Vote YES on Prop 50! – ep.178

In this episode, we highlight a recent Proposition 50 Virtual Town Hall, hosted by the Stockton Branch of the NAACP in partnership with The Links, Incorporated (Stockton Chapter), the California Association of Black Lawyers, and WAPA. This timely conversation explored how Proposition 50 could shape the future of representation and resources in our communities.

Our distinguished guests—Michael Tubbs, former Mayor of Stockton and founder of End Poverty in California, and Carmen Nicole Cox, attorney and founder of The Cox Firm for Law and Policy—break down what’s at stake for our families and future generations.

As you listen, remember that every election is an opportunity to make your voice heard. Take time to understand what’s on the ballot, learn about the issues, and participate in the democratic process—whichever way you choose to vote.

Join us for this powerful and enlightening conversation: “Why Proposition 50 Matters.”

Melyssa Barrett: Welcome to the Jali Podcast. I’m your host, Melyssa Barrett. This podcast is for those who are interested in the conversation around equity, diversity, and inclusion. Each week I’ll be interviewing a guest who has something special to share or is actively part of building solutions in the space. Let’s get started. Welcome to the Jali Podcast, where we share stories that inspire action, amplify our voices, and honor the legacy of those working to make a difference in our communities. I’m your host, Melyssa Barrett, and today’s episode is all about your vote, your voice, and our future. Recently, the Stockton branch of the N-A-A-C-P in partnership with the Stockton, California chapter of the Links Incorporated, the California Association of Black Lawyers and wapa hosted a special proposition 50 virtual town hall. This timely conversation explored how Proposition 50 could influence the future of representation and resources in our communities. It’s important for every one of us to understand what’s on the ballot, how it may affect our neighborhoods, and why inform participation makes such a difference. We were joined by two incredible guest speakers, Michael Tubbs, former mayor of Stockton and founder of End Poverty in California, and Carmen, Nicole Cox, attorney and founder of the Cox Firm for Law and Policy. Together, they unpacked what’s at stake for our families and future generations. As you listen, remember that every election is an opportunity to make your voice heard. Take time to review your ballot, learn about the issues, and participate in the Democratic process, whichever way you choose to vote. Let’s dive into this vital discussion why Proposition 50 matters. Hello, my

Evan Wade: Name is Evan Wade. I am chair of the Political Affairs Committee for the Stockton branch of the N-A-A-C-P. And on behalf of the Stockton branch, we want to welcome you to Online Forum for today. On today we are giving awareness on Proposition 50 Statewide, the N-A-A-C-P-A nonpartisan organization has made a statement of yes in support of Proposition 50 as it relates to a wider civil rights issue that affects all of us in the United States of America. And so we have an opportunity here in California to help to balance the power as it relates to Congress. And so I want to welcome at this point the president of the Stockton branch of the NAP to come to the DAAs and to officially welcome us. And then from there we’ll have an invitation by Reverend Edmund Green.

Edmund Green: Good evening everybody. I want to say welcome on behalf of Stockton, NACP. And it is a pleasure for you all to be here. And it’s a pleasure for us to bring the two outstanding speakers that we have to educate our community and our voters. And hopefully you’ll leave here and go and educate the people that you know that are not with us and share this information and we will have it ready for people to view in the future. Thank you for coming tonight. Welcome, welcome, welcome. I didn’t see Reverend Green. I’m going to ask Reverend Curtis Smith to give us a invocation.

Curtis Smith: Let us pray. And Father, we just give you praise, honor and glory. Lord God, we thank you for this time that you’ve allowed us to come together. We pray heavenly Father, for this convening, Lord God, that we will speak to us through our leaders, Lord God, through our teacher heavenly Father. Lord, give us the divine wisdom that we need in this moment. God, to redeem collective action, Lord God, and to move forward heavenly Father, Lord God, and to lean towards heavenly Father. Let us come out of this space more educated, more knowledgeable, and more aligned, Lord, Lord God, in your master name that we pray Jesus name, amen.

Evan Wade: Amen.

Edmund Green: Amen. Thank you. Turn it back over to you, professor Wade.

Evan Wade: Thank you. We’ll now have a second of committee member Kimberly Ley comes to introduce our first presenter.

Wormsley: Hello everybody and good evening. I have a distinct pleasure of introducing Michael Tubb, the former mayor DA and founder of In Poverty, in Poverty has who has become a national icon in the fight of justice against social injustices. As a passionate advocate for systemic change, he is now running for Lieutenant Governor, bringing a vision of progress and youth. Today we stand at a pivotal moment with proposition safety on the ballot which could reshape governance and impact our communities significantly. Understanding its implication is crucial for all of us. Together we can engage in this issue and ensure our voices are heard in the upcoming election. The stakes are high and your participation matters lest unit to both learn and understand the fundamental elements of Prop 50 so that we may advocate for a future rooted in equity, opportunity and justice for all. And now without further ado, introducing former mayor Michael Michael, if you can take it away.

Michael Tubb: Yeah, well thank you Council member Wormsley. And before I start, let me first say it feels so good. I wish it was in prison, but it feels so good to be sort in Zoom. We used to be in Zoom all the time a couple of years ago, Mr. Bivins and Ms. Bivins since high school, pastor Smith since 2012, Gloria Johnson. I remember knocking on your door when I was running for city council in Western Ranch and the support and insight you gave me dire, I remember started calling you after every planning convention meeting to get a read as to what was voted on, what wasn’t. I’m going to get in trouble. I saw Vice Mayor Martin on the call who I’ve known since I was a high schooler on the Youth Advisory Commission. And I say that because it’s inspiring to see Shere Wil Bond. I’m going to get in trouble.

Lemme stop listening on your names. Y’all know who. But let me just say, I think it’s inspiring to see all you guys still doing the work and all the call at a time where so many people have been bonded or have given up and have quit it. And what’s exciting about Prop 50 and why I’ve been spending so much time on Zoom’s talking about Prop 50 is that it’s the one chance we have to put sort of deeds to our words. People talk about how they don’t like ice kidnapping people. People talk about how they don’t want to see their healthcare premiums double. People are talking about how they don’t want to see the retirement and social security go away. And people are talking about how they want to see a democracy in this country. And the one way we can do it is making sure that prop 50 passes.

And I know for my folks in sa, Joaquin County and in Stockton, there’s another narrative being painted that somehow Prop 50 is bad for folks in San Joaquin County and folks in Stockton because of the additional seats that are being added. And my response to that is it doesn’t just matter that someone is from the same city that you’re in in the seat, although that’s important, it matters what they advocate for, it matters what they’re fighting for. It matters what they’re pushing for. And the only chance we have to stop this MAGA deism, the only chance we have to make sure that we’re able to continue to move the ball of civil rights forward is to make sure we have a fighting chance at the house. And as you all know, the genesis of Prop 50 is that Donald Trump realizes that kidnapping people raising prices on everything, taking away healthcare, robbing from the middle class and the poor to give to the rich is actually deeply unpopular.

Politics actually isn’t a winning message or winning frame. So he called the governor of Missouri, he called the governor of Texas and he said, look, I know y’all did this redistricting thing, but I need y’all to find me more seats. We got to make sure we enshrine this MAGA rule, this white supremacist rule frankly forever. And then what California, and the thing is in those other states, the people don’t only get to vote, the legislature just got to draw new maps, disenfranchising black folks, disenfranchising Latino folks, disenfranchising folks who deserve a country that works for them. So all we said in California is if the rules of the game are changing, we’ll be foolish. We’ll be dumb to play by old rules that don’t exist anymore. Why should we play by rules that no longer exist? That makes no sense. That’s like playing basketball. That’s five on five now, three on three, three on three six on the court like they used to in the 1940s.

The rules changed. So the game changed in the same way that’s what’s happening here. The rules have changed. Donald Trump once again has changed the rules and has cheated. And for once we’re standing up and saying no two could play that game. So Prop 50 is really about ensuring that we have a fighting chance. And what’s beautiful about it is our legislator just didn’t make the decision. They’re giving it back to the voters. But what we need particularly in the Central Valley is for folks to vote yes on Prop 50. Because again, I know I’m on Facebook, I see the messaging about no one 50, no one 50, no one 50, no one 50 will do nothing to improve the quality of life. Nothing to make our community safer, nothing to give us more access to wealth and jobs, nothing to make us healthier and nothing again, to give us a fighting chance to continue the civil rights tradition.

NAC P is a part of. So again, thank you all. You all are on these calls. You guys have been on every call I’ve been on since 2012, so I know you all get it. I think the work before us now is figuring out how do we get other people to get it and to understand that we can’t just think about what’s right in front of us. We can’t just think about what’s right next door to us. We have to think about the whole state and the whole country and how the rules have changed and we’ll be foolish and we are guaranteed I’ll end with this. We are guaranteed to lose any game playing by rules that no longer exist. If you playing Uno like it’s goldfish, guess what you are going to lose. If you playing chess like checkers, guess what you are going to lose. And if you’re playing redistricting like we’re playing in 2010, bipartisan redistricting, you are going to lose because those rules don’t exist. And the hope is that after prop 50 we can get back to normal. And that’s the goal, that’s aspiration. But we’re not there yet and we have to play the win because so much is on the line.

Carmen Nicole Cox: Thank you Michael, for that very moving message in regards to why Proposition 50 is so important. We do have just a couple of questions for you. Are you okay with answering a few?

Michael Tubb: Always. I’m not Katie Porter. That’s rude. Y’all recording. Lemme be quiet. I’m going to get in trouble. See,

Carmen Nicole Cox: I was trying to think of a joke. I’m glad you said it. Okay. So you mentioned how it’s important for the Central Valley. Can you go into maybe a little more detail on how this measure or what this measure would mean for communities like ours in San Joaquin County?

Michael Tubb: Yeah, so what it means for San Joaquin County is actually in a way increased representation where you’ll have more than one representative who represents Stockton or San Joaquin County and Congress, which I think is important to have more voices, particularly more voices that are more aligned with our agenda, our agenda being one of inclusion, of opportunity of justice, and of everyone having a fair shot in this government working for everyone. And I would say if you look at the people who are against Prop 50 locally who are very vocal about messaging and how it’s bad for Joaquin County, it’s actually not bad for the county. It’s bad for their interests and it’s bad for their party. There are mostly Republicans who are saying that, and I think in San Joaquin County we have some of the highest rates of poverty in this country. We have some of the highest rates of unemployment.

We have one of the lowest median incomes. We have low rates of college attainment, we have high rates of co-morbidities and bad health outcomes. And we need a federal government that has a department of education, a federal government that has common sense health policies like you should get vaccines if you’re sick. And today they said circumcision causes autism, but girls also have autism. So how does that make sense to get to a sense of normalcy and government working, this is what’s required. So I think for Central Valley, there’s so much at stake because of all the issues from healthcare to unemployment to wealth to home ownership. We need the federal government to be a partner and this current administration isn’t doing it. And if they’re able to keep power, not just now, but two years from now and two years after that and two years after that, things are already bad for our communities will only get worse.

Carmen Nicole Cox: Okay, and then another question, why is it significant that the voters not the politicians, have the final say in approving proposition five or an emergency congressional district map?

Michael Tubb: Yeah. Well, there was a lot of good work done and many of you on this call were part of the redistricting process. Were part of that coalition of folks who sat down thought hard and thought about what maps make sense for our area. And that was good work. It’s not to say that work wasn’t important, that was good work that was winning work when those were the rules. But the rules have changed. But what I appreciate is we’re saying, or the state saying, look, you’ll have a chance to approve it still. Your voice still matters. It’s not being done to you. This’s not done for you. It has to be done with you. And again, because these other states that are doing this, they did it without y’all. Remember in Texas, all those people left for two weeks. These folks were fugitives for two weeks because they rejected the maps and the maps weren’t going to the people. No one in California is leaving. Even the no on 50 people, they’re still here. They didn’t have to leave the state to talk about how they feel. And I think for me, that just clarifies why the stakes are so high and why is that so important? And that’s why we have to vote because we could all feel some type of way. We could all Facebook and next door type of way, but if we don’t actually vote, remember how you felt November 5th, 2020 fourth

When we woke up November 4th, all cast our ballots we’re like, yeah, we might be close, it’s going to be close. But we going, I think we got this. And then we all went to bed like, no, we did it again. No, this is going to be really bad. I’m not trying to have any of those feelings anymore. I’ve had enough for a lifetime. These last nine months have been exhausting. So this is our chance to make sure we don’t feel the same way we felt the day after the election last year. It’s crazy saying it last year, the election that was last year.

Carmen Nicole Cox: Yeah, absolutely. And think of where we would be if things were just a little bit different or if we came out and vote. And San Joaquin County is a low turnout voting county. So what would you say to encourage people to get out and vote?

Michael Tubb: I would say unlike voting for this is not even voting for a person. There’s no one to disagree with their views, misinformation, you heard the way they laugh. That’s not even a consideration. This is literally about do you want to live in a country that has elections? Do you want to live in a country where people who share your worldview, who share your concerns, who have our community’s best interests at heart, have a shot at making the changes that are necessary for us to thrive in some cases for us to survive. And honestly, given everything that’s happened in the last nine months, voting is the least you can do. Voting is the easiest thing you can do. Voting is the floor, not the ceiling. Right? And it’s like you have a chance to actually change something. You have a chance to actually make an impact.

You have a chance to vote and see what that vote does in a very clear way. And we can’t win if we don’t vote. And the thing is, the polls say that the yes on 50 people are winning, but the no on 50 people are very energized. They have energy around this. They’re like, this is our chance to win forever, to win indefinitely. Because again, how Congress works, it’s a numbers game. It’s about seats. And if one party has more seats and they know they’ll have more seats by the people who live in those seats, they’ll continue to do the things that they are doing because there’s no consequence, there’s no pushback, there’s no threat of losing the house. And that’s a scary place to live. So we have to vote. And it’s not even a full ballot. I get it. The ballots be super long.

You got to look up like 20 judges you’ve never heard of and propositions. And I was like, well, why are we voting on it? I’m confused. Yes, no and no. Yes. This is not the election. It’s one question, do you want to live in a democracy? Yes or no? And the answer is, do you want to have healthcare? Do you want your kids to have access to higher education? Do you want people not to be kidnapped and deported? And the thing is, I’ll be quiet after this, but again, they started with unquote undocumented folks, but who were they arresting in Chicago last week? What babies were zip tagged on the school night? Black folks whose citizenship is going to be under attack yet next because the birthright citizenship and amendment to the constitution was done after slavery to make sure black folks could be citizens career property before that. Right. So the stakes are very high. So it’s a yes on citizenship. Yes. On democracy, yes. On lower groceries, yes. On healthcare, yes, on just having a fighting chance.

Carmen Nicole Cox: Okay. Well thank you Michael. Again, it’s so good to see you. We appreciate your time. I don’t see any questions in the chat, so we’re going to go ahead and move forward to I believe. Thank you, Michael. If Stevens is coming, but thank you

Michael Tubb: Again and good to see you, Carmen. Me and Carmen did this a couple of weeks ago with B Wapa and had a good time. So you guys are in great hands.

Carmen Nicole Cox: Absolutely appreciate you, sir. Good to see you. Thank you, Michael. You’re welcome.

Michael Tubb: Thank you Ms. Bivins.

Evan Wade: Thank you. Wow. What an amazing speaker. Let’s give him a big round of applause as best we can on Zoom. We can put that up and okay, she’s clocked. Okay. My granddaughter taught me that I’m so excited to have had Mayor Michael Tubbs and just very thankful that we were one of his mentors because he is just doing amazing work. And so now we have another amazing speaker that I’m privileged to introduce Bivins, and I’m a member of the National Board of Directors coming to you this evening to introduce the president of the Cox Firm for Law and Policy. The firm provides strategic legal counsel to individuals and businesses and develops and executes dynamic political and legislative campaigns for organizations and candidates. She is a self-described liberation attorney focusing on bringing people of color into the fight for liberation. For 15 years, she has served as a trusted advisor to the California leaders and all three branches of state government, including in her role as Deputy Legal Affairs secretary for Governor Jerry Brown, chief of legislation at the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, deputy district attorney in San Joaquin County. And prior to founding the Cox Firm, she served as director of Government Affairs at ACL U, California Action and Chief Counsel of Public Policy and Advocacy for United Way, California Capital Region. She is our expert on Proposition 50. If you will help me welcome our expert this evening, attorney Carmen, Nicole Cox

Carmen Nicole Cox: Greeting. James, thank you so much for reading my entire biography and I really appreciate it. I definitely appreciate y’all making some space for me to be here with you this evening. Just before I was here, I was actually with black law students and they were being hosted by the Orange County NAACP because NAACP is all over this since very, very early on, and I appreciate, I’m not sure if people realize what that means really to have NAACP as a nonpartisan organization saying this literally is not about party politics. It may be a particular party that is inflicting the injury and harm. This is universal. This is about saving lives. I appreciate Mayor Tubbs speaking about the policies. I was a political science major and I remember one of the lessons that resonated with me the most was that the question is what do we win in elections?

We win policy. That’s why we vote, right? That’s why we have fought for our liberation at the ballot box because it’s about the rules that we either do or don’t have to comply with. It’s about the programs that either are or are not available. And Prop 50, from my estimation, is absolutely about whether we continue to have a co-equal branches of government. I actually, because if it’s okay, really what I wanted to do tonight is look at the language of the proposition. I just want to, what is the thing? What is the thing? What is it going to do? We go, yes, or you can lean and we go, no. What is it going to mean? Proposition 50, the Election Rigging Response Act. Oftentimes we think about propositions and maybe what comes to mind for us is that the folks who are standing at the grocery stores or the libraries or the laundromats and they’re asking for our signature because they’re trying to put something on the ballot.

Proposition 50 did get placed on the ballot, but it was placed on the ballot by the California legislature as Mr. T had already described. The origin story is Texas came out and said historically, when this is the party didn’t say there are 435 seats in the US House of Representatives. They’re all up for reelection or election this year or in 2026. Trump is experiencing relatively, not relatively, he’s underwater with his favorability. And Mr. Chubbs explained to us why, and we’re watching Why real time. Real time. We can see the actual harm. We can see this man asking for a Nobel Peace Prize while waging war, but brother on brother, sister on sister, literally mobilizing troops that are trained to go deal with armed folks, armed aggression on foreign territory. He’s sicking them and attacking them on us right here at home while also asking for a Nobel Prize as a peacemaker, these policies aren’t popular.

Typically when the policies aren’t popular and the president’s not popular, the voters respond. The way the voters respond is the party in power loses the house. The writings on the wall. Trump said, oh no, because this is what he does when he’s losing, he’s a sore loser. See, he’s like, how do I cheat? How do I rig the system? So he went to Texas and they were like, sure, no problem. Even though the reason they were drawing new maps in Texas is because the court had just struck down their existing maps told them that these are likely to violate section two, go draw new maps. Texas didn’t go ask, Hey court, what do you think? Because that’s not required anymore. Texas was sued. Those maps were found to be likely to violate the Voting Rights Act. They were told to go draw new maps. They went and drew new maps and what did they do?

They drew our good sister representative Jasmine Crockett, right off the map, Al Green. We all want to see him and his cane on the floor, giving it to him, speaking truth to power drew him right off the map. And then as Mr. Tubb said, the folks in the state representatives in Texas, they fled and they stayed gone. While they were gone. They were on the phone with California, y’all, our hands are tied. What can you do so that we can reintroduce Trump to boundaries so that we can go back to having co-equal branches of government where the US Congress doesn’t just rubber stamp whatever Trump wants. So they were on the phone with California. California’s response was Proposition 50. It moved through the legislature very, very quickly. When you get your ballot, and we all have our ballots, by the way, I think pretty much everybody got their ballot and we need to fill ’em out and turn ’em in because they plan with the mail. I’m recommending folks use their local mail, drop boxes, vote early if you’re going to vote by mail, and if you are going to vote, if you can drop it off at a Dropbox so that your local election officials can retrieve it without having to use the Federal Postal Service.

Melyssa Barrett: Let’s pause for a moment. We’ll be right back.

Carmen Nicole Cox: So Proposition 50 is an amendment to the California constitution that is necessary because currently the California Constitution says the legislature doesn’t draw maps. The redistricting commission draws maps, so the proposition first before it does anything else, it reinforces that the state of California believes in independent redistricting. And then it goes on to urge US Congress to pass federal legislation so that nationwide there is independent redistricting. Because what? You can’t have this patchwork, which is what we’re experiencing now, which is where some folks can draw new lines whenever they want and they can do it on a party line basis, on a partisan basis, and then other folks can’t. So then they’re stuck with no way to respond. So Proposition 50 says everybody should have non-partisan redistricting commissions. It is in fact an amendment to the California constitution because the Constitution currently gives the authority to the Citizens Redistricting Commission.

Very important. As Mr. Tubb said, this is temporary. So if the voters adopt Proposition 50, the new maps will apply for the 2026 midterms for the 2028 general election and for the 2030 midterm election. The reason being is that it pauses the, if we didn’t have Prop 50 or if prop 50 doesn’t pass, the redistricting commission won’t draw new maps until 2031. Anyway, they draw maps on the other side of the census. What this says is if prop 50 passes, they’re going to draw maps on the other side of the census, so that doesn’t change. That’s when they were scheduled to draw the next maps, but the maps they’ve already drawn were scheduled to be in place until they draw the next maps. Prop 50 says, Hey, California voters, if you so wish to counteract the five seats that were stolen, taken by Texas, adopt these maps, and we believe that we can get those five Democrat seats that they took, that we can get ’em back here in California.

I’ve already explained to you all that this is a response, and we keep talking about Texas, and that’s because as this was moving through the legislature, it was Texas who was threatening. And so the California legislature said, well, this will only go into effect if Texas does. In fact, redistrict before it even got out of the legislature, Texas did in fact redistrict and they never sent it to the voters. But it’s not just Texas in Missouri, which is the other state that has completed the process of redistricting, did the same thing that they did in Texas and Texas. They drew new lines only in black and brown areas went after Jasmine, Crockett, Al Green, some brown folks, folks who were legitimately represented or elected by their constituents in Missouri. They went after Edgar Cleaver ii, the only black person representing the state and Congress in the first place.

But then there’s also New Hampshire and Florida and Nebraska and Indiana and South Carolina. Prop 50 is, I kept hearing Mr. Tub say, it gives us a fighting chance. It gives us the fighting chance. That’s what it’s about. I know folks, a lot of people who are thinking, what do I care about? What’s happening in Texas and in Florida? Should we change? Why should I change what I’m doing here in California because of what they’re doing elsewhere? One of the things I’d like folks to think about, especially when we’re in these black spaces, is the Congressional Black Caucus. It’s not very many of ’em in the first place. And if the Republicans just get to keep drawing them off the map, the three black folks we send, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Congresswoman Latifah, Simon and Congresswoman, Sidney Lagger Dove, if we send them up there, but they keep losing their comrades, they’re less effective for us.

And on top of that, this is supposed to be a co-equal branch of government. If we don’t have a fighting chance to put folks in these seats who will actually push back, it won’t be. That’s why we keep talking about authoritarianism and fascism. It will be kings. We will have a king. We will have a king because there won’t be anyone putting him in check. So that’s why it matters what’s happening in Texas and Florida. It impacts the strength of our vote here. It impacts the work that our folks can do, and it also impacts the policies that we can move across for the benefit of all of the United States, California in particular as the most populous state in the union. I think it’s super important to name, because I don’t only talk to folks who are, yes, on Prop 50, I talk to all kinds of folks, and people do often ask, well, how is this impacting black and brown folks?

How did they, did they take five Republican seats? Well, of the 52 seats, 52 representatives that we send to Congress, nine of them are Republican. If the outcome of Prop 50 is as the proponents want only four, there will only be four Republican districts in the state of California. And the question is, well, how did they do that? Well, they absolutely had to draw maps that pulled more Democrat leaning voters into areas that previously had more Republican leaning voters. That’s what they had to do. It’s partisan. We got to call it what it is. The whole point is to take five Democrat seats. They had to do that by putting Democrats, mixing Democrats into other districts. That’s how it happened. We do understand that the maps do not violate the Voting Rights Act, and there’s not been a single legal challenge under the Voting Rights Act.

There have been two other legal challenges that failed. The court dismissed almost out of hand, and then there’s one that’s pending right now. The gentleman who brought it is actually running for Republican candidate for governor, and he said that because there is a, because Prop 50 used data from the 2020 census, it actually violates the one person one vote rule because he’s like, populations come and go. If we’re using 2020 data, how do we know that these new districts do in fact put an equal number of folks into every district fair? The folks who drew the map said, well, we didn’t only use 2020 date though. There’s an American Community Survey. There’s data that is collected every single year. So they say they’re actually relying on accurate and more up-to-date data than just 2020 than just the 2020 census data. But that’s the current case that is pending right now.

There are no cases pending saying that black or brown votes have been packed or cracked to the point where they dilute the vote. So I think I just wanted to name that here, but they absolutely put more Democrats into Republican districts. That’s how they got to the additional five. Who’s for and who’s against real, real quick. The people who say they’re against, except for the Republican party members and the candidates, it is my observation that Mr. Munger, Mr. Schwartzenegger and some of the members of the initial redistricting commission, they’re standing on principle. They genuinely believe in the redistricting commission. They’re not saying, oh, this hurts one ethnic group, or they genuinely believe that independent redistricting works. But Mr. Tubs has just explained to us how neutral maps are no defense when the other side is drawing maps that attack. But I will just say that I do believe that, for example, the Terminator does believe in independent redistricting commission.

In fact, I think everybody believes in the commission and everybody wishes the commission could operate as normal, but we’re not under normal circumstances. So George Soros, he is four. He is also a billionaire like Mr. Munger who’s against, he funds a lot of liberal causes. NAACP is here, the San Diego Urban League, plant Parenthood, because you know, how else are we going to reverse the big ugly bill that essentially defunded Planned Parenthood California Teachers Association is supporting in part because he is aiming to dismantle labor unions, which especially for black folks, has been how we have been able to get insecure jobs after we fought to be able to get into the unions in the first place. So those are the folks who are for and against. I’m going to stop there and just take breath.

Evan Wade: Okay, president, are there any questions in the chat for attorney Cox? It says, how will Prop 50 affect redistricting in California?

Carmen Nicole Cox: Yeah, so we have 52 districts. We’ll continue to have 52 districts that didn’t change. The three districts that are sort of historically held by black folks, those were not touched at all. Those were the three unnamed waters, lager and Simon, it does create in a couple of places. So for example, Mr. Tes was just sharing with you all how in the San Joaquin region, instead of just having one person who represents the entire region, now it’s been split. And so you’ve got two. So that happens in a couple of places down in the Huntington Beach area, which is historically very, very conservative. Very conservative that they’ve taken those folks and drawn this line that pulls them inland again, to put more Democrats in those seats in that district up north, it’s like district two or four. They’ve taken these coastal community, this coastal community that’s very, very blue and drawn it all the way over to these very red, mountainous rural areas in order to get a district.

The whole point of this, look, the reality is the only way that we could counteract Texas taking five is to take five. And they had to go in and find a way to do it without violating the Voting Rights Act, without disrupt significantly disrupting communities of interest. These are folks who have shared interest and they had to do it in a way that they chose also to do it in a way that actually shored up some of the other districts as well. So districts that were maybe more competitive for Democrats, they made them more likely to be Democrat leaning as well. So that’s probably the biggest point, and it changes those maps for the next three elections, 26, 28, and 30. And I would say that that’s the biggest change.

Evan Wade: That brings us to another question in the chat. It says, what stops Texas from just redrawing the maps? Again, if California passes Prop 50,

Carmen Nicole Cox: We’ve all been dealing with deadlines. So for example, our good brother West, governor West out in Maryland.

Edmund Green: Yeah, Maryland, west Maryland.

Carmen Nicole Cox: Yeah,

Thank you, sir. He’s looking into it. What can I do? What can I do? Timing is an issue. So I don’t think I’ve not heard, I’ve not read anything to suggest that we are at risk of Texas redrawing again, but you saw that list that I gave you with South Carolina and Ohio and Florida’s happening. Look, he just is New Hampshire. Trump is primary threatening to run someone against a Republican incumbent because the governor refused to engage in gerrymandering in advance of this 2026. So folks are running out of time, which both hurts and doesn’t. In some ways it’s good because only so many more folks can come on. So many more of the red states can come on, and there are more red states that could redistrict than there are blue states, just to be clear. So from a numbers perspective, that’s why California matters so much. There’s not a whole lot of us who can even do this, but it’s crunch time. So folks are either going to move or not real soon here because the primary is in June, right around the corner. Alright,

Edmund Green: There is another question from Danielle Bush and the question, and I’m going to read the second question first, and she says, out of curiosity, since Prop 50 only gives the legislature temporary power to redraw district maps, what safeguards are in place to protect black communities from losing representatives both during this period and once control shifts back? How do we make sure that their voices aren’t erased in the process? So if you’ll answer that part, then I’ll go to the other part.

Carmen Nicole Cox: If I understand the question, it’s like, okay, so we vote on it now and then what’s the stop? Especially because the no side is like, oh, they’re saying it’s temporary, but it’s not. There’s a permanent power grab in terms of, the first thing I want to do is say that it gives the legislature the power to draw the maps, which they did, but the maps don’t go into effect unless the voters adopt, right? So that’s prop 50, that’s November four. That’s why we have to show up one way or another in terms of what prevents them from extending this temporary nature of the maps. Well, prop 50 itself and our constitution, the Constitution gives the authority to the commission. Prop 50 comes in and says until 2030, these are the maps that are going to exist. So in terms of your guardrails, it’s that they have to send another proposition back to the people, back to the voters to again amend the Constitution to either permanently take the authority away from the commission or to again, temporarily take the authority away from the commission.

And that’s also one of the guardrails to prevent us from the intentional or otherwise attack on black voters. At least for now, we do still have the Voting Rights Act, so folks would be able to sue under the Voting Rights Act, which we have not seen here with Prop 50. And there’s also the fact if they put racist maps in front of us, we’re not voting for them. And the one thing I’ll say, we live in this democracy. We’re not in the middle of a revolution. We’re in the middle of resistance. A true revolution will be burning this ish all down. It don’t work, but we’re not. We are resisting within the parameters of the democracy. And part of how we do that is the ballot box. It’s what the NAACP has helped us to do for decades and decades and decades. We show up and we fight for our civil rights and our liberties at the ballot box. And so in the end, this is how you say, what are the guardrails? It really is voting, which is why we have to show up. And if they put some racist maps before us, we vote no and we suing and we calling them out and we’re marching. So we’re doing all the things. Those are the guardrails that we have in this system that was not actually created for us.

Edmund Green: Okay. I’m going to ask you a question that’s closer to home. September 9th, the board of supervisors of San Joaquin County voted three to two support Prop 50 after two of the supervisors proposed a resolution to vote no on Prop 50. Do you feel that the work that we did, and of course you were a major player in working with us on developing talking points to convince the supervisors that it was important to vote yes on Prop 50. So do you think that may have had an impact on keeping a snowball effect from taking place? No. I’m 50.

Carmen Nicole Cox: I definitely think that you all stopped what could have been a train wreck. For sure. And this goes back to the question around what are the guardrails? Those are it. We got to pay attention and we got to advocate at every opportunity. We all have some power. Not everybody was able to show up with you all at the County Board of Supervisors meeting to bat down that effort to denounce Prep 50. Not everybody was able to do that, but for those of you who were, you were able to make a difference. And there are other ways that folks who can’t show up someplace in the middle of the day can make a difference because we almost all doom scroll, whether it’s on Facebook or LinkedIn or Instagram or the TikTok or the threads. It’s everywhere. We’re on everywhere. So people have the ability and have got to really lean into their power of speaking their mind because it is powerful.

You showing up. If you had not showed up, there would’ve just been one side. All the voices that the elected officials would’ve heard would’ve been all the reasons why Prop 50 is bad. And because we all believe the majority of us believe in nonpartisan, redistricting. Imagine if y’all weren’t there to give the Yeah, nonpartisan and redistricting is great. I read somewhere it’s like you can’t stop a cannon ball with a paper towel. So our maps right now, our paper towel, and that was great when Bounty was the answer, bounty ain’t the answer right now. So I absolutely think y’all showing up made a huge difference and it put y’all on record. It set the pace for y’all to go the other way and for the county to actually endorse Prop 50.

Edmund Green: Okay, thank you for that one. I want to say thank you for the work that you have done in San Joaquin County, not just on this item, but on many issues around protection of people of color, and that we need to have collaboration, not just here in our county, but around the country. So we got to make sure that we keep doing this and we keep pushing it up until the election day. You mentioned about people checking their voter registration. Should they do that with the state or should they do that with the local registered office? What recommendations do you bring to the table and suggestions around the voting that will take place in approximately three weeks?

Carmen Nicole Cox: November four. So first, because there’s all this wonky stuff happening, if you are not sure, you’re going to sos.ca.gov. That’s what I give. That’s Secretary of State. Our good sister, Dr. Shirley Weber is our Secretary of State. You can go there, you can check on your voter registration. October 20th is the last day to register online. And I think you all, I may have seen some resource in the check. October 20th is the last day to register to vote online, but Fred knocked because we believe in democracy big in California. So even though you can’t register after October 20th, you can show up in person at a vote center and you can register to vote same day. You can register to vote on the day of the election, you’ll get a provisional ballot. Once they confirm your dets your details, then your vote will be counted. So super important to register.

We should just do that. I mean, you know what would be really fun, like family bonding is if we just all jumped on a group, me or Zoom or a FaceTime call with five of our family members the next day and we all just checked our voter registration, wouldn’t that be fun? It’s like a pizza party and everybody just checked their voter registration and we just all make sure we’re all registered to vote. And if we’re not, we don’t even have to fret about that. We’re still going to vote. We just going to, if it’s after October 20th, we going to show up in person. I’m going to say again, if I didn’t say it here, vote early, early, early, early, early, early, early. This man, your president has said that he’s not postmarking mail-in ballots on election day. Now you make that make sense. Election day is the day to vote.

Why would election day be the day when you choose not to postmark my ballot? Also talking about cutting off your nose, spite your face, because Republicans vote by mail too, which should make us all concerned. He doesn’t even care about the numbers, y’all. If he is willing to stop everybody’s vote from being counted, he don’t care about, he is intending to steal because he’s a sore, sore loser, sos.ca.gov. I think you all might have some different link. Please, please, please, please, please, yes, you’re going to vote because you’re here, you’re engaged. Please tell other people. Just call up a friend and say, Hey, real quick, let’s check our voter registration. You’re already registered. But they don’t know and they don’t know that. So just do that.

Edmund Green: Okay? And I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for this informative

Presentation that you brought to the citizens of San Joaquin County and other counties. I see people on here from other counties realizing that this is extremely important. And I think the other thing is that this is not just impacting African-American people or black people, but all people of color. So for those of you that have friends, family members that are other ethnic groups, it’s important to share this information and to get them engaged and get them to understand why they need to vote and why we need to make sure that everybody’s at the table. Because even though we as black people are being picked up by ice in some places, the larger number of people, including some white people, are being picked up under this administration and sent off to countries outside of the United States that they may know nothing about or don’t even know the language as some of our English as the second language learners are here.

So again, I want to thank you so much, Carmen. Without you, we would not have some of what we have here in San Joaquin County or Sacramento, and I know you make a daily difference in Sacramento, so I’m just thankful that you had the time to share with us. So thank you, thank you, thank you. Can we all give you a round of applause or a clap or electronic clap or whatever, but thank you for coming. We will be taking this and putting it online so that people can come back and look at this. And for those folk that were not able to make it tonight, to be able to look in and get information in particularly about the maps. And it’s important that people understand that in 2030 when the Voting Commission redraws the maps, that’s something that happens every 10 years anyway. So it’s not a new thing, it’s just that they will go back to the regular process in five years to write the ship if the ship needs writing.

So I want to thank you very, very much. We want to say thank you all for coming tonight. We want to say that we hope you got questions that you had answered. We hope that you will spread the word to family members to at least five family members or five friends and ask them to do the same thing because we need a heavy voter turnout. San Joaquin County, generally around 28, 20 9% voter turnout, even in the general elections and presidential time. But we need to show up as black folk. We need to show up as brown folk. We need to show up as non-English speakers, though family members that can vote need to show up. The NACP is hosting almost daily workshops. We are doing lawsuits every day throughout the United States in an effort to protect the civil rights and voting rights of African-American people that we have earned the right to have and fought for since 1909.

So let us not forget that here in San Joaquin County, we’ve been fighting this fight since 1931. We are not new, but those of you that may be new to us, welcome and tell your friends and your family because membership is how we survive. I do want to say that we do have talking points for anyone that has questions we’d ask that we’re going to be putting them out and also posting them so that when you go to church, maybe your pastor will read them or maybe he’ll allow you to read them. It’s important that the word is put out in every space in your social club, in your fraternity, your sorority, your church circle. We must get people out to vote. We must get this Proposition 50 passed for the benefit of not just us in California, but most of us have families somewhere in the south, and the south is being attacked along with California being attacked. So again, I want to say thank you for joining us tonight. And if there are no other comments or question, I’m going to ask Reverend Green to pray us out. Your presence here tonight is so important that if we don’t have you and you don’t go out and reach out to others, then we will have a problem. But before we go, I want to remind everybody that the NACP Freedom Fund Banquet annual Gala will be November the 15th and it’ll be at the, we call it Windmill

Melyssa Barrett: River Mill

Edmund Green: River Mill Restaurant in Manteca. So hopefully we’ll see you all there, plus others. So God bless you. Thank you. Reverend Green. Will you pray us out?

Melyssa Barrett: Yes. Thank you President.

Evan Wade: President Bivens. Before we go out, we want to thank our co-sponsors, the Links Incorporated Stockton chapter, also BPA Stockton, Tracy, and our state BPA for supporting us this evening. And a special

Carmen Nicole Cox: Thank you. Thank you, California Association of Black

Evan Wade: Lawyers. And I was going to say that you just said it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And to all of you who are with us this evening. And if you are not a member of the N-A-A-C-P, please go to our website and join. We cannot do this fight without membership. And that is the stockton naacp.org. So again, thank you all and thank you to all of our co-sponsors this evening.

Melyssa Barrett: All is clear. Let us pray. Most gracious, father, we thank you for your presence and guidance in our meeting tonight. Lord, you have given us wisdom, direction, and unity. And for that, Lord, we’re grateful. We thank you for our presenters tonight, Lord, and all those who took the time out of their schedule to come and be with us on tonight. And thank you for their presence and their participation. And Lord, we pray that you keep us connected in purpose and committed in service and unity and love. And Lord, we pray now that as we leave this meeting, Lord, but never your presence, we pray that you continue to guide us and inspire us and use us to make a difference. And we pray, God, in the name of Jesus, as we leave here that you watch over us, we absent one another for these blessings, we ask us in the name of Jesus we pray, amen.

Edmund Green: Amen. And again, we will come out and speak to your groups if you need us to come. So just reach out to the Stockton branch and a CP. Goodnight. God bless you. And will the executive committee members and our outreach team, please stay on it.

Melyssa Barrett: What an important and enlightening conversation. My sincere thanks to our guest speakers, Michael Tubbs and Carmen, Nicole Cox, and a special thank you to Evan Wade, who is the Political action Chair for the N-A-A-C-P Stockton Branch. And to our partners, the Stockton, California Chapter of the Links Incorporated, the California Association of Black Lawyers and wapa Black Women Organizing for Political Action. Thank you all for coming together to help us all stay informed and engaged. Remember, our collective voice shapes the future. Whether you agree or disagree on Proposition 50, the most powerful thing you can do is make your voice count. By participating in the election, every ballot truly matters. If you found this discussion helpful, be sure to share this episode with friends and family and encourage others to stay informed about the issues that impact our communities. Thank you for tuning in to the Jali Podcast where we celebrate stories of purpose, resilience, and change. Until next time, stay inspired, stay involved, and keep building the future we all deserve. Thanks for joining me on the Jali Podcast. Please subscribe so you won’t miss an episode. See you next week.. He is an advocate for accessibility and clearly he speaks candidly about so many things with respect to systemic barriers, diversity, leadership. It is a session, an event that you do not want to miss. So come on out and join us and we look forward to seeing everybody. So stay tuned for all the details. Thanks for joining me on the Jali Podcast. Please subscribe so you won’t miss an episode. See you next week.