Ashley Jackson talks about the upcoming election and the swing states during the 'Paint The Polls Black' group chat session.
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00:00To join us to talk about group chats, voting, and this year's election is Ashley Jackson.
00:07Ashley is an actress, screenwriter, and producer best known for her starring roles
00:13in the Netflix film Beats. At the age of 15, Jackson became a protege of veteran actor Richard
00:20Lawson and has appeared in numerous film and television projects in the years since. She also
00:26recently made her directorial debut with the short film Underling. Jackson is the youngest
00:33daughter of American political activist, Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., and author and intellectual
00:40Karen Stanford. She formed her production company to develop projects that align with her passions
00:46for gender equality, education, and civil rights values shaped by her upbringing.
00:54Welcome. Welcome to Paint the Polls Black. How are you doing?
00:57Hello. I'm good. Thank you so much for having me. This is so exciting.
01:01Look, it's exciting because we got you here. And so, first of all, how are you feeling about this
01:08year's election? You know, I've had a lot of mixed emotions, I think we all have, but really for me,
01:14today I'm really, really hopeful. And I just attended a wonderful gathering of members of
01:20Black Hollywood who came together yesterday with Vice President Kamala Harris's sister,
01:25Maya Harris, the attorney, we love her. And it was just such an uplifting experience that I was just
01:30like, I'm ready to go back in, ready to go knock on doors, ready to do all the things. So, I'm in
01:35a really great mood about the election today and very, very excited. So, as we think about that
01:40excitement, Ashley, of course, we have to address some of the challenges that we're facing. And,
01:47you know, Kenny just talked about the television ads and the misinformation that he's seeing in
01:52Georgia and other parts of the country. So, we want to ask you the same question. As we all are,
01:57I think many of us are very excited about this year's election, we also spend some time thinking
02:02about what's troubling us about this election. So, for you, what are some of the things that
02:07worry you? What are some of the things that concern you about this election?
02:11Yeah, one of the things, and I know we'll talk about group chats in a moment, but one of the
02:14things that I've been talking about in my group chat, particularly these days, is my fear of
02:18regarding the way that the process is actually being run. I mean, I don't know if it was, I can't
02:22remember if it was Montana, where we saw that Vice President Kamala Harris's name wasn't even on the
02:26ballot and they had to start over. And like, so those levels of intricacies and voter suppression
02:30that are happening in a systemic capacity are what really scares me. Knowing that the Supreme Court,
02:36if we look at what happened in 2000, if we left it up to the Supreme Court today,
02:39they would not advocate for Kamala Harris to be president. And so, like, those are the things,
02:44while I'm doing everything that I can on the ground, that's what keeps me up at night,
02:47to be honest, is making sure that we are, one, knowledgeable as a collective, but like,
02:52figuring out different ways to show up and still be of service to combat those levels of
02:56voter suppression that go beyond just purging. And so, for the folks who may not know this,
03:01because we've seen this in Georgia, we've seen this in North Carolina, where people register to
03:06vote and then the voter rolls are purged, their names are removed. In Georgia, for instance,
03:13there was a piece of legislation that was passed that allows a neighbor, or anyone in Georgia,
03:18for frankly, for that reason, to challenge someone else's right to vote. And they could
03:23argue that that person is not, shouldn't be registered to vote, or they engaged in fraud,
03:30or in fact, there is no reason. They don't have to give any evidence why they think it's important
03:36for that person to be removed from the voter rolls. We're also hearing a lot of concerns
03:42about certification, right? Because once we all vote, those votes have to be certified.
03:48And those votes are certified in the state that you vote. And so, what Ashley is, of course,
03:53referencing is some of the concerns that we see where Vice President Harris, Harris's name,
04:00wasn't even on the ballot. And in some cases, we're seeing these concerns bubble up in other
04:05parts of the country. So, having said that, with certification problems, voter rolls and
04:14voter purging, we are talking tonight about this concept of the group chat.
04:21I assume you use the group chat? Very much so.
04:26So, what is the most recent thing that you use the group chat for?
04:31So, actually, I'm also in grad school right now studying television and film producing. And so,
04:36I use my group chat with my classmates. And we have lots of things to talk about,
04:40whether it's actually just homework or talking about something that was entertaining in class.
04:44I feel like it's a daily thing. And oftentimes, at least in the last 48 hours, it's been like,
04:48what are we doing about the midterm? Please help. So, yes, I'm very much using a group
04:52chat on a daily basis all day, every day. Have you thought about using it? I know
04:57you're talking about what are we doing as far as that, but maybe creating something to
05:01even mobilize people even more to vote in this year. Like you said before, you're using it for
05:07your class. Many of us just use it for just regular social circles, but don't really realize
05:12the power of that type of chat. Yeah, I definitely hear that. And honestly,
05:16this conversation is inspiring me because in lieu of this kind of discussion, I started a while ago
05:23a challenge called the Ballot Bestie Challenge online to mobilize young voters like myself and
05:28figuring out like, okay, sometimes we're really urged by like peer pressure and like seeing other
05:33challenges on the internet. And so, I thought it would be cool to ask, to kind of galvanize this
05:38kind of group mentality and join together and be besties and go move our besties to the polls
05:44together. And so, in that case, I used social media and gratefully got people like Jennifer
05:48Lewis and EC Nash to participate. But using the group chat, I think is even more essential and an
05:55add to that in the sense that like this is your community. These are the people that you're
05:58communicating with on a daily basis. Mobilizing them and making sure that they're registered
06:02is another way to continue to keep it going and ensure that we can get everybody registered and
06:07to check their registration, which I even have to check my own and make sure that something wasn't
06:11wrong with mine. So yeah, I think that the group chat is a fantastic way to mobilize. Absolutely.
06:16And let's just highlight that for folks because one is to register to vote. The other is you may
06:22already be registered to vote, but we're asking you to check to make sure that you're still
06:27registered to vote. Remember again, there's laws that have been passed in certain states
06:33that allow someone, anyone in some cases, to challenge your voter registration. So please
06:41make sure that in addition to registering to vote, check to make sure that you're still
06:46registered. And if you don't know where to go, you can go to vote.org to make sure that you
06:52are one registered to vote and you can also check your voter registration. And actually, as we think
06:59about sort of mobilizing people to vote and to register, of course, in your circles, what are
07:05the issues that are mobilizing people to take action this November? We've been doing this now
07:12for a few weeks and we've talked about a lot of issues. I'm curious in your circles, what are the
07:17issues that people are raising? I think one of the biggest ones being a member of Gen Z is
07:22reproductive freedom. I'm 25 right now and when I look at what my future might look like, there's
07:27a lot of variables. I'm not currently a parent. I would like to be someday and knowing that the
07:31government might have control over what happens with my body is deeply concerning to me and a lot
07:36of my peers. I think having sensible gun legislation is also a really big thing. I am in college right
07:42now, technically, and sitting in a classroom and not knowing whether or not I'm going to be safe
07:45is really, really concerning. And when we think about younger kids as well in Gen Alpha, like
07:49everyone's kind of at risk. So I think that those are the two things that are most discussed. Also,
07:54the economy, I would say. I live in an apartment. I'd like to buy a home, but I know that
07:59Vice President Harris has offered some economic policies. I know that we're nonpartisan, but just
08:04recognizing in the discussion that that has come up a lot in terms of what we want our future to
08:08look like and looking for a candidate who can fulfill those things for us and give us the
08:13best chance at a future that is worth living within this country.
08:19So we have all of these issues that come up, as we all know, but we also hear from people that
08:26are apathetic about this year's election. There are people who are saying, I'm going to sit it out.
08:31Or people are saying, I don't believe either candidate. Or people are saying, I mean,
08:38we talked to Kenny about some of the apathy we're seeing among certain people within our community.
08:44How do you engage with folks about apathy in this year's election? What are you saying? What are
08:50you hearing in your circles? Yeah, it's been really challenging because my spirit is one
08:55of those, I want to say something immediately. How dare you? This is the history. This is where
08:59we come from. Do it for your ancestors. And then I go, OK. That may not be the best way to
09:04communicate my desire to engage with this individual. And so I've often, in a myriad of
09:10ways, started with saying, OK, what do you believe? Where are you? Because trying to meet someone where
09:15they're not is not really going to be helpful in moving a conversation forward. So oftentimes,
09:20if someone I know says, you know what, I don't really think I need to vote in this election.
09:24OK, well, then let's talk about that and figure out why you don't think that way. And then maybe
09:28I can introduce a new thought that might persuade you otherwise. And so I think that I've had a lot
09:34of success recently with kind of shifting in minor ways, opening the door to conversation,
09:39because I've learned that if you just go gung ho and try to tell them all the things, people
09:42aren't really going to listen. So yeah, that's been my method to find ways of common connection
09:48to move conversations in a spherical fashion that will result in at least registration.
09:55I hope to get you to the polls, but we have to start somewhere. And registering,
09:59especially on a day like today, where this is the last day in so many states to register,
10:03it's like this is step one. If I couldn't get you here, where are we going to go in November? So
10:08yeah. Ashley, you know, as a journalist, I'm always curious to know where people get their
10:14information and how they listen. Because you were talking about how sometimes you have to
10:19challenge people and go back and forth. But when you hear, like, how are they researching? Where
10:24are they going to get information? Because there is so much disinformation. I'm always,
10:29where did you get that from? Or did you fact check? Are you just ripping and reading headlines
10:36and going? So when you're engaging with your peers, what is that conversation like that
10:41you're hearing? I was actually just talking with some friends last night about this notion of,
10:46like, people having Twitter knowledge, which to me is just really an interesting way of
10:51phrasing the fact that, like, someone has an intellectual capacity where they simply
10:55look at what's on Twitter, agree with it, and then they just move on. That is now their new opinion.
11:00So we've really been trying hard, I think, generationally to combat some of that.
11:03I really do listen to a lot of different news sites to try to gain what I can from each audience.
11:09But I think that we're really in a space now of trying to figure out how to convey to people that
11:15the first thing that you read online may not be exactly what's there. And so, like, fact checking,
11:21looking at where your sources come from. Like, I don't really walk around just stating facts
11:25without looking at citations. I mean, like, these are basic things to do. And so figuring out ways
11:31to do that. I think we recognize now that there's a generational issue with that because we've been
11:35raised with these cell phones. But I think that there's more care and concern about it now,
11:40now that we see what happens even with AI and deep fakes than we have before. Because even,
11:45you can't even watch a video and be for sure that it's not AI. So yeah, there's levels and layers.
11:51And are you seeing an interesting or notable generational distinction in terms of how we're
11:57responding to information, right? Because for some of us who have been voting for quite some time,
12:05we have become sort of used to seeing television ads and seeing political ads and responding to
12:12those. And I think maybe the younger generation may have a different relationship with those
12:18political ads. Are you seeing a shift? Or are you seeing basically the same type of responses?
12:23Well, first, I want to make sure that you guys don't hear all the sirens around me. Sorry about
12:26that. But I would say to that, one of the most fascinating things I've seen in the last few
12:32weeks is the upsurgence of engagement on threads on Instagram. I think I've seen a lot of my peers
12:37move away from X, or the dead bird, as some call it, and move to threads.
12:41Okay, what? Dead bird?
12:45Yeah, Twitter. It's now dead. So they've moved on. And so with that, we look to different sources
12:53to engage. And I think that we can even see, and I'll reference, I'm not endorsing,
12:58but I'm just referencing the Kamala HQ site, for example, on Instagram and threads and seeing
13:04that that seems to be the way that we're being served political ads. Like I don't even,
13:09I use streamers, I don't really watch things that are linear television. So I don't have
13:13commercials. So I'm not getting political ads in that way. I'm getting them when I go to my
13:17Instagram. I'm getting them when I see, okay, this candidate has done this interview. That's
13:21an interesting tidbit. Let me go check that out. Or I'm going to go watch, listen to that podcast.
13:25So yeah, there's, we're not even getting the same information. Those ads aren't,
13:29I don't even think really targeting our generation because they know that we're not there.
13:32We're here. And so I've definitely seen over the last few months, even more engagement on these
13:38platforms and more political engagement to the algorithm is actually feeding me more content
13:42that is political simply because they see that that's where I'm headed. And that's what I'm
13:46engaged in. So yeah, I think that the internet is really where we're getting all of our political
13:50ads which is kind of, you know, it has its pluses and minuses, I would say.
13:56As you engage with your friends and your colleagues,
13:59what surprises you the most about what people don't know?
14:03Great question. I mean, I would boil it down to that there are three branches of government,
14:09what they do. Because what happens is that, you know, even when I was looking at the vice
14:16presidential debate, and there was this consistent discussion of Kamala Harris
14:19running the country. And I was just like, do we not know how it works? And so honestly,
14:25the biggest thing I've seen is just like a disconnect in civic education. And what we
14:31see now is the result of misinformation coming from that. Because if you're blaming certain
14:35candidates, and this is not even just in the presidential election, if you're blaming certain
14:38candidates for issues that are not within their within their reach in their jurisdiction, or like
14:42you don't understand that down ballot voting is important, because if you don't put the other two
14:46branches in power, to support your candidate, they can't get anything done. Like, we don't
14:51understand checks and balances. So that's what I've seen as the biggest issue I've seen thus
14:55far that I've been trying to combat. And are you happy you've been successful?
15:03Yeah, I mean, I think in many ways, and I want to continue and I've been trying to use my platform
15:07over the last few months, to really encourage people to learn more. But I do have some friends
15:13that are in my, I would say my age demographic, the Gen Z millennial zone, the zillennials.
15:17And like, they are really saying, like, let's take a step back, because clearly, there's some
15:22things that we might have missed. And let's have a discussion about it. So I have seen actually a
15:25lot more just like basic civic engagement education on the internet. And I think that's actually,
15:31that is where I think we can move a lot of needles, because if people understand that
15:34they can't blame candidates for like, it's just basic, like basic, the three branches.
15:39So I think that I've seen some headway there. And I'm hoping that in the last 29 days, we can also
15:45do a bigger push to just walk people through what their understanding of everything is.
15:50So you can make educated decisions. I'm not going to tell you who to vote for. But if you don't have
15:54the basic understanding, then we're already at a deficit. Oh, my goodness. I know. I know.
16:01I mean, I get it. Right. But what you said, I got to start with the three branches. I'm like,
16:05Oh, man, you remember, you have the pictures like on the wall, right?
16:09In the house, rock, bring it back. It's rough out here.
16:14Um, after, after this, you know, we're talking about painting the polls black.
16:19After this, we have to continue with our engagement. What is what or have you been
16:26planning or thinking about what is next for you? After this election, no matter who wins,
16:33because you're seeing the deficit when it comes to education and how politics works.
16:38So have you been thinking about you know what, this is what I want to do even after this,
16:42because right after this, look, there's a primary coming and then there's another general election
16:47coming time to it. There's room to engage in between that. Yeah, definitely. I mean,
16:52actually, someone asked me that this morning, like, what, what are you doing? Like, what is
16:56your end game here? And I think for me, I recognize now that there are 41 million members of my
17:01generation eligible to vote in this election. And that's 41 million voices that we have the
17:06opportunity to shift towards a brighter future, a brighter democracy for all of us. And so figuring
17:11out how to use my platform to engage my generation where I am, where I can have peer to peer dialogue
17:16has definitely been where I've decided that I'm going to be advancing a lot of my time.
17:20I'm still working in entertainment, but I and I think that a lot of representation funnels into
17:24that as well. And I work with Black Women in Entertainment for Kamala on a lot of those
17:27issues. But for my generation, specifically, I've been figuring out new ways to amplify my platform
17:32and use my voice to really not just educate, but truly engage. Because I think we felt a little
17:39boxed out for a while in terms of discussion, like this is this is grown folks business day at the
17:43kids table at Thanksgiving. But like, we're here now we are technically adults, whether or not we
17:48understand that in the Black family structure is another thing, but we are technically adults. And
17:51so like, we need to be invited to the table in this conversation, we have Congressman Maxwell Frost,
17:56literally in office. So like, our generation is literally here ready to lead. And so just
18:01I want to use my voice to help in that capacity. I'm starting a podcast as well push the next
18:05generation to engage my peers in a political sphere, and really just hopefully synthesize
18:11a lot of the information that we're getting from a lot of different spaces and just bring us all
18:14together to, you know, have one conversation.
18:20All right, Ashley.
18:23We got a competition.
18:28He had his own sound effects.
18:30I mean, that was really I was like, I don't know how I'm gonna beat Kenny Burns. I also
18:33went to school with his son. So hi, Kenny.
18:38Coming to have got a competition with our speakers. We're asking each speaker to text
18:43one of their group chats. And within one minute, and we'll see how many people you can get to
18:49register to vote or to check their voter. It's that checking that voter registration might get
18:56people caught up this year. Yeah, no, seriously. Are you ready for the challenge?
19:03I'm ready for the challenge. And while I pull up my group chat on my computer,
19:06I'm also going to add that like, when I say check your registration, I literally
19:10I moved to a different unit in my building, long story, but I looked at my registration and it was
19:14still set to my old apartment. Like that is the level of like, you have to check your registration.
19:19I live in California. So I had time. However, like this is a real thing. Checking your registration
19:24is not a game, not a joke. I might not have been able to vote had I waited until the day before
19:28the election of the day up. So it's really serious. This check, it takes two minutes or less
19:33like it's really important. But I'm pulling up my group chat now. All right, I have I have the
19:37girlies the group chat is named the cheetah girls. I don't know why we came up with that name,
19:40but we would love the movie. Here we are. Okay, well, your minute has started already.
19:47Okay, already 10 seconds in. And so in the next 45 seconds, we want to know how many people you
19:57can get to register to vote. Because we are operating on trust here, we will ask you to tell
20:04us how many people you are able to register to vote. And Kenny Burns thinks that he got he has
20:11this. So we'll have to see whether or not he's going to be able to win this challenge.
20:15See, I feel like he's going to win. But I can't say that you can't say that.
20:24I'm using my actual group.
20:30I'm also gonna count my ballot besties because I reached out to the people on the internet too,
20:34and a lot of them have registered to vote. But I'm waiting for the girlies to pop in right now.
20:38I did send the message girls. Come on, cheetah girls.
20:43Okay, how many seconds do we have left? I'm going to ping them again.
20:46You're out of time.
20:49Okay, so far, I got two to respond saying they're about to do it. But what I think we're gonna,
20:54we're gonna wait on the on the final responses.
20:57And based on the responses, we'll see what if you can report that back to us. And then we will
21:03announce the winner in our next town hall.
21:07I will definitely report back.
21:10Ashley Jackson, thank you so much for taking the time. Thank you so much for joining us
21:14for all of the work that you do. Good luck at school.
21:18Thanks. Yeah, it's service week, trying to save the country and pass my classes. It's rough.
21:25But thank you so much for having me. I really do appreciate it. And I'm so grateful to essence
21:29paint the polls black for getting the word out. It's time we got 29 days.