Congresswoman Lateefah Simon on Doing the Work | Introducing Who's With Me? with W. Kamau Bell

Summary

Podcast Summary: Fiasco (Pushkin Industries)

"Congresswoman Lateefah Simon on Doing the Work" | Who's With Me? with W. Kamau Bell

Date: June 1, 2026
Host: W. Kamau Bell
Guest: Congresswoman Lateefah Simon

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Episode Overview

This special crossover episode of Fiasco features W. Kamau Bell introducing his podcast "Who's With Me?" with guest Congresswoman Lateefah Simon. The conversation centers on authentic public service, activism, intersectional leadership, the challenges facing progressive politics, and how community and personal history shape a leader’s perspective. Simon and Bell discuss the realities of representing the Bay Area, the legacy of Congresswoman Barbara Lee, working within (and pushing) the Democratic Party, and actionable ideas for civic engagement amid political and social turmoil. With humor and candor, they highlight the importance of direct action, voting, and mutual aid.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Role and Responsibility of True Public Service

• Simon's Unique Position

  • Simon reflects on being deeply involved in her district, unlike many who view the role as a stepping stone (“I have one office, I have one job, and I have 780,000 people that I work for...” – Simon, 07:13).
  • Describes her district spanning seven cities, including Oakland, Berkeley, and Piedmont, noting both diversity and inequality.

• Addressing Inequality and Historical Context

  • Discussion of Piedmont’s history of segregation and how present-day efforts aim for inclusivity (08:04–09:16).
  • Simon connects her family’s history—from poverty in segregated Arkansas—to her commitment to public service, linking personal roots with the ongoing struggle for civil rights (10:25–11:01).

Quote:
"Money doesn't equate all the time happiness... Real poverty, but also real prosperity. Everyone in between is screaming for somebody to represent them."
— Lateefah Simon (10:25)

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2. Speaking Truth in Politics: Courage, Faith, and Authenticity

• Simon emphasizes that her activism is rooted in faith and family, not radicalism (14:39–15:46).
• She advocates for a politics of dignity and inclusion, using her lived experience to inform leadership.
• Bell credits Simon for making it easier for him (and others) to speak up, saying,
  "All I do is go to your IG profile and go, oh, no, the chief has already said it. So I guess we try." (14:28)

Quote:
"Nothing I've said or done in my life has been radical. It has all been purported by our collective faiths... I love their soul. And all I want to do as a mama bear and an organizer is to protect and love on folks who deserve just the most basic—the floor—to live a life with some dignity."
— Lateefah Simon (14:39)

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3. The Power of Representation and Legacy

• Personal & Political Mentorship
  • Simon shares the significance of being one of fewer than 80 Black women in the history of Congress (“I feel like I damn belong. And in fact, I also know that my intellect, my education... is on par or even more...” – 36:43).
  • The ongoing influence and mentorship from Barbara Lee, whom Simon succeeded, shapes her approach (“...I was with Barbara Lee last night, actually. I love her so much…” – 39:22, 43:31).
  • Lee’s legacy of moral clarity and courage, especially as the lone “no” vote on the Afghanistan war, and her continuous mentorship (41:31–42:56).

Quote:
"If you have an opportunity to be in a position of power, use it. Use it for real good. I'm a mom. I'm a mom first."
— Lateefah Simon (17:59)

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4. Being a Progressive Voice in the Democratic Party

• Challenges and Ethics

  • Simon discusses the friction between party orthodoxy and genuine representation (“I don't feel like I need to have permission to represent the people of California's 12th district...” – 25:05).
  • She describes calling out racist policies directly, even when other Democrats avoid the language (“Am I the only one who said that this was racist? Like racist, not like unfair or dishonest, not anti-American?” – 25:52).
  • Simon’s insistence on centering marginalized communities, regardless of polls:
    "I don't care what the polling says. That's the job of leadership." (31:58)

• Working with (and Against) Party Leadership

  • Highlights positive examples (Rep. Summer Lee, Nancy Pelosi, Sarah McBride) and the importance of intra-party mentorship.

Quote:
"People want an affirmative vision...when I look over at the [Republican] side of the aisle... the only five black men in the Republican party this year are all leaving."
— Lateefah Simon (27:39)

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5. The Importance of History, Intersectionality, and Place

• Oakland and Bay Area Identity
  • Simon and Bell discuss Oakland’s appeal, its toughness, radical history, and activist roots. Simon’s family legacy—radical Black Muslims, labor strikes, and organizing—shapes her politics (44:32–46:56).
  • The necessity of local politics and “meeting people where they are” is emphasized.

Quote:
"Oakland’s a city of struggle. The Black Panthers gave our beautiful city a lot of its international notoriety... We are a region of radical thinkers that believe in human rights and free speech and brown and Black life living."
— Lateefah Simon (45:14)

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6. Organizing, Voting, and Practical Activism

• Voter Apathy and Cynicism

  • Simon offers a passionate call for disaffected voters, specifically Black Americans, to stay engaged despite frustration (“You have to hold people to account... It's about ensuring that a child with cancer in her second state of her clinical trial, that the funding continues so she can live right.” – 54:48–56:32).
  • She’s actively involved with the Working Families Party and other grassroots efforts.

• Supreme Court, Democracy, and the Threat to Rights

  • Addresses the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, reproductive rights, and the Supreme Court’s legitimacy crisis (“The Supreme Court... is hell-bent on bringing us back to a Jim Crow South. It's hell-bent.” – 58:57).

• Actionable Homework

  • “Turn off your TVs... read the news. But the infotainment will drive you crazy... Most important homework is to get ready to vote in your next primary in every state..." (62:39–64:30).
  • In addition to voting, Simon urges volunteering and mutual aid, especially supporting local food banks and caring for neighbors.

Quote:
"We will hopefully, you and I and our children, be here on earth when we get this republic right… there's never been a time where Black folks have said, 'Oh, we can chill, things are okay.' Never, ever."
— Lateefah Simon (62:25)

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7. Memorable / Notable Moments

• Intersection of Faith and Activism: Simon’s upbringing in the Black radical and Muslim tradition grounds her activism in love and service, not anger—“I think it’s a lot more difficult to be a homophobe, to be anti-Black, to be racist… That takes a lot.” (15:46)

• On Representing a District with Barbara Lee’s Legacy: “She kind of passed the baton to me... But I had to earn these votes... We sat for days and days just going over her orphan bills...” (39:31, 41:15)

• On Facing Racist Policies Directly: “I have a responsibility to call a spade a spade, but also to back it up with the work.” (26:52)

• On the Need for Direct Action: “Be good to each other and organize and let’s vote and let’s get these bastards out of office.” (66:31)

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8. Calls to Action and Closing Thoughts

• Direct Homework from Lateefah Simon (62:39–66:31):

  • Turn off cable news; read more, discern fact from opinion.
  • Prepare to vote in every election; “You get to hire and fire some folks.”
  • Volunteer at or support local food banks; mutual aid is essential (“...our food banks are one easy way where you can volunteer and really support folks in your community”).

• Final Uplifting Exchange

  • Bell asks: “Are you with me?”
  • Simon: “I am with you, Kamau. I am with you all the way. Let's keep working.” (68:12)

Quote:
"If God gives you a platform, you work to make it better... I can be an ideologue all day and be like, 'this whole situation is bullshit'... but I can make it better."
— Lateefah Simon (54:00)

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Important Timestamps

• Reflection on political podcasting, comedy, and calling out peers: 01:46–06:55
• Lateefah Simon on district and personal history: 07:13–11:01
• Giving "flowers" and speaking on courage: 13:52–15:46
• On activism, faith, and the roots of kindness in politics: 15:46–17:35
• Barbara Lee’s mentorship and her impact: 39:31–43:31
• On true Democratic Party leadership and criticisms: 24:56–31:41
• The Supreme Court, democracy under threat: 58:16–62:25
• Homework for listeners & mutual aid: 62:25–67:50

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Notable Quotes

• “We can't back down. Not even when they gut punch us.” – Lateefah Simon (13:16)
• “I don't care if the polling says otherwise. That’s the job of leadership.” – Lateefah Simon (31:41)
• “This republic is very, very young. We have to keep pushing it to hold itself accountable. Shining a mirror to it is the job of not just the elected, but of the citizen.” – Lateefah Simon (62:25)
• “Be good to each other and organize and let's vote and let's get these bastards out of office.” – Lateefah Simon (66:31)

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Final Thought

This episode is a testament to how personal history, connection to place, and unwavering commitment to justice can inform and energize public service. Congresswoman Lateefah Simon’s blend of straight talk, accountability, and empathy sets a standard for visionary, community-driven leadership—offering not only critique, but concrete paths forward for listeners ready to engage and act.

Transcript

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

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[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Pushkin

[W. Kamau Bell]

hey everybody, it's me, W. Kamau Bell. I'm dropping into your feed today to bring you a preview of my new podcast, who's With Me Now? If you know me and my work, I like to have conversations. But not just regular conversations. I like to have conversations that focus on the big talk, the big things. So I'm talking to some people reaching out to friends of mine, people I admire to ask them things that I really want to know and also to give them their flowers. I hope you enjoy it. And if you do, find who's With Me with W. Kamal Bell Wherever you listen to your podcasts, Pushkin plus subscribers can hear each episode ad free. Sign up on the who's With Me with W. Kamal Bell show page on Apple or at Pushkin FM Slash Plus. Hey everybody. Welcome to episode two of my brand new podcast, Still Brand New who's With Me? I'm your host, Debbie Kamau Bell. Thank you for coming back for episode two. Or thank you for starting with episode two, but go back and pick up episode one with Del or Lindo. That's a great one, too. Anyway, today our guest is my friend and my congresswoman, Latifah Simon. Latifah is incredible. I'm so happy she sat down to talk to me. She is super busy, unlike a lot of Congress people who aren't that busy because they don't really, like, go to work or have much to do because they're just sitting there collecting a check and also trying to raise money to run again. Latifah is actually doing the big work and we'll talk about that. Mark Marin. I hope it's okay. I said doing the big work. I, I. You don't have your podcast anymore, but I'm not trying to take care of intellectual property. Shout out to Mark Maron, the OG of this kind of podcasting. Actually, let's talk about that for a second. I'm glad I brought that up. Thanks. Good job, me bringing that up. One of the goals of this podcast is to sort of take up space. I'm not trying to take up Mark Marin's space. I love Mark. I was actually one of the most booked guests, I think the most booked guest on wtf, his old podcast, weirdly, just through because I was on it early days and kept coming back. So I love Mark. I was in his documentary. Are we good? Check out his documentary. Are we good out there wherever it is. And love Mark with all of his sharp edges and, and also his sensitive heart. I respect that and, and love that about him. And also his blistering wit and also his ability to speak truth to power. Even speaking truth to power in the comedy industry, where a lot of my fellow, it's hard to say fellow comedians, but a lot of the comedians out there have aligned themselves with Trump and maga. I don't want to say they've aligned some of the right. They just align themselves with who's in power right now. And Mark has been very clear and he's not with it and he's called him out. And I've done some of that on my sub stack. Who's with me? I've done some of that on Instagram. And recently my Instagram mentions were in flames because I talked about it through the lens of the Kevin Hart roast and how some of those jokes I thought were very clearly like the very least MAGA coded. But certainly I don't know why you would make fun of George Floyd when he had nothing to do with Kevin Hart Roast. I don't know why you would Use lynching as the subject of a joke. But, you know, that's good. I mean, I'm not telling you you can't do it. Freedom of speech. But I'm also using my free speech to say I'm not down with that. And Mark has done a lot of that in his career, especially as he got to the end of his podcast and his comedy specials. Check out his. Com. All his comedy specials. But I feel like I want to be a part of that too. I want to make comedian pot. I want to make male led comedian podcasts great again. That's what I'm here to do. We're to make male led comedian podcast great again. I think a lot of of my comedy brethren, and it's just the brethren for the most part, not the sister, but a lot of my comedy brethren are just putting out misinformation and lies or don't actually know what they're talking about and just aligning themselves with power. You know who I'm talking about? The Rogan sphere. Everybody under that thing called the Rogan sphere. And I'm, I don't talk about these people if they just do what they do. When Joe Rogan was just talking about aliens and whether or not we landed on the moon, good for him. When he starts giving out medical advice or, or somehow, or he has Trump on his podcast and forgets to ask him about the Epstein files, even though Joe Rogan claims to be obsessed with the Epstein files, I feel like we got to do something. When you endorse that guy for president and you live in Texas and that guy's running on the mass deportations and you live in Texas, again, a place where lots of undocumented immigrants live and a lot of Mexican Americans live who are afraid of being swept up in that, in that ice net, and you don't have a lot to say about that, even though you endorse Trump for president, I think I'm, I'm, I gotta say something. It's so fun to call out your peers, but that's what I gotta do. And now again, shout out to Mark Marin for showing me the way. So again, that's what we're here to do on this podcast. But again, not just that. We're also here to motivate you, the listener, and give you ways to figure out how to help in these dire times. So this conversation with my congresswoman, Latifah Simon, is certainly going to do that. At the end, I ask her about ways in which she thinks we can help or ways in which we can all come together. She answers it beautifully. And as always, I start off by giving her flowers because we need more of that these days. So check out this episode with my friend and my congresswoman lateef assignment. I feel like, again, when I'm sitting across from someone like you like to say, yeah, I'm very busy. Seems sort of silly.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

We are all very busy.

[W. Kamau Bell]

We are all very busy.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Literally. I think about when folks ask me all the time, latifah, you must be so busy. This is the first time in my adult life that I've only had one job. I've always had multiple jobs. I wasn't working in the nonprofit sector, and I was on boards or I had other initiatives that I was starting. And so I have one office, I have one job, and I have 780,000 people that I work for. But it's kind of nice just to be drilled in right now.

[W. Kamau Bell]

I like that you know the number.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Oh, absolutely. I'm a data person.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yeah, yeah. Okay. 780,000. That's just to be clear. So that means you're. Cause you're a congressperson who represents. That is Oakland, Alameda, and Berkeley.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

No, let me start it off. We got Oakland. That's kind of. In some ways, it's the centerpiece. Thank God. We love the town.

[W. Kamau Bell]

We.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Berkeley, San Leandro, Albany, Emeryville, Piedmont.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Oh, great. I'm glad. Piedmont.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

You know what? Strangely enough, you know, folks in Piedmont are quite progressive, and, you know, they've made a choice to be here. They could be, you know, in San Francisco. They can be in the South Bay. Folks chose Piedmont. They wanted to be in the mix of things. But. So, yeah, I represent seven cities, and it's a beautiful district.

[W. Kamau Bell]

So for people who are listening, who don't know. Cause I didn't know about Piedmont until I moved here. Piedmont is a city smack dab in the middle of Oakland.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

That's exactly right.

[W. Kamau Bell]

That people who had the means to form their own separate town, they annexed out. They annexed out.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

So they wanted their own school district, their own apartment. They want to stay away, historically, from the blacks, Latinos.

[W. Kamau Bell]

The history of Piedmont is as problematic as it sounds like it would be. But now there are many people in Piedmont working to actually tell that history accurately and also to unproblematic ify Piedmont.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I think that's right. And they vote majority Democrat, and I've done a lot of work there with their mayor. And they have a wonderful Martin Luther King celebration every year where we try to bring the fire and not just the painted King. That most folks think about. We have a lot of work to do everywhere, that's for sure.

[W. Kamau Bell]

And for me, I know Piedmont is. Whenever I'm in Piedmont, people who live there are like, oh, do you live here? I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no. I mean, nothing against you, but I live in Oakland. But like, just passing through, they allow me to. Or I'm coming to the. They have a lot of like, they just did the Play Like a Girl day in Piedmont where they have all these sports for girls. They invite, we go every year. They have basically sports set up for girls to try different Sports from. My 7 year old tried fencing, parkour, basketball. Yeah. So it's called Play Like a Girl. It's a great festival.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I mean, shouldn't all cities have the tax base to be able to do amazing things with young people and their families and our elders and our disabled? I mean, I actually do get inspired when I'm in very wealthy spaces because I'm like, our folks deserve this.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yes.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Yeah.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yes.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Wonderful childcare with credentialed teachers who make enough to be able to live 15 minutes away from their homes. I mean, what folks have, what the school district has in Piedmont, you know, the kids in West Oakland deserve that. And that's part of what we're working for, for sure.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Man, this is. I never. When I thought I'd invite you to the podcast, I never thought we'd talk about Piedmont this much. It's always a surprise, which I'm happy to, but like, it's, you know, it's still.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

It's the district and everybody. I don't care who you are, what you look like, who you vote for. I love being able to say I work for you as a public servant, but also like as an organizer, as somebody who's come from the mud. Money doesn't equate all the time happiness. And you know, my parents grew up, my mother particularly grew up in the south without running water. When we're talking about the Voting Rights act and we're talking about Jim Crow, my mother was born and raised in Malvern, Arkansas, where they literally had an outhouse. So this stuff is not abstract. Real poverty, but also real prosperity. Everyone in between is screaming for somebody to represent them.

[W. Kamau Bell]

It's so funny. Cause I'm glad you brought that up. And it's funny this isn't really the official start of the podcast. We're recording all this. But you make me think about all these other things. Cause I think people think like you say your mom grew up in an outhouse without indoor plumbing. Because a lot of that footage of people from that generation in black and white, I think. I mean, I thought it when I was a kid, but even now, my kids, it seems like it's from a thousand years ago.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

It feels like that.

[W. Kamau Bell]

And as I always say, Martin Luther King Jr. Could still be alive.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Absolutely.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Be like, what, 97. Which would. But that's not the oldest person you've ever heard of. You know, he could be a 97 year old man. He could have a. He could have a. He could have an iPhone. You know what I mean? So, like all that stuff we see in black and white footage is basically yesterday.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I mean, I've met your beautiful mother.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yes. Do you have.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

What year was she born?

[W. Kamau Bell]

She's born in 1937.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

See what I'm saying?

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yeah, yeah.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Mother. That's not great, great, great, great grandmother. Your mother was born in. In a segregated America where if her father wanted to vote or she wanted to vote at 18, depending on where she was in the country, she would have to stand at a desk and guess how many gumballs were in a jar or recite the preamble to the Constitution on site. There wasn't a real democracy before the Voting Rights act was signed into law. And so what we just saw a few weeks ago in the Supreme Court was a direct betrayal on all of that work. We're not talking mom being seven generations away. That's your mother, that's your baby's grandmother who was born into an apartheid US So we ain't far from that. In fact, in many places around the country, in Alabama and in Georgia, for instance, there was state law put on the books that voting spaces needed to. We're talking about redistricting, which is really complicated, but it's not really that complicated. But where you could go vote in many districts in the south was changed at one point. And in black neighborhoods with less staff, with less capacity. So there was like lines out of the door that would stretch three hours on voting days. And then cities and counties created laws where you couldn't give those people water who were waiting and scorching hot temperatures to vote. Like, this has all been the plan for so long. And we know that.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yep.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

But we can't back down. Not even when they gut punch us. So happy to be here.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Happy to be here. I think we wrapped it up. I think we got everything, everything I need. So I. So first of all, it's funny, so my mom was born in Indiana, which is like, people don't realize that my mom always says, like, at one point had more people, government officials, who were admittedly in the kkk, than any other state. So Indiana is like the Secret South. It says it's the Midwest. It's really the South. And my dad lives in Alabama. Was born and raised in Alabama and still lives there. So you mentioned two things that are. That I have direct connections to. So now we're starting.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Let's go.

[W. Kamau Bell]

I mean, we're gonna use all that, but now we're starting. So I like to start by giving people their flowers.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Yes.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Which is so easy for you, for me to do for you. You make it easier for me to be who I am in the work I do.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Oh, thank you.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Because you're out there bravely saying the things, you know, speaking up for black women, speaking up for black people saying free Palestine, but also being against antisemitism, being for the LGBTQ community, plus being for all the letters of the lgbtq. And if they add a new one, you'll be for that one too.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I sure will be.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Speaking for the poor folks, but also being able to speak directly to the people with money about how they need to do better.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Absolutely.

[W. Kamau Bell]

And so it makes it easier for me whenever I feel a little shy about saying something or being a little bit like, is this too far? All I do is go to your IG profile and go, oh, no, the chief has already said it. So I guess we try.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

We try.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yeah.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

And we're trying not to. Nothing that I've said or done in my life has been radical. It has all been purported by our collective faiths. Right. I grew up Muslim with a super Christian grandmother. The idea is that our God is supposed to welcome the neighbor. He tells us to welcome the neighbor and to support the widow, which I am one. To feed hungry children and to hope that the blind have what they need to see and that the sick have what they need to get well. That's single payer healthcare. That's loving someone who may have come out to you as transgender or lgbtq. Like, I love their soul. And all I want to do as a mama bear and an organizer is to protect and love on folks who deserve just the most basic the floor to live a life with some dignity. And so I don't think it's that radical. I think it's a lot more difficult to be a homophobe, to be anti black, to be racist, to create environments where people are unsafe. That takes a lot. It's much easier to just go by some of the written words that we know, that tell us how to do the right thing.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yeah, I was to prepare for today. I was watching one of your speeches at the no Kings rally. And also, you know, how to give you your flowers. For as much as I'm known as a comedian and somebody who's a good public speaker, you know how to do, as they say, talk that talk. So. And my mom has mentioned that, too. We. We. You know, you mentioned my mom earlier. We saw you at the Planned Parenthood benefit, and it's like. And you. And you get up there and start to preaching, and whatever, Whatever, whatever God you're pulling on, or whatever spirit you're pulling on, it comes through you. So I heard you said the no King speech. I heard you. You ended with Si Se puede and Salaam.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

So that's exactly right. And yes, we can and peace. Right. And the idea. I was actually on a zoom the other day with a ton of Muslim folks, Democrats and asking Muslims in this country to remember who we are. We came here in 1619. Those weren't just black folks in chains. Word says about one third of those folks were Muslim. And the Abrahamic faiths in many ways have been taken to ostracize and to demonize all folks. But what I am trying to do and I've done in my service is take what I have learned. That is all good. And really try to merge those values into action. So thank you.

[W. Kamau Bell]

The other thing I'll say is you've always been so nice and kind. Not that I would expect you not to be, but like, Juno, who we talked about, who painted this picture, feels like she knows you because she's been in the same room as you, and she just feels connected to you in a way that, like, I didn't grow up feeling connected to any politician in my life now, you know, and. And no politician was trying to connect me. I've seen you do it with other people who weren't my kid. That you have a way of connecting with people when you're in the room that is. That makes those people feel like I'm actually talking to a person. I'm not talking to a representative of a person.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

You know, I appreciate that. I mean, every. Every day I have to remind myself, oh, my goodness, I'm in public office. It's so awesome, because, you know, I was that kid who would, you know, on Martin Luther King Day, remember when it came Martin Luther King Day, and you got to stay home and you got to watch, you know, the Martin Luther King biopics that were not done very well.

[W. Kamau Bell]

It's Pre Ava DuVernay's Selma.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Yes. Right. I would always want to be king or Rosa Parks in the plays. And, you know, I had a book about Malcolm X at a very, very. And his pilgrimage to Mecca. And he talked about, you know, the fierceness of wanting to be a deep agent of change and to call out white supremacy and to, you know, call out misogyny, to call out all of these. These wicked things, the addiction to wealth. But Malcolm was very clear about being kind to people and, you know, studying for so many years, Maya Angelou. I remember the first time I read I Know why the Caged Bird Sings and learning about how she moved through the world as a victim of sexual assault of rape, but also being raised by her grandmother. All of these literary folk and activist folk in my life have really brought me to this idea of if you have an opportunity to be in a position of power, use it. Use it for real. Good. I'm a mom. I'm a mom first. And I started my career working with young girls on the streets in the Tenderloin, in the Mission in West Oakland, Young women who were hustling their bodies, young women who had been. Who had served tons of time in jail. Young women who had literally fought to survive and to create that community that is still alive today, the Young Women's Freedom Center. I needed to create a community where people wanted to not only develop their power, but feel really good. And so, yeah, being kind is part of that strategy.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yes, yes. Do you remember where we met the first time?

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I've known you for a very long time, but you were a big star.

[W. Kamau Bell]

I'm trying to. I was a medium. I was on my way. I wasn't a big zapper.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I was like in a backpack with some tore up ASICS on or something. I don't know.

[W. Kamau Bell]

I don't know if it was that, but we met at an event put on by our mutual friend Dan. It was like an event for lawyers who want to be good people.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I said the Constitutional Society, the American Constitutional Society. But Kamal, I knew you for so many years prior, and I love how you are just in the mud here in Oakland and in Berkeley and in all over the country. And then when you did that wonderful set show about Oscar Grant's mother and about his life, that was.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yeah, that was.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I just knew that I would follow you to the Wheels Fall Off.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Oh, I mean, I just talked to Mo Morgan Fallon, who directed that episode. I was saying I was gonna talk to you and he just said how powerful you were. And that was before. I mean, when I met you, it was before you were on the BART board. I think maybe you were a candidate.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I was running.

[W. Kamau Bell]

You were running. And so I feel very much like I mentioned, I was like, this person's incredible. I had no idea how I was buying low into this person. It was like, oh, I like Latifah.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

She's great.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Whatever she wants to do, I'm there. And then to see your journey and to see how your laser focus. I felt so lucky to have been there before. You would have taken off and just to. And then, as you said, we did episode of United Shades of America about defund the police. And I wanted to film it here in Oakland, in the bay. We filmed Vallejo, too. And Cat Brooks is in it. And to get you in there to tell your story and also to have Mama Wanda in there to tell the story of Oscar Grant and Uncle Bobby, I just felt lucky that any of y' all agreed to be in it. You know what I mean? Because I sort of still see myself trusted you. You know, I think maybe I understand that people trust me now, but at that point, I was. I was still like, I don't know if these. I don't know. I don't know if these people take. Not even think I'm gonna do the right thing by them. So I felt very careful in that moment and very honored that that all came together.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

It was beautiful. It was beautiful. And I remember being on the BART platform and we pointed out the exact place where he was murdered. And it had been years. Almost a decade at that time. Not quite a decade, but almost. And Mama Wanda, you could just still see the deep hole in her spirit. You know, we went on to work together to name, you know, the street outside Oscar Grant Way. And we got a wonderful artist here to paint a 30 foot mural of his face. I wanted, you know, being on the BART Barrier Rapid Transit Board of Directors, I believe so much in accountability. And to put that young man's face 30ft tall on a structure owned by a governmental agency that killed him, to me, was part of that accountability. We have a long way to go. But everywhere that I am, I want to make a sizable difference in how we see ourselves. When I say ourselves. Black people, yes, I will always rep everyone, all folk. But as a black woman, I walk in the skin and holding the grief of that woman, even just for a moment, if you're ever able to be around her. You feel it?

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yes. No, it's and you should feel it. And the fact that she can carry it. And I think about this about black mothers all the time who are in this position where something happens to one of your children, often black men, often at the hands of police. Happens to black young black women, too, at the hands of police and all black people. But for these moms who then have to sort of end up in spokesperson roles and they all seem to carry it and don't shy away from it because it's part of being a mom is I'm still a mom to this child, even though this child's been taken from me. Just the power that Mama Wanda has and just carries gracefully. Yeah. Yeah, it was. I felt honored to be allowed to be next to her. She told that story of being. Because I don't think she'd been up there.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

No.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yeah.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

No, she hadn't been up there.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yeah.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Thanks for doing that.

[W. Kamau Bell]

I mean, again, I just, I feel lucky that I have the, that, you know, I don't know if it's going to surprise you, but you know, when you tell CNN we're doing an episode about defund the police and we're not demonizing it, that was not like it

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

was a tough time. It's still a tough time. But it was very brave. And I'm glad, glad we got all those voices out there. Some real interesting, beautiful activists and organizers and people who are healing from state violence.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yeah. So the other thing I want to talk to you about is that when I think about the Democratic Party and the trajectory that sometimes it seems to be on and trajectory I want it to be on, I think about you being in the center of that, of that trajectory that I hope the Democratic Party is on, because there's working with Republicans, which is its own trick bag, but there's also working with Democrats, which is a trick bag unto itself. Democratic leadership and the things that you say very easily, not all Democrats in leadership positions can say. The fact you say white. I think you said white supremacy a few minutes ago.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Absolutely.

[W. Kamau Bell]

That's not really a thing you're hearing a lot of Democrats say.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

That's right.

[W. Kamau Bell]

So talk about what it is to be a leader in this party and what you're doing to try to sort of say to sort of, I don't know, to be a loud voice so that your voice can be as loud as the other voices.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Well, one of the things coming into Congress, I've been there for only a year and a half. I don't.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Why haven't you fixed things yet, Latifah that's what I'm saying.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

But I'm saying I'm working on it.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Okay? I know you are.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I actually don't feel like I need to have permission to represent the people of California's great 12th district. I mean, again, it centers in Oakland. So I'll give you an example. Last week we had a press conference on the Senate side of the complex. You have the House of Representatives, the big dome in the middle. You gotta walk about 15, 20 minutes to the Senate side. And I'm on the Small Business Committee. Small businesses need a voice that is very thoughtful. I said, sure, I'll do that work. We had a press conference. There's a new bill that I'm co sponsoring that pushes back on the Trump administration's not wanting to fund, provide SBA grants, small business grants, or loans to immigrants, green card holders. I'm talking about legal immigrants. Right.

[W. Kamau Bell]

And as many all research shows, immigrants open up more businesses.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Hundreds of millions of dollars in this state alone. I mean, 40% of the businesses in California are operated and owned by immigrants. Okay? You can't talk about anything more American. And so my colleagues, we were again espouting how horrible this policy is coming out of the Trump administration. And when we were walking out, I said to myself, am I the only one who said that this was racist? Like racist, not like unfair or dishonest, not anti American? I was like this, am I. I'm just, I'm there to be honest. And I also linked it, which in some ways is a jump for many people, but talked about, you know, this assault on, you know, immigrant Americans who are paying taxes, who are creating Main street along with folks who again have citizenship. They're a part of a bigger fabric. But this is not new. There was a time where African Americans, for instance, served in our armed services, and all veterans were promised what's now we refer to as a GI Bill, but not black folks. We talked about the fact that during the civil rights movement, SBA type loans and grants were closed off to Latinos, what they just called Mexicans, Negros, and Asian Americans. And so the idea to me that I have a responsibility to call a spade a spade, but also to back it up, to back it up with the work. And we know things are bad, but people also want an affirmative vision. Listen, I'm a part of a party that is imperfect at best, but when I look over at the other, even with these bad eyes, I look at the other side of the aisle and it is literally the only five black men in the Republican party this year are all leaving.

[W. Kamau Bell]

I just read that they're all leaving cause they all showed up and they maga. They mag it out all the Maga and they MAGA'd as much as and Donald Trump said thank you for doing that. You gave nothing.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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[W. Kamau Bell]

The Second World War is the largest event in human history. A 20 part documentary series with Tom Hanks. No part of the globe was untouched, no life unchanged. Experience. The ultimate account of World War II. Every single person had a story. These are the stories that make us who we are. World War II with Tom Hanks new episode tonight at 8. Part of history honors 250 only on the History Channel.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

But the racism is so clear the demonstrative politics that are so anti. Anything that has to do with any faith practice, they're stabbing again, the widows and the hungry and the fatherless in the back every day. So my responsibility is to be absolutely Bay Area, our Bay Area values. My hope is that as I continue to rise in leadership in the party, which I am doing, that I bring other folks farther, a little bit to the left. Not for the left's sake, but the idea that we would ever leave out a particular population out because they don't poll well will never sit with me. I know so many trans children and they are babies and they are amazing and resilient. I know so many folks who are disabled. I know so many elders who are trying to figure out do they buy milk or do they literally have their nurse come one more hour a day. Folks are really struggling. So I'm gonna always center those folks. I don't care what the polling says. That's the job of leadership.

[W. Kamau Bell]

I don't care what the polling says. That's the job of leadership. That's the phrase of the day. Cause I think that's the. It feels like so many people in Democratic leadership and not just even elected people like Ken Martin who runs the dnc. It's just the idea that it feels like you're listening to the polls and not listening to the people.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I think that that's how politics has gone. But we know that that doesn't work for us anymore. So what you all are going to begin to hear, hopefully so, is more courageous voices coming from members of Congress, both those folks who are running for Congress to enter the House and folks who are still there. You know, we're talking about wars with real consequence. The first day of the Iran war, by the way, I found out about it the same time you did. The Democrats were not briefed. Dozens of baby girls murdered, literally blown up. And for what? Right? It's been 60 days. Congress still hasn't really been briefed or notified of what the next steps are. I'm able to talk about colonialism and freeing Palestine with a lot of clarity. I'm really not worried about any pushback to be an anti war candidate in this moment. Of course it takes courage, but it's the right thing to do.

[W. Kamau Bell]

So were you always this person or did you learn to. Did you somehow come to be this person? Like, I know for me, I certainly raised by my mom, there was always talk about the civil rights movement and racism and white supremacy, but it was a very understandably a black and white Paradigm at that point. Cause my mom, we grew up in Indiana, where there were probably other races and nationalities, but black people only saw white people. There was not a lot of. I don't know about what was happening in the Chinatown section of Indianapolis, but so I sort of felt like moving out to the Bay. Really sort of exposed me to lots of different types of people, lots of different identities, and then shaped me to be like, oh, yeah, there's this whole idea of intersectionality that Professor Kimberle Crenshaw talks about. I think I understand it. Cause I'm living it. So for you, did you grow up this way or did it come to you?

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I did. You know, my family came from the south. Like many families, my families who live here, we are two generations and one generation from the South. And I'm so lucky that actually my aunts and uncles, my dad's side, including my dad, they were all radicals, black radicals in the Bay Area. My aunt Damirah Ahmad, God rest her soul, she actually became Muslim and got all the other brothers and folks in our family to take Shahada. So I was raised actually in the. Dean Demira was one of the few organizers to organize and launch the sutan strike in 1968. And so I grew up, you know, in a family, in a community that was hyper political, you know. And at a very young age, I started seeking out the words of Angela Davis. And I learned about the move nine, you know, before I was 10 years old. And, you know, my dad drove a cab in Oakland and I'd be in the front and we would be driving around like it was just our car and people would be hailing us down. But he's talking to me about, you know, he had tapes of Minister Farrakhan on in the car and on the floor there was how to Eat to Live. And I had a wonderful cousin who was a nurse. I will never forget. St. Francis Hospital was on strike. I was about seven years old. She was SEIU. She had me for the day. My mother was in school at John Adams, studying to be pacemaker tech. And I'm on the line the whole day. And I will never forget being outside on the line. I was seven, this is early 80s. And I was like, I wanna do this the rest of my life. So I've always been seeking out opportunities to lift up voice. And, you know, growing up in a political family also, you know, in the. In the 80s, being surrounded in a community where all of our families were deeply impacted by crack cocaine, like, deeply. And so I'm playing With a friend one day, the next day they're in foster care, their parents are incarcerated or dead. You know, folks in my family seeing it right up close, what addiction does to amazing people. The 80s were tough, but every day I felt like I was more politicized to want to stand up one for black women who were completely maligned during the drug war and for the tens of thousands of black men who were disappeared knowing that when they got out of jail, they weren't more equipped to deal with the economy than when they went in. It's always the work that I wanted to do. And what a blessing to not have to change. Because every single day I walk into the United States Capitol. Same politics, same fire.

[W. Kamau Bell]

I would imagine that walking into that building regularly like you do, that you can feel the history.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Oh yeah.

[W. Kamau Bell]

And the weight.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Oh yeah.

[W. Kamau Bell]

And also as you also the fact that you're one of few black folks who walk through that door as an elected official. What is that like? What was that like the first day you walked through there knowing that you were also. That you were like that this was your job.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Now you know, I had a conversation, a very similar one when with Mahakim Jeffries, who will be the next speaker of the House, the first black speaker of the House. And he reminded me of the pen. I'm wearing an Oakland pin today, but usually when I'm at work I wear a congressional pin. It's a security pin. And he reminded me that less than 80 black women in the history of this country have ever worn that pin. 80 out of 11,000 members of Congress. So I would ask all of your viewers to watch the Shirley Chisholm movie that was on Netflix. What I love about it, she's so clear in that movie. One that she makes the same salary as her bigoted colleague from the south and that she has the same job and came in the same way that he did. The beautiful thing about this democracy, there's no such thing as. There's no affirmative action or DEI in elections. I got the same amount of voters or more than many of the folks that I'm working with. So I absolutely. Maybe it's coming from California. Maybe it's reading my whole life about freedom fighters like Assata Secour or other women who just decided to take seats at tables that weren't built for them. I feel like I damn belong. And in fact I also know that my intellect, my education, not just my education, my self learned education, but my education is on par and, or even more than some of the folks that don't believe that I'm human. That are on the other side of the aisle. I go into what's called statuary hall and there's an emancipation hall. And you'll see these oil paintings, both that are inspiring and some that are extremely troubling. Pocahontas being baptized. Right. Or you know, again, statues of king and statues of leaders who have led for us to be sitting at this table. So an immense responsibility to be serious. You knock on really see me making no crazy TikTok videos. And I'm not doing that. I'm not even on CNN a lot. You know, we're saying no, we're not doing the msnbc. We're really trying to serve our constituents, trying to bring money home. I'm trying to have hard conversations. I'm organizing in the Capitol.

[W. Kamau Bell]

And I think you also had the challenge of like, and I know you're aware of this. It's not like you're seceding a congressperson that, that nobody cared about or knew about or that you're not just like replace, oh, just some long time serving,

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

you know, just somebody was taking up a chair.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Taking up a chair that didn't have a lot of opinions and, and didn't leave a. Hasn't left a legacy behind, is now also still around. You're seeing this person in Oakland every day. Can we talk about it?

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

We're texting and talking every day.

[W. Kamau Bell]

So let's talk. For those who may not be aware, what was it like and who is Barbara Lee and what was it like to succeed Barbara Lee?

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I was with Barbara Lee last night, actually. I love her so much. Like, it's a deep, profound love that I have for the spirit of a woman who is almost 80 years old. And she's finer than anybody. You know, let's just be clear. She's suited and booted. But she spent 30 years in the United States Congress and about 20 before that working as a staffer for Ron Dellums. And that leadership model of being in the mud and then ascending up, it takes work and it takes a lot of energy, a lot of clarity, a lot of study and a lot of faith. You know, as she left Congress and I was still running, she kind of passed the baton to me. But I had to earn these votes. She endorsed me. We sat for days and days just going over her, what we call her orphan bills, bills that were still in the ether. And then looking back on her timeline of 30 years from urging the United States government, the administration under George Bush, to give literally hundreds of Millions of dollars. Early on in the AIDS epidemic, that was Barbara Lee. That's the reason why now we know in the next 20 years, HIV, AIDS will be a chronic disease. She was one of the lone voices pushing that dynamic forward. We also know her as, of course, the single and only vote post 911 to go into what we knew would have been an endless war. She got death threats daily. And that's before there was sort of any organized metrics to keep members of Congress safe. She took it on the chin and continued to work, but again, aligned her faith in that vote and every vote that came after that. We don't wanna be the evil that we despise. The last thing I'll say about Ms. Lee, actually, she reminded me yesterday, she was like, where are we on all my Africa bill?

[W. Kamau Bell]

That's great. Let's be clear. She's now the mayor of Oakland, so she's got enough on her plate. But she's also like, she's like, you

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

know, she's like, latifah, you're doing a lot for small business. A lot around war, a lot around the Epstein survivors. You know, a lot around transparency, reparations. I've co sponsored reparations bills. But the President of the United States all but gutted what's called usaid, which was an agency that was supporting not with bullets, but with grain and with food, with medical care, stopping really, really the assaults from malaria to HIV to hunger in places, which was political, not just that agency wasn't doing work to just be a good friend. Part of the work of USAID was to keep people alive around the world, but also to slim down forced migration. And tens of thousands of people have died just in the last year and a half since we've stopped administering food and aid to babies, right to the most ill, to folks suffering drought and devastation around the world. But one of the things she reminded me yesterday, there will always be a crisis, there will always be a war. We cannot forget about Africa. And I'm just so thankful that I have every day a mentor who literally decided after 50 years in government writ large that she still wasn't done, that my city, Oakland, California deserves healing and a leader who's ready to wake up every day and go to bed very late. So if you can get you a mentor, get you a mentor. I know I have a wonderful wife.

[W. Kamau Bell]

I mean, you certainly do. And I think that just for people who don't know Barbara Lee, after she was done being a congressperson, and she could just say, okay, I'm Ready to retire and put my. And lay my burden down. And she decided Oakland needed help. And I feel like she has been. It's funny to say this about somebody who's, you know, like you said, is almost 80, but she's a breath of fresh air.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Yes, she is.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yeah. Just. Cause it feels like so many people, I think, who are mayor of Oakland, I think there's a suspicion that they're using Oakland as a stepping stone to the next place.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

That's right.

[W. Kamau Bell]

And Barbara Lee don't need to step nowhere.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

That's exactly right. She did not run for office for power.

[W. Kamau Bell]

No.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Or prestige or another article. She's been there and done that. I think the city needed someone who understood the clunkiness of governance and the fact that she's working on potholes and dumping right now after again changing the way that we view foreign policy in this country. Healthcare. She was right there. Along with creating the opportunity that led to the ACA for folks to get healthcare, which now we call Obamacare and so many other issues. But she has been a public from the very beginning. And how people experience their politics is typically when they get out from their door, they drop their kid off. Is there a pothole? Do the lights work? Was my neighbor murdered? And she gets that.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yeah, yeah. While we're talking about her as the mayor of Oakland, one of these things the podcast is supposed to do is to sort of explain Oakland to those of us, to those folks outside of Oakland. What do you love about Oakland? Why is Oakland got such a special place in your heart?

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

So my family came here in 41, and half of the Simons were in Oakland, the other half in San Francisco.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Wow, that's a family. Hatfields and McCoys a little bit.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Yeah, yeah. Folks settled, you know, over here. But what we now call Millsmount, which at that point was half Irish, you know, and it was very segregated. East Oakland wasn't always a black community. Right. And migration changes things. And my other side of the family was in a little community called Fillmore in San Francisco. Yeah, Fillmore.

[W. Kamau Bell]

But it came to be known as a historic black community.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

It is a historic, beautiful black community,

[W. Kamau Bell]

Black cultural hub of San Francisco.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

And I started organizing in Oakland around like 95, 96, around Prop 21 and 187 came before that. These were horrible initiatives that came down from a Republican governor. I started doing a lot of. Of work with community organizations, black, other black groups. I was a teenager as well. And I loved Oakland. I love San Francisco. I did a lot of work there, you know, in jails, on the streets. But something about this beautiful city. In the middle of the city, we have our lake, right? And then, you know, in, in 15 minutes you can be in the redwoods. Every kind of food you can imagine. And it's just people hustling and struggling to be. On the weekends, you see folks from the four directions from all over the world, but they live here and they're just out with their families. Oakland's a city of struggle. The Black Panthers gave our beautiful city a lot of its international notoriety. But, you know, we are a region of radical thinkers that believe in human rights and free speech and brown and black life living. And there's something about the music of the streets, literally the culture, the artist, but also the movement leaders here that keep you honest. I did almost 13 or 14 town halls last year, and folks give it to me straight up, right? I don't have to worry. The calls into my office, even when things are good, they know how I'm gonna vote, but they're just. Folks are so active here because we actually want to be a community where people can learn, work, play and live. And I just love it. If you haven't been to Oakland, you have to come to the town. There's nothing like it.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Y. No. Agreed. Agreed. Thank you for doing that.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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Running a small business means every hire matters. A bad hire can cost you time, money and momentum. A good hire, they can help grow your business. But finding great talent isn't easy, especially when you don't have the time or resources to sift through piles of resumes to find the right fit. That's why LinkedIn built Hiring Pro, your new hiring partner that screens candidates for you. So instead of sorting through applications, you spend your time talking to candidates who are actually a good fit. You know what this makes me think of my beloved Boston Celtics. Three years ago, they chose a new coach, Joe Mazzulla, who was like the third or fourth assistant off the bench.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Bench.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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[W. Kamau Bell]

The Second World War was the largest event in human history. A 20 part documentary series with Tom Hanks. No part of the globe was untouched, no life unchanged. Experience the ultimate account of World War II. Every single person had a story. These are the stories that make us who we are. World War II with Tom Hanks new episode tonight at 8. Part of history honors 250 only on the history Channel. Like I said, I see you, I hope you, I work to make you, whatever I can do to make you, to make sure you're a part a center of the future of the Democratic Party. I mean you're in the Democratic Party now but also like in the, in the upper of the upper, upper room of the leadership, whatever that is. I don't know, I don't know what your goals are. I'm not pushing you any direction or another, but I just want your voice to be centered. Can you let people know about other people who are currently in. Were there congress people or senators who you feel like they. These are people that I work with. These are the people who are so

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

many cool people that I would have never expected to be so wonderful and cool in the United States Congress. Including some of the OGs, right? There's some super OGs in the Congress. There's a woman named Betty Watson Coleman and she's leaving. She's from New Jersey. I just adore this sister. She has been again she was Ceasefire pro Palestine from the very beginning. She's somebody's auntie. You wouldn't think she had a foreign policy background. She will tell you again, regardless of who you are, what the world should be like in a second. There's another sister named Summer Lee who's extremely Summer Lee.

[W. Kamau Bell]

I had her own United Shades when she was just a. I think she was a state representative at that point.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Summer is. She graduated from Howard Law School. Like my oldest baby girl. There is not one moment ever. Well, Summer in her Gut. She just knows the right way to vote. She doesn't need a. She's brilliant, but she doesn't need a lot of analogy. She's just like. That doesn't sound right to me. So, you know, and even folks like Nancy Pelosi, right, You may not agree with her politics every day, but there's something to me, I find that is so interesting in her wisdom of how she works that floor. She came to Congress to work. Now again, we will vote very differently on issues of foreign policy. Those are huge differences, and I am so curious and hungry about the overall vocation of moving something. So when she moved ACA and tens of millions of people got health care, I gotta respect that. I gotta respect that. And I also understand that politicians, in no way, they are not gods and they are not fierce mortal beings. They are accountable to the people that they serve. And so if we want politicians to do what we want them to do, then we have to stand up for them and hire and fire them. So there are a lot of folks in the Congress. I mentioned Summer and Bonnie as two of many folks. But, you know, I hang out. The other day, I was hanging out with sister Sarah McBride, the first transgender member of Congress. Yes, sisters from Delaware. I love her a lot. She's bright, she's brilliant, and there's a lot on her shoulders. And yet she's just working. You know, there's Mr. Clyburn, who's been in Congress for 1,000 years, and, you know, every week I get to hear some piece of his history in Congress. He spends a lot of time talking to me and other black members about really where we are right now and how it's not a crisis, it's a reoccurrence, right, of that Jim Crow force. I'm happy to be there, but locally, there are so many folks. I was with the mayor of Berkeley, Mayor Ishii, Japanese sister, who is just so kind and conscientious and watching her lead and govern, like there are opportunities for folks to step in and do the right thing and to hold each other accountable. $5,000, a little check will never buy my soul. The last thing I wanna say about that. I did come to Congress to lead, not just to be in a seat. I wanna bring a lot of money back home. I wanna save our healthcare system. I wanna be a part creating a new one where if you need a doctor, you go. Where black women are not dying in childbirth, where if folks are leaving governments, where tyranny is the soup of the day, that there is A place here for them. I wanna be a part of creating an immigration system that works and a market that is not extractive only. I'm a radical. So going into Babylon, going into a space where we are debating and legislating a market, a capitalist market where we're trying to oversee and hold accountable systems that have never truly worked for our folks. I do that from my faith's perspective, right. That if God gives you a platform, you work to make it better.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yes.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I can be an ideologue all day and be like, this whole situation is bullshit. Of course there's a lot of bullshit, but I can make it better.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Well, that's what I was gonna ask you. Right.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I can make it better.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Cause there also. There is. You know, So I just heard the number of 91 million people who aren't. Who are eligible to vote but not aren't registered. There's also a lot of black folks who sort of get caught up in. Or a certain percentage of black folks, I don't say a lot. Who get caught up in both parties the same. You know, we don't. I'm not voting Democrat. We've been voting Democrat.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Yeah.

[W. Kamau Bell]

How do you reach those people who feel so. Because I understand feeling disenfranchised by the system. And I also. But I also. Who don't understand not giving up, you know what I mean? Or just thinking or sort of aligning, saying all of this is the same. So I'm just not gonna mess with any of it, you know?

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

You know, I'm a super kind of goofy nerd, but I actually come from a real hood. I come from the Fillmore in San Francisco. And I say that to say that I am tough. You know, I was. Look at these. I had to fight every day as a kid and for what's wrong. You know, whether I'm trying to break up a fight of people trying to fight me or I'm helping somebody else as a little kid on the school bus. Our folks can't be on the sidelines that we have to. And I want us to invite ourselves to creating a party or a democracy where we are in the front. And so I don't care if it's a third party. You know, I'm also very close in working with the Working Families Party. They're killing it. They're on the doors every day around the country.

[W. Kamau Bell]

And they're like an alternative party that actually gets people elected.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

They do. And I was endorsed by them and they helped get me elected. Why brought up the fighting piece there Are promises made in the Constitution to the people who step on the soil of this country? And are you just going to to let folks control all that we have worked for, including our tax base, how our schools are run, what poor people are allowed to eat, who goes to war? And when I just say, hell no. I buried my husband who died of cancer, I'm raising two children by myself. I am not wealthy. I'm one of the few people in Congress. I don't own a house. I rent on, by the way, a very loud street these days. Lord have mercy.

[W. Kamau Bell]

You talk to the mayor, I'm like, woo, goodness.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

We need to get. There needs to be a lot for folks who are struggling. I believe that you have to hold people to account. And so if I'm going to hold the Constitution to account, if I'm going to hold the republic to account, it's not just about making the Democratic Party better or making the Republicans eat their words. It's about ensuring that a child with cancer in her second state of her clinical trial, that the funding continues so she can live right. It's like, I don't really care if the leadership of the Democratic Party, they're gonna vote yes on more weapons to countries that won't stand in front of the United Nations. I know what I'm about to do, and my vote is as good as theirs. And if I can continue again, being honest about where I am, where we are as a country, where we are as a district, and push against the leadership of whatever party when they're not doing the right thing. I'm doing my job. And so I don't want to be an organizer or a legislator that is just menacing about what we're not going to do. I have been effective because you move with heart. Yeah, you move with heart. And so, yes, I meet with people every single day who don't believe that I am human or that the people of the Sudan deserve another chance or that the folks in Palestine should live in their homes in the West Bank. But that's my job, is to be across folks where we duke it out using diplomacy instead of guns instead of wars. And I'm so proud, actually, to be a part of a party that is pro choice, that is wrangling with its own morality in this moment. And I'm hoping that I am on the deepest side of that moral curve.

[W. Kamau Bell]

All right, so. So I can't let you go without talking about the Supreme Court. So there's so many things to talk about. The Supreme Court.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I am just. When you Just say, I'm so pissed off.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Yes, yes.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

So devastating. Continue your question. Right when you said the Supreme Court

[W. Kamau Bell]

Act, I don't even know if I. But the. And like they started gutting the Voting Rights Act, I think in 2013 was the first. And then. But to this next step which really guts the Voting Rights act, it is so anti American. It's so racist. It's so pro white supremacy.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Yes, it is.

[W. Kamau Bell]

It's so all these things. How did it feel and what do we do?

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

You know, we tell the truth. We tell the truth. We cannot depend on the court right now to keep our people safe, to keep our environment safe, to keep the air safe. It's important that we know that. So, like defining the problem. The Supreme Court, it's not the Roberts court, it's the Trump court. Okay? Court is hell bent on bringing us back to a Jim Crow South. It's hell bent. And it has taken the bodily autonomy away from young women and girls in terms of their abortion rights and their reproductive health rights. The administration is extremely clear on how they view women and disabled people. Okay? So now our North Star. To me, there's a couple mechanical ways that we can move forward. Let's agree that we either need to expand the court, not just because we don't agree with what they're doing. I think we need court reform around. Why do these fools get lifetime jobs? Again, it's for like a lifetime. Nobody gets a lifetime job when you. Every day. And we show. And they've been showing, not just with the decision to gut the Voting Rights act, but day after day, they are maligning Americans and folks who are on the margins. Where's your evaluation? Right. If the President of the United States has to run every four years, they get to put in place folks who get to do have no accountability system. And again, I think our Constitution has always been up for revision. That's why we have the amendment structure. And so I'm hoping that we can expand the court and that we find new ways to hold the Supreme Court accountable. They are leading this country into the mud. But listen, it's not enough to just say, you know, the court is horrible. The Trump court is horrible. The President is ridiculous. The Democrats are. They're out of touch. The Republicans are Klansmen. No. There's over 20 states right now where women can't access the right to abortion. We have to create underground railroads. We have to ensure that our college and universities, we're holding our presidents to account to say stop sending the names of protesters. To, to this evil doj, from the courts, to every single department within the administration, and I'm clumping the courts. Even though they're supposed to be a dual form of government, they're run by the Trump administration. I don't think we stop. I don't think we stop our organizing. I don't think we stop caring for our folks. We will hopefully, you and I and our children, be here on earth when we get this republic right. There has never been a time where black folks have said, oh, we can chill, things are okay. Yeah, never, ever. Whether you be Democrat or Republic, if you're on the right side of humanity in the republic, you'll continue to try to make government better. Remember, this is an experiment. This republic is very, very young. And we have to keep pushing it to hold itself accountable. Shining a mirror to it is the job of not just the elected, but of the citizen. The most powerful thing you can do in this country. I mean, the floor last week in Congress, just a couple weeks ago, I should say there was a war powers resolution on the floor. It lost by one vote. One vote, it would have not ascended to the Senate and this war in Iran might have been stopped in its cold feet. But one vote, elections have consequences. So we do need to vote.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Okay. On that token. On that point, give the people watching some homework.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Oh, my God, so much homework.

[W. Kamau Bell]

You talked about your high level of education, so. Professor Simon.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Well, let's talk about that high level of education. Listen, it took me 12 years to finish undergrad and so I'm paying that every month. I'm looking at that one bill and then the second bill. I got a policy degree from the University of San Francisco, and that was just two years ago. I spent my whole life, I feel like, in a classroom, right? Professional. I've got to get that PhD at some point. I love sharing ideas. The homework to me. Turn off your TVs. Okay, I stopped watching the news.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Oh, you stop watching the news.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I read it now.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Okay, Okay.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I read it now because the infotainment of the 24 hour news cycle, it ain't cool. You don't know. It's so much conversation and dialogue and less analysis. And I feel like, like the homework should be in this moment again, understanding what's happening in the world. Still. Our local papers, there's few of them, but they're good. You can read those on your phone. But the infotainment will drive you crazy. The 24 hour news cycle, it's more opinion than fact these days. I think the Most important homework to do in this moment is to get ready to vote in your next primary in every state in the union. I don't know what Louisiana gonna do, but we have to win the midterms. But because I don't care if you vote red, if you hate black people and trans people, your grandmother is going to be kicked out of her nursing home. Okay, Right. Like you're not going to be able to get health care when you need it. If you're in a union. There is a great push to de unionize the country. Right. If your daughter is raped and she lives in half of the states in this country, she will not have access to reproductive healthcare. She will not have a choice but to carry the child of her rapist. I can go on and on. I mean, it's sounding nasty and hard

[W. Kamau Bell]

for this is we need it.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

But the thing about the vote in this moment, you get to hire and fire some folks. So if you don't have the opportunity to manage in your own life, well, you have it this year. You can manage. You can manage the corporation of the United States, which is to me, the federal government, they owe you Social Security. If you have worked again, if you have cancer, I want you to be able to get treatment. I want you to have research on your side. I want for that mother who is working and going to college at night to be able to have affordable daycare in the morning. So, yes, start reading your news if you have the wherewithal to do that. But more importantly, let's step back and think about the world that we want the world that Northstar be good to people. Once I was at a forum with Barbara Lee and it was before I was even on the bart, we were talking about women in politics and I had been doing political organizing. And so Ms. Lee, when she was in Congress, she invited me and some other folks. It was a school somewhere in the district and a little girl, she was about maybe in the sixth grade. And she asked, I want to run for office. And Barbara, Ms. Lee said, I want you to volunteer at a childcare center first. I want you to think about serving first. I want you to work with people first. I want you to make sure the elderly person next door to you has food, invite them to dinner. So how we take care of ourselves during times of war, how we take care of ourselves when gas is $6 and your neighbor might not be able to get to childcare the next day? We can turn off the tv, fill ourselves with culture, read the news. But more importantly, be good to each other and organize and let's vote and let's get these bastards out of office.

[W. Kamau Bell]

All right. I ask everybody to sort of relate to this. If there's some cause they want people to support or know more, but is that your okay?

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

So here's what I really realized in my own advocacy that I could do a better job with. I've been working on criminal justice reform, education again, poverty work, trying to get more people involved again in the voting process. I mean, you name it. Working at the intersection of disability, justice and transit work. Things that have really sort of fed my heart. Heart. But, you know, during the shutdown, I started doing work around food insecurity and spending a lot of time at the food bank and going around the city and seeing all the distribution spots where folks are taking food, bringing them to community organizations, and seeing the lines of folks lining up for fresh food and vegetables. In my district, in one of the wealthiest regions in the world, we have to take care of each other. So I can pick a number of NGOs that are all doing great work, go to those NGOs and volunteer, and we can give money. But even in these times, folks are sleeping on the concrete and standing in line in the bread line. And our food banks are one easy way where you can volunteer and really support folks in your community. But let's take care of each other to fight back. So when we win, we have to have full bellies to create the world that we want to create.

[W. Kamau Bell]

For sure. For sure. Yeah. So there's. I've done work with the Alameda County Community Food bank here in the Bay Area. And Also I know FeedingAmerica.com will let you know where the food banks are in your area. And they love a volunteer.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

That's right. You gotta bag those carrots. I was bagging carrots the last time I was there.

[W. Kamau Bell]

My last question. This is the easy one. The podcast is called who's With Me? Are youe With Me?

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I am with you, Kamau. I am with you all the way. Let's keep working.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Thank you. Thank you. This is great.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

I love you very much.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Oh, and the last thing I gotta say, I realized I didn't say this, and hopefully we're still. Thank you for saying my name on the floor. My dad was so proud of me. After the Celebrity Jeopardy.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Win, you better win some other stuff. So I could. So every week we tried to illuminate someone from the district. And you were. We just started the program, the Constituent of the Week, and I said, let's start With Kamau.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Oh, that's.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

It was awesome.

[W. Kamau Bell]

That's that, I mean the fact that that happened and I just, it's in

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

the Congressional record for everybody. But one thing I will say, you started off giving me flowers. I'm so happy that you stay here. You could easily be in the midst of la, that you're raising your babies here and your wife, you all coming out as a family all the time to all of these community and youth events. It's really beautiful, like to have you here with all that you represent. I'm so lucky. We're so lucky.

[W. Kamau Bell]

Well, thank you. You make it easy. So thank you very much.

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

Speaker. I rise to address the House to celebrate my constituent W. Kamau Bell, who won Celebrity Jeopardy. It's a pretty cool thing. Not only did he win Celebrity Jeopardy. As a constituent who's lived in my district in Oakland, California since the 1990s, he's consistently given back philanthropically to young people, people and underserved communities again for almost 30 years. After winning Celebrity Jeopardy. Just recently, he gave a million dollars, the full winnings back to community, specifically to the school district in Oakland, California. His donation has supported over 200 projects in Oakland schools, including Castlemont High School. Just recently, I visited Castle High School and met with these amazing students who are full of potential. These students are not only the future, they are the now. Many teachers across our school districts, in my district and throughout the country are going out of their own pockets to buy support services for students and their own supplies. Kamau's philanthropic spirit will reduce that reality for our teachers. And I am so proud to call him not only my constituent, but a leading voice in the United States. Thank you so much, Kamel.

[W. Kamau Bell]

So again, that was Congresswoman Latifah Simon. An incredible conversation. I love that she's in my life. I love that she's in my kids lives. I love that they feel like they know their congresswoman. It's such an honor to know her. At the end she talked about food insecurity. So the shout out to some organizations if you're in Oakland. The Alameda County Community Food Bank. I've been there. It's an amazing organization. It's super friendly and fun to go there. Weirdly, you would think it's. It might be, I don't know, people we get. I get nervous when thinking about going places new and volunteering my time. But they are easy to work with. So you can go to their website, accfb.org and if you're in the Bay Area, you can sign up to go volunteer directly. Or if you're not in the Bay Area or you just want to donate some money, you can do that. Or if you're in the Bay Area, you can drop off food. But again, this is not just about the Bay Area. Also, you can go to Feeding America.org to find out the food bank in your area that you can volunteer with or donate money or food to. There's no reason anybody should go to sleep hungry in this country. There's no reason anybody should wake up hungry and not be able to solve that real quickly. We have all the resources we need, but right now we got to help and do it ourselves until we get our government right again. So please support your local food bank and support this podcast. Shout out to the MK Lab here in San Diego for letting me record this here. Shout out to Skyline Studios in Oakland where I had the conversation with the tsunami. And shout out to Rabbit Grin Productions who's producing this with me and my production company, who Knows Best Productions. And also shout out to Pushkin Industries who's put me on their network of podcasts. I appreciate it. Shout out to you. Please do the thing I've seen people do on YouTube forever. I've seen people say this for a long time, like subscribe, share rate, thumbs up, whatever you gotta do. And if you're rating it on a star system, just give us five. It will just help us boost us through the algorithm. You can be critical in the comment, but just give us five stars. We're getting better at this and the guests coming up are amazing. Next week we have actor Ted Danson and I'll give you a little preview. He tells a story from his past that some people only found out very recently. But he retells a story from his past about his, I can say his most controversial moment. It's an amazing episode. Check it out. Thank you. Are you with me?

[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

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[Congresswoman Latifah Simmons]

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