#TalkRadio – November 14: Celebrating the Peoples’ Electoral Victory: Key Lessons From the November 7, 2023 Elections

SPEAKERS:

Priscilla Johnson: 12:00 PM – 12:13 PM Eastern Time
Public Relations Person at the Kentucky Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials

Raoul Cunningham: 12:00 PM – 12:28 PM ET
President of Louisville Branch of the NAACP; Member of NAACP National Board of Directors

Jayson Davis: 12:30 PM – 12:57 PM ET
TJC Fellow and Freedom Rider; Photographer; Organizer of “The Lincoln March”

INTRODUCTION:

The Igniting Change Radio Show on Tuesday, November 14th, 2023, from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Eastern Time, entitled, “Celebrating the Peoples’ Electoral Victory: Key Lessons From the November 7, 2023 Elections”, with Radio Show Co-Hosts and Transformative Justice Coalition (TJC) Co-Leaders Attorneys Barbara Arnwine, Esq. and Daryl Jones, Esq. will feature guests Priscilla Johnson; Raoul Cunningham; and, Jayson Davis. During our show, we will discuss the November 7th election turnout and challenges that voters confronted and overcame. Barbara, Daryl, and guests will also discuss the Jackson election debacle in Mississippi in which thousands of voters were denied the opportunity to cast a ballot. They will discuss next steps for addressing the Mississippi failures.

TJC took its John Lewis bus on the road to GOTV with our partners in Kentucky and Ohio! TJC was on the road from November 2nd – November 7th, Election Day for a weeklong voter engagement today. TJC and its partners, various branches of the NAACP in Kentucky, the Divine Nine, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, and student leaders at Kentucky State University, the University of Louisville, and Central State University in Ohio, worked vigorously to turn out the vote during the very limited time of early voting in Kentucky, Nov. 2nd – 4th, and on Souls to the Polls Sunday in Cincinnati, Ohio on Sunday, November 5th, and for the General Election in both states on November 7th. TJC has received enthusiastic reactions and has drawn large crowds everywhere it has gone at the above locations and including Shelbyville, Frankfurt, and Lexington. See below for some of the media coverage of TJC’s “Rolling Out The Vote! Kentucky and Ohio” voter engagement events:

Nov. 2nd, Wave, NCAAP Louisville Encourages Voters to Turn Out This Election”

Nov. 3rd, “Transformative Justice Coalition stops in Kentucky to encourage people to vote”

Nov. 4th, WKYT, “Organization Visits Lexington to Encourage Voting”

Nov. 4th, ABC 36, “Rolling Out the Vote Campaign Encourages Kentuckians to Head to the Polls”

Jayson Davis, another TJC Freedom Rider, will discuss why he came all the way from Pennsylvania to be part of this week of Rolling Protests, what he’s learned from this trip, and how this experience has been. He will also discuss the recent march him and 2 other TJC Fellows planned, the Lincoln March to Harrisburg. Over 3 days, 13 Lincoln University students marched 66 miles to demand funding for Lincoln University. “The march stepped off Friday and the students received more than $7,000 in monetary donations from alumni, fraternities and nonprofit organizations to support their cause. But there were also donations from complete strangers who helped out along their journey.” Now, thanks to the march, Lincoln University may get its funding. “A $640 million dollar funding bill for Lincoln University and three other state-related universities made it through the Senate Appropriations Committee Monday and will be voted on the Senate floor on Tuesday. This is in large part thanks to 13 Lincoln University students who marched for three days to send a clear message to lawmakers that they were fed up. 

“The students chanted ‘1-8-5-4 the first HBCU for sure’ for three days straight while walking 66 miles through cold and rainy weather from campus to the Pennsylvania State Capitol, where they demanded lawmakers pass a bill allocating $19 million in critical funding for their school…State Sen. Vincent Hughes, along with representatives Jordan Harris, Napoleon Nelson and Joanna McClinton commended the students for their activism, which in turn could impact funding for all state-related universities.”

QUESTIONS:

SEGMENT ONE

• For you, what were the highlights of the Kentucky elections? What role did Black voters play? (nonpartisan)
• How did our GOTV efforts make a difference?
• What were your highlights from this electoral season (early voting and election day)?
• What do you think is the most important grassroots organizing that you think needs to happen in order to ensure strong voter protection and engagement in November 2023 and 2024?
• What are your final thoughts to our listeners?
• Thank you for all of your hard work. How do our listeners get in contact with you?

SEGMENT TWO

• Raoul, tell us about the Command Center. What were some of the major complaints that you received? How did the Command Center help resolve these?
• What are some of the election reforms the NAACP and partners may develop in response to this election?
• Let’s all just talk about Mississippi where 9 polling sites ran out of ballots, affecting thousands of potential voters.
• What do you think is the most important grassroots organizing that you think needs to happen in order to ensure strong voter protection and engagement in November 2023 and 2024?
• What are your final thoughts to our listeners?
• Thank you for all of your hard work. How do our listeners get in contact with you?

SEGMENT THREE 

• As an alumn of TJC, why did you travel from Pennsylvania  to be apart of these events?
• What have been the highlights of your experiences?
• Shortly after your returned home from TJC’s GOTV events in Kentucky and Ohio, you embarked on this march. Tell our audience about the Lincoln March and what it entailed.
• How did you feel about the legislative response to your efforts?

SEGMENT FOUR

• [At the top of segment four, Barbara and Daryl will give a brief reminder about the US Department of Agriculture’s Discrimination Financial Assistance Program. The Black farmers fund, from the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program, is being funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. The Inflation Reduction Act contains an assistance fund for farmers who were discriminated against. This fund has $2.2b to cover 75 million applicants and covers anyone who can provide proof that they were discriminated against by the federal government. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is extending the deadline for the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program to January 13, 2024, to give eligible farmers, ranchers and forest landowners more time to apply for assistance. The original deadline was October 31, 2023. In addition to the application deadline change, the deadline to request records from USDA’s Farm Service Agency for use in applications has been extended to Friday, Nov. 3, 2023. The application process was designed so that FSA records are not required, though relevant records may be attached to an application as additional evidence if they are available. To learn more about the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program or receive assistance in English or Spanish, visit www.22007apply.gov, email info@22007apply.gov or contact the national call center at 1-800-721-0970 from 8 a.m. ET to 8 p.m. PT, every day except federal holidays. If you use sign language to communicate, you can use the 711 relay service to call. You may also email or contact the national call center if you have a disability and need another accommodation. Information about the program, resources, recent office openings and local events across the country is also available through a weekly e-newsletter.]
• Looking across the country at the election results, what does it tell us we must do to be best prepared in 2024?
• What do you think is the most important grassroots organizing that you think needs to happen in order to ensure strong voter protection and engagement in November 2023 and 2024?
• How do we create more conscious and engaged young leaders, like those who will be trained at the next Gen Z and Millennial Votes Matter Training?
• What is the major work that you’re pursuing right now?
• What are your final thoughts to our listeners?
• Thank you for all of your hard work. How do our listeners get in contact with you?