In 2018, Floridians counted the restoration of voting rights to people with prior felony convictions among a host of statewide wins for progressives. That same year, Ron DeSantis was elected governor. While DeSantis’s victory didn’t quite match the statewide trends at the time, his administration quickly changed the political climate. Across the country, “Florida” has now become synonymous with attacks on LGBTQ rights, public schools, and unions. Yet this offensive isn’t only driven by hatred and ideology. It’s also about curbing the power of Florida’s progressives—power that was building steadily before DeSantis came along. State House Rep. Anna Eskamani and Nailah Summers-Polite join The Marc Steiner Show to talk about Florida’s recent trajectory and the prospects for a future progressive comeback.
Anna Vishkaee Eskamani is a member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 42nd District in Orange County.
Nailah Summers-Polite is the Co-Executive Director of Dream Defenders.
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Marc Steiner:
Welcome to the Marc Steiner Show here on The Real News. I’m Marc Steiner, it’s great to have y’all with us. And we’ve been covering the rise of the right for some months now. What’s clear is that their power is rising and we can see it throughout the country in a number of states. But we can also see the resistance to it and the movements building to oppose it and stop it and build a different America, one that was fought for by the unions in the 1930s, the civil rights movements in the South, all the struggles for a more equitable country.
Join thousands of others who rely on our journalism to navigate complex issues, uncover hidden truths, and challenge the status quo with our free newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox twice a week:
Join thousands of others who support our nonprofit journalism and help us deliver the news and analysis you won’t get anywhere else:
Florida is one of those states at ground zero where a blatant authoritarian right wing governor is in power and passing draconian legislation and regulations, banning books. Yes, I said banning books, not allowing the teaching of gender rights, racism, the struggle for equality, threatening teachers with being fired. And on top of that, passing laws to diminish the power of public sector unions, workers in his own home state of Florida. And we can also talk about blatant voter suppression. Well, I can go on and on, but I won’t because I want to begin our discussion with two women, two leaders of the battle for democracy, civil and human rights in Florida. Florida State Representative Anna Eskamani, as she says, is the daughter of working class immigrants from Iran, and a democratic representative in the Florida legislature. And Nailah Summers-Polite, co-executive director of Dream Defenders Florida, which is on the front lines of the struggle in Florida organizing to keep democracy alive. Welcome, good to have you both with us.
Rep. Anna Eskamani:
Thanks for having us. Great to be with you too.
Marc Steiner:
Well, it’s good to have you both. I know that we’re on a little tight schedule. I know you have to run off and legislate here shortly, Anna. So let’s just jump into it. I wanted to start with kind of a background, why the struggle is so intense in Florida and what is happening and how somebody like the governor, DeSantis, is in power and what that really means. How do you feel that threat? And Nailah, I’ll start with you. And then, Anna, jump right in.
Nailah Summers-Polite:
Well, I think Ron DeSantis got into office the first time by the skin of his teeth and didn’t really reflect where the state was at in 2018 around his first election. In 2018, we saw the state vote with a big majority to restore the voting rights of returning citizens or people who had felony convictions. We had a bunch of statewide wins that year. So DeSantis felt like an anomaly in some cases. I think our movement, and progressives that year, felt like we were on the precipice of changing Florida. And I think Ron DeSantis had a sort of last minute endorsement from Trump, who was the right starling and to some extent remains so, but last ditch effort to get DeSantis up into the top. And now he has been able to wreak havoc from the governor’s mansion. And we’re just seeing that become increasingly popular.
I think it definitely says something about the last, since 2016, really, the shift in this country, I think across the country, in the south, to more sort of blatant racism, more blatant attacking of marginalized people. Yeah, I think DeSantis now, given that he barely won in 2018, has really sort of taken advantage of his position to do really reckless and harmful things.
Marc Steiner:
Anna, do you want to join that kind of thought?
Rep. Anna Eskamani:
Yeah, I think that’s a good summary. I also feel like we’re in this situation where there’s a enthusiasm gap between the left and the right in Florida. And you have Democrats that don’t really appeal to the base as much as they need to, so Democrats that are funded by corporate actors, so they’re hesitant to champion type of issues we need to secure a strong turnout. And one that sticks out to me is renters rights, as an example. I represent the city of Orlando and surrounding communities, and we have a pretty large renter population. I’m a renter myself. And championing renter’s rights isn’t only the right thing to do, but it’s popular. In Orange County, we actually passed a rent stabilization emergency ordinance with 59% of the vote. And this week in the legislature, a bill just passed that preempts that stabilization ordinance and it included some construction dollars for developers to help boost affordable housing.
But at the same time, you take away local control and you boost up corporate incentives. And so all the Democrats, for the most part, voted for it, I think only five or six of us voted no on it in the House. And so it’s hard to appeal to your base with exciting, transformational policy when you’re also kind of towing the line of the Republican party. And I think it makes it more difficult to pitch to people why they should vote Democrat in the first place when you don’t offer a strong contrast. And I will say that in my district, we had 11% greater turnout compared to Orange County as a whole. And I feel like that’s in large part to just our work ethic and the services we deliver and the relationships that we build with our community. But it also speaks to the fact that we offer folks not just something to be against, but something be for. We champion those working class issues that help rise all boats.
Because really, the 2022 election cycle in Florida, you can’t talk about unless you acknowledge two points. One is the funding gap. There was a funding gap of at least $250 million between the Republicans and Democrats. And then two, the lack of turnout, and like I said, enthusiasm of Democrats where they’re just were like 1.5 million people that didn’t vote. And so the good news is that it wasn’t like there was long lines for DeSantis. There just weren’t, really, any lines for Democrats. So we have to really try hard to rebuild that infrastructure. And I really do think focusing on young people is a huge area of importance. This is why I invest so much of my time and energy in supporting the next generation of leaders.
Marc Steiner:
So I’m going to come back to what you just said. I’m going to talk about the future and how you build it, where that struggle is going to go. Let’s talk a bit about, for a moment, for many of people who are listening to our podcast who are not familiar with what’s going on in Florida exactly, and how difficult it is. Everything you read about Florida from the changing, not allowing African American studies to be taught in high schools to the end of any kind of gender discussions in schools, questions about race and racism and the history of Florida and all that being cut out and the attack on unions that is taking place, which is fundamental in many ways.
So let’s talk a bit about what you see is going on. I think there’s a great quote I just want to read to you all real fast as we jump into that part of the discussion. But Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, whose father is the great Amiri Baraka, the writer, whose spoke been banned in Florida schools says, “My initial reaction is the country is being pushed backwards. All the places, the universities, everyone who is fighting for Black studies and to cut out entire people out of history is white supremacy at its best and has taken the country backwards.”
In essence, he’s talking about your state. So talk a bit about the situation there politically now, and then we’re going to dive into how you resist that and change it. And Anna, I know your time is maybe a little tighter, so I’ll let you started and then Nailah will jump in.
Rep. Anna Eskamani:
Sure. I think Dream Defenders does such amazing work. And I actually partnered recently with Malik here in Tallahassee to host an organizing bootcamp with FSU, FMU, and TCC students in Tallahassee over the weekend. And it was our second bootcamp that we’ve hosted focused on youth organizing and really trying to empower, not just the sense of engagement, but I would take it to the level of efficacy, because we don’t just want people to show up to a protest. We want you to actually get involved in the process to help organize your community, to help empower your peers to get involved. And a part of that is not just a reaction, but it’s being proactive to building infrastructure and building long-term interest so that you build those muscles for advocacy. Regardless of what field you go into, you have with you a understanding of the personal as political and that your voice counts.
So we are engaging in organizing one-on-one trainings, trying to build up that long-term commitment and interest in civics, while also looking towards the legislature as a means to kind of be that canary in the coal mine. Because I’m also just thinking about the fact that DeSantis is running for president and I need to warn the American people that you do not want that and here’s why. And whether it’s attacks on bodily autonomy like reproductive health and LGBTQ+ lives, whether it’s the lack of affordable housing and the property insurance crisis in our state, the effects of climate change with little to no action alongside the attacks that working class people are facing. As you mentioned, Marc, we have union busting happening right now in Florida. Our governor is anti-worker. People need to know that. So do everything we can to amplify those realities for the rest of the country so the American people realize that you do not want this guy in the White House.
Marc Steiner:
It really raises the question of when you see the blatant effort to destroy public unions and take away union power in Florida and away from public workers. When you see the banning of books, I mean, it’s like the Nazis banned books.
Nailah Summers-Polite:
Yeah, they’re playing it by the book. They’re playing it by the book. There is really a concerted effort right now to consolidate power. It’s happening in Florida, but it’s happening everywhere. They really want to clearly and rigidly define who gets to have a say in, really, any portion of their lives. Florida’s about to do a six-week abortion ban likely this week.
Marc Steiner:
A six week abortion ban, is that what you said?
Nailah Summers-Polite:
Yeah. Six-week abortion ban this week. Yesterday, he signed into law this universal voucher program, which essentially is the ramp to the on-ramp to defund public schools that they’ve been trying to do in Florida for long before DeSantis became governor. Like you said, the anti-union measures, all of the censorship in schools. It is a concerted effort to be like, we’re taking things from you blatantly. And right now, the way that the legislature is set up, there’s not a whole lot for our legislators to do. And so that’s like, it’s why organizing right now in Florida is important. It’s always important. And everywhere, any era, there’s always going to be somebody who’s fighting to take away our rights. But organizing in Florida right now is so important, because our options in the legislature are so limited. We have champions like Anna, we have champions like Angie Nixon and Michele Rayner and a few others. But yeah, organizing and building power outside of that to push back against what we’re seeing, it’s such a dire time to be doing it.
Marc Steiner:
I’d like to jump in here with one thing that Nailah just said to explore what that means for people listening to us today. Nailah, when you said the limitations happening in the state legislature of power. And I’d like Anna to speak to that. And then, what does that mean?
Rep. Anna Eskamani:
So I affirm that point and I think it speaks to the necessary inside outside strategy that we need to win. So a few amazing colleagues were just mentioned, Representative Michele Rayner-Goolsby, Representative Angie Nixon, Representative Ashley Gantt, I’ll throw into the mix as well. These are amazing women, and women of color, that have been leading the charge and fighting back, but we can’t do it alone. And so we really do try to leverage our relationships with organizations on the ground in our communities to raise awareness about legislation and to, again, create as much opposition as possible.
One of the worst bills right now, and there’s several, so I don’t want to rank them because they’re all bad, but House Bill 999 is this omnibus attack on academic freedom, higher education, diversity, academic inclusion, and would essentially abolish sort of majors and minors, abolish DI, insert political orthodoxy into general education classes and abolished tenure. That’s a quick synopsis of how extreme this bill is. And we know it’s unconstitutional, we’re fighting back like our lives depend on it and the future of Florida depends on it. And that first committee hearing more than 200 people testified against the bill. And though they were only given 30 seconds to testify, which is a joke, the message was loud and clear to the point where when the Senate heard their version of the bill, they actually amended it to remove the abolishment of majors and minors. And so we have to keep pushing, pushing, pushing.
And I know sometimes it feels like no one’s listening, but you have these little wins when you least expect it. And we do have to celebrate it and continue on and just continue to embrace our everyday folks, build power in a collective way with our communities and talk to folks. I do so much just social media interactions during session because I know that not every person’s watching the Florida Channel like I am. So I try to take my news junky self, my wonkiness, I try to break it down to make it more accessible to everyday people so there is a sense of connection, engagement that will continue beyond legislative session. Because that’s what it takes to win. We don’t need you to just be active now, session is a very good organizing opportunity because things are happening in the moment, but we need to sustain that energy over time.
Marc Steiner:
So let’s talk a bit about now about how you, and Nailah, you can begin this and how you begin to organize against that. How do you organize a fight against this massive power of the right that has money coming in from outside, lots of money coming in from outside, from some of the most right wing think tanks in America and organizations in America to back these campaigns? And so talk a bit about, not just what resistance is and how you organize against it. What do you do?
Nailah Summers-Polite:
Yeah, Dream Defenders has been an organization in Florida for the last 10 years so we have chapters all over the state. We’ve got a membership on and off college campuses and communities across the state. And part of what we’ve been doing is talking to our membership, having community conversations. We, on February 23rd, helped to organize the statewide walkout day against [inaudible 00:16:52] students on college campuses. Anna was at FSU and helped put a lot of this together with a couple other organizations. But we staged a walkout. You’re ways raising awareness. You’re showing that we’re young people, but we’re not going to take this laying down or we’re not going to take this quietly.
One of the other things that we’re looking at is another big sort of National Day of Action. Coalition right now has been a huge part of how we’ve been fighting this. There’s a ton of organizations in Florida that have been fighting this nationally. You’ve got Kimberly Crenshaw and her coalition. You’ve got a bunch of other organizations nationally that are looking at Florida wanting to help and are helping us plan these big days of action. But honestly, it’s the relationship building, as Anna said, on the ground, that is, our movement needs to grow.
Marc Steiner:
So Anna, before you have to run, you’re in the state legislature and you have organizations like the American Legislative Council, known as ALEC, this very right wing group writing legislation that secretly goes to the state legislature and the governor. You’ve got the Charles Kochs, Americans for Our Prosperity and the State Policy Network for the James Madison Institute, Freedom Foundation. You’ve got all these national organizations lined up to make Florida a case study in how the right wing takes over America. And that’s what you’re facing.
Rep. Anna Eskamani:
That is what we’re facing. And we need to have a plan to fight back. We need to have not just the Florida plan, but the national plan to fight back. And I do think a part of it is that infrastructure piece and also not being afraid of our base. Republicans are not afraid of their base and our base are not insurrectionists. Our base are people that want universal healthcare, that want corporations to pay their fair share, that want student debt canceled, like economic justice and a fair chance at the American dream, and we shouldn’t be afraid of that. We should be helping the success of the American people by listening to our constituents and championing their issues in a meaningful way.
And I know I mentioned this earlier, but I do think that it’s important to note the role of money and politics have so many of the most extreme conservative policy proposals are coming from the DeVos family and other places, right wing think tanks. And so we need to invest in our own idea development, which is the definition of power. Power is organized resources, organized people, and organized ideas. So we need to work in a multicultural, multiracial, multi-generational, and a multi-class way to build power across those three variables and to do it in a way that has a long-term vision. I don’t think we’re going to flip Florida in a short period of time. I’m thinking it’s going to be eight to 10 years, but it’s better to start now than never.
Marc Steiner:
So as you have to leave, Anna, do you both have hope? Do you both see a light? Do you see that this can actually happen, that a movement can be built that crosses the lines that Anna was talking about, Nailah, that can actually make this happen?
Nailah Summers-Polite:
Absolutely. And we have a lot of it. Obviously, it needs to grow and needs to get to scale, but we have unions working with racial and economic justice organizations here in the state of Florida. We’ve got politicians that are really champions of the folks in Florida. We’ve got college campuses and professors. We have the real makings of an extremely powerful movement. And I would never count Florida out. History also tells us that as bad as Florida’s leadership can and has been, people of Florida will never be counted out. Our movements will always succeed.
We were just in Tallahassee looking at the, they’re like mile markers of the civil rights movement from the [inaudible 00:21:03]. We know that legacy. We walk in it and we have relationships with elders. We have Sahara Simmons here is a SNCC elder from Florida. We’ve got Charlie Cobb, another SNCC elder. So we are connected to movement. We know the legacy that we’re walking in. It takes time. It takes time. Like Anna said, resources, it takes resources. So we’re building the thing. Don’t count us out.
Marc Steiner:
I’m not going to do that. Anna. so you have the same optimism?
Rep. Anna Eskamani:
Absolutely. The answer to despair is action. And really, nothing good comes out of experiencing despair. We need to build hope. We need to shape our future. And I’m proud to be a Floridian who’s committed to that vision and we’re not going anywhere.
Marc Steiner:
That’s what I want to hear. I want to thank you both. We’re going to come back to both of you and into Florida to tell more of this story. And I’m looking forward, hopefully, to get to Florida to be able to tell the story and bring it back for them, because there’s so much the both you are doing and there’s a history in this country of our fighting and fighting back and fighting for. And you mentioned those elders, I guess that’ll be me too. It’s kind of scary, but it’s true. So I really do appreciate you taking the time.
We’ve been here talking to our two great guests here today with Florida State Representative Anna Eskamani and Nailah Summers-Polite, who is the co-executive director of Dream Defenders Florida. And we will be checking back in with Florida and exploring the struggle in many other states as we cover the rise of the right. And as importantly, if not more importantly, the resistance to it and the fight for the future. So I want to thank both you for being with us today. It’s been a pleasure to have you on the air.
Nailah Summers-Polite:
Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Rep. Anna Eskamani:
Thanks so much.
Marc Steiner:
And I’ll be harassing you all. This will not be the last time you join us. We’re going to continue to look at Florida. Thank you both so much.
Nailah Summers-Polite:
Got an invitation. Come on, we’ll host you.
Marc Steiner:
Cool. I’m there. Thank you both so much.
Nailah Summers-Polite:
Alrighty, take care.
Marc Steiner:
So I hope you all enjoyed our conversation today with Florida’s state Representative Anna Eskamani and Nailah Summers-Polite co executive director of Dream Defenders Florida. And we’ll be checking back in with Florida and exploring the struggle in many of the states as we cover the rise of the right and the resistance rising against it as we fight for our future. And thank you all for joining us today. Please let me know what you’ve thought about the conversation you heard today, what you’d like us to cover. Just write to me at mss@therealnews.com and I’ll write you right back.
And while you’re there, go on over to www.therealnews.com/support. Become a monthly donor and become part of the future with us. So for Cameron Granadino, David Hebden and Kayla Rivara and the crew here at The Real News, I’m Marc Steiner. Stay involved. Keep listening and take care.
