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 join the mission, because victory for Louisiana requires you.
Thank you for listening to our first three seasons of the podcast. I'm your host, Lynda Woolard, and I want to welcome you to season four.
We spent our first three seasons creating the beginnings of a roadmap for Democrats and progressives to learn how to organize more efficiently and effectively in Louisiana, and in the South. We have a long way to go. But we've been able to hear from some truly remarkable folks in our state who are doing the foundational work required to help Louisiana achieve her full potential.
Let's look back on some of the things we learned in season three before heading into season four. As I frequently point out, criminal justice reform is an issue that groups have been organizing well around for years. And we've seen some of our best progress there. Sade Dumas spoke to us about the importance of bringing people into the fold and educating them, rather than immediately jettisoning folks who aren't quite where we are in our progressivism yet,
If we are throwing people out because they are not where we want them to be as soon as they walk through the door, we're losing the opportunity to gain people who can help us educate others and organize. And a lot of times when you're educating one person, it's not that one person, that person is teaching their whole family. So we have to start meeting people where they are.
Justin Hartley of College Democrats talked about creating space for young people to get more engaged and the need to accept that this work can be uncomfortable.
Something I really liked, that you said earlier, is bring a folding chair to every table that you're not invited to. We're seeing that boldness and that attitude grow amongst people in my generation, and the generations surrounding us. Especially, like I've been so impressed by even the younger people, like high schoolers and how just nonchalantly aggressive they are in getting to the goals that matter to them. So finding ways that we can make sure we always put attention and emphasis on that work is central, because that's how we see progress get made. Progress isn't made when people are happy and very casual about their advocacy. It's when people put in the time and energy and there's a little bit of discomfort. And we need to be okay with that.
Logan Burke of the Alliance for Affordable energy addressed the crisis of trust in our democracy, and why keeping the faith is important.
I am hearing this from people, frankly, on the left and the right. But there is a lack of trust that if we show up to the polls, that it matters at all, that if we reach out to our decision makers, that it makes a difference. But it does. You know, I have spoken with folks all over the state who say, "Well, you know, it's baked in, it is who we are, nothing's going to change, it's all so corrupt." And unfortunately, the more we say that and believe it and just wash our hands of it because that's what we believe, the more true it is. The more power you give away to the oil and gas interests, the more power you're giving away from yourself, from your community. And so we have to believe, we have to trust that if we show up and we speak our mind, and these decision makers know that their jobs are in danger if they're not listening, then we can actually do something.
Liz Leger of Avoyelles Sleeves Up talked to us about the importance of countering online disinformation by developing true community relationships.
Facebook became a fast enemy for us because that's where the most misinformation was being placed, and who people were listening to. So we actually started a program called Mythbusters, where we had to bust the myths that they were finding out on Facebook and we couldn't bust myths on Facebook. We had to go door to door and talk to people and hold town halls and hold community meetings and walk neighborhoods and tell people, "That's not true." It's not an easy thing to do, but you can't form the relationships I think you need to form for people to understand that you are concerned about them without that face to face contact.
And of course, as always, we placed a heavy emphasis on organizing. We heard again and again, about the importance of engaging with our communities year round, not just around elections. This is from Norris Henderson of VOTE.
We can't wait until these election cycles come up. And then go and try to engage with folks. We have to keep people engaged year round about things that are not important to us but that's important to them. And once we get to that point, when it becomes something important to us, oh, they'll be coming to us saying, "Hey, we want to help you because you helped us."
And we heard similar themes from both Maria Harman and Ben Zucker of Step Up Louisiana.
I think the biggest opportunity is just really base building and meeting our people where they are, you know, finding out where their passion lies and, and helping them to channel that energy in effective ways to fight for change. I think, you know, the more conversations we have, we shouldn't give up on that, you know, it's always an opportunity to encourage someone to throw down on the fight. It's always something to be done. And it's always an opportunity to use someone's skill set.
There are a lot of people who don't get talked to very often. Statewide, there are a lot of different communities who have been engaged in the fight around elections. And that has been great. And so then, you know, we're trying to plug those folks in year round.
Each of our Louisiana Lefty episodes is archived on our website, LouisianaLefty.Rocks, and available on major podcast platforms, so you can catch up on any past guests and topics that you've missed. We've continued to add transcripts for increased accessibility. And we've created a Lefty Lagniappe album on our Facebook page with extra video footage from each of our guests. This season, we added our first video to our new YouTube channel that's offered ways to engage after the overturn of Roe v Wade, and opportunities to organize in the 2022 midterms.
I hope you'll check out all the additional materials we provide. But most of all, I hope you'll find hope in the materials we're putting out. The forces against progress and democracy remain strong. But we're inspired by the people - our superheroes - who week in and week out are giving their energy and finding joy in the work of making our state and our country a better place for all of us.
In season four we'll continue to try to live up to the lines we deliver at the start of each episode: Our goal is to democratize information, demystify party politics, and empower you to join the mission. We'll be offering more advice on campaign best practices, hearing more about engagement from our young leaders, and lifting up the noble work of organizers at every opportunity. So long as you keep listening. We'll keep sharing knowledge and resources to further the progressive cause for the people of Louisiana, the South and the nation.
Thank you for listening to Louisiana Lefty. Please follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Thank you to Ben Collinsworth for producing Louisiana Lefty, Jen 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.
