#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Black women Higher Heights ATL power breakfast for Kamala Harris ‬| #RolandMartinUnfiltered

Episode Date: November 25, 2019

Black women Higher Heights ATL power breakfast for Kamala Harris ‬| #RolandMartinUnfiltered Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Good morning. Y'all came out like early and like hard. Well, welcome to the Black Women's Power Breakfast featuring Kamala Harris. We are so excited about gathering this room of powerful black women and our allies in this pivotal time. I think if you watch, who was at the debates last night?

Like in that cold room for two hours or four hours? And who watched it on TV? Who watched the clips this morning? What you saw for the first time in a presidential debate is black woman being front and center not only standing on the stage but talking about the issues that are affecting us. As you know when we fire up a black woman she doesn't go to the polls alone. She brings a house, her block, her church, and her sorority. And the road to the White House and the road to 2020 is powered by us, right? But this time we are demanding our return on our voting investment.

And that is in the form of electing more black women up and down the ballot and ensuring that our policies are front and center. So we are excited about gathering this conversation. Higher Heights is the political home for black women and we're excited to gather the the members that are here, the black women that are in our network and all of you are going to be members of Higher Heights as we help to mobilize and elect black women. So I am so excited that our partners and in this work, Collective PAC, in Higher Heights, were able to gather this conversation. And

this is Quentin James, our co-conspirator for the morning. Awesome. Give it up for Glenda, everybody, in Higher Heights, doing amazing work around the country. Listen, we know justice is gonna be on the ballot in 2020, and I can't think of no better candidate to be on that ballot than a black woman. We know right now black women are the backbone of the Democratic Party. You have been. You will continue to be. But what we want to make sure is that we're electing Democrats all across the country, up and down the ballot.

And so you heard about Glendon Higher Heights. We encourage you to join their work. We also encourage you, if you are a candidate looking for support, go to collectivepac.org. You can find out information about how to get endorsed, how to get some funding, get some training. We need more black women running for office around the country. What we know right now is that so many folks think I may not be qualified or I might not be ready.

We want to help you get ready. We want to help you feel that confidence. We want to make sure that as we move this country forward that the folks who have been the backbone of moving this nation forward for decades, for centuries, are actually getting the political power to move our community forward. And so again we thank you so much for being here this morning and we look forward to getting started. And with that, Linda? We're gonna do some introductions. So we are so proud to stand in support of Kamala Harris for president. We endorsed and supported her for her run for U.S. Senate.

You know, the record was corrected last night. She is the second black woman to serve in that role. And she is the third black woman to run for the Democratic nomination for president in the spirit of Shirley Chisholm and her unbought and unbossed leadership. And so I'm so excited about a power-filled panel of unbought and unbossed leaders. And I have the distinct pleasure of introducing Congresswoman Marsha Fudge. She is representing the Ohio 11th District. I heard some calls. She is a proud not only member of Delta Sigma Theta but a former national president and has provided a variety of leadership roles in Congress

and is actually going to be leaving because she is releasing a report on voter suppression and what we need to do to ensure that every vote counts in this election cycle. So welcome, Congresswoman Marsha Fudge. And to her right, we are so excited to welcome Miss Tiffany Cross, the managing editor of The Beat DC. Tiffany has been holding it down for us on MSNBC just about every weekend, talking about black voters, talking about black women, making sure that our voices are at the table and at the conversations happening in mainstream media. She also has an amazing book coming out next year talking about black voters on Harper's Collins, so we encourage you also to look out for her book. Please welcome Tiffany Cross.

And I have one other housekeeping thing. According to Nielsen, black women are the largest users of social media. We spend three to four hours a day more than the general population and we will click through more videos. So we need this conversation to go to your family and your friends and the people across this country. So tag at Kamala Harris. Use the hashtag Black Woman Lead and hashtag For the People. Awesome. And before I leave the stage, I cannot do so being a black man up here if I do not recognize my amazing beautiful black woman wife Stephanie Brown-Javes. Stephanie is Stephanie is the co-founder of the collective pact but she just left us she's now the vice president of

training and community engagement at Emily's List and so we're so proud of her leadership supporting black women and women across the country so thank you so much for being here as well. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning, everybody. I'm so happy to see a packed room and standing room only in this room today. And let me say it's good to be home. Nice to be back in the A. I had to tell everybody nobody calls it hot land. I don't do that when y'all come. Anyway, I'm going to go through this really quickly because the congresswoman has to get back to very important business on Capitol Hill, which shows that the work continues.

Don't believe the hype that impeachment has stopped all work. The work is continuing, and the congresswoman is doing very important work. So thank you for taking the time to be here with us as the speaker and saying, ma'am, we need you back on Capitol Hill. So thank you for being here. Thank you. Thank you so much. You know, I don't watch as much television as you think I might. You all probably watch a lot more.

But one of the people I watch is Tiffany because she's an honest, honest person. And she tells it like it is. That's why I'm here today because I support a candidate that is an honest person and tells it like it is. And I need for you all to be with me in this battle. So thank you for having me. Thank you. I appreciate that. So tell us why this large field of candidates, why you've chosen to throw your support as a former CBC chair, former national president of Delta Sigma Theta, from Ohio. What was it about Senator Harris

that you said, I want to put my power behind her? You know, Tiffany, I have all of my career either supported or promoted women, and in particular black women. It is what I do. I think it is past time that the people who are the real backbone, not just of this party, but of this nation, are recognized for who we are. And so all things being equal, I'm going with the sister.

Right. Well, for people who still need some convincing that she is the candidate, that there is a path to victory for her, what do you say to those folks? Well, I'd say two things. One is if we support her, she will win. Don't ever let anybody tell you she cannot win. And don't listen to polls. Because if the polls were right, I would not be sitting here now. Because Hillary Clinton would be the President of the United States. So don't listen to that.

She's a great candidate. She's smart. She knows government. She is tough. She can stand toe-to-toe with Donald Trump. But most importantly, she is passionate about serving people. The only job she has ever had was to represent people in this country. She's never gone out and tried to make a lot of money in the private sector. She works for the people. And it is

important for us to understand that people who work for us, we need to do the same for them. If you treat people good, people should treat you good, and she has treated us good. I won't hear anything about being a prosecutor. I was a prosecutor. Nobody ever mentions it. You know, I put people in jail too, but I helped a lot of people stay out of jail too, as did she.

You know, we should not not like people because they do a job we don't like. Somebody needs to speak for mothers who lose their children in the streets. Somebody needs to speak to young women who are abused. Somebody needs to speak to crime in our communities. Why should it not be a black woman? I won't hear that prosecutor stuff now don't bring it to me well there are a lot of people though who do raise her

prosecutorial record and just for the record she's not the only one senator Amy Klobuchar also has a record that's I think increasingly more questionable than the Senators but a lot of the attention has been specifically directed to Senator Harris. So there's a lot of disinformation out there. There are people who have questions. What specifically do you say to those people who argue, be it factual or not, that her policies did help create a pipeline for some people of color? And this could be disinformation, but how do you address that to people who are on the fence? Because it's a primary and there's a lot of people out there who are looking for a reason to support her. Well, I think that those people who want to use that against her are looking for a reason to not support her. I think those who are looking for a

reason to support her will look at her record and realize that her diversion program is a model for the entire United States. That her work to make sure that housing is fair, that people are not cheated out of their money when they try to buy a house is the model for the entire United States. That her jobs program for drug offenders is the model for the United States. So maybe she did some things you don't like. Everybody does something I don't like. But it doesn't disqualify them. Because we, quite frankly, hold ourselves, or shouldn't say hold ourselves, we judge more harshly people who look like us than we do anyone else.

It is time to be fair. Others have done things we don't like, but you just say, oh, that's okay. No, it's not okay. Let's make sure that we treat everybody the same on the same playing field. And if you do, you will find that she will come out on top

every single time. So I know you have to run we have limited time Listen to speak it to speak it to me. I better come back to work. I gotta go back to DC But quickly before you go I want you to talk a little bit about why you're going back to DC and because it really relates To the senator she is one of the most targeted people by foreign adversaries on the campaign trail We in this room as black voters are some of the most targeted people. So tell us a little bit about why you're going back to D.C. and what you're working on to address these kind of voter suppression

and foreign election interference issues. Thank you, Tiffany. I am the chair of the subcommittee on elections for the House of Representatives. We have just completed a report about how they are suppressing our vote. I have traveled to ten states. I have talked to hundreds of people, collected thousands of pages of data, talked to civil rights organizations to try to put together a definitive report so that we can use the data that we've collected to now fully reinforce and support the Voting Rights Act.

If you remember, Shelby gutted the Voting Rights Act and said that the formula was unfair because we can't show under current circumstances that these bad actors of 20 years ago are still bad actors today. Well, not only does our report prove that they are still bad actors, but we're going to add some more to that as well. So today we're trying to roll out a report, trying to put it together, and so the speaker has called a meeting at 1 o'clock. So I need to get back to Washington.

I'd much rather stay here. But this report is a big deal, so I want you to look for it. It should be rolled out in the next few days. It is a comprehensive discussion and data collection as to why the voting rights is still needed today more than ever. You know, I always say the more things change, the more they stay the same. Now it's just a new way of trying to keep us from voting. Right. Well, before you leave, I just want you to help me, please,

and the audience, I'll ask your help as well, to please help us welcome to the stage Senator Kamala Harris. Thank you. Please applaud the Congresswoman, Marcia Fudge. And I said this, we had a little meeting earlier today, and I said this in front of some of our leaders, but I just want to say this publicly. Marcia Fudge is an incredible national leader. She is a voice always that speaks truth, even when it may make people uncomfortable, but it needs to be spoken.

She is extraordinary. I've seen her in rooms where there are cameras. I have seen her in rooms where there are no cameras, and she is always the same person, speaking about the issues that must be spoken and heard, on everything from national security to what we need to do around civil rights. Yeah, please have a seat. But I just want to talk about her as a sister girl. Because from the beginning, Marcia, you have been so incredibly supportive of me. And through the ups, through the downs, you are just consistently there.

And your leadership, your advice, your counsel, your friendship, your love mean the world to me. So can we please hear it for Marcia? And travel safely. Travel safely. Travel safely. Thank you. Hey, everybody. Okay. Good morning. Welcome. Okay. Hey, everybody. Okay. Good morning.

Welcome. Good. I'm glad to be with everyone. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for being here. Good morning. Congratulations on a great performance last night. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So I have a ton of questions, but I know you have limited time, and your staff is telling

me I need to welcome the other panelists to the stage now. Yes. Yes, let's bring them up. So let me – please help me welcome an amazing marketing exec, globally known, Kim Blackwell. Please join us on the stage. And thank you. And we're also joined by one of our hosts for the day, Linda Carr, the CEO and president of Higher Heights. Oh, sorry. Sorry. I still haven't woken up this morning. I'm just thanking you publicly. What I meant to say is, we have a representative from the ACLU with us. Yes, thank you. Andrea Young. joining us. This is an amazing panel. I just want to take a moment and remind everybody, because so many people seem to forget that voters look a lot more like the people on this stage and in this room than they do like everybody else. Yet we're top to the least. But anyway, I digress.

So back to last night. It was an amazing performance. I think it was really great for America to see some contrast between you and the other candidates. And I want to start with, there were so many moments you had last night, but I want to start with the moment you had with Mayor Pete Buttigieg, because I think that really spoke to what a lot of black voters wanted to hear. I appreciate your response this morning about not comparing struggles. But talk a bit, if you will, about black voters, your black voter strategy, and what your campaign

has been doing to reach out to this constituency group. Thank you, Tiffany, and to everybody on the stage and everybody here. There's so many leaders in the room and certainly on this stage, and I'm honored to be with you and under one roof together, because I know that so many of us are often the only one like us in a room. And so I hope that everyone can use

this moment to also look around the room and remember that when we are in those rooms, seemingly the only one, that we're all together in that room. And let's always remember that and hold that close. So you mentioned I did an interview after the debate, and I talked about the fact that those of us who have been involved in civil rights for a long time, we know that it is important that we not compare struggles. It's just it is not productive, it is not smart, and it is not, it is strategically, it works against what we need to do, which is build coalition. There is so much of my work that has been grounded in, as the slogan of my campaign, for the

people, which is, in its essence, a statement about the fact that we agree that a harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us. And therefore that no one should be made to fight alone. So we know that in our ongoing fight for civil rights, if any one of us starts to differentiate ourselves in a certain way, and in particular what he did on the stage, it's just not productive, and I think it's a bit naive. In terms of what we need to do around outreach,

you know, Marcia talked about her report. Stacey Abrams has been an extraordinary leader. You know, we would be calling her Governor Stacey Abrams were it not for voter suppression. And so, you know, I tend to be a realist, right, which is that, okay, so this is what we got. What we have is a situation where in 2013 the United States Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act.

And immediately thereafter, at least two dozen states started passing through their state legislatures laws that were specifically designed to suppress the black vote. And in some areas, the Latino vote. In some areas, the Native American vote. In some areas, students from voting. And to the point that we'll all remember in North Carolina, the Court of Appeals said that that state had written a law that with surgical precision, were the words that were used in the Court of Appeal review, was designed to suppress the black vote. So the

challenge that we have in activating folks to vote is a very real one because there are historical and current institutional barriers that have been designed to suppress black folks from voting, including what has happened here in Georgia around the purging of the voter rolls. So what do we do about that? Well, we need to litigate. We need to support the ACLU. We need to support all of the folks who are doing the work on the ground to fight against that. But we're going to also have to support, you know, our faith-based community, our nonprofit organizations that are helping people get around the obstacles to voting so that they register to vote and they have the willingness and the support to stand in line while they otherwise have

to work two and three jobs to vote. We also have to deal with the misinformation campaign that is what is the Russian interference. That is real. I am the only person on the debate stage who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee and have therefore been in what's called a skiff, meeting with the American intelligence community with classified information about the threats to our national security and hotspots around the world. We just recently published our report about how when Russia decided to attack America's democracy, because it is a longstanding foe, right?

It is a longstanding, we have a long-standing foe, right? It is a long-standing... We have a long-standing relationship of conflict. So they said, well, you know, we can't build an army because they don't have the economic power or the military strength that we do to attack us that way. They said, well, let's attack America based on one of its strengths, which is that it is a democracy, you know, flawed though it may be,

and compromise the American public's confidence in their election system. So that was the design, right? That was the purpose. And then they said, okay, let's get them going at each other. And then they tested out a couple of ideas to see what would generate heat. Almost think of it like a science project, right? What would generate the heat? And guess what?

In so doing, they exposed America's Achilles heel. The thing that generated the most heat was race. So the irony of it is that this is now not only a matter of civil rights and social justice and equality, this is now not only a matter of civil rights and social justice and equality, this is now a matter of national security. And the concern I have, and you have I'm sure read in the, there's a Wall Street Journal article, others, my campaign has often been the number one target of Russian bots in this election. And it's a misinformation campaign.

And so on top of what I call the classic voter suppression, we now have a misinformation campaign in addition. And as we were talking about it earlier, we've got to figure out ways to remind folks to not get played. And part of that is, and I know Andrea has some ideas about that based on the work you're doing with the ACLU, how we inform people about, to know when they're being played in terms of somebody's trying to trigger their emotion versus their reason, and also know where to refer people in terms of trusted sources of information, like Higher Heights and other places

where they can go to get reliable information that they can trust. So I'm going to get to you, Ms. Young, in one second. I want to stick with you on black voters because there is, your polling numbers, if you trust the polls, are not great with black voters. Same with Pete Buttigieg. I noticed the difference is Pete is still considered a viable candidate, even though

the path of the White House leads directly through black voters. And the media has all but dismissed your candidacy, even though you still have a ground swelling in some places with some people. One, I know the answer, but why do you think that is? And two, what are you doing to connect with those black voters who are still on the fence and say, I want to like her, I don't know her? Yeah, so two things I'll point out. One, the top three, if you will, that the press and the polls say are the top three.

Let me just say one thing. If I ever listened to a poll, I would have never run for any office I have run for. And I would have never won. But the top three polling have been on the national stage for decades. One was, you know, one most recently ran for president in the last race and was in the race for a long time. One was appointed by President Bill Clinton and has been on the scene for a long time because of very good work. And another was the vice president for two terms under what was arguably the most popular president in the history of our country. So the challenge that we have is to introduce ourselves.

And that is the challenge. And so one of my biggest challenges is getting up on TV in Iowa, because it's expensive. And unlike, you know, some candidates, there's a candidate who came into the presidential race with $10 million that she transferred in. That's called startup capital. I didn't have that kind of startup capital.

Another one came in with a file of over a million people, active. I didn't have that. Another one came in with very high name ID because he had just been vice president for two terms. So part of the challenge, because I'm just all about real talk, is that. The other part of it is this. And this is what I call the elephant in the room, but frankly it's the donkey in the room. And it's this conversation about electability. And I've begun to talk about it at my town halls wherever I am. And here's how it goes. The conversation about electability is, I just don't know if America is ready

for a black woman to be president of the United States. I'm ready. but I don't know. No, no, no. This is what they say. This is what they'll say. I'm ready, but I don't know if my neighbor's ready. Right? Well, as I've shared with you, this is not a new conversation for me. This is a conversation I have heard in every campaign I have, and now here is the operative word, won. But I am well aware of what's going on and the challenge. And I'm going to share it with you in a really quick story. So other than being in Iowa a lot now, the last time I spent any time in Iowa was the week between Christmas and New Year's in 2007 and the first days of January 2008, campaigning for a certain senator from Illinois. And so I was there to campaign in the cold for the caucuses.

It was the last night before the caucuses. And I went and I said, anybody need anything else? They said, Kamala, there's a senior residential home, African-American home. Nobody's been. Will you go? I said, of course. So I go, I start knocking on doors and invariably some lady would who had answered the door, the chain was on the door. It was a petite lady. Couldn't have been more than five feet. Well into her 80s. Perfectly coiffed wig. Perfect makeup.

This elegant outfit. Now, she wasn't expecting anybody. So I was all exuberant. I'm Kamala Harris. I'm here. The caucuses are tomorrow. You going to come? She looked at me with a straight face and she said, they're not going to let him win. And then I looked at what I was looking at, which is this lady in all of her 85 plus years and what she has witnessed and experienced in

terms of injustice and indignity. And at that moment in her life, she wasn't about to visit upon herself another disappointment. And so me being me, I was like, well, I'm not leaving here. And I kept talking with her, and she talked with me. She opened the door a little bit more, never took that chain off the door. Did not. But guess who showed up at the caucuses the next night? And guess who won? So we're asking folks, and you know how folks are.

I want her to win, but I don you know how folks are. I want her to win, but I don't know if she can. And especially, you know, again, real talk, this is not 2007. Donald Trump is in the White House. We have a criminal in the White House who has been fanning the flames of hate, who is a racist, who has been doing unthinkable things that are having a direct impact on our nation, on our communities, on our psyche, on our standing, and I could go on and on.

And so folks are kind of like, I'd like that that could happen, but maybe we got to go what's safe because we got to get old boy out of office. So I am well aware of the challenge before us. put heart and soul into the idea that we would have the first woman president and the disappointment that still lingers from that night in November of 2016, where people who worked so hard on that campaign have been saying, maybe America's not ready. I am well aware of the challenge before us, but here's where I stand on this. There is nothing we have ever achieved that has been about progress that came without a fight. And in particular, ability to know that we can see what can be, unburdened by what has been,

and when we believe and have faith that it is possible, we make it happen. But I'm aware of the challenge before us. And I'm aware that, you know, folks are like, well, you know, I don't want to be disappointed. So here's our challenge. And look, I'm up for the challenge. I've faced this challenge before. I like a good challenge. But do you think electability is your only issue

in the black community specifically, among black voters? It is... No, it's not. One of the issues is that I got to introduce myself. Another is electability. I mean, you know, black voters are not monolithic. They're like any other voter. So there are a variety of issues that black voters consider and think about.

Right. Yeah, and I think that's a good point to make. When you hear in the media, you have white, non-college educated men, suburban white women. Well, black voters disaggregate in the same way. So even appealing to those voters who disaggregate in that same way, the issue isn't necessarily electability with everybody. No, for sure. Right.

Oh, absolutely. So some of the other issues that have been raised by your candidacy specifically, one, your prosecutorial record. Yeah. For those people, and there's still a lot of misinformation around that. Yeah. For those people, I think black men are a voting block that we don't talk enough about or to, quite frankly. So for those people who are saying, I just, I don't know.

What I know about her is she locked up black people. Not true, but that's what people might say. Or her policy, she was never really here for us. For those people, how do you penetrate that layer of disinformation or introduce yourself to those people who might not really know what an AK is? They didn't go to an HBCU. These are pockets of working class black people all across the country. What do you say to those folks? Well, the first thing is I see you. I know you. I come from you. I mean, so, you know, there's, to your point, misinformation. There are people

that are threatened by the potential strength of my candidacy that are trying to turn what is a strength into a weakness. And I'm well aware of that, too. But what do I say? I say that I have been and always have been a fighter and a leader on a variety of issues. In the United States Senate right now, I am leading the charge on what we need to do around black maternal mortality, knowing black women are three to four times more likely to die in connection with childbirth than other women, knowing that this has nothing to do with socioeconomic or educational level.

It literally is because that is a black woman walking into a doctor's office, a clinic, or a hospital and not being taken seriously. It is the work I've done on criminal justice. Look, I decided, I am fully aware, I decided to go up the rough side of the mountain. I was raised knowing the injustices in the criminal justice system. I experienced it. Nobody had to teach me about that. I didn't acquire the language to talk about criminal justice since I started running for president. In fact, I dare. I mean, you look on that debate stage, there are people on that debate stage who wrote the crime bill, who voted for the crime bill, who have not had the language to know what this is about until just the last couple years? Are you kidding me?

Where were these folks when I was creating a national model around what we need to do to end mass incarceration and the war on drugs when I created one of the first in the nation programs focused on, and particularly young men, but young women also, who had been arrested for drugs and getting them jobs, to the point that it became a model for the country. You can talk to progressive prosecutors around the country today who will say my work in those early years was a model for them of what could be done. The Holder Justice Department, Eric Holder, under the Obama administration, designated my work when I was district attorney as a model of innovation for the United States.

I was the doing the work also of focusing on issues like our young women in the criminal justice system. Let's talk about that too. I was dealing with the fact that all these young women were being arrested and called teenage prostitutes. And I knew that most of them had come from the foster care system, had dealt with all kinds of abuse in their lives, and were prey for predators. And so I said, no, this has got to stop. First of all, they are not criminals. And I created a safe house saying instead of them being arrested and put in juvenile hall, they should be given a place where they are given support, understanding who they really are. As district attorney, there would be women who would show up at my office on a consistent basis,

knocking at the front window, I want to talk to Kamala. I only want to talk to Kamala. The receptionist would come get me. There's another mother here. I'd bring her back to my office and sit her on my couch and she'd cry and talk about how nobody was taking the killing of her baby, her adult son, seriously. How had she lost her child because of cancer or a car accident, maybe somebody would have respected the depth of her grief but instead she was being treated like she should have expected it to happen and her son being treated like her black son being treated like a statistic and she would say to me why isn't anyone investigating this where is justice for my family these are the experiences I've had now I am fully aware to your point Tiffany I am fully aware that there's this whole meme, Kamala is a cop. It breaks my heart. Because here's the thing. Are we saying

that when people have the ability to make a decision about who's going to be charged with a crime, what kind of, what kind of, how the case is going to be treated, that we don't want it to be somebody who comes from the same community, somebody who goes to the same church, somebody who has their children in the same schools. No. To reform systems, we've got to be everywhere. And so that's the choice I made. That's the choice I made. I want to bring Ms. Young in this conversation because I think the Senator raises a good point. There are memes out there.

There is a lot of disinformation out there. You said something backstage that I thought was really interesting about if this disinformation makes you feel a certain way. So I just want you to talk a bit about that. So much of voter suppression is just that. It is preventing us from voting by whatever means necessary. So we have to deal with what the Secretary of State has done, from purging voters to when you go to the registration site online, they got a big sign that says it's a fraud to register, you know, improperly. They make lots of psychological impacts to make it difficult for people to register and stay registered.

I think Claire McCaskill said, you know, I don't own a gun, but I don't lose my Second Amendment right to own a firearm if it's appropriate for me to do so. But the Secretary of State in Georgia thinks if you haven't voted, that you should be pushed off the active voter list. And so that's something that happened just a few weeks ago, that 300,000 people in Georgia, duly registered Georgia citizens, were told, well, you haven't registered, you haven't voted in a while, so we're going to take you off the rolls. One of the things we say at the ACLU is check your status. Now, all of us and all of our organizations that are represented here, download the app on your phone and make sure everyone in your network

has their registration current and up to date. Our folks need early adapters to show us how to do that, but our churches, our sororities, our businesses, you know, I was in the dentist's office and told my dental hygienist, make sure you download the app. So we can have that impact all over the state of Georgia and all over this country to make sure that people are registered. And anything that makes you feel cynical instead of hopeful is not in your interest. That is not someone who has your interest at heart. Because we do have the power. In this state, people of color are 40% of the electorate. 40%. And if we

get out and vote for the people who stand for the issues that matter to us, we can totally transform and make this a state. And because, Senator, in Georgia, black women die in childbirth at six times the rate of white women nationally. In Georgia, we don't, half of our counties do not even have an OBGYN. In Georgia, we have not taken the Medicaid expansion. So hundreds of thousands of people who, you know, all of us are paying taxes for the Affordable Care Act, but people who are eligible for Medicaid expansion are not getting it. So when we aren't voting and we're not an active part of the process, we are on the menu, and the policies that we care about are going to be taken away.

And we also know redistricting is coming up. And Donna McLeod is here. She took a seat away that folks didn't expect her to get because people came out and said it could be done. Right? that folks didn't expect her to get because people came out and said it could be done. Right? So we have the proof here. The power is in our hands, and anything that is telling you you don't have the power, you don't have the ability, you don't have the information that you need to cast a ballot in your own interest

is not someone you should trust. Now, the ACLU will have information on candidates, where they stand on the issues, on criminal justice reform, on women's rights, on reproductive choice, on voting rights reform. People make their own decision. You know, we are nonpartisan. But we are a provider of information, and if we give you a statistic, we have the receipts. So you can trust our numbers. We have the source. We have the site. We have the data.

And we are working along with a lot of coalition partners in Georgia. So, Senator, we are going to have a lot of third party, a lot of nonpartisan activity to make sure that voters have the information that they need about where to vote, how to vote, when to vote, and to maintain their registration, and that we have the power to do this. 40% of the electorate in Georgia, not the children in the school,

the electorate is people of color. So this is in our hands. Thank you for that. Those statistics are staggering. They take your breath away. And when you consider the power of the vote here in Georgia and the outcome of the last gubernatorial election I mean it punctuates voter suppression happening

all across this country so on that I do want to turn to Kim and bring you in I mean you are an influencer what do you say or what's your recommendation on bringing black women into the conversation around the electorate? Because as you see on the national media, we're so frequently left out. Our voices are so frequently muted. There was not a voting rights question last night, which is a huge issue for us. So as a marketing exec, what do you say? How do we keep our issues top of the line when we're so muted everywhere else? You know, first of all, I think a lot of it is by way of what the senator mentioned, and that's the storytelling.

I think that as I look around the room with so many familiar faces from different sectors, I see my peers from ELC and the business community. I see my young moguls. I'm looking dead at them. I'm Jewel Burks. This young lady right here, you know, this is why I'm here today in the sense of mobilizing. I know the collective force that we have. This young lady right here built a company as an entrepreneur, sold it to Amazon. I know that there are a lot of female entrepreneurs that are in here. And for me, in looking at candidates and understanding what is it in their area of focus around economic mobility, I started my business right out of college in understanding that it was a strong learning curve.

I see my friend Adrienne Trimble. She's the head of the National Minority Supplier Development Council. This is the group in where we understand that the fastest growing segment for entrepreneurs are women of color. And for me, it's not just starting a business. It's scaling a business and understanding that as we build wealth through our businesses, we are able to create jobs. We are able to bring folks into the fold in a way that represents visually, but also through, we don't have the benefit of privilege. As business owners, we have to look at things by way of performance. We have to look at things and you don't have to own a business. I look around the room too and I know I know what the workforce

represents. I see my friends here from the Coca-Cola company and all of the folks that they employ whether it be in corporate or be out in the field. We have to understand that the power that you see on this stage is the power that we see out in this room. We have platforms. We have a way in which we can amplify. We have families in which we bring folks into the fold, and it is our job to educate.

It is our job to make sure that people are receiving the correct information. How many times, how many times have we been in rooms and where we know that we are the only ones I sit in, I'm a business owner, but I also play in the space of venture capital, you know, and so we took a business public on the New York Stock Exchange, but it wasn't for me, it wasn't good enough for me to be the only one in the sense of a black woman amongst a group of black men. My job is to make sure that as I'm looking around the room and I'm finding the jewels and I'm saying get your butt to this thing on Thursday, that we find other women in this room who are looking for the same thing. So when I think back to you Tiffany and what it is that we need to do, we need to be informed. We need to mobilize. We need to spread the word in the sense of friend raisers. You know, campaigns cost money. Just like businesses.

And so when the Senator mentioned capital, you know, I bootstrapped my business, she's bootstrapped this campaign, and we need to make sure that we are pouring and investing because we believe in the return on the investment. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And just because you said that, I do just want to shout out, I'm sure all of you have seen him, but I just do want to shout out Roland Martin, who's over there in the corner, who owns his own platform. And he's sitting next to my sister, Maya Harris. I didn't even see you, Maya. Who broke her foot.

Maya had quite the escort last night. Rosario Dawson wheeled her out on the floor. It was a beautiful scene. But I just want to say, Roland does keep a lot of the issues that we don't hear in mainstream media. He keeps them at the forefront. So thank you for that, Roland. Yes, he does.

Thank you. Yes, he does. Always. Always. And thank you for pointing out. So yeah, but what are some specific things that people can do? You talked about our economic power, which is in the trillions. It's black women.

It's in the trillions. How do you transition that economic power to political power? I mean, we are the deciding factor for what this government will look like. Yet we are so frequently disregarded, ignored, and feels invisible. I want to say this really quickly. A lot of people are saying next year would be the 100th anniversary of when women were allowed to vote. And I always have to correct people.

When some women got the right to vote. When white women got the right to vote. And us speaking our truth cannot be a controversial thing. How do we empower women? Because the fastest way to give up your power is not realize you have it. How do we empower black women specifically to say, you know what? Yes, I can gather my friends and host a fundraiser for the candidate of my choice. I can start a, you know, GOTV effort in my community. So many people don't do that. They don't know that. What are some specific steps they

can take? Oh, I mean, again, you just named two that, you know, we've discussed and I, and I really do believe in the power of a collective. And so for me, it's looking at that by way of, and understanding that it's not as though there is a community of one that can amplify, and it starts with one person. And so for me, one, we don't have a seat at the table to be quiet. If you want to be quiet, give up your seat. Please, give up your seat. And so for me, when we look at it, you know, we know this era of technology. How are you using your social media platforms? And are you using them responsibly?

Let me say that also. In the sense of the way of the informed. Because we know that things go viral, you're looking up that somebody who's sitting next to you alive and well on the internet or in social they're dead you know so we need to be careful with how we do that in information shared when you mentioned to around the capitol and the friend raisers you know i think of higher heights I think of the collective pact my dear friends Stephanie Brown James and Quentin James you know part of that is in connected to policy and a lot of that policy means that we have to get folks elected at the local level at the state level and that is where we begin to see the trickle down and how we amplify the

impact through our influence. And for me, I tell people all the time, and I know you did it in a flattering way, I don't want to be called an influencer. I want to be known by way of impact. My thing is success to significance. That's all I want to be known for. And if I can look at that in a way in which we channel and each of us have the power to be significant, I think you get very prescriptive on that. But I do believe that policy. I just wrote off, I was appointed in the Obama administration for the National Women's Business Council. And we gave counsel to the President, SBA, and Congress by way of how we empower women business owners and women business leaders.

But for me, in the standpoint of how is it that we make sure that through those types of appointments, we are again leading the way for others. Thank you for that. Tiffany, could I chime in on that? Because when you say that, how do you turn votes into economic power? That is the story of Atlanta. You know, Atlanta, the mantra in Atlanta is the book, the ballot, and the buck. And so the doors that are open, we've got Lori Billingsley here who's over-contracting at Coca-Cola. I mean, we didn't used to have those jobs. We have those jobs all throughout Atlanta in corporate America.

People are starting their own businesses because we have political power. And the promise of a Stacey Abrams as governor would have been to do for the entire state of Georgia, you know, what Maynard and my dad and Shirley Franklin did for Atlanta in terms of making sure there is always access for diverse entrepreneurs. And it opens up the city for everybody. You know, when we do, when, I mean, minority, you know, diversity folks will say, if you want to know how well a community is

doing, look at how black women are doing. So when we are doing well, everybody is doing well, right? Our families are doing well, our colleagues are doing well, everybody is doing well. And so we are the barometer for whether or not you have a successful city. But people have to understand also that goes with the cynicism, that the vote is directly related to what the money in your pocket, to how are you treated when you go to the doctor. Is there a way to go to the doctor? Do you have capital, you know, in your pocket, to how are you treated when you go to the doctor. Is there a way to go to the doctor? Do you have capital in your business?

Is your mortgage going to be fair? These are policies, we do what we can in Atlanta, but these are policies set at the federal level. And we have to have leadership at the federal level that's going to protect and make sure that people like us have an opportunity to thrive. Perfect. Thank you. So we will have a few minutes for questions.

I'll ask one more question while you all think of a question. If you have a question, raise your hand. So this will be my final question to the panel before we move to Q&A. I often say that covering the Trump administration is like trying to catch confetti. There's so much happening every day. He sends a tweet and, you know, the media runs after it, and that's the breaking news of the day. But there's so much happening on Capitol Hill. There's so much happening on the campaign trail. The result of that is, and I say this with all respect, is the dumbing down of the American electorate. People

become disconnected, disengaged. They turn it out. They close their eyes, and that doesn't mean it doesn't exist when you close your eyes. It's still existing. Given this political environment, when people are just fatigued, like Wanda Sykes says, you know, black women are tired. Trump has cracked black. You know, we are tired. How? Not true, not true. We're still working, honey. We're still working here. We have not quit. But there are a lot of people

who are just, they can't deal with it. How can we penetrate that fatigue and say, no, you as black people can decide what this democracy looks like. Your vote matters. I'm not a believer in saying, well, you don't vote, you don't count.

I'm not gonna reduce any of us to a system that has fought so hard to keep us out. How can we bring those people in the fold and for the people who do vote, how can we keep them engaged in what's happening? The misinformation about you, for example, they're not reading following the minutia of politics. They're not reading eight papers every morning like, you know, we are.

So how can you say this is who I am in this 30-second soundbite, in this, you know, social media clip? How can we do that? This is a legitimate question I've been trying to figure out for 20 years. So this is to the panel, whoever wants to take it. I'll start, but look, we've got to fight. I mean, honestly, that's kind of a bottom line. And, you know, Coretta Scott King, I'll paraphrase, said the fight for civil rights, which of course is the fight for justice, the fight for equality, the fight for civil rights must be fought and won with each generation. I think she had two points. One, it is the very nature of this fight that whatever gains we make, they will not be permanent. It's

the nature of it. So we have to be vigilant. And the second point then is knowing it's the nature of it, do not despair. Do not be overwhelmed. Don't pull the covers up over your head. It's the nature of it. So instead of throwing up our hands, let's roll up our sleeves. We cannot ever, as a people, afford to sit back and think everything's going to be okay without fighting to make it so. It will be okay as long as we keep our eyes open and we walk with our feet and we vote and we do whatever is necessary to be the powerful voices that we are.

Everything. Look, Shirley Chisholm. Look, there is nothing we have ever achieved that has been about progress that came without a fight. Nothing. And we're up for it. And so I think part of it is to like, let's all just get straight about this. Because if you're sitting back waiting for somebody to hand it to you, well, that's never been the case. And it never will be. And don't be mad at that. It's just the nature of it. And so that's why I say, let's also remember all of these fights came with some music.

We figured out a way to have a good dance. We know how to laugh. We know how to hug each other and hold each other when we need to. That's why I said, you know, I've decided I'm just going to be a joyful warrior. We can find joy in our fight. We always have because we know that it's about our ability. And this is the thing about black women in America. The work has been done, the experts exist, the words have been spoken about there is no one more fragile in terms of her safety and security than a black woman in America. Come on now. And what we know always, though, is that, we get out of bed every morning.

And we get our hair done. And we, and we do what is necessary and we take care of those babies and we take care of our men and we take care of our community and we fight having faith and having a belief and a vision which we almost uniquely have the ability to do because almost always nothing has told us that you can or should have that vision but we still do and we then fight to get there that's where i am right now i'm saying saying, look, you know, I don't have time for anybody who's going to, no, seriously, right? Who's going to sit back and just think that it's just going to happen if we don't participate. So of course I have time for them, don't misquote me, I'm just saying that we have to sit down

and say, you have power. We each have power. And the beauty of who we are is that unlike the guy in the White House who has got so many things upside down, doesn't understand, we understand that the true measure of the strength of an individual is not based on who you beat down, it's based on who you lift up. It's an extraordinary strength. And we do that every day.

And so we just have to remind each other and everyone else, see what we can do. We can lift people up. And that's a sign of our strength. And so don't anybody ever let anybody tell you, you are small, you are insignificant, you are without power. We know our power. My mother had many sayings, and one of them is she would say, Kamala, don't you ever let anybody tell

you who you are. You tell them who you are. Right? So that's how I think about this moment. Thank you. Can I just add just real quickly? I mean, and my answer to your question is going to seem a little bit more like a testimonial, but I hope it leaves something for the room. You know, all I know, you know, as a black woman building a business is to play big, you know, and I think for this room we need to take and own our power. You know, I believe that if we can get focused and as a collective and it is going to be because all of us united around one goal one mission madeleine albright says and some of you have heard me speaking especially to groups of women

there's a special place in hell for women who do not support and help women. And I believe that. And so for me, as I look at, you know, what lies ahead, it's, you know, again, in my testimony, in the faith and the promise of the work, of the intent, of the impact, of the influence, and bringing others along, because I honestly have seen by witness and favor that it can be done. Thank you. Thank you.

So it's about the work. Again, here we are in Atlanta. When my dad ran to be the first African American elected from the Deep South since Reconstruction, we didn't have early voting. We didn't have online registration. We didn't have Sunday and Saturday voting. We voted on a Tuesday, and the day of election it was the pouring rain. And he won by the margin of the number of people that we took to the

polls, that we drove to the polls. So the work matters. The work you do, phone banking, canvassing, fundraising, calling your neighbors, all of that matters. And the margin will be based on the work that we do to make sure that everyone in our sphere of influence makes it to the polls. And if we do that, we will have the results that we want. Thank you. Thank you. I think we always have to correct people and they say black women are gonna save the country. Black women are saving themselves, the country benefits. So on that note, all right, we don't have,

so let me just say, we're gonna take questions from the audience. Let me say with love, we don't have time for testimonials. It has to be a question. The senator has a hard out. Her staff is texting me right now. She has a hard out. So if I cut you off, I love you.

But it does have to be a quick question. So who? Yes, ma'am. You? Okay, I'm going to get you, and then I'll go to Brooke. One second, sorry. Go ahead. Good morning.

My name is Sunny Brown. Good morning, Good morning. My name is Sunny Brown. Good morning, Senator. My name is Sunny Brown. I'm a prosecutor working for Mr. Kitchum and Sherry Boston. They tell us in trial all the time we should have a theme of three points. As a prosecutor, what would be my theme of three points that I can tell everyone life is important to have someone who experienced one of these things?

Well, one, the theme is justice is on the ballot. And all of the various injustices we know, from race to economic injustice, we can go down the list, right? I have the experience of working on almost every issue that we are discussing. Mine is not the background of just writing a paper about it or giving a lovely speech about it. It's actually doing the work. Two, to win, because we know what the fight is, to win, we need someone on that debate stage

who can go toe-to-toe against Donald Trump. I have taken on Jeff Sessions. I have taken on Bill Barr. I have taken on Brett Kavanaugh. And I will take on and defeat Donald Trump. But the next point that is equally important is this. To win, we also need to be able to build back up the Obama coalition. And that means about understanding that within the beauty of the diversity of who we are as a nation, the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us. And it means the ability then to unify not only the party but the country. But I want to be really clear with everybody about my definition

of unity. Because some people will, you know, think that unity means, okay, everybody come into the room, but don't be too loud about your thing. That's not my definition of unity. My definition of unity is that no one's concerns are marginalized and that everyone is given equal voice and equal priority. But those two last things in particular are going to be critically important, because we've got to win. There is too much at stake. We have to win. And I do believe I'm uniquely situated to be able to do that.

Perfect. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Great question. Thank you. We're going to have Ms. Carr answer that, please, ma'am. But some of that starts with following these organizations. And then if you all can make it so that folks can repost it, then that makes it easy. And let me just add to that, you can also create these yourself just to get them in the atmosphere.

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Yep. Definitely. To reshare. Yep. Got it. I'm going to go to her and then I'll come to you. Yes, ma'am, in the back. Thank you, Roland. And what I want to know is, first I want to thank you for the great presentation on last night. We were there. And there are about, I just counted quickly, that I can identify as about six at least elected officials. Sherry Boston from DeKalb, Donna McLeod from Gwinnett, Senator Valencia See from Riverdale, Joe Karn from Fulton County.

I got some people running, South Fulton, Linda Pritchard. And what we want to know is are you willing to fight for and in Georgia because we believe that with the team that I just named, we are on the ground. We can actually help you win Georgia. I agree with you. I agree with you. I agree with you. And I agree with you completely. And you know, I've been to Georgia supporting – I campaigned for your mayor, Keisha. I campaigned hard for her. I have campaigned for Stacey Abrams. And I will continue, and it goes back before then. But I also want to say this. Not only yes, yes, yes, yes, but I also intend to be a president

who actually comes back to help you build up the state party the way that you want and need to with the support not only from all of the resources that you have naturally and on the ground but giving you the support as you desire and as you dictate it will be helpful and meaning me coming back to Georgia on a constant basis and you know and I'll tell, I've been coming to Atlanta in particular for years and years and years. And yes, I have spoken in your church.

I have sat down with you. I have sat down with Kasim. I have sat down. I can go on and on about the mayors of Atlanta. And Atlanta is the birthplace in so many ways of black politics in America. And so I give honor always to the history and to the current leadership that is here. And so yes, yes, yes to all of that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, so the senator has to have time to take some pictures with some of you, so we're going to have our last question from you,

and the faster you ask it, the faster everybody can answer. How can we, as women and black women, influence younger women? As someone that has a strong younger girl, like, you know, 18. 18 all the way up to 32 and I'm 52 so I have to constantly be that go-to person it's time to vote you know I'm always calling and texting you know my little mentee so how can I how can we influence them to get you know, my little mentees. So how can I, how can we influence them to get, you know, more involved? Well, one way is to just remind them of what's at stake for them in the election. And it ranges from, you know, I mean, one of the issues that we have, will always need to talk more about that impacts us directly is the issue of the climate crisis.

You know, in so many of the southern states in particular, you know that. In Georgia, you know that. It is the folks who live on the coast. It is the folks who live in, you know, in areas that have been the traditional dumping grounds that are most at risk and have been most at risk because of the environmental crisis. And over the next 12 years, if we do nothing, it will be irreversible. So when we're talking to young voters, including our young women, this is something they're aware of. They know about it. And who is president of the United States? It's going to have everything to do with it. Right now,

we have a person in the White House who is denying the science. He has said that wind turbines cause cancer. They don't cause cancer, they cause jobs. And so that's an example. Let's talk about student loan debt. Here, right, huge issue. You know that. I mean, so many of our, I've met more young college graduates who have talked to me about how they are seriously concerned they may not be able to have children.

Why, I ask. They say, Kamala, you talk so much about children, I may not be able to have any. Why, I ask, because I don't think I can afford them. So let's talk about student loan debt. My policy for student loan debt is one, I'm going to take the profit out of the system. I'm going to get rid of interest-free loans. It'll be free community college. It'll be debt-free college. And also loan forgiveness for people who make less than $100,000 a year. And then if we want to talk about people who go into teaching and go into mental health both of which we need because by the way if a black child has a black teacher before the end of third grade they're 13% more likely to go to college if they've had two black teachers they're 32% more

likely to go to college and so things like student loan debt and I could go on and on down the list let's talk about reproductive health care what has happened here in Georgia what has happened in places like Alabama where these state legislatures have passed these laws that are essentially going to cause, and this is not an extreme statement, it will cause black women to die. Poor women, women of color will die because of these policies because rich women will be fine in terms of they can go to wherever there will be a physician assisted treatment. But there will be whole communities of women who cannot afford to go to those places and in their desperation will be exposed to things that will harm them physically. And so these are the issues that are on the table. I'm running for president to say I will always stand up to protect

a woman's right to make a decision about her own body. We want to talk about what empowers women. I don't know if you all saw the Brett Kavanaugh hearings. When I asked him, well, can you tell me about, is there any law that tells a man what he can do with his body? And the answer was, um, um, um, no. Well, I'm running for president to say, guess what? What we're going to do is that any state that passes a law that interferes with a woman's constitutional right,

according to Roe v. Wade, we're going to have a preclearance requirement, which means that that law has to be reviewed by my Department of Justice for constitutional compliance with Roe v. Wade, and if it does not comply, it does not go into effect. These are just some of the many issues that are at stake. And not to mention this. One of the most powerful tools in the hands of the President of the United States is when she holds this microphone. And with it comes the ability to change perception about so many things, including who can do what and what that looks like. And all of these things are at stake. All of these things are at stake. One of the reasons I decided, Tiffany, to run for president, it was a real tough decision that I made with

my family. And it really did come down to the fact that I knew I needed to be on that stage so that Maria Christina and others could see somebody so that they could go to school and say mm-hmm there's somebody that's just like me who's running too. And, you know, that's why we need everybody to be engaged because there's so many women here who are the first to do what you do. And we all know, you know, it's the advice my mother gave me. She said, Kamala, you may be the first to do many things. Make sure you're not the last. And that's what we're talking about. Let's have one rousing applause for the Senator and our other panelists. Thank you so much.

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