This Movement Requires Us to See the World From Others’ Perspective
And To Hold On Tight to Joy
Welcome to Organizer’s Corner — a (free) newsletter from your friends at Get Pod Local! Because we can help you stay inform — but then what?
Enter in your weekly Call To Actions (CTA!) from our Resident Precinct Chair, Joey Cade!
Like all weeks in the past year, the past week has been heavy.
Many Black people, but especially Black women, in Texas Democratic spaces have been saying that what they are experiencing right now is the familiar weight of white supremacy dressed up as “strategy,” “electability,” and “tone” in our Democratic Senate race.
I want to be very clear about what I am and am not doing.
I am not centering my feelings.
I am not re-litigating what has been said online or in conversations I did not witness.
And this is not about endorsements today.
This is also not about Mango Mussolini posting offensive racist imagery of two of our most distinguished — and most beloved — Black Americans during Black History Month. It’s disgusting but we’ve known he’s disgusting for decades.1
I am focused on listening to Black women. And I am asking fellow White liberals — especially White women — to do the same.
This week, a Black woman shared her experience of a private conversation with a candidate for Senate that made her feel that her community — and their issues — were diminished and disrespected. Instead of pausing to listen and think first, too many white liberals rushed to denial. Not even to disagreement — but to outright disbelief. Accusations of “it didn’t happen” or that she must be “getting paid” for the claims they decided are “not credible”, while also admitting they did not see the videos and don’t know who it is making the claims.
Well, I know her and trust her. She’s a local voice in new media political coverage that I’ve listened to a long time. She is wise, thoughtful, strategic, and not someone out to damage any Dem campaigns. She spoke about reasonable concerns with a candidate’s campaign and has been attacked by their supporters. These supporters are also blaming the other candidate, who wasn’t involved and also happens to be a Black woman.2
That reflex of these Dem supporters to defend their position rather than listen and consider what was said matters — and was felt viscerally by Black women, at a time when systemic oppression is intensifying in their daily lives.
Many white liberals revealed that comfort with the familiar and loyalty to “our candidate” mattered more than believing a Black woman’s lived experience. That is White supremacy culture at work.
And to be clear: no one is calling anyone KKK or purposeful racist. But if you were raised in the United States, you were indoctrinated into White supremacy. We are all deeply trapped inside the systems set up to keep it in tact doing their job really well. There is no moment where we “graduate” out of racism. And there is no point when any of us becomes perfect. Anti racism work is a lifelong, active practice, and uncomfortable by design.
What Black women have been naming is not about a single comment. It’s about a pattern:
Being told who is “electable” and who is not.
Being expected to show loyalty without being shown trust.
Being told to wait, to be patient, and to be 100% perfect, while the same is not asked of White candidates.
As one respected Black elected leader in our community wrote this week, the issue is not messaging or turnout. It’s values. “If the most reliable voters in the Democratic coalition are continually treated as expendable, then we should stop pretending the problem is anything else.”
It is up to us liberal White people to decide if WE are ready to eschew white supremacy and misogyny. I know I am and I hope most of you are with me. We’ve got a lot of work to do….
After many painful conversations about White supremacy — I intentionally leaned into joy.
I spent days listening to Bad Bunny, in preparation for the “Benito Bowl,” and reminding myself that art, culture, and movement have always been intertwined. His joy, his defiance, his politics — it matters. I danced. A lot.
We had a huge turnout at The FEDDs’ meeting where we learned about how judges impact our lives and made over 700 whistle kits to help keep neighbors safe with our friends at El Movimiento. My Funky East Dallas Dems community is family to me and so many of us. I’m proud of the work we do together and that we’ve stepped up our game in the past year.
I went to see a play - feminist, pro-union 9 to 5 - with my sister. I watched the Olympics opening ceremony and booed JD Vance along with the crowd. I visited the goats at White Rock Lake who are eating invasive species out of the ecosystem — and have quickly become a neighborhood gathering point, where people of all ages and backgrounds show up together, smiling, talking, and being human.
Plus, the kids are alright!
High school students across Texas have begun their own protest walk-out movement. It seems to be spreading organically. Over the past week students in Garland, Plano, Fort Worth, Mesquite, Hurst, Rowlette, Wylie, Prosper, Leander, Hutto, and more had massive protests.
Read: Dallas students walk out to protest immigration crackdown amid threats from Abbott, TEA
And then there’s the weekly Defend Democracy protests in East Dallas.
This week, we had one of our largest turnouts yet - 150 people! It keeps growing. More young people each week. More folks driving in from over an hour away. We’re coming up on one full year of showing up every single week — because it feels good to stand together for our values.
That’s the part that gives me hope.
Community is forming. Real community.
The kind that will matter as authoritarianism tightens and things get harder. The kind that reminds us we are not alone, and that collective action is still possible.
We need truth and joy.
Accountability and music.
Hard conversations and dancing.
This moment — as painful as it is — is an invitation.
An invitation for white liberals to finally confront our racism head-on.
An invitation to choose values over comfort.
And an invitation to build a movement that actually reflects the people who carry it.
We will only get through what’s coming if we do it together.
And that means listening — really listening — to Black women, and all non white Americans who have always lived under American oppression. They know the way out.
via wetheurban3
This week’s Calls to Action:
Participate in the Police Oversight Board Meeting (Tonight) Tues, Feb 10th at 5:30pm to demand transparency and accountability for ICE in Dallas. Attend in person or online. Sign up to speak in person or online by emailing OCPO@DallasCityHall.com.
I was proud to participate in the effort to block the 287g agreement with ICE last fall and to be a signatory on this letter that went to the City Council this week. We have to fight ICE however we can within local government. Get involved with the important work of El Movimiento or Venicos Unidos.
Call Congress!!
Make your plan to vote in the Democratic primary between Feb 17 - 27.
The Get Pod Local endorsement list is coming soon!
Keep going, y’all. WE are the Resistance.
Hugs and high fives,
Joey
PS: If you are White and this piece made you feel mad or defensive, please study white supremacy culture and read Black authors. Consciously update who you follow to be primarily non White people. It’s up to each of us to figure out how we are upholding White supremacy and to find ways to fight it. As a White woman, I’m here to call out fellow White people I love who are showing signs of unhealthy bias.
In these hard times, we all need to lift our game. Let’s try harder to be better to each other, to hear each other, and to decenter our own singular perspective. Let’s think — and act — as one. Because we need each other to make it out of authoritarianism.
Stronger together.
Together we are America.
One More Thing
via projectloveu_
This newsletter is free, but if you’d like, please buy us some coffee. xoxo
Organizer’s Corner is a Newsletter brought to you by our very own, Joey Cade. Lots of folks have ideas of what can help / what you should do — and while no one has all the answers, we (specifically Joey) do have some. Okay, a lot. Joey is not just a co-host of Get Pod Local …she’s also the Precinct Chair for Dallas’ Precinct 1052.
More Moment Of Zen
Primaries Are Coming Up! Are You Ready?
Other GPL Goodies
Get Pod Local The Podcast: Season 2 with Jalon and Joey
Joey and Jalon sit down with Politicians, Community Leaders, and movers and shakers making a difference. And almost every episode, the Dallas Mayor catches a stray. He deserves it. It’s fine. Episodes drop every Tuesday! Coming Soon!
GPL Presents: New Newsletter with Jalon Nichols
Every Friday, Jalon catches you up on what is going on out here, who is doing it, how does that impact your everyday life, and what everyone is saying about. We are based in Texas, so we have a lot of Texas news, but we cover the whole wide world. There is a LOT of stuff going on everyday, and no one can keep up with it all, but we attempt to….for you. (Clap for us).
GPL Presents: Organizers Corner w/ Joey Cade
Every Sunday night, Joey Cade, our Resident Precinct Chair, lays out our Call To Actions for the week. Because knowing what’s going on is one thing. But doing something about it is another. Let’s do both!
GPL Presents: Water Cooler with Jalon and Joey
Every morning, Jalon D’na and Joey Cade check in and talk about something we read or saw on slack. Videos drop some Thursday! (We are very busy…but we try our best!)
GPL Presents: Daily Briefs with Jalon Nichols
Everyday, Jalon reads you the headlines of the day — just to keep you in the know. Think NPR at the top of each hour, with a lot of shade some jokes and levity.
Good News!
Our News Briefs are now everywhere you get your podcasts! So you can take me on your commute, in the gym, or when I like to listen to podcast, while you’re washing dishes.
Subscribe and leave a review for us!
That man was born a racist, lives as a racists, and will die a racist.
And it’s not just Morgan who is speaking up!
They do amazing posts, so follow them if you’re not already.