Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
The Politics Chicks is a progressive politics podcast and politics news show hosted by Christy Branham and Monica Healy.
Every week, we sit down with candidates, elected officials, journalists, historians, policy experts, advocates, and everyday Americans shaping the future of our democracy. We go beyond the headlines with thoughtful interviews, fact-based analysis, and candid conversations about the issues that affect our livesāfrom elections and public policy to healthcare, education, civil rights, and the economy.
Whether weāre interviewing members of Congress, first-time candidates, medical experts, or community leaders, our mission is the same: to inform, challenge, and inspire.
If youāre looking for a politics podcast that values evidence over outrage, curiosity over division, and hope over cynicism, welcome home.
New episodes every week.
Follow us:
Substack ā¢ Threads ā¢ Bluesky ā¢ Instagram ā¢ TikTok ā¢ Facebook
@ThePoliticsChicks
Christy: Welcome to the Politics Chicks podcast. I'm Kristi Branham.
Monica: And I'm Monica Healy.
Christy: Today we are joined by one of the most dynamic and groundbreaking voices in Minnesota politics. Senator Zaynab Mohamed represents District 63 and made history in 2022 as the youngest person ever elected to the Minnesota Senate , the first Somali woman and one of the first three black women to serve in the chamber.
She was elected with more votes than any other state senator that year, and she has wasted no time in making an impact.
Monica: In her first term, Senator d has helped guarantee reproductive freedom for Minnesotans, and played a key role in passing a nation leading paid leave program. She's also been a strong advocate for immigrant communities. Working to expand access to driver's licenses and affordable healthcare regardless of immigration status.
She currently serves as co-chair of the Senate Working Group on Gun Violence Protection, vice Chair of the Jobs and Economic Development Committee and chair of the POCI caucus.
Christy: Beyond policy. Senator Mohamed has built a reputation for showing up, whether that's supporting families during operation, Metro Surge, standing with communities after tragedy, or responding in real time when Minnesotans are in crisis. Senator Mohamed, we are so honored to have you on the show today.
Thank you so much for being here.
Zaynab: you so much for having me. It's so wonderful to be here with you guys.
Christy:
Monica: Christy and I are moms. Between the two of us, we are moms three six Gen Z kids,
Christy:
Yeah, and just to see all the amazing things you're doing at such a young age. I just, your career is gonna be phenomenal, So we're excited for you. Now, you made history in several ways when you were elected, but I'd love to start with what motivated you personally to run for office at such a young age, and what was the moment where you decided to step into this space?
Zaynab: So, um, well, thank for having me. I first ran, in 20. 21. and it was, a year after George Floyd had been murdered in our city. Um, after we had gone through the uprising of that, the year where we were trying to navigate what life is gonna look like post pandemic. Um, and at the time my senator retired and she held the seat for 16 years prior to me, and she was the first Latina elected to the Senate.
And I had a conversation with her where she felt really fed up. With the dynamics of the Senate of the legislature, the fact that she felt like she couldn't get anything done for people, especially, uh, for the businesses on Lake Street that had just dealt with uprising for the people in our communities who had been patrolling and protecting each other.
Um, and she was like. I think you'd be a great candidate. You've been organizing. I have at that point had worked for community organizations. I had worked at city Halls, I've done ton of organizing and she felt like I was the right person and I thought a lot about it. And I was 24. Um, but, you know, a few years after college, I mean, what else is a girl gonna do besides fund for the Senate?
And so.
Monica: so great.
Christy: Ah, that's awesome.
Monica: And you've often described as a part of a new generation of leadership, and what does being a Gen Z legislator actually change about how you approach governing? What do you think people misunderstand about the Gen Z generation?
Zaynab: Yeah, I mean, you know what's so interesting? People often in politics talk a lot about young people and Gen Z and the generation after them, or social media kids or online kids. Um, but I think what is like really profound about people in my generation is the fact that they live with such urgency in their lives.
Um, and they demand so much from government, and I think when people who are older than myself in school, they were studying the student debts or the climate crisis, we're living through those crises. And so like we have a lot more expectations from people who, who are in positions of power. We don't want you to talk about student debt.
We want you to do something about it. We don't want you to talk about climate change. We're living and experiencing it every day. We want you to do something. And so there's like a level of urgency from this generation and a level. And they also have a lot more accountability for their elected officials.
They're not willing to put up with any BS you know, likethey they expect highest level of service from people who are elected and they want them to meet the moment, and they don't want them to do stuff behind closed doors. They want to be able to see that, and they want their elected officials to show it, whether it's online or social media or in real life.
And they also, you know, for a generation where organizing is such a real part of our lives, whether it's online organizing and talking to your friends or meeting friends on social media and like constantly organizing or doing things, and I think a lot of times people who, at least in my body in the Senate, have been in the Senate for 10, 15, 20, 30, some 40 years.
They don't even know what organizing is and like, that's what I have done my whole life. That's what people in my work do all, all the time. And so when I, when I talk to people who are elected with me, they're like, why are you always working? I'm like, I'm just organizing for my votes. I'm trying to see if I can get 34 on this issue, if I can do this, or what it would take for you to vote for it.
And that means I have to talk to people in your community or, you know, create a hazard for you online or some stuff. And so I think people in Gen, my generation to like sum it up, they expect more, some government. They want more because they're living through the crises that elected officials have talked about for generations, and they're fed up with it.
Monica: I think you hit the nail on the head there, and I think we have seen that in your generation and how they have come out and mobilized and organized and, you are living it. And the younger generation is the first generation. In time, a memoriam that is slated to have a lower standard of living than the generation before them.
So
Christy: Yes.
Monica: yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head there.
Christy: And I think what you said just highlighted, what's exceptionally dysfunctional in the federal government r ight now just you saying you're going out to figure out if you have enough votes or what it's gonna take to get your vote to pass this one bill. That's not happening right now in Congress.
And I think part of that is because it is the old guard that's there it, there's not a lot of young people in Congress. And over the next couple weeks we're gonna be interviewing a couple younger people who are running for seats in Congress. And I think your generation is really gonna be pivotal in hanging the way things are done in government, because this is a case of we've always done it like this and it's time to shake things up. Our lives have changed, and it's time to approach things from a different angle.
Zaynab: Yeah, I feel like we're so used to people who tell us, I will work for you and I will run on these issues if you elect me. And they come back four years or two years later and they see the same thing over and over and over again. And I think people in our communities, like my parents are like, oh. They said they're gonna work on that.
I'm like, but they haven't, like if they have, have you seen results? 'cause I haven't seen anything move and they, I think it's like the old, the generations older than me are so okay with like incremental movements and I am not like, I want things to move, I want you to shift. These issues exist because people created them, so solve them.
And I
we can do it. I think we just need to have the political want and the urgency to be able to do it.
Monica: I think we are seeing the urgency right now, and that's exactly why your generation is pushing back on it because we are embroiled in like our hair is on fire and we need to do something about it.
Christy: Senator, you've taken a leadership role on gun violence prevention, including work on legislation to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines.
What does that work look like behind the scenes, and why is this issue such a priority for you in Minnesota?
Zaynab: It's a priority for people in my district and people in the states for a number of reasons. Number one, I think we've lived through, this past year has been one full of violence for the people of our state, whether it's living through the, the political assassination of Melissa Fortman and her husband and their dog,
or Annunciation, which is, uh, school and church mass shooting, which is in my district. And the people of that community, uh, having to deal with the loss of Fletcher and Harper and 20, almost 30 other people getting shot, or Alex Pretti, like, all of these things are, different issues.
The ultimate, uh, I think the thing that they have all in common is there's so much violence in our communities. Violence is to gun violence and it's been happening for decades. It's, I think I describe it as the, as the issue of my generation, um, and. You know, my generation is the first in our lifetime to live through having to go to school and deal with school drills in the case that a, uh, somebody comes in and shoots at kids.
And what does it look like to keep yourself and your classmates and your teachers safe? And I think that's not normal. And very often people who are in local, state, federal governments. In office or have power, have never lived through that. They've never had to sit through a classroom and wonder where to hide, what would it look like and play this sick game of imagination.
and you know, when Annunciation, um, happened, it was a month, a little over a month after we went through, um, the political assassination of, of our colleagues, and I was a part of that list of people who was named. and you know, I came with our colleagues and I'm like, we have to do something. We ought to do something and we have to act.
Um, and so we put together a work group. On gun violence prevention. And it was myself and few others, including the chair of the committee. And we co-chaired that and we heard directly from the families at Annunciation. They came and they told their stories. Um, and we heard from providers, the healthcare providers who took care of those kids.
Um, we heard from law enforcement, we heard from, um, the Catholic community 'cause it's a, it's a Catholic school. Um, just the numerous of communities. And the goal of that for me. Was set the stage for this session was so their stories would not just be another headline and then we move on. I think the family of Harper and the families of Fletcher don't get to think of their child as just a headline.
Their child is gone the rest of their lives, and us as elected officials have an obligation to act, to do something. And the principal of that school, right after the shooting, did a press conference where he quoted a African proverb that said, move your feet. He's like, just move your feet and do something.
Take action. And that work group for me was like my moment of wanting to take action, do something when we were in the, when we weren't in session. And so At the beginning of this session, I introduced a bill to Ben assault weapons in high capacity magazines in the state of Minnesota. Um, it has been a contentious issue, pine full of stories, I tell you, um, people
Christy: I bet Minnesotan Republicans love their guns,
Zaynab: You, you'd be surprised. Um, some Democrats too, I must say. Um, which is okay, right? Like I think I actually don't have a problem with people who love their guns. I do have a problem with people not understanding that certain weapons just do not belong in our communities and that people shouldn't have access to them.
That a weapon that can shoot 120 rounds, 116 rounds under two minutes. In a school is not a normal gun, nor is it the type of gun that you go hunting with. So like,
Christy: Right.
Zaynab: what you go hunting with, but let's take away the ones that are really harmful and that create dangers to our communities, the ones that have been used by the worst perpetuators of master leagues in the history of this country.
Um, and so, you know. We bring the stats of every mass shooting that's happened over the last 10 years, the type of gun that was used, that there's a common denominator. We talk about the stories. We talk about the, that it's a public health issue. We had our first hearing of the bill in Judiciary and public safety committee.
Three weeks ago and it passed for the first time. That's never happened in the state Senate. And so now the bill is headed to finance and then it has to, they get to the Senate floor and then we'll see where the house, the house did take up, um, like a technical sort of thing where they wanted to pull the bill through committee to the floor.
And that failed on 6 7, 6 7 vote, which is to be expected because they already a divided government. But I do think like we very often think about like the, the gun violence issue and the gun policy as like, as like a democratic issue. And it's not. It's like we did a polling across the state of Minnesota and 69% of Minnesotan supported,
Christy: Right. Minnesota is a purple state for the most part.
Zaynab: It's not a very democratic state. We have deemed. Legislature in, in the country. And so you have Republicans who support this issue with independence and Democrats because they are, uh, ethical hunters and people who understand what, what weapons should be used when people are going hunting, what it means for those people to maintain their culture, but also like certain one, it's just don't belong act communities.
Those are the conversations we're having. closed doors.
Monica: You, you already kind of addressed my next question, which was about, um. The Second Amendment and how you assure people that you're not trying to revoke the Second Amendment and the conversation about the types of guns, I think is, is key. And it's one that too many Republicans, they're not willing to have that conversation.
And it sounds like Minnesotans are more willing to have that conversation.
Zaynab: The bill on Sullivans in high, high capacity magazines is the bipartisan across the state of Minnesota. It's only partisan in the legislature because of the people who serve it, who serve in that body. And I will also say like that's always the argument that you're taking away people Second Amendment.
And I think that's an insult to the people in our state because they understand that I can't change the constitution of the United States of America. I am a state senator. I cannot, um, but I can ban a ban on assault weapons and over 10 other states have done it across the state, uh, across the country.
And we had this ban by the way, in the nineties, um, and
Christy: Yep.
Zaynab: statistically went down when we did have this ban at the federal level. So like, yeah, we should fight for, at the federal level and we shouldn't ban across the country, across across the country in the us, but. See, I think it's an insult to the people in our states to make them think that they can't understand how the laws in our country were.
Christy: Yeah, and I think, people don't, understand that when our forefathers drafted the Constitution, it literally took two and a half to three minutes to load a gun for a single shot. Right, because they were, they were back then, they would have to put in the gun powder and they'd have to tamp it down
it, it was a long process for them to load the gun to get one shut off. They could only get I, I think they said they could only get one shot out every four minutes if they were fast to be able to reload their guns ends
Monica: Not to mention the fact that the amendment specifically talks about a well regulated militia. You know, it wasn't meant to be citizens across the board.
Christy: Right.
Zaynab: It wasn't an entire industry. Wasn't an entire industry. We have. A pharmaceutical industry that controls healthcare prices or the prices of, of prescription in our country. We also have the NRA and an entire industry that controls how many guns they want to put out into our streets. And it's not based on to keeping you or yourself, your community safe.
It's so that they can sell as many as they can and keep getting richer. And I think that's unacceptable, and I think we should talk about it as well and say the nras. Benefiting unequivocally in the state we thought of Don't like the gun. The NRA is not even a big, you know, lobbying group, but this year they are here in full force.
They're lobbying they're sending thousands of letters, and it's because, you know, they want to keep selling these, these types of guns because they benefit the most from it because they make the most money from it.
Monica: Ironically, after mass shootings, that is when gun sales go up because there is this panic amongst gun owners that there will be legislation passed that will restrict their, their gun ownership. So instead of having the effect that you would think it would after mass shooting that gun sales, drop it, it's the exact opposite.
Christy: Unfortunately money talks. Um, so that leads us to our next question, which is about fraud in Minnesota.
Fraud in Minnesota programs has been a major issue and a concern across the political spectrum. From your perspective, where did the system fail and what needs to be changed?
Zaynab: Um, well, um. So like fraud is a real issue. It's not one that we can look away and, and say it, it isn't happening because it is. Um, it's also true that it's been happening for decades. Um, it's also true that there was an independence, um, uh, audit that was done by Tim O'Malley, um, who was appointed by.
Governor Tim Walls, but prior to that, worked under the Tim Pawlenty administration. Um, so he worked under both a, a Republican and, and, and Democratic administration. But this, um, sort of report he did was on to audit the state's finances, in our agencies. Um, and to also understand how long fraud has been happening.
And turns out it's been happening since the seventies. And it's caused by many things. It's a ripple effect, right? When it comes to the Department of Human Services, DHS, which is also what they talk about, it's our health and human services. It's where, um, it's, it's, it's the agency where the work of taking care of the most vulnerable people in our community sit.
Whether it's disabled people, whether. Um, folks with autism, whether it's um, folks who have had accidents and can't physically take care of themselves. I mean, you think of the people who are most struggling seniors, poor people, they take care of them through our health and human services.
Um, and I think because it's been happening over the decades, nobody has fully paid attention to it. It didn't just start during the pandemic and it didn't just start under 10 walls. It was happening. Under Pawlenty under every other administration you could think of I think over the years, the agencies have gotten so big and what's happened was we haven't had the time to think about how do we make sure that the services that we're providing are good quality care for people and that people are actually receiving those services? What actually happen in the government is very often our agencies outsource the care. To different entities, whether it's small businesses, LLCs, whether it's to the counties.
I mean, we outsource every sort of program, which I fundamentally disagree with. I think if we did the work ourselves as an agency. Yes, our agency would be humongous and might make cost us a lot more of admin money, but it would also, we would also know where fraud is happening and how it's happening and how and why, and how we can tackle it.
Right now, what's happened this year is it's become this past two years, very political thing for the Republican party, and they want to talk about it from that place, right? They want to say Democrats are allowing fraud in the state of Minnesota and it's their fault. That's not it. That's, that's just factually not correct.
Fraud is happening, yes, in Minnesota. It's also happening in New York. It's happening in Florida. It's happening in the federal government. It's happening across the country, across all of our systems. And we should solve it. And how do we solve it? We should not be talking about fraud after the fact that it happens.
We should prosecute the people who commit these crimes, and we should also figure out from the beginning point. Who are we giving this money to? Are they providing the care that they need? And as a business, are they getting the training that they need to follow the laws of the state? And if they are not, what can we do to make sure that they are, or what can we do to make sure that another institute takes that over?
That's the conversation we're having right now in our bodies. And so I've introduced a number of bills and my bills focus on solving fraud before we get to the point of. Well, it happened. How do we close the loopholes? How do we make sure when an entity wants to, for example, take what it, what it wants to take care of seniors, okay, we're gonna give you money to do this and you're gonna bill for this clients. Let's make sure that you understand the laws. Let's make sure you have proper training, and let's also make sure that throughout that time that the agency comes and visits your site anonymously without you knowing they will come three to times a year because.
Your stuff should always be clean, should always be good. But we have very often, um, as a government given money to the service and then less money to the administrative work. And so the agency very often is very overwhelmed and doesn't have enough money to put towards putting people and boots on the ground.
And then you have fraudsters and criminals who take advantage of the system. I don't know if I broke that down. Well.
Christy: I think you did.
Monica: You mentioned, you know, getting services to the people that need it. And I think that's the, the problem that we have seen from the federal government is they, they see fraud and then they're just stopping payment and services and then that it leaves our vulnerable communities at risk and they're not getting the services that they need.
So they, again , I think you hit the nail on the head where you are addressing the fraud and the people that are perpetrating the fraud and not the people that are supposed to be getting the services.
Zaynab: And you know, I sit on the Committee of Health and Human Services and like very often people compare the fraud that's happening there to feeding our future, which is fundamentally different because both of that funding sits in different committees and agencies and health and human services is. Often, most of the time Medicaid dollars, meaning there's OIG and a federal government that is connected to that, that is also responsible for holding those folks accountable.
Um. I, I think what I feel most hopeful about in this issue is I have done my best to not make it political, but to break it down and then figure out where I can take on and where I can solve the issue. And the three bills that I introduced in our committee have passed and were passed with both Republican and Democrats.
And I have co-authors from both sides, so I think people have an understanding. I just wish it was less political and we weren't blaming on one group because. If this was a different administration, same thing would be happening.
Christy: Agreed.. And the fact that it has been made basically a political flashpoint, right? This is a talking point, a red herring for the Republicans to be able to give some red meat to their voters, right? And in Minnesota, it basically turned into the Minnesota version of their eating the cats, they're eating the dogs
Zaynab: Yep, why not? You know, I think what this federal government has always done in this specific administration under Trump is they are very good at taking the most minority group in a community and making them the enemy. And so like in Ohio, it's, the Haitian community is a very tiny population, so why not make it.
Minnesota. Sure. It feels like there's a lot of Somali people in the state of Minnesota, about 80,000, there's 80,000 Minnesotans, and then across the country, less than 150,000. So like in population wise, this is a tiny, tiny community, and few folks in that community, under a hundred people have committed crimes.
Okay. And so like, why not take this massive issue that is a systematic failure and blame it on this community? And then now everybody's gonna say, get the out of our country or out of our state. But they benefit from pinning communities against each other. They benefit from hate, they benefit from making people feel so marginalized.
Like I think the goal for them is for people in my community to feel like I don't even wanna vote. I didn't want anything to do with this. I'm just gonna stay at home. They will benefit from that. And I think for me and people in my community, our goal is to teach them. That's what they want you to do.
They want you to still demoralized, to not feel supported, to not feel like people have your back. And I think the Democratic Party is starting to get ahold of it, but they need to understand that that's their goal, is to make minorities feel so demoralized that they don't vote.
Christy: And in Minnesota, Somalis fill so many important jobs, especially in the healthcare community. You know, if, if there were a mass exodus of Somalis from the state for any reason, the healthcare system here would fall apart. Because it's not uncommon for you to go into a doctor's office and have your nurse be a Somali.
I've had a Somali doctor. There are nursing assistants, CNAs, quite a few CNAs are from that community.
Monica: Lots in the education system.
Christy: exactly. And you know, to lose that, that foundation would be horrific for Minnesota as a state.
Zaynab: And you know, if somebody hasn't often interacted with the community and what they know about them is what they see on tv. They obviously have preconceived notion of who that community is, which is often wrong. When I got elected, the first bill that I carried was driver's licenses, which would allow undocumented people in our state to be able to have the privilege to drive because it's a law we used to have 20 years ago and he was revoked by the Tim Pawlenty administration and I thought it was a good idea for us to allow our communities to drive and for them not to be afraid. I had the Chamber of Commerce and the business community supporting it. I had the MPPOA and law enforcement supporting it. I had the faith community supporting it across the legislature this was the one issue that people who will never be on an issue came together and supported. And my colleague, Grant Hauschild, who's a senator from around the Iron Range, Northern Minnesota, read a letter which was given to me my first day in the legislature. When I introduced the bill, somebody came to me and they said, I'm from Northern Minnesota.
I wanted just leave you this flyer. And it was from this guy named Tommy, uh, Tom Rukavina. And he was a former, I'm saying his not name wrong, I'm sure, but he was a former state senator and in the past, I believe he voted against, um, undocumented bills for undocumented communities, specifically driver's licenses.
And when he was in his, I think, nursing bed, he wrote this opinion piece to his, his local news an opened op-ed where he talks about how like even in his sickest days that immigrants were showing up for him, were taking care of him, and that our states should do more and take care of them.
And Grant wrote read that at like 2:00 AM when we, and it just like put me to tears. And I think what I have learned over the last four years being in this job is like people really don't really reflect around issues around them unless it comes to their front steps, right? for him. He had to be in his nursing bed and I think it's courageous that he did that.
I think it's profound
Christy: Yes.
Zaynab: he still did that. I think it like moved a lot of votes for me and I'm, and I'm grateful for it. But I just think about what the people right now who are governing are gonna do their 80, 90 or the death beds and whether they will have any regrets.
Christy: yeah,
Monica: I think the sooner people realize that it's less of an issue of left versus right and top versus bottom, and collectively humanity just needs to take care of each other and
Christy: Yes,
Monica: we all need to learn that.
Christy: Senator, you've been described as someone who consistently shows up for the community, especially in moments of crisis. And what does that actually look like in practice that, that showing up and how, um, do you stay connected with the people you represent while serving at the capitol?
Zaynab: Um, that's a really good question. I think it ties to our initial question when we started, which was like, you know, why is your generation so different? I think I expected more from my elected officials, and so I do more because that's how I would want somebody who was my elected official to show up. And so when
When the federal government decided that they were gonna occupy our states and ICE was gonna be sent here in thousands, what I quickly realized was that people in our communities weren't going to work, weren't paid for rent, weren't getting groceries. And so I started to sort of do these video updating people on daily, what's happening on the ground, how ice is terrorizing our communities.
But I also wanted it to be an opportunity. For us to come together as a community and do something collectively because my powers were limited. There's really nothing I can do, but I can be in our community and I can connect people and I can organize. so I started to do these mini food drives and it was like my way of saying, we're gonna do a block to block.
And it really did turn into that, like it went from, blast to blast, like few hundred, and we started doing it in schools, in their gyms. And it was like, before you know it, we had thousands of people signing up for a link tree to deliver food. And then we had thousands of people wanting to like start rental assistance for their communities and like help pay rent for their neighbors.
And then we had hundreds of people who were saying we wanted patrolling because we wanna make sure. If we're, if we're gonna go deliver food, we're safe. so we started to create this system within our community and it's kind of become its own, own thing, which is I think incredible. But I think in the beginning days we had people just felt really like, hopeless.
What can we do? What can we do? And I was just directing people, we're doing a food drive, show up, bring these items, and then I would hear from educators in our school or parents who will say. This is how many parents are missing in our school? This is how many kids are missing in our school. Like we think these are the people who aren't going to work.
Can you help us come up with these things? And they would've connected. So it was like, I think what I learned is like government really doesn't really do much for people. It's the people who do the work. It's the people who show up for each other. When these systems fail, like we're the ones who keep each other safe.
They're keeping their neighbors who are undocumented, safe, they're making sure those who are immigrants who don't wanna be interacting with ice don't go out there and do that. They're making sure that they're fed, that they have food, that their rent is paid. And like Sometimes I'm in awe of the work that we have done, but you know, I don't think I'm anything other than just an ordinary person wanting to do what I would want done for me, what I would want done for my neighbors.
I just have somewhat of a bigger platform than my regular neighbor. So why not use that platform and connect people? And so that's what I decided to do and I think I'm, I'm proud of the work we've done. I hope that we stay with it. I think with, with every sort of like struggle we have in the states, whether it's the pandemic or the uprising or the assassinations or ice and the occupation of our state, like this is the wrong state to test your bad policies on.
This is the wrong people
Christy: 100%.
Zaynab: turn their neighbors against, like, you're just making our communities just love each other and show up for each other. So like, I guess, thank you.
Monica: Minnesota has definitely shown up and, and I think you are exactly right about it, is the people that are really the ones that are taking care of each other, and we have shown that time and time again, and who keeps us safe. We keep us safe.
Zaynab: Yep. Yep.
Christy: That word neighborism, we just had Kelly, on our, podcast a couple weeks ago from Do'Gooders, we talked about the concept of neighborism and showing up for your neighbors and doing what you can with what you have for your neighbors, because that's what we do here in Minnesota. That's part of our culture.
Right.
Zaynab: Yeah, like I don't even think there's a single day I shoveled myself this year. Like I wake up, I'm gonna do it, and somebody who's already done it and I am so grateful. I'm like, it's my least favorite thing. And You know, like I think people just do little things that make people lives easier.
Like you go through a drive through and somebody's already paid for your coffee or meal. Like that's Minnesota to T. And I think it's the wrong state to test wrong people.
Christy: Yeah, we generally swear we're trying to be respectful
Zaynab: No, I swear too, so that makes me feel a little better because I have a fa, I have a potty mouth.
Monica: We're we're pretty sweary.
Zaynab: Okay.
Christy: Well generally at this point I would've said like, don't fuck with Minnesota because
Zaynab: Do not fuck with Minnesota.
Christy: Amen. Sister.
Monica: We are very proud of how Minnesota has shown up. Um, always, but in particular, these last four months, and I've had people from other states, you know, where ICE is planning on going, say, how can we replicate what Minnesota has done? And, uh, my answer is I don't know that any individual can, it's gotta come from the people.
Christy: Right.
Zaynab: we hope that you have similar people and like humanity as we do.
Monica: Way to go
Christy: Yeah. And like. And like Kelly said, you know, trying to replicate this in other states and other cities, it can't happen exactly like it did here because our culture is different. Like you have to find where the connection is in your culture.
Zaynab: Yep.
Christy: From within that city and leverage that. And that is how you replicate it.
It won't be exactly the same as in Minnesota because Portland was certainly different and Chicago was certainly different and LA was certainly different. But we all, the other thing is we all learned from each other too, on how to show up for each other and what things could possibly happen and being prepared for the things that could possibly happen.
So.
Zaynab: Bovino literally said on the news that this has been the hardest state that they had to deal with, where they had been the least successful.
Christy: Fuck. Yeah.
Zaynab: you know,
Christy: 'cause we weren't gonna take it.
Zaynab: we were not like, fuck no. But also, like, I, I think it's a testament to the trauma we have been through collectively as a community. I mean, like what we have gone through in the last four or five years, since 2020 is not normal.
Like we have collective trauma and I don't even think all the insurance com companies of the world can cover our therapy appointments. But like I think we have taken. And pull what we're feeling in those moments and our own struggles aside to just do and show up. And one, put one foot in front of the other.
And then you have people being like, how are you? Are you taking care of yourself? Are you drinking water? And I'm like, we're all struggling. Like we are really all in this. But like, you know, like, because we went through COVID. Because we went through an uprising, because we went through the assassination of our leaders before because we went through all these things, we were not about to let Bovino fuck with us. Like that was not about to happen here. Little Bovino
Christy: no,
Zaynab: not about to do anything here. So like I'm, yeah.
Christy: absolutely. And. And just to be very clear, things have not stopped here in Minnesota. It's just a lot less visible. There're being a lot more, um,
Monica: tactics have changed.
Christy: Their tactics have changed and they're wearing plain clothes. They're using members of minority communities to go to lure people ahead of homes so that there's a sense of safety.
There'sstill. at schools, they're still in the community. I mean, and they have, the sad thing is they've moved outstate. I think they're not quite as active in the city. They're still here, obviously, but they've moved outstate where there's less resistance or less organized resistance
Zaynab: Yeah. Di
Christy: is here.
Yeah.
Zaynab: They might not be sending a white mask man to your door, but they will send a nice Latino man, a nice Somali man who's not mask to make you feel like this is a normal person who wants to have a conversation with you. And then back to they're just using the tactics.
Christy: Yeah. And I'm just gonna say this. I have a huge issue with people who are Latino, who are Somali working for ICE and using intimidation tactics and doing basically inhumane things to members of their own community. Like where is the compassion there? it befuddles me.
It absolutely befuddles me,
Zaynab: I mean, I think that no community is perfect, right? No community is, is I, I, you know, I will say, when I really think about that deeply, like why would somebody from our own community do this to members of our own community? I just also think about the struggles people are facing economically.
Like for somebody who lost their job, who has nothing, you offered them a $50 thousand dollars bonus. Like that is life changing for them. And I think that just shows over the decades how much we have failed the people of our state, and how much this, this issue ultimately is always what it is, which is top versus bottom.
Christy: Yeah,
Zaynab: It is people who are the richest making the poorest just eat each other up and make them struggle so that they can continue to pass out.
Christy: and having so many jobs where there is not a living wage, so they get this opportunity to, like you said, earn this life changing money.
You know
Zaynab: And it's wrong. It's
Monica: a game, but it's a game changer for them. Yep.
Zaynab: yeah.
Christy: Yes, absolutely.
Monica: Well on, the heels of some, uh, kind of dark topics, um, what's giving you hope right now?
Zaynab: wow. Um, well, for, and I think this is giving maybe everybody hope, the fact that summer is right around the corner. It's given me a lot of hope. Um, I'm hopeful that we'll have a calmer summer, maybe quieter summer, maybe less violent summer. Um, that's given me a lot of hope because like so many people in our state, I also struggle with seasonal depression and the winter and the blues and the chaos.
Christy: Same. Yeah. It's hard.
Monica: Well, I hope you do get that, that calm summer and, and the the Hope spring Summer. Thank you so much for being here today. We really appreciate the opportunity to hear more about your work, your perspective, the role you're playing in shaping Minnesota's future. And I have to say, as a mom of three Gen Zers, I am just so impressed with you and thank you for what you're doing.
Christy: 100%. I'm so glad we have opportunity to meet with you and speak with you because it's clear that a new generation of leadership is stepping forward and whether or not we agree on policy, these conversations matter and they help us better understand where we're headed and how decisions are being made.
So Senator Mohamed, thank you again for joining us today. Again, it was an honor and a privilege to have you here. It was a fabulous conversation. I enjoyed myself, um, even though I've been taming my dog this whole time. I'm trying to keep him from barking and jumping in my face. But thank you so much for, um, putting up with us with our little bit of swearing on the podcast too.
We just can't help ourselves. And yeah, thank you for being here.
Zaynab: Thank you. This has been so fun. I really appreciate you guys for having me. me. Had a
Christy: Yay. Then come back. We want you back
Monica: Yeah,
Zaynab: I'll be back hopeful. Forget about the assault weapons ban. We'll, we'll be back and have a good update.
Monica: that would be great.
Christy: 100%. Yeah. Yeah.
Monica: Any final thoughts before we sign off? Either one of you?
Zaynab: Just I appreciate you so much for having me on a Friday afternoon.
Monica: We appreciate you being here.
Christy: Thank you for taking the time outta your day. We know that you're busy and it means a lot to us. We never, ever lose sight of the fact that you guys are so busy. You have so much in your plate. We're always just really grateful and, and so thank you.
Zaynab: Always happy to do it.
Monica: To our listeners, if you're finding meaning in the conversations we're having, if something challenges you, informs you, sparks a new perspective, please like, comment and share. It helps us grow.
Christy: And follow us everywhere at the Politics Chicks on Substack Threads, blue Sky, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
Monica: Keep shining your light in the Help us find each other.
Christy: And remember, we're stronger together.
Monica: Thanks, y'all.
Christy: Thanks so much.
Monica: