November 16, 2023 • 27 mins
Ashley Shelton, Executive Director of Power Coalition for Equity and Justice joined Danielle for a conversation about the takeaways from 2023's elections, the upcoming special elections in Louisiana, and what the outlook is for 2024.
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
Good morning, peeps, and welcome to book af Daily with
Meet your Girl Daniel Moody recording from the Home Bunker. Folks,
you know, what we have come to realize with each
and every passing day is that elections do, in fact
have consequences, and elections are important not just for our
(00:33):
day to day but for the health and well being
and preservation of our democracy, which is crumbling with each
and every passing day. Case in point, let's look at
what the absolute fuck was happening in the Senate Help
Committee this week. My god, I swear to you folks.
(00:56):
You know, when I come back out into the world
to engage in the new after taking some much needed
time to celebrate my birthday, recenter and ground, it's like
I just want to go back, build a tiny home
in the woods and be done with this place. Honestly
so GOP Senator Mark Wayne Mullen, which also Mark Wayne
(01:19):
give me a break anyway, he decided in the midst
of the Senate Help Committee where they were discussing labor
unions and the Teamster's President Sean O'Brien was there to
testify before the committee. Mark Wayne Mullen must have had
some type of flashback to high school, where he thought
(01:42):
that it was appropriate for a sitting senator to challenge
the teamster president to a fight. Yes, folks, let me
just say that again, that a sitting United States Senator
thought that it was appropriate for him to challenge someone
(02:08):
who sent a mean tweet about him to a fight.
I want to express that this man, Senator Mullen, is
not even the least bit embarrassed. He goes on Fox
News later that day, because of course, all of this
is a performance. All of this is the performance of
toxic masculinity for his toxic constituency that put this kind
(02:32):
of person in office to represent them. Then you look
around at these states that have these kind of representatives
and you look at where they are in education, You
look at where they are in jobs, You look at
where they are in health and wellness. You look at
all of these things, and you wonder why their demographics
look the way that they do. So Bernie Sanders tried
(02:57):
to get the committee hearing back on the rails after
Mullen throws it off the rails by saying, you're a
United States senator, But this motherfucker goes on Fox and
says that that is Oklahoma values to be an ignorant bully,
that's the values of that state. Like I just I
(03:21):
don't understand, folks, who the people are that vote and
send this kind of trash to Congress. I just, I honestly,
I genuinely don't understand it. I used to have such
esteem hold Congress, hold representatives, hold senators in such esteem.
(03:42):
I tell you all the time about working on Capitol Hill,
about the first time that I stepped foot on Capitol Hill,
and the pride and the history as you're walking through
those hallways, and this is the fucking sewer rats that
are there now. It's despicable and so unbecoming, but just
(04:03):
so on fucking brand for the disaster that America has
become because of Donald Trump. I'm telling you, I really
hope that people are heeding the warning that Hillary Clinton
offered on the View a week or so ago, where
she said, if Donald Trump is reelected, America is done.
(04:23):
She tried to warn us in twenty sixteen. But America
hates listening to women, right, particularly those that are smart
and powerful. So I pray to God that people are
paying attention and not just shrugging off the shit that
Donald Trump has been saying at his rallies and on
the campaign trail, where he's talking about the fact that
(04:44):
if he is re elected, he is going to what
detain the people who don't like him, right, yes, That
he is going to throw those people in jail, That
he's going to deport them, that he's going to build
tents for migrants, that he's going to persecute and indict
(05:05):
all the people that he doesn't like. That he's going
to gut to the Department of Justice. He's saying all
of these things, taking all of these authoritarian actions. And
just in case you think that this is all a joke,
I want you to understand that there is a billion
dollars that has been invested in the Heritage Foundation. You
can go look it up Heritagefoundation dot org and see
(05:29):
their twenty twenty five plan where they have already in
place all of the people that they're going to fill
up our departments with so that they can dismantle them
from the inside out. That in the first one hundred
days of a Trump administration, we are done. Democracy is finished,
(05:49):
and the Constitution is toilet paper. He is saying all
of these things out loud and just a reminder. This
week in The New York Times, Jamel Bowie wrote a
piece where he says very clearly that everything that Donald
Trump said that he was going to do when he
was elected in twenty sixteen, he did. So when people
(06:13):
tell you who they are, fucking, believe them the first time.
We do not need a repeat because again, this will
be the last time Donald Trump gets in. He's not leaving.
And just so, like we learned from testimony from Jenna Ellis,
he had no plans to leave the last time. So
(06:35):
folks understand that elections, dear friends, have consequences. You don't
get multiple bites at the apple. Coming up next on
the show today is the executive director of the Power
Coalition for Equity and Justice, Ashley Shelton, who will talk
about what is happening in Louisiana politics, why we should
(06:59):
be paying attention, and why it matters that we invest
in the Democratic Party not just in the areas that
are blue, but that we build a pipeline in the
areas that are red as well. Folks, I am very
excited to welcome to wok F Daily Ashley Shelton, who
(07:21):
is the executive director of Power Coalition for equity and
justice and has been mobilizing black communities across Louisiana parishes
for years. You know, let's just jump right in Ashley.
Before we started recording, I was telling you that I
have visited now your state twice this fall after having
(07:43):
never visited, and you know, as a person from the
East Coast, I think that there are a lot of
generalizations that are made about the South, right, like that
when folks see right wing governors and mayors elected, they say, well,
the people get what they vote for, right, And there
(08:05):
is this natural blame game that happens largely put on
the shoulders in the backs of black people, right, they
should have showed up, put on young people. We can't
count on their vote. So tell us what it is
that you think that folks get wrong when they're making
(08:26):
those blanket assertions.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yeah, I think, you know, there's so many things that
are wrong about those you know, those you know, those
thoughts and the way that people kind of try to
unpack it and figure out who's that fault. I mean,
the reality is is that we had, you know, one
of the lowest voter turnout rates for this state in
a very long time, and it was black and white voters.
Black folks make a third of the state, you know,
(08:49):
but there were plenty of folks that stayed home across
the board. And I think one, you know, black voters,
you know, like we also want to don't want to
talk about poverty and the power of power already, you know,
because folks are like, well, what happened, I was like
racism and crushing poverty, you know, apathy led by crushing poverty,
and we have to be real about like what that
looks like. In some southern states, especially as Louisiana and Mississippi,
(09:13):
you know, are on a consistent race to the bottom,
and we're the second poorest state in the country. And
so when you start and so it doesn't it doesn't,
you know, make it okay that folks didn't turn out.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
But what I do think is important.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Is that what it does say that is that people
are experiencing a lot of pain in their lives. And
even though we have had so many successes with voters
in the state of Louisiana, you know, working with our
partner Voice of the Experience, we have ended nine unanimous
juries with the sixty four percent vote of voters across
the state and in this practice that only Louisiana and
(09:46):
Oregon had had in place. We have reinfranchised, formally incarcerated people,
you know, like we have expanded voting rights for the
last five years. You know, like all of these things
that are uncommon in the South. We've been able to
have the wins. But even in the face of those winds,
I think that, you know, they're incremental right for the
people that are living in a poor state, trying to
(10:07):
access jobs, outcomes, you know, and better you know, better salaries,
and the reality is that the jobs just are not there.
And the reality is that their experience again, it's just
a lot of pain, and so you can't look past
that and just say, oh, it's their fault. Well, the
reality is that, you know, again, people are going through
a lot, and I don't you know, I don't believe
(10:29):
in shaming voters and blaming them, you know. I think
at the end of the day, it's like we've got
to go continue to do the work we've been doing,
which is listening, Like we've got to go back into
community and do that deep listening so that we understand
where people where people are. Because I think that again,
I know, you know, because I haven't done this job
since twenty fifteen, and very proudly have worked with voters
(10:50):
in black voters in particular across this state, and we
have done some really powerful things, including about to realize
the second minority majority congressional seat and so and of
course lots of folks have called in a question, well,
if you can't turn people out for governor's race, how
are you going to do it for these congressional seats?
And you know, I think at the end of the day,
powers power the people. The voters, Black voters in this
(11:10):
state fought for that seat, and they're going.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
To show up for this scene.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
And so I think, you know, like I think it's
about all the journey and the process that people go through.
And I think that we've got work to do. I mean,
that's the bottom line. We've got to do some more listening.
We've got to you know, do like our friends in Georgia,
start to really understand, like what what is going to
get someone to come out of the out of their
house and go vote on election day?
Speaker 1 (11:31):
And that's what I was going to say, is that
you know, what we've seen over the past couple of cycles, right,
is that in you know, Georgia. We've seen that Georgia
did not turn blue overnight, right, that there has been
a lot of elbow grease and work over decades to
(11:52):
get Georgia to where it has been a lynch pin
in holding on to the Senate right for Democrats, where
it has been a place that we have seen, well,
wait a minute, why haven't we been investing in these places?
Why hasn't the National Democratic Party been investing in these
(12:12):
places that you've just allowed the Republican Party to run
rough shot in? And so when you talk about the
pains and the trauma, can you speak to when you
are listening to folks, what are they offering? Right that
the larger mechanism of party is essentially trying to blow
pass and just shuffle them into a voting booth.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
I think that what they're what they're missing is is
that you know, when we're you know, the power collition
for equity and Justice is RC three. We do have
a C four power collition for electoral justice. But in
our C three work, and when we're doing that deep
listening in communities, you know, what they what we're hearing
is is that there's so much low hanging fruit that
nobody's addressing, right, whether it's fines and fees that keep
(12:56):
people in a never ending cycle of poverty and criminalisation,
or addressing the you know, you know, the zero to
three childcare you know, pipeline and access to seats and
making things accessible to the focus in community so that
they can attain better jobs and actually have safe, you know,
thoughtful you know child ed, you know, curriculum based education
(13:17):
for their children. You know, like, these are all of
the things that we don't want to talk about, but
these are the things that we have been winning and
bringing home on a consistent basis over the last several years.
And it has mattered to those voters in a way
that we have been able to consistently be able to
have a decent turnout. But they do think that there
are a couple of other you know things that you know,
the machine kind of collapsed around us. I mean, we
(13:39):
are a c three person organization, you know, focused on
black and brown voters in the state of Louisiana in
particular infrequent and so we're talking to the voters nobody's
talking to. And so if the campaigns aren't talking to voters,
if the party isn't talking to voters and the only
one of the few groups is Power Coalition, that all
of our partners are the only peopeople knocking doors, you know,
(14:02):
making phone calls, sending the text messages, doing events, in
trying to engage folks in early voting, regranting. You know,
we've regranted over half a million, and we'll do way
more than that before before November eighteenth. And so again,
if we're the only it just shows that we can't
do this by ourselves and we need more, you know,
like there has to be there was no energy for
(14:24):
this election. Yeah, I mean, nobody even knew anything was happening,
and that was intentional. And also too, like there's the
part the citizen in me is also really frustrated that, like,
you know, they didn't even spend any money, and they
did it on purpose, and not that I need them
to spend money, but like that money is a part
of how people know or what the.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Signs are that there's an election coming up.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
There's a there's a drum beat to it, and that
drum beat just never you know, and you know, it
never came to be. And even when we put the
resources we've done radio, billboards, digital ads, streaming apps. I mean,
we've done all the things to trying to engage folks
as much as possible.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
And what we know is.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Is that at the end of the day, like there
just wasn't enough momentum energy that we could create on
our own. And so, you know, I do think that
one of the things that we know is that when
we listen, people move right like, they get more engaged,
and that in a typical and one of the reasons
we've been able to be successful in the past is
that nobody's talking to black and brown voters. Nobody and
(15:24):
especially if you're an a frequent voter. And so we've
had those successes of changing infrequent voters to chronic voters
and being able to do this work in a way
that is really you know, made significant change in the South.
But I do feel like, you know, in Louisiana in particular,
like black and brown voters need a political home and
we've tried to be that political home because they're not
(15:45):
being served. It doesn't feel like they're being served in
any way in the traditional political infrastructure, and so how
are we making sure that their voices are heard? Like
why are we one of the most you know, one
of the richest places and natural resources, but the poorest
places and the whole you know, in the whole country,
the most incarcerated place in the whole country actually per
capita of the world, right Like, so all.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Of these things that don't make sense in the midst.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Of such a you know, such a rich state with
so many assets, and then constantly putting industry before people.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
And so that's the work that has to happen, is.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
That, you know, we have to keep bringing people forward,
you know, through a process of helping them to see like,
you know, because I think nobody talks about the fact
that things, you know, like things were better, but they
weren't better, and you know, like they hadn't gotten you know,
better enough for it to really matter to people in
the ways that they wanted. And then I think nobody
talks about the real ugly part of this, which is
(16:41):
that things can get worse. And I don't think we
ever talk about what worse looks like, and nor do
we want to dwell on that either, Right, Like, I
don't want to give it, you know, give it life,
but I do feel like that's also a part of
this conversation and also talking about leadership. I you know,
I've been frustrated. You know, I tell folks all the time,
we want leadership to be a positive value, and leadership
(17:04):
it can also be negative. It can also be there
to hold the status quo. And at some point we
have to look at how we got here and and
and that all the folks that are in unbelievable positions
to be able to get things done. I mean, this
is an off year. I don't understand how, you know,
when almost forty five other states to have absolutely going
(17:25):
nothing going on this year and it's you know, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia. Like,
I mean, it's a handful of us that have racism.
You need to tell me you can't raise money, you can't.
You know, that does That doesn't fly. That doesn't fly.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
It's interesting. The other day, actually, I interviewed an investigative
reporter UH who was covering the Louisiana Fifth Circuit and
the disturbing case that came out of there about how
these judges who were elected decided for thirteen years to
ignore the pleas of people that said that they were
(18:07):
wrongfully convicted at the Central part of their job. And
what I realize is that when we see stories like this, right,
both people inside the state and outside the states say, well,
that's Louisiana. And I'm wondering how that narrative shifts if
it is something that is internalized by the people of
(18:31):
your state that are just like, well, they've never shown
up for us, right, they lock us up, they throw
away the key, right, never to be seen or heard
from again. They've destroyed families. There's a reason why Louisiana
is one of the poorest states, right, and it has
largely everything to do with racism and Jim Crow and
the way that land ownership has happened right or not
(18:52):
happened or has been stolen right over centuries. And so
I wonder about how important it is to not only
like to be able to tell the truth right, to
be able to shift the narrative that it isn't just
the lies of racism that says that there is something
that is wrong or deficient in black people, but there
(19:13):
is something that is wrong and deficient and white supremacy
that has fed a larger monster right that has taken
over your state.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
No, absolutely, and I think that you know one of
the things that's also frustrating is that, you know, out
of the Deep South states, right Louisiana has been able
to do some really hard things that we're now starting
to see Mississippi addressing, you know, reenfranchisement. We're starting to
see the courts, you know, kind of helping us move
the needle on things. But I do think that what
(19:44):
was such a missed opportunity in this moment is that,
you know, there's no pipeline for leadership development. There is
no you know, like there are all these things that
you know that have to be reaped, that just have
to be built. And I think for Power Coalition, we're
going to we I can't live one more year where
two percent of every elected official goes unchallenged at the
state level because there's no one challenging them, right, Like,
(20:06):
I can't continue to live in a space where we're
not developing a bench and a field strategy, you know,
like and field that is that you can touch, see
and feel, that is really connected to folks and there's real,
you know, deep connective tissue. And again we've been building
that and we have so much of it, which is
why again we've been able to do really hard things
in Louisiana. But again, now we're looking at four years
(20:28):
of you know, a really difficult uh leadership style that
does not prioritize the needs of anybody, much less black people,
black and brown people.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
And then, you know, and then also to no one
talking about the.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Economic realities of what this kind of leadership is going
to do to a state like Louisiana. You know, the
majority of our you know, our state, our state tax
base comes from Baton roof South, so Baton Rouge in
New Orleans being the largest of the cities in the
deep in the in the southern part of the state.
A good whatever's not industry is hospitality and so. And
you have a partner that is don't say gay, We're
(21:03):
banning books, We're doing all of these things. And it's like,
all of a sudden, the super Bowl is not happening
in New Orleans anymore in twenty twenty four, twenty five,
whenever it's supposed to happen in New Orleans. All of
a sudden, tourism is taking a hit. And we saw
that in Florida. But the difference is is that Louisiana
can't Florida and Louisiana are not in anything. And also
(21:24):
Florida isn't not nearly as poor as us, and I
think that there's still going to be some backlash that
we see from all of those businesses that were destroyed
or decimated by I mean, you could see it on
TV that Florida was suffering, right, And also as someone that.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
Goes to Florida a lot for the beaches and to.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Spend time with my family, I haven't gone in two years,
and I don't want to go. I don't feel safe there,
and I don't want people to feel that same way
about Louisiana.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Which is why we have to still fight. That's why
there's still work to do.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
We've got a you know, we've got a runoff on
November eighteenth, and we are you know, I just left
Southern University where there was a second line, had about
three hundred students, you know, in the street, you know,
walking to vote what vote coming, which is like the
fiftieth you know, anniversary of vote coming for so the university,
and so really proud to be with these young people
(22:12):
and just.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Reminded that we've got a lot of work to do.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
But you know, there are young people that are with us,
that are fighting, that are you know, that are understanding
what what work has to be done, and you know,
and even talking to folks like Lieutenant General Honore, who
you know is the Louisiana loved Louisiana native.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
And who now lives here.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
But he, you know, he just talks about democracy is
fragile and if you lose democracy, we'll never.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Get it back.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
And he said, and he said, and yes, there's lots
of stuff that's broken, but democracy is not broken. The
only way that it works is if you vote. And
I you know, and I was, you know, just sharing
with him. I was like, I think that's the most profound,
simple breakdown of what we're you know, like, what's you know, necessary,
and that what gets in the way of democracy is
the fact that people are hurting. We're not creating the
(23:01):
kind of policies and opportunities that you know, make people
feel like they're part of something bigger than themselves.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
And so we've got work to do. And I do,
you know, feel like.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Again, we've seen so many successes. We saw the election
of Devonte Lewis, who is the one of the youngest
in the first openly gay you know, black man to
actually win a Public Service Commission seat, which is which
makes him the highest ranking black elected official in the state.
And so you know, like so yeah, you know, and
(23:32):
so it is to say that, like, we know that
our work works, right, and we know that we're getting
things done. But when you talk about a state wide
election with every House seat, every Senate seat, and multiple
municipal races, shariffs, et cetera.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
It takes.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
It takes more than you know, It takes more than
just one vehicle being the voice out there trying to
move people and trying to help people believe in what
I know we've won and what what we've made better,
and that like we had you know, we had we
had medicaid expansion when no one else had medicaid expansion
in the Deep South. Now we you know, like I said,
we've expanded voting rights instead of you know, you know, uh,
(24:10):
destroying voting rights.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Right.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
And so even even as those suppression bills did happen
and moved through our legislature, we had a governor that
could veto those bills. And so now we're moving into
whatever this new administration will be and we've you know,
we've got work to do. We know we'll be playing
some defense.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Tell us, tell us with the with the with the
few minutes that we have left For those folks that
are listening that are not in your state, but are
like they want something to do. Do you know what
I'm saying, Like, how can they be of support, be
of service to aid your organization in you know, in
(24:46):
in in sounding the alarm on why people need to participate,
on on you know, unpacking folks as stories and and
and getting you know, to this place of feeling heard
and seen and then choosing to vote. What what can outside
folks do?
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Well?
Speaker 2 (25:02):
What you know, the biggest thing I always tell folks
is don't give up on the South right, because I
truly believe if you can't do if you can't figure
it out here, you won't figure it out anywhere. If
you know, if if all the bad things in this
country were seeded by a like another institutions in the
Deep South on yep, and then brought whole skill to
the rest of the country in a very short period
of time, then all the good things also can be
seated here and brought wholesale to the rest of the country.
(25:25):
And so we're you know, like, so we need everyone
to not act like we're a non factor, right, because
we're actually not a non factor because in fact, the
folks with some of the most money and power, you know,
are using us to you know, see these ridiculous policies
that are hurting, you know, hurting our communities. The other
thing I would say is also support organizations like Power
(25:45):
Coalition and other states of e engagement tables and folks
that are actually working on the ground. I think that
people misunderstand how hard it is to actually knock doors
and you know, make those phone calls. You know, I
think we've had almost forty two events, you know, this
election season, all across the state. Like that is the
hardest part of the work to do. And so, you know, one,
(26:07):
you know, definitely support us Power Coalition dot org.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
You can volunteer the phone bank.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Your phone number gets cloaked, we you can phone back
anybody in Louisiana you want to. But also to to
support our efforts, you know, more broadly through financial support
and and also talking to your family members. We know
that you know, so many of our stories start in
the South, and so you know, it's it's on all
of us. We've been asking everyone like call a friend,
bring a friend, you know, like commit to take to
(26:33):
people through the voting process, right so that we can
make sure that you know, we're going back to those
old school tactics of you know, mom.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Work then you know they were so.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
You need mama used to call Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
They absolutely work. Well, Ashley Shelton, thank you so much
for the work that you were doing, for the work
that Power Coalition is doing, for my reminding people that
are listening to this show not to give up on
the South, not to just chalk it up because Republican
Insurance hell have not, so really really really appreciate you.
(27:10):
That is it for me today on wok F Daily,
as always, Power to the people and to all the people. Power,
get woke and stay woke as fuck.
Good morning, peeps, and welcome to book af Daily with
Meet your Girl Daniel Moody recording from the Home Bunker. Folks,
you know, what we have come to realize with each
and every passing day is that elections do, in fact
have consequences, and elections are important not just for our
(00:33):
day to day but for the health and well being
and preservation of our democracy, which is crumbling with each
and every passing day. Case in point, let's look at
what the absolute fuck was happening in the Senate Help
Committee this week. My god, I swear to you folks.
(00:56):
You know, when I come back out into the world
to engage in the new after taking some much needed
time to celebrate my birthday, recenter and ground, it's like
I just want to go back, build a tiny home
in the woods and be done with this place. Honestly
so GOP Senator Mark Wayne Mullen, which also Mark Wayne
(01:19):
give me a break anyway, he decided in the midst
of the Senate Help Committee where they were discussing labor
unions and the Teamster's President Sean O'Brien was there to
testify before the committee. Mark Wayne Mullen must have had
some type of flashback to high school, where he thought
(01:42):
that it was appropriate for a sitting senator to challenge
the teamster president to a fight. Yes, folks, let me
just say that again, that a sitting United States Senator
thought that it was appropriate for him to challenge someone
(02:08):
who sent a mean tweet about him to a fight.
I want to express that this man, Senator Mullen, is
not even the least bit embarrassed. He goes on Fox
News later that day, because of course, all of this
is a performance. All of this is the performance of
toxic masculinity for his toxic constituency that put this kind
(02:32):
of person in office to represent them. Then you look
around at these states that have these kind of representatives
and you look at where they are in education, You
look at where they are in jobs, You look at
where they are in health and wellness. You look at
all of these things, and you wonder why their demographics
look the way that they do. So Bernie Sanders tried
(02:57):
to get the committee hearing back on the rails after
Mullen throws it off the rails by saying, you're a
United States senator, But this motherfucker goes on Fox and
says that that is Oklahoma values to be an ignorant bully,
that's the values of that state. Like I just I
(03:21):
don't understand, folks, who the people are that vote and
send this kind of trash to Congress. I just, I honestly,
I genuinely don't understand it. I used to have such
esteem hold Congress, hold representatives, hold senators in such esteem.
(03:42):
I tell you all the time about working on Capitol Hill,
about the first time that I stepped foot on Capitol Hill,
and the pride and the history as you're walking through
those hallways, and this is the fucking sewer rats that
are there now. It's despicable and so unbecoming, but just
(04:03):
so on fucking brand for the disaster that America has
become because of Donald Trump. I'm telling you, I really
hope that people are heeding the warning that Hillary Clinton
offered on the View a week or so ago, where
she said, if Donald Trump is reelected, America is done.
(04:23):
She tried to warn us in twenty sixteen. But America
hates listening to women, right, particularly those that are smart
and powerful. So I pray to God that people are
paying attention and not just shrugging off the shit that
Donald Trump has been saying at his rallies and on
the campaign trail, where he's talking about the fact that
(04:44):
if he is re elected, he is going to what
detain the people who don't like him, right, yes, That
he is going to throw those people in jail, That
he's going to deport them, that he's going to build
tents for migrants, that he's going to persecute and indict
(05:05):
all the people that he doesn't like. That he's going
to gut to the Department of Justice. He's saying all
of these things, taking all of these authoritarian actions. And
just in case you think that this is all a joke,
I want you to understand that there is a billion
dollars that has been invested in the Heritage Foundation. You
can go look it up Heritagefoundation dot org and see
(05:29):
their twenty twenty five plan where they have already in
place all of the people that they're going to fill
up our departments with so that they can dismantle them
from the inside out. That in the first one hundred
days of a Trump administration, we are done. Democracy is finished,
(05:49):
and the Constitution is toilet paper. He is saying all
of these things out loud and just a reminder. This
week in The New York Times, Jamel Bowie wrote a
piece where he says very clearly that everything that Donald
Trump said that he was going to do when he
was elected in twenty sixteen, he did. So when people
(06:13):
tell you who they are, fucking, believe them the first time.
We do not need a repeat because again, this will
be the last time Donald Trump gets in. He's not leaving.
And just so, like we learned from testimony from Jenna Ellis,
he had no plans to leave the last time. So
(06:35):
folks understand that elections, dear friends, have consequences. You don't
get multiple bites at the apple. Coming up next on
the show today is the executive director of the Power
Coalition for Equity and Justice, Ashley Shelton, who will talk
about what is happening in Louisiana politics, why we should
(06:59):
be paying attention, and why it matters that we invest
in the Democratic Party not just in the areas that
are blue, but that we build a pipeline in the
areas that are red as well. Folks, I am very
excited to welcome to wok F Daily Ashley Shelton, who
(07:21):
is the executive director of Power Coalition for equity and
justice and has been mobilizing black communities across Louisiana parishes
for years. You know, let's just jump right in Ashley.
Before we started recording, I was telling you that I
have visited now your state twice this fall after having
(07:43):
never visited, and you know, as a person from the
East Coast, I think that there are a lot of
generalizations that are made about the South, right, like that
when folks see right wing governors and mayors elected, they say, well,
the people get what they vote for, right, And there
(08:05):
is this natural blame game that happens largely put on
the shoulders in the backs of black people, right, they
should have showed up, put on young people. We can't
count on their vote. So tell us what it is
that you think that folks get wrong when they're making
(08:26):
those blanket assertions.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yeah, I think, you know, there's so many things that
are wrong about those you know, those you know, those
thoughts and the way that people kind of try to
unpack it and figure out who's that fault. I mean,
the reality is is that we had, you know, one
of the lowest voter turnout rates for this state in
a very long time, and it was black and white voters.
Black folks make a third of the state, you know,
(08:49):
but there were plenty of folks that stayed home across
the board. And I think one, you know, black voters,
you know, like we also want to don't want to
talk about poverty and the power of power already, you know,
because folks are like, well, what happened, I was like
racism and crushing poverty, you know, apathy led by crushing poverty,
and we have to be real about like what that
looks like. In some southern states, especially as Louisiana and Mississippi,
(09:13):
you know, are on a consistent race to the bottom,
and we're the second poorest state in the country. And
so when you start and so it doesn't it doesn't,
you know, make it okay that folks didn't turn out.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
But what I do think is important.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Is that what it does say that is that people
are experiencing a lot of pain in their lives. And
even though we have had so many successes with voters
in the state of Louisiana, you know, working with our
partner Voice of the Experience, we have ended nine unanimous
juries with the sixty four percent vote of voters across
the state and in this practice that only Louisiana and
(09:46):
Oregon had had in place. We have reinfranchised, formally incarcerated people,
you know, like we have expanded voting rights for the
last five years. You know, like all of these things
that are uncommon in the South. We've been able to
have the wins. But even in the face of those winds,
I think that, you know, they're incremental right for the
people that are living in a poor state, trying to
(10:07):
access jobs, outcomes, you know, and better you know, better salaries,
and the reality is that the jobs just are not there.
And the reality is that their experience again, it's just
a lot of pain, and so you can't look past
that and just say, oh, it's their fault. Well, the
reality is that, you know, again, people are going through
a lot, and I don't you know, I don't believe
(10:29):
in shaming voters and blaming them, you know. I think
at the end of the day, it's like we've got
to go continue to do the work we've been doing,
which is listening, Like we've got to go back into
community and do that deep listening so that we understand
where people where people are. Because I think that again,
I know, you know, because I haven't done this job
since twenty fifteen, and very proudly have worked with voters
(10:50):
in black voters in particular across this state, and we
have done some really powerful things, including about to realize
the second minority majority congressional seat and so and of
course lots of folks have called in a question, well,
if you can't turn people out for governor's race, how
are you going to do it for these congressional seats?
And you know, I think at the end of the day,
powers power the people. The voters, Black voters in this
(11:10):
state fought for that seat, and they're going.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
To show up for this scene.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
And so I think, you know, like I think it's
about all the journey and the process that people go through.
And I think that we've got work to do. I mean,
that's the bottom line. We've got to do some more listening.
We've got to you know, do like our friends in Georgia,
start to really understand, like what what is going to
get someone to come out of the out of their
house and go vote on election day?
Speaker 1 (11:31):
And that's what I was going to say, is that
you know, what we've seen over the past couple of cycles, right,
is that in you know, Georgia. We've seen that Georgia
did not turn blue overnight, right, that there has been
a lot of elbow grease and work over decades to
(11:52):
get Georgia to where it has been a lynch pin
in holding on to the Senate right for Democrats, where
it has been a place that we have seen, well,
wait a minute, why haven't we been investing in these places?
Why hasn't the National Democratic Party been investing in these
(12:12):
places that you've just allowed the Republican Party to run
rough shot in? And so when you talk about the
pains and the trauma, can you speak to when you
are listening to folks, what are they offering? Right that
the larger mechanism of party is essentially trying to blow
pass and just shuffle them into a voting booth.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
I think that what they're what they're missing is is
that you know, when we're you know, the power collition
for equity and Justice is RC three. We do have
a C four power collition for electoral justice. But in
our C three work, and when we're doing that deep
listening in communities, you know, what they what we're hearing
is is that there's so much low hanging fruit that
nobody's addressing, right, whether it's fines and fees that keep
(12:56):
people in a never ending cycle of poverty and criminalisation,
or addressing the you know, you know, the zero to
three childcare you know, pipeline and access to seats and
making things accessible to the focus in community so that
they can attain better jobs and actually have safe, you know,
thoughtful you know child ed, you know, curriculum based education
(13:17):
for their children. You know, like, these are all of
the things that we don't want to talk about, but
these are the things that we have been winning and
bringing home on a consistent basis over the last several years.
And it has mattered to those voters in a way
that we have been able to consistently be able to
have a decent turnout. But they do think that there
are a couple of other you know things that you know,
the machine kind of collapsed around us. I mean, we
(13:39):
are a c three person organization, you know, focused on
black and brown voters in the state of Louisiana in
particular infrequent and so we're talking to the voters nobody's
talking to. And so if the campaigns aren't talking to voters,
if the party isn't talking to voters and the only
one of the few groups is Power Coalition, that all
of our partners are the only peopeople knocking doors, you know,
(14:02):
making phone calls, sending the text messages, doing events, in
trying to engage folks in early voting, regranting. You know,
we've regranted over half a million, and we'll do way
more than that before before November eighteenth. And so again,
if we're the only it just shows that we can't
do this by ourselves and we need more, you know,
like there has to be there was no energy for
(14:24):
this election. Yeah, I mean, nobody even knew anything was happening,
and that was intentional. And also too, like there's the
part the citizen in me is also really frustrated that, like,
you know, they didn't even spend any money, and they
did it on purpose, and not that I need them
to spend money, but like that money is a part
of how people know or what the.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Signs are that there's an election coming up.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
There's a there's a drum beat to it, and that
drum beat just never you know, and you know, it
never came to be. And even when we put the
resources we've done radio, billboards, digital ads, streaming apps. I mean,
we've done all the things to trying to engage folks
as much as possible.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
And what we know is.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Is that at the end of the day, like there
just wasn't enough momentum energy that we could create on
our own. And so, you know, I do think that
one of the things that we know is that when
we listen, people move right like, they get more engaged,
and that in a typical and one of the reasons
we've been able to be successful in the past is
that nobody's talking to black and brown voters. Nobody and
(15:24):
especially if you're an a frequent voter. And so we've
had those successes of changing infrequent voters to chronic voters
and being able to do this work in a way
that is really you know, made significant change in the South.
But I do feel like, you know, in Louisiana in particular,
like black and brown voters need a political home and
we've tried to be that political home because they're not
(15:45):
being served. It doesn't feel like they're being served in
any way in the traditional political infrastructure, and so how
are we making sure that their voices are heard? Like
why are we one of the most you know, one
of the richest places and natural resources, but the poorest
places and the whole you know, in the whole country,
the most incarcerated place in the whole country actually per
capita of the world, right Like, so all.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Of these things that don't make sense in the midst.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Of such a you know, such a rich state with
so many assets, and then constantly putting industry before people.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
And so that's the work that has to happen, is.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
That, you know, we have to keep bringing people forward,
you know, through a process of helping them to see like,
you know, because I think nobody talks about the fact
that things, you know, like things were better, but they
weren't better, and you know, like they hadn't gotten you know,
better enough for it to really matter to people in
the ways that they wanted. And then I think nobody
talks about the real ugly part of this, which is
(16:41):
that things can get worse. And I don't think we
ever talk about what worse looks like, and nor do
we want to dwell on that either, Right, Like, I
don't want to give it, you know, give it life,
but I do feel like that's also a part of
this conversation and also talking about leadership. I you know,
I've been frustrated. You know, I tell folks all the time,
we want leadership to be a positive value, and leadership
(17:04):
it can also be negative. It can also be there
to hold the status quo. And at some point we
have to look at how we got here and and
and that all the folks that are in unbelievable positions
to be able to get things done. I mean, this
is an off year. I don't understand how, you know,
when almost forty five other states to have absolutely going
(17:25):
nothing going on this year and it's you know, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia. Like,
I mean, it's a handful of us that have racism.
You need to tell me you can't raise money, you can't.
You know, that does That doesn't fly. That doesn't fly.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
It's interesting. The other day, actually, I interviewed an investigative
reporter UH who was covering the Louisiana Fifth Circuit and
the disturbing case that came out of there about how
these judges who were elected decided for thirteen years to
ignore the pleas of people that said that they were
(18:07):
wrongfully convicted at the Central part of their job. And
what I realize is that when we see stories like this, right,
both people inside the state and outside the states say, well,
that's Louisiana. And I'm wondering how that narrative shifts if
it is something that is internalized by the people of
(18:31):
your state that are just like, well, they've never shown
up for us, right, they lock us up, they throw
away the key, right, never to be seen or heard
from again. They've destroyed families. There's a reason why Louisiana
is one of the poorest states, right, and it has
largely everything to do with racism and Jim Crow and
the way that land ownership has happened right or not
(18:52):
happened or has been stolen right over centuries. And so
I wonder about how important it is to not only
like to be able to tell the truth right, to
be able to shift the narrative that it isn't just
the lies of racism that says that there is something
that is wrong or deficient in black people, but there
(19:13):
is something that is wrong and deficient and white supremacy
that has fed a larger monster right that has taken
over your state.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
No, absolutely, and I think that you know one of
the things that's also frustrating is that, you know, out
of the Deep South states, right Louisiana has been able
to do some really hard things that we're now starting
to see Mississippi addressing, you know, reenfranchisement. We're starting to
see the courts, you know, kind of helping us move
the needle on things. But I do think that what
(19:44):
was such a missed opportunity in this moment is that,
you know, there's no pipeline for leadership development. There is
no you know, like there are all these things that
you know that have to be reaped, that just have
to be built. And I think for Power Coalition, we're
going to we I can't live one more year where
two percent of every elected official goes unchallenged at the
state level because there's no one challenging them, right, Like,
(20:06):
I can't continue to live in a space where we're
not developing a bench and a field strategy, you know,
like and field that is that you can touch, see
and feel, that is really connected to folks and there's real,
you know, deep connective tissue. And again we've been building
that and we have so much of it, which is
why again we've been able to do really hard things
in Louisiana. But again, now we're looking at four years
(20:28):
of you know, a really difficult uh leadership style that
does not prioritize the needs of anybody, much less black people,
black and brown people.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
And then, you know, and then also to no one
talking about the.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Economic realities of what this kind of leadership is going
to do to a state like Louisiana. You know, the
majority of our you know, our state, our state tax
base comes from Baton roof South, so Baton Rouge in
New Orleans being the largest of the cities in the
deep in the in the southern part of the state.
A good whatever's not industry is hospitality and so. And
you have a partner that is don't say gay, We're
(21:03):
banning books, We're doing all of these things. And it's like,
all of a sudden, the super Bowl is not happening
in New Orleans anymore in twenty twenty four, twenty five,
whenever it's supposed to happen in New Orleans. All of
a sudden, tourism is taking a hit. And we saw
that in Florida. But the difference is is that Louisiana
can't Florida and Louisiana are not in anything. And also
(21:24):
Florida isn't not nearly as poor as us, and I
think that there's still going to be some backlash that
we see from all of those businesses that were destroyed
or decimated by I mean, you could see it on
TV that Florida was suffering, right, And also as someone that.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
Goes to Florida a lot for the beaches and to.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Spend time with my family, I haven't gone in two years,
and I don't want to go. I don't feel safe there,
and I don't want people to feel that same way
about Louisiana.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Which is why we have to still fight. That's why
there's still work to do.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
We've got a you know, we've got a runoff on
November eighteenth, and we are you know, I just left
Southern University where there was a second line, had about
three hundred students, you know, in the street, you know,
walking to vote what vote coming, which is like the
fiftieth you know, anniversary of vote coming for so the university,
and so really proud to be with these young people
(22:12):
and just.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Reminded that we've got a lot of work to do.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
But you know, there are young people that are with us,
that are fighting, that are you know, that are understanding
what what work has to be done, and you know,
and even talking to folks like Lieutenant General Honore, who
you know is the Louisiana loved Louisiana native.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
And who now lives here.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
But he, you know, he just talks about democracy is
fragile and if you lose democracy, we'll never.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Get it back.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
And he said, and he said, and yes, there's lots
of stuff that's broken, but democracy is not broken. The
only way that it works is if you vote. And
I you know, and I was, you know, just sharing
with him. I was like, I think that's the most profound,
simple breakdown of what we're you know, like, what's you know, necessary,
and that what gets in the way of democracy is
the fact that people are hurting. We're not creating the
(23:01):
kind of policies and opportunities that you know, make people
feel like they're part of something bigger than themselves.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
And so we've got work to do. And I do,
you know, feel like.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Again, we've seen so many successes. We saw the election
of Devonte Lewis, who is the one of the youngest
in the first openly gay you know, black man to
actually win a Public Service Commission seat, which is which
makes him the highest ranking black elected official in the state.
And so you know, like so yeah, you know, and
(23:32):
so it is to say that, like, we know that
our work works, right, and we know that we're getting
things done. But when you talk about a state wide
election with every House seat, every Senate seat, and multiple
municipal races, shariffs, et cetera.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
It takes.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
It takes more than you know, It takes more than
just one vehicle being the voice out there trying to
move people and trying to help people believe in what
I know we've won and what what we've made better,
and that like we had you know, we had we
had medicaid expansion when no one else had medicaid expansion
in the Deep South. Now we you know, like I said,
we've expanded voting rights instead of you know, you know, uh,
(24:10):
destroying voting rights.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Right.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
And so even even as those suppression bills did happen
and moved through our legislature, we had a governor that
could veto those bills. And so now we're moving into
whatever this new administration will be and we've you know,
we've got work to do. We know we'll be playing
some defense.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Tell us, tell us with the with the with the
few minutes that we have left For those folks that
are listening that are not in your state, but are
like they want something to do. Do you know what
I'm saying, Like, how can they be of support, be
of service to aid your organization in you know, in
(24:46):
in in sounding the alarm on why people need to participate,
on on you know, unpacking folks as stories and and
and getting you know, to this place of feeling heard
and seen and then choosing to vote. What what can outside
folks do?
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Well?
Speaker 2 (25:02):
What you know, the biggest thing I always tell folks
is don't give up on the South right, because I
truly believe if you can't do if you can't figure
it out here, you won't figure it out anywhere. If
you know, if if all the bad things in this
country were seeded by a like another institutions in the
Deep South on yep, and then brought whole skill to
the rest of the country in a very short period
of time, then all the good things also can be
seated here and brought wholesale to the rest of the country.
(25:25):
And so we're you know, like, so we need everyone
to not act like we're a non factor, right, because
we're actually not a non factor because in fact, the
folks with some of the most money and power, you know,
are using us to you know, see these ridiculous policies
that are hurting, you know, hurting our communities. The other
thing I would say is also support organizations like Power
(25:45):
Coalition and other states of e engagement tables and folks
that are actually working on the ground. I think that
people misunderstand how hard it is to actually knock doors
and you know, make those phone calls. You know, I
think we've had almost forty two events, you know, this
election season, all across the state. Like that is the
hardest part of the work to do. And so, you know, one,
(26:07):
you know, definitely support us Power Coalition dot org.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
You can volunteer the phone bank.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Your phone number gets cloaked, we you can phone back
anybody in Louisiana you want to. But also to to
support our efforts, you know, more broadly through financial support
and and also talking to your family members. We know
that you know, so many of our stories start in
the South, and so you know, it's it's on all
of us. We've been asking everyone like call a friend,
bring a friend, you know, like commit to take to
(26:33):
people through the voting process, right so that we can
make sure that you know, we're going back to those
old school tactics of you know, mom.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Work then you know they were so.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
You need mama used to call Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
They absolutely work. Well, Ashley Shelton, thank you so much
for the work that you were doing, for the work
that Power Coalition is doing, for my reminding people that
are listening to this show not to give up on
the South, not to just chalk it up because Republican
Insurance hell have not, so really really really appreciate you.
(27:10):
That is it for me today on wok F Daily,
as always, Power to the people and to all the people. Power,
get woke and stay woke as fuck.
Host
Danielle Moodie
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