The Black Lives Matter movement has been at the center of national attention for much of 2020. Candidates across the nation for offices up and down the ballot are now tasked with responding to and acknowledging pervasive racial and social injustices in communities across the country. In this episode, Joe and Martín explain how your campaign can effectively and authentically demonstrate your support for the BLM movement. They also explain what you need to think about if you are running in a partisan, progressive vs. conservative race, or if you are running in a nonpartisan, progressive vs. progressive race.
Expressing your support for the BLM movement and addressing the concerns of racial and social justice activists in your community will be essential parts of running a winning progressive campaign this year. That’s why Joe and Martín have devoted this episode to going over what you need to do to ensure your campaign appropriately and effectively engages the BLM movement and clearly demonstrates your support for racial and social justice. You will also need to adjust your strategy based on the type of race you are running in. If you are running in a partisan progressive vs. conservative race, your message will look much different than if you are running in a nonpartisan progressive vs. progressive race.
Resources
How to Talk to Your Family About Black Lives Matter
Connect with us!
If you have campaign questions or want to learn more, reach out to us using the contact information below.
Twitter: @cmpwrkshp
Instagram: @TheCampaignWorkshop
Email: marketing@thecampaignworkshop.com
Joe Fuld
Twitter: @joefuld
Instagram: @joefuld
Martín Diego Garcia
Twitter: @gmartindiego
Instagram: @gmartindiego
Presented by The Campaign Workshop
(Intro Music)
Joe Fuld (00:06):
Hey friends, you're listening to How to Win a Campaign where you'll get an insider's perspective that teaches you not only how to run, but how to win. I'm Joe Fuld.
Martín Diego Garcia (00:17):
And I'm Martín Diego Garcia, and you can find us on Twitter @CMPWRKSHP or on Instagram @thecampaignworkshop. Thanks for tuning in today for today's special episode on standing in allyship with the Black Lives Matter movement and black communities across the country.
Joe Fuld (00:33):
Today, we're talking about the black lives matter movement, racism and policing, and how they're likely impacting your community and your campaign and how your campaign should respond. The Black Lives Matter movement has brought to light a number of issues you and your campaign will need to talk about heading into the fall elections when large issues impact your community, you might need to adjust your plans and respond accordingly to keep your community in mind and your campaign tactics effective.
Martín Diego Garcia (01:05):
Yeah, I mean the Black Lives Matter movement is impacting campaigns, both on the local level and in national conversation, right? So Joe, as campaigns are moving into the fall, what should candidates and their staff be doing to address some of these impacts?
Joe Fuld (01:18):
First, I think campaigns need to have something tangible to talk about on the subject. You know, thinking about as a candidate where you have stood on issues or where you're going to stand on issues that are at the center of the Black Lives Matter movement. And those could be things like body cameras, community involvement in police, policy, police, funding, racism in the community or it could be like very tactical political things like donations that a candidate has taken and endorsements from police groups or where they've stood on civilian review boards.
Martín Diego Garcia (01:56):
Yeah. I mean, there are a ton of things happening as we head into the fall, right? It's a presidential year. The conversation about race in this country has taken a forefront alongside COVID and what is happening in the pandemic and healthcare, right? But in terms of standing in allyship with members of your community and members of the black community who are currently leading the Black Lives Matter movement, your main goal is to have a message, right? And that really starts by doing some outreach and reaching out to the communities of color in your area, in your district. Right? Think about who are the folks you have relationships with in those circles, in those spaces, and see if they're willing to sit down and have a conversation with you, because what you don't want to do as a candidate is come out and speak on something that you may not have an authority on, or you may not have experience with, particularly if you're not a black candidate running in this moment, right. Or a person of color running in this moment. So think about what it means to listen, to and take lead from the black leaders in your community who have been doing the work and have set an agenda of what they want to see, particularly on the local level. And, and have already been having those conversations with elected leaders. Know what you have done, right? And what you have not done. Where have you showed up and haven't showed up? What you don't want to do is come off as being really, really inauthentic by saying you're standing with these leaders in the black movement and the Black Lives Matter movement. And you haven't really done anything in the past to show that you have a record of standing up or being an ally of the Black Lives Matter movement. So don't claim to have done something you haven't because folks are gonna see right through that and probably call you on that. So just just know that as you're going into it, the other thing you want to be thinking about, are there current issues in your community specific around Black Lives Matter, right? Is there police funding conversations happening? Are there Confederate statues that are being debated to be removed, right? What are the economic issues on underserved communities in your district or the areas in which you're running? Before going into listen and learn from these black movement leaders, make sure that you've also done your research. So it's not put on them to educate you, but you're coming in with a sense of, I understand what's happening in my local community. I understand what the issues are and where they need you to step in to be helpful.
Joe Fuld (04:17):
Think about this as a chance to address issues that may be you as a candidate have wanted to address, but haven't had a chance to. Also make sure that your taking a lens to this where you're thinking about, all right, am I doing real outreach and coalition building? You want to focus on your community's needs and how the office you're running for is going to be relevant on these issues. So, as we've talked about in previous episodes, you want to think about the tone in which you're communicating. And you want to think about this in a way in which you're bringing these issues home to specific populations and why it matters.
Martín Diego Garcia (04:56):
Absolutely. As you are thinking about reaching out to the leaders within your community, who were at the forefront of Black Lives Matter in your district, your area, think about whether or not one of those leaders would be as a addition to your kitchen cabinet. How are you really taking steps to be intentional and purposeful and integrating folks within the Black Lives Matter movement into your campaign versus just saying, you stand with them and just saying that they're, that you're going to stand in allyship. But if your campaign staff, if the policies you're pursuing are not a reflection of the community are not in alignment with the same agenda that the Black Lives Matter movement is also pushing, it's going to seem very disingenuous and very inauthentic for you to say that you stand in allyship and yet are not pushing anything or being vocal or being inclusive of these folks within your campaign structure. So think about ways in which you can do that. Conversations like these happening out in communities are going to be different depending on where you're running and depending on the local, the level of office you are running for. So also take that into consideration, right? If you were running for school board, the things that you may be thinking about, right, in terms of Black Lives Matter movement may be the education system and what children are being taught within the education system versus not. Whereas if you're in a state legislature or you're on a County commission, you may be thinking more of funding and policing and allocation of resources. So the conversations you're having and the issues you'll be talking about may also be dependent on the region in which you're running. And right, like if you're running rural versus suburban or versus urban, right, or the level of office you're running forward with an issue like Black Lives Matter, there's going to be a lot of different folks with many different messages and thoughts that they're trying to get out into the public space. So we're not saying go off your message, right? But we're saying in order to incorporate the Black Lives Matter movement into your campaign, you're going to have to be intentional about connecting the two things. What are the issues that are forefront for your community and are really important that your campaign is already running on and how do you integrate and align those with the agenda that the Black Lives Matter movement leaders are also pushing for? Right? So we're not saying go off message, but there, but you don't want to get super distracted also and make this the center focal point of your campaign as well, unless it is the center focal point for the conversation your community is having. Right? So after the break, we'll talk about how some folks may be using Black Lives Matter against progressive candidates and what you should be thinking about as far as messaging. So we'll be right back.
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Joe Fuld (07:38):
And we're back. So one of the things I think is important to know about the black lives matter movement is this is a decentralized movement. So depending on the community, in which you are running for office or working on a campaign, how the community is working on Black Lives Matter, the specific issues are going to be slightly different than nationally. So you really want to be thinking about how is racism affecting your community? Is it Confederate statues? Is it body cameras? What, is it all of the above? But you really want to think about that. And what is your campaign doing on these issues?
Martín Diego Garcia (08:19):
Absolutely. Right. So in the same way that you are thinking about messaging on other issues and topics, your campaign is talking about whether it's education or healthcare or the environment, et cetera, you want to have some core talking points developed for how you're going to speak to and speak with the Black Lives Matter movement and the leaders in that space. Also, depending on the type of race you're running for, right? We talked about jurisdiction. We talked about the level of race or the region in which you're running with. It may be the type of campaign too. If you're running in a partisan race where you're the Democrat against the Republican or the progressive against the conservative, that conversation of dialogue that is happening with your opponent is going to be different than say, you're running in a nonpartisan race or a multi candidate, democratic, progressive race, right, where it's progressive as against progressives. When you're running against a conservative, and you're the progressive, there is some pretty easy boiler plate language that you can use that the Black Lives Matter movement have already come up with in terms of how, how you can stand in allyship against the folks who are likely trying to take our rights away or not trying to fight on behalf of black communities. When you're in the space where it's a multi candidate and it's progressive, it gets progressive, it gets a little bit trickier depending on sort of where your lane is amongst those candidates. So you're also going to want to take some time there to think about, are you trying, is your strategy to out progressive the other folks in your,uin the race and the other candidates,uor are you figuring out how to work with the community at large while also aligning and integrating the Black Lives Matter movement agenda, et cetera. So you want to give a little bit of time to think about how to distinguish yourself from the other candidates you're running with, depending on the type of a race that you are engaging in. So think about, have you developed a strong, yet thoughtful language in response to attacks that may come from you, particularly if you're running against conservative opponents, but also if you're, if folks in the progressive space are saying that you are not being progressive enough on the issue, right. So do you educate your opponents or audiences about their misconceptions or do you take a different approach? Right. So you want to be thinking about an answering these questions for your campaign.
Joe Fuld (10:31):
Yeah. And I think making sure you're using this as an opportunity to make change, but know folks are going to have questions about your stances on some of the national issues around this, on police oversight on body cameras, on Confederate monuments. And you're going to have to figure out how that plays in your area and making sure that you're really thinking about what are, are there issues in the past that may come up specifically about your candidacy? Have you taken money from police unions in the past? What are you going to say about that? How people might ask, how has that affected your stances on specific issues? You will have to respond to that. So being ready and also knowing that there may be issues that are connected to different activists that are saying, what about the funding, the police both on the right and the left, right? That you're going to have to respond to both offensively and defensively and you, and most importantly, you have to figure out what your stance is.
Martín Diego Garcia (11:37):
Absolutely. And one thing I will say, and hopefully is one of the most important things is don't be afraid that you don't know enough to be vocal, right? Educate yourself, reach out to the community members in your, in your district in which are taking a lead in this space and ask them for help. Right? You don't want to come out and have a reporter, a community member at a forum. Somebody asks you about your thoughts on the black lives matter movement. And you have no talking points, nothing to say, nor are educated enough to even give a response connect with the community members in your area in order to get educated. But what you don't want to do. Right. And what I'd caution is don't just look for their stamp of approval or an endorsement so that you have checked a box, right. And said, okay, great. I stand in allyship, they've endorsed me. Sweet. Moving on. You actually do want to earn their partnership and their trust and their respect so that they are then having folks who are turning out to vote for you and are aligning with you and your campaign.
Joe Fuld (12:42):
Yeah. I mean, this is going to take some work, right? This is not something that as a campaign, you know, you might be in a position where you have not had a stance on these issues ever, and they are now a part of what's going on in your community. And this is now an opportunity for you to do the work, understand the issues and think about how they affect the community and how this is a part of your message. I think the other part of this that is really important is that I think communities of color specifically are, as they come to the fall are going to be looking to say, what are stances that candidates are taking on these issues. If they haven't taken a stance, somebody who you might think are a core part of your voter base might skip your race. They might not vote in your race because they don't feel like you've given them a reason to engage in this campaign. So it's important, right? For you to really do your homework, think about your community, specifically, reach out to folks and then think about what are stances that you want to take and how can you be proactive? What I've found with some of the incumbents that we work with is they're like, you know, I've wanted this law on body cameras, now's the chance to actually pass it. Right. So think about that. Think about how to use this as an opportunity to get through some legislation that might be really helpful and something that you've wanted to do all along.
Martín Diego Garcia (14:12):
Absolutely. And to that point, being intentional and thinking about and talking about, right, like what does the inclusion of black lives matter issues, concerns, agenda, people, leaders into your campaign look like during the campaign, but also after election day? What is intentionally including it in your platform? What does intentionally, including it in your staffing structure, right? How do you think about it post election day? So it's not just a campaign promise, but it's actually integrated to your service as an elected official.
Joe Fuld (14:41):
Right? And, and I think you want it to be authentic to you into your campaign, right? If your focus as a candidate is on economic issues, focus on the economic parts of this, right? If your campaign is focused on police reform, you're running for DA, talk about what that's going to look like. So really think about how it's authentic to your campaign. Don't just have the stance on an issue that you don't believe in.
Martín Diego Garcia (15:08):
Absolutely. So whether you are getting attacked at the level in which AOC was attacked on the steps of Congress, right? Or on the floor of the House or it's just your, your opponent talking or, or giving this information about what the black lives matter movement is actually fighting for in meet and greets in virtual hangouts, et cetera, you need to have a message. You need to be prepared. You need to know how to respond, particularly if you are being, and hopefully if you are being vocal and standing in allyship with the Black Lives Matter movement. But we could go on for awhile, but we want to hear from you the listener. So reach out to us on our social handles, which are in the descriptions. And let us know if you have questions after the break, we'll discuss our key takeaways about how your campaign can interact at and stand in allyship with the black lives matter movement. We'll be right back.
(Music)
Martín Diego Garcia (16:05):
Great. And we're back. So Joe, I know we have been working with candidates all year long and in January, some of those plans and strategies are a little bit different than they are today, given what has happened in everything that has changed. Could you talk a little bit about the candidates that we've been working with and some of the specific questions they have been asking about how to adjust, alter, adapt to their plans and strategies, their communications as the Black Lives Matter movement has taken fire and really become a center of the conversation happening in the political space?
Joe Fuld (16:37):
Well, so whether it's through our training work or consulting work, we've definitely had candidates and campaign managers ask us about these issues. And part of what I've been talking to folks about is, you know what we've been saying, this podcast, which is do the outreach. Think about what are ways in which you can be impactful around racism in your community. It might be a piece of legislation that you've wanted to pass. It might be a piece of legislation that is new, that you're like I should sign on to this and really defining what your outreach is within communities of color in your area. And really thinking about that thoughtfully, not just for the campaign, but for what you're going to want to do after the campaign and making sure that is true to you as a candidate. We've had candidates that are very focused on, as we talked about earlier, economic issues, we really focused on economic impact, or folks that really deal with both in the committees as an elected official on issues of police reform things like body cameras, other types of policing issues that they're dealing with. And so they've been very specific on what gestation and on outreach. I also think that a lot of candidates have reached out about issues around police unions and what is the support they are taking, or won't take around this and being thoughtful and really thinking about that. So, Martín, what are your main takeaways on how the black lives matter movement could affect campaigns this Fall?
Martín Diego Garcia (18:18):
Yeah. What you need to be thinking about as a candidate, right. And always is what is top of mind for your voters? And right now, if you started your campaign, as I mentioned in January, that's likely has changed with the pandemic that has hit and with Black Lives Matter movement and the protests across the country, taking spotlight in the news and in the conversation around the dinner table, you really have to be prepared to have this conversation through your campaign as a candidate. And like every other issue you're talking about, it should be grounded in your values. Why is it important for you to stand in allyship with the Black Lives Matter movement, right? Because as you were talking to folks, this conversation like many others in the progressive space has become a very controversial issue, right? It's become a wedge issue. It's become you're on one side or the other. You're either with us or against us. And as we've always taught you throughout this season, if you align with somebody on their values, it's much harder to argue the other side. So think about what your core values are and how they align with the agenda that the black lives matter movement is pursuing. And talk to your voters in your constituents. In that lane, we're talking about fairness, we're talking about democracy, we're talking about a country and a place where everybody can live their life, be who they are strive for opportunities and success without walking out their door and being gunned down by a police officer. Right? So think about what your values are and how they connect to the movement. Because voters are going to have questions about your stance as on these hot button issues and what your relationship is with different stakeholders and groups, whether as Joe mentioned, it's the police unions, or whether it's your relationships with black lives, movement leaders and organizations. So don't be scared to be vocal, but just reach out and be informed.
Joe Fuld (20:20):
So what do you need to do? You need to know your message around black lives matter. You need to know how your opponents may use it against you, and you need to really put that in your message box, as we've talked about in previous episodes, and think through how this will play out and be ready. You need to think about your organizing tactics, your outreach, to communities of color. You look coalition, you're building, you need to think timing, fundraising strategy to be proactive, to raise money and help staff and volunteer management and voter engagement, tactics, and strategy, like more vote by mail. I think all of those things can really help.
Martín Diego Garcia (21:03):
Absolutely. And what you really need to be thinking about right is how do you keep your community and teams safe during everything that is happening? Right? So we're under a pandemic. So there's a healthcare scare. People are still marching for rights in this country, which is still, which makes us a democracy, right. But how do you continue to stand up and be an ally ship while also keeping folks safe? So communicate it and pitch it pitch in however you can, right? How can your campaign be helpful to the Black Lives Matter movement? Is it providing waters? Is it providing information? Is it being vocal on social media, prioritize what the people need, what your community needs at this moment to continue to grapple and have this conversation that is really important as a nation and as a country. And don't make it a short term thing. Think about it in the longterm. We're not thinking about this just for campaign season, but what are you going to do post election day?
Joe Fuld (21:56):
And I think that conversation is really important. You might not be able to see someone in person right now, but you can pick up the phone and call them. You can set up a zoom call. There are lots of ways to do this, do that, do the outreach, do the work, do the homework. And that will help you really engage and build a long term community relationship. And that's what you need. So thanks again for tuning into this special episode about the black lives matter movement until next time, this is Joe Fuld.
Martín Diego Garcia (22:27):
And this is Martín Diego Garcia breaking down how to win a campaign.
(Music)
Martín Diego Garcia (22:37):
Hey folks, Martín here we at The Campaign Workshop wants you to know that we are standing in solidarity with the black lives matter movement and are committed to fighting racism and injustice. Not only in our own company, but in our communities. We hope our insights in this podcast can be a resource to those who are fighting for equality, as well as continuing the conversation around what we can each do to support our black brothers and sisters join us for season two, where we'll be talking about advocacy, including how to organize your community supporters and members to take action and how you can also get involved with the black lives matter movement. Keep an eye out next week for our season two trailer. Also while you're at it, drop your email in the signup link in the show notes so that you can be the first to know when season two comes out. Thanks for listening and be well.
Joe Fuld (23:23):
How to Win a Campaign is Joe Fuld, Martín Diego Garcia, Hope Rohrbach, Daniel Lam, Heidi Job, and Elena Veatch. Music by Mike Pinto. Sound editing by The Global Startup Movement. Special thanks to the team at The Campaign Workshop. Please review, like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
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