Ep. 80 - Remapping, Electoralism, & Challenging the Border Myth ft. Stephanie Skora

Bourbon 'n BrownTown

BrownTown chops it up about electoral politics, the remap process post-2020 Census, borders and anti-Zionism, and much more with repeat guest (Ep. 60) Stephanie Skora, movement worker and creator of the popular "Girl, I Guess" Progressive Voter Guide. The gang again takes on the nuances of engaging in electoralism while holding radical politics and the importance international solidarity between colonized peoples. Originally recorded May 16, 2022, before the new Chicago ward map was approved.

Spring 2022 marks two years since the most recent Census where the new representational map of our political reality has changed to, so we’re told, better reflect our lived populations. It has also been one year after renewed worldwide attention on the Israeli occupation, specifically in the Palestenian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. How do we place the remap process within the broader system of American electoralism, for better or worse? More broadly, how do we conceptualize not only the invisible lines of representational democracy based on population in America but also the more militarily enforced borders that manufacture our economic and political reality to justify the state’s existence, globally? This is their take.

Full transcription here!

GUEST
Stephanie Skora is a hard femme Lesbian, trans woman, and anti-Zionist working class Ashkenazi Jew whose activist work centers around Palestinian solidarity organizing, queering Jewish spaces, and fighting for justice and liberation for all trans people. She is the COO of Brave Space Alliance, the South Side LGBTQ Center, the Board President of the Midwest Institute for Sexuality and Gender Diversity, a longtime member of Jewish Voice for Peace, and the author and editor of the "Girl, I Guess" Progressive Voter Guide. Check out Stephanie's site and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Mentioned in episode and more information:

• SoapBox's Census 2020 project
• Nicole Lee and the 11th Ward, Chicago (Block Club Chi)
• The Ferguson-Palestine connection (1, 2, 3)
• Hoda Katebi on holding your institutions accountable

Opinions on this episode only reflect David, Caullen, and Stephanie as individuals, not their organizations or places of work.

CREDITS: Intro music from I Was a Teenage Anarchist by Against Me! and outro music Payback by Immortal Technique ft. Diabolic and Ras Kass. Audio engineered by Kiera Battles.

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