Hello, I'm Zeke and welcome to The Zekely podcast. Let's talk Pennsylvania. The guest I have today lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and has been laying the bedrock of democratic values for decades. The founding chief executive officer of the New Pennsylvania Project, she has led efforts to raise the minimum wage, fairly fund public education, and protect the state courts from extremist attempts to undermine their independence.

Thank you so much for being here, Kadida Kenner.

I’m Zeke, a doctor, a Pennsylvanian and unapologetic supporter of Democratic values. You might have seen me on social media working my ass off for Democrats and meeting some pretty amazing people along the way - like President Barack Obama and Governor Josh Shapiro.

For years, I’ve knocked thousands of doors all over Pennsylvania and poured my heart and soul into supporting candidates and causes that make a difference—from local school board races to national elections. The personal is political, and I take every election in Pennsylvania personally.

Where the mainstream media has failed you, I will give you truth and independence. You’ll hear from Democratic leaders, candidates, and change-makers who are working to improve the health of the Commonwealth, and it won’t be boring as hell.

No matter where you are, I’ll meet you with hope and a plan to make your community better one day at a time. Welcome to the Zekely Podcast. Let’s talk Pennsylvania.

Thanks for having me.

was at Clark Park in West Philly, right up the street from where I went to college. And I think you were a speaker there, correct? Yeah.

was, I do remember that. Yes, absolutely.

That was organized by JJ and his organization, Commonwealth Communications.

Well, I'm glad that we can meet again. I had no idea that my journey would take you to you, but you do amazing things in the Commonwealth. I want to showcase that. So we're going to talk all about you, play some games, and have some fun, I hope, okay? All right.

Sounds good.

Well, Kadida, when you were younger, during Black History Month, you met Rosa Parks. And I can't even imagine what that would have been like to meet a civil rights icon like that. What did you ask her?

I a preteen, you know, I would say they were 11, 12, somewhere around that age range. And Rosa Parks had come to town for Black History Month to do a speaking engagement at the local high school. My father actually volunteered to chauffer her around while she was in town.

Mm-hmm.

I can't remember a question that I asked her or...

or commentary that went, but I do remember that she hugged me.

I'll never forget that feeling of being hugged by Rosa Parks. I know that at that time, this is when you had the type of cameras that you had to dial through, click through, what was it called?

I know you're talking about. Yeah.

Yeah,

so, you know, this is back in the eighties. And so our family, had taken photos with her during that event and we never developed the film. And I couldn't tell you where it is today. This is the time before selfies and camera phones and such. And so, yeah, it was an old school Kodak camera and we never got the pictures developed.

That's crazy. Plus loss to the sands of time. Well, I mean, I'm jealous. I would have loved to meet Rosa Parks, a number of civil rights icons, honestly, but that must have really sat with you and then just kind of set the trajectory for that moment forward.

recognizing my ancestors and civil rights icons from before my time had just been part of family lore and what we do as a family. so, you know, I didn't need to learn about who she was. I definitely knew who she was probably from a very early age. And so it was just a great experience to be able to spend some time with her.

Mm-hmm.

that's that's incredible.

Kadida, I know

enjoy the show Bridgerton. ⁓ And while I never watched it religiously, I did watch it adjacently while my wife watched it. And it seemed to me like gossip was always the hot topic in general for the show, right?

I do.

Yeah.

So let's play a game called the Gossip Game. Pennsylvania focused. And if...

Okay. Okay.

I want you to tell me if any of these rumors would seem believable to you. ⁓ So speaker Joanna McClinton and state rep Russ Diamond were seen leaving a Zumba class together over the

Okay.

I would hope not. I would hope not. But you know, I'll say

this about my friend, Speaker Joanna McClinton. She's a wonderful person and I believe that she is able to be very cordial to all people. And so if that were to be the case and that was a true thing, I think only Speaker McClinton would be able to tolerate Russ Diamond in his Zumba room.

Hmm. Yes.

Mm-hmm.

I know that Zumba is sacred to ⁓ Speaker McClinton, so that would be quite a scene to see. I probably would not believe that if I heard it, but yeah, I agree, she would be professional. Okay, all here's another one. On the heels of Josh Shapiro's new book, a sequel will be coming out that includes a foreword written by none other than State Senator Doug Mastriano.

Yeah, yeah, I'm not going with that one. I'm not going with that one.

No? Not believable? Okay, fair enough.

No, I'm not believing that one.

⁓ Alright, have two more for you. ⁓ Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis has teamed up with Stacey Garrity for a charity for Pennsylvanians affected by contrails.

Like the speaker, I think that Lieutenant Governor is also an affable person and maybe could get along with anybody. I just don't think that the current treasurer cares too much about contrails. Yeah. Yeah, I am.

Mm.

Okay, fine. You're being very political. I love it. Here's

the last one. P.A. Dems Chair Eugene DiPasquale was rumored to be offering free attorney fees to Attorney General David Sunday for his pickleball startup league called Any Given Sunday.

You know, I can see that in Eugene a little bit. I can see that a little bit. In transparency, Eugene Divasquale is one of our founding board members of New Pennsylvania Project.

You could see that?

I didn't know that.

know, he's also another person into athletics and sports. And so if it has some sports relation to it, it's possible.

Oh yeah.

I could see that. That's probably the most believable, but still. David Sundae, blah. All

Kadida, as I said before, you are the founder of the New Pennsylvania Project, ⁓ which at its core is a voting rights organization. So what inspired you to take on this endeavor and what has been your proudest accomplishment?

Yes.

Yeah, I spend a lot of time working for the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center in Harrisburg and trying to bring about change through policy, trying to raise the minimum wage, which we know is stuck at $7.25 an hour for the last 16 years. Has it moved federally or through the state? Trying to make sure that we're having some fair taxation and making sure that the ultra wealthy are paying their fair share. I've worked a lot

that schools were equitably funded.

As you know, in Pennsylvania, we fund schools based upon property tax and the haper stance of your birth will dictate what type of education you're going to receive in school. Although I received a very good public education out of the Westchester area school district, I'll say. We may not have learned about those poor folks with black history. We absolutely learned about a lot more things.

And so working on all of those things led me to the point where I'm realizing that all these things are not going to happen based upon who it is that sits in Harrisburg and who is representing us.

And the only way to change that is to change who the electorate is and change who's actually casting a ballot. So to learn that there's 1.5 million Pennsylvanians who are eligible to vote, but not registered in this moment, it was a clarion call to me that this could be the difference, that we need to get these folks who historically have been disenfranchised, have their vote suppressed, to be engaged with them in community, get them registered to vote and attempt to mobilize them to the polls. So my proudest moment as, you know,

founding of a voting rights organization is the fact that I'm a job creator,

a great feeling to know that I'm able to hire some folks to help sustain their lives and pay a living wage much greater than the minimum wage of Pennsylvania

be able to pay people to do this work, not rely on volunteers to do this, but actually pay people for their service and their work.

It's an incredible endeavor that you've undertaken

I'm grateful it's here in Pennsylvania. I know you modeled it off of the Georgia project, right? So same model, but you brought it here in Pennsylvania. Well, thank you for your doing. I hope you do it for a long time because we need you very much, so and your organization.

Kadida, you did say that you lived in Westchester for a little while, but you were born in Pittsburgh, correct?

Yes.

Any fond memories of those two areas of the state?

Absolutely, you know, I'm actually trying to cover the state because I've lived in Pittsburgh. I currently live in the Collard counties of Philadelphia. I've lived in Harrisburg for some time, but yeah, to be born in Pittsburgh. I'm a product of the University of Pittsburgh with my parents went to Pitt. And so here I come and grew up in a little bit in Monroeville until like the first grade. My fondest memories of living in Monroeville was going to the skating rink inside the Monroeville mall.

Mm-hmm.

Thanks.

That

was a huge mall back in the day. It had a skating rink inside and on Saturdays I used to have ice skating lessons with a man that looked like Santa Claus.

that's how long did you do it? How long did you skate for?

Just three or four years as a youth when we were living in Monroeville when we moved out to the Westchester area We tried to find a skating rink so I continue with my lessons, but we didn't have any luck and don't

three or four years.

Mm-hmm.

That is a big commitment. Are you enjoying the Winter Olympics? Do you like to watch the ice skating?

I

haven't seen too much of it. I've been kind of busy with this work that I have going on, but I've been paying attention, particularly to ice hockey, women's ice hockey, as I'm a big fan of ice hockey, and I get that from my dad. And I'm really paying attention to Lila Edwards, who is the first Black woman ice hockey player for Team USA, and she scored a goal. And so very excited for her, excited for hockey, excited for diversity, equity, inclusion and access.

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Great. Yes.

Mm-hmm.

I love it.

Hey, thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Zekely Podcast. And if you're enjoying yourself, please take a moment to rate my Podcast. Five stars would be great and leave a comment as well. And if you're watching this on YouTube, please hit follow. OK, back to the show.

Well, we're going to play a game, East v. West, Pennsylvania. OK, I'm going to tell you some things, and I want you to let me know, would it work in Pittsburgh or Westchester? Neither or both. OK, so how about plastic folding chairs to mark a parking spot after clearing the snow? Where would that work? That's a Philadelphia thing. It doesn't happen in Pittsburgh either.

That's a Philadelphia thing.

I'm not sure, I haven't been out there enough to know that, but I know it's absolutely a Philadelphia thing. Yeah. Once the chair is there, if someone cleared out the spot, you know, they're gonna claim it with whatever they have coming out the house to claim that spot.

Okay. Is that that's like a sacred thing, right? Like you don't mess once that chairs are you don't mess with it.

Okay, fair enough. What about Patagonia vests? Where would you see those?

Patagonia,

you know, I believe that they have pretty good politics, that company. But in terms of who wears Patagonia vests, I'm gonna have to go out west. I'm gonna say that's an out west thing.

Uh-huh.

Uh-huh. Out West.

Okay, good, good. What about French fries on a sandwich? Pittsburgh, okay. Here's the last. Salads? Really? I mean, French fries and bacon, you kind of put those on everything. So I can get there. Here's the last one. Wearing your favorite sports team's jersey to a wedding.

that's definitely Pittsburgh. Yeah, and on salads too. I understand Pittsburgh will put them on salads as well. That's what I, that's what I'm understanding. Yes.

to a wedding. You know, I'm a diehard Philadelphia Eagles fan. I don't know if that's ever been done out on this side of the state. I know Pittsburgh Steelers fans, they are my AFC team. Maybe, you know, I would go with both. I think both have that ability. Both sides of the state have that ability. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

I

Okay, both sides. All right. Well, thanks

for playing Pennsylvania East versus

Kadida, you have your own Wikipedia page. Did you know that?

I've recently found that out and I had nothing to do with it. So it was very scary when I first got to see it.

Okay.

That is a huge flex. Okay. At least for me. I mean, that's a definite flex in my world. I feel like when you've reached Wikipedia status, that's like a whole nother level of existence. If you Google me, you'll just find a 2.6 star rating from when I was doxxed by Chapel Rowan fans a number of years ago. So I haven't reached it there. That's pretty awesome. What would you think like when you first saw that?

It was pretty incredible.

I had to read it real fast to make sure how accurate it was. I'll give it a 92%. I scored it a 92 % accurate, my Wikipedia page, but I didn't have anything to do with it. And so to see that it popped up, was nerve wracking at first, for sure.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, and I know you can contest information on there and ask that it can be corrected. So I only hope to see it grow, Kadida, because you're doing great things. So I thought that was pretty cool. I've Googled a lot of guests, and it's rare when they have their own Wikipedia page. So I just had to showcase that.

Yeah.

Well, I appreciate that. And I'll say this is that when I went on there and saw my name in Wikipedia and then I saw if I went to Temple University's Wikipedia page, I show up as notable alumni. And that was even bigger to me than having my own Wikipedia page for me to show up in notable alumni for Temple University. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Notably.

Wow.

That's crazy. Wow.

That's nuts. Well, congratulations. And I'm going to keep an eye on that page.

Yeah, thank you.

Kadida, you are a journalist by trade, Temple University graduate, journalism degree. I say all the time, the mainstream media is failing this country. So what do you tell people who struggle to tell the difference between fact and fiction?

Yeah. So as a journalist by trade, I obviously believe in the first amendment and I obviously believe that journalists matter. you know, shout out to all the independent journalists that are out there in this moment. Give them their props for the work that they do. And we're in a time in which a lot of folks feel like if I have a camera phone in my hand, I'm a journalist, but a true journalist is actually providing information to the people to let them discern what it is that they're hearing, providing the facts. And so

As an organization, a voting rights organization, we spend a lot of time trying to overcome misinformation and disinformation that is out there and exists, which is very hard to do because the more times you see something, the more you might believe it's actually factual. And so I believe that it is responsibility of the press, of the media to tell the truth and tell the truth all the time, even when it's inconvenient or hurts or doesn't, doesn't lead to where you want it to go. But, um,

I think that is a role of the press and I wish that they were in this moment doing a lot more of pushing back and checking facts in real time to ensure that the public is only taking in the truth.

Aside from the fact that they could fact check faster, and even if they do, I just hate when they platform these bigots. mean, just giving them airtime, I think is a disservice to this country. And then thank them afterwards. Like, thank you so much for coming on. You I hope to see you again. I mean, it's just ridiculous. It normalizes this behavior. And I think that adds to the...

the discourse that happens in this country. People see that like, great, I can talk like that to anybody and they're gonna say thank you afterwards. Like no, that's not normal to say those kinds of things. So I'm frustrated. I know as a journalist, you're probably severely frustrated, but I certainly don't run in those circles where I talk to those kinds of people, but I'm always nervous about what am I gonna do when I run into those situations? And I just feel like it's a lose-lose sometimes. I don't know how to address it. I just feel like we have to overcome at some point.

So what was the draw to North Carolina considering, you know, how swingy Pennsylvania has been?

And so coming out of Temple with a brand new journalism

I wanted to move to a smaller media market. And so that's what I did. I figured maybe I can get a job quicker if I moved to a smaller media market coming out of Philadelphia. I had some friends in Charlotte, North Carolina that said I could hang out. And so I moved to North Carolina hoping to get involved in journalism

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

that reached out to by someone asking me if I wanted to volunteer for Hillary's campaign. And I actually said, well, you know, I actually need some work right now. Are you hiring?

I did have some experience in organizing and a previous presidential election. And so they hired me to be organizer for Charlotte, North Carolina. And it was a great experience. I got to meet John Lewis during this time. And so a dream come true.

Mm-hmm.

that ⁓

So I'm sorry. I see that. Yeah, I see that side. When I went to Atlanta with my wife, she's a huge Atlanta Braves fan. That's a whole other story. But when they were in the World Series, we did a walking tour of downtown Atlanta and just the murals of John Lewis, which is so inspiring. was just amazing. I'm jealous. I'm jealous you met Rosa Parks, but I'm more jealous that you met John Lewis. I mean, he...

He's on my back wall too, if I scroll up, there you go.

is another huge icon. So we met so many cool people. I mean, you are a cool person in itself, but you've met some amazing icons. That's really cool.

Oh,

You have. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So there were a lot of surrogates coming through at that time. it was a good

Wow.

Well, I'm glad you're back in Pennsylvania. The Keystone State needs you, so don't get any ideas, okay?

Kadida you once directed, produced, and wrote for ⁓ HBCU Sports Television Programming, as you said. When I thought about you as a journalist, I didn't place you in the sports arena. So how did you fall into that sports position? Was sports always a love from your younger years?

Yeah. yeah.

I mean, I was born an athlete and grew up playing all kinds of sports and living in Westchester. I was able to be introduced to some sports that typically others would not play. So play field hockey. I was actually goalie in field hockey in middle school, played field hockey in high school for some time, played lacrosse in both middle school and high

then also, you know, later on, played basketball all of my life and point guard and

played college basketball, also ran track cross country in college as well. So I'm an athlete, you know, originally an athlete. so following sports has always been important to me and football, you know, we didn't have women playing football during my time. If that was an option, I definitely would have joined some type of women's league to play football.

Mm-hmm.

That's amazing. You've done so much. I embarrassing. I mean, I'm not embarrassed to say it. I say it a lot. I did not have the sports bug growing up. I just was never really that much involved. And I always feel like the odd man out and people talking about the Eagles and the Phillies and everything. But I do live vicariously through people who enjoy sports and I love the commercials and the food. So I partake in my own way.

halfway through the episode and you're still here. I hope you're enjoying yourself Please take a moment to rate my podcast five stars would be great Leave a comment as well. And if you're watching this on YouTube, please hit follow. Okay back to the show

Kadida, why are you a Democrat and why do you choose to represent the Democratic Party?

I'm a Democrat because I believe in the platform of the Democratic Party.

I'm a liberal. I'm a staunch liberal. believe in lots of freedom for folks. I believe

making sure that government is working for people. I believe that

Everyone deserves a fair wage. I believe that people should have access to housing. I believe that the government can do a much better job of ensuring that we all have healthcare. So, you know, the platform for the Democratic Party speaks to me versus any other platform. I would say that I'm a registered Democrat because in Pennsylvania, you really have no choice but to choose one of the two major political parties. And although I do believe in a lot of what historically has been the platform for the Democratic Party.

True.

I could say in this moment that that's not necessarily, you know, who I am. You know, if I have to identify myself, you know, I'm a Black person, I'm a woman. To put myself as to say that I'm a Democrat probably goes down the list of how I identify myself. I would say that I'm a Democrat because I believe in the ideals and the platform of the party. And historically, I know that the Democratic Party, since Eisenhower, has been...

Got it.

party that believes in voting rights, civil rights, and human rights.

And also because I do believe in the traditional platform of the Democratic Party.

Yeah, it's the values, it's the ideals that the Democratic platform have. I mean, look, the Republican Party is just off the rails. I mean, it's a fascist party. And in the world we live in, in the country we in, we have to pick a side. It's the only viable party that's going to save lives at this point in time. I would jump on to any party that has the same ideals or better than the Democratic Party if they could win. You can't govern if you can't win.

⁓ So I'm on the same page as you and obviously the Democratic Party can always be better But it's only better when people who care get involved and I'm glad that you're involved and I'm trying to get involved and inspire other people to go off the sidelines because this only works if we vote and we do something in every

and in

Kadida you organized some civil disobedience protests in DC in the past I feel like there was a time and I would like your view on this

When showcasing the brutality of bigots actually changed hearts and minds in this country and in DC, do you think that civil disobedience today would still have the same effect?

I do. I do believe that civil disobedience still has the same effect. I don't believe in martyrdom. That's not that's that's different. I believe in civil disobedience to raise awareness. And you did your research, Zekes, so to know that I did, I organized three events of civil disobedience, taking folks from Pennsylvania down to Washington, D.C. to exercise our First Amendment rights to say that something was not right. It was not just right to get into my John Lewis good trouble.

Mm-hmm.

And the first instance of that was to stop problematic nominee for third circuit court of appeals in Pennsylvania, represented Pennsylvania.

And it's probably my most proud moment of anything I've done in this work.

It's amazing. I read the key writings of Martin Luther King Jr. and reading that really opened up my eyes as to what it takes to really do civil disobedience.

the fundraising you have to do, the planning, the making sure you have lawyers on standby to get people out of jail, to feed people, to keep people motivated, to keep people focused so as to get out of

it's just so glazed over in the way that at least I was taught about it growing up, but it really gave me an appreciation. This is not something going half-cocked. If you really want to make change, you have to come in prepared because they're going to throw everything at you and they're just waiting for you to give up and walk away. And so I would look forward to something like that on a large scale. But I don't think that many people realize how long it takes for people to care what you're doing and

how long you have to stick it out. I mean, it was 13 months, know, the MLK stuck this out to desegregate the busing. know, this wasn't like, you know, a month or a week, people literally walked for over a year. And so I love that you did this and I'm inspired by it, but I respect the planning and dedication it takes for people to get on board with that. And just to get that massive movement going is not a small thing. So if we want people...

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

to do that kind of thing, you can't just say it. You really have to commit as a community. And so if you're the person to get that going, I'm on board.

Yeah,

you know, it was my first time organizing such of an event. so, you know, I had to look to what has been done in the past, talk to other organizers of previous access civil disobedience to make sure that I wasn't going to take, you know, 12, 14 people down to D.C. and really get us in trouble, you know, and get us into a place where it was going to be dangerous. And so doing the research and knowing if we're going to we're going have to have our bail money needs to be cash.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

We're

going to have to take off our jewelry because we're probably not going to have an opportunity to do that. Probably don't want to drink so much water before we get down there because who knows how long we're going to be incarcerated for and not able to use the laboratory. so yeah, it's just writing phone numbers on our hands because knowing we're not going to have our cell phones with us and who knows people's phone numbers anymore. So, you know, writing phone numbers of people on your hands so that you'll have that when you... ⁓

Mm-hmm.

when you go through the process. So yeah, it took a lot to make sure that happened. And I'm very proud to say that we all went down and we all came back very safely.

Mm-hmm.

Good. And that's the key, coming back safely, but getting your point across, making a difference.

Thank you, appreciate that.

Yeah, I mean, I think that's probably why I got to be in the Wikipedia for Temple's most notable alumni. You know, the recognition is nice. You know, it's just as part of the work though, I appreciate the work much more and it takes a team that enables me to be able to be the front-facing individual for an organization doing incredible work. I will say that I wanna say I was in there twice.

Yeah.

The first time I was like in the 140 area or the second, something like that. And the second time that I was in there, I had gone down a few notches and my dad said to me, what happened last year? You were number this, right? So it's always your parents to keep you grounded. so, so it's nice for the recognition and more, it's doubly nice if it is recognition for the type of work that it is that we're out here doing. yeah.

Mm-hmm, of course.

Well,

well deserved, Kadida, well deserved. I hope next time they give you a number you deserve, okay? I really do.

and they gave me a card. Now I'm a physician, like my day job is I'm a doctor, but they give you a card that they just want to give to the president. And on it, it said my name, it didn't say doctor, it said influencer, which I thought was hilarious. Like I was known by the campaign as making social media content, I was an influencer. yeah, that was kind of funny. So we're gonna play game where I'm gonna give you a type of influencer that you would be, Kadida, and I want you to tell me what your specialty would be, all right?

Thanks.

If you were a healthcare provider influencer on TikTok, Instagram, what would you be? What type of a healthcare provider would you be?

Yeah. Yeah.

Maybe maternal health of some kind. maternal health. Yeah. Obviously we know that that's an issue that particularly black women experience, so maternal health.

maternal health. Okay, I like that.

Okay, here's another one. Foodie. If you were a foodie influencer, what would your genre be?

Probably desserts. Yeah, desserts. Yeah. Now, you know, I don't know where I have this, on one of my social media pages, I have what my favorite thing is, and my favorite thing is baklava. And so, yeah, I'm a foodie for baklava. And I think I appreciate the Greek style more than I do the Turkish style, because I'm not a pistachio girl. I'm a walnut girl.

Mmm, okay, that's a good one. Any particular chocolate person or pies?

Okay.

Yeah,

I like pistachios alone, but not in my food, so that makes sense. All right, I have two more. How about a fitness influencer? What would your fitness genre be?

Yeah. Yeah.

something related to sports fitness.

Okay, you wouldn't be like a jump roping person on social media. No, nothing like that.

Now, now, and

you know, years of cross country running and such took such toll on my knees and all the surgeries I've had. I wish I could get back out there. Maybe something maybe like long distance running because I used to really enjoy that. So maybe like long distance running would be a topic.

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Okay, all right.

Well, here's this last one, extreme sports. Okay, what extreme sport influencer would you be?

Downhill skiing.

downhill skiing. Yeah, that's, I only skied once in my life. I almost tore my ACL and that was the last time I ever skied. So I would respect that very much, but that's a good one.

Kadida, voter ID. Okay, it's something talked about in Pennsylvania a lot, mostly by the Republican politicians in Harrisburg. What would you say to someone who wants to enact voter ID in the Commonwealth?

I'd say you don't need to do that. It's already been done.

I read Stacey Abrams book, Our Time is Now. I thought she'd a really great job explaining the topic and saying, great, you want to have voter ID? Send it to everyone. Just send it. Send it in the mail. Don't make it a barrier to being able to vote. I think that when you say it that way, people back away from the conversation because that's the whole point. When people say voter ID, they want to make it harder to vote, not easier to vote.

or yeah, yeah.

If they found a way to mail out everyone's COVID check, you know, when everyone's on lockdown, you can figure out a way to mail everyone a voter ID card. It's that simple. You know, no problem. We all have voter ID now. But for the people that work two jobs, who don't have a car, who have various other disabilities, they can't go and drive 50 miles to a center and get a voter ID, or they might not have a birth certificate, or number of other reasons, you know.

Sure, sure.

There's lots of reasons

why people don't have access to the types of ID, the more restrictive type of IDs, particularly what's being asked for in the SAVE Act.

Right, exactly. I'm on the

same page with you. And I think as long as we have a democratic governor in the governor's mansion and hopefully a trifecta soon,

we won't have to worry about those ridiculous laws in Pennsylvania.

Wow, you're still listening. Thank you so much. I want to make sure as many people in Pennsylvania as possible get to experience The Zekely Podcast. So to help spread the word, please take a moment to rate my podcast. Five stars would be great. Leave a comment as well. And if you're watching this on YouTube, please hit follow. Enjoy the rest of the show.

The Black community, specifically Black women are the backbone of the Democratic party. 92 % of Black women vote for Democrats, 82 % of Black men. My own demographic, 40 % on a good year. Now it has taken me years of reading.

and self-reflection to recognize that voting against the Black community hurts everyone, including the status quo. But I am hopeful that someday more people who look like me will get it. Are you hopeful at all for that? Or do you think it's not gonna be in my

You know, I never thought I'd see a Black president in my lifetime. So, you know, I'll never say never about a lot of things. I will say

Mm-hmm.

to provide civic education to mobilize white men in this moment is not the top of my list to do. I would much rather spend our time centering communities who have been historically disenfranchised and left out of the

Mm-hmm. Right. Understood.

that does not mean that I don't go and do Y-Courts Matter presentations in a room full of white folks, including white men. And I will say some of my biggest supporters in

know, my rise in the nonprofit world have, I've been supported by white men, absolutely in this work.

now, you know, it's unfortunate for those that are part of

part of the 40%, you know, I feel sorry for them, right? Because you got uphill battle and the conversations you must have at Thanksgiving and Christmas and all the other holidays around the table, I don't envy any of those conversations. I just read something today about a father who killed his daughter because they were arguing about Trump. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah

Yeah.

Yeah.

my god. Yeah,

I mean, I'm not surprised. It doesn't surprise me. It's terrible. That's kind of the new normal in this country. But I don't surround myself with people who have those types of beliefs. I mean, look, I'm a doctor. I treat anyone who's in front of me. I will work with whoever I need to to save lives. That's the oath that I took. But, you know, my house is my inner sanctum. My family is precious to me. And I only invite people in.

Yeah.

who share my values. So yeah, I could never have those conversations. But I try to bridge the divide as much as I can, but I do believe that a lot of this work takes quiet time. It takes time that you do when no one else is around and you make your own discoveries. And for my demographic, that may take a while or never, but I'm not gonna stop trying.

Yeah.

Kadida, as you said, you're also the chair of Why Courts Matter.

I know you've traveled all over the Commonwealth talking to people about the importance of the judiciary in Pennsylvania. How have those conversations evolved over time?

And so my first two years back in Pennsylvania was about all the federal courts. And that's what led to all the acts of civil disobedience, getting arrested three times, trying to stop two third circuit court of appeals judges and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme court where my three arrests. So, you know, early on it was all about the federal courts and trying to...

explain to Pennsylvanians the process for how a judge becomes a judge on the federal level and trying to bring a topic that is not super sexy to individuals to make them care. And the fact that I got 30 plus people to come down and get arrested about a third of the court of appeals judge, I was sure that the subject can absolutely be sexy if you can, you know, if you can speak to it on a level that people understand. I'm not a lawyer.

Mm-hmm.

I find it very sexy.

I'm a journalist, I'm not a lawyer, and I play a lawyer on TV, it seems. And I can break down this legalese in a way that people understand it. It's one of the main reasons people don't advocate for themselves and go into elected officials' offices or make phone calls to elected officials. They feel as though they don't have enough information. And that if you have someone come back to you and say, well, why are you in favor of this thing? And they can't give that quick response, then they feel like, oh, I'm not really in this the way I need to be.

Mm-hmm.

It was most important for me early on to provide that civic education to Pennsylvanians about how a judge becomes a judge because there were so many vacancies and so many vacancies that were going to be in seats for Pennsylvania.

You must have been extremely proud of last year's election for the courts in Pennsylvania. That was incredible to maintain our democratic majority on the state Supreme Court. Judge Stella Tsai, the first Asian woman to be on the Commonwealth Court. had all of them on my podcast. It was great to see them all win. Yeah, that to me really showcased the importance.

of the judiciary in our own state. And Pennsylvania understood the assignment. Thank God they understood the assignment. And thank you for spreading the word through your organization. more people need that education, not just during election years, so that by the time an election year comes, they already know what they got to do.

Yeah. yeah.

Oh

So thank you for that. I appreciate it.

Kadida, what would you say to someone who is disaffected with democracy?

we get that a lot. spend a lot of time trying to overcome objections for reasons why people don't want to be engaged in the democratic process. Why they say, ⁓ the two parties are the same and we have to overcome that. They say, I vote every year and nothing changes, or I stopped voting because nothing changes. So to talk to folks who it's not really just about voter apathy, but

those who are just disengaged from the political process itself, it's just that reminder. And I always take it back to the ancestors and say that this is the only way that real change has ever come about for our folks, has been at the ballot box. And of course, if our vote didn't matter as much, they wouldn't try so hard to take it away from us. That works sometimes, it doesn't work with everybody, right? Particularly if we're talking to younger folks today who may have no idea who John Lewis is. So it is to then try to break down

what it is do they care about, ask them what it is they care about. One of the number of things we do as an organization is when we have young people in particular who say, it's not into politics, you know, we'll say, well, what are you into? And then when they say, well, I'm into going to college soon, I'm into moving out of my parents' house, I'm into all these things. And we say, well, let's break this down how these are all political things you're talking about in this moment. So to overcome, you know, those who just are not feeling the democratic process,

Mm-hmm. Right.

⁓ It is trying to figure out what it is that they care about and relate that back, connect the dots to how that is a political thing and how by voting we can solve some ills.

That hurts me the most, I think, when I find people who just have no interest in participating in the democratic process,

And it's hard to pull people back into the fray. And also because it's a lot of work to stay informed. mean,

I'm not a sports person, but I am always so impressed at how much people know about sports. mean, people who follow the game, they know all the players, the ones who were on the disabled list, who their spouses are, where they were traded to. It's like, if you can keep track of all that stuff, you should be able to keep track of a handful of people who are running in your state legislature, right? I know it's not as exciting. They don't hit people on a field and, you know, they don't do things that many other people can do, but it's still just as important.

It's actually more important, it affects your everyday lives. So thank you for doing that and talking to people. I still find it a challenge to interact with them. It's more just so upsetting to me, but I need to kind of get over that and try and engage them more.

Yeah, you know, I've gone to rooms all the time and talk about voting rights or I engage grassroots groups who want to do voter registration drives. And they always ask, well, what am I supposed to say when someone says this? my response is always if I knew the answer, our organization wouldn't exist. If I knew the answer, we wouldn't have, you know, 1.5 million Pennsylvanians who need to be registered to vote. So, you know, there is no silver bullet for that. There is no precise answer. It truly is listening to what people care about and trying to connect dots.

Kadida, what gives you hope?

gives me hope in these times is knowing that we have overcome before. come from a people of overcomers.

I have faith that we're going to come out of this stronger than what we went into it. think that what I'm grateful for in this moment is that a light has been shined on the various issues.

I'm grateful for the fact that minds have opened up because now they're seeing these things that are happening and they have no alternative but to look.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. ⁓

So I think that we'll

come out of this. I think we'll come out of this better for it because we have no choice but to have real honest conversations and real dialogue. And I think that those that were hiding in the shadows for so long, who we had no idea felt this way. Now we know exactly how they feel.

Well, you give me hope, Kadida. A large reason why I started this podcast is because I needed to talk to people in Pennsylvania who are Democrats, who are waking up every day and trying to make this place better. Because I think a lot of times as connected as we are on devices, we feel very alone. And I need people like you to exist to keep my hope going. So thank you for what you're doing and for keeping the hope alive.

And back at you, I appreciate what you do. know, we started a podcast ourselves, New Pennsylvania Project, it's called Slingshot the Podcast, where we're trying to do exactly what you asked me earlier, is how do you engage somebody who's disengaged? And that's what Slingshot the Podcast is all about. We named it Slingshot in reference to David and Goliath and how David was able to take down Goliath with a slingshot. And so I hope that we can take down this Goliath with just a little bit of hope.

and a little bit of civic education, because I think that's truly all that we really need to overcome a lot of what's happening right now. If we just had the information, I think we'd be in a much better position.

I agree, I'll be sure to promote that podcast.

Yeah, thank you.

My last question for you, Kadida, is what plans do you have to get yourself through these next few years? Because last year was a bruiser, I mean, absolute bruiser.

Yeah, last year was rough. You you would think that an odd year election wouldn't be so much trauma and chaos and all the things, but I put a lot of miles on my car last year. How I'm going to get through the next two years? I have no choice. It's like I'm going to go through it. I think this is where the athlete in me helps me in the work that I do because I've been coached to persevere. I've been coached to overcome. I've been coached to push through the pain.

Mm.

Yeah

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

⁓ And so that's where this has been so helpful for me in this work is that, you know, 60 hour week, I'm going to do it because I have to. because it's a passion of mine and I want to and it's in my DNA. So I'm going to push through for these next few years because I have to and I want to see what comes out on the other side of it.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah, you and me both. We'll be there together.

Well, Kadida Kenner, Pennsylvanian, Democrat, civil rights activist, and in my opinion, an icon. Thank you so much for what you're doing. How can people get more involved and help you at the New Pennsylvania Project?

look us up. We're all over social media, very active on Facebook. It's where a lot of our top supporters and activists live. So we're very active on Facebook. You can find us on Instagram, LinkedIn, all the normal places. I try as hard as I can to get into some of these places and write short form articles and things, all the various platforms that are up, but you can check us out there.

Go to our website. It's a resource information there. Our voter guides are on the website so you can see exactly what you need to take to the polls to vote your first time. And so the website is a great place to go, newpaproject.org. The C3 organization, the nonpartisan organization, newpaprojecteducationfund.org. And so both websites, great places to go to get all the civic education information you need. And if you're interested in volunteering with us or supporting us in our work,

I'm a job creator, we're paying good wages. So if you're interested in helping support this work and investing in our work with your money, we appreciate that too.

Good.

Absolutely. Well, thank you so much. hope it doesn't take another invitation from JJ Abbott to get us together, but I'm going to keep an eye on you and hopefully our paths will cross again.

Thank you so much for joining me here on The Zekely Podcast. Stay hopeful and get involved and until next time, let's keep building a stronger Pennsylvania together.