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 two seasons of the podcast. I'm your host, Lynda Woolard. And I want to welcome you to season three. A year into Louisiana Lefty, the country is still battling against COVID, and for, as writer Jon Meacham calls it, the Soul of America. Last season, the podcast itself dealt with the impacts of Hurricane Ida and repeated technical difficulties. Nevertheless, we persist.
And as we look back on our previous body of work, we can identify some themes we're honing in on, as well as signals of where we plan to focus in season three. We will continue to host guests who will help address some of the vulnerabilities we see in progressive and Democratic campaigns, like Amelie LeBreton, who spoke to us over two episodes about fundraising. Yet the value of this information goes beyond electoral campaigns, the techniques and tips she offers are just as impactful for 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) organizing work. Amelie's greatest recurring message also goes well beyond fundraising best practices. As she puts it, it's all about building relationships.
What is going to make a difference between somebody taking a meeting with you or in saying yes to a contribution, especially a significant contribution, and I will sound like a broken record here, but that's kind of on purpose: It's about building a relationship. So you're not sitting down in a conversation, kind of waiting until you can I say, "Will you give me X amount of dollars?" You are trying to figure out who this person is and why they care about this. So we'll use an example of somebody who's very passionate about the environment. And say, you have a candidate who this is like their number one issue, this is why they're running for Congress, this is the thing that gets them out of bed in the morning. Well, you want them to connect about that. And you want them to be able to talk about what it is that they see for the future, what they see is possible in this next legislative session, or what have you. And that is a meaningful conversation that does two things. You build certainly a personal connection, they get along on a personal level. But much more importantly, this person sees that this candidate not only cares about the issue, but has a plan to do something about it. And they're right there saying, "I believe this person cares about my issue, and that they can impact it." And I think you know, the "can" is about whether or not they view this person as a competent person. And the "what" and the fact that they will do something about it is that trust, and that is something you can only do with personal one on one relationship building.
Amelie, also let us in on her other key ingredients to the secret sauce of fundraising, and really any kind of campaign work. It's good advice, whether you're a candidate, staff member, or volunteer,
I think to be good at fundraising, you have to be a couple of different things. And the first of which is passionate about whatever your fundraising about. Fundraising work, you know, there's events involved. And in a lot of these examples, I get to talk about meeting really cool people and all these elected officials. So sometimes I think people look at it and think, you know, oh, that's just some thing for Ladies who Lunch. It's hard work, so you have to be passionate, you have to be passionate to go out and introduce yourself to blind strangers and try to get them engaged in your thing. That's absolutely true for fieldwork too, right? You're not going to go knock on doors in the middle of the rain if you don't care about what's there. Right? So, similarly there. And I think you also have to be strategic, especially on the political side, with your time management. How are you going to get to your goal? What are you going to spend your time on? I could spend hours researching this one prospect and know all these things about them. And then that's one phone call and one relationship and one donation you can make, right? You have to figure out, that's where all the technical skills come through. There are people on the nonprofit side who are full time prospect researchers, and they themselves have timers that they sit on their desk, like this is how much time is spent researching this person because they need to know they're getting through the volume of their work. So, specifically for campaign fundraising, it's the discipline of how you're going to execute your plan, sticking to it, reviewing your plan and updating it, just constantly going through that cycle. And then, I guess more on the personality side, again, you just have to you develop a good, "no" isn't a negative, right? Or "no" isn't just this terrible answer someone can give you. It's a "no," I move on. It's a "no," but there's something else we can talk about here. One of those two things, and you just have to keep going. So you build up that kind of thing up through time. So you've got to just be patient with yourself, too.
Representative Royce Duplessis joined us and reinforced the importance of passion for the work, based on strong beliefs and commitment to the cause.
You know, where you're in campaign mode, it's like being in trial. You're just in the zone and you have to do everything it takes to get it done. And obviously, that means remaining ethical, and staying true to your values. But there's no stone that can go unturned. So you have to reach out to folks. The way Davante got on my list was that any registered lobbyists or player that I thought needed to know about me, even if we hadn't met, then I made sure that they knew about me. And I wanted to know about them, try to understand the issues that they were advocating for and were important to them, even if we didn't agree on all the issues, because these are all people that you have to work with. So I just was cold calling folks, you know, even people who didn't live in New Orleans. I was just cold calling people. And yeah, it's not comfortable at first. And I don't know if it's ever comfortable. But you do it. Well, at least, I did it. And for me, it just further fed my fire and conviction, as a reminder that this was something I knew I wanted to do. So when it comes to other campaigns, whether it's an issue-based campaign, or whether it's an electoral campaign for a candidate, the theme is the most important, in my opinion, driving factor. It's all about the "why." Every campaign is different. But I think it's mostly driven by the "why." Timing certainly matters. But it was my "why" that gave me the strength and the conviction to pick up the phone and make cold calls to people. Because I felt that strongly about me needing to share what it was I needed to share. And not even being shy about it. I was just unapologetic. And I wasn't shy. I've been shy about things in the past. And I might be shy about some things in the future. But what that tells me is that I must not believe strongly enough in this issue or cause. So you have to have a real look in the mirror, in my opinion, on any issue that you're working on, to know if you're committed to it enough to say I'm willing to make cold calls. Some people were not receptive. And that's fine, you have to accept that part as well. But I think that's all part of the process. I'll reference one time I heard (former Speaker Pro Tempore) Walt Leger say this a long time ago, that when you make the decision to run, you have to be willing to lose. Because your belief in the cause is so much greater than the outcome. Obviously, we run to win. You know, you run to win every single time. But your commitment, and your belief in what it is you're about to undertake, has to be that strong, to where it's worth it in the end. Regardless of the outcome, it was worth going for it.
With voting rights receiving increased national attention as the civil rights issue for our times, we talked about how we could consider expanding the vote, rather than suppressing it.
You know, when people talk about voting integrity, and I've said this in committee, you know, these terms get thrown around about voter integrity, election integrity. Well, to me, integrity means ensuring everybody has the right to vote. People want to talk about patriotism. How about we make sure that everybody gets to exercise the right to vote? That's the patriotic thing to do. So don't talk to me about the cost of early voting expansion and the cost of paying more poll workers, when we're spending all of this money to go down these fraudulent and chase down this false narrative of election fraud, when we have one of the safest election security systems in the country in Louisiana. So to me, what we need to be talking about is how we expand. We need to go further, and we need to expand early voting, we need to talk about same-day voter registration, we need to talk about automatic voter registration. And these are the types of things we need to be pushing for, and we need to push hard for them. It is difficult, I will tell you in this conservative legislature, but these are the types of things we need to be pushing towards. Other states have, I think 19 other states have same-day voter registration. So you can't tell me it can't be done. It's just a question of whether we want it to be done. I think those are some simple examples of how we can ensure more people have the right to vote. Voter education, voter outreach, we can do things like make sure the Secretary of State's website doesn't fall off line or go for website maintenance on National Voter Registration Day, we can make sure things like that don't happen, which unfortunately happened last year. You know, if we want people to vote, if we truly want people to vote, we can make that happen. And I think the examples I just gave are some ways in which we can do that.
This is an issue that we must focus more on across the nation. But Royce makes the point that our personal best efforts are focused in our own state. And we spoke to Representative Aimee Adatto Freeman about what it takes to get big ticket items passed in Louisiana. As an example, we discussed her successful push to pass the historic legislation exempting the Pink Tax.
A lot of being legislature. Maybe it's just because I like numbers, and I use them all the time in my business practice, but a lot of it's a math formula, right? If you got your 53 votes -- or your 70, because some votes require 70, some votes require two thirds -- if you have your 53 votes, your bills moving across the hall to the Senate, right? So it took me a few weeks to make sure I had those lined up. And really what I knew I had to have was the support of the speaker, because without the support of the speaker, that bill wasn't gonna move, because there's only 35 Democrats and two independents. So even if I get every Democrat, and my two independents, who generally go with the Democrats, but sometimes they don't, I still only had 37. So his support was critical. It was a critical piece to moving it.
You had 33 groups behind you did for this?
Yes, and those people are really important to the process. .
Including Right to Life, this was a real across the aisle ambition here.
Yeah, in fact, the coalition that was built around this thing, you know, to have Lift Louisiana, and reproductive rights groups, and the Right to Life, and the Junior League, and the Catholic Bishops all together on this was, it was a critical piece, because I can tell you, for sure, there were a couple of legislators who were, "Oh, I don't need to do this," or whatever. And then, you know, someone from the Junior League in their area would call them, or Ben Clapper, who's the Right to Life representative said, "This is really important, we run diaper banks, we are we support this, because we need a better way to run these centers." So that coalition was a huge part of it. In fact, we're having a ceremonial bill signing Monday, coming up with the governor so that all those advocates can get the recognition that they deserve, because all I did was carried a piece of paper around the building and argue for it. But they're the ones who really kept it going since since 2017.
Well, you know, I talk a lot about Unanimous Juries on this podcast, and criminal justice reform, and how part of how we've made progress in Louisiana is because it is backed by folks from both sides of the aisle. There is a bipartisan effort there. There are conservative and liberal reasons to support that. So I think in Louisiana when we're going to make progress, that's a big key to it. And that might seem like an odd thing to say on a progressive podcast, but because we are such a minority in the state, if we're not finding those opportunities, where we can work together and build those unique broad coalitions, we're just not making progress.
And I agree with you, Lynda. Sometimes I think to myself, it's difficult. My kids are younger and always educating me on the most progressive ways to viewpoint things. I start to think, "Well, I'm kind of old, I didn't know that." They have to tell me, "Mom, you can't say this word anymore." "Okay? Okay. Okay, I'm learning y'all. Y'all. I am a little bit older than y'all." But I tell my own kids this often, I'm like, the situation that I'm in, the way that I'm serving in this role, I have to have Republican support to move things. Otherwise, I'm just filing a bill, which is fine. And I did file the LGBTQ housing equity bill, and it got killed in committee, right? That doesn't mean I'm not gonna file that bill again. But I also want to see me file some bills that become law, because I built the coalition, right? Because if I want to be a good public servant, I want to serve the public and get some things done for them. So it is tricky. And it's hard, especially, and I'm using my own kids as an example, they sometimes don't get it like, "Well, that guy said this thing. And we saw it on social media." I'm like, "Well I know, but that guy also will help me get me a vote. So I could get in a big argument with him. Or I could just know that he and I are totally opposite on all these things. But on these other things, we can come together."
That's one of those: the answer is it's complicated.
It's really complicated. And it takes a lot of relationship building. It does. It does.
Again, and again, we hear the importance of building relationships, creating coalition's and finding common ground to work with folks we view as "on the other side" of most of our issues. As I mentioned to Aimee, criminal justice reform has been and continues to be fertile ground for progress in our state. Every move forward on that issue immediately impacts lives that, generationally, will reach into the millions, as we continue to dismantle our Jim Crow system. So I had a conversation with Tyronne Walker, campaign manager and now Chief Administrative Officer for Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams.
I want to make the point that progress is never linear.
Yeah.
So there are always multiple issues at play, both seen and unseen, that can prevent all the change we want to happen from going smoothly. And I think it takes us getting folks working inside the political system, and still requires persistent pushing from outside the political system to get us to where there's real justice and equity, particularly in these criminal justice spaces.
Absolutely. Look, I'd say two things about that. One speaks to one of the first things you alluded to. In order to deliver change and to systemically change inequities that have been entrenched in this country, whether it's in local communities, state or federal levels, it first takes courage. Right? And we have a history of people being courageous and stepping out there and sacrificing for the public good to change these inequities. I don't know if we've seen a lot of courage from political leaders, in many ways, and I think we've started seeing some of that lately. I think my former mayor, I'm a little biased, some would say, but I think him weighing in to taking down those monuments and building off the work that Sydney Barthelemy and Avery Alexander and activists, and even Marc Morial, all those administrations had been doing to take down those monuments. And actually, I think it was this was made for a leader like Mitch Landrieu. I think likewise, Jason, you know, getting out there very early, and saying years before that he was going to run against Leon Cannizzaro, irrespective of what Leon Cannizzaro did, or anybody else did, also took courage. And, and I think that when leaders are courageous on the right things, I think the voters remember that. They see it. Voters are very astute on things that matter of the heart.
What do you feel like have been some of the immediate and biggest changes y'all have been able to make for folks here in Louisiana, and I want to say Louisiana because I think this Orleans Parish DA's office can be a model for other offices in the state. So that's sort of why I phrased it that way. But what do you think are some of the biggest and immediate changes you've made?
Well, I'd say this, one of the things that DA Williams would be the first to say is, you know, he is grateful for and we were able to deliver at the speed in which we've delivered, because of a lot of work from a lot of advocates and activists, who who have been in the criminal justice reform spaces for a long time, laying the groundwork for this type of reform. Jason did his part as a public official, holding the system actors accountable from that space. But there were a lot of nonprofits and advocacy groups that were doing their part to hold the systems accountable, to do the public records requests, to shed a light on injustices, to file lawsuits, to build coalitions with national partners, to shine a light on this stuff. So I think the first thing I'd say is, in addition to having a good good team at the DA has assembled, we're able to run fast, because we're building off of good foundational work established by folks outside of government who've been doing a lot of good work for a long time.
One of the very first things that the DA did was deliver on a campaign commitment that he made, which was to set up the first Civil Rights Division in this city's history. That thing is led by Emily Maw, an incredible attorney, who's got great experience with innocence work and has worked for the State Supreme Court, as well. We set up that the Civil Rights Division, we started an Undoing Jim Crow Juries Civil Rights Initiative, where we took the bull by the horns with the non-unanimous juries. We immediately moved to vacate some of those sentences, retry ones that need to be retried, and release people that should have been released. And we're doing that in conjunction with the other side of the bar and in the courts, and getting people relief, where they should have relief. We vacated lots of sentences, since we've been in office in less than 200 days. In addition to that, I think we're very proud of the wrongful convictions work that we were doing. Just this past week, we worked with the court to free a man who had been in jail for a few decades for stealing $20. Because of the incredible abuse of the multiple offenders law in Louisiana, this man got life without parole for stealing $20, where he returned the wallet back to the persons he stole it from. And the victims in that case were tourists who supplied comment for us, in support of the decision to vacate that sentence. They said that they never imagined that he would go to jail that long for something like that. And they supported him having a second chance. That's an example of the type of work that a progressive DA is able to do, not because he's got the term of progressive, but because he's trying to be fair. The work that is happening in the Orleans Parish district attorney's office under Jason Williams is about turning a broken criminal legal system that has been designed to marginalize and oppress certain groups of people completely on its head, to right those past wrongs, and to give conviction relief for wrongful convictions when they've happened, to not waste time in doing that, and to be very aggressive in that.
And the reason why we need to do both of these things is the the district attorney is responsible for delivering justice and increasing safety. Too often in this country, prosecutors at the local, state, and federal levels have only been focused on the most traditional view of safety, increasing safety through prosecution. Well, the problem in many communities in the south, especially in New Orleans and the state of Louisiana is convictions haven't always meant that you've you've actually found the right person. As Jason would often say, Louisiana is the exoneration capital of the world. And New Orleans is exoneration capital of Louisiana, which means that we, more than anywhere else, have gotten it wrong. So if you juxtapose that with the tough on crime, lock them all up and throw away the key mantra that has been sold to voters for such a long time, there's no way you could to miss the injustice that has been happening in our community for decades now. So this DA sees success as building the most advanced, 21st century prosecutor's office in the country.
I love that you talked about this being an effort for the state. But you know, we see this as being a model for the country. Because New Orleans is not the only place, and Louisiana is not the only place in this country that's gotten a criminal legal system wrong. And we hope by the work that we're doing, both in the work that we're doing civil rights, and the work that we're doing with trials, we will be a model for how district attorneys and prosecutors can increase safety in neighborhoods, and deliver justice at the exact same time. And part of the reason why we've got to do that, another thing that we did just this past week alone, we settled four years worth of lawsuits against the office for all kinds of abuses and prosecutorial misconduct that happened in the last administration. And the reason why those things are important, not just to solve the cases and it reduced our financial exposure for taxpayers, but it's also important to have solved those and ended those lawsuits against the office for that bad conduct is because when we do those things, we will secure more trust in the community. And law enforcement and prosecutors need that trust of the community, to participate in investigations, to actually arrest and to prosecute perpetrators who are making our communities unsafe. So when people say that criminal justice reform and public safety are polar opposites, that couldn't be further from the truth. Every time we we deliver criminal justice reform in the right way, and restore faith and trust with voters and citizens and community, that will increase their likelihood of engaging with law enforcement and prosecutors, to find bad people that are wreaking havoc in their communities, and allow them to participate in these trials, which need people to do in order to secure convictions and to get the real perpetrators off the street, not just anybody we can round up.
And that fact, Tyronne, is why if politicians are being honest, criminal justice reform really is a bipartisan issue.
Absolutely. Absolutely.
My conversation with Tyronne reiterates the importance of passion for the work and coalition building, with several nods to the organizing being done outside electoral politics. We heard many more examples of that from the Promise of Justice Initiative's Mercedes Montagnes, who goes on to name check Norris Henderson, of Voice of the Experienced - or VOTE - as a key figure to the movement, as well as several other organizations led by directly impacted folks making clear progress in the justice system in Louisiana.
So we have really remarkable leaders in our community and have forever had them who are directly impacted, who can speak to things in a way that I think has just evolved our conversation around these issues much more quickly than other places. It still remains novel in some communities to include the voice of folks who are directly impacted. Whereas I've never done anything and in my career, not because I'm some genius, but because I came into a community where our leaders were directly impacted folks from the beginning. I almost get to take it for granted, because of course we do, because it would be silly not to. So I think that's one thing that has allowed us to sustain a really powerful community. You know, Norris Henderson to me, he's everything. I am so thrilled and thankful that I get to work with him all the time. And I think the existence of someone who builds people up, and supports the creation of institutions, and who sets the tone amongst all of the folks who are doing this work about that we support each other, I think that that does a tremendous amount to create a vibrant ecosystem that exists within our state. There's not one shop here, there's many people doing a lot of different kinds of interesting work First 72 Plus, Parole Project, and JAC, there's just so many different institutions who are doing wonderful work here. Our Innocence Project is incredible. So I think that fabric, that tapestry, that richness has allowed us to create change here. And I think funders are attracted to that kind of dynamic environment.
Okay, that's interesting. So besides the CJR community who is invested in criminal justice reform?
A lot of people are. A few years ago, we celebrated 10 years of no executions in Louisiana, and Bishop (Michael) Aymond spoke at that event, along with Sister Helen (Prejean). So the Catholic Church is deeply invested in criminal justice reform and anti racism work, especially in New Orleans. The business community, we have a lot of leaders within the business community who are really interesting. What they understand is that international businesses and international dollars want to invest in a place that is forward looking, that is utilizing its talent and developing an environment where people can succeed economically. And when you have a racist, arbitrary criminal justice system, that is not true. And so I think a lot of people in business understand the vitality of having a checked system, if you will. So I would say they're very invested. In many ways, I would say the Department of Corrections is invested, but they understand the role, and they also understand, specifically with overcrowding among the very older folks who are in prisons today, that that is not an effective use of our resources. And, frankly, it's not a moral use of our resources, either. So I would say they are invested. I would say, you know, obviously, we have tremendous leadership from the Black Caucus in the state legislature. We have an incredible Black Caucus in Louisiana. Very supportive, very dynamic, just wonderful leadership from them on this issue. But some some really important conservative allies do continue to understand the issues that we have. So I think a lot of different institutions within the state see this as a very cut and dry "we need to get it done" kind of an issue.
What elected offices, in particular, do you see as opportunities for progress to be made in justice reform?
I always say this when I'm talking about how we think about this work is that there is no one silver bullet. It took decades and generations to build the horrific criminal justice system that exists. And it's going to take, hopefully not that long, but it's going to take a lot of different kinds of tactics and ways to fix it. And one of the things that I think, in Louisiana, we elect a lot of people. And so we you know, we elect our clerk of court, which strikes me as very odd. I will say, it still strikes me as very odd. And so there are a lot of political players within our system. And we really can't ignore any of them because all of them have power to prevent change from happening.
I know legislators play such a big role. We saw that in unanimous juries. But I do think these local elections are really where we have the most ability to have some impact. And you're talking about sheriff in Orleans, what are the opportunities for flipping sheriff seats, or even some of the judicial benches, in other parishes? What do you see as opportunity there?
So I think the sky's the limit. I just think what it comes down to is about candidate recruitment and about people putting themselves out there. What we see with school boards and various other entities is that it's really a testament to energy and getting out there. And I think showing up is the first part. Running people against incumbents is the first part. I mean Jason Williams was the first real challenge to Leon Cannizzaro. We were able to flip one incumbent judge in the flip the bench campaign. I believe that was the first time in like 30 years an incumbent had been defeated. Historically, Sheriff Gusman has not faced real challengers. And so, to me, the opportunities remain unknown, because what we need to do is just start running against people, and not be afraid to get a hat in the ring and see what happens. We're still learning those lessons.
Since that episode with Mercedes dropped, Orleans Parish did indeed elect a new sheriff, the first black woman to be elected as Sheriff in our state, Susan Hutson. And that only happens when we have good people with the courage to run, assisted by years of foundation laid by advocates and activists who've shed sunlight on the problems in the system, and by the power of the coalition's formed to educate the public and turn out the vote. This is the work we are called to do.
While we may fret about what's happening nationally, Louisiana Lefty's guests are proof that change is not only possible, but happening in our own backyard. It's easy to get discouraged if we focus too long on the big picture. However, what the extremist right has long known, and is currently focusing their organizing efforts around, is that real power starts at the local level. If we cede that territory to them by obsessing about politics in D.C., we will forever be playing catch up... and losing.
In 2016, when I was the State Director for the Clinton campaign, my admonition was: we have to steal ourselves and cut the head off the metaphorical snake. This is a task we have yet to complete. We need to continue to build what we called in 2020 the Coalition of the Decent. My guests offer ample evidence that that is an achievable goal.
We save democracy and embrace the pluralistic, multi-ethnic, multicultural America we strive to be by refusing to get overwhelmed by the task ahead of us, by being passionately committed to the cause, by organizing locally, by recruiting - or becoming - candidates in all the spaces where decisions that affect our daily lives are made, by gaining the experience we need to keep taking our efforts to the next level, and by investing our energy in relationships and alliances.
Along with the Bayou Brief, we've highlighted Louisiana organizers who are doing this work in organizations worth joining and supporting every month on our social media. And we'll continue to promote this project. I'll post a link to our Organizer of the Month gallery page on the Bayou Brief in our episode notes.
Additionally, for a full year, our guests have offered ways to plug into the work right here in our state. If you've missed hearing any of these episodes, they're all available in our archives at LouisianaLefty.Rocks.
We have a lot more Louisianans worth hearing from who will share more insider tips, well earned wisdom, and ways to get involved. I myself am working to answer the question I get asked most often: "What can I do?" I hope to have some concrete guidance to offer this season. So keep listening and keep the faith.
I'll close this episode, as we always do, with our standing final question: "Who's your favorite superhero?" While the question is a whimsical one, it always prompts an illuminating answer. I look forward to what our season three guests will reveal in their replies. In the meantime, here's a unique selection of superheroes from season two.
When I was a kid, and this isn't like an actual superhero, but there was a cartoon when I was a kid called the Underdog. And for some reason, that character just always stuck with me. It was a little dog who, you know, was a superhero, and he would save people, and it was just really awesome. I think the name says it all. But I've always had an affinity for that superhero, a little dog that used to go out and do good deeds.
Spider-Man, because with great power comes great responsibility.
Define superhero. I really prefer anti-heroes. So I'm going to go with Deadpool, especially the way he's portrayed by Ryan Reynolds. There's a whole person there. It acknowledges that people aren't perfect, and that there isn't this ideal that some of our standard superheroes do, that there isn't this one perfect solution, that you can't just tie up the bad guys all the time and leave them for law enforcement. You know, like, Spider-Man. Life is much more complicated than that. And also that you can do it with a joke at the same time. You know, the world, for a lot of us we get by with dark humor. If you can't laugh, you'll cry, especially in my field. And so that character definitely is one of my favorites, because it's very identifiable.
Can I say my dad?
You absolutely can. There are no rules to favorite superhero, and a lot of people have said their mom. You're the first person to say my dad, I think. So I like that.
My dad is my favorite superhero, because he did the impossible. I mean, he grew up in Opelousas and Lake Charles in a rural environment, and he ended up going to Southern University on a basketball scholarship, and then he was drafted, I think in the second or third round, coming out of Southern University into the NFL. I mean, that was literally unheard of.
NFL? Football?
Yeah, and he ended up going on to play for the New Orleans Saints. And so DJ Jubilee, who is the famous bounce DJ, his family named him after my dad because he was able to catch the football like Jubilee Dunbar.
Wow!
Yeah, so I have a tie to New Orleans bounce history. Well, my dad does, not me. So, hence, my dad is my superhero.
You know, I was gonna say like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but I guess she's not really a superhero. I mean, you know, she's kind of a superhero.
She's up there. She's up there.
I don't really want to go for a cartoon character, because I actually think there are real life superheroes. So I hate to like not say, "Oh, it's Iron Man, or oh, it's Superman or it's Black Panther." Because, you know, those are all good selections.
And there is a lovely graphic of a bunch of The Avengers with Ruth Bader Ginsburg's face in the middle of them.
I'm just saying that she could be my favorite superhero. I mean, she was a pure superhero. Like, it's kind of difficult to find a flaw with Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
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.
