Welcome to Louisiana Lefty, a podcast about politics and community in Louisiana, where we 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 empower you to fully engage with this mission right now. This week, I'm joined by Naima Savage, recipient of our first ever Louisiana Organizer of the Month Award, for a conversation highlighting the importance of her craft, celebrating the ingenuity and thoughtfulness that have allowed organizers to continue to work during a pandemic, and rightfully elevating them to superhero status.
Naima, thanks for joining me on Louisiana. Lefty. I really appreciate it. Let's get into how you and I met, and I believe if I recall correctly, it was a Fight for 15 table you used to host. Was that every other week?
Yeah, Fight for 15 coalition table at the UU church on Claiborne. Shout out to them for always hosting us, and holding us near and dear. Yeah, that table. And we were meeting every other week getting ready for First Strike Day.
Well, you collected a really strong group of organizers, I thought, in your coalition table there. I met some very amazing people there, who are doing good work all across our city and our state.
Yeah, the goal always for that table and for that space was to be, you know, super diverse, and have folks from all areas of organizing. Obviously Fight for 15 was centered around the economic justice fight and the labor movement. But really wanted to make sure that we had people who were doing organizing work in the faith community, doing racial justice, immigration work, really just all kinds of organizing work. And also just like your regular everyday normal folks. It was super important to our table and to make sure our members were supported in their efforts to get the minimum wage raised, to unionize. Yeah.
Some of the most powerful moments, I thought, came when you had your workers themselves, like McDonald's workers would actually tell their stories about what their struggles were, and what their fights with their bosses were. And those were very powerful moments. And I just want to commend you and the organization for always centering and putting those voices out front.
Yeah, myself and my co-organizer at the time, Ben Zucker, you know, really wanted to lean in and focus so much on making sure that their voices were at the center and at the forefront. It's probably why it's so hard to get me on things like this, because I see organizating as just not about me. It's not about me and my story so much as it is about centering the voices of the folks who are really the most impacted in that Fight for 15 campaign, you know, the folks who are working at McDonald's and Rally's and Popeye's and all the places that really are the heartbeat of the city, right? In a city that never sleeps and is 24 hours, it was very important to center their voices and their stories and make sure they felt empowered to organize and fight for the change that they wanted to see. So at those tables, on the strike line, you will hardly ever see me. I'm like running around making sure, logistically, everything is okay. But the folks who were speaking, the folks who are really doing the work and carrying those moments were the workers.
Can you tell me a little more about yourself? I know you've just said you don't want to put yourself front, but we did just make you a Organizer of the Month for Louisiana, which again, we're trying to highlight our organizers, because as I told you a little earlier on the video chat, the premise of this podcast is that organizers are superheroes. So you may not want to accept that title, but we're bestowing it upon you anyway.
I'll take it today. And yeah, a little bit about myself and how I came into organizing: My name is Naima Savage. I am an organizer by trade, teacher, trainer, facilitator, mom to an almost two year old, he will be two and two weeks. And the way I came into organizing really was as a child, I was one of those kids that my mom was waking us up to go to some march to do something in the community every single weekend. We hated it. We didn't want to go. But that really was my entry into what organizing was, what it looked like, what my role and what my duty was to my community, which I think is really the foundation of what continued to lead me into organizing throughout my young adulthood. I remember one of the biggest and probably most pivotal organizing moments for me was in college. I went to Howard University in DC, and some friends of mine, and just folks in the student community, took action to stay the execution of Troy Davis. And what that meant was us like figuring out a way to rally, have our voices heard in a moment where, you know, there wasn't a lot of that going on, there wasn't so much of young black folks pulling up and saying, "Hey, like, this is absolutely wrong, we're putting our foot down, and we want to see a change, we want to see something different." And in that moment, we're standing outside of the White House, and we're met with all of these - it's like 40, college students, you know - we're met with these guys on horses, these police officers in riot gear, there were vans ready to, like, take us off to wherever. And I say that's one of the most pivotal kind of moments for me, because I realized that even in doing something that is truly just and was truly like, right, in that moment, and that we felt so passionate about that, we would still be met with a particular level of state violence. That was a tough pill to swallow. I think I was 19 at the time and it was my first independent, on my own moment of taking action where my mom didn't have to get me up out of the bed and like say, "Hey, we're going to go do this thing together as a family." From there, you know, after I graduated from college, I pretty immediately started organizing with the Fight for 15 in New Orleans, in Louisiana, leaving DC and kind of like packing up to come here, which was a little bit of a mental conflict for me of like, I don't want to go to another place and be organizing in the community that's like, not my home. But really, you know, I felt really embraced by the community here and the folks here and was just able to really lean in and do that work. So I do that for a couple of years, which was really cool.
You've been here for a while now. Right?
Yeah, I've been here eight years. So it's been, it's been a long time. And I have some family ties here, as well. I'm from North Carolina, originally, but I do have family ties in New Orleans, as well. And I will say that, you know, after my time, you know, organizing with Fight for 15, and then transitioning into doing work with United for Respect and organizing folks who work at Walmart and Amazon, that was another like, you know, big kind of beast to take on. You're thinking about, you know, the most powerful companies that employ the most folks in the south, right? The most Black and Brown folks...
Walmart's the largest employer or the largest minimum wage employer in the state?
Yeah, the largest employer. And yeah, and then if you think about the regional south, still rings true that Walmart, you know, employs the most people, Amazon's a close second at this point. But certainly makes you think about the impact of this multibillion dollar corporation that seemingly insists on keeping workers in poverty. Very, very frustrating, when you think about it. Lots of my family work at Walmart, lots of my, you know, aunts and cousins and friends work at Walmart. And so that fight was super personal to me in a lot of ways and thinking about my own family members who just deserve so much more. And what I saw in those folks, my family members that is, was the same that we should all see and folks who are working for poverty wages right now. Every single person deserves to be able to go to work, have dignity and respect in the workplace, and come home and be able to provide for their families, and that should not be a negotiable. But for some reason, with these corporations - and we know what those reasons are, right? - that is a negotiable and is something that people have to fight for. And we're getting to the point where enough is enough.
And then you connected this year with Color of Change PAC, right?
Yeah, I worked with Color of Change PAC for the election cycle leading up to Election Day, and through the runoff here in January, and that was super important to me. It was kind of a drop everything moment, right? I was saying to my partner before I made the decision to start working with Color of Change that I would not be able to sit well with myself if I didn't do everything that I could this election cycle to completely shift where we were politically in the country, and especially as a Black person, as a Black woman, as an organizer, as well, that there are workplaces that I felt like I really wanted to lean in and would be able to lean in and make an impact. So we took that leap, and did a lot of really cool and interesting work with Color of Change PAC, and so grateful for that experience to be able to really turn this election on its head, and then some subsequent run offs on their head as well, right, some run offs that weren't anticipated to be won, that weren't looking like they were going to be wins in the polls, right? But really just mobilizing Black voters, and having Black voters mobilize their family and friends, so that there was truly a movement to the polls. And you can see in the results, you can see in the exit poll results, and just in the narrative in the story that like Black people showed up, and Black people and Black women in particular did the organizing, registered the voters, called the people, gave thousands and thousands of rides to the polls to make this happen. And nobody can take that away. And you can say that it was something else. But you'd be wrong.
I hear you. I'm glad you said it. We were talking before the podcast about an event that you put together here in New Orleans for Jason Williams, the new district attorney here, that I was hugely impressed by, because of the way you organized it, that in a pandemic was, I felt as someone who is social distancing and taking all the precautions that I possibly can, I felt so safe there. I felt really protected and that you were modeling good pandemic behavior.
Yeah, I'm really glad to hear that you felt that level of safe. I did too. I'll first say that, as a mom of a little one, but also, you know, I have in-laws who are elderly, that was the most people I have ever seen since March, you know, so I also was a little bit like, "Oh, my gosh, I don't know about this, look at all these humans." But I will say that the team at Color of Change PSC really worked really hard to ensure that that was a safe event. That meant, you know, folks were going to just hang out in their cars and watch this bounce concert. We had a DJ, we had Big Freedia to pull up. It was a beautiful, beautiful event. We had grab and go meals from some really dope food truck vendors.
And I could get vegan food there. That was amazing.
Yeah! Shout out to Original Thought. So good. So yeah, it was very important to us that if we want to, like, really move and turn out and touch Black voters, make sure folks knew where their polling location was, knew when the runoff was, all of these things, knew how to vote, how to get there, it was really, really important that that was a safe event, right? Like we've seen the impact that COVID-19 has had on Black and brown communities in this country. Again, for a lot of reasons, systematic racism, being at the forefront of that. It was so very important to make sure folks had masks, had access to hand sanitizer, so literally, as people were driving into the lot, we're handing them bags of pre-packed PPE, including masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, all of the things. And that was super critical in that moment, just to be sure that people were safe, but also could have a good time, and to engage Black voters in New Orleans.
If I had wanted to, I could have stayed in my car for the whole thing, because you had people who would actually bring you food from the food trucks. So you could just eat in the car and enjoy the concert from there. But people did get a little excited when Big Freedia came out. So that was very exciting. Look, for me, the first time seeing live music in a year, right? That was a big deal!
It was a moment! Especially for people in New Orleans, you know? We're used to live music all the time, around the clock, and so to be able to provide that moment, too, for folks was certainly fulfilling. Again, just like being sure that our volunteers were trained and felt supported and were going to change our gloves every time contact a person or hand somebody something, like we changed those gloves, utilized hand sanitizer, all of our volunteers had like 20 bottles of hand sanitizer in their pockets. So that level of safety is crucial. Now, it's going to be crucial for a while. And so that anytime we're doing work on the ground, we want to be sure and ensure that our events are safe and that Black people are protected, in more ways than one.
You even had people, like I said, when some of us exited our cars to go up to see Big Freedia, you had people they're trained to say...
Spread them people out!
Had to be six feet apart. Because, you know, you sort of forget yourself in the moment a little bit. Anyway, I felt very safe there. You know, I had wanted to start the Organizer of the Month awards a year ago, really, right around the beginning of the pandemic. And my question then was like, "Well, how are we going to organize?" And I've been amazed at the ingenuity of people, and just the creativity of organizers at figuring out how to organize online, how to organize events like yours, how to actually knock doors in a safe way... It didn't happen overnight, but it's something people did figure out how to handle. And so I've been really impressed. And again, that's why I really just wanted in this moment to start, you know, presenting awards to folks. Because again, you know, our premise is we want to celebrate organizers more. I loved that you as an organizer, immediately, online, were like, "I'm really glad to get this award, but I want to say that it's about my people."
I'm so shy. It's funny, because I think I don't necessarily always present as a shy person. But I am very shy. I'm like bashful. And, and so even just on the internet, when you all posted the Organizer of the Month, I'm in my house and on the couch, I was literally turning red, and my husband's like, "What's going on?" I'm like, "I just I think I just got an award." And someone else saw it and screenshot it and texted it to me, like, "This is so great!" And I'm so shy about that kind of thing, and you know, people say give the flowers while someone is still alive, and I accept the flowers, but I am very shy about it. You know, I'd rather maybe someone just to me personally, but I do really appreciate. It's such an honor to be to be given that award, especially, it's been such a long, you know, year almost, since the start of the pandemic, and having to figure out a way to organize, which is a very, very much so in-person, like with your people, in the south is that breaking bread and leaving that long organizing meeting and having a drink. It's those things that keep you going as an organizer. And so there was a moment where I think a lot of us felt a little bit robbed of our thing. But you know, we've been able to, bit by bit start chunking away at what it means, like how do we reimagine and rethink what organizing is, what it could be. And I think, in fact, it's actually allowed us to expand a little bit, right, like expand the conversations, and the fights, and then the movements that we're organizing.
Well, to your point, I think I think one of the things that makes good organizers, they are more interested in their volunteers and their staff and the people who organize under them. I think that makes a good organizer. But you know, for me, celebrating organizers... You mentioned Ben Zucker, your former co-organizer with Fight for 15. I got an award from the Louisiana Democratic Party for organizing a couple years ago, and it was in Baton Rouge, a bunch of people from New Orleans came up, Ben had really organized some people to attend that. And I asked him at one point, you know, I appreciate your coming, but, like, what's the big deal for making the trek to Baton Rouge? And he said, "Well, organizers never get recognized. So when one of us gets recognized, we want to be there to support it." And that really stuck with me where, you know, maybe we should be more recognized. So I thought it would be a thing we could do is to just flip that a little bit.
It's very true. It's very true. You know, as an organizer, you get so used to being kind of in the background and like make it like that. Because it's so nitty gritty, right? It's like, making sure everybody gets there, making sure everybody knows about a thing, right, making sure people feel empowered to participate and be a part. There's a lot of like background things that happen. And, you know, I think good organizers typically do hang out in the background more. It's like less about, like, the moment that you get to get up and grab the megaphone. Right? And it's more about, like, whose story, right, who's out here, that's the like, most impacted that should really be centered in this moment? And I'm sure like, you know, if Ben got an award, he'd be just as red and bashful as I was sitting at home. Because we're just, you know, it's just like that actually, you know, it really very much so not about us as individuals. It's just about the work and the people.
And even on political campaigns, I've always call it field work in a political campaign, And that's what I came up doing in the political world is field work with the Obama campaign, and even as exalted of a thing as it was for that group - you know, Obama himself was a community organizer - we were still low in the hierarchy of all things political.* And that's what it's been in every campaign. Of course, it's just you're not thought of as the elite part of the campaign.
The critical thing that keeps the thing going. Yeah, I feel that.
But then we get to a moment like we're in now where, because we don't see field so much out front, because we don't know those organizers, we get a win in Georgia, and people start asking, well, where's our Stacey Abrams or can Stacey Abrams come to Louisiana to organize here? No, we have people doing that. We have rockstar organizers here now that have been working. And so I think part of it is just making sure folks know how to connect to that, but also just know how to support the work that our organizers are doing. I've made the point elsewhere that, you know, for the Unanimous Jury Coalition, and for the governor's re-election in 2019, those organizers on the ground were critical to both of those wins, and people may not have seen that, they might have gotten a knock on their own door, but they may not have known how widespread that effort really was.
Those were cultural wins, too! It's like - I think the same with Jason Williams - it's like when something has come in because it was the culture - the organizing, yes - but a lot of the the organizing, especially in New Orleans and in Louisiana is so cultural, it's so personal to people, right? It's not unusual to walk into a Step Up meeting on Monday and have some red beans and rice, and hear some second line music brass band playing across the street. It's not unusual, it is a thing, some of the allure factor is that, right? Like, I know that I can go to this meeting and get a good meal and shake some hands - not right now, when we get back free. But it is that and I think that those wins in particular really felt like, when you were when you were getting close to election day, you were like, "We're gonna win this. We're gonna win this for sure." Because my neighbor who never says anything about anything political is like, "Did you vote for Jason Williams?" or the person across the street is like, "Yes on 2!" I have never seen this before, right, anything political, but my neighbor has a Yes on 2 sign in their front yard. Those are the moments when you know, the people who you least expect or who have never really been super out front about voting or political things, when you see those folks are really talking about it, when you see on your timeline on Twitter, me who follows a lot of young black, non organizing folks, non political folks, when people are just like "Yes on2" all up and down the timeline, you're just like, "Yes, this is gonna secure the bag, this is gonna be a win."
Nice. And you mentioned Step Up, that's Step Up Louisiana. You're involved with them also. That's a specifically community organizing group, with a chapter in New Orleans and a chapter in Baton Rouge. I assume the idea of Step Up Louisiana is to spread out?
Yeah, Step Up's done a ton of work. I'm board chair at Step Up, and just from a couple years ago was small and mighty, just getting started organization, but was made up of folks who have been doing organizing work in Louisiana for a very, very, very, very long time. Really, some of the most inspiring stuff was things like the Three Point Platform, really holding our elected officials accountable to saying, "Yes, as we are going up against preemption, we're gonna raise this minimum wage to $15 an hour, we support banning the box, and we support equal pay for women." And just that level of accountability being able to stand outside on the steps of City Hall with a banner that's almost bigger than the building that says, "These are the things we're holding you accountable to," and person after person coming out and saying, "Yes, I will," and then going behind the desk, or behind the bench in city council and other places, and actually advocating for those things, and actually moving the needle forward was a really big deal for the people of New Orleans. We see all the time and have seen what the impact is when people aren't making a living wage, and we continue to see that today. So to be able to call out our elected officials by name and say, "You said, this thing, and we are here to hold you accountable, and we're not going anywhere."
You had a Three Point Platform that you were asking candidates to pledge to support, and a lot of candidates did support that. For folks who may not be as up on it as you are, banning the box is getting rid of the box on an application employment application where you have to say whether or not you have been imprisoned, right?
Yeah.
And preemption, you mentioned, explain that to folks.
Essentially, what it means in the plainest terms I can say is that, even if we, in New Orleans, voted in a raise in minimum wage here locally, at the state level, they can say we're not allowed to do that. Even if we voted, if everyone went to the polls, and the city council and the mayor, and everybody was like, "Yes, we're going to do this thing, we're raising the minimum wage norms to $15 an hour," and it was technically city law, or city minimum wage, the state constitution does not allow municipalities or cities to set a minimum wage. And so we would not be able to actually implement that. And that is very frustrating, because we should totally have the power. And in a place where we work and we pay taxes and we live, we should be able to say what are our minimum wages, particularly if we have the people power to move in that direction. There's a lot of other things that are preempted.
Right. But that's the big one that y'all are working on. And it does seem like it's the state wanting to keep control of the cities.
Yeah, and that is something that we see rampant across the South. It is a thing, right? States will retro-actively preempt something, like what we saw in in Alabama. And it's very frustrating. But we know that the lack of value of labor, particularly the lack of value of labor, of Black and brown folks is connected to the history of slavery in in the South. And that has spread all over the South, it has spread into other areas of the country. And it is something that we really do have to stand up and organize against. We have to be sure that the power and the decision lies with the people, the people who go to these jobs every day, the people who have families to support. No state should be able to tell us that we have to work for poverty wages. It is absolutely unacceptable.
For white people like myself, there's a lot of learning and unlearning that has to be done. You have to keep the flexibility of mind, I think, to listen to folks who are saying things like you're saying right now, and then unlearn things that you've learned in your past to be able to, kind of, open up your mind to accepting, "Oh, yeah, that actually makes sense. The history of that makes sense." So I just wanted to point that out, because that, to me - not just learning things, but unlearning things - has been a big, big part of my journey, that I think is really important for those of us who are wanting to be supportive need to focus on. Besides being shy, what makes an effective organizer?
Oh, well, being shy isn't one of the things. I have to really fight my shyness, because of what you have to do to be a good organizer. The number one thing is to listen, like you just have to listen to people. You have to ask some questions to get people talking sometimes, but you mostly just have to listen and have good solid conversations with folks. Any good organizing relationship I've had has started with a chit chat. I remember, when I first started kind of formally organizing with Fight for 15, I was sitting in my car outside of a McDonald's, and I would really have to, like, give myself a pep talk, like, "Come on, girl, just go in there and just talk to someone." Or sometimes it's just go in there, and, you know, check out what people are dealing with at work, right? Like, yeah, that manager just didn't treat that cashier nice at all, or this cashier is running from behind the register to go to the parking lot and sweep up doing, like, 20 jobs, and making seven and a quarter. So I would have to really work myself up to put away the shy part of myself and kind of just be personable with people. I'm really just keeping it real, like, you just got to be real, you got to not be, you know, code switching and acting like somebody you're not, and trying to be like, all of these things, you just got to be real. And you really just got to listen. I think that that's what brings people in, and connecting with people on real issues, like most of the people I talked to, when organizing, and I'm going to just use Fight for 15 as an example, most of the people I talked to, the pay actually wasn't the issue. It was that they did not feel respected at work. So I couldn't force that on them. Like, yes, the campaign is Fight for 15, but I can't force you to actually be all about, "Hey, I want $15 as a minimum wage." But if you want dignity and respect in the workplace, you deserve that too, right? Like, if you think you should be paid for being the custodian and the cashier, then yes, you should. So really you have to listen to people to hear that, to hear what their issue really is, and not, you know, approach someone with your agenda of what you think we should be fighting for. Because at the end of the day, I wasn't working at a fast food restaurant at the time. Though I have in the past, I wasn't at the time. And so I could not tell someone what their issue could or should be, right? Mothers were most concerned that they had crazy schedules, and could never predict when they would need childcare. That was the issue. It wasn't about seven and a quarter. So I think those things make a good organizer, like, just listening and just being yourself. And like, just keeping it a buck with people. I say a buck, 100 you know.
I hear you say, also, being able to have a level of empathy and caring for people, and the situations they're in.
Oh, yeah, yeah. And a lot of it, like, we can reflect and see in our own lives, too, and that of people we love. That allows us to really lean into that empathy. I think also, you know, being a good organizer is thinking about the things that get people excited and bring people together, and empower people to feel ready to fight, right? Here in New Orleans our strike lines look very different. Our actions look very different than a lot of other places. We knew that some good food, and a bomb brass band would get everybody going. Every single person would come and say, "Yes, Fight for 15, like, we need 15 as minimum wage." But those things were like, entry points for people, right? And entry points to leadership don't always look like speaking at a rally or telling your story at a meeting. Sometimes that entry point is this warm meal, or this bomb second line that's gonna bust through the French Quarter and through the front doors of a McDonald's, right? Sometimes the entry point is those things. If someone's seeing that second line through their neighborhood, hopping off the bus, and following it, don't know where it's going, those things are key to those cultural points that like really grab people at at the heart, and get people's feet moving and minds going in community with each other. It's the real secret sauce of organizing.
Yeah, the entry point is a really good point. You never know what's going to engage someone and get them involved in the work you're trying to do. And it's, as you said, you're not necessarily trying to get them 100% on board with everything you're looking to do. You want them to fight for their dignity...
At the end of the day, it's like what is it that's the sticker for you? What is it that's your issue, and how can we rally behind you, and get you that, and win that for our people? Because a lot of times, what one person is experiencing, someone else is, too, whether they vocalize it or not. So really figuring out the ways those intersection points, for the issues that folks are experiencing, is super key to building that community of folks who is ready and willing to take action, on behalf of each other, together, on behalf of someone else. I think that's super important. And thinking about leadership a little bit different of a way, too. I think we too often lean on leadership to think about it as this, like, very forefront kind of thing. And there are a lot of ways that people can assume leadership responsibilities without that, right? Whether it's a Step Up member who's like, "I'm gonna make the red beans and rice this week," you know, like, yes, feed the people, or somebody who's gonna do childcare during the meeting, or the folks who call and make sure everybody knows what time the meeting is, and send out those texts, like all those are ways of leadership, but we have to honor them the same, we should honor them the same, so that people feel like their work is valued and is valuable to the fight that we're in and the movement that we're in. And I encourage everyone to do that, and to think about that, and be intentional about that. Because far too often, that's a missing piece of like just honoring the the work and contribution of every single person, even if it's just showing up because showing up is hard.
Right, right. I really like the way you're describing that. Because at the end of the day, part of what organizing is, the basic foundation of it, is building relationships. And the thing that I've always said, because I've done campaign work, which is inherently, it's by cycle, so you know, you're switching who or what you're working for, from cycle to cycle. But I've always said, you know, your relationships go with you. From one cycle to the next, you're not starting from scratch, you built those relationships, and you should continue to nurture them and make sure they're good relationships. To me, part of what makes a good organizer is that you're building and nurturing those relationships.
And it's beautiful, ain't it? You know, I love, even now, you know, it's been three years since I organized Fight for 15, and I still, every now and again, a fast food worker will call me like, "Sav, my manager is playing with my schedule, what should I do?" You know, and I just, I love that, like, yes, let's get your schedule together, you know, let's hold these people accountable, they shouldn't be playing with your schedule. And I love that, I love that, you know, you can walk in a room, or a zoom at this point, that might be for a different thing, and see some of the same people, right? Like, Lynda, I've seen you at a Jason Williams thing, I've seen at a Fight for 15 thing, I've seen you at like a faith leaders thing, right? And that's beautiful. It's beautiful when you can maintain the relationships with people, the folks in the community, and I think that's what makes a powerful movement, right? Like we build upon the relationships and it's like a wave, it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. And eventually this thing is gonna get big enough that we could take take over.
Love it. So for folks who are listening, if they're looking to plug in right now, how can they support your work and the work that you think is really most valuable in the state?
I mean, I would send everyone over to stepuplouisiana.org, and I would encourage you to check it out and to subscribe, so that you can get the emails about all of the things that are upcoming. Step Up is doing some incredible work. Y'all know, we've got a special election coming up for a congressional seat, we've got a lot of things that are about to happen, you know, legislative session, all kinds of things are coming up. And I would say that I really trust Step Up Louisiana, and this is non biased, even though I have to be a little bit biased, but this is non biased, that I really do trust about Louisiana to share information about not only what Step Up is doing but about what other organizations are doing. There's a lot of different ways that you can get involved. I would encourage folks to seek out opportunities to do voter contact in this moment. There are a lot of people who don't know that we have a special election coming up or when the date is, so that education of just being able to share that information with people is going to be crucial. I would send people right there, right there to stepuplouisiana.org. And you'll get just about anything that you need about how to plug in, in New Orleans, in Baton Rouge, but also abroad, right? We've got chapters in New Orleans and in Baton Rouge, but Step Up is a statewide organization that is doing work in other municipalities as well.
You do focused work and and there's legislative work as well, so that trying to change the laws in Baton Rouge is certainly something everyone across the state should participate in. But I also know you make decisions to go to different parts of the state when when there's a moment that calls for y'all to be there. And then you have relationships across the state with other organizations. So you can plug people in that way as well.
Yeah, plenty of ways and places to plug in. But that's definitely a good starting point, particularly if folks are already involved in something. And even if you are, just being able to get that knowledge, and being able to get access to all of the events and actions and other other ways to get involved, that's certainly a good central hub to be able to do that, for sure.
And we talked a little bit about this before the podcast, but I love following you on Instagram. You have such a rich family life, which is really what you focus on there more than your work. And your son is what I call an Instagram rockstar.
My guy!
But it's nice to see that you, as an organizer, as someone very dedicated to your work, you also have that side of you as well.
Yeah, you know, my son, I think I mentioned this earlier, but he's almost 2, be 2 in 2 weeks. His name is Royce Saint. He is the light of my life. He also runs my life in a very different kind of way now that he's a toddler. And I just want to encourage any parent that is figuring it out right now. Shout out to you because it is not easy. Lean on your village, which is also hard right now, because you try to limit contact with people as much as possible. My partner and I are both working full time. And we're at home with this little one, who demands so much attention. And I will say that it is the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life, to parent a toddler during a pandemic, and working full time. But it is possible. And he is so cute, which really, really helps with my patience level, that is very, very thin most of the time. But yeah, I try to maintain as much of a good work-life balance as I can. And mostly because at this point I have to. He is at home with us 24/7. And that means that I have to have some sort of balance so that I make sure that he's fed three times a day, and is not watching TV all day, and all kinds of things. So it takes a lot to do that. But also, it just brings me joy, you know, to be able to cultivate this young person and unlearn a lot of - you said something about unlearning earlier - and I relate with that, because there's a lot of ways that I was parented - love my parents, shout out to you, Mom and Dad - but there's a lot of things that I want to do differently with my son. And so I have to unpack them while learning something new to practice with him. And that is both a challenge and a blessing to be able to recognize that and to put it in action.
So my premise here is that organizers are superheroes and, of course, we know that moms are superheroes, too. So obviously that makes you a double superhero in our eyes. Thank you for the work that you do. Do you have a favorite superhero?
Probably my mom, honestly. She's a boss. I don't know how she did it with four of us. I haven't but just my one baby. And I've every day I'm like, "Oh my god, this is so hard." And my mom did this with four of us. And she did it with grace. And she kept us involved in the community and at school, and all of the things. She probably is certainly my superhero. I don't think I have like a fictional superhero.
I love that answer.
I think my mom would take the cake against anyone I would choose anyway.
That's wonderful. Well, thank you so much for joining me today. And look forward to seeing more of your work and hopefully connecting some people with you.
Of course. Yeah, I'm happy. Happy to be here. Thank you so much for inviting me to be on, and I look forward to connecting soon.
Awesome.
Cool.
Thank you for listening to Louisiana, Lefty You can connect with Naima's work with Step Up Louisiana at stepuplouisiana.org, and follow them, as well as Louisiana Lefty, on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Please subscribe to our podcast and show us some love with a five star rating. Thanks to Ben Collinsworth for producing Louisiana Lefty, Jennifer Pack of Black Cat Studios for our Super Lefty artwork, and Thousand $ Car for allowing us to use their swamp pop classic, Security Guard, as our Louisiana Lefty theme song.
*Footnote: We've replaced a phrase in this transcript that we've since come to understand could be perceived as culturally insensitive to some, as well as inaccurate. For more information, please check out: https://kojoinstitute.com/equitable-vocabulary-5-phrases-to-quit/. Our intention is to do an episode on idioms and how we can shift the way we speak to be more inclusive and equitable. If you have a guest in mind for this conversation, please share their name at info@louisianalefty.rocks.
