Ep. 2 - Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, County Recorder, Pima County, Arizona

"Indigenous Woman Coming Through!" - Gabriella Cázares-Kelly

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Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, candidate for Pima County Recorder, Arizona
Twitter: @gabriella_for
Instagram: @gabriellaforrecorder
(you should totally follow her, she is active and endearing)

Intro

There are few crimes I have more disdain for than voter suppression.
I can think of but one reason to deny people their voice in government -
So that you can exploit them to enrich yourself.

In this intro I introduce my thesis that the only reasonable goal regarding the franchise is:
100% voter registration, 100% voter participation.

If you are shooting for anything shy of that, you have to ask yourself who are you leaving out and why are you afraid to admit their voice into the process.

Interview

Gabriella talks about the structural barriers erected to prevent Indigenous folks from voting in this country, and how she plans to use the office of County Recorder to tear down those barriers in places like the Tohono O'odham Nation where she grew up.

She offers perspective about the inequities exacerbated in the COVID pandemic in places like Navajo Nation.

She talks about the way local budgets can spell life and death for people in Pima County in ways you may never imagine unless you lived there.

She offers advice for people who want to build diversity (hint - be intentional and be ready to pay for people's expertise and labor!)

And she has some beautiful words to help us keep changing the landscape even if every seed we plant doesn't become a tree.