Power Station

Have you ever thought about the stories behind a set of statistical tables? How do political dynamics shape the questions asked on government forms and how the resulting data translates to federal resources and political representation? And how do we respond when the questions do not fully capture our identify, culture or community? Data about who we are is key to building a more inclusive and representative democracy. This month the 1950 Census was made public, marking the end of the 70-year period in which the individual data of its respondents is maintained confidentially. Historian Dan Bouk views the Census, created by the framers, and enshrined in the US Constitution, as flawed, messy and our best opportunity for a more representative democracy. He considers the act of sharing data on Census forms, the process for counting every person in the U.S. as a radical act. And he believes that those on the margins should count just as much as those who are quantifiable through big statistics. In his upcoming book, Democracy's Data, Dan illuminates how data, from aggregation to disaggregation grapples with telling our collective American story.

All people deserve to be seen and heard. Those who are not often feel invisible, from their cultural heritage to their material circumstances and societal contributions. This reality led a group of young Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in 2009 to found Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC) a nonprofit dedicated to advancing social justice for Native Hawaiians, Chamorros (indigenous people of the Mariana Islands), Samoans, Tongans, Marshallese, and Fijians who call Washington, California, Utah, and Arkansas home. EPICS's executive director Tavae Samuelu leads with deep respect for the lived experience and wisdom of her elders and with an explicitly pro Black and indigenous framework. EPIC connects NHPIs with policy makers to call for data disaggregation, which has identified disproportionate gaps in access to education, health, and immigration services. It also illuminates the devastating and under-reported impacts of the pandemic on Pacific Islanders. EPIC's community leaders begin each meeting, even at the White House, with stories, their personal and most compelling data. As a result, Pacific Islanders are being seen and heard by government at all levels and policy makers are starting to prioritize their needs.

On a single night in January 2021, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recorded more than 580,000 people experiencing homelessness. During that same year, close to 1.45 million people were homeless at some time. These numbers have increased every year since 2015, a consequence of a severe shortage of affordable housing. Ann Oliva, Vice President for Housing Policy at The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) walks us through a plan for ending this crisis. It starts with facing up to America's history of racist policy making, which has created generational inequities in communities of color. And she believes in our capacity to turn this crisis around with new policies, targeted resources and well-crafted implementation of large-scale solutions. Ann regularly testifies before Congress, making data-based policy recommendations for achieving transformational change. She points to the tsunami of evictions prevented by a robust investment in rental assistance in the American Rescue Plan. This is proof of concept of what policy making can do when the political will is there.

On the morning of March 8, moments before recording this episode, the Florida State Senate passed HR 1557, dubbed the Don't Say Gay Bill. Pauline Green, executive director of the Alliance for GLBTQ Youth joined Power Station to break down the legislation and its potential impacts on students, teachers and school districts. She reported on the previous night's hearing in which the sponsor was unable to articulate a rationale for the bill but worried that coming out is a result of social engineering. The Alliance serves middle and high school students in Miami Dade County with mental health counseling and services that affirm their sexual orientation and gender identity. It hones leadership skills and advocates for systems that support youg people. HR 1557, soon to be signed into law by Governor DeSantis, seeks to solve a problem that does not actually exist. It prohibits teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3, which is not done and allows parents to sue teachers and school districts. It is painful to see adults impose their ignorance on children. The Alliance will continue to uplift them and be a voice for change.

Our political parties are so divided they cannot agree that basic democratic principles, from the right to vote to the freedom to read the books of our choice are sacrosanct. Given the aggressively anti-democratic stances of many state legislatures we must remind ourselves that government can be a force for good. For that to happen the electorate must be fully engaged and community-based nonprofits must require policy making developed with a racial equity lens. As Richard Raya, Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) explains, nonprofits can generate transformative change when they are rooted in community, collaborate across sectors and issues areas and have champions in elected office. MEDA is the proof of concept. It is where Latino families connect to an array of services, develop their voice, deepen their collective clout and gain the tools needed to thrive economically. MEDA is spurring a movement for community backbone agencies to become the standard-bearer for societal change, one neighborhood at a time. This requires foundations and government to make catalytic investments in data-driven strategies As Richard Riya says, it is time to evolve.

When Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, Pennsylvania's republican-led state legislature went into action, creating new barriers to voting. Ginned up by Donald Trump's baseless claim of voter fraud, the republican majority on the Commonwealth Court successfully challenged a recent law making mail-in voting more expansive. The democratic governor and secretary of state are appealing this decision and navigating furthter attempts to suppress access to the ballot box. The partisan tug of war further alienates those who do not trust either party. Civil rights champion Kadida Kenner founded the New Pennsylvania Project to reach the 1.1million Pennsylvanians who are eligible to vote but are not registered or are not casting ballots. In a state where 27% of the population are people of color and the House and Senate are 90% white, the future is in the hands of young people and communities of color. Kadida's team is knocking on doors and listening to what matters to potential voters. And this strategy is motivating young people to join the NPP team. Kadida wants all people to be inspired by the collective power of their vote.

At the core of the American Library Association's membership of 50,000 public, school, academic, specialty libraries, librarians and allies, is one unifying principle, the right to read. ALA has weathered times of war, political unrest, funding cuts, and censorship. But this moment in time poses its greatest threat, state-backed book banning. ALA President Patty Wong joins us to talk about how book banning laws and book burnings are hurting libraries, librarians, children and communities. Bills have passed or are under consideration in nearly half of US states and the legislation extends beyond books. Librarians can be fined, fired, even imprisoned for keeping censored books on the shelves. What are the books that legislatures and school boards are so threatened by? They include fantasy, books celebrating children of color and virtually anything reflecting the experience of LGBTQ people. ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom tracks bills and acts of antagonism towards librarians and wants you to report (confidentially) what you see. We can all be in the battle to preserve the right to read books that mirror who we are and open doors to what can be. Patty Wong tells us how.

Thirty-five years ago, Nancy Sander started a conversation that has grown into a public health movement. She was struggling with her young daughter's severe asthma and was not getting the support she needed from her doctors and insurance provider. She reached out to other parents and more enlightened medical professionals to learn ways to manage a chronic health condition that if untreated can lead to death. Nancy founded the Allergy and Asthma Network, which has grown into a collective voice for the 25 million Americans who suffer from asthma. And the Network is a force for change in communities, state legislatures and on Capitol Hill. It is now led by the indefatigable Tonya Winders, who is guided by what the data reveals. Asthma is a disease with both genetic and environmental roots. Black, Latino and Native American communities have been subjected to environmental degradation over decades and are disproportionately impacted by asthma and lung disease. The Network brings a racial equity lens to every aspect of its work. Its powerful partnerships, from barbershops to Congress, are making transformational change possible.