I’ve been a Kentuckian for 26 years, since I first arrived
as a freshman at Berea College back in 1991.
I’ve been a Democrat just as long.
Over the last couple of decades, my political involvement ranged from
attending democratic fundraisers, campaigning door to door, serving as a
delegate at the 2012 National Convention, applying (but later rescinding my
application) to a democratic women’s leadership training program, and finally running
for city council myself. My temperament
during that time ranged from chills up
and down my spine when we elected our first African-American president, to
supporting the platform but turning a blind-eye to the candidate, and finally
in recent years just having enough with state party politics period when I
watched some democratic candidates refuse to align themselves with Barack Obama
fearing pro-coal, racist backlash from potential constituents, while others
defiantly spoke out against immigration, our own governor defending arguments
against marriage equality, and pretty much every candidate refusing to go near the
issue of mass incarceration and police brutality. The Kentucky Democratic Party effectively
confirmed to me that this was not a party for a brown, daughter of interfaith
immigrant parents, who had a gay best friend, and who spent half of her career
as a civil rights investigator.
To say that I was done with politics as usual would be an understatement. As state and national offices were slowly
and steadily getting swept up by Republican candidates, it appeared that others
in my state, perhaps for different reasons, also felt frustrated with the
party. So when that first press release
appeared on my Facebook newsfeed back in 2016 announcing a new movement and
direction for the state Democratic Party called the New Kentucky Project, I was cautiously optimistic but immensely
hopeful.
You
Had Me at Hello, Adam and Matt.
While the pep-rally-style charges at these things do little
to inspire me, the line-up of speakers did catch my attention. It helped that I wasn’t really looking for
inspiration. I was looking for
structure. A structure through which, I
could become a part of effective organizing.
And a structure that perhaps this time, might include a diversity of
voices and perspectives.
And so on this cold Saturday morning, over 600 people –
that’s 300 over their expected attendance – filed into a banquet hall
presumably ready for change. I had
crossed paths with our former state auditor and New Kentucky project founder,
Adam Edelen just last year when I served as the executive director of the
Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center. Adam and
his team were instrumental in funding and addressing the rape kit backlog in
our state. I remember being impressed
when he visited my center and spent time speaking with my staff as well as
survivors, committing resources to implement changes that would address the
backlog. I believed him then, and I desperately
wanted to believe him today when he boldly stated that this was a movement of
ordinary people willing to speak their truths rather than pedigreed politicians
calculating their every move. I wanted
to believe him when he proclaimed that democrats haven’t done enough to build
human and intellectual capacity or to rebuild grassroots involvement. I wanted to believe him when he laid out the
core values of the New Kentucky Project:
- Every Kentuckian deserves equal protection under the law regardless of age, race, gender, religion or sexual orientation and it is the responsibility of Kentucky’s leaders to protect that opportunity for all its citizens.
- The focus of state politicians should be on creating jobs for its citizens and ensuring that all Kentuckians who seek to work for a living can earn a wage that allows them to support their families and live their lives with dignity.
- Education should be our state's top priority and that investment in education for all is crucial for allowing us to compete in the new economy. Because education is the most critical investment we can make in our future, we must strive to create a modern, state-of-the-art educational system that can adapt to meet the new challenges of our global economy.
- All Kentuckians have the right to appropriate and affordable medical care in times of injury or sickness and that the goal of improving the health and treatment of all citizens is a top priority.
By the time Kentucky Sports Radio founder and host, Matt Jones arrived
at the podium, it seemed the crowd was ready to rumble. As a co-founder of the New Kentucky Project,
Matt’s style complimented Adam’s beautifully.
His call to action was less Bill Clinton and more Oprah Winfrey. His heartfelt call to action appealed to the
middle, calling for more cooperation between party lines and a commitment to
better educate both sides about the issues that matter.
So exactly how were we going to achieve all of this? Well, initially by having New KY representatives
organizing in all 120 counties of Kentucky.
The project’s priorities would revolve around two things:
- Candidate development – attracting and training every day ordinary, passionate people willing to speak their truths.
- Unapologetically picking and leading conversations about key issues that matter to all Kentuckians, rather than letting distractions frame elections.
What
I Heard.
The demographics of Kentucky are changing. All growth in
Kentucky is due to non-white populations and takes place along our
interstates. More people are dying than
are being born. Males in Kentucky are
dying 10 years sooner than the national average. (Ron Crouch, Kentucky’s leading
demographer)
The coal industry is dying. For every coal job there are three solar/wind
jobs. The majority of power plants in
the U.S. are solar and wind based. (Kiran Bhataraju, CEO Arcadia
Power)
We have a problem with heroin and incarceration is not a
solution. (Steve Gold, Henderson County Attorney)
We need more jobs/training but not necessarily more higher
education. Two-thirds of Kentucky jobs
only require a high school diploma. (Jason Bailey, Kentucky Center for Economic Policy) Kentucky
college graduates are struggling with life-time student loan debt and it’s
negatively impacting our economy. (Representative James Kay)
We must be at the forefront of technology in addressing
these issues. (Drew Curtis, Fark.com)
We need to fight bad ideas, find a way to finance good ones,
and communicate them directly to the people. (Jason Bailey, Kentucky Center for
Economic Policy)
We need to focus on the issues. We need to choose the issues – education,
healthcare, tax reform, living wage, fixing the pension. (Representative
Chris Harris and Senator Morgan McGarvey)
We are who we’ve been waiting for. (Everyone)
We are who we’ve been waiting for. (Everyone)
We are who we’ve been waiting for. (Everyone)
What
I Was Missing.
While our demographer stated that all future growth in
Kentucky will be attributed to non-whites, of the 23 speakers on the agenda, 4
were non-white, and 1 of those was the host.
While the conference touched on issues that impacted all Kentuckians
like health care and living wages, there was no mention of recent national
legislation that could impact Kentucky immigrants. While there was talk about the heroin
epidemic in our rural communities, there was no talk about issues of drugs and
violence in inner cities. In fact,
Representative Attica Scott was the only speaker that mentioned Black Lives
Matter and immigrant and refugee rights.
Also, notably missing was any discussion about women’s health and
reproductive rights, and only two speakers briefly mentioned issues impacting the
LGBTQ community. The crowd was predominantly white, to the
point where one white attendee actually got up and asked, “Why aren’t more
people of color here? Don’t they care?” Matt Jones quickly and graciously held
himself and organizers accountable to creating spaces that are more welcoming
and inclusive. The only person on the
agenda that was identified as a “Pikeville native” was someone with a South
Asian name - Kiran Bhataraju, CEO of Arcadia Power. During her campaign, one of the speakers on
the stage was vocal about her support for our current President and his
policies. Perhaps in the future, if
there were a commitment from the New Kentucky Project to adequately discuss
issues that adversely affect people of color, while paying closer attention to
unspoken (and perhaps unintended) microaggressions in the form of agenda language
and speaker selection, people of color might feel more comfortable entering
these historically white and privileged spaces.
As the conference came to an end, most of us were fired up
and ready to organize, but we were somewhat unclear as to what our next steps
should be. As someone who is comfortable
steering the wheel, it was easy for me know what to do - offer my reflections
to the organizers, thank them for their incredible work in getting this off the
ground, and then get in contact with my county coordinator to see where I can
be plugged in immediately. I worry about
those who might have needed a more concrete action plan in order to keep this
momentum going.
At
the End of the Day…
I felt immense gratitude towards Adam,
Matt, the executive committee, and all the organizers of the conference. They planned for 300 and over 600 people
showed up on a Saturday morning to talk about the future of Kentucky. It was an incredible feat to energize a
population that has, in recent years and months, been discouraged by the
direction of state and national politics.
I think that the organizers are off to a phenomenal start. I plan to throw my support behind these
efforts, knowing that there is plenty of room for all of us to grow into the
inclusive issue-driven party that we claim to be, holding organizers to the
fire that this movement is anything BUT “politics as usual”. If this project truly isn’t about elevating
the status of any one or two “pedigreed” politicians, but about garnering our
collective power as diverse Kentuckians to impact change, I’m all in. Who’s with me?
