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Built By Us
Built By Us Media spotlights movement makers and shakers across North Carolina. Hosts Kai and Joselle sit down with organizers, activists, and working-class people who are fighting for justice, building power, and making sure our voices aren't just heard, but centered.
Every episode connects you with someone who's putting in work for liberation, and gives you the tools to join them. Because the North Carolina we deserve is being built by us.
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Racist Maps Make Racist Reps: Mark Swallow on Speaking Truth to Power Pt. 1
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Fifteen organizers stood up in the NC Senate. Fifty people in the gallery joined them. Two million views later, "racist maps make racist reps" became a rallying cry against North Carolina's latest gerrymander.
Mark Swallow leads Democracy Out Loud's Legislative Response Team, the organizers who show up every week to be the voice for North Carolinians who can't take time off work to testify. When the GOP advanced another map designed to help Donald Trump gain another congressional seat, Mark and his team made their voices heard the only way they could: from the gallery.
In this episode, Mark shares what it felt like when the whole room stood with them, why getting kicked out "always feels good," and what keeps him going after nine years of this work. "If you don't say anything, the lie lingers," he says. "When you have your say, there's truth out there to counter that lie."
Protest until something changes.
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