Local Selection

"Even after Nov. 3rd, we have to make sure that civic engagement is at the top of our list" - Shev Jones
Welcome to Local Selection!
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Shevrin Jones, candidate for Florida state senate in district 35
Twitter: @ShevrinJones
Instagram: @shevrinjones
(editor's note: Shev was a candidate for Florida State Senator at the time of this interview and has since been ELECTED!!!)
Why should I care about local representation? Don't we have bigger fish to fry?
The media focuses its attention - and therefore our attention - on a few national level offices like President and some Senate offices.
BUT!
Life happens at the local level! And the decisions made at the city, county, and state level have an ENORMOUS impact on our actual lives.
It's not just tax codes and jaywalking ordinances (not that those aren't exciting).
Housing discrimination gets encoded in city council meetings, and white supremacy is enforced by municipal police departments or county sheriffs.
By the same token, those laws, those rules, and those budgets can be unwritten and renegotiated in those same offices.
And the people who run for these offices are accessible! They live in your town, they get coffee from your favorite coffee spot. Sometimes they even check their own email!
And there is no shortage of awesome, inspiring people who are stepping up to run and occupy these offices, and to use their power to tear down oppressive structures and help make their communities more just, more equitable, and more compassionate.
We will never achieve justice at the national level until we can practice it at the local level.
We will never achieve equity at the national level until we can practice it at the local level.
What we have to work on is our imagination. We need to practice imagining what that society might look like if we practiced our values instead of believing them to be out of reach.
And we need role models of inspiration to activate our imaginations.
This podcast is on a quest to introduce you to these role models. They exist, right now, all over the country. They are regular people, but they are willing to exercise their imaginations and then do the work to make it real.
Before Shev joins the episode I spend a little time on a brief history of Florida's state level politics.
State level politics are local - until they are national.
Florida's state level politics are everybody's issue.
Enter Shev Jones.
Shev talks about what it means to be the first openly gay African-American member of the Florida state legislature - and what it doesn't mean.
He talks about what it is to be that person - and walk into local meetings of Florida Republicans. Because after all he represents them, too.
He talks about leading Bill Writing Workshops for his constituents, including one law he got passed that started with his constituents in one of the workshops.
He shares his workout tips (because I asked him - this guy has arms for days! Sorry not sorry)
And some tips for how to stay sane and stay grounded while s

Follow on Twitter: @LocalSelection and Instagram: @LocalSelectionPodcast
Today's episode features *gasp* two guests who are not elected officials.
We're talking about activism, and moments of "gateway activism". How we encourage others and ourselves to notice our relative privileges and turn holiday charity aimed at the hardship of the moment into activism aimed at the systems that perpetuate these hardships year after year.
Megan Merrick is a nurse in Denver who works mainly with severely ill children and their families. In May she appeared with Brian on the 24+ hour filibuster Hold The Floor. More about that at holdthefloor.info, and videos of the event on Instagram - @bhastert.

Jonathan Judge is the Director of Youth Engagement at Rise Above Colorado, an organization founded to help empower teenagers to make healthy choices and avoid substance abuse. More info at iriseaboveco.org.
Some additional reading on the darker origins of Thanksgiving.
The books that Megan mentioned:
No One Ever Asked Me: The World War II Memoirs of an Omaha Indian Soldier
A Little Radical: The ABCs of Activism
A Child's First Book of Trump - by Michael Ian Black

Anna Eskamani, Florida State Representative District 47
"When you’re most afraid to speak is when you must speak." –Anna Eskamani
Please consider supporting us on Patreon and help make this series sustainable
Check out our Website – localselectionpodcast.com

We now have fabulous merch! If you want everyone to know you think Local Representation is Sexy then you owe it to yourself to wear it on a t-shirt! (or mug or notebook or stickers etc)
Follow [guest] on the socials! You will be glad you did.
Twitter: @AnnaForFlorida
Instagram: @AnnaForFlorida
TikTok: @AnnaForFlorida

Follow US for more local democracy info around the country (and pictures!):
Twitter: @LocalSelection
Instagram: @localselectionpodcast
Follow our host for his v feisty political thoughts and/or videos of him eating pastries and doing chores:
Instagram: @bhastert
Twitter: @bhastert

Nida Allam, Durham County Commissioner
"No one can tell you to wait your turn. No one can tell you that you can't do it." - Nida Allam
Please consider supporting us on Patreon and help make this series sustainable

Here’s an article about the study I mentioned about North Carolina no longer qualifying as a functional democracy.

The study’s author, Andrew Reynolds, a professor at UNC – Chapel Hill, taking a victory lap two years later:

Check out our Website! – localselectionpodcast.com

We now have fabulous merch! If you want everyone to know you think Local Representation is Sexy then you owe it to yourself to wear it on a t-shirt! (or mug or notebook or stickers etc)Follow Nida on the socials!
Twitter: @nidaallam
Instagram: @nidaallam
Follow US for more local democracy info around the country (and pictures!):
Twitter: @LocalSelection
Instagram: @localselectionpodcast
Follow our host for his v feisty political thoughts and/or videos of him eating pastries and doing chores:
Instagram: @bhastert
Twitter: @bhastert

Jocelyn Benson, Michigan Secretary of State
Please consider supporting us on Patreon and help make this series sustainable

Check out our Website – localselectionpodcast.com

We now have fabulous merch! If you want everyone to know you think Local Representation is Sexy then you owe it to yourself to wear it on a t-shirt! (or mug or notebook or stickers etc)

Articles on Ken Blackwell and 2004 Ohio voter suppression and election rigging:

Ken Blackwell’s Greatest “Hits”: Voting Edition – ACLU Ohio https://www.acluohio.org/archives/blog-posts/ken-blackwells-greatest-hits

Mother Jones on voting machines (pre-election) https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2004/03/diebolds-political-machine/

NY Times: Glitch Found in Ohio Counting https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/06/politics/campaign/glitch-found-in-ohio-counting.html

Follow Jocelyn Benson on the socials! You will be glad you did.
Twitter: @JocelynBenson
Instagram: @JocelynBenson
Follow US for more local democracy info around the country (and pictures!):
Twitter: @LocalSelection
Instagram: @localselectionpodcast
Follow our host for his v feisty political thoughts and/or videos of him eating pastries and doing chores:
Instagram: @bhastert
Twitter: @bhastert