(upbeat music)
- Hey guys, I Rocsi Diaz.
- And I'm Free Marie.
- And I'm Freddie,
and welcome to Cocoa Butter's Voting Special.
- The purpose of this show is to get each
and every one of you informed enough to get ready to vote.
- So what we're gonna do is we're gonna touch
on some really important issues that affects us both locally
and on a national level.
But before we get started,
what I wanna know is how amped up and ready are you guys
for all that we have in store for everybody.
- Freddie looks like she start to dance.
(laughing)
If I see people doing that dance at the voter lines,
I'm gonna crack up.
I'm super excited to get out and vote.
I have a mail-in voter registration,
and I can do the other way.
So I'm ready to either way,
and I think I'm gonna go out and do it.
'Cause I wanna be there with the people
and feel the energy.
- Absolutely, I'm super excited to vote.
I vote every election that comes around.
So this is no different
but 2020 was a whole different beast.
So we all have to get out there
and I'm excited to get our audience informed.
- Yeah, I am just with you guys.
So I will be home filling in my ballot
and kind of making it like a pop quiz,
Googling everybody and then filling it out at the same time.
So that's gonna be my strategy,
but we're gonna teach everybody
about different strategies and what they could do
but first inform them, Free.
- That's right, in case you've been living
under a rock somewhere and don't know what's going on,
it's time for us to inform you.
On the Republican side, we have Donald Trump and Mike Pence.
Their policies include; clean energy,
protecting the right to bear arms,
and limiting international interference.
- And on the Democratic side is Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Their policies include; universal childcare,
closing the racial wealth gap,
and more jobs for Americans.
We pretty much know what these candidates stand for,
but we're really here to get to the bottom
of what Black and Brown people need on a micro level.
- That's right, because what we're really looking
for is better employment, accessible healthcare.
And for Latinos especially,
we're looking for immigration right.
Not just Latinos, but immigrants in this country.
And I'm so glad that I have my friend,
the founder of She Se Puede and also This is About Humanity.
Elsa Collins is joining us right now
to talk about Black and Brown communities
and immigration rights.
I am so excited 'cause this woman is so powerful
and so informative.
when I heard that we were having this series I was like,
Elsa, I need Elsa right now.
So thank you so much for joining us, Elsa.
- Thank you for having me.
- So tell us a little bit about both your organizations.
- Yeah, amazing.
So I'm one of the co-founders of She Se Puede,
which is a new digital lifestyle community founded
by 10 amazing Latinas.
Including America Ferrera and Eva Longoria, Jess Morales,
Monica Ramirez, Stephanie Valencia,
Christy Haubegger, Alex Kondracke.
There are 10 of us involved and we really came together
and started looking around at our community and said.
What is out there for us that speaks to our needs,
our desires, our wishes,
and fully embraces who we can be as a community.
So that's really where She Se Puede was born.
And we're so excited to be in existence.
We're excited for people to be a part of this community,
like you Rocsi, thank you so much.
And really we're looking to empower Latinas
not just in their household,
but also in the community and to be civically engaged.
- So, can you tell us about this is about humanity
and what policy changes
that your organization can benefit from?
- Yeah, so this is about humanity.
I'm one of the co-founders of...
We were founded in 2018 in response
to the family separation crisis.
We were all seeing what everyone was seeing.
These children being separated from their parents,
hearing the recordings of them crying out for mama, papa.
It was a visceral reaction that I think all of us had.
I grew up on the border,
so I have a personal connection to what's happening.
And we just wanted to respond to raise awareness
about the issue
so that people could feel more comfortable talking about it.
A lot of times when people talk
about immigration or family separation,
they feel like it's complicated.
They're not really sure what's going on.
And so they don't feel comfortable speaking out
or speaking up on the issue.
So that's really what This is About Humanity
has as its mission.
And clearly what we would benefit from
is policies and decisions that respect the laws
of asylum that have existed in this country for many years.
So slowly we have been peeling back the ability
to seek asylum which it's a human right to seek asylum.
A lot of times people say like,
is that really the right way to come into this country?
But seeking asylum is one of those ways.
And so we wanna make sure
that we're respecting asylum laws
and that we're protecting individuals
who are seeking refuge.
- Yes, so we love the work that you all are doing
to make sure that people seeking asylum are protected.
So like sort of along those lines,
I'd love to chat with you to find out like
are there voters rights for undocumented residents?
- So people who are undocumented in this country
unfortunately don't have a right to vote.
So I wanna encourage everybody
who does have a right to vote,
to think about what that really means
and to vote for those who can't in this country.
So I'm relying on everyone who cares
about our undocumented brothers and sisters,
our dreamers, our DACA brothers and sisters,
to really vote on their behalf.
So that we can sure that we're protecting them,
and that we are putting people in positions of power
who have an idea about how to have a path to citizenship.
How to make positive immigration reform in this country.
So I think that's the message
I want everyone to walk away with.
Is if you're sort of on the fence about voting,
because you don't think that your life
is gonna change either way,
know that someone else's life is gonna change in a big way.
- And I wanted to follow up with that.
I know with She Se Puede and your organizations,
we do focus a lot on Latin immigration,
but it is all immigration in this country.
I always tell the story of how I came to this country
as an immigrant and when I did seek my citizenship.
When I got sworn In, it wasn't just Latinos.
It's Asians, African, Indonesians, Caribbean.
So when you think about who you're voting for,
and even though you may have the right
but that next person doesn't,
what kind of things do you like to arm voters with
before they go on poll?
One of my favorite things that you say is,
if you have a take home test,
take it home and study it and fill it in
while you're voting.
- Think about an election as a job performance review.
We all get job performance reviews.
And when you do well, you get a thumbs up.
And when you don't do well,
well, some not good things happen.
So an election is an opportunity
to give a performance review for those that are in power.
So we wanna make sure that we're studying
and we know the issues,
we know how they voted,
we know their positions on the things that matter to us.
Because we're about to give them a job review.
- We love you, we love your organization.
And keep on fighting for us, girl power.
We love it, thank you.
- Every year it's important to vote,
but this is one of the most important time to vote
in our lifetime.
Between the pandemic, the ongoing protests and detentions
being at an all time high.
The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor
and Ahmaud Arbery were clearly a call
for immediate police reform.
- Absolutely, Free.
And our next guest is using his power to enact change.
You know him from Amazon's hit show "The Boys."
Please welcome Laz Alonso.
Laz, thank you so much for being here.
- My pleasure, thank you for having me.
How y'all doing?
- We're good.
Freddie, that's Laz.
- Hey Laz.
(laughing)
- Freddie.
- There it is, we was waiting for it.
- It's a pleasure to meet you Freddie.
(laughing)
- [Rocsi] Come on Freddie.
- Alright, so how are you using your celebrity
to help push forward the Afro-Latino agenda?
- So I really don't look at it as using celebrity.
I feel like it's really about using humanity.
I happen to have a platform,
I happen to have a group of people
that have supported my career from day one.
And so now when the tables are turned and they need support
because there are injustices happening all around us,
it will behove me to do the same that they have done
for me for all these years.
'Cause I wouldn't be here if it wasn't
for a very loyal fan base
that's been there with me through my highs and my lows.
So how do I use it to amplify their voices?
I'm not on the front lines.
There are other people who live
this battle every single day.
And I feel like as a "celebrity,"
it would be disingenuous to try to step on out
in the front lines and grab a megaphone
and try to act like this is my fight.
No, this is our fight.
And there are leaders that are doing this morning to night.
Who are educated with the day to day battles
that they're facing,
representing the community and it's activism.
And it's up to us to use our platform
to amplify their voices,
not try to come in and because I'm a celebrity now,
let me just come up with something and wing it.
It's not how it works.
- And there's one thing that I know about you Laz
is you're a huge news buff.
You're always watching the news,
you're always staying up to date
with what's going on in the world.
And what I'm curious to know,
with everything that we see in the news and with COVID,
we see so much police brutality.
How much do you think that's actually
going to affect people going out to the polls and voting
and just voting in general,
especially our Black and Brown community.
- So I've gotten off the news Rocs to a certain degree.
I've downgraded the amount of news
that I consume by over 50%.
And I've been investing that time into talking to people.
We're spending one on one time trying to get people
to become politically active.
To register to vote,
to check to make sure they're registered to vote,
and to go out and vote.
The problem that I'm finding is that
there are very, very well paid people who look like us
that their main objective
is to make us feel disenfranchised
and like our votes do not matter.
No matter who you vote for,
who matter who gets elected,
it won't make a difference in your life.
And that is simply false, that is fake.
And it's unfortunate because they are very well trained,
very convincing and very well financed.
And if voting didn't make a change and didn't matter,
then why would they be spending so much time
and effort and money to get us not to vote?
Ultimately, the system needs to be changed.
And the only way that is gonna change
is from the inside out.
We can protest till we're blue in the face,
and it is a very effective way
to bring attention to a situation.
But once you bring attention to the situation,
you need the right people on the inside
to carry out and create policy and then enforce policy.
Because it ain't enough just to create policy,
you have to make sure that the people
that are on the inside enforce it.
We look at the case with Brianna Taylor,
and a lot of new information is coming out now.
And we realized that a lot of what we heard
that attorney general say was just simply not true.
And if we don't have the right people on the inside
that are going to enforce policy with a certain level
of humanity in mind,
then we're basically given up.
- How do you choose and how do you consider a candidate
that speaks to you?
And what's your process when it comes to voting?
- I mean, that's a good question because
there are so many people on the state and local level
that I still have my homework to do before November 3rd.
So admittedly, I have work to do between now and then still.
Even though I already know when it comes to voting
in the general election for president
who I'm gonna vote for.
When it comes to all the other state and local people,
I have to do my homework.
I have to do my research and look them up,
and find out what articles have been written about them.
And what kind of voting records they have,
what kind of moves they have.
Because like you know,
there's a saying that says all skin-folk ain't kinfolk.
So you gotta make sure that the person
that you're voting for speaks directly to the things
that you want out of life.
- Thank you Laz and everybody that's a fan of Laz.
Be sure you check him out on Amazon, "The Boys" that is out.
He's doing phenomenal work on that.
- So we are back at it again
to make sure you're as informed as possible
for November 3rd.
- We have so much information for you,
and we have some more guest to talk to.
But before we do,
there's some quick facts that you should know.
The 15th amendment gave black men the right to vote.
The 19th amendment gave women the right to vote,
excluding women of color.
- And did you know that the Civil Rights Act of 1964
gave us universal voting rights?
And just because we are legally able to vote,
it doesn't mean that we don't face other challenges.
- Activists and author, Marc Lamont Hill
is here to talk about challenges like voter suppression
and what it looks like.
Marc, thank you so much for joining us.
- Oh, it is my pleasure to get to see you all.
- Yes with the hoodie, come on.
I knew Mark was gonna come with it.
- I love it, it says free, you after me Marc.
Thank you.
- You already know.
(laughing)
- Good to see you Marc.
- You too.
- Let's talk about voter suppression.
Can you give us some examples
of what voter suppression can look like.
- Yeah, I mean basically voter Suppression
is an attempt to take people
who should be voting and stopping them from voting.
And so voting suppression can look like
not having enough machines at the polls.
It could be having not the right language signs
up in the neighborhood.
For example, if there's a neighborhood
where everyone speaks Spanish as a first language
or as a primary language,
or if I'm in Dearborn, Michigan,
where everyone speaks Arabic
or a lot of people speak Arabic as a primary language,
and all the signs are in are in English,
it might make it harder to find the polls
or read what's mailed to me.
Voter ID laws are one of the primary ways though
that we see voter suppression.
Demanding that people have certain types of IDs
when they come to the polls will lower the chances
that poor people,
the very, very old people and others
have access to the polls.
Because they may not have the resources necessary
to get an ID.
'Cause a whole bunch of folks who may work legal jobs,
who work really hard may not be able to get a state ID.
- Why do you think voter suppression happens more
in Black and Brown communities?
- Because quite honestly if everybody voted,
I'm not even talking,
just if everybody voted,
the elections would turn out probably the same way
every election cycle.
And so a lot of times particular people in power,
particular parties.
I don't wanna get to partisan,
I know we're talking about voting right now
and not politics per se.
But a lot of times the question becomes,
how does a party win when they don't have the most votes?
Well, a lot of times they win
because all the people who can vote don't vote.
And so what the powerful often do regardless
of their political party is trying to create rules
or situations that discourage people from voting.
And so then the numbers get lower and lower and lower.
And so imagine if I was on a call with you three right now,
and I said I want us to vote on some policies,
and I wanna make policies so that men will run everything.
It's three of y'all and one of me.
So I'm not gonna win those votes.
But if I start making new voter rules,
like only people with hoodies can vote, right.
Or only people who worked at BET could vote.
I could cut at least one person right there.
I keep making rules and it's the law.
And then I may be able to get it so that is one to one
or two to one.
I may be able to convince Rocsi to come on my side,
or convince Free to come on my side, right.
And so that would be the logic and that's what we see.
Parties don't win by the majority of votes,
they win by the margin of people
who don't have access to the vote.
- [Free] Got it.
- Once you could really, really explain to people, Marc.
What is the difference between voter suppression
and voter fraud?
Because a lot of they skew that line.
And I saw your vein popping out when you was ready
to choose a party and talk about bipartisan stuff
that we're not supposed to talk about.
- See, I followed the rules.
I'm mad but imma follow the rules.
- Thank you Marc.
- I said voter suppression is processes and laws
that take people who could or should be voting
and making it harder for them to vote.
Voter fraud is people who should not be voting
and creating processes and laws,
or not laws necessarily
but processes that allow them to vote.
For example, my uncle Bobby,
he died in 1994.
If he were to vote,
that would be voter fraud.
'Cause he can't vote.
But we've seen States where people who are dead
have somehow managed to get on a voter roll.
If I vote twice, that will be voter fraud.
If I'm 16 and I vote, that will be voter fraud.
Voter fraud is often the excuse
that people use to justify voter suppression, right,
So they say well,
we don't want anybody to show up and vote wrong.
We don't want anybody to show up and be fake at the polls.
So we're gonna make all these rules and laws
that make it harder to get to the polls,
that's why you need a ID.
And that's the argument that some people will make.
They'll say well, you need an ID to get in the club.
So if you need an ID to get in the club,
why wouldn't you need an ID to vote?
And the answer to that question,
and I think it's an important question
is I don't have a constitutional right
to go to Magic City or whatever club, right.
I don't have a constitutional right
to do certain activities.
I have a constitutional right to vote.
And the 24th amendment, just to give you one example.
The 24th amendment makes it illegal to have a poll tax.
The reason it's illegal to have a poll tax
is because if I make people have to pay a tax
at the voting booth,
then what I'm doing is I'm making it harder
for poor people to vote and easier for rich people to vote.
Which will skew an election and undermines democracy.
Well, if I need an ID to vote,
and I say, well, you just need an ID.
Everybody need an ID, but how do I get an ID?
I need my social security card and birth certificate.
How do I get that?
I gotta get in the car, gotta drive to the office,
gotta fill out this stuff, gotta write a cheque,
gotta mail it out, gotta have an address to get it to.
That becomes a poll tax in its own way
because I'm having to spend money to do something to vote.
And so that's why the voter fraud
and voter suppression conversation is so important.
Nobody wants voter fraud but we don't wanna create rules
that are so intense that they actually lead to suppression.
And let me be real clear about this,
voter fraud happens very, very rarely
in comparison to voter suppression.
People do not lose and win elections because of voter fraud.
They lose and win elections because of voter suppression.
The odds of voter fraud are so minimal.
You have a better chance of winning a presidency
by voter fraud,
you have a better chance of winning the Powerball,
a better chance of winning a house
in Publishers Clearing House.
I mean, the odds are so small.
Whereas with voter suppression, we see it all the time.
One last thing,
'cause this is something that people need to think
about when they vote this year.
And I need everybody to vote.
I don't care, I mean I might care.
But I'm not gonna tell you who to vote for,
I just need you to vote your conscience and vote.
But when you vote,
we also have to think about this idea of gerrymandering.
Gerrymandering is the practice where they draw your district
in a way that either makes your vote less powerful
in an area, right.
So for example, if there's a hundred black people in a town,
and I can put one black person in each neighborhood
and each district or 10 in each district,
then there's no powerful black vote, right.
So I'm watering down your vote by drawing the district
in weird ways.
'Cause when you look at how districts are drawn
in cities and States,
they're not drawn like straight lines.
That would make sense.
They're drawn sometimes like this.
- Right.
- Back in the day, one was drawn like a salamander
which is why it's called gerrymandering.
And so they draw it so
that all the black people are spread out
or all the poor people are spread out,
or all the Italians are spread out.
Or they make it so that all those people are in one place.
Like, you know what?
Y'all gonna get this one district.
Y'all gonna get Harlem.
Y'all gonna get... - Just one.
- Right, just one now.
So instead of having to have impact in every election.
we'll just say there's gonna be 10 districts
and one's gonna be black.
One is gonna be LatinX.
And then that way it still lessens the impact, right.
It's this idea of when you spread it out,
it's called cracking.
When you do the opposite way, it's called packing.
But in each case, we're trying to water down the vote.
And that's another way of suppressing our vote
because we're making our vote not matter as much.
That's why it's important for everybody to vote
at every election at every level.
- I love your passion surrounding voting.
We love that you stuck to the rules,
we appreciate you.
- Thank y'all man.
And more importantly,
thank you all for the work y'all are doing.
What y'all are doing right now, all three y'all
is the work of justice and freedom.
This is the work that will make the world better
than we found it.
And y'all need to be applauded for this.
I love y'all for this.
- [Free] Thank you, we love you too.
- Thank you so much, thank y'all, peace.
- Felony disenfranchisement prevents convicted felons
from voting.
Celebrities like Mike Tyson recently chimed in
on the matter though,
saying that this election will be his first time voting.
He never thought he could vote because of his felony record.
And he's finally proud to vote.
And we're so happy for you Mike.
- Yes we are.
Also on Big Boy's radio show, rapper Snoop Dogg said,
and I quote.
"For many years they had me brainwashed thinking
that you couldn't vote because you had a criminal record."
- And I think that this next guest
is the perfect guest to talk about this topic right now.
Hailing from the Bx, Byway, Miami,
that's where he's calling in from.
He's here to share his opinions
on felony disenfranchisement.
Please welcome to the show our dear friend, Fat Joe.
I just gave you that one in six applaud.
Joe cracking in the building intro.
- We call that a platinum introduction, platinum.
- We know you gotta get to the big, big show
in just a little bit.
But Joe, thank you so much for taking time out for us.
Real fast, let's just jump into it.
I wanna know for you in particular,
how has your family been impacted
by the criminal justice system when it comes to voting?
- Oh wow.
I have a lot of friends.
Voter suppression been happening
before we even knew it was voter suppression.
So the minute you get locked up for something
you become not eligible to vote,
so now your voice doesn't count.
So we've been impacted for years and years and years
in the hood with voter suppression
- Now felony laws do vary state by state.
Do you think every state should allow felons to vote?
- I mean from my understanding there's other countries
that from the second you're born,
you're eligible to vote once you hit a certain age.
So it's not like you need a voting card,
you don't need an ID,
You don't need a registration.
You know it's your right as being a citizen of that country.
So everyone should have the right to be able to vote
and be heard because we're all Americans.
Even though some people may have made a mistake
in their life and I also believe that people can change.
I believe that people can change.
Who I was when I was 18, 20, 25,
it's not who I am now.
So I think that we shouldn't always be penalized
for something we've done in the past.
- Absolutely, so how does it make you feel to hear
about Snoop Dogg and Mike Tyson's big excitement
to vote for the first time?
- I'm glad Snoop Dogg is able to vote,
who's a very, very prominent figure in our community.
Who's been telling everybody to register to vote
who's been there.
And Mike Tyson, that's an American icon.
That's exactly what I mean.
You may be able to make a mistake or two in life
but that doesn't define you, you can change.
So I'm proud of both of them
- Do you know a lot of people that are dealing
with that right now?
- Well, my sister Remy Ma,
she's not allowed to vote 'cause she did that time.
And Remy is really aware of politics and her surrounding,
and she would love to vote and can't vote.
So it's like I think we deal with that.
I got so many friends that's been locked up
that's not able to vote.
I mean unfortunately,
we've been almost brainwashed to believe
that we don't deserve the right to vote
because somebody got locked up with this did jail time.
It's pretty much a brainwash job.
- Yes, thank you so much for that.
Yes, thank you Fat Joe so much for joining us today.
You were super helpful, super informative.
And I know everyone was looking forward for your opinion.
So thank you.
Thank you so much.
Tell everybody to get out there,
register to vote and actually go vote.
And we got to go out there and vote as one.
Alright guys.
- So guys, here's one thing.
Something that we didn't think about are the elections
in our home towns and how they change our everyday lives.
- We all have to show up for our presidential election,
and we must be proactive in our local elections.
- And guys I'm so excited because
as we were talking about the importance of local voting,
this next woman she knows all about elections
and most importantly, the local level of things.
Please welcome Alencia Johnson to the show.
- Thank you, thanks for having me.
- I'm so excited that you here
because I stress so much to people.
Guys, it's not only about the presidential vote.
It's about who you're electing into office,
who you are electing in to be a judge,
our sheriff, everything.
Could you please knock it into every door right now,
the importance of the local vote.
- I'm so glad you started that.
And my background is in president for politics,
but all of the issues that I have fought for
my entire career and actually my entire life.
From reproductive healthcare to civil rights,
voting rights, racial justice,
those are literally impacted at the local level.
I talk to college students all the time
and they say.
Alencia, I can't see why it's so important for me to vote
in the presidential election because things aren't changing.
And I flip that on them and ask them,
"What's your number one issue."
When I asked the question
to the students at Morehouse College
they mentioned the criminal justice reform
because they were young black men.
And I said, well listen.
There is an ability to elect over 2,400 attorneys
at the state and district level
who are managing the cases
that we are all protesting against.
And the interesting thing about that
is those 2,400 elected prosecutor attorney position,
only 25 of them are black women.
Only a small percentage of them are black people.
And so we have the ability to change politics
and policy at the local level that will impact us
within that year of us voting
if we get out in these local elections.
So yes, the top of the ticket is important
but it's really those local elections
where we're talking about judges, attorneys,
superintendents, city councils,
school board members, you name it.
Those are all electoral positions
that really impact our day to day life.
- Propositions as well, people ignore propositions.
And it's like y'all,
these are like rights that we're voting into office
and we don't even know.
It baffles my mind when we complain about something
but it's like we didn't go and vote for it,
'cause hey, it's every two years
for our local representatives.
It's not every four years all the time.
- That's right.
I mean, we think about the things that folks really care
about from legalizing marijuana that we are perfectly living
without it being legalized has over incarcerated
so many Black and Brown folks.
You think about legalizing same sex marriage.
All of these started out as state propositions
within California and Oregon and Colorado.
And that went all the way up to the federal level for some,
and we're still fighting for a federal policy
to legalize marijuana across the country, right.
And so to your point, I'm glad you brought this up.
A lot of these start with propositions.
There are districts that are putting propositions
around how we can incarcerate people
or the rights that they have restored
when they get out of jail or prison.
And so that's so important for people to pay attention
to the propositions that are on their ballot.
- Yes, thank you so much for that explanation.
- Now, in past elections,
how were you able to bridge the gap
between local voters and state candidates?
- I think the key to a lot of this is storytelling.
So I've been fortunate to work
on president Obama's election.
I've worked with Hillary Clinton's campaign.
I worked
on Senator Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign.
Right now I'm currently working with the Joe Biden campaign.
And to be honest,
while these are national presidential campaigns
the way that we've been able
to move voters to be enthusiastic and to engaged,
is by local stories, local community leaders.
Oftentimes in the work that I do,
I get asked to bring influencers and celebrities
and people with millions and hundred thousand followers
to engage in the campaign.
But what I really find is those local community leaders
are the trusted voices.
So the church first lady or the hairdresser
at our favorite salon, or the barber,
or our favorite disk jockey.
These tend to be better messenger for voters
to get them engaged them in issues that pertain to them.
And I'm not just talking about them
being out here talking about the candidate
that they love.
They're holding round tables as small black business owners.
They're having conversations about access to healthcare
and what a law means for them
as they are on their entrepreneurship journey,
or they just graduated from college
and may not have the job that they want.
And so these local influential people
who have the trusted voice of the community,
who have the authentic stories,
that is really how we bridge that gap
and bring people along the process.
- I love that you guys are using local people,
'cause people around you,
if you see them doing it you're more likely to do it
and follow their footsteps.
So that makes perfect sense.
Alencia, how does 1063 West Broad inform people
about the issues that affect Black and Brown communities?
- Yeah, so we work with different companies
and organizations and major brands
on issues that they care about for meaningful stuff.
Like you have to be committed to racial justice,
and you have to be committed to gender equity,
or pro-choice causes.
And oftentimes we take big brands who say,
I wanna do more for people of color,
I wanna do more for women of color,
and I wanna connect them on certain issues.
And sometimes they'll say I don't wanna be political.
And I said, well actually in our country the personal
has become political and you actually have to pick a side.
If we look at the current occupant in the white house,
he's taking a side.
And so therefore we have to take a side.
And so we try to tap into culture leaders and the creators.
Whether it's the clothing brands,
whether it's the story lines
that we're seeing in TV and film,
whether it's technology
and the latest trend that's happening on Twitter.
How are we tapping into that authentic engagement
to these cultural moments
around critical issues related to people of color.
And so I love what so many organizations are doing.
We were talking about the vices challenge
before we all got on here.
Now there's a platform to talk about voting.
We're seeing that award shows are talking about voting.
They're bringing in the critical elements
of our right to exercise our right to vote.
And so that is what 1063 is doing,
working with different candidates
and getting them on platforms with entertainers,
with influencers.
I'll hear people who say.
Oh, we've got so and so to do this Instagram live
with this person
and I didn't even know they were politically engaged.
But that is a way to marry two people
who care about a certain issue,
and who come from different industries,
different backgrounds together to really engage with folks.
One of the things that I love
that the Biden campaign recently did
was we put President Obama in the chamber.
Like talk about getting to the culture
We went to the chamber room.
- It's 20 million followers I heard in the same room.
- Exactly. - 20 million votes we keep.
Alencia, we're all in this together.
We just wanna thank you for taking the time
to share your passion with us about voting
and how important it is.
Not just right now in this election but every election.
Thank you so much for taking your time.
- Thank you.
- Yes, super important.
Also there's a direct connection
between voting in the local elections
and getting our needs met on a national level.
It's all important and I'm really happy that we had Alencia
here to break it all down for us.
- Our next guest knows all about community engagement.
She was CEO of WEEN,
and she was also the former National Youth Vote Director.
And we actually go way, way, way back.
Please, welcome Valeisha Butterfield, hey.
- Hey
- Hey mama, we love you, oh my gosh.
- Girl, I'm gonna fan out.
If there's two girls that I fan out about
is Valeisha and Rihanna.
Those are like up there.
- Hey Valeisha, thanks for being there.
- Thanks for having me.
- I'm so glad you're here.
You being the daughter of a U.S. Congressman.
We love Mr. Butterfield over there.
I wanna know for you,
I always stress the importance of local voting
in your own towns, in your own community.
How important is it to tell people to be informed
not only in the big ballot,
but also on a local level as well?
It's crazy Rocsi and Free and Freddie too
that I grew up in a small town
in North Carolina called Wilson,
rural part of the Southern state
that typically always votes red, right.
So growing up in the South in the 80s and 90's,
both of my parents were elected officials.
My dad, as you've mentioned is a United States Congressman
but started as a judge in the local courts there.
And then my mom is a North Carolina state representative
and long story short.
I remember as early as five years old,
understanding the importance of thinking globally
in the work that you wanna do
maybe in the dreams that you have in life,
but having to operate locally.
And so for me, I think it's important
to focus so much on who we're electing
as the next president of the United States.
But also thinking about the state elections
and the local elections to make sure
that you're getting good people in those seats.
I've seen great politicians.
They exist, they're out there.
My parents are two examples of that.
And so I really believe that it's less about politics
and more about just getting the right people in office
that are gonna fight you
- Not just the big national ones
where it's lights and camera actions
but the real work is done locally.
- Yeah, Free, like if you think about the bridge
that may be broken in your small town,
or the things that you have to do locally
right in the neighborhoods that you live in,
that happens at the local level.
And so again, it's important to think about
who's gonna be the next president of the United States.
But you also have to make sure
that you're really voting down ballot
based on the people that really care about the issues
that matter to you every single day.
- Right.
- Absolutely, so you clearly come from a long line
of powerful political figures
and you've also done a lot of this work
in your life as well.
So I just wanna know like how do you use
your past experiences to encourage others
to get involved in their communities?
- I think Freddie,
the first thing is for any young person watching,
I definitely was one of those people when I was young.
Like hey, does my vote really matter?
Do I really even want to work in politics
because both of my parents worked in politics.
And so I questioned those things when I was younger.
Like, does my vote really count?
Should I really be a part of this?
And I can honestly say it does.
And so when I worked for President Obama
as the National Youth Vote Director,
I was able to witness firsthand
as I traveled across the country,
the power of young people,
the power in your voice, the power in your vote.
And so if ever there is a time
for you to activate your vote, it is right now.
And young people have the power.
So I think that we think that we don't have as much power,
the younger that we are.
But you actually have all the power
because you're the future and you're the now.
And so if it's your first time voting,
or if you're voting for the first time in a long time.
Just remember that when it feels hard,
when it feels too big or too impossible
you actually do have the power.
And so make sure that you use it on November 3rd
and leading up to the election.
- Well, that's it in a nutshell right there.
Thank you Valeisha,
we so appreciate you coming to sit and talk with us.
And I hope that every young person hears your words
because you actually work with the youth vote.
So you know what it takes to get them to vote.
And we just wanna thank you
for coming and sitting with us today.
It must be time for another hip hop summit or something.
I feel one coming on.
- Listen, Free, I know, I do.
Remember we travel all over this country together,
Free, Rocsi, Freddie.
It was powerful and it was magical.
And so thank you ladies for what you're doing here
because I think it's so important now
with COVID and everything to take it digital, right.
So we're in a virtual world right now
and the work don't stop.
- Work don't stop.
And if there's somebody that's the queen
of digital master classes
it is Valeisha Butterfield right now.
If you don't know, now you know.
I wanna thank you again so much.
We really appreciate you joining in with us.
So thank you so much, we love you.
- Bye, bye, love you. - Thank you.
- November 3rd is the big day.
You're registered to vote.
You know all the candidates and what they stand for.
Lots of debates.
You know what issues are important to you and your family.
It's time to make your choice
- Yes, I'm so ready to vote.
It's been such a long time coming, I'm so excited.
But we have some questions
that we wanna answer for you guys.
So how should you prepare before you hit the polls?
First, choose how you plan to vote.
Next, know your local election dates and deadlines.
Next, wear bipartisan clothing,
and then finally stay in line.
Just stay in line,
commit and know it could be long
but it will be very much worth it
if you just stay in line and cast your vote.
- Exactly, act like it's a pair of new Jordan's
that is coming out of release there
until you get that purchase, allright.
Don't go anywhere until you vote, but let's be real.
The pandemic is affecting this year's election,
and that shouldn't stop you from casting your vote.
There are many opinions available to us to make sure
that we are safe on election day.
- Alright, so we're jumping back into Buzzfeed world
for a second.
Buzzfeed news reporter Hayes Brown is gonna tell us
about voting on election day
and what to expect after.
Welcome Hayes Brown.
Hi, thanks for having me you guys.
- Hi, Hayes.
- I love that you're representing BuzzFeed hoodie.
- Right.
- Old school fashion, win you back.
- So Hayes let's jump right in.
what safety measures can voters take on election day?
- Well, if you are voting in-person on election day,
then safety measures like you would go
into the grocery store to be honest.
You wanna be wearing a mask,
you wanna be socially distancing as much as possible.
And you want to be aware of the fact
that we are still in a pandemic.
And that shouldn't run up agaist your right to vote.
So if you're going out to a polling location
know where you're going.
Have the location ballot hand in your brain
what location you are going to.
Try and be in and out as fast as you can.
I know that for a lot of people that's not the case.
Which is very unfortunate.
I know it's gonna be hard for a lot of people
'cause lines are probably gonna be pretty long this year.
A lot of people wanna vote,
but still while you're waiting in line
your right to vote,
your right to stay in line until the polls close,
until you've had the right to vote.
So do your best to keep that social distance
and keep that six feet apart from people around you,
even as the line seems infinite.
- Thank you Hayes.
Now in the past with elections,
it always seems like we're sitting at the TV
and we're waiting for that result to come through.
It's a little different this year, right.
How long is it really gonna take
to count all the votes realistically.
- We might have a case where the president declares victory
just based on the occurrence from November 3rd.
But we're not going to know for sure
who has won unless it's a complete blowout
in electoral college until much later.
- Let's talk about the chain in command
if there will be a chain in command.
What happens after we get those results
and the transition?
'Cause it's not automatic,
once we know who the winner is.
And in this case,
it's gonna take a minute for us to really get those results.
- Yeah, it is.
And so here's where it gets tricky.
'Cause Election Law unfortunately is not very clear
in a lot of ways.
Hopefully, this runs normal, run smooth.
We know within a couple of weeks who has won
each of the electors.
Both candidates agree, yes,
that is the correct result.
The Electoral College meets, no drama.
They vote, we have a president sworn in
for a new term come January.
But like I said, this is a weird year.
So there's a lot up in the air
and a lot to look out for.
So be weary after election day that it's not over.
- You are like,
I hope it runs smooth and hopefully not.
I'm like, have you been with us
'cause there's nothing nothing about the election
will run smooth.
(laughing)
- I am concerned but I want everyone to know
what sort of processes are in place right now.
So that if things do look weird,
they can say alright,
I know what is happening right now.
And here if I should or should not
be really freaking out right now.
- Right.
Deep breaths everybody.
It's gonna be all right.
We're all in this together.
- So one other thing I can say is
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of House.
If we do get to the last situation,
she sent out a letter to her democratic colleagues saying,
look, we gotta run up the vote this year then.
We can't let any of us be plied.
We have to make sure that we win
even bigger majority in the house.
Make sure if we do have to make this decision,
that we have more States behind us.
But at the same time,
the Trump campaign and the GOP, the RNC,
they're prepared to file a lot of motions
after election day to help decide
which ballot should be counted and which shouldn't.
So it's going to be tense.
Let's put it that way, it's going to be tense.
(laughing)
- Hayes, thank you so much for being with us today.
We appreciate all the information,
all the gems that you just dropped on us.
Thank you so much.
- Glad to do it.
- Super informative.
And also we would love to spotlight the organization
that brought us all together.
- That's right.
Let's go ahead and say it.
And Still I Vote, And Still I Vote guys.
It's a group that takes action against all forms
of voter suppression and empowers communities
across the nation to stay active in the election.
- Our final guest, is a part of the campaign,
And Still I Vote.
Please welcome Leigh Chapman.
We're so happy to have you here today, Leigh.
We've been talking about voting and youth and rights.
And we wanna know a little bit more
about the campaign that you're working with,
And Still I Vote.
- Thank you so much for having me.
So And Still I Vote is actually a project
of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
And we're the nation's largest
and oldest civil rights coalition.
We've actually been around for 70 years,
and we've been at the front lines
of every major civil rights battle.
From the passage of the Civil Rights Act
and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
So we knew because of voter suppression in our country
that we needed to have a campaign to shine a spotlight
on voter suppression,
and really mobilize people to take action.
So that's why we launched And Still I Vote.
We launched it earlier this year in Selma, Alabama.
Actually on the Edmund Pettus bridge
where the late Congressman John Lewis
was beaten and bloodied for civil rights
and for voting rights in our country.
And so that was such an important moment for us.
And we knew that voter suppression
was alive and well in 2020.
You just have to look at the 2018 election.
Look at Georgia, where there were massive voter purges.
There were polling place closures in black neighborhoods.
There were no long lines of five to seven hours
for black people to vote.
So we launched this campaign and then COVID-19 hit,
which is just another barrier to the ballot
that people are facing,
especially Black and Brown voters.
- And you speak about the Honorable John Lewis.
And I know he'd be smiling upon you right now
knowing that we're still fighting against voter suppression.
And that's one of the messages
that we've been kind of pounding and pounding and pounding
on people to go out there and know what your rights are
to go vote.
But I do wanna also shed light on the Heroes Act
and it's importance.
Can you shine some light on that for me please?
- Sure, so when COVID-19 hit,
we knew that this was going to be a challenge
for voting rights in our country.
And election officials needed additional funds
and resources so voters could cast
their vote safely this year without a worry or concern
of contracting COVID-19.
So we were pushing and advocating for Congress
to provide more funding so States could have PPE,
so they could have more poll workers,
so they could have more vote-by-mail ballots
and more early voting days.
So people could safely social distance
and cast their ballot.
But unfortunately because of partisanship in our Congress,
that bill was actually blocked by the Senate.
It passed the house in May
and it had over $3.6 billion in funding for elections.
But Senator McConnell actually blocked it.
And it's been sitting on his desk
for over 140 days without action.
Which is really a shame because we should want to
have a democracy where more people can participate.
Our elected leaders should be doing everything
that they can to provide more resources
for voters to safely cast their ballot
in the middle of a pandemic.
And it's unfortunate that some elected leaders
just don't see that.
So advocates like the Leadership Conference,
our partners, we've been litigating.
We've been advocating and also private businesses
have actually stepped up to the plate
and have provided that critical funding
that we need for States to operate safe elections this year.
- Yes, thank you so much.
So I really wanna just ask a follow up,
because I do feel like people in general.
It's like people who are eligible to vote in America.
We a lot of times feel like no matter what we do
if something gets to an elected official's desk
and there's legislation that needs to be signed
and he's just letting it sit there,
like what can we do as citizens to really help to push
that initiative forward when it feels hopeless in that way?
- I think it's really important
that we hold our elected leaders accountable.
And if they're not doing what we want them to do
in Congress or in state legislatures or in the city hall,
we need to vote them out.
You have to make sure you're registering to vote,
make sure you vote in every election
from local election to state elections,
to federal elections,
because what they do have impact on our everyday lives.
So that's one thing that we try to encourage is
that people really make that connection
on the policies that we wanna see.
Whether it's ending police brutality
or having better education
or better healthcare for our families.
It all starts with making sure
that we elect leaders that represent our interests.
- Yeah, and so that goes back to the sort of
what we've been discussing throughout all of these episodes
which is that it's really important to vote
and make your voice heard from a smaller local level,
all the way up to nationwide.
And so with that said,
I would love to consider voting rights program.
And I'd like to talk a little bit about how
even after November 3rd,
how is that program gonna stay active?
- Sure, so depending on how the election checks out,
we do not know yet.
But if Congress does become more progressive
and more open to pro-democracy legislation,
then we have a real opportunity to pass
some impactful bills.
So the Leadership Conference we have two main priorities
when it comes to voting.
One is called the For the People Act,
and that's a huge massive voting rights bill
that would end felony disenfranchisement.
We hear that a lot of people with felony convictions
are blocked from the ballot.
So this would end that practice nationwide.
It would have automatic voter registration nationwide.
Same day voter registration nationwide.
I mean it would do so much just to transform
our voting system,
and it's something that's critically needed.
So that's one priority.
Another one is the Voting Rights Advancement Act
which was recently named
the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act
after he passed away.
And that bill is all about restoring the Voting Rights Act
that was gutted by the Supreme court in 2013.
So with that bill States that had a history
of voting discrimination way back since the 60s
had to have any voting law or policy approved
by the federal government before
they could put into place
to make sure it didn't discriminate against voters of color.
And in 2013, the Supreme court basically
just rubber stamped voter suppression
with this case, Shelby County versus Holder.
So we've been working since then for seven years
to make sure that we're restoring the Voting Rights Act,
so we can stop voter suppression,
so we can stop strict voter ID laws, voter purges,
and massive polling place closures
that we know lead to these five to seven hour long lines,
and majority neighborhoods of people of color.
- Right, it is so much we can do at the poll
whether it's helping somebody get there,
whether it's bringing water to support people.
and we really need to salute And Still I Vote
for all the work they're
doing making sure people get out and vote.
We wanna thank you for joining us, Leigh.
- Thank you so much for having me.
- I hope you guys know and see how determined
we are to get you all the information you need
to cast a vote properly.
And also to know the issues
that you're casting your vote for.
All I know is if you need more information,
go to AndStillIVote.org,
and you'll find everything you need, everything.
Trust me.
- That's right.
We wanna thank our guest's that joined us today,
thank you so much.
And for myself, Freddie and Free,
that is it for our series.
We hope you guys are amped ready to go out there
and go and vote.
Tell them Freddie, tell them we gotta go.
- Yes, we have to go.
We don't have time to play y'all.
Actually, we're gonna go right now.
- I think we can go now out of the cast.
Bye, bye, see you later
(upbeat music)