Woke AF DailyWhile we still have a functioning government, we need to seize all of the power we can. Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, Executive Director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, returns to Woke AF Daily to discuss what's on the ballot besides candidates in 2024.
Good morning, peeps, and welcome to wok ev Daily with Meet Your Girl Danielle Moody, recording from the Home Bunker. I really hope that this week will be better than the last few weeks. I don't know about you, but I walk into these Mondays these days extraordinarily exhausted and just depleted and wondering what fresh hell is going to be waiting for us at the end of another week. But I will say this, I'm excited about today's conversation. We welcome back to the show Executive director Chris Melody Fields Figuredo from the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center to talk about some good things that are happening that we don't hear a lot about, which are the ballot initiatives around abortion that folks are going to be voting on around the country this November. That they will not only be voting for who is in control of the executive branch, but also whether or not, in states that have banned abortion outright, if they will go back to a place of bodily autonomy. And I think that it's really critical for us to understand the importance of ballot measures and why they matter. We've seen in such places like Ohio when it's Wisconsin and Kentucky, in places that put up ballot initiatives which require a certain amount of signatures right to be vetted and seen to restore abortion to the people. What the Supreme Court did you know a couple of years ago when they overturn Roe v. Wade was set a fire this country and precedent and what we thought to be true. They have been reimagining this country, one decision at a time, and ballot measures allow the people to take some power back. And so in my conversation today, we get into a conversation about the fundamentals around democracy, why ballot initiatives matter, and what is at stake, as if we all don't know each and every pressing day. Each day that we get closer to November, I tell you that the not inside of my stomach grows by the day. But it's important for us to be able to find different ways of having these conversations with friends and family and colleagues until November. People are, in my humble opinion, not really coming to a moment of reckoning, like the people of France just did to unite against Donald Trump and the far right, and this theocratic reimagining of America that they want. So I hope that you glean some hopefulness from the conversation with Chris, which is coming up.
Next, folks.
I am very happy to welcome back to WOKF Daily the executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, Chris Melody Fields Figuretto And we spoke back Chris in April, where I don't know, I'd kind of like to go backwards in time right now, and you were giving us the rundown on all of the important ballot initiatives that are coming up, and we know that twenty twenty four November is going to be no different. Talk to us about abortion being on the ballot, not just the presidency, right, but being on the ballot in multiple states.
Yeah, I mean a lot has changed since April. It feels like every day, every week is different. But you know, I think there is hope for folks when it comes to reproductive freedom on the ballot this year. Really, the people kind of heard the Supreme Court, Okay, you're going to strike down an important protection. Then we're going to take power into our hands. And it's really showing across the states how the people are harnessing the power of direct democracy to advance reproductive freedom in a way that prioritizes the autonomy of pregnant people across the country, So it could be as many as eleven states this November, thanks to really hard work in the state's grassroots organizations who have channeled their power to put abortion on the ballot in November. And just last week it was a really big week in ballot measure wind. A number of states Arizona, Nebraska, and Arkansas have put in their signatures to qualify for the November election, and one of the really key highlights is how overwhelmingly the numbers have been or these signatures. In many states like Arizona, they gathered more than double I mean, like more than eight hundred and twenty thousand petitions to put abortion on the ballot in Arizona, more than double what they need to qualify. That's one in five Arizonans. We're out there signing these petitions to put it on the ballot. And that's really been this really great story of how really this is this big trend of how overwhelmingly people are out there signing these petitions and with large volunteer numbers that should be really exciting for folks who who want to believe and things are possible in our democracy.
You know, Chris, I'm assuming that the ballots changed from state to state, right, Like what it means to have an initiative put up for a vote on the ballot. Can you talk to us about some of the differences and how people have been able to get abortion. And I also want to dig into what we mean when we're saying abortion is on the ballot, Like what specifically are these ballot measures calling for.
Yeah, I mean a leven states with eleven different rules, and some were actually referred by the state legislature, like in New York, in the Maryland, So it looks different in every state. For those states that are doing the citizen led process, so right going into their community gathering these signatures signing the petitions, they're going to have different rules of how many signatures they have to gather, where in the state they have to gather signatures. And then there are other states like I mentioned before, that legislatures can refer something to the so it doesn't go through the citizen led process. Legislators in the states actually put the issue on the ballot. So in states like New York is a way more expansive look and does it only include protections for pregnant people. It's more expansive, and it's kind of an Equal Rights Amendment style ballot measure that includes abortion protections. And then you have a state like Colorado that is not only codifying the rights to an abortion their state constitution, they're actually trying to overturn a law that prevents state funding or abortions, which is so incredibly important when we talk about access, especially for people living in poverty and are you know, have meditate in order to pay for their health care. And then you know, other states like a Missouri are only looking for an abortion protection into their constitution. They're looking at other things, you know, looking at what the Supreme Court decision was vent thinking about how the not just the funding, but what are the other protections that are needed.
So while it doesn't.
Specifically name IVF as a protection, the way it is written would allow for protections like in vitroclertalization.
And then by and large, the rest of the.
States are looking at just affirmatively having constitutional protections around abortions.
When we look at all of this and it does it makes me feel like democracy is working when we're talking about valid initiatives. It makes me feel as if people are paying attention to what can and should be done. When you see what the Supreme Court's agenda is right, which is to roll us back into the nineteenth century. And so in a lot of these places, one they're looking to codify abortion, but they're looking it sounds like to also expand rights to people understanding what is at stake. Let me ask you this most recently, Project twenty twenty five, which I'm sure you're very familiar with the listeners of this show are because I talk about it at nauseum plans to come in and gut every single agency, plans to have nationwide abortion bands. If in fact, that houthscape does come into reality, what does a ballot measure ensure when you have that kind of authority coming in in the executive branch.
Well, this is why, Yes, we have the federal government, and then we also have states that govern laws as well, and this is where it'll be really incredibly important. With those state constitutions that have these guaranteed protections, that is what is going to come into play in the event the worst happens, right, That is where those protections that are in state constitutions are really going to give people protections. And that is why you know, so many advocates in the states have turned to the ballot measure process to the failure in many ways of central government.
Right.
If you think about what the Supreme Court is do, has done, and is doing and will continue to do, that is so critical and why in many places, you know, a state like Arizona or Florida, right, which is pretty much close to near total bands in their state. Those are deserts in that part of the country. Florida for an example, there is no other state in the southeast part of the country right now that can deliver abortions that is eighty thousand patients a year. No one can take that on and that's why it's so critical for And listen, we're also talking about the global South when we're talking about Florida too, right, we're talking about the Caribbean as well. And that's why these are so important. Is it guarantees those very specific protections and places where you know, you've seen these New York Times articles, these Washington Post, these other media stories coming out which I think we talked about last time about Louisiana, where people are traveling to states like from Texas, my home state, to a Colorado right to get an abortion, because just having a band doesn't mean that important healthcare disappears.
You know, I guess one of my concerns and you know this is I guess a fear for another day. But you tell me if you think about it as well, because while we have states rights right, we also see the ways in which those states rights become limited when you have a Supreme Court come in, for instance in New York and overturn our hundred year old gun policies to protect a very densely populated place. And you know, we saw, for instance, during the Trump administration the height of COVID where Donald Trump was denying FEMA to different states and denying you know, New Yorkers the ability to get global entry for instance, to be able to sign up for that when traveling globally. So when you think about these things and the ways in which the federal government can weaponize against the states, how do states do you think like manage this, Like when they're putting these ballot initiatives together, the people are putting them together. Do they still understand that there are ways that the federal government can weaponize I think.
People are acutely aware of that, and at the end of the day, they don't think government should interfere with medical decisions, period. And that's true across the board, and it transcends partisan lines. I mean, if you look at the states that have already stopped abortion bands at the ballot or have done firmative protections for reproductive healthcare, that is Democrats, Republicans, and independents coming together overwhelmingly. And I think what is interesting is in many ways it is destigmatizing an issue across not just partisan lines, but community lines about what it means to have this healthcare decision made. You know, I've talked to folks in Arizona. I've I've talked to folks in Florida, and you know, five of those states are going to have huge Latino populations, huge black and brown populations that will make a decision.
I mean, if you look.
At states like Ohio, where black men and women were critical last year in twenty twenty three for the reproductive freedom about measure, if you look at where you know, the stigmatization or Latinos being too catholic right to support reproductive health care, but actually isn't panning out in a majority of these states. And if anything, you know, by me, you know, by someone in someone's family sharing their abortion story, you know, a younger generation, millennials and gen Z, that is giving permission to older generations. You know, I'm on the custom gen X and in Millennia, you know, I'll say Genet's our younger posts, right, right, so some boomers, right, and that is giving permission to our abuelas rtias, our aunties to say, you know what, this is actually also true for me too, And I think that is what is happening, is like the people are saying the government actually doesn't speak for me and what I need to do.
Do you think that this abortion and also again just you know, lifting up Project twenty twenty five and their desire to not only ban IVF but also contraception, is this going to be in your mind like the single issue that get people to the polls as disarrayed as Democrats seem right now, I think.
People are motivated, and I actually don't think there are these stories being told about voter apathy that are actually just untrue and I see it every day. Not only was reproductive freedom and the amount of petitions that are being turned in, the amount of volunteers that are being a part of these efforts, It's also about the other key issue that people care about right now. It's inflation too, and you know, states are going to raise them. I mean they also have minimum wage and pay the lead that are going to come out to about what we know and what we've been able to see pretty solidly since twenty sixteen.
Our issues are the driver.
Issues are the driving factor more than candidates in many states for voters. And I think, yes, abortion, no question is going to be a huge factor.
Of hyps people go to the polls this year.
But I think it's these other issues to like economic justice, right like our democracy. You know, Ohio just last week turned in petitions for redistricting over seven hundred thousand. So I think, you know, people want to see progress, period and if they're elected officials aren't going to do it, They're going to do it for themselves.
I mean, I think that it's heartening. One I agree with you in terms of the stories that come out with regard to voter apathy. I think that we've been hearing those same stories every election, right, every election cycle, we're told that people aren't going to come out and vote, that young people aren't going to vote, that black people are moving to Trump, that Latino people are moving to Trump. And on one hand, I'm here in New York, so I have a very skewed view of how people think and what people are doing because of the bubble that I live in in the city. But I wonder how much is needed to amplify, right, to help change the narrative, to amplify just how engage voters are.
We have to tell our stories period, Like we have to. You know, it has been a bit.
Frustrating to look at the news up for many reasons, right, But if I hear any more about the debate, I'm like, that is actually not playing out in people's daily lines. Like we you your podcasts, us who consume media, who want sources. We have to go out there and tell our stories. And I think the more we are out there and vocal. You know, I talked about the stigmatization we're seeing in a lot of states around reproductive rights.
People have to tell their stories.
They have to say this is actually why I'm going to vote this is how it impacts me and my community. And this is how out of touch these political extremits who are trying to strip Americans fundamental freedom. They are so out of touch, and the people are responding by making sure that they have protections and they're protecting themselves.
Do you think that the people who are running with the narrative the mainstream media, do you find that voters these days? Where do you think that they're getting their information from? Like have they true? Like have they abandoned it? And they're like going back into community in the way that you go door to door to get these valid initiatives passed. Like where are people your people like getting their information these days?
I think they're getting it from multiple places. But at the end, I'm an organizer through and through, and at the end of the day, people go to trusted resources, and that means community and that can be your direct family, that can be your pastor that can be your name on the block, right, Like, there are a number of people that people turn to at the end of the day. And I think what's going to be really critical in these next four and a half months is people being tuned into those trusted sources because they are going too tricky. Misinformation and disinformation is absolutely real, and you need to go to not just read something on social media, not something that's already construed into your algorithm, go to multiple sources, but ultimately go to the people you no one trusts and say if it doesn't feel right, maybe.
I need to do a little bit more inquiry.
But there are whether it's the TV, whether there it's the radio, whether it's your social media feed, or it's literally just talking to people you know out in your community about this. It's going to be so incredibly critical.
And what we've already.
Seen too with some of the misinformation and disinformation, especially for the petition gatherers, is the importance of being safe and protecting people in their safety because in states like Arkansas, some of those petition gatherners were docked, their private information was shared publicly, and their lives were threatened. This is going to continue to heighten as we get closer, and all I know is we protect ourselves right. Community protects you at the end of the day, and trusted sources like you are going to play such.
A critical role in the coming months.
Well, Chris, I thank you as always for the work that you were doing, for the messages that you are getting out, for the community that you are building to fight back against these oppressive forces. Please tell folks how they can get more information.
Well, we have a fantastic research on our ballot dot org website. It's the ballot measure Hub. If you want to stay up to date with the latest, go on the Ballot Measure Hub. You can also signed up for our weekly newsletter which where we share more information. You can follow us on all the socials at Balanced Strategy. We make it pretty easy and that's where you can get it on more information. But I cannot like that Power Measure Hub like that is the place to find everything.
Amazing, Chris, thank you so much as always for making the time for wok f Daily. Really really appreciate you.
Thank you for having me.
That is it for me today. Dear friends on wok F as always, Power to the people and to all the people. Power, get woke and stay woke as fuck.
