Welcome to Louisiana Lefty, a podcast about politics and community in Louisiana, where make the case that the health of the state requires a strong progressive movement fueled by the critical work of organizing on the ground. Our goal is to democratize information, demystify party politics, and assist the coalition building we need to win.
On this week's episode, my conversation is with Ashley Shelton, the executive director of the Power Coalition. While I've named the episode The Stacey Abrams of Louisiana, that's not a title Ashley would give herself, and ultimately the point we will make is that it takes many people to do the work. It never can or should fall to one person.
Ashley, welcome to the Louisiana Lefty podcast. Thanks so much for coming on with me today. You're gonna hear my dog's squeaky toy in the background for a minute.
No worries. I feel like I know them from your Facebook. So I'm just like, yeah, I feel like they're good friends.
Well, we met on the Unanimous Jury Coalition campaign to pass constitutional amendment 2 to ban non-unanimous juries, which was a huge deal for the state, and I think, a great model for some of the coalition building work we can do for electoral politics moving forward, as well as issue politics. But we also kind of - not together but in a parallel way - worked in 2019 on the governor's race, I'll say. So I just kind of wanted to thank you for coming on the podcast and say how, you know, we know one another, but I'd love for you to kind of give your bio.
Sure, sure. So, thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here and a part of this conversation. You know, Ashley Shelton, I'm the executive director of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice here in Louisiana. We are the statewide 501(c)3 table, which just simply means that we work with the state voter file to engage infrequent voters of color. Sorry, now I've got doors and dogs!
Pandemic life, this is.
Exactly. So Lynda, thank you so much for having me. This is super exciting opportunity to really talk about the work that we've been building over the last several years. And you're right, you know, we had an opportunity to work on Unanimous Juries. It was a huge campaign and a very important campaign, because it was the first time that we've been able to actually work statewide at scale, right, on a on a large campaign. And so having that play out, you know, allowed us to kind of take the building blocks to continue to build the work, right? And so we were able to work with VOTE and bottom line that campaign, you know, using the voter file to target and work with infrequent voters of color, and then layer and build upon that. So 2019, we had statewide elections across the, you know, every statewide office, as well as representatives and senators, you know, on the ballot. We knew, also too, because of term limits, we were going to have a lot of turnover. And so we wanted to make sure that the voices of the people in the state of Louisiana were truly engaged in the difference that this was going to make and how and in what ways we were going to move forward as a state, and, you know, Power Coalition is nonpartisan. We are really focused on making sure that people's voices are engaged and involved, and that we are electing candidates that are willing to do the work of the people, whether that be Medicaid expansion or raising the minimum wage, or sweeping criminal justice reform. You know, those are the things that, when we go around the state and talk to folks, and do that deep listening, you know, those are the things that people are talking about. And so finding the leadership that has the will, and the wherewithal to do that is really important. And then we follow 2019 with the work of 2020, which, you know, we had presidential elections, we had DA races across the state, with New Orleans kind of being one of the bigger races, but also too, we had municipals in Baton Rouge. So a lot on the on the plate... several constitutional amendments. And I think for us, we've been able to see our work grow, as well as our strategy. I mean, it was intentional, you know, for us, redistricting is the North Star, but we knew that starting with Unanimous Juries, then building and growing that work in 2019, and then continuing to grow and build that work in 2020... And so for example, we made about a million contacts, you know, for Unanimous Juries to infrequent voters of color. We were able to then talk to more than 1.3 million voters in 2019. And then 2020, we have made almost 2 million contacts across the state to voters of color. And those are typically multiple contacts to the same voters, but we know that it takes that three to five touches to actually move folks to action. And so, I'm really proud of the work that we've been doing, really proud to be building power and movement and change. And so and so yeah, great to be here, great to continue your conversation about organizing and movement building, and what it takes in Louisiana.
Well, I'll tell you, when the national results came back, and there was a runoff in Georgia, and certainly since the results of the Georgia elections, we have heard over and over and over again, can we get Stacey Abrams to Louisiana? Or where's our Stacey Abrams in Louisiana? Or why aren't we doing Stacey Abrams' work in Louisiana. And I'll just tell you, my first response to that was, well hang on Stacey Abrams, as badass as she is, did not organize Georgia alone. And she's been there for 10 years doing the work that we now see her doing so visibly. So 10 years ago, most people did not know who she was. So that was my first response to all of that. And then my second thought, you know, your name came to mind for me, because I think you're doing a lot of that work here in our state. But I also think you're connecting people who are doing that work in our state. You came to mind, so you were one of the first people I wanted to speak to when that issue came up. So I definitely want to amplify your work. And I want people to understand what you're doing. And you've mentioned a lot of it. But you've got a coalition - you are the Power Coalition - so there are other organizations involved in your work. Can you tell me more about them?
And so yeah, so no, I always tell folks, what amazing company to be mentioned with in terms of Stacey Abrams, and we are doing a lot of that same work right here in Louisiana. We're five years old, and growing and moving. I think one of the things that we made a very conscious choice about as an organization was that we are a coalition of base building groups. Typically the work happens where policy groups are kind of up here doing work. And then you've got your grassroots and grasstops. And we made a conscious decision to focus on the grassroots and really working with organizations that had a base, and we're working with people directly impacted. And so we hold very near and dear as a value that the people closest to the problem are closest to the solution. And so each anchoring member of the Power Coalition is a base building group with deep specific issue area expertise, whether it's VOTE on criminal justice, or the Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance, and then Housing Louisiana, talking about affordable housing and access, or Friends and Families of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children talking about juvenile justice, or the Worker Center that's talking about wage and worker rights. We've got organizations that are working with people that are directly impacted by each of these issues really anchoring, and bringing that content expertise to our table, and then also too, looking at the intersectionality of all of these issues. We fought so hard and did a lot of educating around, not only the DA's race, but a lot of the judicial races because we wanted people to understand how our communities get trapped in this neverending cycle of criminalization and poverty, and why the leadership in these elections are so critical for our communities. And so we are a proud coalition of base building groups. Then I think one of the beautiful things that's come out of that, is that we have a steering committee that is made up of a lot of advocacy groups, and the idea is, like, how are we moving policies that actually solve problems in the best, most informed way for those that are directly impacted by those problems, and hold a policy conference every year to kind of get everybody on the same page, to understand the depth of the work that's being done. So I feel really proud about the folks that I get to work with every day. And then also too, thinking about the power that's in there, this intersectionality of these issues and truly understanding that so that, you know, we can actually address problems systemically instead of... you know, one of the reasons the Power Coalition was created was because we were tired of one group winning one thing one year and another group winning something the next year... it was about how are we actually moving the needle? And how are we actually getting a system change? And that's what we've been about. We've been fortunate to be winning and doing some good work that we're really, really proud of, and are going to continue that work with redistricting kind of, as, you know, the North Star for this year, and ensuring that it's fair and equitable, because Louisiana has never submitted maps that ever met the preclearance qualifications, or what I call the Shelby test, meaning that we've never submitted maps that were not racist, which is unfortunate. As we look at the future, and we talk about power and voice, with the second largest black population, proportionally in the country, you know, there's both big P power, like, certainly should probably have another Black or brown, or Black and brown, congressional house seat. And we also want that that small p power, like we know, St. Bernard Parish has a burgeoning and growing Black community. So I want my school board seat, I want my city council seat. Bossier Parish, is certainly blacker and browner than it's been, and certainly want that city council seat, Jefferson Parish is exploding. In terms of its demographics, it is much, much blacker and browner than it's ever been. And there's only one person of color on their city council. And so how are we thinking about not only the big P power, but also that little p power, so that we can ensure that there's voice across the board as we're trying to change our state for the better.
And I think you're right on there, with some of the bigger, sexier races, people are focused on an awful lot, but those DA races, the clerk of court, the tax assessor, those kinds of...
Magitsrate, like the first person you see when you go to court. And so it's like, yes, these are folks that, it actually does matter if they have an equity lens. It matters if they have racial analysis and an understanding and so absolutely all of it was important, all of it.
And you have offices across the state, what cities are you actually physically located in?
So one of the things that's super exciting is that, because of our coalition, we actually have a through line through the state. And so Power Coalition itself, we have staff in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport. And then we also work with the staff of VOTE, who has staff both in Lafayette and Shreveport, as well, so that we pick up Lafayette. And then and then also get the opportunity to work with the Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance, which also has a statewide affiliate called Housing Louisiana, who has deep relationships in Alexandria. So even as we build statewide, we're always building with one of our partners, so that there is a synergy and that we're working better together instead of all individually trying to build institutional space separately. We're actually building that space together. And so there's actually a really nice through line. So from Shreveport to Alexandria, Lafayette, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, we've got, you know, actual staff, and partners that you know, are there every day waking up thinking about those places, and the issues that we work on in those places.
And I mention this all the time, so people probably get tired of me mentioning it, but at the end of 2019, I wrote a piece for the Bayou Brief called Ground Game. And one of the reasons I keep mentioning it is because I do hope people will reference it, because it does mention a lot of the groups working in our state. But you are connected to almost all those groups in one way or another, whether or not you're just hosting conference calls with them or in conversations with them to coordinate, you know, organizing, whether they're part of the Power Coalition with you, you're sort of in touch with all these folks - Together Louisiana, the Divine Nine, all of them - you have some connection to all those groups that that have political power in our state and organizing power in our state.
Yep, for sure. One of the things that we're also really proud of is that we also probably regranted over half a million dollars last year, and that number continues to grow in terms of like, helping to build power in places where it's not New Orleans, so it's not getting grant funds from national foundations. So having the ability to help you know, like to see leadership and be able to support it, certainly has been super exciting. And then again, to your point, I mean, there's some folks that we're working on campaigns with and supporting their issue-based work. Super excited to be working with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, and actually working with them to build long term capacity for those organizations that are led by women of color, that are changing things in the River Parishes. And also to even as we think about the congressional races that are coming up in March, District 2 includes the River Parishes, but often the discourse, right, doesn't really include their issues and their voice. And so they're ready to make sure that that changes, as the next leader is voted in, and I also remind folks that they have 85% voter turnout in their communities, in the River Parishes. And so being able to, like support and work with folks in real time about their power, their voice, how they want to use it, is certainly a privilege and a joy. And we're growing our team and trying to expand our ability to offer more to to as many groups as possible, certainly working with churches, working with our sororities and fraternities, and working with partners on the ground to make sure that, you know, whatever facilitates and supports the work, that's what we want to happen.
And you've mentioned redistricting a couple of times, and a part of the redistricting piece is trying to get legislators elected who will focus on redistricting that's more fair and just. But we're sort of past that point, so what what are your efforts this year for the redistricting?
So, you know, we've already been working tirelessly to build out some support and strategy. We've trained over 100 folks across the state, from Shreveport, Morgan City, Monroe, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, New Orleans, you name it, like we've trained over 100 folks on what is redistricting, how does it work... We have an app called Maptitude that allows folks to actually begin to map their communities. And the idea is that our legislators do redistrict our state, and we're trying to make sure that communities can actually engage in that process much more much broadly, and also too, really be the backbone of ensuring that the voices of voters of color aren't neutered through gerrymandering. In order to do that, you've got to have people that understand what's happening and can apply that pressure. The other thing that I'm super excited about is that we have written a legal letter to the governor asking him to put in place some criteria for which he would veto maps that are unfair or inequitable, and working to try to get that put into place. And so I think, for us, that's, that's that kind of first line of defense, is how do we get people educated and involved. We call them Crowd Academies, we're getting ready to host another one. And so if folks are interested, please go to our website at powercoalition.org. And you can sign up to learn more about redistricting and to get trained up in your community. And then the other thing that we're doing, which also is on our website, we're hiring fellows across the state to help support that work, as well as bringing in a national demographer to help those communities build maps that can withstand all of the federal tests that are required to meet what is actually a fair and equitable map. And so we're already working, already training talking to folks, because we know that in order for there to be actual, you know, fairness and equity in this process, we're going to have to create enough voice to force it. We're always happy to do that. And we want to make sure that people are educated and working towards that every day.
Well, what I'll say is the evidence to me of how your work is working, is that we have had these successes in 2018 and 2019, of passing the constitutional amendment for unanimous juries, and that was an incredible coalition of groups. And what I found really powerful about it is how, you know we stayed on message, we found the right messages to use, we found the right messengers for the right audiences in the right spaces. It was statewide, there were different efforts in different parts of the state. But it was just a very thoughtful, well put together campaign that I, again, think is a great model for the other kind of work that's being done. But the work that you are continuing to do, I'm just pointing out that that was an evident success that I don't think people give enough props to, that there is this opportunity in Louisiana to make this kind of progress.
No, for sure. And I think, too, that part of the backstory is also about the resources that it takes to do that kind of campaign as well. Like, one, we can work together, and we can fight and move change. But that the other piece of it is that we actually had the resources from a lot of foundations and people around the country that said, you know, we shouldn't be one of two states that is continuing to convict people with a non-unanimous jury. And so that kind of started the momentum that we needed to continue to raise the kind of funds to be able to do statewide work at scale.
So how can people best support you? I know, you've mentioned your website and events and the Crowd Academies and things you're doing to engage people, but if people besides your website, and I know, you're all over all the social medias, but what's the best way for people to support the work that you're doing?
For me, it's to get involved. I mean, it's the first of the year, you know, we've been talking to folks about having a civic engagement resolution. And that's what it's really about is that it takes all of our voices to engage and get involved in this process. And so attend city council meetings, make a comment at those meetings, write an op-ed, and if you need help, or support writing an op-ed, Power Coalition is here to support you in doing that. Just get involved. There are many opportunities to work with us, and volunteer. Power Hour, that you don't have to become a super volunteer, but you can text for an hour or phonebank for an hour, and really just engage your neighbors and folks in your community in that conversation. So there are a lot of ways to get involved. You know, we've got a race coming up, a congressional race. How we can make sure that turnout is growing for those races, because there they are at a cycle. Cedric Richmond is going to work for the Biden administration, and unfortunately, we lost Luke Letlow. And so that race will certainly have to happen at the same time. And so engaging people when there's a little fatigue... there's been a lot of races and a lot of things going on, but we're just excited to just say: stay involved, know what's happening, hold our elected officials accountable. I tease sometimes that Louisiana is like the last great colony, and we just can't be the last great colony, we actually have needs, we actually are, you know, we are a rich state in terms of resources. But that doesn't necessarily correlate to our people. And so, for me, it's about how do we fight for raising the minimum wage? How do we fight for gender pay equity? How do we fight for paid sick leave, as we as we look at ourselves in the midst of this pandemic? How do we fight at the federal level for the resources Louisiana, Louisiana is going to need? Because there is a humanitarian crisis that is, you know, certainly playing out as the pandemic continues. And so for us, it's just get involved and Power Coalition's here to support you in any way that you want to do that. If you want to call, if you want to organize your neighborhood, we can pull all the way down to the precinct level. And if your neighborhood has three precincts, we can get you that information, and help you think about how you want to engage and organize in your community. And if you want to do something in your city council district, you want to do something in a house or senate District, we can help you think through and build out, you know, an organizing strategy to be able to make that happen.
I love that. I love that. So I'm going to ask you one set of questions, just to close things up, and then I know you're always super busy. And let me just tell you how much I appreciate your taking time to come hang with me today. But what do you see is Louisiana's biggest civic or political hurdle and what's our biggest opportunity?
Oh, gosh, that's a tough one. I think one of the hurdles is that we've got to do more leadership development work. I think that at the end of the day, we we do a lot of education work. I always tease folks that they won the election, but that doesn't mean that they have a real analysis of what's happening in our community. And so for me, it's just really, like, how are we developing leaders? What's that pipeline look like? And then also too, the leaders that know on the front end that they actually have to be accountabe, and what does accountability actually look like, and what does it mean? And so I think that that's the challenge that we've got to continue to work on. And, you know, we've got some great elected leaders around our state that I'm proud to know and work with. And then some that make me want to pull my hair out. We've got to get to that place where we're building a strong pipeline of leaders that are accountable to the people of the state. I would say, our greatest opportunity, I think that Louisiana has always kind of been a little bit of an anomaly in the deep south. And so I think that there's an opportunity in that we've got the only progressive governor in the deep south, we've got Medicaid expansion, you know, we've been able to do some things that have certainly progressed and supported and helped our state and the people of our state. And I think that we need to continue to push and break down the issues from the perspective of what's real and what's not. I think a great example was, the fake tort reform that had to happen during a special session in the midst of a humanitarian crisis and pandemic. And the reality was that what we really needed was help for our people that were hurting because of the pandemic and its impact on jobs. And so how do we help our people understand these issues, more specifically, and outside of the context of partisan politics, like, I don't care what letter's behind your vote. What I care about is, when we talk to people in community, we agree on more than we disagree. And, and we agree on what some of the solutions are, and what's necessary. And so, I think that for me, it's like, how do we actually get these issues front and center and get the work done, versus fighting across the aisle all the time, and the people are the folks that ultimately lose to special interest. And so, you know, for me, I always say that we've built this really nice car in terms of organizations and infrastructure in our state that's doing really amazing work, building movement and power and voice. And people were truly the engine of that really nice car. And so if we will let that car to continue to move, and, like I said, build movement and power, then, we've got to make sure that we're bringing people to the table and continuously including them in those conversations. And we're certainly proud to be a part of that, and making sure that people continue to be the engine and get more involved and fight for the kind of state they want to live in. And so I always say, everything I love is in this place. And so I'm gonna fight for it.
Well, it might have been a hard question, but you have the perfect answer. So I want to thank you again, for coming on with me today. Your time is so precious, and it's very meaningful to me that you came on. And I hope, particularly as we're just starting up the podcast, but I certainly hope that this is hello and not goodbye, that we'll have you on many more times in the future. So thank you so much, Ashley, for your time and for all the work you do for our state.
Well, and thank you and same to you, thank you for all you do and always glad to connect and have these conversations. Hopefully we'll have more wins and more movement building to talk about in just in a few short months as we think about legislative session and redistricting. So, look forward to that conversation.
Here's to that. Thank you, Ashley. Really appreciate it.
Thank you for listening to Louisiana Lefty. You can connect to Ashley's work, and all the groups working with the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice at powercoalition.org, and follow them, as well as Louisiana Lefty, on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Tune in to our next episode to hear from former communications director of the Louisiana Democratic Party, Kirstin Alvanitakis. Thanks to Ben Collinsworth for producing Louisiana Lefty, Jennifer Pack of Black Cat Studios for our Super Lefty artwork, and Thousand $ Car for letting us use their swamp pop classic, Security Guard, as our Louisiana Lefty theme song.
