Dream Defenders

I was one of, I'm sure, hundreds or thousands of people, Aja, that you've done a poetry workshop with.

And I remember doing it in Florida, Dream Defenders convening.

Oh, wow, I don't

remember that.

Mm

... created the Dream Defenders.

And so that when Philip invited Harry down, he was ready, ready to go.

Harry, prior to that, a-and if you do sometime have a chance to see, uh, Sing Your Song, I'm not plugging the film, I just think as, as a piece of history-

We also were having conversations around Trayvon Martin.

There were a lot of conversations with artists and bringing them to Florida, to the state Capitol with the Dream Defenders, really strategizing with them as well as what Suzanne said in regards to Ferguson and how do we support the activists that were on the ground that were getting pepper sprayed and were put in danger.

And so we were having conversations in the office while people were on the ground in Ferguson.

And I think a lot of, I never really saw myself being part of a film.

Um, well, okay, so that, that chapter in the book is, um, yeah, I, I ba- basically like a- as a movement facilitator, the, the...

I s- I was asked by m- movement organizations, I, I worked with groups like Sunrise, Dream Defenders, uh, later Uncommitted, you know, statewide organization, power building organizations like Down Home North Carolina, you know, If Not Now, all these different kinds of organizations.

And, you know, o- over time, what started happening was groups were starting to ask me for, for support doing strategy work.

They had...

And I really think back to, number one, my election, I don't think would have been possible without March for Our Lives.

And I don't mean that in terms of not just March for Our Lives, Dream Defenders, a lot of like youth-led movements, right? Black Lives Matter, et cetera.

And I think the reason I say that is not just because of my personal journey and I worked there and so now I'm here, but I mean in terms of shifting the consciousness of a country and what people are willing to accept and what they invite.

Because young people have been running for Congress across this country for a long time and a lot of them don't make it.

Of course, you know, oh, and the other thing, too, is the social movements put people in a place where using my age against me is distasteful and will actually work against them.

So, again, if I ran six or eight years prior, saying I'm too young to be a congressman is probably something we would have heard.

But because it was post March for Our Lives and post Dream Defenders and post Black Lives Matter uprising, saying something like that in a Democratic primary probably would have hurt you and probably would have made you seem like someone who's not in touch with the moment.

And so I definitely benefit from all these things that have been put right for really generations to lead to this moment.