A Walk Through Santa Cruz, or In Defense of Liberals

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The Babblery
The Babblery
A Walk Through Santa Cruz, or In Defense of Liberals
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I was ambivalent about going anywhere on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, this year otherwise known as Inauguration Day. It seemed like the two events were canceling each other out in my brain, creating a longing for pure nothingness. But a path to pure nothingness not forthcoming, I dragged myself out to the annual march in Santa Cruz.

I don’t usually do purely local episodes for The Babblery, and this one is as pure and local as it can get. But it’s also universal. Because as I worked with the street recordings I made, I realized that although the content was local, what it spoke for was something much larger.

Our media universe has been inundated with this caricature of “the liberal” that I simply don’t recognize. I spend every day with self-identified liberals (and progressives of a liberal bent), and I can’t reconcile what I know with what I hear. Part of the problem is that people conflate liberalism with the Democratic Party. But although there’s a huge overlap between liberals and that party, they are certainly not synonymous. At times, the party seems downright conservative. At times, liberals seem downright disgusted with the party.

So this piece is, in a sense, a love letter to the spirit of the people I know. These are people who believe deeply in goodness, in faith, in community, in volunteerism, and in right and wrong. They are complex and not caricatures. They are flawed, as we all are, but the best amongst us acknowledge our flaws. They are people who try to “do the work” to be better people, but when you do that work, you realize that the work is never done.

Thanks to all the women who spoke to me that day. Starting with my KSQD colleague Christine, moving on to people I know in the community, and joined by random strangers who agreed to talk into my microphone, I was brought back to my own faith in the goodness of people. Thank you all for doing the work and making your communities positive, supportive places for people to live in this confusing, disordered time. [Click for transcript]

– Suki

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A Walk Through Santa Cruz, or In Defense of Liberals

 

[00:00:00] Voiceover: This is your host, Suki Wessling. I had very mixed feelings about the day I recorded these interviews, that is, MLK Day, Martin Luther King Jr. ‘s birthday, and incidentally, Inauguration Day. My mixed feelings led me to make no plans for that day until I decided to get out there and to our local MLK Day March with my recorder. I texted my K Squid friend, Christine, and we met at a cafe, me with hair still wet from my swim, her with a lingering cough from the cold from hell.

[00:01:01] Christine: Hi, I’m Christine and I’m downtown Santa Cruz here for the Martin Luther King March to honor that great figure in history. And I am essentially, I’ve put it into the background that today is also the inauguration of somebody that I feel is really going to be harmful to our country. Golly, I hope I’m dead wrong.

[00:01:29] Voiceover: I had decided to ask women I saw on the street a simple and open ended question. How are you feeling today? But Christine nailed the vibe right off the bat. Most of us didn’t feel one way. Our feelings were deeply conflicted, as you’ll hear in this sequence of interviews.

[00:01:45] Christine: But I’m wanting to focus on somebody that I feel cared deeply about all people and is, whose work and whose words are still pointing the way forward for all of us. And it does us well to revisit, um, what he had to say and figure out how we can live that together in this really amazing country.

[00:02:09] Voiceover: Women love our communities and we love the country. But the feelings I heard paired with that love ran the full gamut, from pride to fear, from security to apprehension, from compassion to anger. Our acknowledgement of Martin Luther King Jr’s accomplishments should be a day of celebration of equality, And Inauguration Day should celebrate the legacy of our founders who set up a method to ensure peaceful and democratic transfer of power. And the two of them together, we should be celebrating the legacy of a man who gave his life making sure that we didn’t forget that the only way forward in a democracy is to share that power amongst all who live here.

[00:02:47] Susie: Susie. Excited that we all support peace. And however we get there, through United Agreement. I’m all for.

[00:03:01]

[00:03:01] Voiceover: But when I listened to my interviews with women like Susie, I realized that this episode would be about something bigger than our conflicted feelings. When I asked the people at the march how they felt, they ended up telling me who they were. And who we are is pretty clear. We’re liberals. I looked at the 2024 vote results up and down the ballot for Santa Cruz County, and Republicans consistently get around 20 percent of the vote, So you can estimate one in five people here consistently vote conservative. That makes us extremely liberal compared to other places, though given our local culture one in five feels disconcertingly high.

[00:03:38] The word liberal is being used as a bad name, first because of some failed policies, but then because of the vitriol being directed at us by the right wing media.

[00:03:48] I’ll agree that liberal designed policies haven’t always worked out as intended. That’s just a reality of our political system. But the more recent trend is not to criticize policy, but rather to direct this incredibly intense hatred at liberals. We’re called all sorts of names that I’m not going to repeat here because, heck, I’m not perfect, but I simply don’t speak about people I disagree with in such terms.

[00:04:10] And most of the people I know would never utter the sort of garbage words that currently smog the air of right wing media. So given this environment, I am taking the prerogative to use these interviews for a slightly different purpose than I initially intended.

[00:04:26] The women I interviewed are going to describe their mixed feelings, but I want you to listen to what they say about themselves as people. Like any group of humans, there are skunks among us, but by and large liberals are people. We’re nice people. We’re caring people. We’re honest people. And we try to vote for politicians who represent our values. So here we go, a walk through Santa Cruz, or in defense of liberals.

 Value number one: concern for fellow humans

[00:04:53] Voiceover: Value number one. Concern for fellow humans.

[00:04:59] Anita: Anita Aguirre. I’m the CEO of Santa Cruz Community Health Center. Uh, so I’m feeling very deja vu ish that we have been in this position, that we find ourselves in this position again. And except this time, I think it’s a lot more going to be a lot more severe, a lot more dire, a lot more time for a full presidency. And Trump won, we had COVID, which I really think interrupted a lot of, Sort of plans.

[00:05:25] And so, um, I’m very concerned about the safety of our community and friends and families, uh, who are immigrants.

[00:05:36] Voiceover: We live in a community of immigrants. Our earliest immigrants were the Spanish settlers and the Native Americans who were brought here to work when the indigenous tribes were killed by disease and mistreatment. The next large group of immigrants came during the gold rush and the heady days after California became a state. Then came the hippies and university people in the 60s and 70s. The seekers of land and nature in the 80s and 90s. I’m in that group. And the techies who started to move in, buying up second homes with all their stock options. We are all immigrants, but the immigrants that I and my neighbors are fearful for are the ones that MAGA has identified as a threat.

[00:06:13] Ella: uh, my name is Emanuella Murphy, I am 11th year in high school, and, uh, this parade has a lot of support for everyone and each other because they’re all here supporting what they believe in and then also supporting what they all realize that other people believe in and to show their support they’re out here marching.

[00:06:31] Can

[00:06:31] Voiceover: The immigrants that MAGA fears generally have brown skin and their customs and language are unfamiliar in many parts of this country. But here in Santa Cruz, we have bilingual schools with waitlists. We have mariachi classes at our community college. Our plumbers and realtors and teachers have names like Rodriguez and Laredo and Mendoza. But perhaps most importantly, our agricultural workers, who not only feed us, but feed the whole country, are mostly immigrants, many of them undocumented, and we fear for them.

[00:07:01] Mary Ann: Oh, I am. I’m Marianne. I am. I’m a mother. I’m a wife. I’m a, I’m a musician. I’m a healthcare worker. Um, I’m, I’m a citizen of the earth. I’m feeling very emotional. Um, I’ve already cried twice and as I told you before, I ran into a friend and the first thing he said was, would you pray for me? We have to take care of each other. And we talked about waking up at three in the morning and that’s that’s what we do is that’s where anyway. Um, I’m concerned for everyone. I’m concerned for my children. I’m concerned for everybody’s children. I’m concerned for the old people. I’m concerned for the sick people. I’m just like Um, I’m concerned for the people trying to get into this country, the ones that are already here. I’m concerned for the people who are undocumented and concerned for the people living on the streets.

[00:08:06] You know,

[00:08:12] Kathy: I’m Kathy Krizek. I’m wearing gray head to toe because with a light of pink at the top because I think it’s a day of grieving and it’s a day to remember there’s another side of grieving. So gray is kind of in the middle. I’m in the middle today Tomorrow I’m wearing white.

[00:08:33] Voiceover: When we fight about politics, we often forget that everyone has a story, and their stories make sense to them. From the outside, we might see someone stealing a job. But the reality is much more complicated. During the last Republican administration, we had a pandemic, and during that pandemic, our agricultural laborers were deemed essential workers.

[00:08:53] Now that most people have moved beyond the pandemic mentality, ag workers are still essential. California is the fifth largest supplier of agricultural products in the world. And to get more local, if you ate an artichoke or a strawberry today, it was probably loaded onto a truck not too far from where I was marching by someone who was not born in this country.

[00:09:14] Judith: Hi, I’m crying today. Um, I’ve lived under fascism before. Elsewhere. It’s scary and there’s hope. And there’s hope. My name is Judith Moscovich and I’m an immigrant. Argentina. I left early on, but I, I know things. I know things.

[00:09:37] Kathy: She knows things other people don’t. I know the rest of us have managed to avoid until now, maybe.

[00:09:42] Judith: It just, it feels, you know, it feels like repeating and it feels like it’s not just us, it’s the world. It’s not just us here. Hang on to your people. Go out for coffee. Complain. Bitch. Swear. Hang in there. Hang in there.

[00:10:02] Voiceover: We can learn from our immigrants. Judith brings a knowledge of fear with her. The sort of fear that Americans have not had to live with in recent memory. adult life, I have seen us chronicling the events that we were sure would never happen again. The Japanese internment camps, the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Tulsa Race Massacre,but so many of the people I talked to feared that the fear of our complicated past would result in its erasure.

[00:10:29]

 Value number two: community

[00:10:29] Voiceover: Value number two, community.

[00:10:37] tell

[00:10:37] everyone?

[00:10:38] Michelle: Um, I’m Michelle well, I guess I just feel a sort of connection, um, with like all the, see all the people in like I guess our community see, uh, just unite for, uh, multiple of reasons. Um, yeah, it just makes me feel, like, I guess safe, in a way.

[00:11:01] Julienne: I’m Julianne and I honestly this weekend was feeling very anxious and sad and kind of depressed. And, um, I saw the notice for this and I just that it was a great opportunity to come together for unity, for peace, and kind of give hope for the future, and see what we can all do as we come together as a group, so. In times where you might feel helpless about, you know, what can I do, I think kind of getting together with a group and kind of having some grassroots efforts, uh, gives me hope that I have some control.

[00:11:40] Donna: I’m Donna Kavaye. Such mixed feelings. I’m feeling so discouraged about what’s coming in the next four years. But then I look all around at all these community groups who are showing up here and marching for social justice and human rights. And it gives me hope.

[00:12:02] Voiceover: Despite a new administration that has such grand plans and trumpets a mandate where there is none, we’ll still have scientists discovering new and amazing facts and solving old and seemingly intractable problems. We’ll still have historians digging around for clues that will tell us what really happened. And no matter what, we’ll always have the young people.

[00:12:23]

[00:12:23] Betsy: My name is Betsy and I go to New Brighton Middle School and I’m here with the Young Outdoor Leaders program. Um, I’m really happy to be here and I really like what we are here for. I think that bringing people together and making sure that everybody is treated as an equal.

[00:12:45] Daisy: my name is Daisy and I was born born and raised here in Santa Cruz. Uh, I’m feeling good. I mean, to be honest, this is my first time going to the march. Um, so I mean, I haven’t, I’ve never came to it. Um, I don’t remember why, but I mean, now that my kids, they come here with the YOL group, um, so they were there’s a board came with them to support the whole thing. So yeah, and I’m, I’m liking it. So yeah, I’m like, okay, I guess we’re going to be coming next time too.

Value number three: knowledge, experience, and facts

[00:13:19]

[00:13:22] Voiceover: Value number three, knowledge, experience, and facts.

[00:13:26] I woke up the morning after the election not wanting to talk to anyone. I really wasn’t sure what to do with this new world we’d found ourselves in. A world in which a very small majority of the people who voted, who were only a slight majority of the people eligible to vote, were willing to put their vote behind a philosophy that seemed so lacking in generosity and kindess, so disdainful of creativity and scholarship.

[00:13:51] Betsy: Yeah, My name is Cassandra.

[00:13:54] Voiceover: Cassandra had a handwritten sign. I asked her to explain it.

[00:13:57] Cassandra: one side says America needs public schools. I’m a kindergarten teacher, um, in San Jose. Um, and so that’s really important to me. The freedom I have within my job, um, being able to reach students where they are and have all kids feel welcome in my classroom is really important to me. And then my other side is people over profit.

[00:14:16] Cheryl: my name is Cheryl Loomis. I’m, uh, retired hippie. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. A retired teacher. Ha, ha, ha, ha. And, you know, by the time you get my age, you become many things. You look back and go, yeah, been there, done that. Overwhelmed and bedazzled. Really, um, and also proud to be here. Really wonderful to see this many people showing up. And I feel better being a part of something that is making a statement, a positive statement. We can do better.

Value number four: diversity of experience and opinion

[00:15:11] Voiceover: Value number four, diversity of experience and opinion.

[00:15:19] Our local march was organized by the NAACP, an organization that has been resilient for over a hundred years.

[00:15:26] Areva: My name is Areva Alston, and I’m from Cabrillo College, the Umoja Learning Community Program, and also I’m the treasurer, assistant treasurer, of the NAACP 1071 branch. How am I feeling today? Um, I’m feeling Um, optimistic, resilient, um, and faithful. Faithful to the dream that was set for us by Dr. Martin Luther King, that he was a visionary of his time and that we’re going to respect his vision today. Um, we are up for a hard road ahead of us as a people, but we know that we’re resilient. We know that we will stand the test of time and we’ll stand the test of the other T, too!. That’s so funny. I just got it. I’m like delayed reaction.

[00:16:28] Voiceover: It was good to have a few laughs along the way because it seemed like lots of women in the crowd hadn’t been doing enough of that. it’s really easy to forget in times like this that laughter is important and that is why we need community.

[00:16:40] Maureen: My name is Maureen Davidson and, uh, I’m, uh, I’m an immigrant and I’m white and that means I need to work harder for my people I’m feeling defiant. I’m feeling scared. I’m feeling hopeful in the company of friends.

Break

[00:16:59]

Value number five: the arts

[00:17:00] Voiceover: you are listening to The Babblery, a special episode featuring interviews conducted at the Santa Cruz March in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. ‘s birthday. Value number five, the arts.

[00:19:37] In many ways, Santa Cruz isn’t special. People do lots of the usual sorts of jobs. We talk too much about the price of real estate and gripe way too much about insurance and traffic, but one of the ways it is special is our arts community. Against all odds, refer back to the price of real estate, we’ve got a thriving arts community.

[00:20:00] And many of us who can hardly afford the basics of life form the core of the arts community.

[00:20:06] Krista: My name is Krista Berriessa, and I’m the director of Pacific Voices Choir in town. Um, I’m mixed! A lot of mixed feelings right now, yeah. Yeah, but I will say I think that there’s um, I think when there’s an energy there, you harness it, right? And you use that, and um, you spin it for the good of humanity. So, there’s a lot of energy around here, and I think that when there’s energy, there’s potential.

[00:20:32] Voiceover: Our arts community draws not only from the work of professionals, but even more importantly from the volunteer work of people who do other, less glamorous jobs. And because of that, we’re particularly sensitive to politicians who promise big things about the economy. When things get rough, things are even rougher here for the many people who can’t afford the basics of life. And many of us who can hardly afford the basics of life form the core of volunteers in our county.

[00:20:59] Tiffany: My name is Tiffany and I am a registered nurse. I’m also an educator and. And lived in Santa Cruz since the mid 90s and I’m also an actor, so um, yeah, that’s it. Um, a little blue. So I dressed in black. I was not looking forward to another Trump presidency. I feel like he thinks he’s king, and he’s going to hurt a lot of innocent people. Even though he talks about helping the middle class, he’s surrounding himself with billionaires. And I don’t see him visiting the middle class. I think he’s going to hurt a lot of people that are innocent and that are not, um, don’t deserve to be hurt, such as many migrant workers, many, um, food service workers, care providers.

[00:22:09] Charlea: Sure, there’s criminals here. Go after criminals. I’m Charlia Mashon, um, I’m a long time Santa Cruz County resident, and I’m a palliative care physician at Dominican Hospital. I’m really glad to be here with people who are, um, choosing to be active versus being passive. So, doing something, I feel I’m doing something positive on a day that’s quite dark in our nation’s history.

[00:22:44] Voiceover: I asked Charlea about her sparkly American flag earrings, rather flashy and obvious amongst the dominant colors of mourning and the sea of blue jeans.

[00:22:53] Charlea: Yeah, I, you know, I, I feel it’s a, it, it, it’s a symbol. And the flag, I think for a time, was really taken over by the Republican Party. You know, saying that they were super patriots and that the flag belonged to them. But it belongs to all of us.

[00:23:10]

Value number six: progress

[00:23:10]

[00:23:12] Voiceover: Value number six. Progress.

[00:23:15] Another characteristic of our community is the belief in progress. You see it everywhere in coastal California. Our culture was built and is continually redesigned by people seeking a place where they can progress. We take the idea of forming a more perfect union pretty darn seriously over here, and we can get a little, well, a lot grumpy when people try to hold us back.

[00:23:40] Aime: Hi, my name is Aime. Um, I’m very happy that we have this kind of community that can come together, but I can’t help but feel angry today because of, you know, our, I call it not my president, the sequel, because he got reelected unfortunately, I like seeing that we can all, like, express that. Because we’re all frustrated, I feel like. I like that we can come together and express that. Because, my sign, silence is not an option. Which I really believe in.

[00:24:15] I guess I’m just like In disbelief that this would happen. Um, nowadays, um, especially, I don’t know, because I thought we, we, we have already come so far and just for that to be taken away over one person’s beliefs and that people think he’s right. I’m not sure. I just really frustrated.

[00:24:36] Yeah, it is frustrating because we’re just taking steps backwards at this point. And I like, I don’t know the thing with like, um, I was reading something the other day, like, how, how is a gun gonna have more rights than me? And that’s something that I feel like resonates with me because it does feel that way. We’re just going back in time.

[00:24:55] Bridget: My name is Bridget Jet, I mean, I feel good. I’m sitting in the warm sunshine and I love that I’m doing this today, celebrating Martin Luther King Day on this day. It’s very important to me that I’m here with this community, my community. So yeah, I’m feeling,. In this moment, I’m feeling, I’m feeling comfortable in the sunshine.

[00:25:28] Voiceover: Bridget uses a wheelchair, and I felt bad raining on her parade, which was so full of happiness and sunshine, but I wondered what it was like to feel as physically vulnerable as she is in a time of uncertainty.

[00:25:40] Bridget: feel scared. I’m, I’m scared of finding adequate housing, appropriate housing, and um, I mean, so far in my experience with, Disability as an adult has been alright. I mean, I’ve gotten what I need and good care from my health care team. So I’m, you know, I’m, I’m, I’m afraid of that, that security being taken from me. just as a, as a single woman living with disability in Santa Cruz. I’m away from my family, so yeah, I don’t, uh, know that I have, uh, the support that I need

Value number seven: peace

[00:26:38] Value number seven. Peace.

[00:28:41] Nancy: My name is Nancy Spangler. I am a ECE instructor at Cabrillo College. mixed feelings. Uh, I’m feeling hopeful that there’s so many people. that are here to celebrate the legacy of somebody who is so important to our history and hopefully can set the tone for these difficult times ahead. So is that there’s going to be difficult times ahead and it makes me sad that we’re on the same day we’re celebrating such a strong legacy for peace that we’re inaugurating somebody who is not going to uphold that.

[00:29:15] Voiceover: And then in Santa Cruz, we have our

[00:29:18] Earl: this is Earl the Eagle. Hi Earl. And Earl is. Earl is here and meeting the young leaders of tomorrow, and he made his own sign, but he has a little trouble spelling and his sign says Justice, equality. Equality and peace. And a young one just said, I have one like that, but it’s a koala. And I said, you know how he spells it? E koala ty. I love it.

[00:29:48] Areva: Can you

[00:29:49] Voiceover: Earl the Eagle, in case you missed the context there, is a puppet.

[00:29:53] Abby: Yes, I’m I’m feeling grateful for the community that turns out. I know we’ve got a really long fight ahead of us. Um, I, I can’t say I’m encouraged, but I’m, I’m uplifted that we have everyone starting this road together.

[00:30:13] Dog lover: Um, I’m a Westside dog loving person. Feeling, um, kind of ricocheting back from emotion to emotion. You know, I woke up feeling like, wow, that’s still true. But then I came down here and I was like, wow, and this is still true. And this is always going to be true. So I feel a lot better now.

[00:30:36] Voiceover: I love what our dog loving friend said, because even though she avoided any concrete nouns, I knew exactly what she was talking about. We woke up on MLK’s birthday to the news of the inauguration of someone who promises to wrench this country backwards after lurching progress in the wake of his last administration.

[00:30:55] But we woke to a gorgeous, joyous, community filled day in Santa Cruz, a place where people cheer our local Planned Parenthood, not because they offer abortions, but because they provide whatever health care people need, regardless of their ability to pay, their stated gender, their skin color, their country of origin, or their politics.

[00:31:14] No doubt a few daughters of conservative men have taken refuge in their cramped upstairs quarters in downtown Santa Cruz.

[00:31:22] Areva: Yeah,

[00:31:22] Diane: my name is Diane and I have lived in Santa Cruz since I came for UCSC in 1977. Long 40 year educator and now retiree committed to peace and justice for everyone. No one left behind. I’m committed to holding on to hope. Because I understand the historical perspective, connection to how these fascist movements rise and fall. And I hold to the belief nothing personal, nothing, uh, permanent, nothing perfect. And in this case, this is not permanent. So we just have to hold fast, stay together, look forward to a brighter future, and survive the predictable demise of another oligarchy, as has been the historical trend for the ages.

[00:32:10] Suki: We are going to wait for Curtis to go by, because, you know. Sure. I’ve been enjoying his music being in the background, but foreground, you know, we’re like, okay, Oh, well, people are danc know, it’s been wonderful

Voiceover: And in Santa Cruz we also have Curtis. I can’t do Curtis justice, so go to YouTube and type this: Santa Cruz Peace Prosperity Curtis. You’ll get all the details in the top video hit. In any case, we had to wait for his van to pass before we could talk.

[00:32:26] Areva: is, how are you feeling t

[00:32:30] Chaplain: I feel a mix of things.

[00:32:33] Kind of nervous

[00:32:34] I’m Oregan and Pinto. I’m an interfaith chaplain I feel a mix of things. Kind of nervous anticipation, I feel some grief And it’s nice to be out here. It’s good to be out here. So it definitely uplifts the spirits to be in community and to be together. Definitely, like, been sitting with the, the phrase that MLK says, you know, like, creating beloved community. And feeling how much we are going to need that in this time and how much that’s going to be essential to us surviving the next four years.

[00:33:06] Phyllis: I’m Phyllis Taub Greenleaf, and since I turned 82, I am Joy Phil Greenleaf, because we need more joy in the world. We need joy, and we need active resistance.? I mean, it’s good that there’s so many of us here, and I think we’re standing in solidarity with each other, and with all people. And I think the way we’re going to deal with the new administration is through, I’m trying to think of new words, compassionate and smart solidarity. And ideally, nonviolence. And to keep on reading, I’ve been studying Bell Hooks, Octavia Butler, Cornel West, Dr. King, Paolo Freire. We have a lot of, it’s good to do good reading right now. And, uh, it develops your sense of history. You know, I carry Harriet Tubman with me all the time. And, uh, as well as Martin and Malcolm.

[00:34:14] Uh, who else are great leaders, are inspiration? People, young people.

[00:34:19] Chaplain: three letters, health care free. We’re gonna let it shine. We’re gonna let it shine. It’s home of the world. We’re gonna let it shine. Home of the world. We’re gonna let it shine. We’re gonna let it shine. We’re gonna let it shine. You may want to give them one last mic.

[00:36:55] Areva: Yeah. Mhm.

[00:37:00] Yeah,

[00:37:02] Lani: my name is Lani Faulkner, founder of Equity Transit., you know, I woke up and I felt pretty tumultuous and there was a sadness because of the place our country is in. Right now, with the current administration that’s being inaugurated this morning, I really didn’t want to, um, tune into that, um, and was really, um, feeling good that I could come here and march for Martin Luther King Day and be with the kind of community that honors justice and equality and a better life for everybody. Um, so that Being here has really helped. It’s brought a smile to my face, seeing other people, giving lots of hugs, feeling in community with like minded people has been wonderful. And also I feel like, um, it gives hope to how we can help, um, address the challenges that we’re going to face with the current administration. Um, my husband, when he went in the shower, turned on the radio this morning and so the, the inauguration was going on and some of the things I heard were very disturbing to hear a leader of the free world speak of the things of taking over other countries and other places. So we really need to empower ourselves together, more than ever come together, uh, to, to change the face of what certain people want to try to do right now.

[00:38:29]

Break

[00:38:43] Voiceover: you are listening to The Babblery, a special episode featuring interviews conducted at the Santa Cruz March in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. ‘s birthday.

[00:38:54] Man: . Do you

Value number eight: volunteerism

[00:38:56] Man: babble about anything in particular?

[00:38:58] Voiceover: I loved that question, and the answer is no, I babble about whatever makes it to the Tower of babblery. My last interviewee of the day was holding down the fort at a table championing affordable housing. Her response to my question, how are you feeling today, pretty much summed it up. I’ll just let Grace talk because she embodies the spirit of volunteerism and community, which I think is the last cornerstone of local culture that I’d like to feature because this says Santa Cruz like nothing else.

[00:39:29] Suki: And the question is, How are you feeling today?

[00:39:32] Grace: LAUGHING Sorry. Yeah. Um, how do you think I’m feeling today? LAUGHING I’m very sorry. Um, I feel very worried. Less so being in California but still very much so for The future of this state, of my friends that live in different states, of marginalized communities, of everything. I think that this is a incredible shame to put it very lightly. I could swear, but I don’t think case squid listeners would like that. Um, it’s just depressing. Do you feel like there’s anything people can do. I think you can do what people are doing today, of just show up. Um, I think that we, I was talking to a friend about this yesterday. Um, we saw a lot of people go out and march in women’s marches, which is fantastic, I was one of them. Um, back in 2017 after the 2016 election, but then people dropped off. People did not continue to put in the work.

[00:40:47] I’m Grace Stetson. I am a former journalist here in Santa Cruz County. My background is in housing and homelessness reporting. Over the last few years since leaving journalism full time, I’ve become more of a community organizer, so I’ve worked on different political campaigns in the city and in the county of Santa Cruz. I’m also still a writer, so I work with UCSC, Stanford, etc. I do a lot of social equity, inequality reporting. And it’s gotten a lot worse, obviously, over the last eight years. And I think that A lot of what people can do that sometimes they don’t, I think it’s better in Santa Cruz than in other places, is work in your community. Go volunteer. Go, um, advocate for affordable housing like we’re doing here today. Go advocate for, um, raising the minimum wage, federally, locally. Um, really just talk to people about what they need and where they are. And Do something altruistic, um, in your community. Um, I love volunteering. I do it all the time. And when I talk to younger people like myself, they say, I don’t have time for that, and I say, That’s BS. You have two hours a week, three hours a week that you can go pack food at Second Harvest. Or you can, you know, hand out gift cards to people on the street and down on Pacific.

[00:44:30] Or you can walk dogs at the local animal shelter. Go out and do the work. Um, I think it’s great that we have so many people out here today. I thought it was great that we had such a reception in 2017 at the first Women’s March. But people are not putting in the work, and now we’re seeing the rise of fascism even more so. Um, which is not a laughing matter, but I’m Yeah, it’s, it’s disconcerting that, um that this is the state of where we’re at.

[00:45:04] Suki: Part of what I feel as an older woman whose kids have grown up is just thinking, what would I feel like if I were your age?

[00:45:11] Grace: I cried five times the day after the election because I was like, Oh, I can’t have kids. Like, I didn’t even know that that was something I wanted until Trump was re elected. And, you know, I’m 31. I still have time in a sense. But like, oh my god. Terrifying. Why would you ever want to bring a child into this type of situation where people are okay with fascism? Like, that’s what I’m learning from Donald Trump being re elected.

[00:45:38] Voiceover: Inside the Civic Auditorium, local politician Gail Pellerin, who’s a state assembly member, was nearing the end of her speech. I want to end my walk through Santa Cruz with her speech because I think it embodies what I see around here every day. Yes, we have some pretty ridiculous political fights at times.

[00:45:55] Yes, we have a horrific homelessness crisis. Yes, Santa Cruz has always been a magnet for drug users. And yes, it is often, as Ella Fitzgerald sang, California, it’s cold and it’s damp. What you see on the news is not reality, it’s what the producers think you want to see. And what politicians tell you about a place is not reality, it’s what they need you to believe in order that you can believe that they have the solution.

[00:46:24] And what you believe about a single person who has made national news makes no difference in a place of such diversity. It’s so frustrating to hear Coastal California described in these horrible terms, to hear fellow Americans saying that we have created a doom loop hell hole, to hear fellow Americans say that we are not kind and decent people, to hear fellow Americans spewing hatred at our precious, hard working immigrant population, to hear fellow Americans characterize this big, beautiful, important state as not worth saving?

[00:46:57] The utter stupidity of it makes me want to dismiss this crap as politicking as usual, but it’s not. Ronald Reagan is turning in his grave hearing his fellow conservatives say that Californians don’t deserve to be helped after wildfires. Perfuming in his grave at the idea that we Americans don’t have responsibility to other humans on this earth.

[00:47:18] And Abraham Lincoln has a few words to say about his party working so hard to divide states that so painstakingly were brought together again after the Civil War. Here’s Gail talking about public service and putting kindness first.

[00:47:34] Gail Pellerin: So a friend of mine, in my sickness, I’ve been horizontal most of this week, uh, sent me Martin Luther King’s sermons about the drum major instinct. Have any of you heard it? He talked about, we all, everybody, all of us here in this room have this desire to be out front. We have this desire to lead, to be first, to be recognized for our work. I know, I think every day I get clips that if I get Gale Inc., that’s the headline, Gale Inc. today. And I think, wow, okay, I’m in the news. But, maybe. What would be better is to be recognized for being first in leading with love. To be first in prioritizing justice for all. First in lifting up our most vulnerable communities. When I was sick this week and thinking, and I’m getting older, and friends are passing away, And you think about what you want on your tombstone. Do I want that I had the biggest crowd ever? Do I want that I had the best house ever? I want people to remember me as someone who thinks about others. Who wants to do public service for the sake of public service. I don’t want to do it for the headlines. I don’t want to do it to get re elected. I do it because I love this community. I So in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, please go forward today and every day this year. And the next. Four years ahead of us and put love, put kindness toward others, put public service first and we will make it through this difficult time. So thank you all for

[00:53:57] Voiceover: You’ve been listening to a special episode of The Babblery, recorded by Suki Wessling on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 2025. Find a link to the full recording and text of King’s drum major instinct sermon in the show notes.

[00:54:18] The opening and closing music was performed on the street in front of Bookshop Santa Cruz by Steve Coulter and Bruce Abrams. Steve just happens to be the husband of KSQD’s board chair.

[00:54:28] I didn’t know that when I stopped to record them. That’s the way we do it in Santa Cruz. Have a cup of coffee with a friend at a locally owned shop. March in community with our friends, neighbors, and complete strangers, and end up listening to music on the street played by a co volunteer’s husband. You can find the link to Steve’s Band Camp on the show notes for this episode at babblery. com. Thanks to all the women who spoke to me about their feelings on this day. It was hard for me to get myself downtown, but when it comes down to it, community always makes the effort worthwhile. Thanks for listening.

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