Shifting Narratives ft. Moya Bailey, IllumiNative’s Crystal Echo Hawk, & #JoyToThePolls

On this episode of She the People with Aimee Allison we’re talking about narrative, and GOTV. 

First, you’ll hear from Equity Observer reporter L’Oreal Thompson Payton discuss misogynoir and its implications on this election with expert Professor Moya Bailey. 

Then, Aimee’s interview with Crystal Echo Hawk, founder and CEO of IllumiNative the first and only national Native-led organization focused on changing the narrative about Native peoples on a mass scale- including the historic dismissal of Native voters.

“I saw both campaigns announced that they only hired lead native organizers within the last four weeks,” EchoHawk says. “Our research always tells us the same thing. It’s like, we’re not present in people’s minds. And to me, that’s crazy, because you go back and look at the results in 2020- Arizona was won by 10,000 votes. If you go in and just look at Arizona and you look at our Native population, and that’s why we have our list. It is like 250,000 Native people that we are trying to get a hold of. And like you start to look at those margins or you go in and look at the margins in 2020 and places that were also key like Wisconsin and Nevada. Native vote had something there to play. It’s that inherent implicit bias that begins to happen because we’re still not as visible asI want us to be and that we should be right. People still keep taking this for granted.”

And stay tuned to the end for Joyful Noise- this week featuring #JoytothePoll’s kickoff event in Philly!

Also discussed in this episode:

• Moya Bailey’s work on misogynoir 
• The findings from Reclaiming Native Truth, an unprecedented two-year, $3.3 million public opinion research and strategy setting initiative that was co-designed and co-led by IllumiNative founder Crystal Echo Hawk and Echo Hawk Consulting.
• Stream Fancy Dance
• Watch Deb Haaland at She the People
•  GOTV resources from IllumiNative’s partnership with Native Organizers Alliance
• Get involved with #JoytothePolls here

Follow L’Oreal Thompson Payton on LinkedIn, Instagram, and X, and subscribe to Equity Observer to never miss reporting from Design Observer.

Follow Crystal Echo Hawk and IllumiNative on Instagram 

Find Aimee Allison on Instagram, She the People on Instagram, and Design Observer on Instagram and subscribe to She the People with Aimee Allison on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen to us. 

Transcript

Aimee Allison Welcome to She the People with Aimee Allison, the home for women of color who are leading America into a new era. I’m Aimee. And today we’re going to hear how Native communities have built political and cultural power through storytelling and organizing in the final weeks of the election. Later in this episode, you’ll hear my conversation with Christal Echo Hawk, the founder of IllumiNative, a social justice organization that makes sure Native people are powerfully seen and heard. But first up is Equity Observer reporter Loreal Thompson Payton’s interview with Moya Bailey about how misogynoir, meaning poisonous stories about Black women, are impacting Kamala Harris’s campaign. And as always, stick around for our Joyful Noise segment at the end here. 

Joy to the Polls Cheers. Period! Back in the day!

L’Oreal Thompson Payton In 1975, the iconic novelist Toni Morrison said the function, the very serious function of racism, is distraction. Today, author and activist Moya Bailey believes the same, especially when it comes to misogynoir, the intersection of racism and sexism experienced by black women. 

Moya Bailey It reminds me of the Toni Morrison quote, where she’s talking about racism as a distraction. And I feel like misogynoir is a distraction? 

L’Oreal Thompson Payton Moya Bailey coined the term misogynoir in 2008. As we edge closer to the 2024 election, her message is clear. Representation alone isn’t enough to bring about the kind of changes marginalized communities so desperately need. Harris’s historic nomination, as the first Black and South Asian woman on a presidential ticket was hailed as a major milestone. But, as Bailey points out, the celebration of identity sometimes comes at the expense of discussing policy. 

Moya Bailey So if we’re looking at the ways that the right and sometimes the left even really focuses on Kamala’s identity, then we’re missing this opportunity to talk about: what does it mean to still be giving Israel money, to still be giving Israel weapons? What does that mean in the context of the world that we claim that we want. When we’re talking about peace and wanting joy? What does it mean that not everybody has access to that? So I feel like if we’re not paying attention, we can get distracted by the vile and terrible misogynoiristic ways that Kamala has been represented in the press, and then not pay attention to what we’ve seen, which is initially a lack of conversation about policy at all. 

L’Oreal Thompson Payton In her work, Bailey argues that while seeing Black women in leadership positions can be empowering, it doesn’t guarantee the dismantling of systemic issues. 

Moya Bailey Yeah, I mean, I think to be a leader of the United States of America, you do have to believe in settler colonialism to an extent, because the nation state is is that. So anybody who’s running for president has to believe in the state enough to to want to be, quote unquote, in charge of it. So I do think that Black women have the position to come from a politics that is decolonial and very much against what’s happening now. And so I think that for us, it’s always a little bit more complicated than just taking the role that is put before us. There’s always some pushback because the things that you stand for when you are president of the United States, empire, war, particularly as we’re seeing genocides in Gaza, what we’re seeing now happening in Iran, the way that people aren’t talking about Sudan at all like, or Congo, like there are just so many things that are affecting Black women globally that aren’t being part of the conversation that you would hope that a Black woman president could perhaps take a look at. But again, representation doesn’t mean that that is going to be part of her policy practice. 

L’Oreal Thompson Payton This critique echoes Toni Morrison’s sentiment that focusing on identity rather than the larger systemic issues only serves to distract us from the work needed to create meaningful change. Bailey believes the presidency isn’t a role designed to save us, regardless of who holds the office. So what’s the solution? 

Moya Bailey I think we need to look at the local level. So one, I think because the president is the figurehead, we pay much more attention to that and I think we should be looking further down the ticket. So I would encourage people to actually look at what’s happening in their local spaces. How are your representatives really showing up and are they the people who are showing up? I just think we need to take stock of what we expect of the electorate and maybe push back a bit on our expectations there. And I would say too, getting involved in some way. I think people really want someone to come in and save them. The president, as a position, like that, that’s not a position that does that. That saves us. I’m really encouraging people to use this as a moment to get organized and think about what do we actually need. 

L’Oreal Thompson Payton For Bailey, the path to liberation isn’t about looking to one leader, but about community led efforts and grassroots activism in the face of misogynoir, she urges Black women to find places where they can both recharge and be affirmed. 

Moya Bailey Yeah, I think it’s always about finding spots of respite, places where you feel like you can retreat from that onslaught. And for me, that’s meant creating community and sharing spaces with other Black women and non-binary folks who are actually moving in ways that are challenging these perceptions and representations through the way that they create the spaces and images that they want to see. So for me, it’s about consuming cultural products, cultural productions that are created for us by us. 

L’Oreal Thompson Payton As the 2024 election draws near, Bailey’s message is clear. Don’t get distracted. Representation is important, yes, but it won’t automatically dismantle the systems of oppression that Black women face. To make real progress, we must focus on policies and most importantly, on building power in our communities. 

Aimee Allison Crystal Echo Hawk, of the Pawnee Nation, is the founder and CEO of IllumiNative, is the first and only national Native led organization dedicated to increasing the visibility of and challenging the narratives about Native peoples. Crystal founded IllumiNativeof in 2018, and they’ve made a profound impact over the past six years, to name just a few of their accomplishments. They played a leading role in the 2020 name change of the NFL’s Washington commanders. They strategize to support the confirmation of the first native cabinet member, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, and as the organization’s CEO, Crystal has built partnerships with media giants like Netflix, Amazon and Disney to help change the depiction and inclusion of Native people in scripted TV series and movies. We’re so excited to have her here today on She The People. Welcome, Crystal Echo Hawk. 

Crystal EchoHawk Hi Aimee. It’s so good to be here with you and Happy Indigenous Peoples Day. 

Aimee Allison I was going to say what a special day. What does an Indigenous People’s Day mean for you? 

Crystal EchoHawk You know, I mean, every day is Indigenous Peoples Day as far as I’m concerned. But, you know, I think it’s a it’s an important day of recognition. It’s something that we’re still fighting for nationwide recognition, but increasingly more and more states and cities across the country, instead of recognizing Columbus Day, who was just the architect of genocide against Indigenous Peoples , a lot of people don’t still know that. But it’s really just, you know, I think a day to celebrate all the positive contributions that Native people make to today’s society. So I choose, it’s a day of joy, of recognition. It’s also a day of work for us at IllumiNative. We don’t take the day off today. We really work for our community and then we’ll have another day where everybody will get some rest. But yeah. 

Aimee Allison You know, I’m so happy to have you. You’ve been in the middle of what I’d consider a renaissance. When you look at and assess, from when you started this, which was about a decade ago, am I am I right about that? 

Crystal EchoHawk Yeah, it was about nine years ago. I didn’t have a name. It was more the research I started Reclaiming Native Truth that started nine years ago, and I found IllumiNative in 2018 based on the results of that research that really just gave us a strategic framework to to organize and move forward. 

Aimee Allison And you and I had conversations over the last years about what that research unveiled and how it established a framework. So, you know, when you think about what this national research did and how it set up, you know, kind of some of the successes, how would you how would you think about it almost ten years later? 

Crystal EchoHawk My gosh, what a great question. You know, everything that we’re doing has exceeded my wildest dreams. You know, I remember the anxiety of thinking like, you know, $3.3 million worth of research and strategy development and is this going to be meaningful? But the way it just, it took off. It’s so much bigger than IllumiNative. And I think that was always the way that that research was really envisioned is like whatever this research is going to tell us, it’s not academic research. It’s really about what do Americans and key institutions across sectors of society, how do they view Native people, why do they view Native people like that? And what do those perceptions and narratives, dominant narratives, how do they impact the way that our people are treated in different sectors of society, whether it’s the way that the government or public K-through-12, education, media, entertainment, you know, view people and what’s the impact and how do we, whatever that impact is, which we found is like invisibility was our greatest threat, and a lot of people, depending on where you live in the United States, weren’t even sure if we existed or we were just defined by these very toxic stereotypes and false narratives that were not we were not the authors of. And so all of a sudden it was this aha moment about why our advocacy, why we were having issues in the courts in Congress and why what was going on in K-through-12 education with regard to our kids was just really because of this, you know, implicit bias and really like invisibility became the new form of racism against Native peoples. And to really understand and I think we’re constantly taught that, you know, this is just people being politically correct or they’re being snowflakes. And it was like no narratives, stories. They have power. They rationalize the exercise of power, right? And that it was just really important for us to fight to create space as one for that the American public understood that we existed as a contemporary Native people. And we’re not a problem to be defined. It was just it was the right time and we were able together to collectively do a lot. 

Aimee Allison So much is about,  we talk about deep culture work, which is underneath politics. I mean, here we talk about a lot about political power and asserting power. But cultural power lies under underneath all of that and is a requirement. I’ve been thinking a lot now that, you know, Kamala Harris, we made this argument about having a woman of color as as a candidate, you know, that we can rally around. And so,  I’ve been thinking a lot about the first time Kamala Harris came as a presidential candidate. We’d assembled a presidential forum in 2019, and we were very inspired by the Women’s March and the Native women who were leading as part of that movement to bring to that stage the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women. It might have been one of the first times that a presidential candidate in front of a group, in this case, it was Elizabeth Warren, the senator who was running for president in the primary at the time, had to address what the federal government and what a president, an executive office, is going to do about this tragedy, which had been going on and on under the radar of most people’s consciousness. And thinking back to, from then, to literally creating Hollywood stories. Can’t talk to me about that. 

Crystal EchoHawk Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, first and foremost, it’s the tireless efforts of grassroots organizers who don’t have big names that everybody’s going to know. It’s that tireless organizing and advocacy by families and so many like this this is not an issue that just popped up overnight. I actually heard some movie critics recently. They were reviewing fancy dance that has really tackles the issue of missing murdered Indigenous women. And they were like, wow, this is just like an issue that seems like native people just, you know, like everything they just want to talk about and like, I wonder if it’s going to get old. 

Aimee Allison Woah. We just started talking about it buddy. 

Crystal EchoHawk We just started talking about it. Right? And you’ve seen like one film about it, um

Aimee Allison But, you see how the you see how the culture pushes back as soon as you make space they’re like too much space. 

Crystal EchoHawk Yeah. And I mean, the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women has been something since we since contact and colonization came into our lands. You know, I mean, I think about the advocates that educated Senator Warren and, you know, and then Senator Harris, I got to see her speak. There’s always a Native Women Leaders luncheon that happens in like, you know, the kind of late winter with the National Congress of American Indians. And I remember that’s the first time I saw her speak. And, you know, she was very articulate, very well educated and on, you know, missing and murdered Indigenous women and all the issues surrounding it. But but that’s because of the incredible native advocates that have worked tirelessly to educate non-native politicians, different folks about the issue. And that is so powerful. And that’s our latest research, just really shows that the more and more that we have, you know, Native peoples elected into office, the way that they can educate their colleagues and their peers, but also the power of native advocates to to educate non-native people. Like that’s it’s just this movement. And all of a sudden we’re just starting to kind of like it’s like ripples in a pond, right? This education and this advocacy, this organizing that’s been happening and you kind of start to see more happening. And then when Secretary Haaland was confirmed in the Senate in her position, she was able to put that on the map. 

Aimee Allison She put that on the map. 

Crystal EchoHawk Right. 

Aimee Allison Can we just have a moment? 

Crystal EchoHawk Yeah. 

Aimee Allison So much is happening and so many actually just terrible things are happening, you know? 

Crystal EchoHawk Yeah. That is life, right?  

Aimee Allison Yes. Alongside these, you know, kind of seismic shifts in our culture. But let’s take a moment for Deb Haaland, because I met her in her primary and I, like many folks in New Mexico and across the country, were looking at this woman who really lead with economic justice issues, who who talked about and not only her experience and, you know, as a Native woman, but and she also spoke in a way that that included a lot of other marginalized groups. And it was very powerful, her congressional run. What does it mean to have Deb Haaland as our Interior Secretary? I don’t think many people have taken that fully in. 

Crystal EchoHawk The place to start is to understand the history of the Department of Interior, which was originally the Department of War, and it was the agency charged essentially with the annihilation of Native people and executing federal Indian policy, which was really, you know, acts of, you know, genocide, military campaigns. But it was also, you know, the boarding schools are, you know, more than 100,000 of our children were taken away. And that was part of a political military strategy and policy. And all of that came out of that agency that became the Department of Interior. And so to really, like, wrap your head around that and to like the atrocities and the things that happened to Native people, Right. And our children being ripped away, including my my grandfather. Was taken away as a little kid and put one of those and beat repeatedly and his mouth washed out with soap. As with all these kids across the country, you know, during that time period, you know, it started in the early 1800s. 

Aimee Allison And let’s not forget that the that the remains of children are still being discovered, buried near the sites of these terrible places where they took children. 

Crystal EchoHawk Exactly. Right. So you look at this arc of policy that’s gone all the way up until present day of different things that have happened to Native peoples. Right. The political, you know, policies of of of the American government, federal government. And I remember, you know. To like really like what does it mean for her to sit in this position. I remember the first time I went to go see her at the Department of Interior to get to her office, You have to walk down a long hallway. And it’s portraits of all the preceding secretaries, you know, of the Interior, and they’re all white men and then one white lady. And then you’re just like, oh my God. And you walk in and you understand, like the the horror, the atrocities, the policies, the impact, the detriment that came out of this office that she’s now sitting in. And it’s like incredible. It’s incredible that this, you know, amazing woman from Laguna Pueblo is leading this agency and she’s not leading it in order, you know, I think to begin to tackle the wrongs of the past and to also make, you know, that’s the agency responsible for the federal trust relationship. I mean, they’re holding all of this. She’s just an amazing leader for all Americans and really like taking that job so seriously in the protection of our of our public lands, our national parks, like, you know, looking at, you know, really key, you know, issues around climate and the way the energy policies are affected. I mean, it’s a lot. And I think she has just really shown that she can be a leader for all Americans while being Indigenous and how important those values are. The way that she is entered in that office. I just I can’t say enough about her leadership and her legacy that she’s going to be leaving behind. 

Aimee Allison You said something about her being Secretary of Interior for for everyone. And I want to talk to you about this because this is a very powerful thing that you’ve said. One of the I just want to say, last time I saw you, last time I laid eyes on you and your colleague, you were in Oxford, England at a school foundation event and llumiNative  had one their most prestigious award. And you were there. There were probably, you know, ten there were tens of thousands of us in the theater with you and your colleague accepting the award. And when you accepted it, you said some things about the way in which this movement of Native leadership is approaching, you know, being and working with other groups. And I just want to talk about that, that spirit of solidarity that that you work in. 

Crystal EchoHawk You know, it’s at the foundation. I, you know, I think when we started this in the in the research was saying, you know, here’s you know, almost 80% of Americans don’t know anything about Native peoples. And I just remember sitting down originally and talking to one of our researchers and she said, you know, I want you to imagine if you could turn every the voice of every Native person up to the highest level, right? And we’re all like really singing from the same songbook about changing this narrative, right? These false narratives about Native peoples. It’s not enough. Your part of your organizing tactic has to be that you are organizing and working with non-Native people, right? And that this is the only way it’s going to work. And I think it just really like traditionally goes back to our teachings as we think about relationships and relationality. Right. And it’s understanding that we as organizers, this is fundamentally that’s what we are as llumiNative. We’re organizers that we we have to constantly be looking at the relationship to these problems. And even though there’s very specific things that are impacting our people, we don’t have a monopoly on being erased and dehumanized. Right. When we pull back and we look at systematic racism and discrimination and things in this country, we are not the only ones. And I think so much when we start to pull back, I think in this election, you know, we start to see, wow, you can come from all kinds of different backgrounds, but there are some very key things that are at stake in this election that affect us as human beings wherever we come from. And so I just think that that’s been an important part right out of the gate. We could have never, we didn’t change,  llumiNative didn’t change the Washington football team name. We stood on the shoulders of more than 60 years of, you know, advocacy and organizing from our own community. But we worked in partnership and across a lot of diverse constituencies to turn up the heat and apply that organizing pressure that got it done right. And I think that when we look back, you know, when when Secretary Haaland was confirmed, the way that we messaged and organized was like, yes, our community first and foremost, let’s let’s write letters to Congress, let’s do all these things. But we got 40,000 people to do that. And a lot of them were non-native people because it’s like, she’s going to be a great leader for all of us. 

Aimee Allison For all of us. I want to ask you about the election. I’m so glad that you brought that up. We have some amazing Native women who are leading efforts. I’m thinking of Anathea Chino, you know, and I’m thinking of Advanced Native Leadership is one organization, there are others, that have been doing really amazing work supporting candidates and activating the vote.  Can you can you talk about getting out the vote in the last weeks of this important campaign, what that looks like, where the action is for for Native communities? 

Crystal EchoHawk Yeah, I mean, I think what’s really exciting is to see there’s there’s a lot happening and I think a lot more that I’ve ever seen. And it relates to the last two election cycles, right? I mean, I’m going to talk about what llumiNative is doing first, right. And in partnership with the Native Organizers Alliance. So we’ve made one of the first investments I’ve ever heard of in actually getting what what little exists of sort of Native voter files. Right. And, you know, because that works never really been done. And that like if you talk to people, that data doesn’t really exist. 

Aimee Allison So let’s take a step. Just take a pause. Yeah. A voter file is when people register to vote and then it’s  state by state usually held, the data. But they’re not they’re not tracking Native people in these voter files. 

Crystal EchoHawk No. And so it’s we’ve had to get really creative, you know, with the great research that helped us pull that data haystack. And what we did is we’re piloting. So we pulled what data we could get on Native voters in Arizona, Nevada, Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. And we’ve started a weekly phone and text banking initiative. Right. And and we’re recruiting volunteers, native volunteers, all the country. But we’re calling kind of low to mid propensity Native voters. We sometimes find as we’re calling them. And this tells you that the data really has not been collected. While again, the invisibility pieces is that a lot of times we get people that are like, no, I’m non-Native, don’t know how I got on this list, right? So we’re cleaning these lists. I mean, this is literally what it is. It’s cleaning these lists. 

Aimee Allison So you can have them in future elections, basically. 

Crystal EchoHawk Exactly. And it’s but it’s but it’s kind of the point I was talking about earlier is we don’t want to wait till the next election. How are we, once we clean this list? I mean, we’re doing everything we can to turn out the vote with these folks. We’ve had some great conversations with them. But then it’s what’s happening in between elections. How are we organizing? How are they not only just hearing from folks every couple of years? And it’s been amazing for the Native people we are connecting with. They’re like, nobody’s ever called me. To ask me or think about me in that way. So this is like such a new thing. So, I mean, you know, I think last week we managed to get through overnight almost 10,000 calls, you know, in Minnesota. 

Aimee Allison In those states, so Minnesota is where your focus, Wisconsin. I heard you mention. 

Crystal EchoHawk Michigan, Arizona and Nevada. So we you know, typically we’ll pick 1 or 2 states in the night with these volunteers. And so we’re calling them urging them to, you know, checking in with them, asking them what the top issues are that they care about, which really consistently has been tribal sovereignty and the economy are like the top two. And that was actually what our Indigenous Futures research also told us. 

Aimee Allison And economy like cost of living. I mean, just like how expensive it is. 

Crystal EchoHawk Yeah, exactly. And healthcare is also a big thing. Reproductive rights, you know, and housing has also come up, you know, But so we have been doing this. We’ve already been doing it for four weeks and we’ll be doing it all the way up until right before Election Day. We’re also texting people. We had Native comedians come up with these hilarious memes and it’s been a great way also with the phone and text banking to start conversations with people about voting. 

Aimee Allison What is the hilarious meme? 

Crystal EchoHawk There’s something about flipping fry bread. What else can we flip right now? And, you know, just anything. It’s been interesting. It’s like they’re a little bit spicy, right? And so we’re really getting creative. And then I was just noticing, talking with a colleague of mine that other Native organizations have started doing some text banking with some funny memes. And just seeing like I think more and more our community is building the infrastructure and a lot of people are out just doing different things just on GOTV and doing a lot of grantmaking, just supporting grassroots organizations. I mean, you have this amazing organization called Protect the Sacred, they’re one of our GOTV grantees, that did the Ride to the Polls. I mean, and she made, Allie Young is the leader of Protect the Sacred, which is down at Navajo Nation. And she originally organized all these Navajo horse folks to get on their on their horses and start riding to the poles. And that was a way to encourage your community to come out and vote. So, I mean, there’s just incredible work happening all over the country, and it’s really exciting to see. And I think like a lot of people understand the importance of this election. I think it’s also you can’t take Native voters votes for granted. And to see I’ve never in the we’ve done polling of Native people since 2020. We’ve done three huge cycles of polling where of over 15,000 Native people in all, 15 or all 50 states. I’ve never seen until this cycle the economy ever come up in the top three. 

Aimee Allison Why do you think that is? Why do you think that is? 

Crystal EchoHawk You know, polling everybody else in the country saying this is going to be one of the key issues that all Americans, the economy, the perception of the cost of living and inflation and what’s happening with this economy is getting to people. And I’ve never, and our people have, you know, so much of our of our population is already, you know, in these, you know, economically challenged demographics. And to see that the economy is going to be one of the biggest factors in this election and that people are really feeling it. And so our people are no different. Right. You know, I think climate’s been kind of also a top issue that’s ranking up there. But I think it’s interesting. We want to unpack more the issue around tribal sovereignty, because not all, you know, 70% of native peoples live off reservation. It’s more research we want to do. But I think it’s also about democracy. So I think it’s it’s we’re seeing all kinds of shifts. And I think you’re seeing that with other constituencies, right? Where you’re you’re starting to see changes sort of happening within Black voting base, Latino voting base. Like there’s a lot and I think it’s just one of these things that, you know, I have to talk I’m talking from a nonpartisan place because, you know, llumiNative is an AC3 organization. But what I would be telling both sides, all parties don’t take anybody’s vote for granted. 

Aimee Allison We have to think about the ways in which we need to, as an electorate, understand engaging Native people. It sounds like the work you’re doing is to help understand, because if the economy is number one and sovereignty is number one now, that means that translating that message, engaging people has to sound specific for the community. 

Crystal EchoHawk Exactly. And I think it’s unpacking that more and really listening and understanding. And again, I just see so much the biases like, okay, yeah, we want to do support, do whatever. And everybody just thinks we all live on the rez and that’s just not the case. And, you know, I just think there needs to be more curiosity. There should be a lot more outreach. I will say both. I saw both you know, both campaigns announce that they only hired lead Native organizers within the last four weeks. 

Aimee Allison Why is that? Why do you think? 

Crystal EchoHawk Our research always tells us the same thing. It’s like, it’s we just were not present in people’s minds. And to me, that’s crazy, because when you go back and look at the results in 2020, you know, Arizona was won by 10,000 votes. If you go in and just look at Arizona and you look at our Native population and that’s why we have our list is like 250,000 Native people that we are trying to get a hold of. And like you start to look at with those margins or you go in and look at the margins in 2020 and places that were also key in Wisconsin and Nevada, Native vote had something there to play. And I just again, it’s that inherent implicit bias that begins to happen that because we’re still not as visible as I, you know, I want us to be and that we should be, right. People still keep taking us for granted. And, you know, Native voters like our Indigenous Future survey said 86% of Native voters in battleground states in particular are are planning to vote. You should you know, that should be part of the organizing plan. And to really like I mean, we all see in the polling, it’s almost a statistical dead heat between these two candidates if the polling is actually correct. And so it’s really important that people not take any vote for granted, any vote for granted. 

Aimee Allison Let us just say here She the People, let’s begin here. We do not take Native women’s leadership for granted. We don’t take native vote for granted the communities and the issues. And I’m so glad to have spent just a bit of Indigenous Peoples Day with you. And before we end, we always ask people who come here. This has been a campaign. Your work employs joy as a strategy. So what’s been bringing you? Joy, Crystal? 

Crystal EchoHawk What’s been bringing me joy is I so geeked out that our community is like volunteering and calling and texting people and being in community. They do it for three hours every Wednesday night. And, you know, and to be able to watch that and participate in watching young people step up and and organize and lead that work is it makes me so happy. I got to watch our comedians produce some of the content. It’s just like belly laughing and just feeling in community and being in text chains and different groups with people who are just really trying to organize and move things in their community. And it’s and there’s a joy. Like everybody’s happy. I mean, there’s just been a real joy about this. And it’s it’s been fun. As much as I think we’re all sort of, I think, have anxiety now. 

Aimee Allison Yeah, yeah,. 

Crystal EchoHawk Yeah. It’s it’s and it’s being a community with people like you, Aimee. And thank you for the good work that you do. I just have so much love and appreciation for you and just all the women that are just doing incredible organizing and work, you know, not only for this election but year round. 

Aimee Allison It’s so good and I have so much love for you and your brilliance in your work. A lot of work that happened for many years before this moment. And just, you know, as we wrap up, any one who’s Native who’s here is this can they be part of volunteering? 

Crystal EchoHawk Absolutely. Go to Nativesvote.com and there’s you know you can look at joining that, we still have a few more weeks of you know phone and text banking we also just downloaded we did a digital organizer training last week so all these resources are on our website and then like the content so people can just jump in. There’s all these resources there. You can watch the training videos because the digital organizer training isn’t just election specific. You’re going to learn a lot of things that will just help you improve your digital organizing year round. And so yeah Nativesvote.com. 

Aimee Allison Awesome. 

Crystal EchoHawk And just and follow us on the socials. 

Aimee Allison Follow llumiNative on the socials @llumiNative. And listen we can be part of the solution we can feel joy and thank you so much, Crystal, for being with us today. 

Crystal EchoHawk Thank you. 

Aimee Allison And as always, here’s Joyful Noise. This time from Philly. Joy to the Polls mission is written right into the name. Started in the depths of the 2020 election season, and their goal is to use music to mobilize voters and bring joy to polling places. And during the last presidential election, artists like Questlove, Jon Batiste formed to make playlists for voters waiting at hundreds of polling sites across eight states, Joy to the Polls, kicked off their 2024 tour in Philly, as we know, this is a battleground city and state, in early October. What you’re going to listen to is the PMEDrumline leading 100 early voters to a polling site in West Phillt. Take a listen and feel the joy. 

Joy to the Polls [drums] To the Left. To the right. To the right. To the right. Period! Back in the day! Hey. Hey.  Hey. 

Aimee Allison Thanks for joining us today. Remember your vision, your spirit, your work matters. Not just to you and your family, but to our whole nation. So keep going. We need you. We need each other. 

Aimee Allison She the people with Aimee Allison is produced in collaboration with Design Observer. For more information about us, plus our guests and a full transcript of the episode, check out our website at Design Observer dot com slash She the People and spread the joy. Make sure you subscribe to She the People with Aimee Allison on the pod catcher of your choice and share this episode with your friends. And don’t forget to tag Design Observer and underscore she the people and whatever social media platform you’re on. She the People is a registered trademark of Aimee Allison. Our thanks to Ruthann Harnish, Susan McPherson, Susan Sawyers and Jonathan Speed for providing critical funding and other resources for guidance and essential insights. We’re deeply grateful to David Kyuman Kim, Alvin B. TIllery Jr., Bernicestine McLeod, Kevin Bethune. Aviva Jaye wrote the theme music for the show. Justin D. Wright of Seaplane Armada mixed the show. She The People with Aimee Allison is produced by Alexis Haut and Adina Karp.