- 2 days ago
In 2024, we are confronting a major election year with history and the rights of marginalized communities on the ballot. The disparities that Black and Brown people confront in this country are significant and growing from housing and employment to access to health care and access to capital. The Sundial Group of Companies which includes ESSENCE, the Global Black Economic Forum, Girls United, AfroPunk, BeautyCon and New Voices Foundation are coming together, along with our partners, to mobilize and ensure that we educate, mobilize and register voters to take action this November and into the future.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00How excited are you, Alfonso? I am excited. We have two fantastic members of Congress joining us,
00:05but I'll let you take it away. First, please welcome Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett from
00:12the House of Representatives for Texas 30th Congressional District, great state of Texas.
00:19Also joining us is Congresswoman Chantel Brown from the great state of Ohio,
00:25hailing from Ohio's 11th district. Thank you both for joining us today.
00:30It's good to see both of you.
00:33Look, before we begin, I think it is only right for us to pause just for a moment and remember the life
00:42of the late, great Sheila Jackson Lee. There's memorial service being held today for her,
00:51who's hailing from the great state of Texas. But I think we would be remiss if we did not stop for
00:57a second, just for a couple of seconds, and think about this, this Shiro.
01:08Thank you all for that. Sometimes I think we just have to stop and sometimes think about what we are
01:16missing and we are missing her so much right now. Before we begin the conversation, actually,
01:21Representative Crockett, I wanted to just ask you, let people know what this line is, who she was,
01:30and how we will miss the work and the legacy that she has left behind.
01:34Yeah. You know, what's interesting is that we were reminded that she is of Jamaican descent.
01:42And one of the jokes that we would always talk about when it came to Sheila is that she was always
01:49in 50 meetings at one time, right? So her body would physically be in one meeting and then she'd be on
01:56Zoom with somebody else with the headphones. But listen, as much as we joked, this is a woman who worked
02:05all the time. Even when she was sick on her deathbed, she never stopped working. She believed
02:11that the people, specifically the people of Texas, deserved better. And when it came down to
02:17representing people, while she was elected to represent Texas' 18th Congressional District,
02:22that is famously known because Barbara Jordan held that seat as the first Black woman to ever go to
02:27Congress from Texas, she also made sure that she never, ever lost sight of the fact that she was a Black
02:34woman in America. And so being able to celebrate Juneteenth is because she never gave up. She
02:40was the fighter at all times for reparations, as well as the George Floyd Policing Act. I mean,
02:48this is a woman that never stopped and never lost focus of community. And community wasn't just her
02:56district, but it was Black folks. So definitely, she will sorely be missed. But I can tell you,
03:02as the next generation is trying to do our part, Chantel and I will continue to fight and make sure
03:09that her legacy continues to live on and that her legislation doesn't die with her. But it continues
03:15on until we finally get to the promised land and actually start to see a United States that really
03:23starts to respect and love us wholly, not just in word, but also in legislation.
03:29Congresswoman Brown, I want you to also talk about what her life meant and what she has represented
03:35for you. She was just a powerhouse. You know, I grew up watching her on C-SPAN and on MSNBC,
03:44you know, the news stations. And she always spoke with such command, such confidence. And she had,
03:50if you heard her, she had this booming voice, you know, Sheila. It just came through and she just
03:56commanded the room, no matter where she was. And so I was, to my surprise, when I first met her,
04:02I'm like this little petite powerhouse. Like she was just so, but it was like, I imagined her to be
04:08this tall woman, but she, she was, she might've been five something, but she was six, seven in spirit.
04:13Okay. Because she did not back down from anything. She was fearless. She was a fighter. And she really just,
04:22as, as, as Jasmine articulated, always, always showed up and put people first. And we joked about,
04:30you know, her being never shy from a camera, you know, she will always be in position,
04:36but it was a historical context to that because she left an imprint of what we could aspire to be.
04:44Had I not seen her in the, in those images growing up, I did, I would not know that this is a slate,
04:50a space in place where I could be. And so, um, I'm just honored to be able to say when the history
04:58books are written that I was able to serve with her.
05:03That's so powerful. That's so powerful. Well, look, we are here, um, to not just carry on her legacy,
05:09but to talk about issues affecting black America and to mobilize and talk about voter mobilization.
05:14I just want to quickly get your reactions. And Alfonso and I talked about this a great length before
05:21about the NABJ conference, where we saw three black journalists, uh, interviewing former president
05:28Donald Trump and the controversy ensued whether or not she should have been there or not. But then after
05:33that, some of the comments that were made, uh, representative Crockett, what was your reaction
05:40to that town hall where that, that panel discussion?
05:43Well, what hot mess.com, um, hot mess.com. That's all I got to say about it. But listen, um,
05:50regardless of where you stand about NABJ and how they handled, you know, Trump showing up and how
05:56they handled the VP and that kind of stuff. I think that it was important for us to have this moment
06:01because number one, I think that Trump has not been pushed as all candidates should be pushed.
06:07When you were trying to be the leader of the free world, um, you should be asked questions.
06:12And when you don't answer those questions, you should be redirected. Um, and what's interesting
06:18is that, um, it's almost like not almost, he took offense that there were black women journalists
06:25that were basically trying to get him to do what journalists are supposed to always do with him,
06:31which is to get him to answer questions. Instead, he decided that he was going to insult them as well
06:36and call them nasty. Um, and, and talk about how rude they were and things like that when all they
06:42were doing is actual like journalism, which again, project 2025, which is a nonpartisan thing allegedly
06:48because it comes from the heritage foundation, which is 501 C three. Um, but it talks about things
06:55such as the media. And, um, um, basically as far as if I was to summarize it, getting rid of the free
07:02press. And I feel as if we've seen a consolidation when it comes to the media in general, because he's
07:08not been pressed. And now that he actually was like, had journalists that wanted to do their jobs.
07:13Um, he didn't know how to handle it. Cause when he went to do his debate on CNN, they, they didn't do
07:18their jobs. That's for sure. But I saw the text that you put out the, the, the, um, on, on Twitter,
07:29on X and you said, shut his BS down mid sentence. But there was also this question and representative
07:34Brent, I want to ask you about this, about challenging blackness in America. And that
07:39is something that did not just subject to, to that, but we have seen over and over this challenge
07:45of blackness, having to prove blackness. What were you thinking as you were watching,
07:50or were you able to even, uh, watch that, uh, panel? I caught some of it and I was, I mean,
07:56my text, I was flabbergasted. I mean, but a zebra doesn't change the stripes and leopards don't
08:01change their spots. This was, this was typical Donald Trump. I mean, when he can't speak or answer
08:06a question, he defaults to attacks and name calling and it's really petty and it's, it's really
08:12immature and it really is lackluster leadership on his part. And it did, it was on full display
08:17for all the world to see. And I really love the fact that it was black women once again,
08:23holding him accountable. I mean, from, uh, the prosecutor in New York to, uh, with, uh, to,
08:28to the prosecutor in Georgia, to now him having to deal with the prosecutor, um, as his candidate,
08:34uh, to face, to, uh, hold the highest office in the land. Black women have been his greatest
08:41adversaries and really holding him accountable for his, uh, dastardly deeds. And so I, um, I was really
08:50grateful for the women who were on that stage, who kept their composure, who held their, um,
08:56held their own, made sure they were confronting him with the facts. And, and, and he just tried to
09:01bulldozer them, which is something he's always done. So that should not have come as a surprise,
09:06but I was pleased with the representation that we had on that stage, however difficult that
09:11interview would have been because he is not the type of person that you're going to get an easier
09:17interview out of regardless. So I do believe, um, when it comes to folks like him and, and, and his
09:24MAGA minions, they have no bottom. They have no boundaries. Just when I think they can't get any lower,
09:29they prove me wrong. And he did just that yesterday on the stage.
09:34Congresswoman Crockett, um, I had a chance to interview, interview you when a global black
09:40economic forum, um, had an event at essence. And in that we quickly spoke about project 2025. And
09:46you just mentioned that I don't, we, I don't think people really, or maybe they're really beginning to
09:53understand the depth and seriousness of project 2025 and how this is not something that we are
09:59just saying now, but it has been in the works. Uh, when we see some of the reform that has come down
10:05from, uh, the Supreme court, that is a part of the project 2025 playlist. So when we talk about
10:11vulgar mobilization, ordering on why people need to get to the polls, I just want you to double down and
10:16let people know what this is and why this matters in their decision. Yeah. So, um, a couple of things
10:25right now, we see that the campaign that is most closely aligned with project 2025 is trying to run
10:31away from it with their hair on fire. Like, wait a minute. We didn't know. We didn't know. Yeah. Okay.
10:36Um, you know, so many of these people worked in the previous administration, um, and supposedly we're
10:42going to work potentially in the next administration if Trump was to win. And so basically they decided
10:49that they were going to play in our faces and basically thought, well, we'll just hide it in
10:53a thousand pages and they'll never read it. But we want to make sure that our psychopaths are able to
10:59see in detail exactly what it is that we are trying to do. But as you already stated, as someone who came
11:05from the state house, um, this is just my first term in Congress. When I was in the state house last session,
11:11we had to deal with things such as CRT, um, where they basically commandeered and changed the
11:17definition of CRT and decided that they just did not want black history taught in our schools.
11:22Well, that's a part of project 2025 and making that a nationwide situation. When we look at these
11:27six week abortion bans that started to go into place, what we had was we called, um, a vigilante bill.
11:33They called it the heartbeat bill, but that bill was something that they handed down to,
11:37to the state of Texas. They handed this to Florida. We know that Iowa just got their
11:41six week ban. So the heritage foundation has been coming up with this legislation
11:46and has been passing it through to Republicans and, um, mostly Republican controlled houses
11:52to try to push this legislation legislation through. And then we get to the Supreme court
11:57where we know that the previous administration stole some kind of seats on the Supreme court.
12:04I mean, it depends on who you're talking to, how many of those seats were stolen, but nevertheless,
12:09the whole point was to get a court that would not necessarily adhere to the constitution nor court
12:15precedents, but would do basically what project 2025 wants to do, which is to consolidate power
12:22within the presidency or the executor. And so we've got things such as getting rid of the department of
12:28education is one of those things, department of justice, which we know is separate and apart from
12:33the president. As we've seen, the current president's son has gone through the justice system,
12:38has been convicted. That would not necessarily happen because this power would be consolidated,
12:44not to mention all the work that we did for the affordable care act. They know that it's not
12:48popular to decide that you want to roll that back and get rid of preexisting, uh, conditions
12:54being an issue that you don't have to deal with. And all of the things that we have, we still know
12:59that there's a long way that we need to go when it comes to healthcare, when it comes to economics,
13:03when it comes to, um, our overall, um, prospects in this country. But instead, everything that is in
13:11this playbook is more so reminiscent of the 1950s and the 1960s. And so it is important that you
13:18understand that this is dangerous and it's not a game. And it's not just politicians out here just
13:24talking our heads off. You need to read it for yourself. Don't trust what I say. Just go ahead and
13:29Google because I get that it is tough to trust politicians nowadays. But I'm going to tell
13:35y'all, like I tell everybody else, my life was a little simpler before Congress. I didn't have
13:41death threats before Congress. And I actually dealt with real life murderers as a criminal defense
13:46attorney. Like my life was a little simpler, a lot less people knew my name. It was a lot simpler,
13:54but I am here because I care. I am here because I believe that we specifically as black folk deserve
14:01our fair share. And Chantel and I serve as only one of less than 60 black women to ever get a seat
14:08at this table. And when we take up that seat, we understand that there's a lot of blood, sweat,
14:15and tears that came with our ability to sit at that table. And we don't have the luxury of trying to
14:20pretend as if we not black. We don't have the luxury of trying to pretend like we don't know
14:25how we got there. We are there to do the work. So I'm telling y'all because I love you and I care,
14:30but I'm also telling you like trust, but verify. So go ahead and get your own receipts. Y'all know
14:36I'm the Congresswoman that's already always got the receipts, but like legitimately just Google it and
14:42don't just go out and vote yourself. Make sure that you tell somebody else in your circle who doesn't
14:47want to listen to a politician and tell them why it matters to them and that it's important that
14:53they get out and they vote as well. Alfonso, when you were, when GBEF was putting together
14:59the panels for Essence, one issue I know you wanted to make sure we talked about and hammered on in
15:06addition to everything else was really digging into project 2025 because you really had a passion for
15:12people understanding what's at stake here. It's incredibly important because um you know this is
15:19a hashtag that people now know about but unfortunately don't have a lot of information about what it is
15:26but I think to what the congresswoman was saying this is a framework for redefining government for
15:34really redefining how we operate within government and potentially removing fundamental rights that
15:40black and brown people have. So this is an important topic that I think all of us should
15:44be very very aware of because it should inform how we think about voting, how we think about
15:49registration, how we think about the rights of our communities because it will be directly impacted
15:54by whether and how you vote. So for some of you who are joining us this is Paint the Pose Black
16:01which is a town hall uh led by Essence and the Global Black Economic Forum and Afropunk and Girls United and
16:08a bunch of other organizations, companies that are coming together to make sure that we mobilize voters,
16:14that we educate voters, that we provide the tools that you need to make sure that you can exercise
16:20your constitutional right to vote. We will be joined by a number of other special guests. We're joined by
16:26two fantastic congress people right now, Jasmine Crockett and Chantel Brown who will also be joined by
16:32Pacari Sellers and others coming up very very soon so we want to make sure that you all stick around.
16:37But I'll turn it back over to Ebony who has a few more questions for both Congresswoman Crockett
16:42and Congresswoman Brown. I want to switch just a little bit because we mentioned reproductive rights
16:49but I really want people to understand what's at stake when it comes to that. Since Roe was overturned in
16:542022, 14 states have enacted near total abortion bans while four states, Georgia, South Carolina,
17:02Florida, Iowa have banned abortion past roughly six weeks of pregnancy. Others we see enacting laws
17:09or held ballot referendums to protect abortion rights. And I'm glad we have this on here. For me,
17:15this was such an important topic because I was telling Alfonso before this, as someone who might
17:21have been labeled childless Catwoman, I am raising a niece whose mother died before I got married,
17:29been trying to conceive, have not been able to, had a miscarriage. And I am sitting in a hospital room
17:38because my body could not expel a child, but I was in such pain. I'm watching another Black woman,
17:45I know that because I know the pain, have a miscarriage at the same time while her boyfriend
17:50or husband is trying to figure out how he can help her. What was going through my mind is how many
17:55women in Southern states are going through the same thing, but they don't even have the ability
18:01to get the help that they need. And many times their families end up burying them because they could not
18:07have access to any type of care, any type of abortion pill that would have helped. And so this
18:16has had massive and devastating consequences, especially when we talk about Black maternal care.
18:21Congresswoman Brown, I want to get your take on why reproductive rights is definitely on the table.
18:29Well, thank you. And just my sincerest regard relative to your situation, so many Black
18:37women deal with infant mortality, maternal mortality issues. Before coming to Congress,
18:43I served on Cuyahoga County. And during the times of the pandemic, we started to recognize the
18:51disparities specifically as they impact Black communities. And that conversation was only
18:56elevated by the tragic death of George Floyd. I bring that up because that was the foundation for
19:02me leading legislation to declare racism as a public health crisis. But the foundation was
19:07tied to infant mortality, the infant mortality crisis that we experienced here, particularly
19:13in my district where we have some of the best hospitals. I mean, first class, world class hospitals,
19:18but we also experienced third world infant mortality rates. And so these things just did not make sense
19:23to me. So this has been a long standing personal passion project of mine. So when we talk about
19:29reproductive freedom, when we talk about reproductive justice, when we talk about women being able to
19:34have the right to have the right to make their own health care decisions, I held from the state where
19:38the evangelist of Trump's 2025 project is now the VP pick, J.D. Vance, right? And this is a person who believes in
19:47having a national abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest. We are the state where there was a
19:5410 year old child who was a rape victim who had to flee the state to get the care that she needed because abortion care is
20:02health care. And so we're also the state where a young woman, Brittany Watts, a woman of color, had a
20:07miscarriage in her bathroom, lost a child. And because when she was in her restroom, in her bathroom, on
20:14the toilet, and the body of the fetus was stuck, she was charged with misuse of a corpse, abuse of a corpse.
20:22Those charges were eventually dropped. But because people, that was only because people showed up in
20:30Ohio in November and in August for issue one, both times. And this is the diabolical nature of
20:39the people that are putting forth this type of legislation. It is inhumane. It is insensitive. It is
20:48inconsiderate. It is dangerous. It is deadly in some cases. And so this is a serious component that
20:56is also in Trump's Project 2025, part of the thing that they want to institute if they get their hands
21:02on the levers of power during this 2024 election. And I think it's also important, if you'll allow me
21:09to circle back, we started talking about Project 2025. But this work, as my good sister, Representative
21:16Crockett talked about started long before this, there was a Project 2017 that got no attention. And
21:24what they did is they implemented nearly 60% of those policies in 2017. And we're dealing with those
21:32ramifications right now. We can talk about 2016, when we were, many folks were unsure about what they were
21:42going to do. And so many people didn't even exercise their right to vote Alfonso and Ebony. They thought,
21:47well, one candidate who was the most qualified candidate in our nation's history by the name of
21:52Secretary Clinton was on the ballot, but, oh, but her emails. And then another guy who people thought,
21:59oh, he would never win. Well, because people stayed home, because people played games in this binary
22:04system and voted third party, we ended up with a Donald Trump presidency. And he was able to appoint
22:11not one, not two, but three Supreme Court justices who are overturning decades of precedent. Roe v. Wade
22:18was overturned on my birthday, June 24, 2022, worst president I ever received. So I'll never forget the
22:25day. And so these are the ramifications when we talk about that, that cliche elections have consequences.
22:33This is the real life situation of elections having consequences. Because people didn't show up in 2016,
22:41those consequences didn't immediately hit us in 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 even. But we are feeling them now.
22:49June 24, 2022, Roe v. Wade was overturned, immediately followed by the overturning of affirmative action,
22:56the overturning of the Chevron case. And these are things that are outlined. It's not just a framework,
23:02Alfonso. It is a blueprint. It is a true roadmap of how they're going to really try to end democracy
23:11as we know it in this country. I mean, we heard Donald Trump say himself, if you vote this time,
23:18you'll never have to vote again. Now I don't know about y'all. But that is very, very concerning for me.
23:25And because I know that when it comes to power in this country, that whether you are black,
23:33white, rich, poor, gay, straight, Democrat, Republican, everybody gets one vote. So we need
23:41to make sure that we are taking this power back and that we are using it and that we're not being
23:47selfish in that and that we're spreading the power and empowering young people, empowering our community
23:52to make sure that they understand the power that they hold, because this election is truly going
23:58to be the most consequential of our life. These people aren't playing games. One of the things that
24:03I respect is that they are relentless about their pursuit of power. We have to vote from the top of
24:09the ticket to the bottom because every position matters in this game called politics. If we win the
24:17presidency, but we don't have a house or a Senate to support that presidency, then we're going to be
24:22in big trouble. So we have to make sure that we are crystal clear about what's at stake and what we
24:28need to do to preserve this fragile thing called democracy. It is not a guarantee. It is a gift,
24:35but it is not a guarantee. Church. I know we're not raising money, but can we pass the plate on that
24:45a little bit? The doors are open. That was a word. That was a word. So I know we only have five more
24:54minutes or so with you both. And I think there are a few things that we want to get to. So,
25:00Ebony, maybe we can just shift to D&I. So everyone's heard about diversity, equity, and inclusion,
25:07which has become now a target by some who oppose it. This is a nonpartisan call. So we'll try to
25:15try to just focus on the facts. So for both of you, and I think I want you both to answer this
25:20question, how is the term diversity, equity, and inclusion been weaponized to fuel misinformation?
25:27And what impact does this have on genuine equity efforts that we're seeing, whether in
25:33corporate sector or in government? Yeah. So real quick, I'll say that basically they're using DEI
25:41as their new racial slur. I mean, I'm just saying it's the new N word as far as I'm concerned.
25:47And what I need people to understand is that Chantel brought up the affirmative action decision.
25:52And part of kind of the catalyst for that has been this whole kind of anti-DEI movement that we've
25:59seen where they are pulling money out of our institutions, whether it's the colleges or whether
26:05it's other governmental agencies. But more importantly, we got to bring it back to the
26:11economics, right? So they are trying to translate this into everything that they can. This is where
26:17we've seen the attacks on the fearless fund. When you have black women trying to raise capital for
26:22black women and they're saying, no, you can't do that. Well, they ain't never told the white man
26:26that they couldn't do that. And that's the whole reason we've needed DEI, just to be clear.
26:31It's because there's not been space made for people other than white men in this country.
26:37And as it's been pointed out recently, the facts are that white women have benefited more from
26:42affirmative action than anyone. And so what it's always supposed to be is a matter of,
26:49hey, look at me too. But as we can look at this election and while I'm being nonpartisan in this
26:54moment, let me just point out the facts that the best way to explain how there has been a level of
27:01privilege in this country is to look and see that you've got an orange man on one side who literally
27:07was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. And somehow we have a race that is tied between him
27:14after his 34 felony convictions and a black woman who has never been to jail, who has been elected to
27:21multiple spots from D.A. to Attorney General to U.S. Senator to Vice President. And she is the one
27:30that they are alleging is unqualified because she is black and because she is woman. That is how DEI has
27:37been weaponized in this country when essentially it would just give her an opportunity to sit at the
27:44table. And right now we have a race that is tied. So that's that's my summary.
27:49So DEI, we're going to take it back, is definitely earned it. That's what I heard somebody say. So she
27:55has definitely earned it. And when we come to DEI, DEI is supposed to level the playing field when all
28:03things are equal because they want to pretend like, again, as Jasmine said, it's you're lacking
28:09qualifications. And the only reason you're getting these opportunities is because of the skin color
28:14or your gender, which nothing could be further from the truth. When it comes to our vice president, she
28:19is she's more far more qualified than Trump and J.D. Vance and many of those Republicans that are
28:28questioning her qualifications combined. OK, so if they put all of their little qualifications together,
28:35it wouldn't equal Vice President Harris's pinky finger as far as I'm concerned. So these people
28:41are just they're flamethrowers. They're gaslighters like this is this is something that they have been
28:48well practiced in and they have no relationship with the truth. This is what they do. So for me,
28:55I don't want to us to run away from DEI because I am DEI. I am diversity, equity and inclusion all day.
29:01I fight for us to make sure that we are getting those needs. I fight for us to make sure that the
29:07playing field is level. And that is what DEI is all about. But the fact that they are underqualified
29:14and questioning the qualifications of the most qualified person in this country's history to run for
29:20president is laughable. And I'm just leave it there. Thank you both for that. And now for the final
29:28question. You are both, of course, elected to Congress. You, Congresswoman Crockett was elected
29:34in 2023, if I'm not mistaken, and you, Congresswoman Brown in 2021. So where this town hall is about voter
29:43registration, it's about voter mobilization. What do you want to leave people with when they are saying,
29:49I'm not going to vote or my vote doesn't matter, or this is all noise, or I don't understand all the
29:56key issues? What do you want to leave them with on this town hall?
30:02So I'll jump in, I guess. For me, my very first, I would just
30:08tell people my very first race that I ran was for city council. And when the polls closed,
30:15I was literally down by six votes. And I thought I lost that race. But for what's not this thing
30:23called provisional ballots, which I call them just in case. So just in case you requested,
30:27requested an absentee ballot, or just in case you moved and you didn't update your voter registration,
30:32or just because just in case you got married and didn't change your name, you will still get a
30:36provisional ballot and vote. But these votes aren't counted immediately. They're counted 11 days later.
30:41And in my race, there were 23 of them. And that shifted me being down from six votes
30:49to winning by seven. Now, as a child of faith, seven represents perfection, completion, and God.
30:56And while I was okay with the outcome, if I had lost, I was okay with that. But I trusted God's
31:03infinite wisdom. And winning by seven has been my moral compass, the guiding force, and really the
31:10foundation of how and what I do as it relates to this work. I got into this because I wanted to help
31:18people. And I knew that serving in a public office could help me help a lot of people at one time.
31:29I need people to know that we have a chance to make history. We are on the precipice of change
31:44in this country. And it is critical that we use this power called the vote. Because like I said
31:51previously, when it comes to power in this country, it doesn't matter your party affiliation. It doesn't
31:58matter whether you're black or white. It doesn't matter your gender. From GED to PHD, everybody gets
32:05one vote. And people don't try to take things away from you that don't have value. They know that the
32:15vote is the way that we can truly make real change in this country. So I am just humbly, respectfully,
32:26but with bold expectations, pleading with people. Do not sit these elections out. None of them.
32:34And make sure you vote in every election and every race, up and down the ticket. Because this is truly
32:42a way for you to exercise your power in this country. And if we don't do it, the threat is real, that they will
32:51try to take it away. And with that goes away our freedoms. Many of the freedoms that we are taking
32:58for granted. The freedom for us to decide how we take care of our bodies, when we decide to start a
33:06family, who and how we choose to love. That's all on the line. So you don't have to do it for me.
33:14Do it for yourself and the future freedom and fight for this fragile thing called democracy. Because
33:20again, it is not a guarantee.
33:25Yeah. So God bless Chantel for only being down by six. When I was running for the state house, baby,
33:32I came up 700 votes down. So, you know, pause, pause. We had been voting for three weeks. We had
33:40tons of early voting because it was in the middle of the pandemic. And I had hustled. When I tell y'all
33:46I hustled, y'all don't understand. Like, I've actually just started sharing this story about
33:50the fact that I went and registered people at the trap houses. I did. I did. Okay.
33:57A vote is a vote is a vote. You know what I'm saying? And I was like, I knew where I wanted to
34:02go with some of my legislation, because I understand that when you end up with drug convictions,
34:08that means that you don't have opportunities for education. That means your housing opportunities
34:12go away, your job opportunities. Like I understood what sometimes cause people to kind of be in this
34:18cycle where they feel like they can never get ahead because I had done criminal defense work.
34:23And so I was like, listen, I'm fighting for y'all. I need y'all to fight for me to get in there to
34:28fight for y'all. So I went everywhere. So anyway, I was down by 700 votes. So I told my team, yo,
34:33we didn't lost. We didn't lost. You know, we tried, but three weeks later, it's, you know, 700.
34:38Somehow I ultimately won my race by 90 votes. So I tell everyone that every single vote counts.
34:46So it ended up being the tightest state house race in the entire state of Texas that year.
34:52And I went from barely getting there. One of the thank you Lotties that made it into the state house
35:00to then becoming only the fourth black woman ever elected to Congress from the state of Texas
35:04in the very next term. So what I want you to understand is that there is great talent that
35:10is out there that has a heart, but listen, they can't get anywhere if y'all don't do y'all research
35:15and decide that you're going to show up.
35:17And the reality is this. Would you ever own a business and pay somebody every month or every
35:26week or however frequent you're going to pay them and never check in on them, never decide to
35:32play a role in their hiring or firing? You would not. But that's essentially what you do when you give
35:38up your vote, because listen, you have to pay taxes or they come in to get you. Right. So if you're
35:44paying taxes, then why is it that you would not want to say so? And who's going to decide how your
35:50tax dollars are spent and where they're going to prioritize those dollars? Like you should like,
35:56like elected officials run everything in your life, everything, whether it is, um, the, the police that
36:03are on your streets, whether we're talking about whether or not you got good streets,
36:08whether you're talking about SNAP benefits, which both Chantel and I serve on the same two committees,
36:14oversight, as well as agriculture, where right now we are fighting. It's never a sexy headline to put
36:20out there, but we don't have a farm bill because there are people on the other side of us that have
36:25decided, you know what? $6 a day for people to eat is just too much. We want to cut $30 billion.
36:31When people are already struggling, like you should know this stuff and you have access to
36:37this information because y'all got the internet. When we had the likes of a John Lewis that literally
36:42did not know if he was going to live or not. Guess what? He didn't have access to that information.
36:47So I'm just imploring y'all to say this ain't about Chantel. It ain't about Jasmine. And frankly,
36:53it's not about Kamala Harris. I need y'all to be selfish and say, this is about me and mine.
36:58And so what that demands of me is that I'm going to show up and make a decision about
37:04which direction my life is going to go in, whether I'm going back or whether I'm going
37:08forward. And I'm telling y'all right now, I'm trying to go forward. So that's it.
37:12Okay. So we have two sermons. Ebony, do you have any last words?
37:19I need two, three seconds. I just really want to end. First, let me just say thank you. Thank
37:24you, ladies. Thank you for the work that you've done. Thank you for the ground that you are laying.
37:27I just want to end by just even quoting Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, who said
37:33that voting is not just our right, it is our power. And people need to realize that.
37:38It really is. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Congresswoman Crockett,
37:42Congresswoman Brown. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your advocacy on issues that directly
37:47impact black and brown people. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for having me.
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