This year at the Progressive Strategy Summit members of Congress and progressive change makers came together to build a movement that won’t only win back the White House in 2020 but also create long term systemic change. Laura interviewed activists and congresswomen to understand how they see this critical moment when business-as-usual politics simply won’t cut it. Will a movement led by women of color—inside and outside Congress—transform the government so that it truly serves the diverse people it purports to represent? Laura also interviewed actor and activist Jane Fonda at a Fire Drill Friday climate crisis rally before they both got arrested as part of an act of civil disobedience.
“What we actually have to heal right now is people’s complete disgust with government and its inability to meet the needs of its citizens and we also have to figure out how we solve some of the biggest problems facing America and how we do it together and how we do it in ways that I don’t think we’ve really imagined yet.”–Alicia Garza
Guests:
Aimee Allison
Aimee Allison is Founder and President of She the People, a national network of elevating the political power of women of color. In April 2019, Allison organized the first presidential forum focused on women of color at Texas Southern University in Houston, TX.
Jane Fonda
Jane Seymour Fonda is an actress, political activist, and former fashion model. She is the recipient of various accolades including two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the AFI Life Achievement Award, and the Honorary Golden Lion.
Alicia Garza
Alicia Garza is a civil rights activist, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, and principle at the Black Futures Lab. She has organized around the issues of health, student services and rights, rights for domestic workers, ending police brutality, anti-racism, and violence against trans and gender non-conforming people of color.
Mia Ives-Rublee
Mia Ives-Rublee is an athlete, civil rights and disability justice activist, and Founder and Coordinator for the Women’s March on Washington Disability Caucus. For her work on the Women’s March on Washington, Mia was named by Glamour Magazine as one of 2017’s Women of the Year Award.
Sheila Jackson Lee
Sheila Jackson Lee is the U.S. Representative for Texas’s 18th congressional district, currently serving in her 13th term in the House, having served since 1995. She is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Pramila Jayapal
Pramila Jayapal is the U.S. Representative from Washington’s 7th congressional district. She is the first South Asian-American woman to serve in the House of Representatives. The district’s first female member of Congress, she is also the first Asian-American to represent Washington in Congress. Before entering electoral politics, Jayapal was a Seattle-based civil rights activist, serving until 2012 as the executive director of OneAmerica, a pro-immigrant advocacy group. Jayapal currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
