Roots and Routes Podcast

This week, Nsé and Eric dive into the rise of Zohran Mamdani — the youngest and first Muslim mayor of New York City — and unpack the deeper political tradition behind his campaign: Sewer Socialism.

From historic youth turnout to a 100,000-person volunteer operation, Mamdani’s campaign wasn’t powered by corporate PAC money — it was powered by people. The hosts break down what made his message resonate, how material policies like rent freezes and universal childcare became winning issues, and why proving democracy works in people’s everyday lives was central to his victory.

But this conversation goes further back.

Nsé and Eric trace the roots of Sewer Socialism to early 1900s Milwaukee, where leaders like Victor L. Berger and Daniel Hoan built public housing, municipal power plants, sanitation systems, and labor-aligned governance that improved working-class life in tangible, everyday ways.

This is a conversation about delivery, people power, and what happens when government actually works.

Instagram: @rootsandroutes.pod
Threads: @rootsandroutes.pod
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Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/RootsandRoutesPodFB

Read More ⬇️

Mamdani’s campaign and NYC Democrats — The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/06/zohran-mamdani-campaign-new-york-democrats

Milwaukee political history & municipal culture — Marquette University Law School
https://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/2012/01/why-milwaukee-lost-the-braves-perspectives-on-law-and-culture-from-a-half-century-later/

Sewer Socialism in Wisconsin — Labor Politics
https://www.laborpolitics.com/p/sewer-socialism-in-wisconsin-and

🎶 Want to hear some of our favorite songs honoring the movement in Milwaukee?
Listen here ⬇️
https://tinyurl.com/RRPlaylist2

"Black joy is not set decoration for your campaigns… it’s a strategy."

In this minipod, Nsé takes the mic to break down why Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday” wasn’t just a song—it was strategy. She unpacks the 15‑year fight to make Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a federal holiday, how lawmakers stalled it by calling King “too radical,” and how Stevie turned culture into political leverage.

Nsé also connects that history to the ongoing fight for HR40—the effort to study reparations for slavery and its legacies. Culture moves first. Congress follows when refusing the truth becomes unreasonable.

• HR40 context & reparations history: https://medium.com/walawlibrary/black-history-month-working-toward-reparations-for-slavery-and-generational-trauma-51c2a38fd254
• A growing movement for reparations: https://www.aamchealthjustice.org/news/research/reparations
• Universities acknowledging slavery & reparations: https://hechingerreport.org/universities-are-finally-acknowledging-their-complicity-in-slavery-but-they-must-offer-reparations-too/

👉 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/rootsandroutespodcast (linktr.ee)
👉 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/show/roots-and-routes-podcast/id1818843850 (linktr.ee)

Instagram & Threads: @rootsandroutes.pod
TikTok: @rootsandroutes.podcast
Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/RootsandRoutesPodFB

"The history of the world is not individual great people. It's actually millions and millions of people that come together and change history." Angela Davis on the “Collective Action” vs the “Great Man” theory of how history is made. 

Welcome to the first episode of Roots & Routes! Your hosts, Nsé and Eric Robertson—longtime friends, organizers, and proud Southerners—kick things off talking about the roots of our understanding of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, the fight for MLK Day, and why his work on labor rights and economic justice still matters today.

They dive into the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike, the deaths of Echol Cole and Robert Walker that sparked it, the role of youth and HBCUs, and how collective action has always been the engine for real change. Plus, they explore music as protest, from Stevie Wonder to Public Enemy.

This is history, culture, and organizing, all in one conversation.

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Instagram:*@rootsandroutes.pod*

Threads: @rootsandroutes.pod

TikTok: @rootsandroutes.podcast

Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/RootsandRoutesPodFB

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Want to hear some of our favorite songs honoring Dr. King’s legacy and the movement?

Listen Here ⬇️

https://tinyurl.com/RandRPlaylist

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⏱️ CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome & Episode 1

03:40 ICE, Labor, & Community

13:45 Memphis Sanitation Strike

35:00 Youth, HBCUs, & Activism

45:00 MLK Jr's Mountaintop Speech 

01:08: 40 Music as Protest

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📚 Learn More & Dig Deeper

Memphis Sanitation Strike & Labor History:

Their Deaths Sparked a Revolution | 1300 Men: Memphis Strike ’68

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IATVvnUHtfk 

At the River I Stand — MLK in Memphis (1968)

Dr. King’s “All Labor Has Dignity” speech (March 18, 1968): https://blackagendareport.com/speech-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-all-labor-has-dignity-march-18-1968

Worker fatality data (BLS):- https://www.bls.gov/charts/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries/civilian-occupations-with-high-fatal-work-injury-rates.htm

William Lucy (NAACP & labor organizer): 

https://naacp.org/people/william-lucy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfsQnBzAlSs