Deja's Download 5.15
Come with me for a storytelling workshop...
This dispatch of Deja’s Download is all AZ! In the Group Chat, I’ll talk about the storytelling and power building work I’ve been doing on the ground in Tucson. Find My Friends has an opportunity to join me on the road and Candidate Corner will introduce you to a young leader you should know. AMA is curated by curious kiddos.
GROUP CHAT:
This week at home, I doubled down on my commitment to building the storytelling super powers of the young women and girls in my hometown. From girl power day keynote at Boys and Girls Club of Tucson to STAR village where I worked with women experiencing unsheltered homelessness, here’s my report from the ground:
When I walked into the Boys and Girls Club gym, I was transported back to my days as a club kid. The summer before middle school, I got my membership to the Frank and Edith Morton clubhouse next door to Doolen Middle School. For the next few years, I spent nearly every day after school holed up in the game room with my best friend, who for the record 15 years later is still my best friend (and roommate). Home wasn’t always safe for me then. When I was welcomed to the front of the gym by the cheering kids, probably excited to have a guest, definitely excited to have Canes, that’s the story I opened with.
The girls were as young as 5 and as old as 13. I asked what they wanted to be when they grow up: A teacher, a veterinarian, a coach. I shared that when I was their age I saw my mom struggle to make ends meet. Our ability to have a place to stay or dinner on the table was decided by elected officials who felt far away. I knew then wanted to make a difference, I wanted to run for office.
I told them that my leadership wasn’t always clear to the people around me. That when I was on my own as a teen, I didn’t get reelected to student council and lost my spot on the volleyball team for having a ‘bad attitude’. I asked them to raise their hand if they ever felt like they had a hard time finding where they could be a leader. Some brave hands went up. Me too! I told them that I found my leadership in other ways. That I shared my story at school board meetings and town halls and demanded that my elected officials do the right thing for girls like me and them. That I used my story to secure a full ride to the school of my dreams in New York City and was even able to come back home and run for office using the power of my personal story.
Kids always ask the best questions: Did I win? No, not in votes. But, because I know girls all across the country, and right there in that gym, watched and knew that they could be whatever they wanted when they grew up— I won.
A few days later, I volunteered to lead a small workshop on the power of your personal story at STAR Village. It’s a safe sleeping site comprised of tents supporting around 25 women experiencing unsheltered homelessness. Before my session started I sat at my kitchen table packing bags. In each one: A fresh journal, a pen, and a worksheet— I was informed the community tent I’d be presenting in had AC, but nowhere to present.
When I arrived I was greeted by a member of Old Pueblo Community Services, a housing first nonprofit where I serve on the Board of Directors. STAR Village is among the 11 sites we help operate including low-barrier shelters, transitional housing, and permanent supportive housing that over the last year have provided 61,480 bed nights to 2,926 people in my hometown. She showed me and the women who were beginning to gather for the session a book in which her recovery journey was featured: Your trial can someones testimony.
I started by sharing my story. How my mom’s addiction and recovery journey lead to housing insecurity and eventually being on my own as a teen. Some of them could relate as moms themselves. The conversation flowed back and forth. I asked where we see storytelling: their favorite movie, a job interview, reconciling with a loved one, at the doctors, on a date, advocating for the resources you need like housing support.
We spent the next hour like this. We talked about the challenge, choice, outcome story structure. One young woman shared the unexpected outcomes around her choice to be sober. I told her I was proud of her. We talked about what was uncomfortable, but not unsafe to share. A mom told me she wanted to tell her teen daughters about that. I gave her some extra bags to gift them. One woman was brave enough to offer to read me part of her personal story she’d written about her childhood. I listened.
I ended our session with a reminder. It’s the same one I echoed at the Boys and Girls Club and something I hope you’ll hold on tight to when the problems we face feel bigger than us:
You have a story. And only you can tell it. You are an expert in your experience. You don’t need to have a fancy title or degree to be worthy of being heard.
FIND MY FRIENDS:
I’ll be narrating American Mosaic - A Musical-Visual Celebration of America’s 250th Birthday for Narrator and Orchestra (West Coast Premiere) at the Pacific Symphony 5/28 to 5/30.
I’m joining the Aspen Ideas Festival this summer as an Aspen Ideas Festival Fellow in Colorado this June!
CANDIDATE CORNER:
Meet Claudia Kline (they/she) - Native Arizonian, Community Organizer, Gen-Z Candidate for AZ LD8. I joined her for a keynote conversation in Prescott at Camp YDAZ, the state conference organized for Young Dems AZ where Claudia served as President.
Big Three Issues: Corporate Accountability, Democracy Protection & Education
Q: We talked in person about some of the challenges of running as a woman of color from a working class background. What would you say has been the most surprising challenge? The least surprising? ?
A: The most surprising challenge has been the endorsement process; sending emails into the void and not hearing back from organizations I’ve worked for or supported for years. It’s also been difficult not having support from some of the same people who encouraged me to run in the first place. The least surprising challenge has been fundraising, because I knew early on I wouldn’t take corporate money and I don’t come from wealth.
Q: What’s the worst campaign advice you’ve gotten?
A: The worst campaign advice I’ve received was when I first started and was told if I can’t slate then I shouldn’t bother running.
Q: What’s one thing you’re doing differently?
A: One thing I’m doing differently is simply being myself. I understand the expectation of “professionalism,” but when I show up at someone’s door in my Hot Girls Vote fanny pack and pink T-shirt, I want people to know I’m their neighbor and I’m here to stay. I don’t pretend to know everything, but I’ve learned so much from conversations at the doors because people genuinely want to feel heard.
Q: What’s your motto in this phase of the race?
A: nunca dejes de creer en ti - Bad Bunny from the halftime show
Q: What’s your advice to young people who want to get involved?
A: As former president of the Young Democrats of Arizona, of course I have to plug them. Getting involved really can be as easy as sliding into a DM. Between ballot initiatives and a handful of incredible progressive candidates, there are so many ways to make an impact. So if you see something that inspires you, send a message and get involved.
AMA:
These are real questions the girls at the Boys and Girls Club asked in our Q & A session. As previously mentioned, kids ask the best questions. But if you want a direct line to ask yours, consider subscribing to get access to my subscriber only chat.
Q: Have you ever broken a bone?
A: No. I couldn’t always go to the doctor so I was raised to be very careful. In a lot of ways, I still am.
Q: What should I do if I want to go to college far away from home?
A: You can! Focus on school starting now. Stay consistent in keeping your grades up and finding extracurriculars that make you feel like a leader, but most importantly, I need you to tell everyone. I need you to be loud in your ambition so the adults around you can help and support you.
Q: Were you a smart student?
A: I was hardly ever the smartest kid in any subject, but I was always smart about how I prioritized my work. Between my job at the gas station, my advocacy, and AP classes, I had to be. You are in charge of showing up and doing your work and that’s what I got good at.
Q: What was the hardest thing I had to overcome at their age?
A: When I was a kid we were so focused on just getting by; so was everyone else around us. It was hard to imagine a different life or a world outside of the one I was living in then, let alone see myself in it. I needed you to know that the world is big and you deserve a big place in it.