasons, but also the rights
that you spoke of right and how many states are
making decisions that day to day impacts somebody's livelihood and safety.
What would you say to people who are maybe considering, Okay,
(21:04):
I feel like another state might be a better place
for me, like any tips that you would be able
to suggest there.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
I do agree. We've seen it. We've seen people in Texas,
in Florida in particular, who were saying I don't want
to be here, I don't feel safe here, or I
don't want to raise my family here, I don't want
my kids to.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
Grow up learning about this, or worried about what they
might not learn right based on where they're living right now.
And so I get that is absolutely a very real concern.
And I think that it's hard to know whether that
was an intended or unintended consequence of some of these
policies being passed, but that's certainly the impact is that
(21:43):
some people are just deciding this is not a place
where I want to be this is not the country
or the state that I recognize.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
And when you are moving from one state to another
and you, like you mentioned, want to hurry up and
get registered to vote, is that also something you can
find information for on the Secretary of States website.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
I think for some people too, moving is also about
their ability to be represented right, wanting to feel like
they can participate in a way where one person, one
vote feels more real for them, And I absolutely get that.
So yes, Secretary of State's website when you have relocated
can get you up to speed on how to make
(22:22):
sure that your voter registration is current in the place
where you now live.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
So I am sure you're aware of all of the
attention and energy I think rightfully so that is being
placed on gen Z. How many of them continue to
come out in droves to vote and really push change
on so many of the issues. So what kinds of
best practices or recommendations might you have for a candidate
who's really wanting to make themselves marketable? So to speak
(22:46):
to gen Z.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
Meet them where they are is the advice that I
would give. I mean, look, you see the vice president,
certainly somebody who is getting that message, is doing a
college tour right now, starting out with HBCU use right,
trying to galvanize those young black voters. Right when we
think about young voters in your mind, you can't forget
about HBCUs, you can't forget about those students, a lot
(23:10):
of whom have precincts on campus right so that they
can participate. So making sure that they are energized, making
sure that they are paying attention to this election, I
could see that is definitely a pathway to success for
candidates that is looking to get their message out to
young voters. Also, social media absolutely, I mean I don't
(23:33):
know a young person that is getting their news in
a traditional way. You know, when my niece sends me
a link to something, it's usually something she's on TikTok.
It's not something she read on some news website. That's
not where she's going to get information. So, if you've
got a candidate that doesn't at least have a presence,
if not is taking off on TikTok, they're probably not reaching.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
As many young people as they could be.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
I think candidates have to get create, like I said,
just meeting young people where they are wherever that is
figuring that out and showing up not expecting them to
find them or their campaign or their message, because that's
not really how they operate.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
So what are some red flags, some social media red
flags that we should be on the lookout for. What
kinds of things may be Like I'm not so sure
about this.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
Well, I want to talk about a different kind of
red flag on social media if I can, misinformation and disinformation,
because that is something that is disproportionately affecting our communities
and it is not okay. Obviously, as somebody who has
spent their career in the news business, it is very
distressing to me. It is very alarming to me, and
it is particularly alarming that our communities are being targeted
(24:44):
with this stuff because it is harmful. It is harmful.
We've seen that it has been deadly, honestly in some
cases in recent years. So I want to encourage people
to just be informed. I'm so excited that people want
to be engaged and that they're trying to find out
what's going on in our country. But misinformation is a
(25:05):
lot more sophisticated than it used to be. Right, It's
not just the tabloid at the checkout line at the
grocery store anymore like it looks a lot like what
people may assume is legitimate news. Not to mention the
rise of AI and the impact that can have on
tricking our brains into thinking something is real that really isn't.
(25:26):
So I just want to encourage people news literacy is
so important and sharing things only when you know them
to be factual. I know most people don't mean to
lie to their friends or neighbors or family members, but
that's exactly what happens when you post something on Facebook
that isn't actually real.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
So, Aaron, how can we do a better job of
betting for ourselves? What is actual information versus misinformation or disinformation?
Because take your point, stuff looks very sophisticated, it looks
like it comes from a reputable news source and people
are sharing it. So what kinds of sh strategy should
we be employing to be able to bet a new story?
Speaker 4 (26:03):
Okay, so one thing I would recommend check the source,
see what this source is about, where is this information
coming from, and does the source seem to be a
reputable source.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
That's probably the first thing. The second thing is.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
If you see a story, who else is reporting that story.
If you only see it in one place, that's usually
a hint that I mean, look, I like to report
things before anybody else, and I feel special when I've
told somebody something that nobody else knew yet.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
But usually other people are going to write about that thing.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
If they don't write about it at the same time
as me, it's going to be, you know, sometime soon
after me. So if you see a story and it's
just kind of on this island where nobody else is
talking about it, or nobody else seems to have the
same set of facts, that's probably a clue that maybe
this isn't legitimate.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
That's a pretty pretty big one.
Speaker 4 (26:55):
If something is older but it's presented as new, that
may be some misinformation that somebody's.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Trying to recirculate for some reason. That can be another
red flag.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
So when we're looking at public officials or candidates who
are on the ballot, how important is it for people
who have had a public office before, Like it's prior
political experience really important when we're looking at a candidate.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
I mean, I don't think it's a prerequisite, right.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
I think you're seeing a lot of people who are
becoming candidates for elected office because there's some aspects of
their live experience that they feel like they can bring
that would be an asset to them serving. Right, you know,
somebody who is an educator who may care about that
issue that gets them to run, somebody who cares about
(27:41):
gun violence, who decides that's the motivation for them running
and trying to make a difference. I think it is
important for them to tell voters why they're running and
what they would.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Do if they got elected.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
But it's also important for voters really to check out
for themselves these candidates and if they believe that they
are qualified to be somebody who's going to represent them
in the way that they.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Want more from our conversations after the break.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
So, it seems like one of the most popular marketing
tactics for candidates is fifty eleven ads on TV about
their campaign, like you cannot get away from them ads
on TV. Why is this such a popular marketing tactic
for candidates and how might it either encourage people to
be engaged or disengaged from the political process as it
(28:39):
relates to the ads.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
Yeah, so, doctors, I'll tell you one of my favorites
is the campaign email, which my inbox is flooded with
at all times. They sound like one of my ex
boyfriends erin, Oh my god, it's too late, Eron, this
is our last chance.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Eric, we got to do this. It's like, please leave
me alone. I don't know how effective those are.
Speaker 4 (28:58):
I'm a journalist, so I do not to any of
these people, but it sounds pretty desperate and very thirsty.
The television ads look repetition works. That's why you see it.
Like the more name recognition. You can plant into somebody's
brain right by the time you get to the ballot box,
you're like, oh, I remember that person, and hopefully they
had a memorable ad in a good way for you,
(29:20):
and so then that person gets your vote. You may
have never seen them in a debate, you may have
never seen them in a town hall, but they had
a commercial that resonated with you. They talked about some
issue that you cared about, or they seem to be
somebody that you could somehow otherwise relate.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
To, and so you want to support them.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
On the other hand, maybe you saw an ad that
was negative and that was also memorable.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Negative ads work on people.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
Even though people say they don't like them, they do
work and so that's why we continue to see negative ads.
And depending on where you live, I mean, certainly I
am from Atlanta, but I now live in Pennsylvania, and
you know, it is a battleground state, and so that
means that we see a lot of ads. Georgia tends
to have a lot of runoffs, and so you will
see ads for much longer of a season than a
(30:04):
lot of our neighbors in other states. So I think
that kind of thing can also lead to fatigue. But again,
these candidates are trying to make an impression and to
make you remember them so that on election day, even
though you may be sick of the ads, you may
at least remember who was in them and vote for
(30:26):
that person.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
So something else that has been having like growing discourse
recently is age caps for elected officials. So you know,
there's been calls around Nancy Pelosi and any health concerns
Mitchim Kannoll may have. Can you talk a little bit
about like your thoughts around age caps and what we
might lose our gain when we have different generations representing constituents.
Speaker 4 (30:48):
Yeah, I mean, I think there are different ways to
look at it, right, I think there's certainly benefits that
older people can bring to our government, to any institution, right,
the wisdom that they bring, as well as the experience
that they can bring, the mentorship that they can provide.
All these things you're valuable to have, including in politics.
(31:09):
So there's a place for people with a range of experiences,
including age, in our politics.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
That said, I talked.
Speaker 4 (31:17):
To voters a lot, and among the people who express
the most concern about the fact that both of the
presumed nominees for next year are people who are in
their seventies and eighties. Older people tell me that they
are concerned because they know what their days look like
and they know what their limitations are. And so being
(31:39):
president is a very rigorous job. You know, you're traveling
all around the country, all around the world, and you
have a very full schedule on any given day. So
I think, given that these candidates are up in age,
I think that it is incumbent upon them to prove
that they are up for the job and to prove
that they are capable. But I mean, once they've done that,
(32:01):
the voters get to decide for themselves whether or not
they believe that person is capable.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Right.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
This also kind of brings up the issue of how
long somebody should be able to serve. I mean, obviously,
if you run for president, you can only serve two terms.
But somebody who is in Congress serves for as long
as they can continue to be elected. And so that
is something that can be I think even more up
to voters in terms of deciding using that as a
(32:30):
criteria to decide whether or not that person should continue
and if they feel that person is still effective the
older they get and the longer that they've been serving.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
So something else that appears to be very effective for
candidates or celebrity endorsements, right, can you talk about any
concerns related to celebrity endorsements and also like candidates who
seem to want to be more celebrity as opposed to
a political figure, Can you talk a little bit about
that and like what kinds of things we should be
(32:59):
paying attention into if it feels like a candidate is
really ingraining themselves in the celebrity world.
Speaker 4 (33:05):
Look, there's been a relationship between politics and celebrity. Sometimes
that life has been blurred in our politics over history.
You think about President Kennedy, who was certainly not a celebrity,
but he had a kind of a celebrity status. The
Obamas ended up having a celebrity status as well. Ronald
Reagan was a literal former actor. Former President Trump also
(33:27):
was a celebrity who ran successfully for the office. And
so I think celebrity is getting involved in our politics.
It does raise awareness in a different way. Again, it
can bring a different kind of audience for somebody who's
running for office who maybe wasn't necessarily paying attention to
the election previously, a celebrity who was not particularly political,
(33:48):
if they put their thumb on the scale, I think
that sometimes that is something that can have an impression
on voters. I think about Oprah. You know, when Obama
ran for office, Oprah was not somebody who really was
very publicly politically active, right, but she was very much
active in that race, and I think.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
That it did matter.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
It mattered last midterm cycle when John Fetterman is running
against doctor Oz in Pennsylvania. Doctor Oz was somebody that
Oprah basically was responsible for bringing into our collective consciousness.
And so for her to come out in the eleventh
hour and say I'm with John Fetterman, I think that
did matter to voters that she did not endorse this
(34:29):
person that she had previously professionally supported. But I do
think celebrities can have an influence on our politics. You
probably saw the story just recently Taylor Swift registering tens
of thousands of voters. That matters, like not telling anybody
to vote for one person or the other, but saying
voting matters.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
Participate in this election.
Speaker 4 (34:49):
I am personally encouraging you to get signed up and
that working.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
That's incredible.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
You know somebody who works for a news organization named
for voting rights, I'm here for that.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
I think another thing that happens, especially I think in
the news within the last five to seven years, I
would say, is that people have been increasingly impacted their
mental health has been impacted by the news. Right, Like
just feels like the news cycle is often so violatile.
What kinds of suggestions would you share with people around
how they can stay informed while also protecting their mental health.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
Yeah, I guess what I would challenge people to think
about what staying informed means. It's not only being informed
about the bad stuff or the scary stuff, or the
stuff that doesn't make you feel good. Right, there's a
lot of news. There are many many different things happening
in this country on any given day, in this world,
on any given day, that are not all bad. And
(35:44):
I know it feels like that's all that the news
is reporting a lot of time, but that's not true.
So like really expanding your news diet to find more
positive things that you can read about, that you can
learn about that number one. Number two, it's okay to
step away from the news. I think really the previous
(36:07):
four years where everything that happened on Twitter was news,
really conditioned us if we're gone for an hour, like
who knows what's gonna happen really hour to hour, And
that wasn't good for our mental health.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
That wasn't really good for our.
Speaker 4 (36:22):
Collective mental health as a country to be constantly worried
about what bad thing was going to happen and how
were we're going to find out about it. I think
social media definitely plays a role in tightening that. I
personally felt much better mentally when I turned off by
notifications for a lot of the social media to the
(36:43):
extent that I could. I mean, some people I have
to pay attention to, but a lot of people I
don't have to pay attention to, And it's okay to
not constantly be checking my feed on Instagram or X
or Facebook to see what's going on. I think that
reclaiming that brain space is really important too, as a
way to kind of balance things out.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
This has been so helpful Erin Thank you so much
for sharing everything you've shared today. Can you tell us
where we can stay connected with you and all the
incredible work you're doing. What's your website as well as
any social media handles you'd like to share?
Speaker 4 (37:18):
Absolutely? Thank you so much. This has been amazing. I'm
so glad that I got to hang out with you.
So yes, you can definitely find me on the interwebs.
You can find the Nineteenth Journalism on our website that's
on nine th anyws dot org nineteenthnews dot org.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
We also have a ton of.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
Free newsletters that you can sign up for, and I
would encourage you to please, please please sign up for
my newsletter. It's called The Amendment and you can sign
up for it at nineteenthnews dot org. We are also
on X I guess this is what we're calling it
now and Instagram and Facebook. Our handle is the same,
It's nineteenth News, So one nine thch News is our handle.
(37:58):
Across platforms. My Instagram is at e Marvelous, where you
can find me talking about politics, my journalism, fashion, travel, food.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
My dog, whatever interest in me on any given day.
Speaker 4 (38:14):
And then also I am on x at Aaron Haynes,
so just my name E R R I n h
ai n ees and I am talking about politics and
sometimes when I'm angry on the weekends, pepa pig join me.
So yeah, thank you, Thank you so much for having me,
and thank you for your support of the nineteenth Doctor Joy.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
I really appreciate it so much, and for the chance
to talk to your listeners a little bit about what
we do and who we are. Thank you.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
I'm so glad Aaron was able to join us today
to share her expertise. To learn more about her and
her work, visit the show notes at Therapy for Blackgirls
dot Com slash Session three twenty eight, and don't forget
to text two of your girls right now and encourage
them to check out the episode. If you're looking for
a therapist in your area, check out our therapist directory
(39:05):
at Therapy for Blackgirls dot Com slash directory. And if
you want to continue digging into this topic or just
be in community with other sisters, Come on over and
join us in the sister Circle. It's our colday corner
of the Internet designed just for black women. You can
join us at Community dot Therapy for Blackgirls dot com.
This episode was produced by Frida Lucas, Elise Ellis, and
(39:28):
Zaria Taylor. Editing was done by Dennison Bradford. Thank y'all
so much for joining me again this week. I look
forward to continuing this conversation with you all real soon.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Take good care.
Speaker 1 (39:45):
What's The reviews for Sisterhood Heels are rolling in and
I simply cannot stop smiling at the Hot girl books
on Instagram shared finish reading this warm hug of a
book last night and while it made me once a
hug my sister friends so bad. Sisterhood Heels is a
beautiful guide on how we as black women can use
(40:05):
our community and friends to aid in our healing process.
Thank you so much for the beautiful review. Have you
grabbed your copy yet? Get one for yourself and a
friend at Sisterhoodheels dot com.
Welcome to the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast, a weekly
conversation about mental health, personal development, and all the small
decisions we can make to become the best possible versions
of ourselves. I'm your host, doctor Joy hard and Bradford,
a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information or
(00:32):
to find a therapist in your area, visit our website
at Therapy for Blackgirls dot com. While I hope you
love listening to and learning from the podcast, it is
not meant to be a substitute for a relationship with
a licensed mental health professional. Hey, y'all, thanks so much
(00:57):
for joining me for session three twenty eight of the
Therapy for Black Girls Podcast. We'll get right into our
conversation after a word from our sponsors. The reviews for
Sisterhood Heels are rolling in and I simply cannot stop
smiling at the hot girl books on Instagram shared finish
reading this warm hug of a book last night and
(01:19):
while it made me once a hug my sister friends
so bad, Sisterhood Heels is a beautiful guide on how
we as black women can use our community and friends
to aid in our healing process. Thank you so much
for the beautiful review. Have you grabbed your copy yet?
Get one for yourself and a friend at Sisterhoodheels dot com.
(01:44):
The twenty twenty four election season is rapidly approaching, and
while we know just how important it is for Black
women to use our voices and our vote in any election,
we also recognize that staying in form can be difficult
when the news seems bleak. To help make the easier,
we're here to break down some key factors you need
to know ahead of this critical election cycle to give
(02:06):
us the rundown. I'm joined today by award winning political
journalist Aaron Haynes. Erin is the founding mother and editor
at large of The Nineteenth, a nonprofit independent newsroom focused
on the intersection of gender politics and policy. She's also
an MSNBC contributor and former writer for The Associated Press,
(02:27):
The Washington Posts, The Los Angeles Times, and Orlando Sentinel.
In our discussion today, Aaron breaks down what issues are
on the ballot for Black women voters in twenty twenty four,
how to tell if a news source is trustworthy in
the age of misinformation, and ways to stay informed while
protecting your mental health and wellness. If something resonates with
(02:50):
you while enjoying our conversation, Please share it with us
on social media using the hashtag tbg in session, or
join us over in the system circle. To talk more
about the episode, you can join us at community dot
therapy for Blackgirls dot com. Here's our conversation. Thank you
(03:11):
so much for joining us today.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Erin, Thanks doctor jord for having me.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yeah, very excited to chat with you. You are one
of my favorite journalists. I'm very, very very appreciative you
took some time to chat with us today.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Well, Therapy and Black Girls are my two favorite comicies.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Right, how can you go wrong really with it? So
you're award winning political journalists. You are an MSNBC contributor.
You've been at the Washington Post, Associated Press, and now
at the Nineteenth. Can you talk to us a little
bit about how you got started in your career?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Sure, I would love to. Thinking back over my career,
let's see, so I'm not one of those people. Let
me just start off by saying you grew up with
inking their veins or thinking they were going to be
a journalist when they were little. But I did always
have kind of a natural curiosity and I have a
lot of black women, frankly role models when I was
growing up on broadcast television. So I remember when I
(04:02):
was growing up, we weren't allowed to watch TV at
dinner time unless we were watching the local news, and
so that was really my first introduction to news and
just the idea that black people, that black women could.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Do the news.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
So fast forward, I get to college, I need to
pick a major, write because my mom's like, you need
to get a job.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
So I'm thinking about what.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
I might be good at, how those skills might be
transferable to a career, and writing and being nosy equals journalism, right.
The idea that you actually get paid to call somebody
or go somewhere, ask people questions that they are supposed
to answer, and then tell everybody else what you learned
is really something that I fell in love with pretty
(04:41):
much from the beginning. And so my very very first
job in newspapers was actually at a black newspaper in Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
I shout out to the Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Daily World, where I wrote every single week about black
people doing everything from politics to small businesses and just
regular ordinary black folks and black life, which taught me
something very early on in my career, which is that
black people's stories matter, that they are important. They were
on the front page of the newspaper that I wrote for,
(05:09):
and so I just knew that I was never going
to really argue with anybody about why our stories should
be told, about why our stories were relevant.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Really just the idea that writing about the.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Bad stuff was not all there was to say about
black people, about Black Americans. So that's how I kind
of got started, and then I went on to work
at places like the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I spent the book on my career at the Associated.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Press, where until I had the role that I have now,
I had most recently been the Race and Ethnicity a
national writer for the AP, which basically meant that I
could write about any and everything we're related to race
that I wanted to for a national audience.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Which was pretty much my dream job.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
I'd been an intern at the AP almost twenty years earlier,
and it was the job that I knew that I
wanted because I wanted to tell stories about my people,
and I wanted to really just build a body of
work that left a record of who and where we
have been as a people in this democracy, and so
I was very proud to do that job. But then
(06:16):
we get to twenty nineteen, and you have this super
diverse field of candidates, six women running for office, multiple
people of color running for office, and yet the way
that we were talking about our political journalism was just
still too white and too male. And it was fine
for me to write those stories right individually, but I
really felt like as an organization, as an industry, that
(06:38):
we should be saying that race and gender are really
the story of our time and the unfinished business of
our democracy. And so when the idea for the nineteenth
came along, I jumped at it because for me, the
risk was not in starting this new venture, it was
really in daing and hoping that these institutions that have
(06:58):
not really changed nearly enough, we're going to make the
change necessary to really reflect who is in our quickly
shifting democracy right now.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
So you mentioned the hometown news heroes. Did you grow
up in Atlanta?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
I did.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
I hope you can tell I don't drink enough sweet
tea to keep my accent fresh, but I am from Atlanta.
My mom still lives on the South side of the city.
And yeah, born at Grady Hospital, and definitely still have roots.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
In East Atlanta. So very proud of where I come from.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
I think there's not a person that knows me that
does not find that out within.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
The first five minutes of meeting me. I'm going to
work in some sort of Atlanta reference.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
So who were some of the local news folks that
you grew up watching that kind of were your heroes
in the field.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
Oh my gosh, so my Atlanta peeps will know this name.
Monka Kaufman was my hero when I was growing up.
She was so beautiful, she looked like me. She was
this brownskin lady who was very smart, and she was
telling me what happened in my city every single day.
And she had authority, and she was charming and she
(08:05):
was glamorous. And so this is what I thought journalism was.
I mean, she was journalism for me when I was
growing up, and she was the news for me. In fact,
it wasn't really until I traveled. I went to journalism
conferences when I was in college, and I would look
to see what their local television broadcast would be, and
I'd be like, I can't believe there are two black
(08:25):
people in the anchor chair telling me what's going on?
There should be at least one black woman telling me
what the news is. It just really struck me how
fortunate I was to have that example, to really plant
that seed in my mind that this was a career
that I could do.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
I mean Atlanta now, so I'm very familiar with the
Atlanta newsbooks.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
My goodness.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
I mean, Jovita Moore was one of my She Rose
I miss her so so so dearly. But Joscelyn Dorsey,
Karen Greer, Blaine Alexander. I mean, there are so many
black women on air in Atlanta, and I do think
that all of them are just such an inspiration to
so many people, but especially to the black girls who
may be trying to figure out what they want to
(09:05):
do with their lives and can really look to those
examples as somebody who they can maybe fall in their
footsteps one day.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Mm hmmm. So, Aaron, I'm gonna do a little bit
of standing for just a moment. So two of my
favorite written pieces, not just from the nineteenth but in
recent history are the Summer of Black Women that you
recently wrote, and a piece about justice Katanji Brown Jackson's
Friends from College, which I thought was so beautiful, and
(09:33):
it just really feels like the pieces that come out
from the Nineteenth feel like pieces that you just don't
really see anywhere else. Can you talk a little bit
about how you all do your newsroom and you're publishing
very different than we might find in other places.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Well, first of all, thank you for saying that about
both of those pieces and about the Nineteenth, because that
is exactly what we are striving to do. We're trying
to do news that is distinctive, but also it is
seeing and hearing from people who have not really been
previously seen or heard in our democracy. For me, that
especially includes black women, who we know are the backbone
(10:09):
of this democracy, who we know are on the front
lines of what it is to push for progress and
fairness and equality in our country. So thank you for
saying that. Those are two of my favorite things that
I've ever written to, by the way, So thank you.
It was such a joy to talk to Justice Jackson's
sister circle. That story came from me at a time
where we're coming out of the pandemic and I was
(10:31):
actually thinking a lot just about my group chat and
the group chats of all of my friends and just
how sustaining those are. And even before the group chat
was a thing just like that sister circle that you
had that was so supportive through your good times, through
your bad times.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
The core group of.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
Women black women that you could just lean on to
laugh and cry and celebrate with. I mean, that's everything, right,
part of what helps us to get to where we
are and what we do. And so to talk to
them and to watch them cheering her on and for
them to feel like her success was their success was
just a deeply rewarding story to tell.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
So thank you for that.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
And then, man, some of the black women, I mean,
how can you not see that based on what we
just came through. I mean, I just had a couple
of girlfriends that went to see Beyonce last night in Houston.
I mean, like it is giving us so much life.
I just can't tell you how many Black women I
talk to coming into this year who were so exhausted,
but this summer just re energized us through the examples
(11:34):
of people like Beyonce and Cocoa Golf at the US Open,
and Simone Biles and Chicai Richardson and just like so
many examples of black women just being excellent and overcoming
and coming back from and so again, I think we
do tend to see these victories as.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Collective, and so that does energize us.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
So at the nineteenth we are really bringing our lived
experiences to our journalism. And I think see that reflected
me as a black woman. I can't write about black
women enough as the main story, right, which is the
difference between what I'm doing now versus what I've done
throughout my career. Writing about black women is to the
side issue or not the main issue. But I think
(12:14):
you see that with so many of my colleagues who
are writing about Latinas, who are writing about the Asian
American community, who are writing about the LGBTQ community, which
is under attack right now, for being honest, really writing
about the existential threat to their dignity, their humanity. That's
something that I don't see really centered in the way
(12:36):
that we do that here the disability community. We have
people who have that perspective, who are able to really
shine a light on the unique challenges that people in
our community are facing, who are grappling with that. And
even if it's not our direct experience, if there's somebody
in our lives that maybe plants that seed for us
older Americans and how what they may care about in
(12:58):
terms of our democracy and how that may motivate them
to participate or not participate is really important. So yeah,
I really do love our approach, which is still very
much a work in progress. We're only three years old,
but if you have ever seen our logo, we're the
nineteenth name for the nineteenth Amendment, which guaranteed some but
(13:19):
not all women access to the ballot box. We know
that black women were thrown under the bus, and so
that asterisk is really largely for them, but also for latinas,
for Asian American women who were barred from participation at
the same time around language barriers, Native American women who
weren't even recognized as citizens in nineteen twenty when the
Nineteenth Amendment passed, And so the asterisk is really kind
(13:42):
of also represents like a north star for us in
terms of who remains ignored invisible in our democracy and
how we can continue to bring them into the conversation
so that we empower them to be civically engaged in
our country.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Thank you so much for that, Aaron. So you all
started in an employee election year, and we are rolling
into yet another, I think very important election year. So
can you tell us one what dates are important for
us to pay attention to as we roll into a
new election cycle, and what exactly is going to be
on the ballot in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, so, I guess I would say a few things.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
One, we're still four hundred and something days away from
the election, so we still have a long way to
go people, and a lot can happen between now and
next November. The dates that I would encourage people to
pay attention to be empowered. Know when the deadlines are
for you to register to vote. Make sure that if
you are somebody who has been registered in the past,
(14:39):
that you are still on the rolls, that your voter
registration information is up to date. Know where your precinct
is so that you can vote or if you're not
going to vote in person, know what the process is.
What is the deadline for you to get an absentee
ballot so that you can still participate. These are important
dates to know and mostly should be available on your
Secretary of State's website wherever you live. So I would
(15:00):
encourage people don't wait to find that information out, find
that information out as soon as you possibly can pay attention,
and also share that information with the people in your life.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
We know, especially as black women, even.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
If we are not organizers in an official capacity, we
absolutely have that phone tree or even or just casually
mentioned and girl, are you registered? Girl, have you already voted?
When are you going to go and vote? I mean,
I remember my mom doing that on election day, every
single person that call the house, like the first words
out of her mouth after hello or hey, did you rose?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
And she was serious. So yeah, I would encourage that
for sure.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
And as far as what's on the ballot, I mean, look, one,
let me just say that all issues are women's issues
if you just ask women about them. We don't just
care although they are important issues. We don't just care
about the pay gap. We don't just care about abortion.
We care about faith, We care about education, we care
about the economy, we care about the Supreme Court, right,
we care about unemployment. Ask us anything we have an
(16:03):
opinion about that too. Not to mention the fact that
we are more than half the population and more than
half of the electorate, So why shouldn't we be weighing
in on issues? Of this democracy as the majority of
this country, right, So that's number one, number two as
far as what I personally think is going to be
on the ballot, I literally just wrote a column saying
that democracy is a kitchen table issue for a lot
(16:24):
of people. I know it's an issue for a lot
of the Black voters that I talk to. They are
wondering how they are going to be able to safely
and freely and fairly participate in this election, knowing what
we are up against in terms of voter suppression across
this country and what we've seen in response to the
twenty twenty election. And so democracy is on the ballot.
(16:45):
I think guns are on the ballot for a lot
of people. Gun violence is a real issue affecting a
lot of communities, and that is something that is gendered,
and a lot of Black women are very concerned about
gun violence. And that means different things depending on where
you live, but the issue is among the top issues
for a lot of the people that we hear from.
Reproductive access absolutely is on the ballot. I think we
(17:07):
saw that in twenty twenty two with the Mint terms,
and this is something that black women have been trying
to soundly alarm about for years before the Dobs decision,
and so black women know what's at stake. The maternal
mortality piece is just part of that, but that's certainly
a big part of it for Black women who are
just really worried about their personal safety. That's part of
(17:27):
that conversation. Education is on the ballot for us, and
that's whether you're talking about the affirmative action piece or
whether you're talking about the student loan debt piece, right,
those are both things that disproportionately affect us, and so
I think that is an issue that is going to
motivate a lot of Black women to the polls because
they are wanting to elect people who are going to
(17:48):
be able to do something about those issues because they
do see the connection between who is representing them in
their daily life in terms of what can happen around that.
So those are a few of the big ones that
I see, but absolutely, absolutely the issue of rights and
safety just overarching are weighing, I think on the minds
(18:10):
of a lot of voters, especially Black women heading into
next year.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Thank you for that, Aaron.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
More from our conversations after the break.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
So can you give us a rundown of some of
the key people who are running or teasing a run
across the country, Like, who are some of the people
we should be really paying attention to, and if you
could say a little about their platforms if you're aware.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
So, I do think you are going to see a
black woman returning to the Senate. Finally, we know that
with Vice President Harris's elevation, that did leave a vacancy
of no Black women in the Senate, which certainly is
not commensurate with our representation in this country. Right, So,
Lisa blanc Rochester out of Delaware is running for Senate
(19:03):
and seems to have a pretty strong chance of being elected.
This is somebody who was a key surrogate for President
Biden when he was running in twenty twenty, and whose
profile has really kind of risen in recent years. And
so I think Delaware is also and I learned this
in twenty twenty, the eighth most populis state for black
people in America.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
But even outside of that, I think that this is
somebody who could get.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
A lot of support even from people who don't look
like her, going into next year. I'm also looking though,
in terms of a Senate race, you got to look
at Barbara Lee out in California and what her chances are.
That's a very tough race that probably is going to
be pretty expensive. Kamala Harris was a Senator out of California,
and so when there was talk of who was going
(19:50):
to be the vice president, Barbara Lee, Karen Bass, their
names were certainly out there. Karen Bass now the first
black woman mayor of Los Angeles, and now Barbara Lee
is seeking to be another black woman representing California in
the Senate. So I'm very interested to see what happens
with that. Interestingly, I don't know that we're going to
(20:10):
immediately have a chance to see another black woman running
for governor right now. You know, you had this stretch
where you had the Staceaboms effect, if you will, multiple
black women trying to break that glass ceiling that still
has not been broken. By the way, we have never
elected a black woman to serve as governor of any
state in this country. But yeah, I think the Senate
(20:31):
races are something that I'm just really interested in because.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
There is zebra representation there too.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
But I think that there might be an opportunity for
that to change in twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
So you know erin it feels like in the past
four years throughout the pandemic, so we need people have
decided to get up and move and because of not
only for I think pandemic reasons, but also the rights
that you spoke of right and how many states are
making decisions that day to day impacts somebody's livelihood and safety.
What would you say to people who are maybe considering, Okay,
(21:04):
I feel like another state might be a better place
for me, like any tips that you would be able
to suggest there.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
I do agree. We've seen it. We've seen people in Texas,
in Florida in particular, who were saying I don't want
to be here, I don't feel safe here, or I
don't want to raise my family here, I don't want
my kids to.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
Grow up learning about this, or worried about what they
might not learn right based on where they're living right now.
And so I get that is absolutely a very real concern.
And I think that it's hard to know whether that
was an intended or unintended consequence of some of these
policies being passed, but that's certainly the impact is that
(21:43):
some people are just deciding this is not a place
where I want to be this is not the country
or the state that I recognize.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
And when you are moving from one state to another
and you, like you mentioned, want to hurry up and
get registered to vote, is that also something you can
find information for on the Secretary of States website.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
I think for some people too, moving is also about
their ability to be represented right, wanting to feel like
they can participate in a way where one person, one
vote feels more real for them, And I absolutely get that.
So yes, Secretary of State's website when you have relocated
can get you up to speed on how to make
(22:22):
sure that your voter registration is current in the place
where you now live.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
So I am sure you're aware of all of the
attention and energy I think rightfully so that is being
placed on gen Z. How many of them continue to
come out in droves to vote and really push change
on so many of the issues. So what kinds of
best practices or recommendations might you have for a candidate
who's really wanting to make themselves marketable? So to speak
(22:46):
to gen Z.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
Meet them where they are is the advice that I
would give. I mean, look, you see the vice president,
certainly somebody who is getting that message, is doing a
college tour right now, starting out with HBCU use right,
trying to galvanize those young black voters. Right when we
think about young voters in your mind, you can't forget
about HBCUs, you can't forget about those students, a lot
(23:10):
of whom have precincts on campus right so that they
can participate. So making sure that they are energized, making
sure that they are paying attention to this election, I
could see that is definitely a pathway to success for
candidates that is looking to get their message out to
young voters. Also, social media absolutely, I mean I don't
(23:33):
know a young person that is getting their news in
a traditional way. You know, when my niece sends me
a link to something, it's usually something she's on TikTok.
It's not something she read on some news website. That's
not where she's going to get information. So, if you've
got a candidate that doesn't at least have a presence,
if not is taking off on TikTok, they're probably not reaching.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
As many young people as they could be.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
I think candidates have to get create, like I said,
just meeting young people where they are wherever that is
figuring that out and showing up not expecting them to
find them or their campaign or their message, because that's
not really how they operate.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
So what are some red flags, some social media red
flags that we should be on the lookout for. What
kinds of things may be Like I'm not so sure
about this.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
Well, I want to talk about a different kind of
red flag on social media if I can, misinformation and disinformation,
because that is something that is disproportionately affecting our communities
and it is not okay. Obviously, as somebody who has
spent their career in the news business, it is very
distressing to me. It is very alarming to me, and
it is particularly alarming that our communities are being targeted
(24:44):
with this stuff because it is harmful. It is harmful.
We've seen that it has been deadly, honestly in some
cases in recent years. So I want to encourage people
to just be informed. I'm so excited that people want
to be engaged and that they're trying to find out
what's going on in our country. But misinformation is a
(25:05):
lot more sophisticated than it used to be. Right, It's
not just the tabloid at the checkout line at the
grocery store anymore like it looks a lot like what
people may assume is legitimate news. Not to mention the
rise of AI and the impact that can have on
tricking our brains into thinking something is real that really isn't.
(25:26):
So I just want to encourage people news literacy is
so important and sharing things only when you know them
to be factual. I know most people don't mean to
lie to their friends or neighbors or family members, but
that's exactly what happens when you post something on Facebook
that isn't actually real.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
So, Aaron, how can we do a better job of
betting for ourselves? What is actual information versus misinformation or disinformation?
Because take your point, stuff looks very sophisticated, it looks
like it comes from a reputable news source and people
are sharing it. So what kinds of sh strategy should
we be employing to be able to bet a new story?
Speaker 4 (26:03):
Okay, so one thing I would recommend check the source,
see what this source is about, where is this information
coming from, and does the source seem to be a
reputable source.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
That's probably the first thing. The second thing is.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
If you see a story, who else is reporting that story.
If you only see it in one place, that's usually
a hint that I mean, look, I like to report
things before anybody else, and I feel special when I've
told somebody something that nobody else knew yet.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
But usually other people are going to write about that thing.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
If they don't write about it at the same time
as me, it's going to be, you know, sometime soon
after me. So if you see a story and it's
just kind of on this island where nobody else is
talking about it, or nobody else seems to have the
same set of facts, that's probably a clue that maybe
this isn't legitimate.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
That's a pretty pretty big one.
Speaker 4 (26:55):
If something is older but it's presented as new, that
may be some misinformation that somebody's.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Trying to recirculate for some reason. That can be another
red flag.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
So when we're looking at public officials or candidates who
are on the ballot, how important is it for people
who have had a public office before, Like it's prior
political experience really important when we're looking at a candidate.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
I mean, I don't think it's a prerequisite, right.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
I think you're seeing a lot of people who are
becoming candidates for elected office because there's some aspects of
their live experience that they feel like they can bring
that would be an asset to them serving. Right, you know,
somebody who is an educator who may care about that
issue that gets them to run, somebody who cares about
(27:41):
gun violence, who decides that's the motivation for them running
and trying to make a difference. I think it is
important for them to tell voters why they're running and
what they would.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Do if they got elected.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
But it's also important for voters really to check out
for themselves these candidates and if they believe that they
are qualified to be somebody who's going to represent them
in the way that they.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Want more from our conversations after the break.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
So, it seems like one of the most popular marketing
tactics for candidates is fifty eleven ads on TV about
their campaign, like you cannot get away from them ads
on TV. Why is this such a popular marketing tactic
for candidates and how might it either encourage people to
be engaged or disengaged from the political process as it
(28:39):
relates to the ads.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
Yeah, so, doctors, I'll tell you one of my favorites
is the campaign email, which my inbox is flooded with
at all times. They sound like one of my ex
boyfriends erin, Oh my god, it's too late, Eron, this
is our last chance.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Eric, we got to do this. It's like, please leave
me alone. I don't know how effective those are.
Speaker 4 (28:58):
I'm a journalist, so I do not to any of
these people, but it sounds pretty desperate and very thirsty.
The television ads look repetition works. That's why you see it.
Like the more name recognition. You can plant into somebody's
brain right by the time you get to the ballot box,
you're like, oh, I remember that person, and hopefully they
had a memorable ad in a good way for you,
(29:20):
and so then that person gets your vote. You may
have never seen them in a debate, you may have
never seen them in a town hall, but they had
a commercial that resonated with you. They talked about some
issue that you cared about, or they seem to be
somebody that you could somehow otherwise relate.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
To, and so you want to support them.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
On the other hand, maybe you saw an ad that
was negative and that was also memorable.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Negative ads work on people.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
Even though people say they don't like them, they do
work and so that's why we continue to see negative ads.
And depending on where you live, I mean, certainly I
am from Atlanta, but I now live in Pennsylvania, and
you know, it is a battleground state, and so that
means that we see a lot of ads. Georgia tends
to have a lot of runoffs, and so you will
see ads for much longer of a season than a
(30:04):
lot of our neighbors in other states. So I think
that kind of thing can also lead to fatigue. But again,
these candidates are trying to make an impression and to
make you remember them so that on election day, even
though you may be sick of the ads, you may
at least remember who was in them and vote for
(30:26):
that person.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
So something else that has been having like growing discourse
recently is age caps for elected officials. So you know,
there's been calls around Nancy Pelosi and any health concerns
Mitchim Kannoll may have. Can you talk a little bit
about like your thoughts around age caps and what we
might lose our gain when we have different generations representing constituents.
Speaker 4 (30:48):
Yeah, I mean, I think there are different ways to
look at it, right, I think there's certainly benefits that
older people can bring to our government, to any institution, right,
the wisdom that they bring, as well as the experience
that they can bring, the mentorship that they can provide.
All these things you're valuable to have, including in politics.
(31:09):
So there's a place for people with a range of experiences,
including age, in our politics.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
That said, I talked.
Speaker 4 (31:17):
To voters a lot, and among the people who express
the most concern about the fact that both of the
presumed nominees for next year are people who are in
their seventies and eighties. Older people tell me that they
are concerned because they know what their days look like
and they know what their limitations are. And so being
(31:39):
president is a very rigorous job. You know, you're traveling
all around the country, all around the world, and you
have a very full schedule on any given day. So
I think, given that these candidates are up in age,
I think that it is incumbent upon them to prove
that they are up for the job and to prove
that they are capable. But I mean, once they've done that,
(32:01):
the voters get to decide for themselves whether or not
they believe that person is capable.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Right.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
This also kind of brings up the issue of how
long somebody should be able to serve. I mean, obviously,
if you run for president, you can only serve two terms.
But somebody who is in Congress serves for as long
as they can continue to be elected. And so that
is something that can be I think even more up
to voters in terms of deciding using that as a
(32:30):
criteria to decide whether or not that person should continue
and if they feel that person is still effective the
older they get and the longer that they've been serving.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
So something else that appears to be very effective for
candidates or celebrity endorsements, right, can you talk about any
concerns related to celebrity endorsements and also like candidates who
seem to want to be more celebrity as opposed to
a political figure, Can you talk a little bit about
that and like what kinds of things we should be
(32:59):
paying attention into if it feels like a candidate is
really ingraining themselves in the celebrity world.
Speaker 4 (33:05):
Look, there's been a relationship between politics and celebrity. Sometimes
that life has been blurred in our politics over history.
You think about President Kennedy, who was certainly not a celebrity,
but he had a kind of a celebrity status. The
Obamas ended up having a celebrity status as well. Ronald
Reagan was a literal former actor. Former President Trump also
(33:27):
was a celebrity who ran successfully for the office. And
so I think celebrity is getting involved in our politics.
It does raise awareness in a different way. Again, it
can bring a different kind of audience for somebody who's
running for office who maybe wasn't necessarily paying attention to
the election previously, a celebrity who was not particularly political,
(33:48):
if they put their thumb on the scale, I think
that sometimes that is something that can have an impression
on voters. I think about Oprah. You know, when Obama
ran for office, Oprah was not somebody who really was
very publicly politically active, right, but she was very much
active in that race, and I think.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
That it did matter.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
It mattered last midterm cycle when John Fetterman is running
against doctor Oz in Pennsylvania. Doctor Oz was somebody that
Oprah basically was responsible for bringing into our collective consciousness.
And so for her to come out in the eleventh
hour and say I'm with John Fetterman, I think that
did matter to voters that she did not endorse this
(34:29):
person that she had previously professionally supported. But I do
think celebrities can have an influence on our politics. You
probably saw the story just recently Taylor Swift registering tens
of thousands of voters. That matters, like not telling anybody
to vote for one person or the other, but saying
voting matters.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
Participate in this election.
Speaker 4 (34:49):
I am personally encouraging you to get signed up and
that working.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
That's incredible.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
You know somebody who works for a news organization named
for voting rights, I'm here for that.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
I think another thing that happens, especially I think in
the news within the last five to seven years, I
would say, is that people have been increasingly impacted their
mental health has been impacted by the news. Right, Like
just feels like the news cycle is often so violatile.
What kinds of suggestions would you share with people around
how they can stay informed while also protecting their mental health.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
Yeah, I guess what I would challenge people to think
about what staying informed means. It's not only being informed
about the bad stuff or the scary stuff, or the
stuff that doesn't make you feel good. Right, there's a
lot of news. There are many many different things happening
in this country on any given day, in this world,
on any given day, that are not all bad. And
(35:44):
I know it feels like that's all that the news
is reporting a lot of time, but that's not true.
So like really expanding your news diet to find more
positive things that you can read about, that you can
learn about that number one. Number two, it's okay to
step away from the news. I think really the previous
(36:07):
four years where everything that happened on Twitter was news,
really conditioned us if we're gone for an hour, like
who knows what's gonna happen really hour to hour, And
that wasn't good for our mental health.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
That wasn't really good for our.
Speaker 4 (36:22):
Collective mental health as a country to be constantly worried
about what bad thing was going to happen and how
were we're going to find out about it. I think
social media definitely plays a role in tightening that. I
personally felt much better mentally when I turned off by
notifications for a lot of the social media to the
(36:43):
extent that I could. I mean, some people I have
to pay attention to, but a lot of people I
don't have to pay attention to, And it's okay to
not constantly be checking my feed on Instagram or X
or Facebook to see what's going on. I think that
reclaiming that brain space is really important too, as a
way to kind of balance things out.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
This has been so helpful Erin Thank you so much
for sharing everything you've shared today. Can you tell us
where we can stay connected with you and all the
incredible work you're doing. What's your website as well as
any social media handles you'd like to share?
Speaker 4 (37:18):
Absolutely? Thank you so much. This has been amazing. I'm
so glad that I got to hang out with you.
So yes, you can definitely find me on the interwebs.
You can find the Nineteenth Journalism on our website that's
on nine th anyws dot org nineteenthnews dot org.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
We also have a ton of.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
Free newsletters that you can sign up for, and I
would encourage you to please, please please sign up for
my newsletter. It's called The Amendment and you can sign
up for it at nineteenthnews dot org. We are also
on X I guess this is what we're calling it
now and Instagram and Facebook. Our handle is the same,
It's nineteenth News, So one nine thch News is our handle.
(37:58):
Across platforms. My Instagram is at e Marvelous, where you
can find me talking about politics, my journalism, fashion, travel, food.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
My dog, whatever interest in me on any given day.
Speaker 4 (38:14):
And then also I am on x at Aaron Haynes,
so just my name E R R I n h
ai n ees and I am talking about politics and
sometimes when I'm angry on the weekends, pepa pig join me.
So yeah, thank you, Thank you so much for having me,
and thank you for your support of the nineteenth Doctor Joy.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
I really appreciate it so much, and for the chance
to talk to your listeners a little bit about what
we do and who we are. Thank you.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
I'm so glad Aaron was able to join us today
to share her expertise. To learn more about her and
her work, visit the show notes at Therapy for Blackgirls
dot Com slash Session three twenty eight, and don't forget
to text two of your girls right now and encourage
them to check out the episode. If you're looking for
a therapist in your area, check out our therapist directory
(39:05):
at Therapy for Blackgirls dot Com slash directory. And if
you want to continue digging into this topic or just
be in community with other sisters, Come on over and
join us in the sister Circle. It's our colday corner
of the Internet designed just for black women. You can
join us at Community dot Therapy for Blackgirls dot com.
This episode was produced by Frida Lucas, Elise Ellis, and
(39:28):
Zaria Taylor. Editing was done by Dennison Bradford. Thank y'all
so much for joining me again this week. I look
forward to continuing this conversation with you all real soon.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Take good care.
Speaker 1 (39:45):
What's The reviews for Sisterhood Heels are rolling in and
I simply cannot stop smiling at the Hot girl books
on Instagram shared finish reading this warm hug of a
book last night and while it made me once a
hug my sister friends so bad. Sisterhood Heels is a
beautiful guide on how we as black women can use
(40:05):
our community and friends to aid in our healing process.
Thank you so much for the beautiful review. Have you
grabbed your copy yet? Get one for yourself and a
friend at Sisterhoodheels dot com.
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The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.