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Hey everybody, it is turn up Tuesday. My name is Hannah Fried. I am the National campaign director for all voting is local Turn Up Tuesday is a program by Ansel vote, which is powered by all voting is local and the leadership conference. If this is your first time joining us, The Leadership Conference is a coalition of more than 200 National organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all people in this country, All voting is local. A leadership conference fights to eliminate needless and discriminatory barriers in the battle before they happen to all the democracy that works for all of us. This is my second time hosting. I'm subbing in for our usual host Vanessa Gonzales and I'm very glad to have you to talk about one of the most important ways that all of us to make sure that we are seen and heard and counted and that is filling out the 2020 census most weeks. Turn Up Tuesday We talk about voting and we talk about how voting is a way that we make ourselves heard this week is no different because the census is that way too this year with so much on the line the 2020 census is a critical opportunity to ensure that communities that have long been marginalized and erases are seen or heard and received the resources that they deserve. Let me introduce our terrific panel it'. US today with a ton of expertise on these issues, we're joined first by Beth who's the Census Counts campaign director here at the Leadership Conference. We're joined by Jason Winston George, who's an artist and an advocate by the Vice President of Fair account. Doctor Janine Abrams Mclean and by Nana Jumpy, who's the executive director of the Black Alliance for just immigration before we jump in for folks who are watching if you have a question for our panel, please drop it in the comment section. We're gonna get to you a little later on in the conversation and we're. Start first by asking Beth about how this has been a very busy week for the census, tell us a little bit about what's going on give us the landscape. Yeah. absolutely. hi everybody and thank you so much Hanna for for having us and and talking about the 2020 census it is an incredibly important time to talk about the census because not only are we really coming to a critical moment when we're looking at. six and 10 households have responded to the census, but we need a hundred percent of the census counts every single person in the United States and so we're looking at four and 10 folks have not yet participated in the census and that number's even higher when we look at communities of color, low-income folks folks who don't speak English as their first language and we know that census takers are gonna start going to neighborhoods across the country to follow up with those households that haven't yet responded to the Sens. So if you haven't responded to the census now is the time because this is the moment when you can really define yourself and respond to the census before a newer comes and knocks on your door because we really we know that that is something that that many folks maybe fearful of also notice it's an important moment in our senses timely because this week and last, we've seen new and renewed efforts to undermine the 2020 census. Ground us all the census is the foundation and really builds the foundation of America it determines a political power the number of seats in Congress every state receives it's the basis for redistricting. It also distributes one point five trillion dollars every year in federal funding for education, health care infrastructure. Those are the resources that we need to rebuild after this global health pandemic that we need to help and support our communities for the next 10. And beyond, so the importance of the census cannot be overstated. unfortunately as we've seen in the past few years and continue to this week and last, we're seeing renewed efforts by the Trump administration to to to Strip communities of the right to participate in the 2020 census and to really intimidate folks out of participating in the census. This is really a part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to undermine the accuracy of. and just a few political power and representation in in their favor we'll talk much more about this but it's really important that we all participate in the fact that they're trying so hard to silence our voices is really just a further indicator of that what we saw in the past week is one an effort by the administration to exclude undocumented immigrants from the abortion of base so that the data set that is sent to Congress. for the purposes of a portion two is to try and expedite and speed up the senses timeline so that the census concludes and that data is sent during the current administration previously career and expert staff at the Census Bureau and the administration had asked for the timeline to be extended and consideration of the extension of the timeline of the census as a whole. we've been. To October 31, from October from July 31, for the timeline of the census and so that reporting deadline should be extended as well and then three what we're seeing is attempts to waste money and short change critical operations that count people of color low-income folks immigrants and people experiencing homelessness that would really not help with accuracy would do exact exactly the opposite it would under. I received the account and and really short change the communities that have been historically underrepresented in the census and ultimately Strip us of the resources and the political power that we deserve. Thanks, Beth. I wanna ask you a question of Doctor Abrams Mclean, which is that Beth referred to how some communities are returning their senses forms of higher rates and a lower rates tell us a little bit about the work that you're doing to count some of the or to reach some of the harder to count communities in the state of Georgia. And thank you for having me here today. This is a very exciting. I'm ready to turn up this Tuesday so we know that there are lots of as best that there are lots of groups that are under count that are historically undercounted. these include populations of people of color young children undocumented folks immigrants every basically everyone in 2010 White homeowners were over counted and everyone else was undercounted and so at Fair count what? To do is to to make sure that that history doesn't repeat itself we work a lot in Georgia the Urban Institute estimated that 170 - 7000 Georgians could be undercounted in the census 130 - 7000 of those people are black and so and that's for Georgia alone and so we have a lot of programs that focus on the black community. We have our black men counts black men count we We do work with black faith communities. but in the wake of we are doing a lot of different things right so we have this entire bus tour planned for Georgia to go to 60 different counties and it got shut down after six stops but we have pivoted and actually we have tonight a town Hall is a part of our virtual bus tour remix that we're doing where we combine phone and text banking with virtual. Like this in small communities around the state of Georgia and we're you know we're actually in the working with another Organization to do a census for the South to cover the deep South, which is experiencing low response rates because of covid- 19, as well as some of the you know other issues that are playing in our country right now and so we're getting ready to do a census for the South Virtual bus tour to really try to get these numbers up and so. As long as we are focusing on focusing on our communities and really taking ownership, that's why we call on people not just to count themselves, but once you count yourself reach out to someone else and ask them to count to you know to get counted encourage people and and sort of going back to the last thing I'll say is going back to what Beth said. We know that there there are forces that are trying to discourage groups from completing the senses and from participating in the senses and. One of the ways that you know they try and do it by is by making people feel that the synthesis isn't safe and that is one of the messages that I know that's the leadership conference since it's counts has gotten out is that the census is safe and as these folks are trying their best to to suppress participation in the senses you have to fight back and overwhelm it and make sure that every single person that you know is counted I wanna pick up on something that you just said no let me let. This question to you how are you and how is your Organization responding to the fear that people may feel about participating in the census? Thank you for that question and I'm so pleased to be on this panel. I was looking for how I could really turn up around here but this is good. This is good right here I can I can handle this this is what we've really been focused on is Bogi and we are the largest black lead Organization in the country advocating educating organizing on behalf of a 10 million black refugees and immigrants and our families here one out of every 10 black people in this country is a black immigrant and you know we. At that intersection between blackness and immigrant rights and so when we talk about the fear that black folks have right, including multi generational african-american, we don't like to give up our business. We don't like to tell people things and then you add that to fears that immigrants have about being detained and being deported and we are the most detained in the most supportive as black immigrants, we had a lot of ground to cover to convince our folks that know you need to make sure that you're account. That you get those resources and that representation and so we've worked with organizations such as their count. My sister, Janine has been so helpful in making sure that we get the word out to our communities about why we need to to vote why it's count excuse me. We need to vote to but why we need to count and why we need to make sure that we include everyone from the babies to the elders. We've done things in various languages. There's a lot of languages at the senses does not do the census in does not give information in and so we've had to step. As working with other organizations to make sure that the information is translated that people have helped, I'm getting their senses their senses completed, we know as Janine said, we had all these plans of marvelous events and all the festival that exist in the summer. that deal with the black diaspora, we knew we were just gonna be dancing and drumming and filling out senses, but that hasn't happened, but we have been able to. And to do the kind of digital organizing text banking phone banking that Janine talked about and then to push back in the courthouse right. so from the beginning, we were one of those who filed the case with the citizenship question against the Trump administration and last night with the lawyers Committee by our side and others we have filed against the Trump administration for the of undocumented immigrants and so we're doing it legislatively with the CBC and others in. Courtroom and also on the streets and in the zoom meeting. I'm gonna turn this to Jason for a second, get a little personal. Have you and hopefully you still with us so he's picture just vanish but I'm gonna I'm gonna there. He is. have you completed your senses and if you have what happened. no, I do not. yeah I Yeah we did that since it's actually a while ago, I mean the reality is I am african-american my wife is an immigrant from India and. we have there are five people in my House and we make a point to let everybody know that it's gonna be counted cuz you know some of the kids there's two ways to stand up for yourself as a citizen, one is anonymous and one is the exact opposite of anonymity. One is your vote and and the other one is to count in the census because that's how they know where the money needs to be going and who needs to be going to look. I'm a dad and so you know I have three kids and they have a lot of friends. And I've been in a lot of situations where I had to do a headcount real quick of who I'm getting food for or I'm getting drinks for and that one kid who didn't bother to raise their hand, didn't bother to put it out. there didn't get it didn't get food didn't get a drink didn't get the candy and that's really all the senses on a National level is the authorities doing a headcount where do I need to put resources now for obvious reasons that everybody else has been discussing there are institutions of community of people that want to make sure certain communities are not counted because that's a beneficial to them. So for me personally. As the parents of you know of the three littles as a black man as you know as as a citizen, I wanna make sure that everybody's counted equally whether you're actually from the station, I mean look I'm doing a cross country tour right now. we're we're on a bus. We're on a tour bus actually rolling to Texas as we speak so it's it's it's interesting as we go, you know we have a massive country and it covers a lot of people and we need to make sure we know who's here so that we can make sure we actually get them The. As they need but that only happens if people actually stand up for themselves so anybody who's got the time and the energy to go out in March in order to stand up for themselves and stand up for other people, you should be using that same cuz it only takes five minutes. It's five minutes online. It's incredibly easy. I gotta give it to em cuz I didn't think it was gonna be that easy, but it's incredibly easy to fulfill the census on us. Thank you I wanna get a little more into something Jason just said. Let me let me turn it to you. How does being the census? Packed the ability of community, particularly those that have been left out to you know, make their voices heard their political power. What is that connection draw that out a little bit more for us? Yeah Absolutely and Jason. I have to say I love that illustration of like raising your hand and getting you know getting what you deserve and what you need exactly and and just as you're talking about, you know resources for food and I'm thinking you know obviously you know. Preschool lunch and all of the the funding that is distributed using census data literally putting food in our kid's mouths. it also it's a way to raise your hand and say I'm here and and I I I count and our my voice counts and my voice matters. The one thing we love to say is that the census is a tool for change and we have to use it so not only does the census distribute and determine how many seats in Congress every state receives. Also as the basis for redistricting, so that's how States draw lines for not only your your member of Congress, but also state Legislature even kind of school district judges. it's it's the basis for all of that up and down the ticket. It also determines how many seats in the electoral College your state receives so it connects to the presidential election. so there is it is really saying you know I I I count I matter my. Matters and and getting that fair share in your community and in your state, but beyond that as an advocate as a civil rights advocate we also utilize the data to to protect and enforce civil rights legislation like the Voting Rights Act and and others, and we also use it to advocate for change in the long run. so if you're thinking about you know LGBT rights or increasing environmental protections utilizing census data to. People are where additional resources are needed or we're disparities exist is a critical tool for change as we advocate and build for the long term. so just the the use of that data comes in so many different forms to heal our communities to protect and to fight for Justice. One thing so many of you are touching on is that participating in the census is also about participating in your community and Doctor Abrams. I'm wondering if you can talk a little bit more about how for someone who's completed their senses. What are ways that they can engage their friends their neighbors their community. yeah, So we I mentioned a few things. Obviously you know people across the country are doing phone and text banking and one thing we know that for every senses is that I can say it all day best can say it all day Jason and I can say it all day but. people. When they hear it from a trusted voice right if if you know my best friend might not listen to you know the the commercials that the Census Bureau puts up, but if I like stay on her every day to fill out the senses and apply that to her life, then that is that that's that that little thing that will get people engaged and so I think it's about making sure that folks understand why it is so important to have that understanding for yourself so that you can go out and tell other people tell people that will listen to you and. That this is important for for our communities I know the one thing, but then the next thing is once you do that. you can also volunteer Beth and I don't know if Beth wants to talk about this, but there's an entire National texting project that the Leadership Conference is leading that is attempting to reach eight to 10 million people and so we need their We need volunteers for people to you know if you can sit in front of your TV watching a rerun of The X-Files and text people, and that's a way that you can. I've been watching The X-Files lately I have so like but you can sit there and do that right in front of the TV and make a difference in your community If you don't wanna do that you can text everybody in your phone just pick up your phone and send out a message to all the people to have them to have you know to get them encouraged to do the senses for those of you who use social media There are all kinds of videos and memes and anything that you can put on social media share that so that people can see why it's so important. You have questions they're you know we're here with the answers and so don't be afraid to ask questions if you are worried that because you live with somebody who has a warrant out for their arrest if you put them on the senses will you get them in trouble? Are you dry snitching by doing the senses? No cuz guess what nobody will know for 72 years, They hide you. They don't share your data doesn't become it doesn't get out for 72 years. if you have if you. Better benefits and you have one number on your application and another number of people living in your home is that going to impact the the benefits that you get no because they will not share your information. and so I think that it's really making sure that we ask questions we understand and then we use that information to encourage other people to to get involved and to participate. Oh sorry. Go ahead. Beth Oh, no. I was just gonna say I mean this is why we're we're sisters and sons advocacy here cuz Janine lift up and remind me of things too but I will just say since Janine mentioned it folks are interested in texting you can go to census counts dot Org forward slash text dash Bank and sign up for a text me tonight at 70 'clock if you're interested in texting as Janine said, it's easy and it's really fun too. Sorry back to you. Hannah Thank you I wanna pick up on something that doctor Abrams Mclean just said no if I can ask you There are people who cannot vote in this country right for many for a number of reasons but who can still participate in the census? What's your message to people who may be impacted by that and about why they should participate in the census, even though they can't vote. That's a big message, a big part of the message that we put out is that this is one way that as immigrants even if you can't vote, you haven't been naturalized, you can still affect what resources are coming to your community. you can still affect. Representation looks like for your community Even though you're not able to do his brother, Jason pointed out this anonymous voting process right but by standing up and counting that you're able to still affect the way that your community looks and affects the kinds of things that your community has, and it's important that people understand that doing that doesn't put you at risk and that we first of all we got your back. You know just us. Having your back or something right, so we have your back our communities have your back and that there's other folks that are in positions of power that are also keeping an eye out. You know there's no move that's being made on the census that you don't see congressional hearings happening people looking out and you know and having webinars having meetings and so no one is out there on their own but this is a place in which one of the few opportunities in which everyone gets to be a part regardless of your criminal convictions in your background regardless of your immigration status, your gender identity. No barriers that are put on that from you know and so it's it's really important and just lastly, I think it's always important to remind people that when the senses first started black people were counted who were enslaved were counted as three -fifths of a person So the senses was used to determine really who was a person and who was not three fits 60 percent right. We're going for a hundred percent because we're saying we are a hundred percent people. We are not 60 percent right now. An insult and so we stand in our ancestors right image as we go and say that we're gonna be counted and make sure that our family members are counted and I was one of them remember remind folks when we talk about senses that we're going for the full five fits. Thank you. I wanna make sure folks watching remember that they are welcome to drop their questions into the comments and we'll take we'll take those in a in just a moment before we get to that though I do wanna ask Jason one more question of you which is. You are part of our ambassadors and be terrific to hear from you about what the music of the book that's deeply important to me. Can be impacted by You broke up a little bit right there in the last question, I'll I'll repeat myself. I know you're on the road. We appreciate you being on my question. How you know you are in. Still I ambassador so we know that voting is really important to you. tell us a little bit more about the connection between voting and the Senate and now you know a voting issue that's gonna be impacted by this year's census completion. Listen it's been touched on by some of the other phenomenal sisters on the on the the zoom call. That reality is that. districts are voting districts are set up by the Census. where your polling place and how many polling places are in a particular community are set up based off of the senses and the reality is that when you talk about all politics being local shout out the reality is that you know I mean there there was a trickle down economics, which we know that does not work for a long time, it's been about trickle-down politics everybody pays. The presidential race, but nobody's paying attention to your local races all of those local races. Everything is set up by the senses. It's all tied up. the census is kind of the pitch and then you actually get a chance to vote and that's where you get a chance to knock it out of the Park. If I can you know throw a baseball analogy actually, I mean the reality is that there's a direct connection between your making sure that you're counted in the senses and your ability to vote for the people that decide all the issues that we've been people have been in the streets marching about so if you're worried about education well. By state and local officials and they're doing it based off of what they see in the senses where they need to be allocated resources If you're all of the judges you know all of your local officials, law enforcement all those are local elections things in the senses, Hess up how those districts are set up and how many there are. so there's a direct connection. so if you work if you're concerned about law enforcement social Justice reform if you're concerned about education, then you need to be filling. And making sure that everyone you know gets counted to make sure that you your community gets the resources that you deserve and therefore when you chance to do that anonymous thing that vote to stand up and say who you want to be the people leading your community leading your state leading your city leading your nation you actually get to do it but in the in numbers that are actually in sync with the actual numbers of this nation. Thank you. For those of you who tune in every week, this is gonna be a familiar portion of the evening and that is that I always wanna ask folks. We always wanna ask folks what it is that gives you hope so I'll start with Beth. What gives you hope? Beck you are muted but if you take yourself off, you will you you thank you so much? Anna what gives me hope is is really I think we are certainly in a challenging moment for our country and and within our communities but we are also seeing a time where folks are speaking up. We're really leaning and kind of feeling our ancestors work through us and we're have an opportunity to and I really do believe there's an opportunity for. oddly enough, I think that you know that the scheming and the kind of Organization to kind of keep us quiet and to keep us down is is is having the opposite effect and they're they're really trying to throw everything at communities to to deprive folks of the right to vote of the right to participate in the census but but folks are organizing and mobilizing and new and creative ways that you've heard our campaign in the census counts. In our partners across the country have really been meeting and every single challenge with new and creative ways to respond. we'll continue to do that and I think that's what we're seeing you know across the country. whether it's how you know a local church group is finding a new way to be in Bible study and and and kind of connect and and really transcend that work or it's kind of protesting and and getting out and getting out the calendar and registering folks to vote at a protest where folks. taking the necessary safety precautions, so I think we're I am really finding hope in this kind of resistance moment and and and seeing the ancestors work for us all. Thank you Jason. What gives you hope traveling across this country? What gives you hope? We cannot hear you, I don't know if you've muted on your ends. There you go, I think I have to I think I am am I am now no what gives me hope what it gives me hope actually is all the news and in in the information I'm receiving on social media about voter suppression it, it sounds counter intuitive, but it kind of dovetails off of what she was just saying that actually 22 things one the the Wounded Beast is the most dangerous. So the more I see naked desperate attempts to suppress the vote and I see that we. I see that we're on them and I see that we're combating them that gives me hope because so that you can get away with prior to social media prior to a 24 hour news cycle, you could suppress the black vote. That's the Latin vote you can suppress the entire community so they're votes didn't count so that they their numbers didn't count that they weren't getting the resources they needed. you could do that back in the day, but now we have a new 24 hour news cycle. now we have a social media so the information is getting out there and people are catching on to it immediately. And so as desperate as they are to suppress the vote I keep seeing the news that we're onto them that we're catching them and that people are becoming more passion to vote than ever to make sure that they count so that to me is what gets me excited because it means that we got them on the ropes and that's why they're desperate. Doctor Abrams Mclean Let's to your next What gives you hope? well, They took all the good answers but I would say sounds cheesy, but I'd say the future and I'll tell you why one I have two little boys four year old and an eight year old and we've been stuck in our House for a hundred and 36 days who's keeping count I am and so you know I can think about the future and about our recovery from everything that's going on. I think about how. In the census will will guide all of that So by participating in the census now we can make sure that the next 10 years that our our kids aren't in overcrowded schools right so that they can thrive and you know and recover from being stuck at home and doing virtual learning and all that stuff that comes with that. I also think about just as we you know being in completing the senses, we'll also help us recover from this pandemic of prior to helping start fair count I worked at. For Disease Control and Prevention, and I'm telling you like I believe that we will come out of this pandemic, But I believe that we will be recovering well into 2021 and by taking the census now our communities can ensure that they have the funding and the resources not only to recover but to prepare in the event that something else like this happens so that we're not blindsided and so I guess so that's why I say the future brings me hope because I know that it's going. Be better and I know that I can do something today to help make that come to fruition. Thank you now. what about you? What gives you hope what gives me hope is the resistance and resilience of the people. kind of just touching on what everyone has said. I'm just so excited by the people how the people just see it, They're clear the people are out there. They're willing to do what it takes in order to get this new world this world that we all wanna see a world where we are treated with human respect with where we are. With dignity a world where we get to be divinely human and to exist on a plane, I don't wanna say to thrive. There's no English word that comes to mind that can explain how we're living at our full kinetic potential right and I'm excited that our that people can see that and that they're ready for that and that they're moving towards that and that they understand that it doesn't the tools that we use don't have to be the end all and be all to be useful to be that you know to be able to work what we need to work and so no the senses is not revolution, but it's a tool that helps. To get closer to dismantling this, the the White supremacy anti-blackness patriarchy. people are under profit that we are living right now and so I'm really hopeful that folks who haven't filled out the census take that five minutes to answer those 10 questions and make sure that their friends do and so on and so on I'm dating myself now with that commercial and that they make sure that it happens right and and so excited. This forum and for the folks that are joining us right now, the people are what make me hopeful. Thank you all so much for joining us today. We're not gonna let anybody go until we first tell everybody watching and listening that they should complete their senses today if they haven't already Beth, where do they do that? Yeah. So there are three ways to very easily participate in the 2020 census one you can do it online. go to 2020 Census dot Gov to fill out your census form. You can also do it by phone. and and you can go to 23 cents dot com to find kind of all the information about how to do that. You can also find all the questions so if you want to kind of prepare we the senses campaign and our partners have hotline you can if you have questions about the 2020 census, you can text your questions to 420. We'll be happy to answer those and are happy to help The third way you can participate is that you households. A few questionnaire in the mail if you still have that around and maybe it's just been sitting at the front coffee table, it just hasn't gotten into the mailbox walked back to the mailbox and drop that so so that you can be counted because it's just so critically important. Thank you. We're so grateful to everyone if you are watching and you wanna stay in touch with us and keep up with the work we're doing and join our fight Go to Ansel Vote dot org. Thank you. thank you. thank you to our guests. We're so appreciative of you giving of your time to be with us. Talk about the 2020 census. Thank you be well everyone take care. Bye. Thank you. Thank you.