Episode 26 | Rep. Ann Johnson, Badass
This whole episode is embedded in good news—and if not overtly fluffy good news, it's inspired by a fierce and compassionate woman who is quickly becoming my local hero: Rep. Ann Johnson. She is in league with Abraham Lincoln, who jumped from a 2nd story window in 1840 to break quorum, and with Professor Dumbledore, who disapparated to protest the asinine Minister of Magic in Harry Potter 5: The Order of the Phoenix.
The quote from Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird came to mind as I listened to her on Sunday at St. Paul’s in Ordinary Life class. “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.” She and her colleagues knew they were licked when they left the state, but they did it anyway to draw attention to the unconstitutionality of gerrymandering in Texas. Make no mistake, Republicans are calling it “redistricting,” and while that may be the ultimate result, their move is designed to manipulate electoral boundaries in favor of one party over another. We cannot go to sleep on this.
We were talking about whether we should continue our podcast owing to several factors—one of which is my lame social media presence—but Rep. Johnson lit a fire in me. This is our protest song, this is our action, this is our way of connecting with even a few who want to protect our fragile democracy. I’m not giving up for a president with dictator dreams. I hope you don’t either.
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Go to https://annjohnson.com to find out more and donate.