SMNTY Classics: Interview with Georgia State Representative Park Cannon

In this classic episode, Anney and Samantha sit down with Georgia State Representative Park Cannon to discuss intersectional politics, bills in progress, and running for office.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Anie and Samantha and welcome to stuff
I've never told to your production of I Heart Radio.
Any I do have question for you, and I feel like,
so I don't know this answer. What's the closest you've
ever been to being arrested? Oh, well, it depends on

(00:29):
it for including international, because internationally, I was almost arrested
in China because it's a long complicated story. Basically, my
visa was incorrect, so I went to Hong Kong. I
was told it would be fine and nothing. I had
the right visa. That was not the case, and they
canceled my visa. But I had to get back into China,

(00:50):
so I kind of snuck back in and I was
in the middle of teaching once and I got it
like a text from one of my other teachers and
he was like, they're looking freak hide and so I
had to go hide and starewell take away for the
police to leave. And then when I left the country,
the guy at the border control place looked at my passport,
looked at me and like put this big expany on

(01:12):
it and was like shook his head and I think
I could have gotten arrested, but he was too tired
to do. Well, Damn, you got lucky on that one.
I guess, yeah, I really did. So. Yeah, I've never
been arrested, and I don't think I've ever been come
close to being arrested. I don't know, because who knows.
I have done silly things that could have been arrestworthy.
I've definitely shoplifted before when I was a kid. One

(01:34):
time I felt guilty and I took it back immediately,
but you know, I did it as well as probably
whatever incidents that have happened when people were being childish
and doing stupid pranks and such, which I don't think
I ever did anything, but I was with people who
did things, if it makes sense. But yeah, this is
a little more serious. But we wanted to revisit an
episode of pretty much me fan girling over one of

(01:56):
our state representative who has made national headlines as becoming
a face for our state in the state of Georgia,
as someone who is fighting voter suppression and the new
law that has come to pass, s B two O two,
which you're also like pages worth of documentation that they
slid in real quick, and it will say real quick.

(02:18):
They voted within a few days. Our governor signed it
behind closed doors with what we call the Jim Crow picture,
what is now infamously knows the Jim Crow two point
oh picture. If you're wondering what we're talking about, you
can go to my Twitter and I have posted some
pictures because I'm very angry about such things. But part
Cannon is who we're talking about, who I don't even

(02:38):
know if it's Bravely. I don't think she understood the level,
but she just did what she knew she had to do,
essentially knocking on the door of the office because she
wanted to a see what was happening and to have
a conversation about why it was happening. And she is
a sitting representative who has the right to be there
at that point in time when she started knocking and

(03:00):
you refuse to just go away, essentially they arrested her
and they charged her with two felony accounts, which we're
not even gonna talk about that, but yeah, part of
these bills that's being passed and going through a lot
of our states include things that allow for arresting people
who may be protesting or who may have questions about
this authority that they are taking away from the citizens

(03:24):
as I would say it. But yeah, Part Canon, if
you have been anywhere near than news, have been watching
as we are talking about the voting rights Amendment, which
we know is being discussed on a federal level, which
cross your fingers. This has made a big, big splash
essentially all around this country about what we're looking at

(03:46):
for our future and what our future in voting and
as you know, we are very passionate about the subject,
and Georgia has become quite a spotlight when it comes
to the politics in the US, and people like Representative
part Cannon have been the ones that have brought a
lot of change. So we wanted to revisit that episode
that we did of me again Fann girling a little

(04:07):
too hard over someone who loves her people. Is obviously
she loves her people and was talking about how to
be an activist and why she became a representative in
the first place. Yea, So please enjoy. Hey, this is

(04:28):
Anny and Samantha. Welcome to stuff. Won't never told your
production of I hear idios house stuff works. So today
we and by we I do mean me. I'm so excited,
so excited, Oh listeners, I saw such a sight. I

(04:52):
had a moment. Okay, but we're so excited to introduce
you to a member of the Georgia House of Representatives
that I have been watching since the beginning of her
career in Atlanta. How she sounds white, creepier than I intended,
But hey, I have because it's been exciting. But her
name is part Cannon, and I will tell you, yes,
I got super excited. I got a kind of fan girls.

(05:16):
She definitely fanned girls. Um, and we know I'm not
the best that speech sometimes and yes, I fumbled quite
a bit that I had to restart a few times,
and she was very kind and patient. She was very
well spoken. Also, I feel like this is really indicative
of our relationship, which is antagonistic but beautiful friendship where

(05:38):
I just sat back and to let you struggle. Terrible,
it's such a terrible person. I really thought it was
so sweet because, as I told you afterwards, normally you
see people get that way about celebrities. It's Samantha Listeners.
She gets that way about representatives. I get that way

(05:58):
about people who are a powerhouse. And I love seeing
those who strive to go beyond, even more so when
I see someone who and she is twenty eight, by
the way, so a young un in comparison to myself,
as well as she has been in this game since.

(06:20):
As well as the fact that, yeah, she's very well spoken.
And when I say well spoken, I mean she was ready.
She was ready every question. I had, no fumbling. I
was like, my gosh. And not only that, she and
and as you will hear in the interviews, have some
of the best wit, like even politically when it comes
to combating some of the ignorance that we often see

(06:43):
during political times whatever whatnot. She had some of the
best wit even in types of reform and types of bills.
And I love that so much because that kind of power,
that kind of level of assuredness of like, I know
this is not going to go anywhere, but I'm making
a statement is amazing to me. And she is one

(07:07):
of our representatives. She is a queer black woman who
is in our House of Representatives in a very conservative state.
So of course we do talk about the fact that
it's turning purple and we're hoping to be able to
be one of those swing state, but we do know
Georgia is very conservative, and we know that some of
the biggest controversies came with the last gubernatorial election with

(07:30):
Stacy Abraham's and Brian Kemp, and it's been closely watched,
and Stacy Abrams herself has made a name in combating
voter suppression. So just with all that, when I see
things like this in a powerhouse like this, making a
name for herself in a manner that is so just inspirational,

(07:51):
I have moments, okay, and I it was beautiful to
witness Samantha, It really was, and for myself, um, and
I would imagine for a lot of people listening. It's
hard sometimes with politics. It's just it seems like no
matter what you do, it's just constant bad news and
there's no change in hearing from someone like part Cannon,

(08:14):
who does have all these intersectional identities and who does
sound so hopeful and like she was very positive, and
that was so nice to see. Yeah, it was really refreshing.
And we've spoke before about how sometimes change it just
takes a while, and it is happening, but bad news
is so much easier to consume and so much easier

(08:36):
to just bring in on yourself. But to hear her
have this positivity and this hope for We're going to
get more people to run and it's going to continue
to progress. Was really really refreshing, right, and before we
get into the interview the amazing conversation we had, we
wanted to throw some statistics out there, because you know,

(08:57):
we love some statistics. It's true. So acording to the History,
Arts and Archives site, there have been over seventy women
of color in US Congress since nineteen sixty four. Yes,
which I got my own chance to geek out about
when Samantha gave me a mystery tax I did. I
was trying to make sure that this site was updated

(09:18):
and I could not find the last updated date. So
you sat there for fifteen minutes fifteen ish trying to
find the site for me. And I said you, you
definitely succeeded. But yeah, the excitement that you had when
you were like, let me find it, I can do this.
I was bored for them. Yeah, I'm like, she loves
some research. Research. My girl loves some research. So there

(09:42):
have been going back to this, there have been thirteen
Asian Pacific American women, forty seven African American women, and
twenty Hispanic American women in Congress. To this date, which
not the greatest number. No, definitely not the greatest number.
We we can certainly improve upon that, and I hope
that we will. And with those numbers. Patsy Mink of

(10:03):
Hawaii was the first Asian Pacific American woman to be
elected to the House in nineteen sixty four. Shirley chis
Home one of my favorites of New York as the
first African American woman elected to the House in nineteen eight,
and Aleana Ross Latian, Florida was the first Hispanic American
woman won the election two House in nine nine. And

(10:23):
for extra credit, the first woman of color to be
elected to the Senate was Carol Moseley Braun, an African
American woman from Illinois, in nineteen two, and Maizie Herono
from Hawaii was the first woman of color to be
elected to both chambers. She was alighted to Senate in
two thousand twelve. Then, we have some statistics for lgbt
Q plus representation in politics. According to it gets Better

(10:46):
dot org, as there were ten members of Congress on
the federal level who identify as lgbt Q plus and
of those ten, five are women, and of those five
zero we're women of color. Now these are outdated, so
changes are coming. When it comes to the state level,
constituents are more represented, which again is another example of

(11:06):
local politics. Pay attention, get involved, don't forget about those.
Local elections are so important. They are very important, and
they're more likely to hear your voice, unfortunately than those
in the federal level. And yes, these statistics that we
just gave you more more on the federal level, but yes,
these local elections, a would probably more likely to have
your voice be heard, you being able to be better represented.

(11:27):
So these are wild Local elections are very, very important
and something that we need to be paying attention to. Yes,
check your registration out and vote. And we're about ready
to get into our interview. But first we're going to
get into a quick break for word from our sponsor

(11:55):
and we're back, Thank you sponsor. So let's get started
with our inner view with Park Cannon. I was born
Park Cannon, named after an actress who I found out
ran for office in Tennessee. Her name is Park Overall.
She's an environmentalist. It's really awesome to think about that.
But I am a member of the Georgia House of Representatives,

(12:18):
which is a part of our state's government. At twenty
three years old, I stepped off my college campus and
decided I wanted to run for office. I did not
know much more than that I was frustrated about what
was going on, and luckily, when we won our election,
we brought a very progressive voice to the state capital.

(12:39):
I am openly queer. I love to make sure that
people talk about intersectionality because I am an abortion dou lah,
a birth doula, and a preschool teacher. And I think
what's also pretty exciting is that last year at the
state Capitol, they did an article about fashion at the

(13:01):
state Capital and they said it was because of alphabetical
order that I was first. But you know I love
me some fashion. Well, I'm gonna say you're killing it
with this outfit today. You're like, the shoes alone is amazing,
and they're hills, black and white polka dot hills, and

(13:22):
you call them there your rainboots. That's even better. I'm like, yes,
this is my type of person. Because I also only
wear hills and boots most of the time. It's rare
to find me in anything else because I am a
short girl at five five four, so I feel like
I need that little stature, just a little bit, you know,
to go with that personality. But yeah, as your fashion
is on point, so I would definitely say it's not

(13:44):
just because of the alphabetical order thing. Yeah, I was
looking at your stuff and I'm thinking I'm about ten
or so years older than you, and I feel very
much like an underachiever. O my god, the things that
you have done and know you're doing right now, it's
just incredible. And again, like I said, I and girling
because I love seeing someone with such drive um and

(14:04):
you have so many good things behind you. I love
again watching you campaign. It was one of the beautiful moments.
And you are with the House of Representatives and District
fifty eight. So District fifty eight is in midtown downtown
in southwest Atlanta. I like to call it a reproductive
justice district because you have neighborhoods like Virginia Highland with

(14:25):
homes in the millions. And you have neighborhoods like Pittsburgh,
which is literally the nation's worst representation for UM predatory
lending back in their early two thousands UM within the
district as well. So you have all kinds of folks,
all kinds of families, and I'm really trying my hardest

(14:47):
to represent them all. Right, Um, and just for our audiences,
this is based in Georgia. Like I said, I love
kind of coming seeing what's happening in individual states and
in the state level, because I think that's where it
all begins. Obviously, when we're talking about voting rights and
we're talking about voting suppression, a lot of our voices
and all of our representatives are supposed to have our
best interests, and so we know that state representation is very,

(15:09):
very important. And you are a part of the Georgia
state representation because we have a very international audience. Yes, Atlanta, Georgia,
you know, in the south of the United States. And
what we of course are fighting against in Georgia is
the fact that we are a conservative state, but Atlanta
is a progressive city, right, So I represent them both. Yes,

(15:32):
And it's very interesting because we're quickly talking about Georgia
slowly becoming a very um purple state and then we're
talking about slowly becoming a swing state, and how important
it is that we do keep an eye as we
are slowly changing some ideas in some heads hopefully, yeah, yeah, yeah,
As it goes spreads out beyond Metro Atlanta as well.
I love seeing that. But yes, you are a big

(15:52):
voice and a big representation of that progression. And if
you don't mind talking a little bit about your history,
because I know you kind of dabbled or started working
with Representative Simone Bell so in like, I was so angry.
In twelve, our state passed a bill um that was

(16:14):
a part of a federal opportunity to restrict access to
reproductive healthcare. So our state was one of the first
in twelve and that really took that on to the
House and the Senate, and the governor loved it, and
all of the departments of Public Health and community health
really had to change their operating procedures. I felt that

(16:36):
was a waste of taxpayer dollars and I wanted to
know who was responsible. So I got up, you know,
put my college sweatshirt on, and went down to the
state capital and tried to get to know my legislator.
I figured I was going to run into a white man. Instead,
I ran into an African American lesbian with locked hair,

(16:57):
and we really became friends. Um, I'm so proud to
know that she found me to be such a pivotal
member of her district that when she decided to resign
her office in she called me and personally asked me
to run for the seat. Now I was twenty three

(17:17):
years old, I had just gotten out of college. I
didn't think I was going to run for office until
maybe after law school, after a career. So we dropped
everything and picked up a grassroots campaign. We had a
month and a half to raise fifty thousand dollars and
to try to talk to two thousand voters. And the

(17:38):
first election we had in sixteen was in January, so
our legislative session, which I was running to be a
part of, had already started, so we felt the urgency
and tried to get as many voters to the polls.
We actually had our celebration party planned for here in
Pont City Market at nine pm because the polls closed

(18:00):
at eight. We left our house at like eight twenty,
gotten this parking lot by like eight thirty, and we
saw the results. We had lost the election by twenty
three votes out of twenty two thousand people. If twenty
three more people had voted, we would have closed the deal.

(18:20):
So we had to run off election in February, I
immediately started serving. The presidential primary was in March, so
we were back on the ballot in March and once
again on the ballot in November. So if anyone out
there is interested in running for office and someone tells
you you're gonna have to do it multiple times, that's
just a part of the game. And that's how we

(18:41):
got our seat. That's amazing. Yeah, And as you were
talking about to the audience and to the people, what
would your statements be about why it is important that
if you are as passionate and as as we are
all passionate to come out and represent and be a voice,
and especially for those who are women of colored, people
of colored, those in the lgbt q I Y, it's
really important right now that that community step up. Culture

(19:04):
change is happening in our communities, and it's also happening
in government buildings. If you look at the Georgia State
Capital right now, we just put in uh mom of
a which is for you if you are pumping or breastfeeding.
We've never had that before, and this is because legislators
who are female who had tiny's needed to breastfeed, and

(19:28):
they started breastfeeding on the floor of the state capital,
and they started to say, we're doing this because people
can't come here and do what they need to do
if they want to be a citizen advocate, they have
to choose whether they're going to feed their child or not.
And so there are opportunities for our state capital. I

(19:48):
believe to have gender neutral bathrooms. Currently we don't, and
I believe that only if there are more people with
intersectional identities who are not just say a queer like me,
but maybe our moms of queer kids, or maybe dads
of trans kids, then that is when we'll see the

(20:09):
tide turn. That's a great point. I love that. So
in your time with the government, yes, we've been looking
at I've been looking at some of your bills and
some of the things that you have been um pushing,
and I did want to talk about because I love
it and I need to know more about it, the
testicular Bill of Rights. Thank you. Yeah, I want to

(20:30):
know all about it. How you came to come together,
and I decided this needs to be talked about at
the very least as a way of protesting. That's right.
So the abortion ban in twenty nineteen was really just
another day of business as usual at the Georgia State
Capital UM. Some of my colleagues, who identify as Caucasian

(20:55):
and Mail were up to what I consider to be
business as usual, restricting people's rights, not listening to their constituents,
and in fact doing something that is incredibly costly to
our state. They decided that in that day, even though
we had done five or ten direct actions on the

(21:16):
state floor by turning our backs to the speakers, linking arms,
bringing media in, shouting out planned parenthood, not leaving the
well when we were supposed to, and continuing to speak,
but they were still able to get the bill passed.
So we said, as much as you have the power
to go to Legislative Council and to what you say

(21:38):
is to write legislation that your constituents want you to write,
we do too. So a few of us black women
legislators went to Legislative Council and under the understanding that
our constituents had reached out to us about men's health,
we wanted to write some bills. So we did the
Testicular Bill of Rights, we auditioned only did the Vanishing

(22:01):
VIAGRAAH Act. We also tried to create a study Committee
on a Rectile Dysfunction, and we talked a lot about
the social and mental aspects of masculinity that are toxic
and in fact, those are the reasons why we have
unplanned pregnancy. Unfortunately, our bill has not gotten a hearing,

(22:22):
but it has gotten media from here across the world.
We are open to talking about it anytime. I love it. Yeah,
as I was reading it, I think I was giggling,
but I was really excited because like, this is absolutely
the questions that we need to come back to. And
the weather. It's actually talking about sexual assault or again
unwanted praying, the seize, any of that. These are important

(22:42):
questions that should be addressed. Why aren't men taking responsibility
for all of these actions that are happening. Why is
this being just dumped on two women or those who
identify as women, or those who have vaginas in general?
Why is that so states pay for state pay and
its health benefit plan for Viagra Tier one, you know,

(23:04):
get that paid for for active members as well as retirees. Additionally,
you know, when we look at what happens when someone
is trying to get a DNA test to prove paternity,
does the state pay for that no, so just trying
to pull out some of the fallacies and contradictions of
the Georgia Code. I love it. And then as I

(23:26):
was doing through your stuff, you also do a lot
of work with homelessness and housing and displacement. Can you
talk a little bit more about that, because I know
it's always been a crisis, but it's becoming more more
of unawareness, especially with that current administration not really caring
about the underlying issues and echos socionomical, basic economic Thank you, yes,
you're no words. This is my job. This is my job. Yes,

(23:50):
so can you talk a little more about that please? Certainly?
And thinking about housing insecurity is not just someone who
is sleeping on the streets. Sometimes it is mamas who
are paying for one week in a hotel so her
kids can stay in the area, so they can go
to school, and no one in the school will know

(24:10):
what they're going through. We have been hearing from families
across the state of Georgia, rural, suburban, urban, you name it,
who are facing housing insecurity. Most people are able to
talk about that issue when they see it. Um maybe
they see it when they're getting off the highway and

(24:31):
someone is asking for some help, or maybe they see
it when they're at a grocery store and someone is
expressively hungry. But what we don't really talk about is
the mental health aspects of that, in the physical health
aspects of that. So we have tried to coalesce with
some of the organizations that meet people where they are.

(24:53):
These are organizations like community land trusts. The whole point
of a community land trust is to get some land
and to hold it in a trust so that no
matter what, that house on that land will remain affordable.
Community land trust right now in the state of Georgia
are so notable because Georgia is the first state to

(25:15):
ever have a community land trust, beating out Vermont, New York,
California years and years ago. But we have not done
anything to actually protect those community land trusts and staying affordable.
So this past year we worked with the City of
Atlanta's Housing Department and government relations as well as a

(25:37):
community land trust here in Atlanta to say, what are
your famili's experiencing And they said this, they don't own
the land, but they own the house. So when property
tax time comes around, the community land trust is paying
for the land and they're paying for the house, but
that homeowner cannot request an exemption from school taxes from

(26:01):
municipal taxes if they're old enough because they don't technically
own the land. So there are some administrative fixes just
like that that the governor did and signed and felt
was fine. But there are other issues like mental health,
protecting veterans, making sure that trans and gender nonconforming youth

(26:22):
who are sleeping under the bridge blocks from here because
we visit them, actually have a way to get back
on their feet. And sometimes that can be through a
foster care system, other times that can be through a
supportive family. And we're trying to make some pathways for
folks to get out of housing insecurity. That's awesome. As
I was reading that, it was really really inspiring, just

(26:44):
understanding how harmful gentrification can be, but how inevitable it
often is. Unfortunately there's no real solution, and seeing things
like that, talking about different types of built how the
government canvass or should be a part of this conversation
instead of it just being based on income or based
on individuals, and it seems like it's hard press but

(27:05):
slowly at least being conversational. Yeah, we're getting there, and
you know. I'll say one of the most exciting moments
I had working across the aisle last year was with
a rural legislator who told me about when he was
growing up, he used to have bunnies at his house

(27:26):
all the time, and he loved his bunnies until he
found out they were rats, and in that understanding, he
would support my bill making sure that people had safe housing.
We were able to pass a bill that is a
part of kind of a tenants bill of rights to
say if you report your buddies or rats to your landlord,

(27:51):
they cannot just go ahead and evict you, which is
what's happening in the state of Georgia. If you report
mold or mild you, or any of the things that
are environmental or health and safety issues, they can actually
terminate your rental contract. I don't know if I knew that. No,
I didn't know. I didn't know that, So we changed
that bill last year. I knew that there was some

(28:14):
changes happening with the winners rights. Things I did not
know included the fact that we could have been kicked out.
And I'm a renter, so I'm like, what what, Wow,
I'm learning things today Georgia. Okay, but we fixed it.
You fixed it. That's amazing. Um. And then also we
kind of wanted to come background. You were talking about
foster care and such, something that's very passionate to me.

(28:36):
I am I used to be in social work. Thank you.
Weird statement saying that because I'm not as was like
last week. That's very new. Um. But I was working
with the Department Chieval Justice. I worked with foster care.
I'm also adopted. And I know once again the whole
idea of religious freedom bill is coming back around. I
know that legislators trying to reintroduce it again, and of

(28:58):
course I am more than horrified because there are things
happening around the country that is allowing actual votes like
this to go forward. UM. Can you kind of talk
about what that because I know you've been in there
while they were trying to fight this bill at the
begin with. As we're coming back to this, what are
some things that we need to be paying attention to.
How do we vocally advocate and physically advocate to fight

(29:20):
against such a bill. When you hear the term religious freedom,
you should think religious restriction, right, And we're trying to
make sure that people understand. Whether you believe in someone
or something that gets you somewhere, that's fine. We're not
trying to stop people from believing or not believing. What

(29:41):
we want to make sure that we do is create
the separation of church and state. Now, in a state
like Georgia in the Bible Belt, that's really difficult for
reasons like you have pastors running for office. You also
have government to policies that create a special space in

(30:04):
the state capital for prayer to always happen. So we're
juxtaposing people who believe strongly and people who understand what
the public wants. What the public wants today is for
there to be the separation of church and state. You
can look at even a place that I don't eat,

(30:24):
Chick fil A, they don't even open on Sundays because
they understand for their beliefs that that is what they
need to do on Sundays. Great, do that on Sundays.
Maybe if you're Jehovah's witness, do it on Saturdays. Do
whatever day you need to, except for when you are
restricting someone else's life. And in issues related to not

(30:50):
only baking a cake for a wedding, even though that
Supreme Court case really was disappointing to us, all um,
but also about adopting people. We saw this week as well,
the Senate dropped the anti LGBTQ adoption bill. In our words,

(31:12):
we know that research shows that same sex couples are
four times more likely than opposite sex couples to be
raising adopted children. So you're already targeting the group of
folks who can help get the seventeen thousand children out
of our foster care system today. What we want for

(31:35):
Georgians and people across the world to know about religious liberty,
religious freedom, which we believe to be religious restriction, is
that if you are able to come to the table
on this conversation and say, hey, love thy neighbor, do
not judge, then we need you right now, right So

(31:55):
what can we do? Because obviously I am someone who
is beyond passionate about things like this, because I have
seen firsthand what that what happens to our children when
those types of restrictions happened, and what happens to the
families who oftentimes are more equipped to work with kids
who are a little come from a dysfunctional background. Because

(32:16):
the one thing I've had to tell many of people
who ask me about adoption and foster cared, be ready,
these kids are not healthy. You're not getting an any
from you know the movies. You know, I love that movie.
I also love you any But I'm just saying. But
that's the thing is, it's obviously these are very troubled

(32:37):
youths oftentimes, and we know that after age five they're
less likely to be adopted. Actually at age three, um
must be real, honest, and that any child that old
has gone through some sort of trauma. And oftentimes I
see people of the l g B t u I
community understand that and are more equipped to handle or
at least are more prepared to handle such trauma. So

(33:00):
with that, what can we do to continue to make
sure our voices are known beyond just the regular emails,
beyond you know? What can we do? Yes? Three things?
One is registered to vote, y'all. The deadlines are always happening.
You know, people like who wins the deadline so I
can do it the night before or the day of
voter registration deadlines are always happening. Don't worry about whether

(33:24):
or not you're trying to get it for this election
or that election. We believe voting to be a practice
registered to votes. You can see, oh, my polling place
is green today. Oh it was actually purple when I
voted last time. I mean literally, just a practice of
knowing your space when you're going to make these decisions,
because these are the senators that you're voting for. If

(33:46):
they have an incumbent letter by their name, please look
them up before you go. You can see your sample
ballot online across the state of Georgia by just going
to the Secretary of State's web page. The second thing
is know that politicians are playing games with people's lives
right now, and they deserve to be held accountable. Social

(34:09):
media is a great way to do that. To make
people understand that your beliefs are equally as important to
your elected officials beliefs. Even if they have the power
to go in and to write a piece of legislation,
you need to remind them that that is only a
fraction of their job. The main part of our job

(34:30):
at the state capital is to balance the state budget.
If your elected official cannot talk to you about the
money that they're trying to get into the state budget
for their hospitals and their schools and all they can
do is talk to you about restricting people's ability to
live in safe and healthy communities. Please quickly redirect them.

(34:53):
Help them understand that our state of Georgia has the
Department of Family and Child Services and they our budget
line is possibly about to get cut. If they really
care about making sure that people have healthy lives, they
should be doing a better job of balancing that budget line.
The third thing that I truly, truly believe that we

(35:15):
can all do is to talk to children. Um. When
you're talking to children, help them understand, um, what it
is that you have experienced, regardless of their age. Help
them understand why something makes you upset. Help them know
that they can speak up if they feel like something
is happening. Our children these days are at age three

(35:37):
thinking about gender identity, and if we would have adults
who would just listen and talk to them and not
push religion down their throat at that moment with conversion therapy,
then they might actually be Okay, I am excited in
the opportunity, you know, to keep registering people to vote,

(35:58):
to keep talking about the state budget, and of course
to keep talking to children to stop religious restrictions from happening.
Right that's awesome. We do have some more of our
interview for you listeners, but we do have one more
put break for a word from our sponsor, and we're back.

(36:26):
Thank you sponsor. Let's get back into it. As you're
talking about voting, obviously, Georgia is very very in the
middle of all the controversy with the voter suppression issues
as well as the fact of the giant purge that
has happened, which would be also another thing for everybody,
all the listeners to go back and check make sure
you have not been perished, because that is very very

(36:47):
important obviously, and then also having the conversation of voting
being a right and not a privilege. So with all
of that, can you kind of speak on a little more.
Obviously we're coming into a big year for everything, and
you speak a little more on that for us to
be aware not only of what's going on, maybe what
we should be paying attention to with that as well,

(37:07):
because obviously when it comes to the lawsuits and all
of that, and we know that Stacy Abrams is a
big voice and has started her nonprofit which is freaking amazing. UM,
But just kind of talking a little more and letting
us for the listeners who may not completely know kind
of detail that for us, that's right. And thinking about voting,
I think about people who have come before me and

(37:30):
people who will come after me. My vote is not
about what I want. It's really about what I have
seen and what I want to see. Sometimes people get
so tied up and voting for a candidate, voting, you know,
to make sure that if that person does not get elected,

(37:51):
then I'm just throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
And you know, I'll say, you know, even some of
my Democratic Socialist friends, that was the whole point of
the Bernie or Bust mentality. It was like this or
throw out the bath water and the baby, and that
mentality is really difficult. It is this cancel culture. It's

(38:15):
all of this toxic nature that says, if something didn't
go your way, then just kill it all together. But
in fact, that's not what voting is about. Voting is
all about choice and opportunity. When you go to the
ballot in March for the presidential primary, there will be
a bunch of people there. There's also a write in

(38:37):
slot if you don't want anyone right in who you
want to write in, but at least your vote gets counted.
If you understand that your candidate is not going to
get selected right before the election, or maybe they have
a runoff like I did for their second election, those

(38:58):
votes matter even more. We should be looking out for
special elections and runoff elections, but they're not really jargon
that people are used to. They're used to like, oh,
the primarya the general, But what about the special elections?
What about the runoffs? What about the times when twenty
three votes changes something. Imagine if you and your apartment

(39:21):
building of people or your block of people said we're
going to vote, and you change the election. I bet
you that your ability to feel more invested in the
system would increase. What we do know about voters right now,
which makes me really excited, is that they're the youngest

(39:41):
they've ever been. And even when they say millennials don't vote,
what they actually mean is we haven't done the data yet.
They're pulling information from not only forty year olds who
have ten year olds and nineteen year olds who are
just getting into college. They can't figure out how to

(40:02):
do all that together. All of the pundits can't even
do it, and so it's a farce. It is not
true that millennials, gen X, all of us, that we
don't vote. We actually do. We've been voting in Georgia
at three hundred and sixty percent more than we ever
have before. But we're doing it in a very specific way.
We are early voting. Yes, we're not waiting for election day.

(40:27):
So if the election was supposed to be on this
coming Tuesday, this whole week would be early voting in
the state of Georgia. We'll do it the week before.
Get off of work, get out of your place, go
early vote. And that's really what's going to make the
difference in this presidential election. That's awesome, thank you. I've

(40:48):
been taking over. I get really excited. These are very
important issues right now. Um. I was gonna say, ask
in too for those who are considering running, because those
who are considering and getting their their footwet. I'm not
one of those people, just so you know, UM, what
would your advice for them? Be? Three things? Of course, One,

(41:13):
scrub your social media, not because you're trying to change
who you are, but because when voters come to look
at you, they're looking for bite sized pieces they want
to understand. Okay, this person does that they went there
and they served in this capacity. We know the average
you know, like idle on a page. Um, you know,

(41:33):
mentality is ten seconds. If you hold your phone right
now and just stare at it for ten seconds, you're
gonna be bored. So people are not really going to
take that much time to look at like you're, you know,
post about visiting the Grand Canyon unless you want that
there to prove that you're an environmentalist. Go ahead and
just clean it up so they can actually see you

(41:56):
in the noise of what is the internet. The second
thing of Core says, get a kitchen cabinet of people
who you trust that you can talk to. Your kitchen
cabinet is that thing. You open it, you're like, hey Cheetos,
Hey Derritos, Hey girl. You could go in there and
just let it go and no one else has to know.
You need those handful of people who you can say,

(42:18):
did you know they pulled up my yard signs again,
I'm so frustrated, and my mail piece didn't go out
on time, and I'm late from an interview, and my
shoe broke and all these things, And then you can
zip it together and go in and do the interview.
You need to be able to have that kitchen cabinet
to carry you throughout the campaign. And the third thing
is raise some money. I was a twenty three year

(42:40):
old broke college student when I decided to run for office,
calling all my twenty three year old broke friends, who
would say, yeah, I'm so proud of you. I'm so
glad you're reading this is awesome. I really cannot give
you twenty five dollars. I would take five dollars from
my friends because that's one yards sign and really thinking

(43:01):
about how you can do exciting things on a grassroots campaign.
We raise money at drag shows in our election because
that was a part of our voter and that was
a part of our campaign. So don't think about raising
money as this yucky thing that is self serving. Instead,

(43:22):
like I said, if you're running for office, you're running
to balance a budget. You should be able to ask
for money. That's the job you're going to do. So
it's really some like job training. Yeah, yeah, money, he
has to have that money. It's true, damn money being

(43:43):
poor and now I'm like money, Um, would you like
to discuss anything that we haven't brought up these There
any projects, anything that's specific to you that you would
love for our listeners, to listeners to know about, words,
listeners to know about to all the families out there.
You know, I just want to thank you all for resisting.
It is difficult, you know, it's hard. I know that

(44:07):
as a Duela, I'm working with mamas who are about
to deliver or who have delivered right now, and the
state of Georgia has gotten the worst ranking and maternal
health outcomes, as people say, black women are three times
more likely to die than their counterparts in childbirth. As

(44:27):
much as we do want to educate the public about that,
I believe we should be sensitive in how we do
it because it is triggering. It's traumatizing to tell someone
that they might perish um for making this life decision
when you have also restricted their ability to terminate a pregnancy.
So I just want to thank families out there and

(44:47):
the people who support them, and to let you know
that I'm always here in Atlanta, Georgia, rocking out, fighting
for you know, the end to voter suppression and the
continuation of some progressive of politics. So I do want
to ask a personal question because obviously you have a
very heavy duty duty job, heavy heavy duty jobs. What

(45:09):
do you do to give yourself a chance to step away?
What is your outlet? Thank you? Family is definitely number
one for me. I went to college for dance, so
I really like to dance. That can be like in
a class or in a club. You might catch me

(45:29):
come on Atlanta or yes, yes Friday night, let's do this.
We're gonna be friends, so it's fun. Um. And then
the third thing, of course, is shutting down off of
social media. Sometimes it can be really toxic, and whether
you're in elected office or not, I think we all
need to do that. Awesome, Well, thank you so much.
I've been so excited. I've been telling everybody so yes,

(45:55):
I'm a fan girl over here. I'm really excited that
you are here. I'm really say that you are a
giant voice for our state and are part of the
fight in progressing Um, your your heart and obviously your
passion has been an amazing representation of Georgia. So thank you,
Thank you, And that concludes our interview with part Canon.

(46:16):
As you can tell, we were very excited and it
could have lasted a lot longer. I did have to
have a couple of moments all right, chill Smith, it's okay,
it's okay, it's okay. I loved it. I loved every
second of it. I'm sorry, I'll let you suffer, but
it was a beautiful thing. Behold. And I just want
to tell everyone, yes, please get involved and you never know,

(46:37):
reach out, talk to these people. They will reach back
to you and they will have a conversation with you.
And that is very, very important in getting to know
who your representatives are. Yeah, yeah, And I love her
story of she just was mad about who was representing
or went to the went to the capitol, and then
met someone who then mentored her, chapped her to run

(47:01):
and reach out. There's no telling what can happen if
you just put an effort in getting to know people.
In the story, it's true. I used to tell myself
that all the time. I could either stay in, which
I would love, but I could also go out and
meet people. And I don't know what that will lead to.
Can be rewarding, sometimes, can be I mean that's kind

(47:23):
of how we met. That's how we met. Yeah. So
I just want to say thank you part for coming
in with us and sitting with us and having such
a candid and open conversation for those who are thinking
about going out and actually trying to become a part
of the voice being involved by getting into politics. Listen
to our advice. That's some amazing things that you can do,
and encourage you to do so try represent us. We

(47:48):
need you, We need you, Yes, and we need more
voices like Park Cannon and in this which is Black
History Month, SYS comes out always want to spotlight women
of color or who are out there fighting the good fight,
fighting the good fight and doing amazing things and inspiring
all of us. Yes, So if if you would like

(48:09):
to email us, we would love to hear from you.
Our email is Stuff Media Mom Stuff at i heeart
media dot com. You can also find us on Twitter
at Mom's Podcast or on Instagram That stuff I've Never
told you where you can see a very well I'm
embarrassing a photo of part Cannon, Samantha and I and
I look like I just came in from a blizzard,
but I'm actually just cold. Don't you want to take

(48:32):
a jacket off? Thanks as always to our super producer
Andrew Howard. Thank you, and thanks to you for listening
Stuff I'm Never told you. The protection of I Heart Radios,
How stuff Works For more. Podcast from my Heart Radio
is the I Heartradio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you
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