Sojourner Truth - Friday, May 29, 2026

Follows the audio · click any line to jump

1. dot org radio powered by the people
2. Welcome to Sojourner Truth.
3. We live in a global world.
4. We are all interrelated.
5. So on Sojourner Truth, we work to bring directly to you news and views on local, national, and international policies and stories that affect us all.
6. And we draw out how those of us most impacted, women, communities of color, and other communities are responding.
7. We also discuss the relationship between art and politics.
8. Now to news headlines.
9. With these Pacifica headlines, I'm Sue Goodwin. Louisiana lawmakers today approved a new
10. congressional map eliminating one of the state's two majority Black districts and drawing an
11. additional Republican-leaning district in its place. The map now heads to Louisiana Governor
12. Jeff Landry's desk for his signature, which he is expected to give soon. Today's decision comes in
13. the wake of the Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Calais that found Louisiana did not have a
14. justifiable reason to create an additional majority-minority congressional district.
15. One-third of Louisiana's population is Black. The Supreme Court decision dealt a heavy blow
16. to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and sparked a surge of Republican-led redistricting efforts
17. nationwide. According to the Congressional Black Caucus, 19 black lawmakers are at risk of losing
18. their seats in the next few years if these efforts are successful. In more news today,
19. a federal judge in Virginia temporarily blocked the Justice Department from moving forward on
20. the Trump administration's new $1.7-plus billion anti-weaponization fund. Both Democrats and
21. Republicans have criticized the fund, labeling it as a massive slush fund for President Trump's
22. allies. Today's order bars the government from taking any further action on the creation or
23. operation of the fund while litigation is pending to challenge it. That includes making any payouts.
24. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by a former Justice Department prosecutor and other plaintiffs
25. who argue that the fund is an illegal and unconstitutional abuse of taxpayers money In other news government ethics watchdogs are raising concerns about the Pentagon awarding Dell Technologies
26. a nearly $10 billion contract just months after President Trump disclosed major investments.
27. WPFW's Noah Portner has this report.
28. The five-year and $9.7 billion Pentagon agreement will make Dell a primary supplier of Microsoft
29. software and cloud services for the U.S. military. The announcement sent Dell shares sharply higher
30. this week, increasing the value of the stock which Trump purchased earlier this year. Trump
31. and his investment managers purchased more than $1 million worth of Dell stock in February,
32. with additional purchases later in the year. The president also publicly praised Dell CEO
33. Michael Dell during recent White House appearances. The controversy comes amid broader scrutiny over
34. Trump's unusually active stock trading disclosures this year. This is part of an even larger insider
35. trading problem with the government. From WPFW News in Washington, I'm Noah Portner.
36. And in more news, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that he ordered the Israeli military to expand its control of Gaza to 70% of the territory.
37. This violates the terms of the so-called ceasefire deal Israel signed last October,
38. in which Israel agreed to pull back its military to roughly 53% of the territory.
39. Israel already controls about 11% more of Gaza's land than it agreed to in October.
40. Netanyahu's latest plan would leave even less land for Gaza's more than 2 million Palestinians.
41. As Netanyahu announced the plan, someone in the audience shouted that Israel should take 100% of the territory,
42. to which Netanyahu responded, quote, first of all, 70%. Let's start with that, close quote.
43. For WPFW News in Washington, I'm Sue Goodwin.
44. Those were the news headlines at Pacifica Radio.
45. You are listening to Sojourner Truth with your host, Nada Jumfi.
46. Today on Sojourner Truth, we talk with Ajamu Baraka of Black Alliance for Peace on the situation in Cuba and then Florida Representative for District 13 Angie Nixon on the people's battle against Florida's attack on black voting power.
47. All this and more on Sojourner Truth Radio.
48. You are listening to Sojourner Truth with your host, Nana Jumti.
49. The U.S. regime continues in its escalation of attacks and aggression against Cuba.
50. Joining us to discuss the situation in Cuba now and the continued U attacks on the island nation that is and will continue to be is Ajamu Baraka Ajamu Baraka is a geopolitical analyst a writer an organizer founder of the Black Alliance for Peace and director of its North
51. South Project for People-Centered Human Rights. Greetings, Ajamu. Thank you so much for joining us.
52. My pleasure to be here. Thank you.
53. So wanting to get at least some basics on what the conditions in Cuba are right now,
54. as you may know, we understood that there was an oil embargo that was imposed by the United States.
55. It was a little bit confusing as to how effective that was. We know that there are some countries
56. that did support still with oil, some that did not, and not clear on how it's impacting still
57. to this day. Help us understand what the conditions in Cuba are right now.
58. The conditions are quite, let's make serious, very, very difficult for the Cuban people.
59. You know, we have to remind the listeners of the context. What we are seeing in Cuba
60. Cuba is a consequence not only of the attempt on the part of the U.S. administration to
61. smother Cuba, to lay siege to it, but that these actions are on the heels, that is, the
62. continuation of an economic embargo that's been in place for more than 60 years.
63. But the Cubans have been able to withstand that embarkment to survive.
64. Difficultly, but they survived.
65. But what we are seeing now under this Trump administration is an attempt to basically lay siege to Cuba by primarily targeting the oil sector dependency that the island has on the importation of petroleum.
66. But it's important that people understand that the siege has an impact also on Cuba's food.
67. And the consequence of this embargo has been quite terrible.
68. Right now on the island, we have seen 22-hour blackout periods, widespread food insecurity.
69. in some places is even more serious. There's no diesel in the hospitals. Even the ability to keep
70. the lights on has been difficult when there's these blackouts. When the lights go off, there's
71. cases where people who are on life support will immediately succumb to death. So it's been quite
72. devastating on the island. And the objective on the part of the U.S. administration to basically
73. murder the revolutionary process as part of their overall agenda in the region to recolonize the
74. region. They have been quite explicit in their objectives. And that is what is in fact unfolding
75. now, not only in terms of Cuba, but other kinds of activities that the U.S. administration is
76. is engaged in across the region.
77. Thank you for putting in the context of the already going
78. embargo that was happening before this escalation I think folks sometimes don understand really the impact of that embargo There is a notion that it like okay we cannot just go and visit Cuba and Cubans cannot
79. just come and visit here.
80. I think there's some understanding amongst the U.S. public that there's trade that is
81. not happening, that there's some kind of economic exchanges that are not happening.
82. But I don't think people really understand the ways in which the blockade basically impacted everyday lives of Cubans, but also other countries, right, that are dependent, for example, on Cuban medicine, dependent on a Cuban support that has been provided to countries in the Caribbean, the continent, Europe, you know, just around the world.
83. So speak a little bit about that, Ajamo, just the impact of the embargo before this escalation.
84. You know, the impact of the embargo and the targeted repression inside the country and encouraging other countries that had relationships with Cuba to cut off Cuba and to cut off Cubans has had not only a devastating impact inside Cuba,
85. But as you said in your message, in your question, really across the region and in various parts of the world, one of the most positive contributions of the Cuban Revolution has been its solidarity.
86. And that solidarity has taken many, many different forms. One form that it took was training individuals from across the planet, primarily from the global south to become doctors, but also lending Cuba's medical expertise in the form of doctors, medicine, innovations to peoples and nations, again, across the planet.
87. When the U.S. began to intensify the targeting of Cuba, they forced various countries to disconnect from Cuba to expel the doctors, doctors who were serving in almost 100 percent of the cases in these areas of countries that are completely undeserved, usually in rural areas.
88. and the impact has been quite stark.
89. So this obsession that the U.S. has with trying to smother the Cuban revolutionary process
90. is having and has had a negative impact way beyond Cuba.
91. But that is what the U.S. does.
92. That is what they intend to do in terms of eliminating any alternatives
93. to how societies can be organized in ways in which the people are centered, as opposed to
94. profit-making and corporations. And wanting to look at that in, you know, you described sort of
95. this arc of the aggressions of the United States against Cuba in this effort to squash the
96. revolution and to squash the revolutionary spirit of the people there, there's a lot of ways in which
97. when this government, this current government, acts in violent, aggressive manner that people
98. try to almost exceptionalize it, right? And so it's like, this is something that is happening
99. and it makes it seem as if what happened before is not as big a deal. It makes me think about how
100. like George W. Bush became a painter
101. and like exchanged candy with Michelle Obama.
102. And then people just forget that he's a war criminal.
103. They just forget.
104. They just, it goes out of their brain
105. because now they have Donald Trump
106. and they're like, he's so terrible that they can
107. and forgive everyone before. I think it's important for us to think about what is happening now in
108. that longer context with the United States. I mean, there was a Bay of Pigs in which the United
109. States was planning to go to war, like a military intervention into Cuba under JFK. There have been,
110. Again, so many acts of aggression, so much violence in all the definitions of the word that the U.S. has directed towards Cuba.
111. Where does what is happening now fit in that conversation?
112. It's both a continuation of an aggression against Cuba, but also in some very serious ways, it is a bit of a departure.
113. in the sense that the aggression has been intensified, that most administrations, and as you reflected in your question,
114. all of the administrations up to this moment, all of the U.S. administrations up to this moment,
115. Democrats and Republicans, have displayed the same level of hostility toward the Cuban process.
116. What is different this time is that there's not even the pretense of respecting Cuban sovereignty, that because of the complete erasure of red lines in terms of what would be considered to be civilized behavior on the part of states, that states would not engage in starvation tactics.
117. They would not just arbitrarily attack other nations. They would not disrupt food sources. They wouldn't target civilian infrastructure.
118. In the last couple of years, those red lines have been completely traversed, meaning that now you have an administration that is bold enough
119. and feels that it has impunity to the degree that it will engage in all kinds of draconian
120. tactics to undermine the cuban revolutionary process and the sovereignty of the cuban state
121. and the cuban people so organizing basically a siege on cuba uh is part of that process so
122. and now threatening military intervention.
123. That is a war of choice, again, like in Iran,
124. to intervene violently to overthrow the government
125. and to suppress the people of Cuba.
126. This is a rupture, if you will, of normalized international relations.
127. We've always had aggression, but even when we had the aggression,
128. there was attempts on the part of the states to contextualize it as some type of legalistic intervention, moralistic justifications, etc., etc.
129. Now we have from this administration the exercise of naked power.
130. And that is what is making this situation with Cuba so incredibly dangerous because the possibility of a direct military assault on the people of Cuba and thousands of people losing their lives in the process is very real.
131. And that why it so important that people understand that people are made aware of the situation and that they raise their voices in opposition to this kind of barbarism 90 KPFK Los Angeles You are listening
132. to Sojourner Truth
133. with your host, Nana Jumfi.
134. And we are speaking with
135. Ajamu Baraka, founder
136. and director of
137. North-South Project for
138. People's Centered Human Rights
139. of the Black Alliance for Peace. I mean, we're in such a critical moment. And as you're talking,
140. I'm thinking about the international sphere and what is happening in the international sphere.
141. And I want to talk in a moment about what is South America, like what's Brazil up to? What's
142. Colombia up to in this moment? What are these Caribbean countries up to in the continent?
143. But going first to the international space, where we usually see condemnations that are coming out of UN, that are coming out of international peace entities, that are coming out of like the EU and other spaces.
144. What are we seeing in terms of response to this latest escalations by the United States, be it the threat to indict Raul Castro, be it the actual threats of military intervention?
145. What are we hearing on the international level?
146. The response from the international community has been strangely muted.
147. There have been some statements being issued from CARICOM, from CELAC in the region, but the condemnation has not been as intense and pointed as many of us believe it should be.
148. There's been no direct intervention on the part of the Security Council.
149. And so, and the European Union, of course, has been relatively silent.
150. There have been some nations that have spoken out against the aggression by the U.S.
151. But the kind of lawlessness that we have seen from the U.S. over the last few years appears to be getting to a point where it is becoming more and more normalized.
152. And that makes it very dangerous, not only for the people of Cuba, but for the people across the global south.
153. So we're seeing that there have been tidbit statements coming from various nations in Africa, which is really interesting because your listeners need to be reminded of the kinds of sacrifices that the Cubans made in supporting and directly participating in the struggles for the liberation of Southern Africa, South Africa in particular,
154. by spending 16 years fighting in Angola against the South African regime, the apartheid regime.
155. And so the Cubans have shed blood on behalf of African liberation.
156. And so it's quite surprising and disappointing that we have not had a more aggressive response to the threats the Cubans facing right now.
157. Across the Americas, the same thing. Again, those multilateral institutions have made some commentary, but we're not seeing a lot of direct criticism coming from the various states.
158. Even the oil embargo imposed on the part of the US, the only country that was able to
159. sort of break that embargo for a moment was Russia.
160. The Mexicans have not intervened and even the Colombians have not intervened So Cuba is really isolated right now The only force that can rise up and express opposition before there a military intervention
161. is the public. But right now, the public is diverted with concerns, real concerns with
162. with ICE in the U.S., with the war in Iran, with the situation with Venezuela, with the ability to
163. afford groceries and gas, that, you know, the attention of the public has been somewhat
164. splintered, if you will. So it makes it very difficult for putting pressure on the authorities
165. to cease and desist from their aggression against Cuba.
166. When we look at the responses of CARICOM, of CELAC, or countries in CARICOM, countries in CELAC,
167. you know, countries on the continent, the AU, it also seems like this, you know, beginning,
168. of course, I'm going to call it a beginning with the attack on Venezuela, the bombings and murders
169. of people in the Caribbean Sea, the attack on Cuba, which was always, you know, in the sites,
170. that there is a real effort on the part of the regime to also break up the unity and solidarity
171. with countries both within these formations, CARICOM, CELAC, the AU, but also amongst each
172. other. Can you talk about that a little bit? Because I'm seeing like, yes, it's Cuba,
173. And there's clearly been a long game about Cuba. But there's this other thing that I'm seeing when Trinidad is jumping up and saying this and that, and when, you know, countries of the continent are actually not just being neutral, but almost opening the ways and the pathways for the continued attacks on the sovereignty of various countries in the global South.
174. but particularly when we're talking about Central America, the Caribbean, South America, and the continent.
175. Am I off base?
176. You're absolutely on base.
177. What you are describing is, in fact, the manifestation of what I refer to as the consolidation of global fascism led by the United States of America.
178. And instead of opposing fascism, we see various states that are collaborating with these efforts on the part of the U.S. to impose its will on the entire planet in their desperate attempt to try to maintain some degree of U.S. global hegemony.
179. So they have intimidated various nations to allow for the reintroduction of U.S. forces.
180. We see that the Ecuadorians and the U.S. are cooperating in northern Ecuador and along the border with Colombia.
181. We're seeing that they are reopening various bases in the region, including the jungle training base in Panama.
182. And one wonders, well, why are you now training people again to fight in a terrain that only
183. really exists right now in Latin America, in parts of Africa, and of course, some parts
184. of Asia?
185. And so it's quite clear that this is part of the warfare being waged on the global South,
186. and specifically in the Americas region by the US.
187. they been quite open reflected in their national security strategy that they believe that the one way in which they can wage their global war to try to maintain hegemony was to consolidate themselves in the Western Hemisphere Thus you have the moves being made to incorporate Greenland all the way down from Greenland
188. through Canada to the tip of the South American continent.
189. Militarization and destabilization is the route that they have decided to go,
190. to consolidate themselves in the Western Hemisphere and to wage the war that they believe they need to wage in order to maintain their dominance.
191. So this is the reality that we are facing at this moment is war.
192. And that's one of the reasons why, for example, the Black Alliance for Peace, we have called today for a boycott of the World Cup.
193. We believe that it is absolutely obscene that FIFA has allowed for the U.S. to host the World Cup, a nation that's been involved in all of these crimes we have just talked about, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide.
194. That it is obscene that they will be allowed to host this international gathering of nations.
195. And so we demanded that the games are moved.
196. They decided to go forward.
197. Now we are calling for a boycott of these games. And we believe that we have no other choice but to, in fact, make that call. There has to be some degree of accountability to U.S. criminology.
198. Absolutely, absolutely. And there's so much wrapped up, so many reasons for there to be a boycott, but you've laid out the most fundamental in terms of this, you know, the violation of human rights, human dignity, of sovereignty, so many things that the United States is engaged in right now, both inside and outside of the country.
199. and it does seem quite obscene.
200. You talked earlier about the public standing up.
201. What are ways that folks can be in touch
202. with Black Alliance for Peace
203. or other formations in order to do so,
204. in order to know more about what's happening
205. and to find out ways that they can stand up?
206. Well, we are encouraging people to support us
207. in this call for the boycott.
208. It does not mean you can't watch the games,
209. but in those 11 cities where the games are going to take place,
210. they should take place in front of empty stadiums.
211. So go to theblackallianceforpeace.com to get more information.
212. Go directly to the website of our North-South Project for People-Centered Human Rights.
213. That's also the website, .com, to get more information on how you can support this campaign work.
214. But more than that, educate yourself.
215. and to the extent that you can join us in this struggle to eliminate impunity and help us to
216. build a new world. Thank you so much, Ajammu. Really, really appreciate you. Have a wonderful,
217. wonderful rest of your day. My pleasure. Thank you. You are listening to Sojourner Truth with
218. your host, Nana Jumphy, and that was Ajamu Baraka, founder of Black Alliance for Peace.
219. More Sojourner Truth with Representative Angie Nixon from Florida on the other side of this
220. station break.
221. Hi, this is Lila Downs.
222. You're listening to KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles, 98.7 FM Santa Barbara.
223. globally on kpfk.org.
224. You are listening to Sojourner Truth with your host, Nana Jumfi.
225. We continue our conversation on the fight for Black voting rights and against racial
226. gerrymandering with the conversation I had with Florida Representative for District 13,
227. Angela Nixon about a week ago after she and activists were arrested for protesting the
228. redistricting plan presented by the Florida legislature on the day the Supreme Court ruled
229. in favor of racial gerrymandering in Louisiana versus Calais.
230. Greetings, Representative Nixon. How are you today?
231. Hey, Nana. I am great. I'm excited to be here with you. You know what? I am not great. I'm going to be honest with you, but I am excited to be here with you all today. I'm not great because democracy is falling. Our country is falling. And, you know, I was arrested the other day for standing up for the rights of people.
232. Yes, this is why I wanted to speak with you, because it's just outrageous what is happening when we talk about this continuing crumbling of democracy that's just being hastened by folks that are in power.
233. thinking about, and the reason I wanted definitely to speak with you is just the image of you
234. speaking up in that pink suit, letting folks know this is unconstitutional as Florida moved to grab
235. power away from Black folks who are an integral part of, who consist of Florida, who Floridians
236. are. And so talk about what is happening first, just to level set for our listeners. What is
237. happening with this redistricting in Florida? Yeah, for sure. So I think it's really important
238. to rewind back to 2022, actually. So in 2022, Ron DeSantis then unconstitutionally removed
239. two Black congressional districts. His office drew maps, which is not what his duty is as governor.
240. It's actually the constitutional obligation of the state legislators to draw the maps, number one.
241. And then number two, he removed Black congressional districts in Central Florida,
242. as well as North Florida, basically eliminating the seat that Val Demings held, as well as the
243. seat that Al Lawson held. And what's really important about highlighting the seat that Al
244. Lawson held is because Corrine Brown held that seat before him, and she was the first
245. congressperson post-Reconstruction. And so now, fast forward back to 2026,
246. And so, in the end,
247. with the help of his colleagues,
248. Ron DeSantis decided to take up
249. the call of what
250. Donald Trump requested
251. of Republican governors,
252. which was to find him
253. some more seats
254. so that he could have allies
255. in Congress And Ron DeSantis decided to do just that And what interesting is we doing mid they did in the state of Florida mid mid redistricting And we normally take months to go through maps and
256. draw maps and all the things. This literally took like a weekend. And then the maps were actually,
257. he called a special session for the maps were actually released to Fox News before they were
258. released to state lawmakers and they were color-coded in blue and red and there was a map
259. that showed how many blue seats or Democratic seats there were with this current map and then
260. the new map that they were drawing showed how four seats were basically being eliminated to draw more
261. like Republican districts. And so that illustrates that it was partisan. It was done in a partisan
262. fashion. What is concerning and what the issue is, is that back in 2010, voters came together
263. and placed a ballot amendment, a citizen-led ballot amendment on the ballot back in 2010
264. that was called Fair Districts.
265. And it called for a drawing of maps,
266. not in a partisan fashion.
267. Like it's illegal, it made it illegal.
268. So this constitutional amendment
269. passed overwhelmingly with over 60% of voters
270. supporting the Fair Districts Amendment.
271. And it says, again, like I stated,
272. you cannot gerrymander the state in a partisan fashion. And so that is exactly what Ron DeSantis
273. did. And that is what the Republicans voted to do in the state of Florida. And so that is illegal,
274. it's unconstitutional, and it's wrong. And it is exactly why I decided to get up there
275. on the House floor and disrupt with my pink bullhorn. And then going back to 2022, I want
276. folks to note that I have been nothing short of consistent. I also disrupted the proceedings back
277. in 2022 when I realized that it was illegal and unconstitutional as well. And so I decided to do
278. it again this year. And it's just very frustrating that this is happening. I am excited that Mark
279. Elias and Equal Ground have decided to file a lawsuit as it relates to these maps. They had
280. the first opening arguments happened on last Friday. And so now we're just waiting on the
281. state Supreme Court to make their decision in regards to whether or not they're going to throw
282. the maps out or they're going to allow them to stand. And I want to highlight and to note
283. that in addition to Friday's hearing, right, regarding the maps, some of us had a rally
284. outside of the courthouse. And then, I'm sorry, it wasn't a state Supreme Court. It was a lower court.
285. but they had a rally. And so then we marched over to the governor's office to try to schedule a
286. meeting with him and to highlight the need for him to basically redraw the maps in the right way
287. that is legal And according to the fair districts amendment they have been embedded in the cost of the state constitution And so we went over there He wasn there We also requested to speak with a staffer They stated a staffer was going to come and a
288. staffer never came. What came was Capitol Police and they arrested four of us at the Capitol
289. because we would not leave and we wanted to have a conversation.
290. And they will do that, which is really unfortunate.
291. But the racists are, you know, the racists are racisting.
292. The racists are racisting and really trying to push their power as much as possible.
293. Interesting, as you're talking, thinking about that arc,
294. because we know that the Supreme Court decision in Calais
295. is not something that just happened out of the blue. We know that there has been for decades now,
296. really ever since the Voting Rights Act passed and the enforcement aspect of it on the federal side
297. was enacted and pushed, that there's been this effort to claw back at this really recently
298. gained. It's been 50 years, or 60 years, but that is recent, right? This recently gained
299. right to vote that has always had all of these impediments put up for Black people.
300. So I want to focus really on the Black aspect of this, because I think the Supreme Court's decision
301. makes it seem as if having Black electoral power, that Black people being able to elect
302. representatives that come from our communities, that reflect us, is no longer important.
303. And so as a Black representative yourself, wanting to hear from you a little bit about that,
304. the importance, why does it still matter in the year of our Lord, 2026, for there to be
305. Black people representing Black people from the local to the federal?
306. Yeah, so it's really important for Black folks to have representation by people who
307. have the same lived experiences as them because we know what the issues and concerns are. We know
308. how we need, our communities need to be resourced more so than folks who can sometimes empathize,
309. but may not have lived in that experience. That may not be their lived experience.
310. The microaggressions, the systemic racism, it's just overall a good thing to also just to see
311. someone who looks like you sometimes in those positions because you, I know some young folks
312. are like, oh my gosh, like I can do something. I can do something positive when they come up to me
313. and they see me and they see that I'm just, you know, a regular everyday person who has my locks,
314. right? Who has my nose ring and all the things, who knows and has experienced microaggressions or
315. who has experienced racism or bigotry just based on how I present.
316. And so also, like, I am a mom.
317. I was a single mom for like 12 years.
318. And that unfortunately is the experience of some folks within our community And so I legislate from that place knowing that it important for us to ensure that we have access to affordable our communities have access to affordable child care
319. right? It's important for me to push things like Medicare for All, because I know that
320. in a Black community, there are such huge health disparities in regards to heart disease,
321. diabetes, maternal health, as well as infant health, like infant mortality is really high
322. within the Black community. And so these are all things that have impacted me and impacted my
323. family and impacted the community that looks like me. And so we definitely need more representation
324. because folks are more apt to work on issues that that community has if they've experienced them.
325. before themselves personally. You are listening to Sojourner Truth with your host, Nana Jumphy,
326. in conversation with Florida Representative Angie Nixon on the fight against racial gerrymandering
327. in Florida.
328. Alabama's got me so upset
329. Tennessee's made me lose my rest
330. Everybody knows about Mississippi
331. God damn!
332. Alabama's got me so upset
333. The whole world has made me lose my rest
334. Everybody knows about Mississippi, God damn
335. Can't you see it? Can't you feel it?
336. You are listening to Sojourner Truth with your host, Nana Jumphy, in conversation with Florida Representative Angie Nixon on the fight against racial mandering, gerrymandering, and the taking of Black voting power in Florida.
337. Yeah. Talking to community about this attack on voting rights is people not really understanding what we can lose.
338. Yeah. We lose. Right. And I think people feel like, well, you know, what are we getting out of voting?
339. There's so many people that are disaffected in our communities that are voters. Right.
340. So we have this interesting Black math, as I call it, right, where we have people who are really into voting, super voters in the Black community that are really strong and just a grand, strong voting bloc.
341. And then we have so many other folks in our community that are disaffected voters, right, that are voters-in-waiting, that are feeling like, you know, what is the point?
342. And so because they see what is happening, you know, everything's been taken over in their mind by the Epstein class. They're watching decisions be made that are against our communities. They're watching decisions be made that, you know, they absolutely don't agree with. And so they feel like we're putting these people in office, but what is it doing for me?
343. And so they're not necessarily seeing that direct connection
344. between voting and improving the conditions of their lives.
345. So what would you say briefly is the reason that people should be concerned,
346. whether they're in our communities or outside of our communities,
347. about Black folks having voting power?
348. Yeah, so I think it's important to note that
349. The reason a lot of this stuff is going haywire in our democracy, in our country, is just basically falling apart, is because we have allowed politicians who are bought and paid for by these rich folks, super, super ultra wealthy, right?
350. Greedy billionaires and these corrupt corporations to actually make the policy decisions.
351. And so I would say that we need to flip that. We need to reverse Uno on them. We need to ensure that we start electing people who are just regular everyday folks to office. Right now, oh my gosh, someone just sent me a text message with an article that came out just even about the state of Florida lawmakers in the state legislature.
352. And this is basically, you know, the same in D.C. There was only seven state lawmakers with a negative net worth. There were several that were multi millionaires.
353. um there were tons with net worth of over five hundred thousand dollars but overwhelmingly like
354. there were very few with negative net worth and just think about like the black community
355. and like what our net worth is right now and what a lot of just not even just the black community
356. but just hard-working everyday folks our net worths are zero or below i and i want to i gladly wear
357. the badge that my net worth, I was one of the seven lawmakers with the negative net worth,
358. because I have a home that I'm still paying on. And that is not, you know, like, so I owe more
359. money than I have right now. And I also have five kids with my husband and his blended family.
360. And so I have only put forth legislation that could actually benefit hardworking everyday people.
361. And it's the exact opposite of the majority of the lawmakers, right? The majority of the lawmakers have only put forth legislation that benefits really like these greedy corporations, right?
362. and it shows because many of them work for these corporations or they receive a ton of money from
363. these corporations or they're making laws about you know helping the wealthy and the richer get
364. richer because they are wealthy and richer and so at a minimum if we want someone to start putting
365. forth legislation that would address issues like ensuring that social security is solvent
366. and that it actually, the amount that people can claim on social security, these seniors,
367. because right now it's not enough for them to even just live and they've worked their entire
368. lives. They shouldn't have to go back to work. We need to be making sure that we elect people
369. who believe we need to fully fund social security, that we need to tax these billionaires and make
370. sure that these 88 companies like from last year that made over $105 billion and didn't pay anything
371. in federal taxes and making sure that they do in fact pay federal taxes so we can ensure that
372. our social security system is again solving and that we have things like medicare for all
373. i believe that we can have a great country that um is beneficial to everyone and that could help
374. people not just survive but thrive if we elect folks like janitors and bus drivers nurses teachers paraprofessionals you know construction workers Like if we had those type of people writing policies can you imagine the type of
375. country that we would be living in right now? It would look completely different from what's
376. happening right now. And so that at a minimum is why people need to make sure that they're
377. registered, they make sure that they ask their friends and family to ensure that they're registered
378. as well, and they need to go out to vote just so that they can have someone who is supporting
379. their interest. And let's talk about this registering and voting, because I think some
380. of the narrative that those white supremacists that would suppress us want us to think is that
381. they've got us cornered, that by redistricting, that that in and of itself has created this
382. situation that we can't get out of, right? That they have basically broken up the possibility,
383. not just cut off the head of the snake, but cut the snake into little pieces, basically,
384. with the hope that that is it and that, you know, we'll be crushed.
385. And I take the position that the math breaks the maps.
386. That actually, if people go out and vote in the numbers that actually reflect
387. what our registration or what our eligibility, even more correctly,
388. are, you know, is that we will find that you cannot, you know, no borders.
389. that we are breaking the borders and that we are voting across borders and that if we do that,
390. then the math breaks the maps. What are your thoughts on that?
391. Yeah, I totally agree with that. There's no amount of gerrymandering that can keep us down if we go
392. out to vote, right? Like we have to, it's particularly with these at-large districts,
393. right? So these statewide offices or at-large districts in your local municipalities and that
394. type of thing, like we can actually win and start changing things like your governor's races, your
395. U.S. Senate races, your mayoral races, your at-large commission and city council races.
396. We can actually start building power in those areas if we make sure that we go out and vote
397. in record numbers. Yes, you can, the math can break the maps. You are exactly right.
398. Yeah, I'm getting a t-shirt. I'm making a t-shirt, Rep. Nixon. I'll send one to you.
399. Please do. Please do. Please do.
400. The map breaks the maps. And thinking about who this affects, also thinking about the breadth of it, right? Because I think a lot of times the conversation is around congressional, for example.
401. the conversation, whether that be Senate or whether that be House. But when this redistricting
402. happens, it also impacts city electoral positions. It could also impact school districts,
403. for example. These other places where even in a place like Florida that may have tried to
404. gerrymander its way into super majorities and all these other spaces, on the local level,
405. we still have a lot of Black folks on the state legislature, on county legislatures,
406. school districts cities right where again this type of effort to racially gerrymander impacts our communities if we don push back Right right And so I mean we just got to come out We got to register folks We have to
407. vote. We also need to, look, y'all, like, we, folks need to run for office, right? Like,
408. especially if you are organizers, like, all the things. Now is the time, right? Like, we need
409. different visions for our country than what is currently in office. And so I'm telling folks,
410. folks need to get organized and really start meeting people where they are
411. to educate them about how, if they don't do politics, politics is definitely doing them
412. right now at the gas pump, at the grocery store. If we want better, we have to vote. We have to
413. hold people accountable after they get in office. And we also need to look at doing some things like
414. some mass boycotts and potentially talking about some mass strikes. We got to hit these people
415. in their pocketbook because it seems like all they know is money right now. And we saw what
416. happened with Target. And so we can do that on a bigger, larger scale. That leads to my last
417. question. Yes, you are a representative, a state representative, and you're doing, you know, what
418. needs to be done in the state house, but then you're also in community and community knows you,
419. you're tapped in. How is community responding on the organizing front, right? Because we've got
420. the legislative piece, we've got the judicial piece, and you talked earlier about the fact that
421. there's a lawsuit, but organizing is what gets the goods. And so what are you seeing on the ground
422. from folks in Florida, Black folks in particular, and allies as well? Yeah, I'm seeing great things.
423. People are tired and they're frustrated with the BS that's happening. And so folks are starting to
424. join organizations to do the work. And they are excited around candidates that are unapologetic
425. and seemingly have a backbone and aren't afraid to speak out even when they break the quorum.
426. And so folks are starting to join. Like I said, they started to join organizations,
427. starting to knock on doors and make phone calls and really just popping up educating folks.
428. You know, I think we need to go back to the organizing models of like what the Black Panther
429. Party did because they addressed a lot of the needs. And so we have to look at some mutual aid
430. in addition to just the organizing. You know, the Black Panther Party saw that kids were going to
431. school hungry. And so they started the free breakfast program, which has now been replicated
432. across our country in public schools. And they also saw that folks didn't have access to quality
433. health care. And so they started those free health clinics. And so they were able to build political
434. power because they tapped into the needs of the people and illustrated that government was failing
435. them and it didn't have to be this way. And so we need to really look at the needs that our folks
436. are needing and the things that they suffering from and what can we do right now as a community to help assist them with and then like pointing out the failure of our government like our government is here to help better the lives
437. of people when the market fails right and um and when there is like issues and concerns and that's
438. not what's happening right now they're only looking out for the issues and concerns of the wealthy and
439. of the elite. And so I am starting to see more of that, Nana. And so I'm excited about that.
440. And it is frustrating that people's backs had to get to a wall for them to say, you know what,
441. things need to change. It's like, no, things should have been changed, but I get it. But
442. welcome on board and let's do this. Welcome on board and let's do this. Thank you so very much,
443. Representative Nixon. Really, really appreciate you. And, you know, we got your back. We got your
444. back. We're going to make sure that these folks can't just do whatever they want to do. Thank you.
445. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you.
446. That's our show.
447. I'd like to thank our guests, the Sojourner Truth team,
448. including my dear sister, Margaret Prescott,
449. our board operator, Ozzy Flamenco,
450. and producer, Gary Scott, and you for joining us.
451. Let's get together at the same time and place.
452. next week for Sojourner Truth Radio.
453. Be well.
454. And I want to thank you.
455. This is Donna Walker,
456. host of Pacifica Performance Showcase
457. here on KPFK.
458. I'd like to thank all of our listeners
459. for tuning in
460. and especially thank those of you
461. who pledged your support
462. or renewed your membership to KPFK
463. during this past,
464. The support of generous listeners like you is what allows this listener-sponsored station to operate and to maintain its fierce independence.
465. It's a very special relationship, so thank you once again for being a part of it.
466. Will Gear Theatricum Botanicum returns this June 6th through October 4th
467. with outdoor repertory theater, events, and educational programs for all ages.
468. A Midsummer Night's Dream is back, alongside Romeo and Juliet,
469. Treasure Island, Noel Coward's Waiting in the Wings,
470. and Bernardo Cubrilla's dark and incisive new comedy
471. The People of Pompeii, set in the aftermath of the 2025 Palisades fire.
472. Theatricum is located in Topanga Canyon,
473. just off the 101 freeway in the shade of the California live oaks.
474. Explore and picnic in the gardens before the show.
475. Further information available at www.theatricum.com and at kpfg.org.
476. Thank you.
477. Hi, this is Curt Ellen. You're listening to KPFK.