Making Our Returning Citizens Whole (with Desmond Meade)

Baratunde learns to think about sacrifice and having skin in the game in terms of a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich analogy. Desmond Meade, founder of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), reminds us that to error is human and the need for second chances, and how that reminder mobilized a grassroots citizen’s movement that transcended racial and political lines to restore voting rights to 1.4 million Floridians with past felony convictions.  Show Notes + Links We are grateful to Desmond Meade for joining us.  Follow on Twitter. You can learn more about the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition at https://floridarrc.com/. Find Desmond on Twitter @DesmondMeade or on instagram @DesmondMeade44 We will post this episode, a transcript, show notes and more at howtocitizen.com. Please show your support for the show in the form of a review and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords! HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW. ACTIONS FOR THIS EPISODE.  INTERNAL ACTIONS (Actions that help you reflect and explore your emotions and experiences related to these topics or personal actions that don’t involve others) Do you know anyone that you love that’s ever made a mistake? This is the question Desmond used to erase the lines that separate us, and create a circle of humanity around voting rights restoration. Think about it for yourself.  Are you the chicken, the cow, or the pig?  According to Desmond, in a ham and cheese omelet, the cow makes a contribution; the chicken makes a contribution; the pig makes a commitment. We need all three. Put another way, what role are you going to play? Read Desmond’s Book Let My People Vote: My battle to restore the civil rights of returning citizens. Find it in our online bookstore at bookshop.org/shop/howtocitizen.  EXTERNAL ACTIONS (Public actions that require relationships and interaction with others)  Support the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition https://floridarrc.com/volunteer/ Donate or volunteer. Find other people to take to the polls We’ve said this befo