October 13, 2023 • 54 mins
Vice President Harris continues her nationwide “Fight for Our Freedoms" College Tour by participating in a moderated conversation with students at the North Las Vegas campus of the College of Southern Nevada - a community college, Hispanic-Serving Institution, and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:04):
Thank you for listening to pictures Mediaradio. Can we hear from y'all?
(01:11):
Oh, it's good to be witheverybody. Please, let's have a seat.
Hello, Hello, Madam Vice PresidentKamala Harris. Yeah, yes,
Yo. The energy in this roomlike I have never seen so many beautiful
(01:32):
young faces who are so excited toshow up for their democracy like this is.
This is amazing. I'm so proudof y'all for showing up. Thank
you so much. This is theCollege of Southern Nevada. What do we
expect? I love you. Ilove being with the leaders of our country.
(01:53):
I love I just I'm so excitedto be with everyone. Thank you.
Ah, you are so brilliant.Yes, yes, I thank you
first and foremost, thank you forhaving me here. Thank you, guys
all for having me here. I'mso excited to be able to share space
with you and ask you these brilliantquestions. You know, I understand that
(02:14):
you have been doing despite for ourFreedom's Tour and this summer alone, you've
traveled to over seventeen different states,talking to climate leaders from Colorado, talking
to gun violence advocates from Virginia,and now you are on a college tour
going to over twelve different college campuses, including CSN YES which are predominantly Hispanic,
(02:43):
and NHPI serving institutions. And Iknow we are all excited to have
you here. Why embark on thistour? Why the fight for our freedoms?
Yeah, well, let me juststart by saying, Annie, thank
(03:04):
you so very much for being withme yet again as we talk with the
leaders of our country. So Idecided to start this tour fight for our
freedoms for a number of reasons thathave everything to do with who you are,
the students who are here. Itruly believe that the future and the
(03:29):
present of our country requires your leadership. I am here because I want for
you that you will be able tolive your best life. I want for
you that you know the rights thatyou have and know that you are encouraged
(03:50):
to fight for those rights and thosefreedoms. When I look at who you
are in terms of your generation formost tour here, I also am so
aware of what you have uniquely experienced. You are the generation that has only
known the climate crisis. You area generation that saw George Floyd be murdered.
(04:19):
You are a generation that has witnessedthe highest court in our land take
a right that had been formally recognized, such that you will have fewer rights
than your mother's or grandmother's. Youare a generation that grew up having active
(04:41):
shooter drills. The issues that areat stake in our country right now are
not intellectual or academic for you.These are lived experiences. And what I
know about you and your style ofleadership is that you're I haven't it.
You're not waiting for other people tofigure it out. You are leading,
(05:05):
You are stepping out, and youare prepared to take control of these issues
in a way that we uplift thelife of the people, in a way
that we protect freedoms, including justthe freedom to be. So that's why
(05:26):
I'm doing this tour, and becauseI also want you to know that in
the midst of these challenges, inthe midst of a moment where I do
believe there is an intentional and fullon attack against so many hard fought,
hard won, fundamental freedoms and rights, I also want to remind you it
doesn't have to be this way.It does not have to be this way,
(05:53):
and when you all start voting inyour numbers, I know it won't
be so That's why I'm here.Amazing, you know, I love your
articulation around the future belongs to theyouth, and the president belongs to the
(06:14):
youth. And I believe we havea student here in the audience that needs
to ask a question. Do Ihave Kiah Williams? Kaya? There,
she is Kaya Williams. Hey,guys, my name is Kyle Williams,
and I'm President of the Black CityHere. Let's go. My question today
(06:44):
is how would you encourage someone whowas not utilizing their right to vote to
start taking that point step two vote? Thank you, madam President god a
President, and thank you for yourrole of what I take as elected leadership
in this body. Congratulations. Sofor all the leaders here, I know
(07:12):
you know I've been reading about thisstudent body. I've been reading about how
this exceptional educational institution thinks of youand nurtures you. And so I will
say this. I am clear thatyou, on many different levels will make
a difference not only in the stateof Nevada, in our country, but
(07:36):
in the world. One of theways of the many that you will make
a difference is by voting. Electionsmatter. You know, back in twenty
twenty, during the height of apandemic. We have the highest rate of
(07:56):
youth voting that we had seen hisstory numbers. I would like to see
in fact is chove hands? CanI see who voted in twenty twenty or
twenty twenty two? Right? Becauseyou voted, Joe Biden is President of
the United States and I am Vicepresident of being a fact, because you
voted, because you've voted. Wedid it, Joe, Yeah, we
(08:39):
did it. But voting, Andhere's the thing, you know, we
will talk often about the importance ofvoting in the historical context of the fact
that people marched, fought, shedblood, and dyed for the right to
vote for so many of the peoplewho are here. So that's the reason
(09:01):
to vote, To honor the struggleand the sacrifices of those who. Imagine
that you would be sitting here rightnow and we would be having this conversation
honoring that legacy that we have eachinherited. The other thing that we should
know is that elections matter. Whenyou vote, you have the ability to
(09:22):
determine the outcome of who will bemaking decisions on issues like we have discussed,
and there's so many leaders around issueslike immigration, on issues like the
climate crisis, on issues like whatthe President I've been fighting for to reduce
student loan debt, on issues ona variety of issues that we will discuss
(09:43):
today, almost every one of themwill ultimately be decided by the people who
vote in their numbers on the issuesthey care about. Right, people don't
just get elected to these offices.They're elected by the people. So voting
is your way of determining who sitsin those offices, and who they see
(10:07):
and who they think of when they'remaking these important decisions that will impact all
of us. The other point Iwould make on this, because it's very
real and we're here to have realtalk, there are powerful forces in our
country. They are trying to makeit more difficult for you to vote.
Understand that. You see how inGeorgia. You know, first of all,
(10:28):
historic turnout in twenty twenty, andyou could almost map and see that.
First of all, that's scared alot of people. And then they
started trying to pass laws to makeit more difficult to vote. In Georgia,
they passed a law that make itillegal to give people who are standing
in line to vote, make itillegal to give them food and water.
(10:52):
What happened to love thy neighbor.The hypocrisy is bounds. Yep, yep.
States who are passing laws that willsay that and make it more difficult
for college students to vote. Youwho know how much is at stake,
States that are getting rid of dropboxes, trying to eliminate or reduce early voting.
(11:18):
You know who needs to do earlyvoting. People who work two in
three jobs and can't take off aday of work. Yes, the people
who know that it's important that wehave paid family leaven, paid sick leaven,
affordable child fare. So see theconnections. And then to the young
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leaders here, I'd say, don'tever let anybody silence you and understand when
people are trying. So there area lot of reasons to vote. And
in particular, again I will goback to when we saw in twenty twenty
and twenty twenty two, when peoplevoted in their numbers, we saw how
change can happen again, the climatecrisis again, what we need to do
(12:09):
on so many issues that impact youngpeople, that impact people of every stage
of life, and in particular workingpeople, in particular, people who are
in low income communities, people whoin particular people who have been left out
or overlooked, right, So Iwould urge everyone here. Okay, now
I'm gonna be I'm gonna engage ina cliche do it. I got a
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government website, vote dot CoV.Please go on to vote dot gov and
it'll tell you if you're registered tovote, and it'll help you register to
vote and tell your family and friends. But that's a quick and easy way
to do it. And the earlieryou register to vote, then you just
know it's done, and then wecan take it to the next step.
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You know, you talking about howthey are trying to silence us and make
it more difficult for us to vote. I feel like it's just showing that
they understand how powerful we are,you know, and and and you being
here, I feel like is arepresentation of reminding us yet again how powerful
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we are and we cannot be takendown if we come in numbers, if
we come in unity, if wecome in love people, the power of
the people. Yep, Madam andVice President, this next topic, I
(13:35):
know you are no stranger too.We are in the beautiful state of Nevada,
which, yes, the most beautifulstate of Nevada, with you,
beautiful humans and you know there's apressing issue around gun violence, and in
Nevada we have in US modern recordedhistory one of them deadly shootings that have
(14:01):
happened here. Yeah, one October, Yeah, one October. I know
you are not a stranger to thistopic. You have been fighting for this
throughout your whole career. I knowthat you and President Joe Biden have created
a historic legislation around gun violence safetyand the first ever White House Office of
(14:22):
Gun Violence Prevention, that's right,which I'm heading. Wow, super congratulations.
I know we are all very proudof you and our democracy for fighting
for that. Thank you. Now, we also know that it is attacking
predominantly black, brown and lower incomecommunities. How can we fight to help
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prevent that? What can we doto further help you and our democracy in
our government? So to your point, Annie, first of all, probably
a lot of people here know,but as of today, the number one
killer of children in America is gunviolence, not some form of cancer,
(15:07):
not car accidents. Gun violence numberone killer of children in America today.
One in five people in our countryhave a family member who was killed by
gun violence. And then when youtalk about the disproportionate impact on communities of
color. The numbers most recently thatI saw, I think African Americans ten
(15:28):
percent more likely, ten times morelikely, excuse me, Latinos twice as
likely. And you know, wetalk about mass shootings like one October,
which we must never forget, butwe also must remember that we must pay
attention to everyday gun violence that ishappening in communities around our country, and
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those lives are as precious as anylife. And so I have been working
on this for a long time,and I will tell you that again,
it's not rocket science in terms ofwhat we need to do. Okay,
(16:08):
but you got a bunch of fecklesspeople, who black courage, who are
in the United States Congress, whoare pushing a false choice which suggests you're
either in favor of the Second Amendmentor you want to take everyone's guns away,
and it's a false choice. I'min favor of the Second Amendment.
(16:30):
But we need an assault weapons ban, we need universal background checks, we
need red flag laws. Yup.And here's what I'm gonna do. I'm
gonna ask the students here, ifyou'll indulge me, I'm gonna ask you
a question. And I ask youto raise your hand. If this applies
to you, who here between,and I'm gona ask you to hold up
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your hands wanted to keep them up? Who here between? Kindergarten in twelfth
grade had to at school have anactive shooter drill. I would ask the
older adults to take a look.I'd ask the media to take a look
at all the hands that are up. Okay, you can put them down.
I'm gonna tell you something. Idon't think these people who call themselves
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leaders understand what you guys have beenthrough. That our children, that our
young people with the brilliance of theirmind, are sitting in a classroom with
some part of their brain being awareof the fact that somebody could bust in
that classroom with a gun, andwhat that has meant for our young people
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in terms of the trauma and thefear they are living with, even if
they've not personally experienced gun violence.Yeah, this is real. And again
I say to the young leaders here, it doesn't have to be this way.
You know, we once had anassault weapons ban. It had a
(18:06):
term on it, a shelf life. It has since expired, But we
once had an assault weapons ban.It doesn't have to be this way.
And let's be clear, we're onlytalking about a reasonable approach to a big
problem. If Joe Biden were here, he might say BFD but I'm not
gonna say that. But it's kindof it kind of is right. Think
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about this. It's reasonable that youjust might want to know before someone can
buy a lethal weapon, if they'vebeen found by a court to be a
danger to themselves or others. Youjust might want to know, maybe rights
it's reasonable to say that weapons ofwar, assault weapons which were designed to
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kill a lot of people quickly,have no place on the streets of a
civil society. It's just reasonable.And again, I take us back to
the point that elections matter, andit is critically important that we have courage
in leadership to take on this issueand just have reasonable approaches to something that
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is affecting us in profound ways.And in fact, you know, there's
so many issues that also raise theother big issue that we don't talk enough
about, but that your generation studentshere do have the courage to talk about,
and that's mental health. Yep,you guys have the courage to talk
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about it. And here's what I'mgoing to issue. I haven't done this
before, Annie, but I'm herefor it. Let's do official call to
action. As Vice President, Iam calling on the young leaders of today
to enter the mental health professions andto take this take charge. There are
(20:00):
a variety of the types of workthat you can do that is about culturally
competent, peer based support for eachother and for our communities around this issue.
Because the level, for so manyreasons of undiagnosed and therefore untreated trauma
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in our communities that must and canbe addressed is profound. And let's understand,
exposure to violence is one of them. You know what else is trauma
inducing poverty. So when we talkabout the levels of trauma that certain communities
are experiencing, I really do believethat we need the young leaders who are
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here to really consider taking up yourrole of leadership in many ways, including
considering entering mental health professions as partof your way of serving the community and
the country. Thank you. Ilove I love how you talk about how
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advocacy and and fighting for our nationand our rights can look like so many
different things. It can be enrollingin college, it can be showing up
here. It can be getting afamily member or a friend registered to vote
at what's the website again? Ohall right. I was just making sure
y'all were listening. That's just makingsure we had a we had a participatory
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audience, and I see here wedo. Yes, you know, it's
it's it's really powerful to hear thatthe democracy is in our hands, that
the government is in our hands,that our vote matters. I believe we
have another student here in the audiencethat would love to ask you a question,
and their name is Rebecca Taylor.Hi. Where's Rebecca? Waves your
(22:02):
hands over here? Hi, I'mRebecca Taylor. I'm over this way.
Yeah, all right, Hi,I'm Rebecca Taylor. ASCSN Henderson Senator,
Vice President Harris. We know youare a champion for women's reproductive rights.
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In your opinion, what can bedone at the federal level to ensure that
all women have fair and equal accessto reproductive choice and that doctors and scientists
remain free to practice best medicine independentof political agenda. Thank you, Rebecca,
thank you, thank you, thankyou. Great question. So,
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as I mentioned earlier about this generation, we just over a year ago witnessed
the highest in our land, theCourt of Thurgood Marshal and RBG take a
constitutional right that had been recognized fromthe people of America, from the women
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of America. And thereafter, instates around our country, laws being proposed
and passed that would criminalize healthcare providers, some providing for very significant prison time,
that would punish women and people whosimply deserve to be able to make
(23:38):
a decision for themselves about their life. And I think it's really important on
this issue to agree one does nothave to abandon their faith or deeply held
beliefs to agree the government should notbe telling her what to do with her
body. Yup, that's her decision. We respect her ability to be smart
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enough to know what is in herown best interest without a bunch of folks
in the state capital trying to tellher what to do. And by the
way, in half these states wherethey're passing these restrictions, I am clear
that have of them don't even knowhow a woman's body works. Okay,
(24:30):
let's pull out a map of anatomy. Listen, and here's you know,
we're gonna keep it real in thisconversation. Everybody's grown here, and I
would urge the students here to alwaysremember and I know your professors will teach
this, but on any policy matterthat you are hearing about, always ask
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yourself, how will this impact areal person? Okay, because on this
issue, some would try to makeit you know, oh, this is
intellectual, this is you know,political discussion. No, it's very real.
There are people around our country whoare silently suffering in a tremendous way.
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You know, these laws being proposedand passed, and this is where
there are difficult things to think andtalk about on this subject. Bus must
be acknowledged if we're going to keepit real, proposing and passing laws that
make no exception for rape ancest.Now, many of you know I started
my career as a prosecutor, andI'm going to tell you one of the
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biggest reasons why. When I wasin high school, my best friend was
being molested by her stepfather, andI learned about it, and I said
to her, you got to comeand stay and live with us. I
called my mother. My mother said, yes, she has to come and
stay with us, and she did. And so I decided I wanted to
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do the work that was about protectingwomen and children, and I focus then
on those kinds of crimes now understandthat these extremists are saying to someone who
has survived and act of violence totheir body, has survived a violation to
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their body, that that person doesnot have the right to make a decision
about what happens to their body next. That is immoral. That is immoral,
and that's what's happening, Rebecca,on this issue, it is a
very real issue. Not to mentionhow it disproportionately impacts low income women.
(26:48):
You know, the majority of womenwho seek abortion care are mothers and hopefully,
but we can't take it for grantedthat she has affordable childcare and paid
family leave, and has extra moneyin the bank to afford a bus ticket,
a train ticket, or a planeticket to leave the state where she
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is to go seek care in astate like Nevada, for example, which
I thank the leaders of Nevada andthe majority Women on Women legislature for keeping
it real here, but in surroundingstates where those working women, if she's
working two or three jobs, ifshe has a couple of kids, what
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that means, not to mention,and I'm here again, I'm gonna let's
keep it real. What it meansif you are faced with such a difficult
personal decision. And for those peoplewho are in states that are restricting these
rights. You have to go intoan airport and go through TSA and get
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on a plane with a bunch ofstrangers to go to a strange place.
Can't you know family members may notbe able to afford to take that trip
with you. Just think about whatthis means to real people. And again,
elections matter, because back to yourpoint, Joe Biden has been very
clear when we have the majority ofpeople in Congress who agree, by the
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way, simply that it's not thegovernment's decision, no matter their personal beliefs,
but that the government shouldn't making thisdecision, should not be making this
decision for people. And if theythen pass a law putting back in place
the protections that the court took away. The court took these rights, Congress
can put them back in place.And Joe Biden has been clear, when
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they put the protections of Roe v. Wade back into law, he will
sign that bill. Amen, youguys, we got to show up and
vote. So elections matter. Electionsmatter. They matter. I mean they
matter either way, right, Imean being overturned. They matter. So
we have to show up in drovesso that they matter in our favor.
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We all come from women. Wehave to honor them as their body is
their own, you know. Speakingof fundamental rights, our freedom, it
makes me think about my trans brothersand sisters, my trans people, my
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LGBTQIA community, yup, and like, what a beautiful community that y'all are
that we come from, and itis so disheartening how they are being disproportionately
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attacked. I know you are anadvocate and an ally and have been in
the fight with them for a longtime. So how what can we do
to help support and to show upand to be better allies and advocates.
You know, I love how youframed this because at the root of that
point is something I believe very strongly, which is nobody should be made to
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fight alone, especially when they arefighting for their rights to just be yep,
to just be. None of usare free until all of us are
free. That's exactly right. Andso you know, my history on this
issue includes back in two thousand andI'll just offer this by way of contrast,
back in two thousand and four.I know some of you weren't even
(30:30):
born then. Yeah, I've beenold in days. In two thousand and
four, I was proud to beone of the first elected officials in the
country to perform same sex marriages whenI was in San Francisco. And by
the way, it wasn't very politicallypopular at the time, but I didn't
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care because this is a civil rightsissue, yep, as much as it
is a human rights issue. Myparents met when they were active in the
civil rights movement back in the day. This is fundamentally about justice, about
equality, about equality under the law, and what we are looking at now.
So I look at two thousand andfour, so next year it'll be
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twenty years ago. Contrast with lawsthat are being passed in states like Florida
don't say gay where. I thinkabout the young teachers who are in their
twenties, who, if they arein a same sex relationship, are afraid
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to put up a photograph of themselvesand their partner for fear they may lose
their job, a job that isone of the most noble of professions,
a job that is about a commitmentto educate other people's children. And you
know, as it is, wedon't pay them enough. Speak on it.
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And Mom's a teacher teachers are beingtreated for just being themselves. Laws
that are criminalizing and that are thatare also encouraging the judgment and the marginalizing
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of our LGBTQ plus friends, andand you cannot underestimate you know this,
We all here know this, thefear that it is striking in the community,
and with so many of these issues, the intent, I believe to
make people feel alone. And whenwhen anyone is made to feel alone,
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it's very disempowering. And that's whycommunity is so important and coalition is so
important. So here's here's I thinkat this point a well known secret about
me. I love ven diagrams.I love ven diagrams, and whenever I
am presented with kind of like thisis complicated, I always wonder is there
a ven diagram to figure this stuffout? And we love that about you,
(33:09):
right right? So I ask myteam, let's do a Van diagram
from which states are we seeing attackson LGBTQ rights, attack on voting rights,
and attacks on reproductive freedom? Andyou would not be shocked to know
there was a significant overlap. Okay, but what that also presents is,
(33:34):
ah, look at this opportunity tothink about strengthening the coalition, bringing folks
together who have been fighting for votingrights, bringing together folks who have been
fighting for reproductive health rights, bringingtogether folks who are fighting for LGBTQ plus
rights, and building our coalition,remembering the vast majority of a have so
(34:00):
much more in common than what separatesus. And I would add another point,
I'm traveling our country. Yeah,I believe that part of the agenda
that is at foot is to tryand divide our nation yep, to pit
people against each other based on justwho they are, to divide and distract.
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The antidote, the antidote that wehave to that is to know how
much we have in common and tobuild coalition and build community and fight back
against those who would try to divideus as a nation. Yes, our
unity is our strength, Our diversityis our power, There is no question
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about it. It is a truthperiod. Yes, Yes, I love
that understanding that fear is universal insteadof that being something that instead use that
to unify us because essentially we areall fighting for basic human rights and dignity.
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And again, I just can't stressit enough. It is the freedom
to make decisions about one's own body. It is the freedom to have access
to the ballot box. It isthe freedom that one should have from fear,
the freedom that one should have fromhate and bigotry and bullying, and
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ultimately it is just the freedom tobe, to just be, to just
be, you know, That's somuch of what this is about. But
we can't take any of these freedomsfor granted, and so you know,
(35:54):
but understand that we know what weare fighting for is not fighting again,
something is fighting for, yes,And what we are also fighting for are
foundational principles of our country. Andin that way, it is important to
remember this is a fight based onlove of country. This is a fight
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based on believing in the ideals uponwhich our country was founded and fighting for
us to achieve those ideals. Andwhat greater and more pure expression of love
for our country can we have thanbelieving in those ideals and fighting for us
to attain them. That's what thisis, and I believe that is a
(36:38):
true form of patriotism. Don't anybodytell you otherwise. Don't anyone tell you
otherwise. I really love and admireyour use of language, not fighting against,
fighting for talking about the solution,because there is a problem unlike this
(37:00):
is our democracy. This is ourgovernment taking it back. I remember the
first time I went to the WhiteHouse, I heard it called the People's
House. Yes, And that forme did a complete paradigm shift on how
I saw my government and feel comfortablenow to call it my government my democracy.
(37:22):
So thank you for that shift forus. And I'm sure a lot
of us in this room are goingto go back and you know, really
fight for something and not against something. And you have been fighting for most
of your life with your family andwith our government. And what are some
things that you are most proud ofthat you've been able to put into place
(37:43):
thus far? Well, one ofthe things that we again because people voted
again, I'm gonna ask raise hands, who here has a family member who
has diabetes? Look around the room, Okay, how many years we've been
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hearing these stories, in particular ofour seniors who have had to make a
terrible choice about whether they could eitherafford their insulin a I taking it at
the prescription a doctor gave them versuspaying their rent or being able to buy
(38:29):
in a food to eat. Somany for years and years and years.
One of the great accomplishments that wehave made is we have now capped the
cost of insulin at thirty five dollarsa month for seniors. It's huge.
It's huge, especially when you knowhow many in I in communities of color,
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immigrant communities, the high rate ofdiabetes that exist, and how this
is gonna be a game changer forour seniors. I'm proud of that.
I'm proud of the work that weare continuing to do to fight for student
loan forgiveness. We still have moreto do. We know that we have
a lot of students who, forexample, are PEL grant recipients, and
what we're doing to increase that grantbut also to bring down We tried to
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do it so that PEL grant recipientswould get twenty thousand dollars a loan forgiveness.
The court undid what we did,but we're still fighting, and so
we've been dealing with debt relief.But that's something I'm very proud of.
And then there's the work that weare doing on climate. You all have
only known the climate crisis. Imean here in Nevada they call it whiplash
(39:39):
in terms of weather experiences. Right, either there's a drought or there's a
flood, right, So it's likewhiplash weather, right, and or I've
been, you know, and I'msure many here been to Lake Mead.
You know, we talk about thethe circle, the bathring because of how
quickly the water receded in Lake Mead, and so it is a big issue.
(40:05):
And what we have been doing onthis is saying that one stop the
denial, of which there was awhole lot. We are saying that we're
very clear extreme weather which causes extraordinarydamage, which is damage not only in
particular the low income communities who havea very difficult time recovering, but also
(40:28):
just damage that is to our thisbeautiful earth that we are blessed to live
on. But extreme weather connected togreenhouse gas emissions, greenhouse gas emissions connected
to human behaviors, it's kind ofa no brainer. And so what we
are doing is saying that we needto reduce greenhouse gas emissions, We need
(40:49):
to invest in renewable energy, weneed to invest in the clean energy economy,
things like solar paneling, wind turbines, electric vehicles, the work that
we can do to actually bring downthe harm that we are doing to this
planet. And I'm very excited aboutthat work, and I'm very proud of
that work. There we have ouradministration has invested and this has been a
(41:14):
total game changer in the time wehave been in office. We are now
on track to invest one trillion dollarsin addressing the climate crisis around adaptation and
resilience and investing in a clean energyeconomy. Wow Wow. And I will
(41:36):
tell you we are making a particulareffort to also acknowledge that while the climate
crisis impacts everyone, it does notdo so equally. Because when you look
at how the effects are on lowincome communities in history, in communities that
have been historically low income, andthe damage two communities that they cannot recover
(42:01):
from, it's pretty significant. Andso we are paying attention to what we
are doing with those resources. Butagain I will also say, like we
talked about voting on so many theseother issues, there is what we must
do and where we must go witha sense of urgency. But also understand
there are folks out there who aretrying to get in the way of the
progress. Understand that when we're lookingat big oil and what they've historically done
(42:28):
in trying to slow first push thedenial narrative and then slow down the progress
and saying, oh, it's goingto it's going to be too difficult to
transition so quickly into a clean energyeconomy. You know, the same kind
of people who will say, oh, it's going to be so difficult for
us, any of us to dowhat we do. You know, those
kinds of people who say, oh, nobody like you has ever done this
(42:49):
before, so maybe it's not possible. It's possible, And so we did
issue of the climate. It isvery doable, and we are seeing the
progress that we can make. Butagain also in terms of what is happening
in the country. Understand on theissue of the climate crisis. Let's also
(43:13):
have real conversations about the thing wecall environmental justice, which is justice for
all communities. Understanding not everyone isimpacted equally. If you look around the
map of the country, some ofthe communities with the poorest air quality are
communities of color, immigrant communities,low income communities. You look at it
(43:34):
in terms of access to affordability forelectric vehicles or charging stations. You look
at it in if there is aflood, who can recover because they have
the assets, because they're a homeownerto actually repair the house versus who does
not. So the environmental justice pieceof this is extraordinarily important, and I
(43:57):
will therefore emphasize another point. Thereare some forces in our country that are
trying to say that it is abad term to talk about DEI. They're
trying to do with DEI what theydid with WOKE, and we got to
pay attention to that. They're tryingto suggest that it is somehow wrong to
(44:19):
talk about DEI diversity, equity andinclusion, that it is somehow wrong to
talk about the fact that when youlook at, for example, the fact
that I'm the first woman of colorto be Vice president, and I to
say, yep, that the pieceabout diversity is somehow not important when we
(44:42):
talk about equity, Here's the thing, it's a very basic point. We
want that everyone has equal opportunity,right, Well, yes, but it
doesn't mean that that will be achief because everyone gets an equal amount.
Knowing that not everybody starts out onthe same equity says, let's take into
(45:02):
account where do people start out.Because if you're only talking about equal amount
and people don't start out in thesame place, it's just going to repeat
itself. So the concept of equityis about saying, let's pay attention to
that inclusion. It's a simple point, who's not in the room. Pay
(45:22):
attention to who's not in the room, and let's figure out how they can
have an open door. Much lessencouragement to be in the room where important
decisions are being made about all ofus, and so EJ Environmental justice takes
into account things like equity. ButI again will emphasize understand what's happening in
(45:46):
our country where people who consider themselvesvery important leaders are trying to say it's
bad to talk about DEI. They'retrying to put pressure on corporations to not
invest in DEI. They're trying toundo corporations and other private sectors, sector
industries who are paying attention to this, and we got to fight against this.
(46:09):
We have to fight against this becauseit will lead to very bad outcomes.
And I say that because it isvery clear diversity actually makes us stronger
both in terms of who we aresocially and societally, but it also makes
our economy stronger when we pay attentionto these issues DEI. It really is
(46:40):
so important to see someone like yourselfin this position. The amount of people
that you are inspiring to join office, to go to college, to pursue
their dreams is so powerful and alot of the times I know we cannot
become what we don't see. Y'allout there, keep fighting for your rights,
(47:05):
fighting for your freeing, fight fightingfor your mental health, and and
do as Madame Vice President said,get into the mental health space. We
need more black, brown and pocsoccupying those spaces because what it does for
our mental health to see that wedon't just inherit ancestral trauma, but we
inherit the ancestral healing and we healtogether. Wow. What what a beautiful
(47:38):
space that we've all been able tocurate together. This is co created because
you guys are so willing to listenand be responsive. And thank you so
much, Madame Vice President, forcoming out on this tour for the fight
for our freedoms and understanding that thepower is always in the people. That's
right, that's right now. Mylast question or statement observation. You know,
(48:07):
I this room is full of somany beautiful forward thinkers and possible future
world leaders. What advice though you'vegiven so much today, but what advice
would you like to leave us withtoday to keep us inspired and moving forward
(48:29):
towards the goal. So I'll startwith this. For the students in particular
who are here, you've already probablyhad, and I promise you you will,
in your life and career, havea few, if not many,
(48:49):
experiences where you are the only onelike you in a room, be in
a meeting room, a briefing room, a boardroom, courtroom, And what
I want you to remember is thatwe are all in that room with you.
I want you to remember that whenyou walk in those rooms, you
(49:14):
come with people, and you carrythe voice of people who are so proud
of you and expect a lot ofyou. Expect that when you walk in
that room, chin up, shouldersback, you will carry the voice that
(49:35):
is your voice that represents so many. I want that you will each remember
that and remember a moment like thiswhere there is collective pride for who you
are and great expectations for what youwill continue to do. I want you
to remember that. You know youwill hear many times that can't be done
(50:00):
bloody like you has done that before. Oh you're too young, and I
want you to not listen. Donot listen, don't hear no I eat
no for breakfast. Don't hear no. Always believe in what can be,
(50:24):
unburdened by what has been. Thatis what I want for you. And
I will say this also, youguys, are at a very special point
in your life, and enjoy thismoment. You are sitting next to people
who invariably may ask you to begodparent to their children, may ask you
(50:47):
to be in their wedding, peoplewho you may meet over the years.
So create those bonds which I promiseyou will be for so many of you
life. And enjoy this moment andfeed your brains. And then the last
point, which is not advice butmore of a lecture. So I'm just
(51:12):
going to end with this about thisfight for our freedoms. And this is
a group of students and leaders whounderstand many things, and many cultures and
many languages and a lot about theworld. So here's what I'm going to
share with you. As Vice President, I have now met with over one
(51:34):
hundred world leaders, presidents, primeministers, chancellors, and kings. When
we walk in those rooms representing theUnited States of America, we walk in
those rooms with the self appointed andearned authority to talk about the importance of
(51:55):
democracy, rule of law, humanrights. But here's the thing about being
a role model. Everybody here knowsthis. When you're a role model,
people watch what you do to seeif it matches what you say. People
around the world are watching what's happeningin our country right now. And one
(52:20):
of my greatest fears is that,for example, let's say young women who
are fighting against an autocrat or adictator for their rights, their right to
be educated, their right to beand that dictator, that autocrat is looking
at them and saying, you wantto point to the United States, We'll
look at what they're doing. Yoube quiet. This fight for our freedoms
(52:45):
is also a fight for our democracy. And the outcome of this will impact
not only the person you're sitting nextto, but very likely will impact people
around the world. And therein liesyour power. Therein lies your power to
(53:10):
potentially have an impact on people youmay never meet, people who may never
know your name, but because youchose to lead, will be benefited by
your actions. And so I willleave you with that which is know your
power and use it, and thankyou all. Thank you. The show
(54:07):
has been produced by Depictions Media.Please contact us at depictions, dot media
for more information,
Thank you for listening to pictures Mediaradio. Can we hear from y'all?
(01:11):
Oh, it's good to be witheverybody. Please, let's have a seat.
Hello, Hello, Madam Vice PresidentKamala Harris. Yeah, yes,
Yo. The energy in this roomlike I have never seen so many beautiful
(01:32):
young faces who are so excited toshow up for their democracy like this is.
This is amazing. I'm so proudof y'all for showing up. Thank
you so much. This is theCollege of Southern Nevada. What do we
expect? I love you. Ilove being with the leaders of our country.
(01:53):
I love I just I'm so excitedto be with everyone. Thank you.
Ah, you are so brilliant.Yes, yes, I thank you
first and foremost, thank you forhaving me here. Thank you, guys
all for having me here. I'mso excited to be able to share space
with you and ask you these brilliantquestions. You know, I understand that
(02:14):
you have been doing despite for ourFreedom's Tour and this summer alone, you've
traveled to over seventeen different states,talking to climate leaders from Colorado, talking
to gun violence advocates from Virginia,and now you are on a college tour
going to over twelve different college campuses, including CSN YES which are predominantly Hispanic,
(02:43):
and NHPI serving institutions. And Iknow we are all excited to have
you here. Why embark on thistour? Why the fight for our freedoms?
Yeah, well, let me juststart by saying, Annie, thank
(03:04):
you so very much for being withme yet again as we talk with the
leaders of our country. So Idecided to start this tour fight for our
freedoms for a number of reasons thathave everything to do with who you are,
the students who are here. Itruly believe that the future and the
(03:29):
present of our country requires your leadership. I am here because I want for
you that you will be able tolive your best life. I want for
you that you know the rights thatyou have and know that you are encouraged
(03:50):
to fight for those rights and thosefreedoms. When I look at who you
are in terms of your generation formost tour here, I also am so
aware of what you have uniquely experienced. You are the generation that has only
known the climate crisis. You area generation that saw George Floyd be murdered.
(04:19):
You are a generation that has witnessedthe highest court in our land take
a right that had been formally recognized, such that you will have fewer rights
than your mother's or grandmother's. Youare a generation that grew up having active
(04:41):
shooter drills. The issues that areat stake in our country right now are
not intellectual or academic for you.These are lived experiences. And what I
know about you and your style ofleadership is that you're I haven't it.
You're not waiting for other people tofigure it out. You are leading,
(05:05):
You are stepping out, and youare prepared to take control of these issues
in a way that we uplift thelife of the people, in a way
that we protect freedoms, including justthe freedom to be. So that's why
(05:26):
I'm doing this tour, and becauseI also want you to know that in
the midst of these challenges, inthe midst of a moment where I do
believe there is an intentional and fullon attack against so many hard fought,
hard won, fundamental freedoms and rights, I also want to remind you it
doesn't have to be this way.It does not have to be this way,
(05:53):
and when you all start voting inyour numbers, I know it won't
be so That's why I'm here.Amazing, you know, I love your
articulation around the future belongs to theyouth, and the president belongs to the
(06:14):
youth. And I believe we havea student here in the audience that needs
to ask a question. Do Ihave Kiah Williams? Kaya? There,
she is Kaya Williams. Hey,guys, my name is Kyle Williams,
and I'm President of the Black CityHere. Let's go. My question today
(06:44):
is how would you encourage someone whowas not utilizing their right to vote to
start taking that point step two vote? Thank you, madam President god a
President, and thank you for yourrole of what I take as elected leadership
in this body. Congratulations. Sofor all the leaders here, I know
(07:12):
you know I've been reading about thisstudent body. I've been reading about how
this exceptional educational institution thinks of youand nurtures you. And so I will
say this. I am clear thatyou, on many different levels will make
a difference not only in the stateof Nevada, in our country, but
(07:36):
in the world. One of theways of the many that you will make
a difference is by voting. Electionsmatter. You know, back in twenty
twenty, during the height of apandemic. We have the highest rate of
(07:56):
youth voting that we had seen hisstory numbers. I would like to see
in fact is chove hands? CanI see who voted in twenty twenty or
twenty twenty two? Right? Becauseyou voted, Joe Biden is President of
the United States and I am Vicepresident of being a fact, because you
voted, because you've voted. Wedid it, Joe, Yeah, we
(08:39):
did it. But voting, Andhere's the thing, you know, we
will talk often about the importance ofvoting in the historical context of the fact
that people marched, fought, shedblood, and dyed for the right to
vote for so many of the peoplewho are here. So that's the reason
(09:01):
to vote, To honor the struggleand the sacrifices of those who. Imagine
that you would be sitting here rightnow and we would be having this conversation
honoring that legacy that we have eachinherited. The other thing that we should
know is that elections matter. Whenyou vote, you have the ability to
(09:22):
determine the outcome of who will bemaking decisions on issues like we have discussed,
and there's so many leaders around issueslike immigration, on issues like the
climate crisis, on issues like whatthe President I've been fighting for to reduce
student loan debt, on issues ona variety of issues that we will discuss
(09:43):
today, almost every one of themwill ultimately be decided by the people who
vote in their numbers on the issuesthey care about. Right, people don't
just get elected to these offices.They're elected by the people. So voting
is your way of determining who sitsin those offices, and who they see
(10:07):
and who they think of when they'remaking these important decisions that will impact all
of us. The other point Iwould make on this, because it's very
real and we're here to have realtalk, there are powerful forces in our
country. They are trying to makeit more difficult for you to vote.
Understand that. You see how inGeorgia. You know, first of all,
(10:28):
historic turnout in twenty twenty, andyou could almost map and see that.
First of all, that's scared alot of people. And then they
started trying to pass laws to makeit more difficult to vote. In Georgia,
they passed a law that make itillegal to give people who are standing
in line to vote, make itillegal to give them food and water.
(10:52):
What happened to love thy neighbor.The hypocrisy is bounds. Yep, yep.
States who are passing laws that willsay that and make it more difficult
for college students to vote. Youwho know how much is at stake,
States that are getting rid of dropboxes, trying to eliminate or reduce early voting.
(11:18):
You know who needs to do earlyvoting. People who work two in
three jobs and can't take off aday of work. Yes, the people
who know that it's important that wehave paid family leaven, paid sick leaven,
affordable child fare. So see theconnections. And then to the young
(11:45):
leaders here, I'd say, don'tever let anybody silence you and understand when
people are trying. So there area lot of reasons to vote. And
in particular, again I will goback to when we saw in twenty twenty
and twenty twenty two, when peoplevoted in their numbers, we saw how
change can happen again, the climatecrisis again, what we need to do
(12:09):
on so many issues that impact youngpeople, that impact people of every stage
of life, and in particular workingpeople, in particular, people who are
in low income communities, people whoin particular people who have been left out
or overlooked, right, So Iwould urge everyone here. Okay, now
I'm gonna be I'm gonna engage ina cliche do it. I got a
(12:31):
government website, vote dot CoV.Please go on to vote dot gov and
it'll tell you if you're registered tovote, and it'll help you register to
vote and tell your family and friends. But that's a quick and easy way
to do it. And the earlieryou register to vote, then you just
know it's done, and then wecan take it to the next step.
(12:52):
You know, you talking about howthey are trying to silence us and make
it more difficult for us to vote. I feel like it's just showing that
they understand how powerful we are,you know, and and and you being
here, I feel like is arepresentation of reminding us yet again how powerful
(13:13):
we are and we cannot be takendown if we come in numbers, if
we come in unity, if wecome in love people, the power of
the people. Yep, Madam andVice President, this next topic, I
(13:35):
know you are no stranger too.We are in the beautiful state of Nevada,
which, yes, the most beautifulstate of Nevada, with you,
beautiful humans and you know there's apressing issue around gun violence, and in
Nevada we have in US modern recordedhistory one of them deadly shootings that have
(14:01):
happened here. Yeah, one October, Yeah, one October. I know
you are not a stranger to thistopic. You have been fighting for this
throughout your whole career. I knowthat you and President Joe Biden have created
a historic legislation around gun violence safetyand the first ever White House Office of
(14:22):
Gun Violence Prevention, that's right,which I'm heading. Wow, super congratulations.
I know we are all very proudof you and our democracy for fighting
for that. Thank you. Now, we also know that it is attacking
predominantly black, brown and lower incomecommunities. How can we fight to help
(14:45):
prevent that? What can we doto further help you and our democracy in
our government? So to your point, Annie, first of all, probably
a lot of people here know,but as of today, the number one
killer of children in America is gunviolence, not some form of cancer,
(15:07):
not car accidents. Gun violence numberone killer of children in America today.
One in five people in our countryhave a family member who was killed by
gun violence. And then when youtalk about the disproportionate impact on communities of
color. The numbers most recently thatI saw, I think African Americans ten
(15:28):
percent more likely, ten times morelikely, excuse me, Latinos twice as
likely. And you know, wetalk about mass shootings like one October,
which we must never forget, butwe also must remember that we must pay
attention to everyday gun violence that ishappening in communities around our country, and
(15:48):
those lives are as precious as anylife. And so I have been working
on this for a long time,and I will tell you that again,
it's not rocket science in terms ofwhat we need to do. Okay,
(16:08):
but you got a bunch of fecklesspeople, who black courage, who are
in the United States Congress, whoare pushing a false choice which suggests you're
either in favor of the Second Amendmentor you want to take everyone's guns away,
and it's a false choice. I'min favor of the Second Amendment.
(16:30):
But we need an assault weapons ban, we need universal background checks, we
need red flag laws. Yup.And here's what I'm gonna do. I'm
gonna ask the students here, ifyou'll indulge me, I'm gonna ask you
a question. And I ask youto raise your hand. If this applies
to you, who here between,and I'm gona ask you to hold up
(16:56):
your hands wanted to keep them up? Who here between? Kindergarten in twelfth
grade had to at school have anactive shooter drill. I would ask the
older adults to take a look.I'd ask the media to take a look
at all the hands that are up. Okay, you can put them down.
I'm gonna tell you something. Idon't think these people who call themselves
(17:18):
leaders understand what you guys have beenthrough. That our children, that our
young people with the brilliance of theirmind, are sitting in a classroom with
some part of their brain being awareof the fact that somebody could bust in
that classroom with a gun, andwhat that has meant for our young people
(17:44):
in terms of the trauma and thefear they are living with, even if
they've not personally experienced gun violence.Yeah, this is real. And again
I say to the young leaders here, it doesn't have to be this way.
You know, we once had anassault weapons ban. It had a
(18:06):
term on it, a shelf life. It has since expired, But we
once had an assault weapons ban.It doesn't have to be this way.
And let's be clear, we're onlytalking about a reasonable approach to a big
problem. If Joe Biden were here, he might say BFD but I'm not
gonna say that. But it's kindof it kind of is right. Think
(18:29):
about this. It's reasonable that youjust might want to know before someone can
buy a lethal weapon, if they'vebeen found by a court to be a
danger to themselves or others. Youjust might want to know, maybe rights
it's reasonable to say that weapons ofwar, assault weapons which were designed to
(18:52):
kill a lot of people quickly,have no place on the streets of a
civil society. It's just reasonable.And again, I take us back to
the point that elections matter, andit is critically important that we have courage
in leadership to take on this issueand just have reasonable approaches to something that
(19:15):
is affecting us in profound ways.And in fact, you know, there's
so many issues that also raise theother big issue that we don't talk enough
about, but that your generation studentshere do have the courage to talk about,
and that's mental health. Yep,you guys have the courage to talk
(19:40):
about it. And here's what I'mgoing to issue. I haven't done this
before, Annie, but I'm herefor it. Let's do official call to
action. As Vice President, Iam calling on the young leaders of today
to enter the mental health professions andto take this take charge. There are
(20:00):
a variety of the types of workthat you can do that is about culturally
competent, peer based support for eachother and for our communities around this issue.
Because the level, for so manyreasons of undiagnosed and therefore untreated trauma
(20:23):
in our communities that must and canbe addressed is profound. And let's understand,
exposure to violence is one of them. You know what else is trauma
inducing poverty. So when we talkabout the levels of trauma that certain communities
are experiencing, I really do believethat we need the young leaders who are
(20:51):
here to really consider taking up yourrole of leadership in many ways, including
considering entering mental health professions as partof your way of serving the community and
the country. Thank you. Ilove I love how you talk about how
(21:11):
advocacy and and fighting for our nationand our rights can look like so many
different things. It can be enrollingin college, it can be showing up
here. It can be getting afamily member or a friend registered to vote
at what's the website again? Ohall right. I was just making sure
y'all were listening. That's just makingsure we had a we had a participatory
(21:34):
audience, and I see here wedo. Yes, you know, it's
it's it's really powerful to hear thatthe democracy is in our hands, that
the government is in our hands,that our vote matters. I believe we
have another student here in the audiencethat would love to ask you a question,
and their name is Rebecca Taylor.Hi. Where's Rebecca? Waves your
(22:02):
hands over here? Hi, I'mRebecca Taylor. I'm over this way.
Yeah, all right, Hi,I'm Rebecca Taylor. ASCSN Henderson Senator,
Vice President Harris. We know youare a champion for women's reproductive rights.
(22:23):
In your opinion, what can bedone at the federal level to ensure that
all women have fair and equal accessto reproductive choice and that doctors and scientists
remain free to practice best medicine independentof political agenda. Thank you, Rebecca,
thank you, thank you, thankyou. Great question. So,
(22:51):
as I mentioned earlier about this generation, we just over a year ago witnessed
the highest in our land, theCourt of Thurgood Marshal and RBG take a
constitutional right that had been recognized fromthe people of America, from the women
(23:15):
of America. And thereafter, instates around our country, laws being proposed
and passed that would criminalize healthcare providers, some providing for very significant prison time,
that would punish women and people whosimply deserve to be able to make
(23:38):
a decision for themselves about their life. And I think it's really important on
this issue to agree one does nothave to abandon their faith or deeply held
beliefs to agree the government should notbe telling her what to do with her
body. Yup, that's her decision. We respect her ability to be smart
(24:07):
enough to know what is in herown best interest without a bunch of folks
in the state capital trying to tellher what to do. And by the
way, in half these states wherethey're passing these restrictions, I am clear
that have of them don't even knowhow a woman's body works. Okay,
(24:30):
let's pull out a map of anatomy. Listen, and here's you know,
we're gonna keep it real in thisconversation. Everybody's grown here, and I
would urge the students here to alwaysremember and I know your professors will teach
this, but on any policy matterthat you are hearing about, always ask
(24:55):
yourself, how will this impact areal person? Okay, because on this
issue, some would try to makeit you know, oh, this is
intellectual, this is you know,political discussion. No, it's very real.
There are people around our country whoare silently suffering in a tremendous way.
(25:15):
You know, these laws being proposedand passed, and this is where
there are difficult things to think andtalk about on this subject. Bus must
be acknowledged if we're going to keepit real, proposing and passing laws that
make no exception for rape ancest.Now, many of you know I started
my career as a prosecutor, andI'm going to tell you one of the
(25:37):
biggest reasons why. When I wasin high school, my best friend was
being molested by her stepfather, andI learned about it, and I said
to her, you got to comeand stay and live with us. I
called my mother. My mother said, yes, she has to come and
stay with us, and she did. And so I decided I wanted to
(26:00):
do the work that was about protectingwomen and children, and I focus then
on those kinds of crimes now understandthat these extremists are saying to someone who
has survived and act of violence totheir body, has survived a violation to
(26:22):
their body, that that person doesnot have the right to make a decision
about what happens to their body next. That is immoral. That is immoral,
and that's what's happening, Rebecca,on this issue, it is a
very real issue. Not to mentionhow it disproportionately impacts low income women.
(26:48):
You know, the majority of womenwho seek abortion care are mothers and hopefully,
but we can't take it for grantedthat she has affordable childcare and paid
family leave, and has extra moneyin the bank to afford a bus ticket,
a train ticket, or a planeticket to leave the state where she
(27:11):
is to go seek care in astate like Nevada, for example, which
I thank the leaders of Nevada andthe majority Women on Women legislature for keeping
it real here, but in surroundingstates where those working women, if she's
working two or three jobs, ifshe has a couple of kids, what
(27:33):
that means, not to mention,and I'm here again, I'm gonna let's
keep it real. What it meansif you are faced with such a difficult
personal decision. And for those peoplewho are in states that are restricting these
rights. You have to go intoan airport and go through TSA and get
(27:56):
on a plane with a bunch ofstrangers to go to a strange place.
Can't you know family members may notbe able to afford to take that trip
with you. Just think about whatthis means to real people. And again,
elections matter, because back to yourpoint, Joe Biden has been very
clear when we have the majority ofpeople in Congress who agree, by the
(28:19):
way, simply that it's not thegovernment's decision, no matter their personal beliefs,
but that the government shouldn't making thisdecision, should not be making this
decision for people. And if theythen pass a law putting back in place
the protections that the court took away. The court took these rights, Congress
can put them back in place.And Joe Biden has been clear, when
(28:41):
they put the protections of Roe v. Wade back into law, he will
sign that bill. Amen, youguys, we got to show up and
vote. So elections matter. Electionsmatter. They matter. I mean they
matter either way, right, Imean being overturned. They matter. So
we have to show up in drovesso that they matter in our favor.
(29:06):
We all come from women. Wehave to honor them as their body is
their own, you know. Speakingof fundamental rights, our freedom, it
makes me think about my trans brothersand sisters, my trans people, my
(29:27):
LGBTQIA community, yup, and like, what a beautiful community that y'all are
that we come from, and itis so disheartening how they are being disproportionately
(29:48):
attacked. I know you are anadvocate and an ally and have been in
the fight with them for a longtime. So how what can we do
to help support and to show upand to be better allies and advocates.
You know, I love how youframed this because at the root of that
point is something I believe very strongly, which is nobody should be made to
(30:10):
fight alone, especially when they arefighting for their rights to just be yep,
to just be. None of usare free until all of us are
free. That's exactly right. Andso you know, my history on this
issue includes back in two thousand andI'll just offer this by way of contrast,
back in two thousand and four.I know some of you weren't even
(30:30):
born then. Yeah, I've beenold in days. In two thousand and
four, I was proud to beone of the first elected officials in the
country to perform same sex marriages whenI was in San Francisco. And by
the way, it wasn't very politicallypopular at the time, but I didn't
(30:52):
care because this is a civil rightsissue, yep, as much as it
is a human rights issue. Myparents met when they were active in the
civil rights movement back in the day. This is fundamentally about justice, about
equality, about equality under the law, and what we are looking at now.
So I look at two thousand andfour, so next year it'll be
(31:15):
twenty years ago. Contrast with lawsthat are being passed in states like Florida
don't say gay where. I thinkabout the young teachers who are in their
twenties, who, if they arein a same sex relationship, are afraid
(31:36):
to put up a photograph of themselvesand their partner for fear they may lose
their job, a job that isone of the most noble of professions,
a job that is about a commitmentto educate other people's children. And you
know, as it is, wedon't pay them enough. Speak on it.
(31:59):
And Mom's a teacher teachers are beingtreated for just being themselves. Laws
that are criminalizing and that are thatare also encouraging the judgment and the marginalizing
(32:22):
of our LGBTQ plus friends, andand you cannot underestimate you know this,
We all here know this, thefear that it is striking in the community,
and with so many of these issues, the intent, I believe to
make people feel alone. And whenwhen anyone is made to feel alone,
(32:47):
it's very disempowering. And that's whycommunity is so important and coalition is so
important. So here's here's I thinkat this point a well known secret about
me. I love ven diagrams.I love ven diagrams, and whenever I
am presented with kind of like thisis complicated, I always wonder is there
a ven diagram to figure this stuffout? And we love that about you,
(33:09):
right right? So I ask myteam, let's do a Van diagram
from which states are we seeing attackson LGBTQ rights, attack on voting rights,
and attacks on reproductive freedom? Andyou would not be shocked to know
there was a significant overlap. Okay, but what that also presents is,
(33:34):
ah, look at this opportunity tothink about strengthening the coalition, bringing folks
together who have been fighting for votingrights, bringing together folks who have been
fighting for reproductive health rights, bringingtogether folks who are fighting for LGBTQ plus
rights, and building our coalition,remembering the vast majority of a have so
(34:00):
much more in common than what separatesus. And I would add another point,
I'm traveling our country. Yeah,I believe that part of the agenda
that is at foot is to tryand divide our nation yep, to pit
people against each other based on justwho they are, to divide and distract.
(34:22):
The antidote, the antidote that wehave to that is to know how
much we have in common and tobuild coalition and build community and fight back
against those who would try to divideus as a nation. Yes, our
unity is our strength, Our diversityis our power, There is no question
(34:45):
about it. It is a truthperiod. Yes, Yes, I love
that understanding that fear is universal insteadof that being something that instead use that
to unify us because essentially we areall fighting for basic human rights and dignity.
(35:09):
And again, I just can't stressit enough. It is the freedom
to make decisions about one's own body. It is the freedom to have access
to the ballot box. It isthe freedom that one should have from fear,
the freedom that one should have fromhate and bigotry and bullying, and
(35:34):
ultimately it is just the freedom tobe, to just be, to just
be, you know, That's somuch of what this is about. But
we can't take any of these freedomsfor granted, and so you know,
(35:54):
but understand that we know what weare fighting for is not fighting again,
something is fighting for, yes,And what we are also fighting for are
foundational principles of our country. Andin that way, it is important to
remember this is a fight based onlove of country. This is a fight
(36:15):
based on believing in the ideals uponwhich our country was founded and fighting for
us to achieve those ideals. Andwhat greater and more pure expression of love
for our country can we have thanbelieving in those ideals and fighting for us
to attain them. That's what thisis, and I believe that is a
(36:38):
true form of patriotism. Don't anybodytell you otherwise. Don't anyone tell you
otherwise. I really love and admireyour use of language, not fighting against,
fighting for talking about the solution,because there is a problem unlike this
(37:00):
is our democracy. This is ourgovernment taking it back. I remember the
first time I went to the WhiteHouse, I heard it called the People's
House. Yes, And that forme did a complete paradigm shift on how
I saw my government and feel comfortablenow to call it my government my democracy.
(37:22):
So thank you for that shift forus. And I'm sure a lot
of us in this room are goingto go back and you know, really
fight for something and not against something. And you have been fighting for most
of your life with your family andwith our government. And what are some
things that you are most proud ofthat you've been able to put into place
(37:43):
thus far? Well, one ofthe things that we again because people voted
again, I'm gonna ask raise hands, who here has a family member who
has diabetes? Look around the room, Okay, how many years we've been
(38:08):
hearing these stories, in particular ofour seniors who have had to make a
terrible choice about whether they could eitherafford their insulin a I taking it at
the prescription a doctor gave them versuspaying their rent or being able to buy
(38:29):
in a food to eat. Somany for years and years and years.
One of the great accomplishments that wehave made is we have now capped the
cost of insulin at thirty five dollarsa month for seniors. It's huge.
It's huge, especially when you knowhow many in I in communities of color,
(38:52):
immigrant communities, the high rate ofdiabetes that exist, and how this
is gonna be a game changer forour seniors. I'm proud of that.
I'm proud of the work that weare continuing to do to fight for student
loan forgiveness. We still have moreto do. We know that we have
a lot of students who, forexample, are PEL grant recipients, and
what we're doing to increase that grantbut also to bring down We tried to
(39:16):
do it so that PEL grant recipientswould get twenty thousand dollars a loan forgiveness.
The court undid what we did,but we're still fighting, and so
we've been dealing with debt relief.But that's something I'm very proud of.
And then there's the work that weare doing on climate. You all have
only known the climate crisis. Imean here in Nevada they call it whiplash
(39:39):
in terms of weather experiences. Right, either there's a drought or there's a
flood, right, So it's likewhiplash weather, right, and or I've
been, you know, and I'msure many here been to Lake Mead.
You know, we talk about thethe circle, the bathring because of how
quickly the water receded in Lake Mead, and so it is a big issue.
(40:05):
And what we have been doing onthis is saying that one stop the
denial, of which there was awhole lot. We are saying that we're
very clear extreme weather which causes extraordinarydamage, which is damage not only in
particular the low income communities who havea very difficult time recovering, but also
(40:28):
just damage that is to our thisbeautiful earth that we are blessed to live
on. But extreme weather connected togreenhouse gas emissions, greenhouse gas emissions connected
to human behaviors, it's kind ofa no brainer. And so what we
are doing is saying that we needto reduce greenhouse gas emissions, We need
(40:49):
to invest in renewable energy, weneed to invest in the clean energy economy,
things like solar paneling, wind turbines, electric vehicles, the work that
we can do to actually bring downthe harm that we are doing to this
planet. And I'm very excited aboutthat work, and I'm very proud of
that work. There we have ouradministration has invested and this has been a
(41:14):
total game changer in the time wehave been in office. We are now
on track to invest one trillion dollarsin addressing the climate crisis around adaptation and
resilience and investing in a clean energyeconomy. Wow Wow. And I will
(41:36):
tell you we are making a particulareffort to also acknowledge that while the climate
crisis impacts everyone, it does notdo so equally. Because when you look
at how the effects are on lowincome communities in history, in communities that
have been historically low income, andthe damage two communities that they cannot recover
(42:01):
from, it's pretty significant. Andso we are paying attention to what we
are doing with those resources. Butagain I will also say, like we
talked about voting on so many theseother issues, there is what we must
do and where we must go witha sense of urgency. But also understand
there are folks out there who aretrying to get in the way of the
progress. Understand that when we're lookingat big oil and what they've historically done
(42:28):
in trying to slow first push thedenial narrative and then slow down the progress
and saying, oh, it's goingto it's going to be too difficult to
transition so quickly into a clean energyeconomy. You know, the same kind
of people who will say, oh, it's going to be so difficult for
us, any of us to dowhat we do. You know, those
kinds of people who say, oh, nobody like you has ever done this
(42:49):
before, so maybe it's not possible. It's possible, And so we did
issue of the climate. It isvery doable, and we are seeing the
progress that we can make. Butagain also in terms of what is happening
in the country. Understand on theissue of the climate crisis. Let's also
(43:13):
have real conversations about the thing wecall environmental justice, which is justice for
all communities. Understanding not everyone isimpacted equally. If you look around the
map of the country, some ofthe communities with the poorest air quality are
communities of color, immigrant communities,low income communities. You look at it
(43:34):
in terms of access to affordability forelectric vehicles or charging stations. You look
at it in if there is aflood, who can recover because they have
the assets, because they're a homeownerto actually repair the house versus who does
not. So the environmental justice pieceof this is extraordinarily important, and I
(43:57):
will therefore emphasize another point. Thereare some forces in our country that are
trying to say that it is abad term to talk about DEI. They're
trying to do with DEI what theydid with WOKE, and we got to
pay attention to that. They're tryingto suggest that it is somehow wrong to
(44:19):
talk about DEI diversity, equity andinclusion, that it is somehow wrong to
talk about the fact that when youlook at, for example, the fact
that I'm the first woman of colorto be Vice president, and I to
say, yep, that the pieceabout diversity is somehow not important when we
(44:42):
talk about equity, Here's the thing, it's a very basic point. We
want that everyone has equal opportunity,right, Well, yes, but it
doesn't mean that that will be achief because everyone gets an equal amount.
Knowing that not everybody starts out onthe same equity says, let's take into
(45:02):
account where do people start out.Because if you're only talking about equal amount
and people don't start out in thesame place, it's just going to repeat
itself. So the concept of equityis about saying, let's pay attention to
that inclusion. It's a simple point, who's not in the room. Pay
(45:22):
attention to who's not in the room, and let's figure out how they can
have an open door. Much lessencouragement to be in the room where important
decisions are being made about all ofus, and so EJ Environmental justice takes
into account things like equity. ButI again will emphasize understand what's happening in
(45:46):
our country where people who consider themselvesvery important leaders are trying to say it's
bad to talk about DEI. They'retrying to put pressure on corporations to not
invest in DEI. They're trying toundo corporations and other private sectors, sector
industries who are paying attention to this, and we got to fight against this.
(46:09):
We have to fight against this becauseit will lead to very bad outcomes.
And I say that because it isvery clear diversity actually makes us stronger
both in terms of who we aresocially and societally, but it also makes
our economy stronger when we pay attentionto these issues DEI. It really is
(46:40):
so important to see someone like yourselfin this position. The amount of people
that you are inspiring to join office, to go to college, to pursue
their dreams is so powerful and alot of the times I know we cannot
become what we don't see. Y'allout there, keep fighting for your rights,
(47:05):
fighting for your freeing, fight fightingfor your mental health, and and
do as Madame Vice President said,get into the mental health space. We
need more black, brown and pocsoccupying those spaces because what it does for
our mental health to see that wedon't just inherit ancestral trauma, but we
inherit the ancestral healing and we healtogether. Wow. What what a beautiful
(47:38):
space that we've all been able tocurate together. This is co created because
you guys are so willing to listenand be responsive. And thank you so
much, Madame Vice President, forcoming out on this tour for the fight
for our freedoms and understanding that thepower is always in the people. That's
right, that's right now. Mylast question or statement observation. You know,
(48:07):
I this room is full of somany beautiful forward thinkers and possible future
world leaders. What advice though you'vegiven so much today, but what advice
would you like to leave us withtoday to keep us inspired and moving forward
(48:29):
towards the goal. So I'll startwith this. For the students in particular
who are here, you've already probablyhad, and I promise you you will,
in your life and career, havea few, if not many,
(48:49):
experiences where you are the only onelike you in a room, be in
a meeting room, a briefing room, a boardroom, courtroom, And what
I want you to remember is thatwe are all in that room with you.
I want you to remember that whenyou walk in those rooms, you
(49:14):
come with people, and you carrythe voice of people who are so proud
of you and expect a lot ofyou. Expect that when you walk in
that room, chin up, shouldersback, you will carry the voice that
(49:35):
is your voice that represents so many. I want that you will each remember
that and remember a moment like thiswhere there is collective pride for who you
are and great expectations for what youwill continue to do. I want you
to remember that. You know youwill hear many times that can't be done
(50:00):
bloody like you has done that before. Oh you're too young, and I
want you to not listen. Donot listen, don't hear no I eat
no for breakfast. Don't hear no. Always believe in what can be,
(50:24):
unburdened by what has been. Thatis what I want for you. And
I will say this also, youguys, are at a very special point
in your life, and enjoy thismoment. You are sitting next to people
who invariably may ask you to begodparent to their children, may ask you
(50:47):
to be in their wedding, peoplewho you may meet over the years.
So create those bonds which I promiseyou will be for so many of you
life. And enjoy this moment andfeed your brains. And then the last
point, which is not advice butmore of a lecture. So I'm just
(51:12):
going to end with this about thisfight for our freedoms. And this is
a group of students and leaders whounderstand many things, and many cultures and
many languages and a lot about theworld. So here's what I'm going to
share with you. As Vice President, I have now met with over one
(51:34):
hundred world leaders, presidents, primeministers, chancellors, and kings. When
we walk in those rooms representing theUnited States of America, we walk in
those rooms with the self appointed andearned authority to talk about the importance of
(51:55):
democracy, rule of law, humanrights. But here's the thing about being
a role model. Everybody here knowsthis. When you're a role model,
people watch what you do to seeif it matches what you say. People
around the world are watching what's happeningin our country right now. And one
(52:20):
of my greatest fears is that,for example, let's say young women who
are fighting against an autocrat or adictator for their rights, their right to
be educated, their right to beand that dictator, that autocrat is looking
at them and saying, you wantto point to the United States, We'll
look at what they're doing. Yoube quiet. This fight for our freedoms
(52:45):
is also a fight for our democracy. And the outcome of this will impact
not only the person you're sitting nextto, but very likely will impact people
around the world. And therein liesyour power. Therein lies your power to
(53:10):
potentially have an impact on people youmay never meet, people who may never
know your name, but because youchose to lead, will be benefited by
your actions. And so I willleave you with that which is know your
power and use it, and thankyou all. Thank you. The show
(54:07):
has been produced by Depictions Media.Please contact us at depictions, dot media
for more information,
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