In this week’s episode, we continued to speculate about how the legislature will conclude its work for the year. The House is set to meet at the Whittemore Arena at UNH on June 11, but the agenda and rules of procedure have not yet been disclosed. The Senate plans to meet in Representatives Hall, but the no details have been divulged.
Our interviews this week were with Senator Melanie Levesque, who chairs the Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee; Rogers Johnson, president of the Seacoast branch of the NAACP and chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion; and Fiona Davis-Walsh, who organized a Black Lives Matter demonstration Sunday in Conway.
Senator Levesque’s comments were recorded from a presentation to Open Democracy’s Granny D Legacy Committee. After praising the example of Doris “Granny D” Haddock, she spoke about the challenge of getting money out of politics and described her efforts to expand voting rights. Senator Levesque said she will propose an “aspirational” voting reform bill when the Senate reconvenes, as well as a proposal reflecting the work of the Secretary of State’s Committee on Emergency Elections Support, which is expected to complete its recommendations this week.
Speaking with Maggie, Rogers Johnson expressed his reaction to recent acts of racist violence and expressed hope that relationships built up over time between community groups representing people of color and law enforcement leaders can still generate forward steps. He said he finds encouragement in the actions of young leaders who are stepping up even in such distressing times. He also described the creation last week of a special task force looking into disparate impacts on people of color from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fiona Davis-Walsh told Arnie that the Conway demonstration was called in response not only to the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and others, but also as a reaction to the recent violent arrest of Jean Saint Preux in Albany, New Hampshire, close to where she lives. “Racism and police brutality are health crises,” she said.
Our first musical selections this week was “Ella’s Song” from Sweet Honey in the Rock, based on the words of Ella Baker, whose essential role in the 20th century African American freedom movement was largely behind-the-scenes and in support of young activists. We also played Phil Ochs’ “Rehearsals for Retirement,” expressing his despair after the state violence he experienced in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic Convention.
