Etch The Edges

John “Jersey” Koedderich is back on the Edge with a discussion about voter suppression, the reality of the new Georgia laws and how they truly are modern day Jim Crow efforts strategically designed to give the GOP an election advantage. It’s not illegal, as it is in the process of being made legal, but just like Jim Crow laws were unethical and un-American so too is the new Georgia election law. Stories matter. We track such a perspective on the law to the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, and life in south Georgia, and what type of perspective informs the need to be un-American and marginalize the rights of Americans in a banal effort to win.

On this episode of Etch The Edges we hear from activist and former leader of Black Lives Matter Sacramento, California Sonia Lewis. She is the founder and CEO of Ascribe Educational consulting. She pours her passion and her power into the hard work of Heart Work. She advocates strongly for truth, that we as human beings are all connected. At an early age she etched the edges on freedom, justice, and liberty, juxtaposed against a family member being killed by the police. She is sharing and telling the stories that matter, and working for justice and equity through her life’s work. Listen and learn who Sonia Lewis is and why we at Etch The Edges fully support her efforts, and we hope you will too. Listen and let’s etch the edges.

Etch The Edges is about closing the divide and elevating us all. With that consideration we are happy to once again have special guest Bernard Mills on the show. After decades of incarceration Bernard has come back into the world with a powerful commitment to making positive change and engaging in community uplift. On this episode he walks us through the vital 12 steps of a recovering drug dealer. He shares with us how young dealers on the inside have arrived at a point of clarity and are now committed to doing better, being better, and have developed a plan on how to do it. Listen in and learn from a real a real one, a truth teller. Let’s Etch The Edges.

On this episode of Etch The Edges we have the pleasure of speaking with Georgia State Representative Greg Kennard. In the state of Georgia like so many other states the ideological divide feels impossible to overcome. One side of the aisle holds the power and the other side is relegated to the sidelines. In the manner of a true aspiring statesman Representative Kennard shares with us how no matter how charged the road, you must walk it. You must reach out to the other side. You must endeavor to work together. You must believe that we can find common ground and find a better way. Take the time to hear his story, understand his context, and hear why it is important to etch the edges.

What if President Trump had won reelection in 2020? What would our world be like today? Where would we be with regard to the Pandemic? What would be the current state of the economy? What would be the state of relations between ethnicities? In Tom Fischgrund’s book Trump’s Second Term. Join us as we discuss this journey into a world that could have been.

It’s another D&D episode and unfortunately we’re talking about the same topic. We’ll have to keep leaning into discomfort and talk about, share it, push against it, make something positive happen as we continue to engage the issues. Cops are still killing Black men, and we know why.

On this episode of Etch The Edges we speak with Georgia State Representative Shelly Hutchinson. She represents House District 107, the city of Snellville in Gwinnett County, where everything is greater. Yeah, it’s a thing, or still a thing, depends on your point of view. Some think it’s getting weaker, dirtier, uglier, less intelligent. These adjectives are indicative of the state of Georgia politics, as evidenced by the new Jim Crow law passed in our great state. Please listen as Shelly illuminates the struggle, shares her journey, walking through petty kindergarten politics and man-sized misogyny in the halls of power. This is worth your time. Hear her and understand why she is no politician, but rather what we all want in office, an aspiring statesman.

This week on Etch the Edges Dennis and Derrick talk about the insanity that is the continued killing of black men by the police. We know why it happens. However, our minds reel when we’re confronted with it again, and again, and again. Some of us are simply getting used to it. However, we have to discuss it. We have to talk about it. We have to lean in and etch the edges on the topic simply to stay standing and stable, then recognize we know what’s wrong and why, then get about the business of having the courage to fix it. Oh, and we talk about Matt Gaetz too. Yuck!

This week on Etch the Edges we had the honor of having the esteemed Brenda Lopez Romero on the show. She is the chairwoman of the Gwinnett County Democratic Party and former member of the Georgia House of Representatives for the 99th District. The 99th District represents an area in Gwinnett County bounded by the metro area cities of Lilburn and Norcross, one of the most rapidly growing and ethnically diversifying areas of the state. She was also the first Latina to have ever been elected to the Georgia General Assembly, a distinction on which she definitely has a certain perspective. Please listen in as Brenda talks voter suppression, the state of Georgia politics, chickens in our backyard, to which I discuss telepathy during the Obama years, and what her vision of the future as the chairwoman of the Gwinnett Democratic Party looks like.

This week Dennis and I lean into discomfort to talk about the tragic events that happened in our city of Atlanta. This is about Asian Hate. The work of closing the ideological divide and engaging in hard conversations is what it’s all about. We extend the discussion through time and discuss what was with regard to race and what is, and what we hope will be. We can be better. We have to be better. If we commit to learning and caring and embracing compassion we will be better.