Our Bodies Are on the Ballot

EPISODE OVERVIEW: You researched the candidates. Then you hit the questions at the bottom of the ballot. A’shanti sits down with Chris Melody Fields Figueredo of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center to break down the ballot measures that will shape your life long after November 3. Next Week: Episode 3, "Our Bodies Are on the Ballot," drops Wednesday, October 28. It is the final episode before Election Day, and it is all about reproductive freedom. Ballot measures are on the ballot, and so are our bodies. The Brown Girls Guide to Politics is a production of The BGG Media. Hosted by A’shanti F. Gholar. This season is produced by Cinthia Pimentel of Ombie Productions. Our audio engineer is Kayden Wong. FULL EPISODE OVERVIEW: Thirteen days out from Election Day, A’shanti takes us inside the voting booth. You know your candidates. You know their policies. Then you reach the bottom of the ballot and find four lines of language written so you won't understand them. Too many voters skip those questions, and we live with the answers for the next ten years. This week, The BGG goes past who is on the ballot to what is on the ballot. A’shanti is joined by Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, Executive Director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC), who has tracked ballot measures in every state for more than seven years. In this episode: The three big issue areas on 2026 ballots: democracy itself, economic justice, and bodily autonomyWhy anti-tax measures could drain funding from public schools, parks, and fire stationsReproductive freedom measures in Idaho, Nevada, Virginia, and Missouri, and the wave of anti-trans measures across five statesHow lawmakers are raising signature thresholds and supermajority rules to make citizen-led measures harder to passWhy Florida's 2024 reproductive freedom measure won 57% of the vote and still failedWhy winning on Election Day is not the end: implementation is where measures are being lostHow to read a confusing ballot measure and figure out what a yes or a no really meansAbout Our Guest Chris Melody Fields Figueredo has been BISC’s Executive Director since June 2018, bringing two decades of experience in advocacy, creating collaborative spaces, and movement building. She has devoted her career to social justice and ensuring our democracy works for “We the People.” She is the first queer woman of color to lead BISC, where she focuses on organizational vision, strategy, and fundraising. She believes ballot measures can be a tool for liberation, if we use them to build power, dismantle systems of oppression, and center the communities most impacted by the change we seek. Chris is Venezuelan-American, raised in Texas. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her daughter and border collie. What Do We Do? Three things to do before Election Day, Tuesday, November 3: Pull up your sample ballot. Your state or county election office has it. Read it all the way down, not just the names.Learn the measures. Start at ballot.org. Find out who wrote each measure, who is funding it, and what a yes would actually do.Tell at least three people what is on your ballot. Your group chat counts. Be that girl who lets everyone know what the measures are and how to vote to keep great laws in your state.Resources Mentioned Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC): ballot measure tracking and resourcesVote411: personalized ballot guide from the League of Women Voters, with your sample ballot by addressVote.gov: links to your state election office, where sample ballots are postedCommunity voter guides: Chris recommends plain language guides from state-based community organizations and your state's Progress Now affiliateListen and follow The BGG Listen now: rebrand.ly/bggpodcastWatch on YouTube: The Brown Girls Guide to PoliticsConnect with The BGG Read the blog for weekly roundups, explainers, and election resources, and follow @thebgguide everywhere for clips from every episode. Blog | The BGG Blog | thebgguide.com/blog Instagram | @thebgguide | instagram.com/thebgguide X | @thebgguide | x.com/thebgguide Facebook | @thebgguide | facebook.com/thebgguide YouTube | The Brown Girls Guide | YouTube channel Newsletter | Get Updates | thebgguide.com/signup Pre-order How to Change Everything A’shanti’s book, How to Change Everything: What We Can Learn from the Women Reshaping Politics, publishes March 23, 2027 from The New Press, and pre-orders are open now. With a foreword by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, the book features fresh interviews with over 50 women reshaping politics. They include former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Congresswomen Lateefah Simon, Emilia Sykes, and Nikema Williams; Stacey Abrams; Gloria Steinem; Alexis McGill Johnson; and Skye Perryman. Pre-orders count toward first-week sales, so ordering now is one of the best ways to support the book. Pre-order: thebgguide.com/change-everything-book

Episode 1 opens Season 12 with Ashley Shelton on what the gutting of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act means for voters this November, and how to protect your ballot anyway. The Brown Girls Guide to Politics is a production of The BGG Media. This season is produced by Cinthia Pimentel of Ombie Productions. Our audio engineer is Kayden Wong. About the episode: Before we talk about who is running, we have to talk about whether your vote is going to count. Season 12 of The Brown Girls Guide to Politics opens with the rules that changed this year. A’shanti is joined by Ashley Shelton, President and CEO of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. Ashley was a plaintiff in Robinson v. Landry, the case that gave Louisiana a second majority-Black congressional district. Her organization then intervened in Louisiana v. Callais, the case the Supreme Court used to gut Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Ashley explains in plain language what Callais did, why it reaches every level of government, from Congress to the school board, and why the fight isn't over, with the case headed back to federal court in Shreveport on October 27. She makes the case that racism is expensive, that the confusion around voting this year is intentional, and that the only answer is unprecedented Black voter turnout. They also get into state voting rights acts, why electing a Congress that holds the line matters this November, and the voters we assume are already voting but are not. Ashley closes with her takeaways: check your status, know the law, pick how you vote, and never go to the polls alone. In this episode: How the Power Coalition organizes Louisiana voters year-round, from door knocking to a policy agenda built on deep listeningCallais in plain language: from a fair map in Robinson v. Landry to the gutting of Section 2Why Reconstruction-era amendments are now being used against the voters they were written to protect“Racism is expensive”: what packing Black voters into one district costs the people drawing the mapsWhy the confusion about voting this year is intentional, and how to tune out the headlinesEarly voting, voting by mail, and why to get your ballot in days aheadState voting rights acts, including Louisiana’s Senate Bill 365, and why representation is the heart of citizenshipThe redistricting fights to watch after the midtermsAshley’s takeaways, plus why you should bring the kids and get the stickerAbout the guest: Ashley Shelton, Founder, President and CEO: Ashley K. Shelton is the Founder, President and CEO of the Power Coalition, a statewide 501c3 table in Louisiana. The Power Coalition uses a broad-based strategy that combines community organizing, issue advocacy, and civic action all while increasing the capacity of community organizations throughout the state to build and sustain power. Mrs. Shelton has led both C3 and C4 strategies to move more than a million voters throughout the state of Louisiana having significant impact in elections in the major metros including New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport. Since our inception we have focused on moving infrequent voters of color, increasing voice and building people power. Our integrated voter engagement approach has changed policy at the municipal, state and federal levels as well as move infrequent voters of color to vote at the same levels as chronic voters in the communities where we run a full get out to vote program. What Do We Do? Three things listeners can do today, built from Ashley’s takeaways: Check your registration. Purges have hit voter rolls this year, so confirm your status and check it for the people you love. If you have a past conviction, look up your state’s rules, because you may be eligible.Pick how you vote and make a plan. Early, by mail, or on Election Day, choose your method and a backup. If you vote by mail, get your ballot in days ahead and drop it off in person if you can.Never go to the polls alone. Bring a friend, a neighbor, a cousin, and bring the kids so they see what voting looks like.Links and resources Power Coalition for Equity and Justice: powercoalition.org, with Louisiana sample ballots, constitutional amendment breakdowns, and early voting locationsFollow the Power Coalition: @PowerCoEJElection Protection hotline: 866 OUR VOTE (866 687 8683), for questions or problems while votingYour sample ballot and registration status: your state Secretary of State or local election officeThe BGG: thebgguide.comConnect with The BGG Read the blog for weekly roundups, explainers, and election resources, and follow @thebgguide everywhere for clips from every episode. Blog | The BGG Blog | thebgguide.com/blog Instagram | @thebgguide | instagram.com/thebgguide X | @thebgguide | x.com/thebgguide Facebook | @thebgguide | facebook.com/thebgguide YouTube | The Brown Girls Guide | YouTube channel Newsletter | Get Updates | thebgguide.com/signup Pre-order How to Change Everything A’shanti’s book, How to Change Everything: What We Can Learn from the Women Reshaping Politics, publishes March 23, 2027 from The New Press, and pre-orders are open now. With a foreword by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, the book features fresh interviews with over 50 women reshaping politics. They include former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Congresswomen Lateefah Simon, Emilia Sykes, and Nikema Williams, Stacey Abrams, Gloria Steinem, Alexis McGill Johnson, and Skye Perryman. Pre-orders count toward first week sales, so ordering now is one of the best ways to support the book. Pre-order: thebgguide.com/change-everything-bookFormat: hardcover, ISBN 979-8-89385-071-0

After a year away, The Brown Girls Guide to Politics returns for Season 12! A'shanti F. Gholar is back with news she's been waiting to share: she now fully owns the podcast, which is produced under The BGG Media, the new home for the show, the conversations, and the community. The mission has not changed. Women of color are still talked about instead of talked to, and this is still the place for the context behind the headlines, the races nobody covers, and the women doing the work in their own words. What has changed is the stakes. The 2026 midterms decide who controls Congress, who runs our state capitols, and who oversees our elections, and November sets the table for 2028. Over four episodes, the season covers protecting the right to vote, what is actually on your ballot (including the measures that outlast this election), the closing argument on reproductive freedom, and, after Election Day, what just happened and what comes next. Every episode ends the way it always has: What do we do? In this trailer: Why the show went quiet and what A'shanti was buildingThe BGG Media and what full ownership changesWhy women voters, and women of color in particular, are the margin of victoryThe four Season 12 episodes and when they dropKeep up to date! The BGG website: thebgguide.comFollow the show on social media: @thebgguideSubscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listenCheck your registration and find your polling place: vote.orgA'shanti's debut book, How to Change Everything: What We Can Learn from the Women Reshaping Politics, is available for pre-order! Featuring nearly 50 women reshaping politics, with a foreword by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. Out March 23, 2027. Reserve your copy: https://www.changeeverythingbook.com/pre-order

In March of 2025, A’shanti Gholar co-hosted the inaugural event of the Persist network – a network dedicated to uplifting women and their voices. It was hosted at Diane Von Furstenberg’s studio in NYC, and was a convening of women who are putting in the work day in and day out to fight back against the current administration. In this bonus episode, presented by Way to Win, A’shanti and Tory Gavito, President and Co-Founder of Way to Win, talk about what they are both doing to persist in the face of it all. They talk about what they’re seeing in Washington D.C. and in their communities across the country, and what we can do to continue fighting back each day. We also hear from attendees of the event, and get a sense of what the energy was like in the room. The Brown Girls Guide to Politics Podcast is all about amplifying the voices of women who are too often forgotten in media coverage. Host A’shanti Gholar leads conversations with women changing the face of politics. In the BGG to Politics blog, A’shanti created a space for women of color to learn about the current state of politics, to support others breaking into the political sphere, and to celebrate incredible women changing the course of the country. A’shanti founded the blog in 2018 and Wonder Media Network is thrilled to extend her platform to audio. Way to Win is a donor network that invests in data, new media, and grassroots power to win long-term political change. Follow The BGG Instagram: @thebgguide Twitter: @thebgguide Follow Way to Win: Bluesky: @waytowinus.bsky.social Substack: https://chartingthewayforward.substack.com Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/charting-the-way-forward/id1774772361 Instagram: @waytowinus Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As part of a special season on Project 2025, A'shanti is zooming in on two key states -- Arizona and Florida -- which have served as a model and playbook for conservative education policies. Among these are school vouchers, book bans, and cuts to public school funding. A'shanti is joined by Maria Polletta, an education equity reporter with the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, and Michi Ceard and Muah Dahn, organizers with Florida Student Power, to explore the impact of these policies.   The Brown Girls Guide to Politics Podcast is all about amplifying the voices of women who are too often forgotten in media coverage. Host A’shanti Gholar leads conversations with women changing the face of politics. In the BGG to Politics blog, A’shanti created a space for women of color to learn about the current state of politics, to support others breaking into the political sphere, and to celebrate incredible women changing the course of the country. A’shanti founded the blog in 2018 and Wonder Media Network is thrilled to extend her platform to audio.   Follow The BGG: Website Twitter Instagram   Follow Wonder Media Network: Website Twitter Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.