Local Selection

Follow on Twitter: @LocalSelection and Instagram: @LocalSelectionPodcast

Today's episode features *gasp* two guests who are not elected officials.

We're talking about activism, and moments of "gateway activism". How we encourage others and ourselves to notice our relative privileges and turn holiday charity aimed at the hardship of the moment into activism aimed at the systems that perpetuate these hardships year after year.

Megan Merrick is a nurse in Denver who works mainly with severely ill children and their families. In May she appeared with Brian on the 24+ hour filibuster Hold The Floor. More about that at holdthefloor.info, and videos of the event on Instagram - @bhastert.

Jonathan Judge is the Director of Youth Engagement at Rise Above Colorado, an organization founded to help empower teenagers to make healthy choices and avoid substance abuse. More info at iriseaboveco.org.

Some additional reading on the darker origins of Thanksgiving.

The books that Megan mentioned:
No One Ever Asked Me: The World War II Memoirs of an Omaha Indian Soldier

A Little Radical: The ABCs of Activism

A Child's First Book of Trump - by Michael Ian Black

Leslie Herod, Colorad State Rep
Recorded on location at Honey Hill Café in Denver, CO

"The best of us looks out for each of us." - Leslie Herod

Follow Leslie on the socials! You will be glad you did.
Twitter: @LeslieHerod
Instagram: @LeslieHerod

Follow US for more local democracy info around the country and bts shots:
Twitter: @LocalSelection
Instagram: @localselectionpodcast

Follow our host for his v feisty political thoughts and/or videos of him eating pastries:
Twitter: @bhastert
Instagram: @bhastert

"The courage given to others to do what feels scary, and uncomfortable, and unpopular."

Follow us!
Instagram: @LocalSelectionPodcast
Twitter: @LocalSelection

Megan Hunt, Nebraska State Senator for Nebraska's 8th District (Omaha)
Twitter: @NebraskaMegan
Instagram: @nebraskamegan (gov't)
@402meg (all purpose)
@shopfivenine (her business which you should totally check out because it is fabulous and also support small businesses!)

Intro

The swing district of Nebraska's 2nd Congressional district - which includes Megan Hunt's area - that sent one electoral college vote to Biden and very nearly was the deciding point for the entire election

A brief explainer of how Ernie Chambers, legendary Nebraska public servant, is responsible for that one electoral vote

The impact of local voices - like in Omaha and in Georgia - in shaping national politics

Interview

Food and housing insecurity amongst Nebraskans during COVID

"The Economy Is People"

Megan's thoughts on the dubious distinction of being the first LGBTQ+ state senator in Nebraska's history - and holding the door open for more representation in every sphere of life

Megan's legislation allowing NCAA athletes to profit on their own "name, image, and likeness", and the institutional racism behind keeping them poor

The legend and legacy of Ernie Chambers

Racism in Omaha policing during the summer's protests (and beyond)

Closing thoughts 

"Indigenous Woman Coming Through!" - Gabriella Cázares-Kelly

Follow us!
Instagram: @LocalSelectionPodcast
Twitter: @LocalSelection

Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, candidate for Pima County Recorder, Arizona
Twitter: @gabriella_for
Instagram: @gabriellaforrecorder
(you should totally follow her, she is active and endearing)

Intro

There are few crimes I have more disdain for than voter suppression.
I can think of but one reason to deny people their voice in government -
So that you can exploit them to enrich yourself.

In this intro I introduce my thesis that the only reasonable goal regarding the franchise is:
100% voter registration, 100% voter participation.

If you are shooting for anything shy of that, you have to ask yourself who are you leaving out and why are you afraid to admit their voice into the process.

Interview

Gabriella talks about the structural barriers erected to prevent Indigenous folks from voting in this country, and how she plans to use the office of County Recorder to tear down those barriers in places like the Tohono O'odham Nation where she grew up.

She offers perspective about the inequities exacerbated in the COVID pandemic in places like Navajo Nation.

She talks about the way local budgets can spell life and death for people in Pima County in ways you may never imagine unless you lived there.

She offers advice for people who want to build diversity (hint - be intentional and be ready to pay for people's expertise and labor!)

And she has some beautiful words to help us keep changing the landscape even if every seed we plant doesn't become a tree.

"Even after Nov. 3rd, we have to make sure that civic engagement is at the top of our list" - Shev Jones

Welcome to Local Selection!
Follow us!
Instagram: @LocalSelectionPodcast
Twitter: @LocalSelection

Shevrin Jones, candidate for Florida state senate in district 35
Twitter: @ShevrinJones
Instagram: @shevrinjones

(editor's note: Shev was a candidate for Florida State Senator at the time of this interview and has since been ELECTED!!!)

Why should I care about local representation? Don't we have bigger fish to fry?

The media focuses its attention - and therefore our attention - on a few national level offices like President and some Senate offices.
BUT!
Life happens at the local level! And the decisions made at the city, county, and state level have an ENORMOUS impact on our actual lives.
It's not just tax codes and jaywalking ordinances (not that those aren't exciting).
Housing discrimination gets encoded in city council meetings, and white supremacy is enforced by municipal police departments or county sheriffs.
By the same token, those laws, those rules, and those budgets can be unwritten and renegotiated in those same offices.
And the people who run for these offices are accessible! They live in your town, they get coffee from your favorite coffee spot. Sometimes they even check their own email!
And there is no shortage of awesome, inspiring people who are stepping up to run and occupy these offices, and to use their power to tear down oppressive structures and help make their communities more just, more equitable, and more compassionate.

We will never achieve justice at the national level until we can practice it at the local level.
We will never achieve equity at the national level until we can practice it at the local level.

What we have to work on is our imagination. We need to practice imagining what that society might look like if we practiced our values instead of believing them to be out of reach.

And we need role models of inspiration to activate our imaginations.
This podcast is on a quest to introduce you to these role models. They exist, right now, all over the country. They are regular people, but they are willing to exercise their imaginations and then do the work to make it real.

Before Shev joins the episode I spend a little time on a brief history of Florida's state level politics. 
State level politics are local - until they are national.
Florida's state level politics are everybody's issue.

Enter Shev Jones.

Shev talks about what it means to be the first openly gay African-American member of the Florida state legislature - and what it doesn't mean.
He talks about what it is to be that person - and walk into local meetings of Florida Republicans. Because after all he represents them, too.
He talks about leading Bill Writing Workshops for his constituents, including one law he got passed that started with his constituents in one of the workshops.
He shares his workout tips (because I asked him - this guy has arms for days! Sorry not sorry)
And some tips for how to stay sane and stay grounded while s

Local Democracy is where civil rights, your rights, either get defended... or they get destroyed. But turnout for local elections is terrible! Most people have no idea what a city council member, or a county supervisor, or a state senator even does - let alone the name of the person who represents them. But these small offices have huge power!

Right now there is a concerted effort to take over these offices before people start paying attention and use them to destroy American democracy where it lives - at the local level. But also right now there are historic numbers of incredible, big-hearted and community-minded people running for all kinds of offices in every state in this union. Either way, whoever occupies these offices in the coming years are going to be in a position to make some major changes. What kind of changes those are is up to us... if we get involved. If we decide to care.

This is a podcast on a quest. A quest to introduce you to some of the fantastic people running for and serving in offices all over the country. A quest to open your minds to the possibilities of a government that looks more like you, listens to you, and works to make things better for you for a change. 

This is a podcast on a quest to make local representation sexy.