Today, over four and a half million people are barred from voting due to a felony conviction in the United States. People just like Desmond Meade, who passed the bar exam after serving his time, only to learn that “returning citizens” are stripped of so many of their rights – including the right to vote.
Advertiser Content From
This advertising content was produced in collaboration between Vox Creative and our sponsor, without involvement from Vox Media editorial staff.
Episode 1: Let My People Vote
So he set out to do something about it.
You can learn more about Desmond’s work at the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition here.
Read Episode 1 Full Transcript Below
[MUX IN: THEME MUSIC]
ASHLEY [VO]: I’m Ashley C Ford, and welcome to the second season of Into the Mix, a Ben & Jerry’s podcast about joy and justice, produced with Vox Creative.
Last season, we introduced you to friends of Ben & Jerry’s like John Legend and Ava DuVernay.
These are artists who take their activism just as seriously as they take their art. And who use their gifts to raise others up... starting with the communities who raised them.
This season we’re back with more stories of struggle and success. Stories of people impacted by today’s biggest fights for a more just world, a more joyful world.
Like: A man battling to restore voting rights for millions of Americans. Migrant farm workers fighting for dignified working conditions. A 70-year old returning to his family after spending decades in prison for a non-violent marijuana conviction.
All of them: ordinary people, whose lived experiences at the heart of these issues go far beyond what you read in the headlines.
We’re starting in Orlando, Florida with voting rights activist Desmond Meade.
[MUX FADE OUT]
PRODUCER [off mic]: How are you Desmond?
ASHLEY [VO]: Let’s get into it.
PRODUCER [off mic]: So tell us where we are.
DESMOND: So this is the Supervisor of Elections office in Orange County, Florida. The place where I registered to vote in 2019.
PRODUCER [off-mic]: What was that day like?
DESMOND: Oh, Jesus. Ha! I love that day because of many things, right? That was actually, believe it or not, the same day that the governor got sworn in the office. And we had better coverage than that.
ASHLEY [VO]: January 8th, 2019.
Outside of this low-slung bunker of a building by the train tracks, election officials literally rolled out the red carpet for folks who came to register that day.
Imagine it!
[MUX IN: PLAYFUL, WITH JOYFUL WHISTLES, PERCUSSION, AND PIANO.]
— Balloons! Confetti! A full-on PARTY... for democracy.
DESMOND: It was a love inspired day that day because you have to remember that the people who were registering to vote could not vote prior to that.
ASHLEY [VO]: They were celebrating the passing of Amendment 4 — a change to the Florida state constitution that restored voting rights to citizens with past felony convictions.
What this means is: on that day — over a million people saw their fundamental rights as members of our democracy restored.
Hence, the party.
And Desmond is the man who made it happen.
It’s work that was just nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
[MUX FADE OUT]
When he was 18, Desmond went to vote in some primary race in Florida... he doesn’t remember which, but he does remember feeling a little underwhelmed by the whole thing.
But today, as he climbs out of the car to meet us outside the elections office — it’s hard to imagine this man ever feeling indifferent about casting a ballot.
Desmond’s rocking a tee shirt emblazoned with 4 simple, powerful words: Let my people vote. It’s on his cap. And his custom denim jacket. And the bracelet on his wrist.
DESMOND: The first opportunity that I had to vote, um, was in August of 2019. And that was the first time I voted since 1985.
ASHLEY [VO]: 34 years. 34 years of being told: you aren’t good enough to vote in this country. 34 years without having a say in his community, his state, his nation.
DESMOND: Part of the reason why it was, it was huge to me was that, you know, I really just started thinking about all the, the blood that was shed the sacrifices that was made I just thought that what I was engaged in was a sacred act. I didn’t think I was voting as a Black man. I didn’t think I was voting as a Democrat or a Republican, right? I think what I was doing was making the affirmation, right, of my place in, in society. That my, my existence, that it’s worthy, it’s worthwhile. That I’m having a voice, right, and my voice matters.
To me, that was huge.
It was huge.
ASHLEY [VO]: Desmond lost his civil rights following a felony conviction. Which makes him part of the last group of Americans who are not universally guaranteed the right to vote: convicted felons. Who he prefers to call “returning citizens.”
I prefer that, too.
[MUX IN: GENTLE, WITH INTROSPECTIVE HAND PERCUSSION AND HAUNTING HORNS.]
ASHLEY [VO]: Desmond drives an Impala with a vanity plate that reads: “DEZZ, JD.” A nod to the law degree he fought tooth and nail for and earned in 2014. That’s two Z’s, by the way.
He’s a man who moves a little slowly through the world... a lumberer, you know? Except that... he’s always bolting off to the next thing.
The next meeting. The next conference call. The day we meet him, his phone is constantly pinging. And even though he insists he’s on sabbatical... he’s not doing a great job at sabbatical-ing.
He’s also a man who you want in your corner... because Desmond Meade does not back down from a fight. And it’s that hunger that re-wrote civil rights history in Florida, and fueled him through incredible personal struggle to where he is today.
A quick heads up: that struggle includes self harm.
[MUX FADE OUT]
DESMOND: Typically I just tell folks that I’m just an ordinary guy that was fortunate enough to be in position to do extraordinary things during extraordinary moments. I’m also a person that was once homeless, was once addicted to drugs, but is now the Executive Director of Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.
ASHLEY [VO]: Desmond has dedicated his life to fighting felon disenfranchisement.
This is a critical front in the battle against voter suppression. Because felon disenfranchisement is a tool that people interested in keeping Black people, and poor people away from the polls have been using for decades Generations, even.
It all starts with a Roman-era idea called “civil death.”
Which sounds extreme.
“This is a critical front in the battle against voter suppression. Because felon disenfranchisement is a tool that people interested in keeping Black people, and poor people away from the polls have been using for decades Generations, even.”
DESMOND: Civil death is extreme, you know,, especially in its original form. Civil Death was used whenever someone committed an offense that shocked the moral consciousness of a society.
They were basically told that you are no longer going to be a part of our society anymore, ‘cuz what you’ve done is so atrocious. In the United States, we’ve seen it as a mechanism to actually, um, weaken the political powers that was gained by the people who were recently released from slavery.
And I’m trying so hard not to use the term slaves…
ASHLEY: Mmm-hmm
DESMOND: Because that’s so dehumanizing.
ASHLEY [VO]: In 1840, only 4 of the existing states practiced felon disenfranchisement. Just 30 years later, after the Civil War, 28 out of 38 states deprived citizens of the right to vote following a felony conviction.
DESMOND: The fear of retribution is something that’s real. Fear of not being the majority anymore, fear of not being in power. And so felon disenfranchisement was that tool during reconstruction that was used to alleviate those fears.
And so when you can find a way to strip these individuals of the right to vote or to run for office, then you don’t have to worry about them, uh, being in positions of control over you.
ASHLEY [VO]: Felon disenfranchisement became an especially useful tool for Southern states looking for ways to prohibit Black men from voting after the 15th amendment. And it certainly didn’t go anywhere during Jim Crow.
[MUX IN: GENTLE PIANO]
Today, over 4 and a half million people... people just like Desmond... are barred from voting due to a felony conviction in the United States.
[MUX FADE OUT]
ASHLEY: This isn’t just theory. This is something that you’ve experienced. This is something that you know. Can you talk to me a little bit about your story and how you came to lose your right to vote?
DESMOND: I was born in the US Virgin Islands, and I moved over to the continental United States at a very young age. Grew up in South Florida. And eventually, you know, I, I joined the military and somewhere along the line, you know, I, you know, experimented with drugs and alcohol, and the drugs got the best of me. The drugs caused me to get kicked out of the military. And eventually, it caused me to, you know, become homeless and, you know, be in and out of local jails and eventually prison. You know, in 2001, I was sentenced to 15 years for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
ASHLEY [VO]: Desmond didn’t serve a full 15 years. In fact, he dedicated himself to writing his own appeal to challenge his sentence... and won.
But, as many returning citizens will tell you: this country does not set you up for success when you exit the criminal justice system. And Desmond was still battling addiction.
DESMOND: The drugs led me to stand in front of railroad tracks one day in August of 2005, waiting on a train to come so I could end my life.
ASHLEY: I think it’s hard for people to imagine that kind of low. My dad was in prison for 30 years and you know, I’m, I’m 35, so I, I’ve only had my dad for a little while in my life. And it’s, it’s true that, the effects of being in the system, what you, the barriers to living a life once you have been released, those are things that don’t get talked about very often.
There’s, there’s not just the disenfranchisement of being left out of the market to build resources. There’s also the disenfranchisement of kind of no longer being seen as a person outside of your action.
DESMOND: Yes, that’s right. And we were forced to wear that scarlet letter of shame for the rest of our lives. And so that’s, that’s one of the reasons why the work that we’re doing is so powerful. And, you know, it, it, it really, it’s way broader than just democracy. It’s about how are we recognizing the humanity in, in people.
ASHLEY [VO]: Recognizing the humanity in people.
[MUX IN: PENSIVE, WITH HORNS AND GENTLE PIANO.]
ASHLEY [VO]: At its core, this is what the battle for Amendment 4 was all about. In Desmond’s own words: having the right to vote is what solidifies you as a person of consequence more than anything else in the world.
His fight, his ongoing mission, is not about winning or losing elections. It’s about bringing people back to life after civil death, and ending it entirely.
It’s about humanity, dignity, visibility... and the power of a second chance.
DESMOND:: I was just astounded of the number of people who, because they made a mistake in the past, was shut out of so many things in life. People who, you know, made a mistake and now they can’t take their kid on the field trip.
ASHLEY: Hmm
DESMOND: Because the school would not allow it. Or people who cannot buy or even rent homes because they have a felony conviction. Right. And when you’re looking at the, the type of things that trigger, you know, the loss of these rights, especially in the state of Florida, you know, people were amazed that driving with a suspended license, you know, you lose your civil rights for the rest of your life.
Remember when I said at the beginning, felon disenfranchisement its initial intent was to excommunicate or to remove from society a person that does something that shocks the moral consciousness of a society, right?
ASHLEY: Right.
DESMOND: Writing a bad check is not that. Driving with a suspended license is not that, right? But that’s where we have evolved to.
ASHLEY [VO]: Felon disenfranchisement laws vary from state to state. But no matter where you live, one of the only ways to get your rights back, is to appeal directly to elected officials.
Which means: returning citizens are at the mercy of their governors, and their political agendas.
That’s why Desmond and his team at the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition — the F-R-R-C — decided to tackle this issue at the source: the state constitution.
DESMOND: One of the principles of, of Amendment Four was: let’s give these people back the right to vote so they can have a say in how their communities are ran.
Right? Like, if I can’t decide what type of education my child would get, or what type of services I need, or my family needs, if I can’t play a role in that, you know, I’m just almost like… nonexistent.
ASHLEY: Mmm.
And so Amendment Four was designed to provide an alternative pathway for people to be able to vote rather than having to grovel at the knees of any politician.
ASHLEY: Mmm.
[MUX IN: DRIVING, WITH SWIRLING STRINGS AND A STRONG SYNTH BEAT.]
ASHLEY: You wrote in your book that the Amendment Four battle was won by appealing to people’s personal connection to returning citizens. Can you tell me a little bit about this? Like what, what did you learn by choosing to lead with love?
“This country historically have had that narrative that number one, that me as a Black man, I’m dangerous. I’m not as educated, right? I need to be kept under control. I need a knee on my neck. That I am a super predator, and I am a criminal and I’m a, a felon, right? All of those things were, were, uh, those terms was terms that was used to dehumanize people like me. And while it was dehumanizing people like me, they was desensitizing people as to our humanity.”
DESMOND I remember meeting with my deputy director one day and he was telling me, ‘Desmond, we need to get a, we need to get an enemy,’ right? In so many of our campaigns and our efforts, we have to get a villain, right?
And, and what I told ‘em was basically real simple. I was like, listen, it’s not about a villain, right? The key is getting people to see us as human beings.
This country historically have had that narrative that number one, that me as a Black man, I’m dangerous. I’m not as educated, right? I need to be kept under control. I need a knee on my neck. That I am a super predator, and I am a criminal and I’m a, a felon, right? All of those things were, were, uh, those terms was terms that was used to dehumanize people like me. And while it was dehumanizing people like me, they was desensitizing people as to our humanity.
DESMOND: And here’s the thing, the things that we are okay with, with happening to people that’s been dehumanized. We would not tolerate it if it happened to someone that we love.
ASHLEY: Mmhm.
DESMOND: We would not tolerate it.
ASHLEY: Mmm!
“And so my questions to people when I was trying to collect petitions was not, did you think felon disenfranchisement is wrong? My question was pure and simple. Do you know anyone who you loved who’s ever made a mistake? And that transcends partisan lines. It transcends racial lines. And it, and, and I think it strikes deep to the heart of, you know, how do we want people who we love to be treated, right?”
DESMOND: And so what, what I know about the power of love, it has the ability to break through a false narrative that dehumanizes people.
And so my questions to people when I was trying to collect petitions was not, did you think felon disenfranchisement is wrong? My question was pure and simple. Do you know anyone who you loved who’s ever made a mistake?
And that transcends partisan lines. It transcends racial lines. And it, and, and I think it strikes deep to the heart of, you know, how do we want people who we love to be treated, right?
[MUX IN: PENSIVE, SYNTH WITH RECORD SCRATCHES AND A SLOW, JAZZY FEEL.]
ASHLEY [VO]: That is a vision. And we need people like Desmond with those visions... whose hope feels bigger than the attacks we’re seeing on voting rights right now.
I’m talking about the 2013 gutting of the Voting Rights Act.
ASHLEY [VO]: When we come back, Desmond’s hope for the future of voting, and where Amendment 4 stands today.
[MIDROLL]
ASHLEY [VO]: August 6th, 1965. Less than a month after my mother was born.
[MUX IN: GENTLE, WITH ECHOING PIANO AND AN R&B BEAT]
ASHLEY [VO]: The day President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law, banning the poll taxes and literacy tests that Southern states used to bar Black voters from the polls.
1965! This is not ancient history. And it was during this time that President Johnson said: “a man without a vote, is a man without protection.”
[MUX FADE OUT]
ASHLEY [VO]: What happens when you deny someone the right to vote?
DESMOND: I think everybody wants to be a part of something bigger than them.
Everybody wants to love and feel loved. And when you are reminded that you’re not a part of society, that’s something that’s very painful, that’s a painful rejection from the society in which you live. And sometimes we mask that with an indifference out the gate. You know how, you know, you wanted to get picked up on the team, right? And when they didn’t pick you, like, ah, I ain’t want to play with y’all anyway cuz y’all ain’t all that good. You know, that’s like a coping mechanism. Right. And so, you know, deep down on the inside, you wanted to be picked on that team.
And when I, when I engage in that coping mechanism, the problem is, is that, you know, there are people around me who can vote, who have the ability to vote, but are influenced by my thoughts, by what I’m speaking.
And they don’t know that I’m trying to mask that pain. And I’ve seen it so many times where people were talking like that. Then when they found out they could vote, it was a totally different story.
I’ve seen grown men break down in tears. I’ve broken down in tears. You know, because there is that need.
Some may put on a facade, you know, now so many other people are not voting because you’re saying it’s not cool or it’s not, you know, important or it doesn’t matter when we know that’s the biggest lie out there, because if voting didn’t matter, people wouldn’t be trying so hard to stop you from voting.
ASHLEY: It’s absolutely true. I think of that every time.
[AUDIO CLIP / MUX IN: A LOW, ANXIOUS DRONE]
OFFICER 1: Apparently, I guess you have a warrant?
MAN: For what?
OFFICER 2: It’s for voter stuff, man. I think the agents with FDLE talked to you last week about voter fraud, voter stuff when you weren’t supposed to be voting, maybe?
ASHLEY [VO]: This is police body cam footage from August of 2022, obtained by the Tampa Bay Times.
MAN: What they talking about, man?
ASHLEY [VO]: It was that year that Florida Governor Ron Desantis announced that he’d identified twenty people who’d committed voter fraud in the state. Warrants went out for their arrests.
I probably don’t need to tell you: all of them are returning citizens.
Here’s what happened.
After Amendment 4 was passed, conservatives moved to add a few edits to the bill: chiefly, that returning citizens had to pay all fines and fees associated with their time in the criminal justice system before they could re-register.
Almost like... a poll tax.
You listen to the tapes of these arrests and behind the anguish, and the fear there’s also... confusion.
MAN: What are y’all talking about, “voter fraud?” Y’all said anyone with a felony could vote, man. What you mean, I couldn’t vote?
ASHLEY [VO]: That might be because they re-registered to vote with the state, and got voter ID cards in the mail.
Card-carrying voters in the state of Florida. Arrested in their front yards, some of them at gunpoint, in front of their families, and slapped with MORE fines and fees.
MAN: Why are y’all doing this now, and this happened years ago?
OFFICER: I don’t know. I have no idea man.
MAN: This is crazy, man.
[MUX FADE OUT]
DESMOND: Most of those people even talked about going into the supervisor of elections office and asking, and they’re being assured, yes, you can vote, go register.
In this particular case, you started seeing people’s liberty being taken away from them in, in a violent way. People being snatched out of their homes, stripped away from their families. Some folks can’t afford bonding. We talk about that, that collateral consequences and the perpetuals of, of criminalization criminalizing poverty, right?
It’s very telling that these things would’ve happened so close to an election, and so it had a chilling impact on, on people’s willingness to actually go out and vote because no one wants to be arrested.
ASHLEY [VO]: Desmond’s organization — the FRRC— has set up a legal fund for those impacted by these arrests.
These arrests, by the way, were one of the first actions carried out by the newly established Office of Election Crimes and Security in Florida... which will cost taxpayers 3.7 million dollars.
Ashley takes a deep breath, in and out
ASHLEY [VO]: Second chances.
[MUX IN: PENSIVE, WITH A STRONG, CRACKLING SYNTH BEAT.]
ASHLEY [VO]: It’s what Desmond’s whole mission is about. And as it turns out: we can study the impact of a second chance.
In a 2011 study done by the Florida Parole Commission, only 11% of individuals who had their civil rights restored after a criminal conviction reoffended between 2009 and 2010. Before then? the overall rate of recidivism was 33%.
In other words, being told “you are good enough to vote in this country” is enough to cut someone’s chances of re-offending by two-thirds.
Someone else’s second chance is a second chance at us getting an engaged, active neighbor back in our communities.
Someone else’s second chance is good for all of us.
“In a 2011 study done by the Florida Parole Commission, only 11% of individuals who had their civil rights restored after a criminal conviction reoffended between 2009 and 2010. Before then? the overall rate of recidivism was 33%. In other words, being told “you are good enough to vote in this country” is enough to cut someone’s chances of re-offending by two-thirds.”
DESMOND: Here I am, a person who was addicted to drugs. Matter of fact, let me be clear, I was addicted to crack cocaine and homeless and getting ready to jump in front of a train. And you fast forward to today right?
Not only did I lead the effort that enfranchised 1.4 million people in Florida, right? But I was also named Time Magazine, one of the 100 most influential people, not in the country, but in the world, right?
I was invited to the gala and I’m at the gala fussing at the Time executives. I was like, “man, you guys really messed up bad. Y’all dropped the ball big time.” They was like, “what are you talking about?” I was like, “listen, for our edition of Time 100, you put Dwayne the Rock Johnson on the cover. That was a huge fail on y’all behalf. You should have had me on the cover!”
ASHLEY: Right!
DESMOND: And not because I think I look better than Dwayne the Rock Johnson, which I probably think I do. I’m not as built as he is.
But here’s the deal, and I told him this. I said, “listen, when readers or people who may not be a reader, they walking past the magazine that’s on the shelf somewhere and they see my picture on your cover, they would know that you don’t have to be a celebrity, you don’t have to be a movie star, a billionaire, or even a politician to have an impact in your community, the state, country, or even the world.”
So for me to be chosen as one of the 100 most influential is huge. And so to see that a person like me where I came from, the trials, the obstacles, right, the dark places I came from, to emerge as one of the 100… that would inspire anyone, that would let anyone know that they have within them what it takes to be impactful in their community.
[MUX IN: INTROSPECTIVE, WITH LOOSE PIANO, HAND PERCUSSION, AND STRINGS.]
So go back to me being just an ordinary guy that’s just did some extraordinary things in extraordinary moments. We all have the capability of doing that.
We don’t have to wait for moments of calamity to be the hero. You know what I’m saying? That it’s already there. The desire to want to help, the desire to love is already inside of each and every one of us.
We have to cut through the clutter of these labels and these things that divide us and make us scared of each other or, or even hate each other. We can cut through that clutter and get the core essence of who we are as human beings on this planet and connect there.
And when we plug into there, we could do extraordinary things and we’ll have a, a, a more beautiful community and a society and a more vibrant and beautiful and effective democracy. That’s my message. I’m sticking with it.
ASHLEY: It feels like a real honor to get to listen to you speak here today.
DESMOND: Well, thank you Ashley. I appreciate that
ASHLEY: Thank you.
[MUX FADE OUT]
[AMBIENT: A telephone rings. A producer asks Desmond if he can hear her. He answers that he can.]
ASHLEY [VO]: Desmond did manage to take a trip during his sabbatical. He started this year with a pilgrimage to South Africa, to pay his respects to some of his civil rights heroes: Bishop Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela.
When he was there, visiting the apartheid museum, and the homes of these great men, he didn’t know he’d soon be joining their ranks as a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.
DESMOND: It’s almost surreal.
I got home and the very same day I got home I was able to jump on a phone call with the American Friends Service Committee, and that’s when they just, you know, dropped the bomb on us and, and, and, and, and told us that, you know, that they were nominating the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition for the Nobel Peace Prize.
ASHLEY [VO]: The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization and a nominating body for the Peace Prize. They’re the same group that nominated Dr. Martin Luther King.
DESMOND: And it wasn’t lost on me that I’m finding this out in the middle of Black History Month.
ASHLEY [VO]: In the recommendation letter, the Friends Service Committee wrote that they were nominating the FRRC for their work in building democracy, supporting the human right to representation by government, and working towards a better organized and peaceful world.
DESMOND: This is the first time that an organization led by a returning citizen has been nominated for this. It’s one of the things that this award does, is really validate that those who are closer to the pain are often the ones who are closest to the solution.
ASHLEY [VO]: The FRRC is headquartered in a small, one-conference-room office in an industrial park in Orlando, Florida. They’re a scrappy team, poised to take this movement nationwide.
DESMOND: This nomination felt like the universe saying, no, do not give up FRRC, what you are doing is the right thing. Just keep, keep, keep your head down and keep plowing away.
ASHLEY [VO]: So when Desmond says he led the fight to restore voting rights to 1.4 million people... he’s not telling the whole story.
It’s 1.4 million people... and counting.
ASHLEY [VO]: The moment we finish our interview, DEZZ JD bounces up. He’s out the door in an un-rushed hurry, on to the next meeting that’s interrupting his sabbatical... flashing the back of that jacket one last time: let my people vote.
[MUX FADE OUT]
[AMBIENT: A telephone rings. A producer asks Desmond if he can hear her. He answers that he can.]
ASHLEY [VO]: Desmond did manage to take a trip during his sabbatical. He started this year with a pilgrimage to South Africa, to pay his respects to some of his civil rights heroes: Bishop Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela.
When he was there, visiting the apartheid museum, and the homes of these great men, he didn’t know he’d soon be joining their ranks as a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.
DESMOND: It’s almost surreal.
I got home and the very same day I got home I was able to jump on a phone call with the American Friends Service Committee, and that’s when they just, you know, dropped the bomb on us and, and, and, and, and told us that, you know, that they were nominating the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition for the Nobel Peace Prize.
ASHLEY [VO]: The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization and a nominating body for the Peace Prize. They’re the same group that nominated Dr. Martin Luther King.
DESMOND: And it wasn’t lost on me that I’m finding this out in the middle of Black History Month.
ASHLEY [VO]: In the recommendation letter, the Friends Service Committee wrote that they were nominating the FRRC for their work in building democracy, supporting the human right to representation by government, and working towards a better organized and peaceful world.
DESMOND: This is the first time that an organization led by a returning citizen has been nominated for this. It’s one of the things that this award does, is really validate that those who are closer to the pain are often the ones who are closest to the solution.
ASHLEY [VO]: The FRRC is headquartered in a small, one-conference-room office in an industrial park in Orlando, Florida. They’re a scrappy team, poised to take this movement nationwide.
DESMOND: This nomination felt like the universe saying, no, do not give up FRRC, what you are doing is the right thing. Just keep, keep, keep your head down and keep plowing away.
ASHLEY [VO]: So when Desmond says he led the fight to restore voting rights to 1.4 million people... he’s not telling the whole story.
It’s 1.4 million people... and counting.
[THEME FADE IN]
Thanks for joining us. This season, we’re bringing you more stories like this one: about the incredible, ordinary people at the heart of some of our most pressing fights today. Like voting rights, migrant dignity, and cannabis justice.
You can learn more about The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, at FloridaRRC.com.
(CREDITS)
Into the Mix is a Ben & Jerry’s Podcast produced by Vox Creative.
This episode was written by Martha D. Salley.
A special thank you to Desmond Meade and Krizia Teissoniere from the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition for the opportunity.
The Vox Creative team includes Executive Producer Annu Subramanian, Lead Producers Martha D. Salley and Bethany Denton, Production Manager Taylor Henry, and Production Coordinator Jessica Bae.
The team also includes Ariana Jiffo, senior manager of creative services, Design Director Brittany Falussy, and post-production stars Greg Russ and Andrew Hammond.
Kyle Neal engineered this episode. Original music by Israel Tutson.
Thanks to AJ Gutierrez, Steven DeVall and Kelly Stewart for their production support, as well as Mike Garofolo from Central Florida Sound, and Tiara Darnell.
The Ben & Jerry’s team includes Jay Tandon, Jay Curley, Sanjana Mahesh and Chris Miller.
I’m Ashley C Ford. Thank you for listening.
[THEME FADE OUT]