19:01:14 We have a large group here. I'm delighted.
19:01:18 And I'm I'm delighted that we're all here. I think it would be helpful if we use the hand raising function and
19:01:29 If to ask questions julian has said that she prefers.
19:01:33 To have an interactive style session rather than to leave questions to the end. But if we could, if we could use that hand raising, and that would be at the bottom of the screen. I can click on it.
19:01:46 And.
19:01:48 Raise my hand so that my picture right now has a hand raised. If other people could do something like that.
19:01:55 Or.
19:01:57 Put a question or a comment in the chat.
19:01:59 I I think that would be helpful.
19:02:05 We are
19:02:06 Let's see if if and if you do use the hand raising function.
19:02:11 Your name goes toward the top of the participant list, so it should be easier for us to.
19:02:18 To find you there.
19:02:21 So
19:02:23 So let's
19:02:26 Let's get started with and welcome, Julian.
19:02:30 Thank you so much for having me. Thank you, Anne.
19:02:33 For inviting me. It's nice to see all of you. If you could, please, if you're able to put your face on the screen. Show your camera, because.
19:02:43 Like Ann mentioned. I do like to have this be a little bit more of a discussion type presentation, and I'll be asking you to share some of your thoughts and reflections in the chat, and it's a lot nicer to talk to some beautiful faces and smiles than it is to talk to black screens or or boxes. So if you're able to show your face and put yourself on camera would love to see you understand, though people might be doing a lot of.
19:03:07 You know, multitasking and not able to. So that's okay, if you can't but love that. And then, secondly.
19:03:14 You know. Just please. I'm a teacher by nature. And love to answer questions, and I want us to feel that you are that no question is a bad question. If you have it, chances are someone else, too. So to please ask those questions, and you know I will say that talking about part of 2025 is.
19:03:34 A little bit tough, because there's some heavy and some intense policies in it. So you know, just just to take break if you need to, or, you know, take deep breaths when you need to, because it's a little overwhelming. And I just want us to kind of all know that we're in this together. So I wanna just start off with a little bit about.
19:03:54 Sharing roots, revolution and a little bit about myself.
19:03:59 So Rooster Revolution started in 20, when my friends and I really wanted to educate people about the history of American racism, because many people were upset in 2020 about George Floyd's murder, and and they wanted to know what they could do about it. And so what I found is that a lot of adults really wanna learn more about history and really wanna learn more about that.
19:04:23 Politics. And I've been teaching students young students, but also realize that it's all needed this information, too. And so I share that because I I do want you to know that it's okay to ask questions. And if some of this information is new to you, it's totally fine, and that's normal, and that's all. Part of
19:04:40 The process. And and over the years I just feel so grateful. I've taught about 8,000 people in 25 different states. And, really have just been doing a lot of workshops to teach people about different topics. And so if you wanna learn more about, you can go to our website, and we have an Instagram page as well. You can learn about upcoming events and other things that we're doing.
19:05:02 After this, after this talk would love to have you join some of our other talks.
19:05:06 So.
19:05:07 I just want to start here.
19:05:10 With some history.
19:05:12 Before we start talking about product, and I would love it if someone shared if they came in the chat, or you can come off the mute and share. Do you know who these pictures are?
19:05:26 Who these people are in these pictures.
19:05:28 It's okay. If you don't.
19:05:30 But would love for you to chat it in, if you know who they are.
19:05:38 If you don't know you could just write. I have no idea or not sure.
19:05:42 Totally fine if you don't know.
19:05:49 All right. There we go. Got some. Yes, beautiful thanks for sharing Douglas. Okay, so this is Frederick Douglass, and.
19:05:59 His wife, Anna Murray.
19:06:01 And something interesting about some interesting things about this was he was the most photographed man of the 19th century.
19:06:09 And he is one of the biggest reasons why Lincoln.
19:06:16 Issued the Emancipation Proclamation because Lincoln originally did not feel that the war should be fought to end slavery and forever. Douglas pushed him.
19:06:25 To
19:06:27 Change.
19:06:28 His perspective on the warm, and change it to be an Abolitionist war. He also wrote multiple books about his history, and he was the only man present at the Seneca Falls Convention, which was the Women's Rights Convention in 19 in 1,008, to talk about women getting the right to vote the right to not be abused by their husbands, and the right to have divorce rights and property rights, and.
19:06:51 Frederick Douglass was a big, also big women's rights activist. In addition to being an abolitionist.
19:06:56 And what a lot of people don't know about Douglas's story. They might know those things that I just mentioned.
19:07:01 Then he fought so hard to end slavery, but they might not know is that his wife.
19:07:05 Anna Murray was born a free woman, and when they fell in love.
19:07:10 She helped finance his journey.
19:07:12 To freedom and his escape.
19:07:15 From slavery. And I have this question up here while I look to the past. When I'm worried about the future, we're here to talk about the future of America and some of the policies that are being proposed to think about America, and why I think about history is because people like Frederick Douglass and Anna Marie Douglas remind me a few things about being active in our communities. One.
19:07:36 Is that so much activism.
19:07:38 And.
19:07:39 Politics and getting involved and fighting for democracy stems from love.
19:07:45 Douglas's love for Anna Murray is what really eventually led him to freedom and his desire to have a better life, and that's rooted in love. And so we have conversations about politics, and we have conversations with family and friends. We have to talk about our shared values, and it has to come from a place of compassion and love. And I really believe this is the most powerful activist in our future. In our, in our history are the ones who have done that for us.
19:08:08 I also think this story tells us a lot about.
19:08:12 How.
19:08:13 People in the past.
19:08:15 Have given us a roadmap to fight for change.
19:08:18 Presidents.
19:08:20 Do not always make the decisions that the people want. People like, and other activists and other abolitionist. Countless abolitionists are the ones that have pushed for the policies that they wanted. And I think that that's the role of the people that we play. And I think was really important when we talk about product 2025 tonight that we remember that we play a vital role in fighting for democracy.
19:08:42 And the other thing I wanna mention about Douglas is, he wrote a newspaper called the North Star, and there were over 5,000 subscribers to the North Star, and we'll never know their names.
19:08:52 And all those people were abolitionists, and all those people played a vital part in ending slavery in the United States. And when I think about some of the pro. The policies in Project 25 they stem.
19:09:03 And they are rooted in racism. They are rooted in misogyny, they are rated, they are rooted in oppression. And it's gonna take people like us ordinary people.
19:09:12 Who who are gonna fight these policies and people in the future.
19:09:17 Might never know our names. We're never going to be famous. But we're part of this fight, and I think that's really something important that we need to know, think about when we think about 2025, and how we're gonna stand up against these policies. And I think that you know I go back to these quotes. That, Douglas said. If there is no struggle there is no progress. The fight for change in the fight to make a country stronger, and we're in that fight right now.
19:09:42 Is not gonna be an easy one.
19:09:44 And we have to remember that when we think about some of the things we're gonna talk about tonight. So I just wanted to start us there and ground us in.
19:09:52 Some really powerful historical figures.
19:09:56 I also just wanna say something about.
19:10:00 Activism. So you're all here. And I think sometimes people hear the word activism, and it has. It has like a really negative connotation but I think of people who are active in their community people who care about their community as as activists, people who are good neighbors as activists. And I think there are also some myths.
19:10:18 About activism that are important for us to dismantle. And these are a few that I've I've listed, which is that.
19:10:25 Social movements.
19:10:26 Have one hero.
19:10:27 And I think about you know Martin Luther King.
19:10:31 And the idea that he was the only person textbooks portray him as the only person in the movement, and that he was the key figure. But there are so many people in the movement, and I think also that people think that social movements are without tension. So someone was talking about having conversations with their family. And how there's there's this unspoken rule. We don't talk about politics in their family, and I I many of us can relate to that.
19:10:55 And but we have to. We're gonna make our country better, except some of that discomfort and accept some of that tension. And and that doesn't mean that we have to be violent in our language. That doesn't mean we have to be hurtful in our language. I don't think we do. We do have to accept that sometimes. Things aren't going to be comfortable when we're fighting for change.
19:11:15 And we also have to remember that progress doesn't happen accidentally.
19:11:21 That activists and the civil rights movement and the Abolitionist movement, the Women's Rights Movement all took very actions to make.
19:11:28 Or.
19:11:29 To meet.
19:11:29 Reality. Possible.
19:11:32 And.
19:11:33 Their work has always been ongoing throughout history, and an example that I always give to just kind of show these myths and how they're not true. Is this idea that Rosa Parks accidentally sat down on a bus in Montgomery. That's like the to story. We see a lot in children's books. This idea that she just accidentally decided. Today I'm gonna stand up for my rights when in reality she wasn't the 1st person to work on desegregating.
19:11:57 The buses clad at Colvin was who's a young teenager, and that happened a year before. Rosa Parks did that, and she was also part of a large coordinated effort by the Naacp and it was 16 months the bus boycotts in Montgomery. And so I mentioned all of these things because.
19:12:18 We're working.
19:12:20 Right now to save our democracy. I think there's a lot at stake it right now for our democracy, and we have to remember that that fight is not just in the next 10 weeks.
19:12:31 Leading up to the election. We have to remember that working on democracy, having civil discourse, fighting issues like racism fighting for civil rights. That's an ongoing movement that we're probably not gonna see the results of inner lifetimes. We're gonna have to keep fighting for future generations. And you know, I just want us to think about that, because when we talk about some of the policies in part of 2025.
19:12:55 They can be overwhelming because they do want to move us back to the past, and we have to remember that the people who came before us has always stood up to these things, and we can too.
19:13:06 So what I like for us to just do right now in the chat, just to kind of get a sense of where everyone is I would love for you to share in the chat.
19:13:14 What are you interested in learning about tonight?
19:13:19 Or you know. What are some things you already know about project 25. So feel free in the chat. Would love to just everyone's take a minute. What are some things you're interested in learning about tonight, or what are some things you already know about project 2025. So essentially, just what brought you.
19:13:35 Here tonight. Why are you spending 7 o'clock at night with me? So I'd love to hear your thoughts. What brought you here, and what are some things that are on your mind.
19:13:46 Thank you so much, Polly.
19:13:50 How much is Trump involved in the project? Great Question.
19:13:58 Thank you.
19:14:00 Outcomes great.
19:14:02 Yeah. Education really important to me, too. Thanks, Joanne.
19:14:07 These are great questions.
19:14:13 Great.
19:14:15 Alright!
19:14:20 I appreciate the honesty of these questions, too.
19:14:29 Great that goes economic policies, beautiful.
19:14:41 Alright. So I think a lot of these questions.
19:14:44 Are going to get answered tonight, and if we don't definitely some time at the end for us to talk about some of the ones that don't get answered. But thank you so much for sharing in the chat.
19:14:54 And we're gonna talk about.
19:14:56 A little bit more.
19:15:00 So one question that I saw is kind of what are Trump's connections to 25, and how is it funded? And and those are great.
19:15:09 Great questions, so.
19:15:12 The 1st thing I want us to understand.
19:15:15 Is part of 2025 was created by an organization known as the Heritage Foundation, and the Heritage Foundation is a Think tank.
19:15:25 There are Liberal think tanks, and there are conservative. Think tanks, and what they do is because politicians can't be experts on every single policy that would be really impossible. They have specific policy experts who work at these think tanks and craft policies for.
19:15:41 For Presidential candidates for politicians. And so the Heritage Foundation has been around for a long time. Not incredibly long. But since the since the eighties and so I think it's a long time in the sense in the eighties. Weren't that long ago, but I think the eighties is a long time in the sense that they have been strong advisors to Republican candidates since the Reagan administration.
19:16:06 And
19:16:08 What I think is really interesting about the Heritage Foundation right now is, they have been a very traditional, conservative.
19:16:16 Organization and conservative think, Tank, and they've swung.
19:16:21 Further right than they were in the past. And so that's catching a lot of people's attention.
19:16:28 And we're gonna focus on pro 25. Because.
19:16:34 The policies in part 2025 are very radical.
19:16:36 And I think that's important to draw attention to someone wrote in the chat, it's saying it's gonna take us backwards. Is it really that bad? And the answer is, Yes, it really is that bad? And so that is why, when I 1st came across this document, I wanted to start talking to people.
19:16:53 About it, and really having people understand what it is now. Some of the things that the Heritage Foundation has done in the past. I listed out on this slide. So go ahead and just take a moment. I'm not gonna read it all for you, but I'd love for you to just take a moment and read through some of the things that they have supported in the past.
19:17:26 Now something else that I want to point out here. So some of the things that the Heritage Foundation has been traditionally against, which is traditionally conservative, which is being quite heavy in terms of military militarism, supporting wars, supporting interrogation techniques supporting national security. They also have been largely in support of.
19:17:49 You know, reduction of the government that has always been a Republican policy. And I think what we're gonna see, though, with the mandate for leadership, which is the sorry. My cat is very needy. For leadership is that it's much more conservative than what the Republicans have been.
19:18:11 In the past.
19:18:12 And what is also part of this plan is, they've also hired groups of people who will be a part of the trump.
19:18:19 Transition Team.
19:18:20 Should he win? And what I think is important is that the Heritage Foundation has said that they will
19:18:29 They would let, they would be open to a liberal.
19:18:32 Candidate supporting their ideas. They know it's not likely that a Liberal Presidential candidate.
19:18:36 Would support would support their ideas. And so that's why
19:18:40 You know you see this connection to the Republican party. So how close is Donald Trump to project 25. So this is something that Donald Trump tweeted in July, and he said, I know nothing about Project 25. I have no idea who's behind it. I disagree with some of the things that they're saying and some of the things they're that are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal, anything they do with some luck. But I have nothing to do with them.
19:19:03 So.
19:19:04 That is not true.
19:19:06 And I want to unpack a little bit about how that's not true.
19:19:09 So.
19:19:10 Product, 2025.
19:19:12 The Republican National Convention, platform and Agenda 47, which is Trump's official campaign platform. All have similar ideas. So no project 2,025. If we're gonna argue, semantics is not officially tramps campaign platform. It's it's a think tank policy proposal.
19:19:28 However.
19:19:30 Of the 700 plus policies that are in Project 270 of those.
19:19:38 Are on Agenda 47, which is Trump's official campaign. So he is taking so many of the policies and putting them officially in his campaign.
19:19:48 Furthermore.
19:19:49 The people who wrote.
19:19:51 Many of the policies in the document.
19:19:53 We're a part of Trump's 1st administration.
19:19:56 There is a database of people who are being recruited by the Heritage Foundation, and many of those people are teed up to be a part of Trump's second administration should he win. So the very close ties between the 2.
19:20:12 When Trump picked Jd. Vance as his Vice President. People also said that that was a signal that he wanted to have even closer ties to the Heritage Foundation, because Jd. Vance's close friends and close colleagues with Kevin Roberts, who is the Heritage Foundation's president.
19:20:30 And he wrote the forward for Kevin Roberts's.
19:20:34 Book.
19:20:35 The Washington Post. This is picture from the Washington Post.
19:20:39 This is.
19:20:41 A picture of Trump and Kevin Roberts in 20. In 22 they were on Kevin Roberts, private Jet talking together, and the idea that trump has no idea about product is as a complete lie. And is completely unfounded. So you know he is very closely associated with it.
19:21:00 With that said, What is.
19:21:03 What is true is that.
19:21:06 Think tank recommendations aren't always followed.
19:21:08 So just because what just because of what's in product doesn't necessarily mean trump will implement them but.
19:21:17 It is likely that he will implement a lot of the things in.
19:21:20 In product 2025. And there's a few reasons why I believe that he will. One.
19:21:25 A lot of the things in it are things that he wanted to do before. 2, a lot of the things that he lives on his campaign website are in Project 25.
19:21:35 3.
19:21:36 Trump is many things, but he's not a policy wonk, so Trump isn't going to come up with his own policies, and so if he wins. We know that trump is not very invested as a President in governing trump likes a campaign, and so if he wins, he's not going to be paying attention to policy, and that's a big reason why prior to 2025 was crafted was because they felt like in the 1st term.
19:21:57 Trump was not prepared.
19:21:59 And trump couldn't execute on the things that the Republicans wanted him to execute on. So now the idea is, let's create a 900 page policy document. Let's get a database of people who will actually implement the conservative agenda that we want to.
19:22:12 To do. Now, personally.
19:22:15 And I think there is evidence for this. My opinion is that Donald Trump wants to become President because he wants to escape prison.
19:22:22 I don't think Donald Trump actually wants to be.
19:22:26 President.
19:22:27 And.
19:22:29 With that, said I also think for that reason he's not likely to be paying attention to policy and governance. So I I do think that probably 25 will have a deep influence.
19:22:39 On!
19:22:40 His agenda. Now I would love for people just like to pause there. For anyone to ask any questions in the chat, or do I have any questions right there, or I saw some heads.
19:22:51 Nodding some head, shaking any ideas or things we want to share. I'd love to hear some of your thoughts.
19:22:58 Before we move forward.
19:23:03 Does it?
19:23:05 Each chapter that's written, or each topic.
19:23:07 Do you know who wrote that or not?
19:23:12 Yes, so.
19:23:12 Do they.
19:23:14 Of the people who wrote the chapter, or the topic.
19:23:18 That's a great question.
19:23:20 Yes,
19:23:22 So.
19:23:23 You can. So the book, the the book itself, is called The Mandate for Leadership. And if you go to the Heritage Foundation website you can download it. It's public information, and so you can certainly look at all the people who wrote it, and I don't know all of them by name, because, like for each, for each topic, education, environment, there's different policy experts. But you, there are some also some articles online that overlap who was in the.
19:23:47 Administration, and and who wrote
19:23:49 The policies. That's a great question.
19:23:52 And people who want to be in his administration. Is it.
19:23:55 I.
19:23:56 Yes. Yes. Yeah.
19:23:58 Like them.
19:23:59 Denise has her hand raised? Could we recognize her.
19:24:02 Yes, great. Thank you.
19:24:06 Denise.
19:24:09 Yes.
19:24:07 Yep. Can you hear me now? Sorry.
19:24:11 I
19:24:13 Just wanted to cause. I've been following a lot of project.
19:24:19 For a while. So it's really encouraging to me to see so many.
19:24:23 You know.
19:24:25 Older, white.
19:24:26 Folks on these calls because it really is important like this, literally.
19:24:31 Will be impacting everybody. So.
19:24:33 You know it doesn't matter if you are.
19:24:36 It's not just the poor black people, or the brown people, or the people who've always been oppressed in the history of this country.
19:24:44 It is now hitting.
19:24:45 You know.
19:24:47 Middle America, Suburban White.
19:24:51 You know.
19:24:52 Privileged.
19:24:53 You know I consider myself one of those people.
19:24:55 And it's starting to impact us with book bands with, you know, Anti Lgbtq.
19:25:03 Just a lot of you know those things that are really concentrated for us right now.
19:25:09 That's how we're. You know. We're in that period right now, where it's not.
19:25:13 Everybody else anymore. It's literally everybody is being impacted.
19:25:20 Thanks, Denise. Yeah, I think that's an important point to make. And I tend to. You know.
19:25:25 Talk, about.
19:25:28 The ways in which you know, I think one of the things I think is important is, if we can think about.
19:25:34 In society. Who's the most marginalized? And what are the policies that are gonna.
19:25:39 The most marginalized people in society. Then that's gonna lift everybody else up to Denise's point. And so I think it's important for us to think about. Okay, what's not? We don't want just wanna get surface level. We wanna help everyone. Because these things do help, you know, most affect all of us.
19:25:54 So these are direct quotes from 2025, and these are the 4 stated goals of.
19:26:02 Of the project. And what I want to point out about this.
19:26:06 Is.
19:26:08 That a lot of this is coded language. And so what I mean by that is, when you read it on its surface.
19:26:15 Doesn't seem like it's negative.
19:26:17 So, for example, number one, restore the family as a centerpiece of American life and protect our children. Well, that doesn't sound negative, because I like my family.
19:26:24 I'm a teacher. I care about children. I think families are important. So.
19:26:28 But what that means when you look at the policies underneath it.
19:26:33 Is they want to move the family back.
19:26:36 To being just.
19:26:40 Heteronormative families. So, and someone just put that in the chat right kind of grow, except what is their definition of family? So a family is a man and a woman together, raising children, not a man and a man, not a woman and a woman, not a woman on her own, not a man on their own, not a, not a not a person without children. Those are not families. To the people who are writing this.
19:27:03 And families are also not people who don't share conservative Christian values. And so that's where this becomes taking a turn for the worst. And so one of the things I want us to think about when we're listening to these policies, when we're listening to this rhetoric from from all politicians is what's underneath the surface, and.
19:27:23 What we see with number 2 is also dismantle the administrative state. So they want to take apart.
19:27:29 The Federal bureaucracy. And so, of course, like, I work in public education, there's a lot of problems with education, and there's a lot of ways which government could be more efficient. But at the end of the day public education and and our roads, and the and the Tsa. And all these agencies. The FDA. They they largely protect us, and so dismantling that entirely is, is not going to be helpful, and that is, there's a big part of this that wants to really deepen.
19:27:56 Got those those parts of the government, and put us in a position that does not make us safer.
19:28:01 He he's.
19:28:01 There's a large pride for war in these. It takes on a very militaristic approach, and I think goes beyond what any of us really want, in terms of increasing our military, given how much money is already.
19:28:14 Poured into the military. And then, you know again talking about you know what our Constitution calls the blessings of liberty. So it really takes on a Christian tone a Christian Nationalist tone, and that people who don't fit into that Christian evangelical view of America don't have a place in America is what this document does. Now, what I will say.
19:28:39 Is great question. Who benefits from all this chaos so largely? Who benefits from this chaos is is rich white man. And that. And I'm not saying that to like target certain group that's that's who would benefit from this. And I I think that this is also goes against what our founders.
19:28:59 Believed. So when we think about people like Jefferson and John J. And Hamilton, and.
19:29:03 Washington all the framers of the Constitution. They believed very strongly in the separation of Church and State. They did not believe that religion should take a place in the State and the administrative state. And so, you know, I think a lot of times, you know. Not only do these people.
19:29:20 Ban histories and erase histories, but they also get the histories of the predominant narrative wrong.
19:29:26 So they misrepresent the white men who founded our country as well. And so I think that's important to note, too, when we're talking about this that our founders did not want a lot of what's in here, and this is really taken a turn away from what.
19:29:40 America was founded on it, and its principles.
19:29:45 Sure.
19:29:42 We have some people raising hands. Could we recognize Sue? And then, later on, Polly.
19:29:47 Yep, absolutely.
19:29:50 Thank you. I was wondering.
19:29:53 Who is the author of agenda, 47.
19:29:57 So that is officially Trump's campaign.
19:30:01 That comes from his campaign website. And so a lot of those policies were designed by his campaign team. And then.
19:30:07 Were people from his 1st administration, and.
19:30:11 Also people who worked on project 25.
19:30:14 Sure. Thank you.
19:30:15 Great question.
19:30:17 And then you said there was another person who had a question.
19:30:19 And Polly has her hand raised.
19:30:21 Great. Thank you so much for helping with the hands. Love to hear your question.
19:30:31 Oh, and, Polly, you're muted now! So.
19:30:35 Can you hear me now?
19:30:36 Yes.
19:30:37 Yes, thanks, Molly.
19:30:38 Okay, in regard to the Christian nationalism. I put this in the chat, too. I really recommend folks see the movie on Amazon, or wherever.
19:30:48 Called Guiding country. It's a really good analysis.
19:30:52 Of how the extreme right Christian.
19:30:55 Group have turned Nationalist.
19:30:57 And if webinars the term Christianity.
19:30:59 I don't think Jesus would recognize it. But anyway, that's another commentary. But the book I mean the movie is excellent.
19:31:08 Because it really shows.
19:31:11 How they've twisted the concept of fighting.
19:31:16 In the Bible. It talks about spiritual warriors, not physical warriors, anyway.
19:31:21 It's a great film, and I think it would be good to see it.
19:31:26 Our church is showing it 3 differenties and having discussion groups and so forth. But it's very good. And also, I understand.
19:31:34 There is another group called Christians for the Democratic party, or whatever. I don't know much about that group.
19:31:41 But it's really sad to me that they've nationalized. They talk about this being a Christian, but, as you mentioned.
19:31:51 These people didn't want a theocracy. They'd seen what the Puritans did.
19:31:55 Those founding fathers did not want.
19:31:58 Church involved it all.
19:32:00 So they're misrepresenting that whole history.
19:32:04 Exactly. Yes, thank you for sharing those, and I saw Jan also put bad faith in the chat. I've heard great things about that film as well. So what? I wanna just share here, too, and just I'll I'll speak briefly on this, and then.
19:32:17 Move back to it. But you know it isn't new, either, in our history that people have taken the Bible, and both use it as a tool for justice, and use it as a tool to support injustice. So during slavery times there were Bibles versions of the Bibles rewritten to say that it promoted slavery, and then also versions of the Bible written to promote abolition. And so it's fascinating. So there's a very long history of people using religion to contort it.
19:32:43 To the, to their to their aims. So it's not something new.
19:32:46 So what I want to talk about this in product that you may have been hearing about. And these were some of your questions. Is, it promotes this idea of unitary executive theory, and that's a lofty term. And you don't really need to remember that. But what you need when you're talking to people about purchase 25. But what you do need to remember.
19:33:06 Is what it wants to do is it wants to give the President control.
19:33:10 Over the Federal Government with less approval and influence from Congress. So, for example, they want to have.
19:33:19 Less approval for the President to put people in Judge Judici's into the different Federal agencies.
19:33:28 And they want to give the President more control over the military and the Justice Department.
19:33:34 Without as many checks and balances. And so, for example, the President is commander in chief of the military, but the military also has its own set of laws and governing branches, and they want to eliminate that. So what trump has said.
19:33:49 In his platform. This is on agenda 47. Is that once he is President he wants to prosecute his political enemies. He has also said that he, for anyone who protests against him, he would like to use the military to shut down those protests, and again its own set against our own citizens. And so those are very dangerous things, and.
19:34:14 The prior 2025 is proposing that trump gets that that there are Republican President gets those powers. And so you know, they're saying that that is something we should support.
19:34:24 What also, I think is dangerous about this is, they want to gut the Federal bureaucracy. So what that means is,
19:34:32 Get rid of agents from the State Department.
19:34:35 Get rid of agents from the EPA. What I think is.
19:34:39 That's already starting to happen. We saw the summer with the Chevron Court case that.
19:34:46 Federal Regulators.
19:34:48 Are getting less authority over cases, and
19:34:54 You know, that's not a good thing. And so, for example, one way to break this down that's a little bit more simple for you is my friend. She is a climate scientist, and she helped write the National Climate Report. She was one of 300 scientists who helped write the National Climate Change Report and.
19:35:10 What she was saying is that Congress can pass laws on climate change. But what's really important about leaving those laws vague and leaving it up to the EPA and leaving it up to people in the Federal bureaucracy is that technology changes. And so if you don't have Federal experts making laws, on education, on environment, on all of those things, and and upholding those things.
19:35:35 Congress can't move as quickly.
19:35:36 I'm like I mentioned, a member of Congress isn't an environmental scientist or a member of Congress isn't a teacher, and they don't. Might not know the best things, and so part of what's the benefit of having the Department of Education is the people in the Department of Education.
19:35:51 Are supposed to act as nonpartisan civil servants who are experts in their field. And so if we gut those people, we're not protecting the things that we need. We're not protecting our food. We're not protecting our air, our water, our education, all those things that are really important to us. And you know, I.
19:36:08 I think there is this idea that we have to get away from that civil servants are are woke or trump, is showing this idea that civil servants are partisan. I I really don't believe that, like I have a lot of friends that have worked in these agencies who have served every administration, and their goal is to serve the country, not to serve a partisan administration.
19:36:33 And so I think there's a lot of danger in saying that our civil servants, you know, care about party over country, because I don't really see that in a lot of our agencies. So that's what unitary executive theory is. And it would give.
19:36:46 The President.
19:36:48 More power over these agencies.
19:36:51 So what I want to talk about is some of yes. And one of the yeah. One of the most alarming things about this it is. And I wanna talk about some of the policies that are explicitly in.
19:37:04 Project 2,025, and the implications of those policies so.
19:37:11 1st someone asked earlier about education. So it would eliminate. The goal is to eliminate the Federal Department of Education in its entirety.
19:37:20 And to eliminate title. One funding.
19:37:23 Title. One funding goes to low income schools.
19:37:27 To give you an example of how critical title one funding is. 15 of the New York City Education Budget.
19:37:35 Is title, one funding.
19:37:36 So if you gut one funding and eliminate completely.
19:37:39 The implication of that is, schools will have to be shut down.
19:37:44 Classroom sizes will grow.
19:37:45 Gonna have teachers overwhelmed. We already have a national shortage because of Covid. And so.
19:37:51 We're going to create an electorate.
19:37:53 That is uneducated.
19:37:55 And that is the goal.
19:37:57 The goal is to have an uneducated.
19:38:00 So certain people can stay in power. That is the reason why.
19:38:03 They want to eliminate the Department of Education and title. One funding.
19:38:07 Now to Denise's earlier point, this is going to affect us all.
19:38:11 But it is most especially because of segregation in America.
19:38:15 And because of issues in America, and because of education funding being based on property taxes, it will most.
19:38:22 Effect.
19:38:23 People in low-income neighborhoods.
19:38:26 The most people who benefit.
19:38:28 The most.
19:38:29 From public education.
19:38:31 And for me personally.
19:38:34 I am a first-generation college student. My parents did not go to college. They grew up in poverty in Brooklyn. My mom had to get her. Ged, I got to go to an elite college. I got to get a Master's degree because of public education and education and what they want to do.
19:38:50 This is me being.
19:38:52 Partisan here, but they do want to.
19:38:55 Make stories like mine impossible.
19:38:58 Because people like me.
19:38:59 Are able to use education, to jump.
19:39:02 Up in class and jump up in social status, and I believe that education isn't can be an equalizer. And so, if you eliminate education.
19:39:09 We eliminate those opportunities for people to jump up.
19:39:14 Something is very alarming. So just take a deep breath, but they want to also increase the power of ice and arrest and attain immigrants and create concentration camps for immigrants. There is a video of Donald Trump saying that.
19:39:29 On his website.
19:39:32 It's there.
19:39:34 So, you know that is not something he is hiding.
19:39:38 At all. Now we have a border problem.
19:39:42 I don't think that is something we can deny.
19:39:44 But.
19:39:45 The difference between the 2 policies is the Biden administration, and.
19:39:52 Now, Kamala Harris want to make the immigration system more efficient, so that we can legally have more people enter the country. Whereas this administration wants to use inhumane policies.
19:40:05 And and honestly, we'll chaos. So if you also start to detain and.
19:40:09 They want to deport immigrants. Not only is that inhumane.
19:40:14 But it's also gonna destabilize the economy. So we're having these economic issues. If you start just removing people from the economy and all these jobs that immigrants are in, you're gonna have a huge disruption. And so not only will that cause a lot of upset chaos. Children upset separation of families. Right? It's also gonna destabilize. How we work.
19:40:37 And affect these economic issues that are already hitting us, you know, with inflation. And all these other issues, so.
19:40:44 Some other things about.
19:40:46 The.
19:40:47 Environment.
19:40:48 They want to reduce the fema budget. So in a time, right now, we're experiencing more climate change we definitely need the fema budget. And so that is not a good idea. They want to cut workers from the EPA, eliminate the ability of us, aid to give money for people who are suffering from climate change.
19:41:08 Another issue is, they want to eliminate all funding for Npr.
19:41:11 And Pbs.
19:41:13 And.
19:41:15 Increase the surveillance on foreignism. So a lot of these things.
19:41:21 Or tenants of fascist nations.
19:41:23 So when we think about increasing surveillance, the press, that is a tenant of fascism. Deeding the populace is a tenant of fascism and targeting women is also a tenant of fascism, and I'll get to that in a second. So a lot of these things and and and consolidating power which is the unitary executive theory is also a tenant of fascism. And so I think we're seeing a lot of this happening.
19:41:46 In these policies, and this is why I say our democracy is largely under threat.
19:41:52 So some other things that I think are really relevant.
19:41:57 In terms of women rights. They want to revive the Comstock laws of the 18 seventies.
19:42:02 And they want to give embryos. 14th Amendment rights.
19:42:06 So I just want to pause there on those 2 things.
19:42:08 So if we think about, I would love for someone to share in the chat or come up.
19:42:14 What do you know about the Comstock laws?
19:42:17 Of the 1870 S.
19:42:19 And it's okay. We don't have anything at all.
19:42:25 Well in the way that they want to use them.
19:42:28 It's the
19:42:31 It's a law that states that you can't transport.
19:42:34 Certain medical or pharmaceutical projects across state lines.
19:42:41 Great.
19:42:41 So what this would do is it would hinder anyone.
19:42:45 From being able to have access to say, Birth Control Plan B.
19:42:52 Anything that is not specifically developed in your state.
19:42:55 You won't have access to it, because they won't be able to transport it.
19:43:02 So.
19:43:03 Anthony Comstock was a postal worker who.
19:43:07 Wanted to eliminate information on Birth Control, and so in the 1870 S. Birth Control was largely pamphlets that taught people about how to regulate their how to like, track their menstrual cycle and avoid pregnancy and all those things. And so what he did was he stopped those flyers from being transmitted through the mail. Now, obviously in 2024, there are a lot of different things that we do.
19:43:31 Over the mail around Birth Control. So your like, Miss Christophone. And like all these drugs that we get and and Birth Control pills and all these things are.
19:43:41 You know, transmitted through the mail. So if we revive the Comstock laws of the 1870 s. That means, some of these medications and things that women use to have abortions cannot be.
19:43:55 Carried across the mail. And yeah, Denise said, right? Like he also was trying to stop information about pornography and and all those things, but largely what Comstock was targeting was birth control. Now.
19:44:07 Something else that Republicans have said.
19:44:10 W. Is that the product? 25 doesn't call for a national abortion. Man.
19:44:16 And it doesn't.
19:44:19 Like, in writing.
19:44:21 But what it does.
19:44:23 Is, it does through inferencing.
19:44:25 So what I mean by that is.
19:44:28 It says that for that embryos will have 14th Amendment rights.
19:44:32 So.
19:44:33 If you do that.
19:44:35 You're going to make it illegal to have an abortion.
19:44:38 Because if an embryo.
19:44:41 A fertilized.
19:44:42 Egg in a sperm.
19:44:44 Is a full person.
19:44:45 Which is what the 14th Amendment does. It says breakable protection under the law.
19:44:49 Well, that means, if I have an abortion, I have just murdered someone.
19:44:54 And then I can be prosecuted.
19:44:57 As a criminal.
19:44:59 My miscarriage.
19:45:01 Can be.
19:45:02 Prosecuted.
19:45:04 It would, it would have to see if my miscarriage was itself induced, and I could be prosecuted. And so they don't say we want to pay an abortion, but they do say we want to give embryos 14th Amendment rights. If you give embryos 14th Amendment rights.
19:45:20 Well, then.
19:45:22 You now have a situation where.
19:45:23 You can't ever get an abortion.
19:45:26 And women can be jailed.
19:45:27 For their bodies, doing what their bodies do like miscarrying a child.
19:45:34 Right. So the 14th Amendment refers to persons born, and not the unborn. So, Karen, they are arguing. That's a great question. They are arguing that the UN. That the that the an embryo is is a person.
19:45:45 And that deserves.
19:45:47 Fetal personhood, and deserves rights.
19:45:49 And so that's where this gets.
19:45:52 Really wild, because there's a lot of implications for that. And there's also implications for Ivf. So, for example, you know, when you do if you're familiar with the Ivf process you have certain number of exit, you put them into.
19:46:07 You know you, you create embryos from them. A woman might have.
19:46:13 6 embryos coming out of that process.
19:46:15 They're not necessarily going to use 6 embryos to have a baby, and what they do with the extra.
19:46:21 Embryos that they don't use is you're able to donate them if you'd like, or they're discarded. So if this happens and embryos are discarded. But embryos have 14 amendment rights. That means that discarding of embryos is now.
19:46:35 Manslaughter.
19:46:36 Numbered, or because those embryos have 14 amendment rights. And so this is becoming, like, you know, very dystopian and you know, very like just wild. And I think.
19:46:48 You know, then I'm gonna add, how does this affect the economy? So now this is in conjunction with.
19:46:54 We want to eliminate the progressive income tax.
19:46:58 When we want. So while the Democrats are calling for things like paternity leave and maternity leave and child tax credits, this program is calling for cutting.
19:47:07 All of the things that would support women, so the things that would help women not have an abortion. Right? If you think, if you're against abortion. What you'd want to do is you'd want to prevent abortion. You want to prevent women from having unwanted pregnancies. If you're against abortion all of their policies.
19:47:22 Don't support that. All of their policies cut welfare cut national like. You know. They don't want same sex couples to adopt children. They don't want women to have maternity leave. They don't want men to have paternity leave right? They're making fun of Pete Buttigieg for taking time off.
19:47:36 You know, to be with his son like, so they're not supporting.
19:47:40 These things. And so it's very hypocritical. And it's dangerous because you're gonna be forcing women to have children they don't want, and then not providing the social safety network.
19:47:51 To enable those children to have good lives.
19:47:53 And so that, I think, is where you really see an issue here.
19:47:59 The part that people are really concerned about is social security and Medicaid and Medicare. And so again, this is a sticking point, because Medicare Medicaid Social Security are wildly popular people really like these policies, and they've always been really popular since the 1940 S. When Francis Perkins fought for them.
19:48:17 To be in place.
19:48:18 So what they're not gonna do is what they're saying is they're not gonna eliminate the pool.
19:48:24 Of money for social security. So when Trump says I'm not gonna eliminate social security, he means that. But what's the problem with that is, you still have to put money into that pool. And so they're gonna eliminate us, putting more tax dollars into the social security pool. So essentially, you're eliminating.
19:48:41 The money.
19:48:42 Over time.
19:48:43 Right now we have.
19:48:46 A lot of baby boomers who are retiring, and my generation millennials, and Gen. Z. There's a lot less of us, and so we need to. Not only do we need to.
19:48:57 Continue to pour into social security.
19:48:59 So that we can sustain the boomers. But if we're gonna have these policies last longer we should be increasing taxes on the wealthy to put more money into it, not decreasing it. And so that's where.
19:49:12 This becomes really problematic. And so that's a big, that's a big problem. They also want to cut funding. I've been getting a lot of questions, too, about veterans. They want to cut funding for veteran benefits. And you know, I think also is very hypocritical of the Republican party. They want to, you know, start.
19:49:32 A lot of wars support the military, then don't want to support the men and women who fight.
19:49:37 For the military. And so I think that is also a problem.
19:49:41 With this this policies. Something that's interesting is they both parties. And and Harris has recently said this, too, and I disagree with this. They're both supporting an increase on foreign tariffs which would drive up inflation. So I think that's bad economic policy that we're seeing on both sides. And that recently came out. And I think you know increasing tariffs are tax on foreign goods. So what you do is you disrupt the market rate of the economy.
19:50:06 And so if you're disrupting the market economy, you're not getting the cheapest prices on things. And so that would also drive up inflation. Both parties
19:50:15 Are recently embracing tariffs, which I think is odd, because it's not. It's not good economics. Another problem with 2025 is they want to eliminate the fed.
19:50:25 And so the Federal Reserve helps to manage interest rates, helps to manage inflation and we saw inflation go up in Covid.
19:50:33 You know, I think the Fed has played a role in helping it down, so eliminating the fed, which operates independently of the Government in many ways would be especially problematic.
19:50:44 As far as the economy goes to. I I think what we need to also recognize is that both political parties have had strong.
19:50:52 You know, economic.
19:50:55 Policies and presidents can only do so much to impact the economy because it's it's the fed, it's the. It's the businesses. It's the stock market. And and that so I think it's important for us to. The economy is one of the biggest issues is on people's mind right now, because it affects them so much. But we also need to keep in mind that there are a lot of other factors that go into.
19:51:17 The economy and.
19:51:19 The things that Presidents do have more power on. Like some of these issues, like women's rights and environment and other things, we should also be zeroing in on.
19:51:28 Another another part about gender and marriage, that is, as concerning is, they want to eliminate any language from law that prohibits discrimination.
19:51:39 The words gender discrimination, sexual orientation from law. So if we say that you know, we no longer believe that discrimination against someone based on gender is illegal. That means that women.
19:51:54 And people who are gay. Lgbtq. They can't file lawsuits for issues that they're having in terms of discrimination.
19:52:04 There are also been calls.
19:52:06 From the Republican party to end interracial marriage that is in Project 25. I think that is less likely to come to fruition.
19:52:15 Because Jd. Vance is in an interracial marriage. There are some Republicans who prominent Republicans who are in interracial marriages, but it is something that has been called for by the party, by the platform.
19:52:27 So you know, there were some white supremacists who were upset with Donald Trump Nick Fuentes.
19:52:35 Namely, one of them who.
19:52:37 Prominent Conservative who was upset with Donald Trump for picking Jdns because he is married to an Indian American woman. So there is, there is descent, although I do think that interracial marriage one is less likely than some of these other ones to come to fruition. What I do think is likely to come to fruition. If the Republicans offices there's there's a universal call to end gay marriage and this the policies in part of 2025.
19:53:02 Are very anti-lgbtq. Anti
19:53:07 Transgender people, which I think is.
19:53:10 Scary, and what I think is very disruptive to gay marriage. So, for example, you know, I have a few friends that are in gay marriages that now have adopted children, or have given birth to children through Ibf. And so if you end gay marriage, and you also.
19:53:25 And.
19:53:26 One of the partners legal rights to their children. And so that's also gonna cause a crisis for families. So, for example, like in my friends relationship. One of the parents gave birth, and one of the parents has to then file the paperwork to adopt the child in a same sex couple, and so, if we end gay marriage now, the partner who didn't physically give birth to the child is no longer legally the parent.
19:53:48 Of their children. And so if something happens to the birthing parent, that other parent doesn't have legal rights, their child can be taken away from them. This is not, you know, there's a lot of implications to.
19:54:01 Ending, ending gay marriage for many families that is extremely disruptive.
19:54:06 You know, and I think really terrifying.
19:54:12 So you know. Another thing I want us to think about, too, as we talk about this. You know, Project.
19:54:20 Is, I really do believe, and this is more of my opinion.
19:54:23 And my editorializing of this, but I do think that the goal of Project 25 is to consolidate power into the hands of rich white men. And I think these policies will bring us back to.
19:54:33 Essentially the Civil War.
19:54:34 The 1870. S, that's that's where a lot of these policies are. Gonna bring us up us back to. And I do think America is better, because if it's diversity, and I do think America has a democracy that's worth saving. And I think that you know, with all the problems that we see in America.
19:54:51 America still is a place where so many things are possible.
19:54:55 And you know, I I think that we need to work on that and to fight on that.
19:54:59 What I will give. You are 2 statistics that I think are important.
19:55:04 To think about.
19:55:06 When people. This was according to an Npr poll.
19:55:10 When people have been told.
19:55:12 About project 25.
19:55:13 And the policies that are in it.
19:55:16 Only 16%.
19:55:17 Of the voters.
19:55:19 Approved those policies.
19:55:21 So most people don't like these policies. The majority of Americans say this is nuts. We don't like this, and that's why Donald Trump is saying, I have nothing to do with it.
19:55:31 Because if he doesn't, because there's policies are unpopular. These policies are terrible. Most people, even people who are, you know, I think, average.
19:55:40 I think most average Republicans are like, Yeah, I'm fine. If people get married and they're gay. I think most people in America support those things, you know. So it's not even 70% of America supports women having some abortion right? Some form. Right? So this is not something that people want.
19:55:56 This is not what our population wants.
19:55:58 And I think the other thing.
19:56:00 But that's important to remember is that we are a group of people that are really plugged in.
19:56:06 And a lot of people do not follow politics.
19:56:08 The way we follow politics. And so.
19:56:11 70% of Americans have never heard of what is in project 25.
19:56:18 70% of Americans have no idea what project 2,025 is.
19:56:22 Or what's in it.
19:56:23 And so I think that.
19:56:26 Statistic is important for us, because it gives us a clear step.
19:56:29 About what we can do.
19:56:32 You just need to tell everybody about what I talked about tonight. You just need to tell everybody about what's in this and what it's about, and why you don't agree with it. And you know I'm assuming most of you don't agree with it. Maybe there are some things we agree with. So I don't assume that. But you have to tell people what's in it, because I do think.
19:56:49 This is not what Americans want. I do think this is not representative of us, and I think a lot of our problems that we have.
19:56:58 That are being raised by the Republican party and Democr you know, climate change and the economy like these are problems that we need to work on, and there are different ways to approach them than pretending.
19:57:14 They're not real.
19:57:15 And I think one of the things I wanna leave you with.
19:57:19 That, I think is really important is that politics are about.
19:57:23 People.
19:57:26 So I want to tell a story about like how politics affect people. Because sometimes when you hear these things, you're like.
19:57:32 Well, this is abstract, and how do I break this down?
19:57:34 For people.
19:57:35 So in 2,008, this picture, my mom and me and my sister. This was Us. In in France. I got to study abroad in France when I was a junior in college, and there was the 1st time my mom had ever been to Europe was because I studied abroad in college. So again, this this education is an equalizer. Education expands things I've been more all over the world that my mom could have ever dreamed of because she didn't have those opportunities that I had but in 2,008 my mom was.
19:58:00 Diagnose the rare form of cancer called mesothelioma.
19:58:03 And Mesophilioma is caused by asbestos.
19:58:07 And.
19:58:08 Asbestos.
19:58:09 Was legal.
19:58:10 And asbestos trump. When he became President, loosened restrictions on asbestos. This cancer was so deadly that it killed my mom in 9 months.
19:58:23 When Biden became President.
19:58:26 He put more workers back into the EPA.
19:58:28 That trump gutted.
19:58:30 And finally, for the 1st time, asbestos is federally banned.
19:58:37 Now.
19:58:38 People like.
19:58:40 The EPA. Civil servants.
19:58:43 Who are just.
19:58:44 Being funded.
19:58:46 Save lives.
19:58:48 Protect us from dangerous chemicals, protect us from polluted waters, protect us from food that is bad, just by being a part of the Federal bureaucracy. And so I tell this story because.
19:58:59 These things, matter.
19:59:00 For people.
19:59:02 These matter for all of us, and.
19:59:05 We can't have all of this disappear.
19:59:08 And so I think that this is right now.
19:59:12 Life or death situations. And you know, we need to really fight.
19:59:16 For that change, and you know what a beautiful thing.
19:59:21 That if asbestos continues to be illegal.
19:59:24 That people won't have to suffer the way my mom suffered that people get to live full lives, and that.
19:59:29 If we keep funding education that kids like me will get to have more experiences that our parents didn't have.
19:59:35 Like. Those are the things we need to keep going. And those are things we need to keep alive. And so I think that politics are really at the end of the day about people and policies are about people, and our job as citizens is to help connect those dots for people. So I will leave you.
19:59:52 You know, on that thought.
19:59:54 And just, I think one of the things I really want us to think about, as you reflect, is, you know, having hard conversations.
20:00:01 With people in your lives. You know this is a group of my friends that are my best friends. It was like celebrating for my birthday, and I'll I'll tell you what keeps me motivated when I am nervous about having conversations with people. Disagree with me is the people that I'm fighting for. These are the people I love the most.
20:00:17 And these are the people that I want to have a full and vibrant and healthy democracy. And so when I get nervous about who am I gonna upset? Whose feathers am I gonna ruffle when I'm talking about politics? I think about the people that love the most. So I'm sure you have those people in your life that you want this country to be strong for, and so I want you to keep those in mind, and I want you to get out there and talk to everybody you know about Project 2025
20:00:40 And I I'm happy to stay on for like 10 more minutes if anyone has questions. But I do know that you wanted this to be an hour. So I'm gonna I'm gonna pause there in case anyone has to leave but if there are some questions I can. I can hang around for
20:00:54 A few more minutes. Thank you so much, Denise. I appreciate it.
20:00:58 I see.
20:00:57 I see that Connie Welcher has her hand raised, and Polly has her hand raised, so could we recognize them.
20:01:04 Thank you so much. Yep.
20:01:07 Connie, why don't you go for.
20:01:09 So I just wanted to leave you with this statistic that comes directly from the project. 25 document or 25 document.
20:01:19 They state well. So the history of the document is that it's been rewritten every 4 years since 1,979.
20:01:27 As a mandate to leadership, and in 2,016 the trump administration over 60%.
20:01:36 Of the recommendations from mandate 2,016.
20:01:40 So the idea that the trump administration in 25 wouldn't do the exact same thing with the current document is like, it's ludicrous.
20:01:50 Yes.
20:01:50 So he.
20:01:53 President, trump like in in love being
20:01:59 Compared to President Reagan, and that is really where this mandate for leadership came from was from the Reagan administration.
20:02:05 And so the idea that he wouldn't continue.
20:02:09 On a trajectory that he started in 2,016.
20:02:14 Is it's denial.
20:02:16 So if you haven't had a chance to read this, it is available. It's in public domain. It's a long read. It's 900 pages, but it's well worth it. Kind of get the idea and the understanding of exactly what.
20:02:30 Is being recommended, and.
20:02:32 Ask yourself, would you be okay with 60 of this document being implemented.
20:02:39 Into public policy.
20:02:40 So the majority of policies that were put into place in 2016 and 2017 that people railed against and that were detrimental to our public.
20:02:55 Worse!
20:02:56 Right out of mandate 2016.
20:02:59 So, you know, take a look at this document and say, can you live with 60% of this document?
20:03:05 Being into law, codified into law.
20:03:09 Connie, thank you so much.
20:03:09 Thank you so much.
20:03:10 Powerful. That's a really powerful statistic. So.
20:03:13 I really appreciate you sharing that with the group. Poly. And then I see Denise's hand is also raised.
20:03:20 I just wanted to thank you for this session. It's been excellent, and I'd like to figure out a link.
20:03:27 So that I could get this.
20:03:29 Recorded.
20:03:31 Session.
20:03:32 And pass it on to few 1 million people.
20:03:35 And then
20:03:42 Good I mean.
20:03:37 Maybe even a printed copy. I don't know if that's available. Anyway, if you can help me.
20:03:44 Sure. So I think.
20:03:44 Can I make a comment? Here I will. This is Lois and I will be posting the video of this on the Au Iowa website.
20:03:54 Hopefully by tomorrow noon.
20:03:56 It takes me a little while to get things up there as far as the written transcript. I will see how it comes out.
20:04:03 If it comes out legible enough.
20:04:05 I'll post that as well.
20:04:06 Thank you. Lois.
20:04:07 Yeah. And I also just shared in the chat.
20:04:12 There are. This is a document I put together which outlines
20:04:17 Some of the the things that are in here that I talked about tonight feel free to share this with anyone in your circles. And I also.
20:04:29 We'll say there's in the text, which is what Connie was mentioning. There is a.
20:04:34 I'll show you where it I'm talking about.
20:04:36 So right here at the bottom is the link for the full text of the product. 25. So if you do want to read the primary source,
20:04:44 You, you know that's where you can go to get the full text of of the project.
20:04:50 And then, Denise, you had your hands raised.
20:04:57 Sorry I am having issues.
20:04:59 The other.
20:05:00 Kind of in part also for sharing information like who or what do you recommend? We follow on social media.
20:05:09 Hmm! That's a great question. So A few.
20:05:14 Things. I really like to kind of streamline my news and not get old, because I think there's a problem getting inundated with news, too. So I like. I like signing up for like the New York Times and the Washington Post have a newsletter which is like the top 7 stories of the day that they email to you with 7 o'clock, which I find really helpful. Npr is up first, st I find really helpful. I really like.
20:05:39 Heather. Cox Richardson. She's a professor at Harvard. She has an amazing newsletter. She's in the sizes. The news of the day is really helpful another one. I'm seeing a lot of nod, so I'll put those in the chat, too. Another one I really like is the meteor, which is a newsletter.
20:05:54 That is started by Gloria Steinem and focuses on feminist issues. And they have a lot of really good podcasts that I find
20:06:04 Very helpful.
20:06:05 And then this is.
20:06:07 Glowing. It sounds strange, but hear me out on this.
20:06:09 I also like to read foreign news like I like to read and like Al Jazeera and the BBC. Because.
20:06:19 They don't.
20:06:21 Take a partisan perspective to American politics. They're looking at America as an outsider, and so that often takes out a lot of the sensationalism and you can get. Now you can get any of those newspapers like you don't have to read the language that they're in in order to read them. So those are some of the things I I recommend.
20:06:39 And I just I also recommend.
20:06:42 Not reading the news at night, like I used to read like before bed. But I think like reading in the morning, and just like kinda letting yourself process is is really helpful. So those are some of the big ones that that I would. I would say,
20:06:58 Awesome.
20:06:59 Hope that's helpful.
20:07:03 Thank you. Charlie.
20:06:59 Hey, Doris! Doris also has her hand raised, too. Could we recognize Doris? Please.
20:07:07 Hi! This is not Doris. This is her husband, Steve Corbin, calling.
20:07:09 Okay.
20:07:12 Hey, you, Gillian, highly recommend that you consider recommending to everyone that they read the fulcrum.
20:07:18 Hmm, okay. I haven't heard of that one.
20:07:19 The fulcrum free daily. It's already published 28 OP-ed.
20:07:24 On project 25.
20:07:27 One for each of the
20:07:29 Different chapters.
20:07:31 That there are 30 chapters in Project 20.
20:07:34 25, and they've written on 28 of the 30, and there are 2 more coming.
20:07:39 The fulcrum. It's free.
20:07:42 Comes out 3 to 4 articles per day.
20:07:45 And seriously consider reading that, and I concur with you about Heather Coxon.
20:07:51 Thank you so much for sharing that I think I see it here.
20:07:55 I didn't know about that one, so I appreciate that, and I will put it in the chat.
20:08:00 For others! Alright.
20:08:02 Any other.
20:08:07 Alright. Well, thank you so much for having me and I really appreciate this. The other thing I can say, if you go online and follow roots on Instagram. Denise your question. I also you can see who we follow. And then that's another way to like, get new sources. Because I I follow a lot of like activists and things on our troubles, too. So thank you so much. I really am inspired by people who want.
20:08:33 Learn, and you know already taught me so much in sharing and each other. So just please get out there. Have conversations about project. And let's let's save our democracy. Let's keep this America.
20:08:46 But.
20:08:46 Strong.
20:08:47 And.
20:08:47 And that was quick question. Is there a way? Do you have like a donations, or any way that we can help support the work that you're doing right now.
20:09:08 What?
20:08:56 That's incredibly kind of you. I will put our website into the chat. I do have donations a link there. If you'd like to donate. That's really sweet of you. Thank you so much.
20:09:11 And.
20:09:11 Alright!
20:09:12 Julian's. Thank you so so much for your time and your expertise. We really enjoyed having you and.
20:09:20 We value your your information.
20:09:22 Thank you so much. And I hope you all have a great evening, and hope we cross again soon.
20:09:31 Thank you.
20:09:40 Thank you to you also for organizing this and getting it.
20:09:45 Out to us.
20:09:47 You're welcome.
20:09:54 Mind.
20:09:50 Julian came, recommended from someone else who had heard her before, and so so we're glad that we got in touch with her.
20:09:58 I am, too. Thank you.
20:10:02 Have lots of notes.
20:10:05 It's excellent. Thank you very much.
20:10:17 Well
20:10:17 Well, good night. Everyone.