Episode 153: Ohio is Soaring to Higher Heights
L. Joy is constantly teaching us that all elections are important. On this episode, she shares a discussion she co-moderated for Higher Heights Glynda Carr. This “She’s Got Next, Ohio Edition” spotlights their conversations with candidates running in Ohio’s 11th Congressional District’s special election, Nina Turner and Shontel Brown.
Our Guests:
As president, CEO and co-founder of Higher Heights for America, Glynda C. Carr is at the center of the national movement to grow Black women’s political power from the voting booth to elected office.
In 2011, Carr and Kimberly Peeler-Allen co-founded Higher Heights to address the dearth of organizing resources for politically active Black women and the lack of support for those who were considering seeking elected office. Through her leadership, the organization has developed several innovative programs and efforts that have quickly solidified its reputation as the political home and go-to resource for progressive Black women.
Carr is the co-creator of #BlackWomenLead—a powerful coalition movement that is creating an environment for Black women to run, win and lead—and the Higher Heights-powered #BlackWomenVote, a nonpartisan voter-activism campaign that serves as an independent and trusted voice for Black women’s political concerns. Her work to date has helped to elect 11 Black women to the U.S. Congress–including one to the Senate–and increase the number of Black women holding statewide executive office–including helping to elect the first Black woman to serve as New York State attorney general.
Carr has appeared on the 2018 Essence magazine Woke 100 list. She has contributed to CNN.com, TheRoot.com, Ebony.com, HuffPost.com and BET.com; appeared on Cheddar, FOX News Live and MSNBC; and has been interviewed and quoted in the Washington Post, New York Times, US News, BuzzFeed and numerous other outlets.
Nina Turner, the oldest of seven children, grew up in a working-class family in Cleveland’s Lee-Harvard community. Her mother was a nurse’s aide, and her father was a truck driver. Experiencing the impact of income inequality firsthand, Turner took her first job at age 14 to help support her siblings and keep the family afloat. Turner’s mother battled high blood pressure her entire life and died at age 42. This experience exposed for Turner the serious problems with our healthcare system, especially for Black and lower-income families. After working her way through college and graduate school (she earned an associate’s degree from Cuyahoga Community College and a bachelor’s and a master’s from Cleveland State University), she started a career dedicated to keeping Ohio working families afloat too.
Turner made history in 2005 as the first African American woman to represent ward one on the Cleveland City Council, and again in 2008 as the first woman to serve as a state senator in Ohio’s 25th District. In the legislature, Turner repeatedly defended against attacks on women’s health care freedom and partnered with working families and organized labor to protect collective bargaining rights. As a champion for criminal justice reform, she led the effort to create Ohio’s first task force on police and community relations in the wake of tragic police killings in Ohio and across the country. Turner went on to serve as the chair of party engagement for the Ohio Democratic Party, leading the effort to build a more robust and inclusive organizing infrastructure and support for local Democratic candidates across the state.
Turner took her record of accomplishment and commitment to justice to the nation when she became a national surrogate for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign and national co-chair for Bernie 2020. In those roles, she traveled coast to coast, building support for progressive values such as a $15 living wage, free education from kindergarten through college and health care as a human right in the form of Medicare for All. Her extensive travels showed her the incredible commonality of the struggles faced by people in communities across the country. Between those two campaigns, Turner served as the president of the national grassroots political organization “Our Revolution.”
Nina Turner is a wife and mother and proud grandmother. She is a former assistant professor of history at her alma mater Cuyahoga Community College, a member of Sigma Gamma Rho, and the host of the “Hello Somebody” podcast on iHeartRadio. When Turner is not speaking truth to power, she enjoys traveling, working out, cooking and spending time with her family and friends.
Shontel M. Brown is a proven leader and coalition-builder who brings unmatched experience and vision to the OH-11 Congressional District race.
Shontel stands with everyday people. She stands for affordable, quality health care, jobs that pay fair wages, a strong public education system, and equity and justice for all. Shontel stands with us for a better Cleveland, Akron, and 11th Congressional District.
A native Clevelander, Shontel began her service as a Warrensville Heights city council member in 2012. She went on to be elected to Cuyahoga County Council where she currently serves.
Her district is one of the most diverse in the County, with constituents in the City of Cleveland, inner, and outer-ring suburbs.
In 2017 Shontel was elected Chairwoman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, leading the largest Democratic county in the state. She made history as the first woman and the first Black person to serve in this role. She continues to work tirelessly as Chair to strengthen the Party and engage voters and activists across the County delivering consistent Democratic victories throughout the county.
Prior to entering politics, Ms. Brown established a printing and promotions company called Diversified Digital Solutions that supports small to mid-size businesses with their marketing needs.
Ms. Brown earned an Associate’s Degree in Business Management from Cuyahoga Community College and volunteers as a Youth Ministry Leader at Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church. When she’s not working, Ms. Brown enjoys spending time with family and friends. Ms. Brown is chair of the Human Resources, Appointments & Equity Committee.
Homework:
Help people get #CivicallyEngaged by putting together the information on who represents you and what each of those offices do in a pamphlet, booklet, or hand-out. Then share that with your community.
Check out
Higher Heights for America, the only national organization providing Black women with a political home exclusively dedicated to harnessing their power to expand Black women’s elected representation and voting participation, and advance progressive policies. https://www.higherheightsforamerica.org/ and Higher Heights Leadership Fund https://www.higherheightsleadershipfund.org/
Higher Heights for America PAC is the only political action committee exclusively dedicated to electing more progressive Black women at the federal and statewide levels and as mayors in the 100 most populated U.S. cities. https://www.higherheightsforamericapac.org/
