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We’ve got a new name, National Disability Radio! But the hosting team is still here, and we aren’t giving up on the puns. And of course since it’s November we are talking all things voting. NDRN’s Voter Engagement Specialist Monica Wiley joins us on this.
Full transcript available at https://www.ndrn.org/resource/ndr-nov23/
Michelle Bishop:
All right. Sorry. Are we ready? You ready for us, Jack?
Jack Rosen:
I started recording already.
Michelle Bishop:
All right. Well, snarky, but all right. Okay, I’ll get started. Hello everyone. And Stephanie, can I get a drum roll real quick? Hit me with a drum roll.
Stephanie Flynt:
I don’t have a drum.
Michelle Bishop:
Oh, no.
Stephanie Flynt:
But I have a dog who wags her tail. Okay [inaudible 00:00:17].
Michelle Bishop:
That works. No one can see it.
Stephanie Flynt:
I can’t see it. Okay.
Michelle Bishop:
Okay. We didn’t prepare. We didn’t prepare. Welcome to the new and improved National Disability Radio, NDR.
Stephanie Flynt:
Not to be confused with NPR.
Michelle Bishop:
We are going to get sued for this. So welcome to NDR. I am one of your hosts. Michelle Bishop, the voter access and engagement manager at NDRN.
Stephanie Flynt:
And I’m Stephanie Flynt, Public Policy Analyst at NDRN.
Michelle Bishop:
Raquel Rosa is doing a lot better. I’m sure you heard she was sick last time, but her voice is still taking a little bit of a hit. So she’s still on break this month. We miss you, Raquel. Get better. Have all the cough drops or slushies. Eat slushies instead. That sounds better.
Stephanie Flynt:
And hot tea.
Michelle Bishop:
What? Oh, hot tea. That’s right. Hot tea sounds more responsible than a slushy, but one sounds more fun, so you make your choice, Raquel. And of course, I would never, ever forget to introduce our producer and showrunner, Jack Rosen. Jack, introduce yourself to people.
Jack Rosen:
Hi, you all. It is producer Jack Rosen here. Michelle, do you want to tell the people what today’s episode is about?
Michelle Bishop:
So today, we are like one year out from, you might’ve heard this, there’s going to be a little election happening for the president of the United States in 2024. Just that. Nothing huge and really important that we need to start talking about. So today, we’re going to start talking about getting ready for the 2024 election and what you can be doing to make sure you and all of your community are ready to go and vote.
Our guests is actually our very own voter engagement specialist at NDRN, Monica Wiley. Monica has over 15 years of experience as an advisor on disability and organizational and relationship management in the public and private sector, working with state government and federal organizations, including the White House on protecting and advancing the rights of people with disabilities and other represented communities.
She comes to us as someone who is passionate about the vote and working on NDRN’s role in directly outreaching to and engaging all types of voters with disabilities from the broad diverse disability community. So Monica, welcome. Thank you so much for joining us this month. We’re so excited to have you.
Monica Wiley:
Thank you for having me. I’m glad to be here.
Michelle Bishop:
First, to get us started, can you just tell us why are you so passionate about voting?
Monica Wiley:
Well, again, thank you so much for having me. I’m truly delighted to be here and to talk about this. This is very important to me and I thank you for the question.
The reason why I am so passionate about voting, it comes to me in three different ways. And the first reason is I’m a person with a physical disability. I walk with a cane and I use a travel scooter for long distance walking and it was caused by a drunk driver, tractor trailer accident that I was involved in at the age of nine that killed my entire family. And as a result of that, I now have a disability, so I am in the disability community.
When I graduated from college, I was open to or became aware of so many challenges and barriers to people with disabilities in terms of employment, access, socially, everything. And for me, that spoke a lot of volumes to me as a woman, as a Black woman, because as a Black woman, the rights of voting is very, very important to my community and definitely important to women, but especially to my community. And I come from a background where voting, we were disenfranchised by voting because of us being African-Americans in the country.
And so I stand on the shoulders of so many people that have paved the way to make sure that we have voting rights as African-Americans in the community. So that is one reason. So I stand on the shoulders of individuals like my shero, Fannie Lou Hamer, and some of the others that are my shero, Judith Heumann, which I will probably talk about a little bit later. And so many others that have really just made a way for us in terms of one being Black and two being a person with a disability, which leads to my second reason that fuels my passion for voting.
My second reason is the access. There are so many barriers to voting and my community, our community, tends to be… we’re considered as afterthoughts. We’re not considered as individuals that engage in voting, that are knowledgeable about voting. And that is just a misconceived notion about my community. But the reason why that notion is there is because of so many of the barriers to voting.
And so I wake up every day wondering what do I need to do? How can I be a vehicle, a beacon for paving the way for greater access to the voter ballot, but then also making sure that the crosses of the community is educated, that they’re aware, and that they can be a part of the political process, a part of exercising their voice at the voting ballot. So that is the second reason.
Then the third reason is a person that I just mentioned, which is Judith Heumann and how she didn’t let anything stop her. She was a fierce woman, a fierce leader. And I share those same attributes, those same qualities, those same desires, that I’m not going to let anyone, not any institution, any law, or any of these so-called made up policies to prevent me and my community from having the ability to vote.
So those are the three reasons why I am so passionate and so dedicated to making sure that we have full access to the voting ballot and especially Blacks and Black individuals with disabilities to make sure that we are educated, we are knowledgeable, and that we’re doing everything that we can to exercise our voice in our vote at the voting ballot.
Jack Rosen:
And Monica, I’m wondering how can the organizations, especially non disability focused organizations, do more to help activate our voters?
Monica Wiley:
I love this question. Thank you for this question. I think it’s several ways and several reasons why we should definitely be partnering and building coalitions outside of our community. Well, for one, if you are a young person with a disability who just graduated from college and is ready to make meaningful impact, meaningful impact and policy, meaningful impact and laws, meaningful impact and community engagement, you may be often wondering, “Well, what do I need to do? How should I start this? What avenues are out here for me to be able to do this?”
I was one of those individuals, and the first thing I would say is that I would recommend, one, that a person with a disability attends events that are not disability focused. So we need to have more of a presence in other types of events, other community engagement events, other community related events. Also connect with individuals and different groups that you are involved in, making sure that you talk about people with disabilities and talk about how it is so important for other organizations to look at us, to invest in us.
And also too, I think one of the things that I tend to use in terms of building that and establishing those bridges and those partnerships and those connections, is making sure that when I am attending different events and when I am talking to individuals, I make sure that they see two things. One is, of course, yes, you do see the disability because mine is physical, of course. But you see the disability and even if you have a non-visible disability, because I believe one in four have non-visible disabilities, make sure that you talk about it, be proud of it. Disability isn’t abnormal, disability is normal. It is very normal. So make sure that they understand that, that they see that.
So one, that they recognize that you are a proud person with the disability, and then secondly, talk about that disability, talk about how you became disabled, whether you were disabled by… it was developmental, or whether it was by tragedy. But then also then make sure that because they’re still wondering, “Okay, well, what can I do?” Or they may not even have that question. They may just be wondering, “Where’s this conversation going?”
And so then that’s when you will want to make sure that you build on some of the commonalities. We’re both at this event, obviously we have an attraction to this type of work or whatever the subject is or whatever the reason for the event is. So build on that and make them see that there’s some commonalities with people with disabilities and those that are non-disabled. But then also let them see the differences, the challenges, the barriers, and appeal to that, so they can understand and really connect with that humanitarian spirit that they have.
And that’s how you build and that’s how you become engaged and vice versa. And then that makes them want to say, “You know what? I didn’t think of that. That makes great sense. And this is a community that we should be partnering with. This is a community that we should be involved with. We do care. You are a part of the population, you’re a part of the voting block, and you should have access and you should have resources, and you should have individuals that want to help build and support this.”
So that’s what I would say would be a great way, is to make sure that you are out there and that you are visible and that you’re seen. Be proud of what your disability is or how you have the disability. Show the differences between that person or your organization and the organization that you represent, but then also show where the commonalities are and then build on that. And if you’re a person that is new to this and it’s something that you want to do, then build on who you are as a person. Show who you are as a person. Show that confidence and that desire. And then again, you make sure that you show that the connections that you have and then also show those differences. And then making sure that from that point, how you can connect to build greater partnership and be more effective.
So that’s what I would say would be the great way to building this and to make those connections and those partnerships. And trust me, when you do that, that opens the door for so many different resources and opportunities. And again, just forming that partnership and building those relationships, because relationships are definitely key.
Stephanie Flynt:
Oh my goodness. Thank you so much, Monica. We definitely appreciate you for giving us so much insight. And honestly, I don’t think I’m alone in the fact that I genuinely wish that I could be like you when I grow up. So I’m going to continue to aim for this goal. But all that to be said, I know that you briefly touched on this in your answer to the previous question, but would love to hear your advice or your insight on individuals who want to take the leap into helping to organize, helping to get individuals with disabilities, and individuals in disabilities who intersect with multi marginalized communities. How can we support people in terms of organizing to help them get out to vote?
Monica Wiley:
I like that. I like that question. Thank you so much Stephanie, and I really, really appreciate your question. I think one is looking at yourself, obviously, you want to be a part of this work, a part of this effort because you recognize that the fabric of voting and making sure that voting is empowering and that it’s effective and it’s why we are here is to exercise that vote and to make sure that we are speaking up for how we want our lives to be governed, how we want to live, and then how we want to make sure that we embrace everyone from different walks of life. And that’s what that’s about. That’s what humanity is about. But I don’t want to veer off because I can tend to veer off and go a little bit into a rabbit hole.
But I think what I would do is, everyone has some type of leadership ability within their selves. And I think that when we look at the world leadership, we automatically think of, “Oh, I need to be CEO of this organization or head of this organization.” And while you may have that aspiration, and that is something that you are looking forward to, I think in the beginning you can be a leader within your own self by showing up and then showing how you are creating a pipeline for others to be able to use that to then build the next set of leaders and the next set of individuals that have a desire to really make meaningful impact in the world, not just in their respective communities, but just in the world, in the country that we live in.
And so what I would typically say is that I would say when you’re attending these events, make sure that you’re talking to individuals that represent different areas within engagement, different areas within nonprofit, different areas within corporate America, and be taking mental notes, take mental notes. And even if you can’t take mental notes, pull out your phone and take some notes and say, “If you don’t mind, I would like to capture some of what we’re saying here because I’m really dedicated to this. This is something that I’m excited about.”
And when you partner with individuals, when you’re connecting with organizations and people, you’re learning from each other. Everyone doesn’t know everything. And so I can benefit from that person, but that person can also benefit from me. That’s a part of building, that’s a part of growing, that’s also a part of just making a pipeline and an avenue for others to be able to use that and build upon it further so that we can, I would say, reestablish love. I think there’s a lack of love in this country, a lack of love just in the world, period. And if we have that desire to really show love to humanity, then what we should be trying to do is look at some of the qualities within ourselves and the desires within ourselves and bring that to some different events.
Make sure that you are connected to individuals outside of your community, to individuals… So for instance, I have good friends that are in the Asian community, good friends that’s in LGBTIQ+ community. I have friends that are Muslims. I have friends that are in various affinity groups. And then within those affinity groups, they’re connected to different sectors. They’re connected to the union, they’re connected to corporate America, they’re connected to sports, they’re connected to the art world.
And so when you are attending these different events, make sure that you connect with individuals at these events, but then also make sure that you’re connected with individuals that represent different areas within these various sectors and within the events that you are attending. And again, make sure that you take some notes, you write down what you’re here, what you can find beneficial, and that may even be appealing to some people.
I’ve done that before myself, and I’ve had a couple of people say, “Well, you’re writing notes as if you’re in school.” And I said, “Well, you know what? Every event that I attend, every conversation I’m in, it is school, because I’m learning from you and you’re learning from me and that is the best way that we can do… the best way that we can forge a relationship and a partnership and build on this to make an impact for individuals, and make an impact in the world, and make an impact in voting and the work that we do, and the work that we aspire to do.”
So that’s the recommendations that I would give anybody, is to make sure that you are always willing to learn. You’re always open-minded, always willing to learn, be confident and comfortable with what you bring to the table. Even if you don’t have as much experience as everyone else, you have experiences, you have life experiences, you have experiences from college, you have experiences from your friends, you have experiences from… I don’t know if you go to church, from your church, you have something to bring that they can benefit from and you could benefit from.
So build on that and make sure that you are connecting with individuals that represent various positions within various sectors and within community engagement. So I hope that answers your question.
Michelle Bishop:
Monica. Oh my gosh. We appreciate so much your expertise, your fiery personality and your passion for these issues and for the vote, it’s amazing. We are about a year out from this election. I’m already feeling inspired. I echo Stephanie’s thoughts that I want to be you when I grow up. Although I think we all agree at this point. It is unlikely that I’m ever going to grow up, but I still strive for it every day.
Monica, thank you so much for joining us and I bet we’re going to bother you again before this year is out to come talk to us about the election.
Monica Wiley:
No. Thank you. It is been my pleasure. This has been very rewarding. This is something that I love to talk about. As you are aware, I wake up every day wondering, what can I do? What do I need to be doing? What are some of the qualities within myself that I am not utilizing that I should be utilizing to make this impact for my community, for the cross disability community, even for my peers, for the people that I work for, the organization that I work for? What do I need to be doing? And how can that translate into something that’s meaningful and impactful?
So thank you so much for having me. I’ve enjoyed this. I look forward to coming back and I appreciate this. So thank you very much.
Michelle Bishop:
Thanks so much, Monica. Get back to saving the world. And while you do that, we’ll be doing something equally as important. Stephanie, do you have a joke for us this month?
Stephanie Flynt:
I always have a joke, although I really didn’t want to derail us with it. I don’t want to derail us. I don’t want us to get off track.
Michelle Bishop:
This is train puns, isn’t it? Are you doing train puns? I’m so worried about this joke.
Stephanie Flynt:
I don’t know, I don’t know, but I’m trying not to leave the station, if you know what I’m saying, but-
Michelle Bishop:
Oh no. All right.
Stephanie Flynt:
I don’t know if I have a joke this month, but I have more of a question.
Michelle Bishop:
Okay, I’m ready. Jack, are you ready?
Stephanie Flynt:
How do trains indicate when they’re sick?
Jack Rosen:
I don’t know. How?
Michelle Bishop:
Does that have something to do with the choo-choo noise?
Stephanie Flynt:
A choo-choo!
Michelle Bishop:
Oh no. Oh, how many in a row is this that I’ve gotten?
Stephanie Flynt:
I don’t know, but I’ve been doing train puns all week, so you all pray for Jack and Michelle and everyone else at NDRN. They’ve been having to deal with my train puns.
Michelle Bishop:
We had one conversation about trains and we’ve been hearing train puns all week. It is true. And I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten five of these in a row now. I’m going to have to talk to my therapist about that, so.
Stephanie Flynt:
So I’m sorry about the way I’m conducting myself these days. I’m done.
Michelle Bishop:
It just never runs out. Jack, tell the people [inaudible 00:19:41]-
Stephanie Flynt:
Keep chugging along. Okay, I’m done now.
Michelle Bishop:
Tell the people where they can find us on social media.
Jack Rosen:
You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and also Threads, I guess. I did post there the other day, so you can follow us there and you can email us @podcastatndrn.org. Until next time, folks-
Michelle Bishop:
And Threads is totally a thing that I know exists because I’m hip.
Stephanie Flynt:
I’m here for that.
Jack Rosen:
We’re still not on TikTok though. See you.
