Corryn G. Freeman (00:00)

Welcome to the Future Coalition Podcast. I’m your host, Corryn Freeman. And today I am excited to have Claudia Conway with us. Claudia is a powerful young voice in activism and a passionate advocate on social justice issues like women’s rights, gun control, and LGBTQ plus equality rising to prominence through her viral TikTok videos. Claudia has fearlessly critiqued the political landscape and championed progressive causes. Today we’re going to explore Claudia’s journey from a politically conservative up upbringing as the daughter of a former Trump advisor, Kellyanne Conway, to becoming an influential activist in the progressive movement, including her work as part of the Future Coalition Creator Network

 

Welcome to the Future Coalition podcast, Claudia. How you doing?

 

Claudia Conway (00:44)

Thank you so much for having me, Corinne. I’m great today.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (00:48)

I’m wonderful. I’m just so excited to have you. I remember when I found you on TikTok, just minding my business during the Trump administration and you had absolutely no fear to speak truth to power. When you’re a part of, I would consider a bit of a political dynasty when you have so much opportunity and access to pretty much walk into a political party and

 

really make motion within one, you chose to say your truth. So Claudia, I want to know a little bit more about you. Who is Claudia? Like, who are you outside of the fiery, passionate, political, and activist that we see?

 

Claudia Conway (01:28)

I would consider myself a normal teenage girl. I like to hang out with my friends. I’m a college student. I take care of my dog, little things like that. So when I think about myself, I don’t think about the TikToks and the political stuff and whatever. I just think of myself as Claudia.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (01:43)

We are so much more than what we portray ourselves to be online. But the power of your voice has been immense. I think as you can see, because you have been able to attract such a wide audience. And I would love to know, how did you navigate the process of forming your own political identity separate and apart from your family’s beliefs? What was that process like?

 

Claudia Conway (02:08)

I always say it was around 11 to 12 years old that I, yes, I was really young. I had grown up in a political atmosphere. I knew all about everything that was being fed to me from such a young age. It was like a second language almost. And it was a language used in my household, the political language used in my household. And when my mom accepted her job with Trump,

 

Claudia Conway (02:36)

I was so exposed to it that to a certain degree, I started believing otherwise. I started looking at it for what it was and hearing the things Trump would say out loud. It started with him saying he was going to ban Muslims from entering the country. And something didn’t sit right with me. Something really was just like, this is not okay.

 

And it just kept escalating and escalating and escalating to the point where I couldn’t take it anymore. And so when I was about 14, I went to boarding school in New Jersey. I moved from DC to New Jersey for boarding school. And I really used that as kind of, know, people go away for college, people, I chose boarding school because I needed to get out of DC in that whole.

 

environment, but it followed me wherever I went. know, everybody knew who my parents were. And I figured that it would follow me wherever I went. So I might as well do something with it because I didn’t want anybody to assume that I would ever condone Donald Trump’s behavior or the behavior of the now destroyed and decimated Republican party. So when I was 15, I took to TikTok to share my opinions.

 

And I woke up one day, it was July of 2020, and I woke up one day to millions of notifications. Like no joke, millions of notifications. And it was on a video that is somewhere in the ether now of me talking about why I disagree with Republican politics. And someone, somewhere, I didn’t even mention my mom, someone somewhere made the connection.

 

and put it on a news outlet and then from there it was, from there on it was just set. So I, the way I look at it is like I have privilege and I have this unique perspective that other people don’t have and other people may look at it as a curse. I look at it as both a blessing and a curse and I used my unique perspective or at least I tried to.

 

to shed light on these, the corrupt people in office

 

Corryn G. Freeman (04:56)

Can you take a moment and you said, have privilege. I would love to stay here just a little bit more. Can we explore the privilege? So can you name like what is that privilege and how did you recognize it? And how are you using your privilege to be able to expose and put light on things that might not be beneficial for marginalized communities or for our collective liberation?

 

Claudia Conway (05:25)

Absolutely. I have white privilege. Obviously I present super white. I have dyed blonde hair and blue eyes. And I have very Eurocentric features and I definitely have white privilege. I also have political privilege and that kind of privilege. grew up, people call me a political nepo baby. I grew up in politics, surrounded by politics. My parents both in politics and

 

So I have privilege in that way, and I’m very aware of my privilege. And so I looked at it and I was like, okay, I could either, you know, become a snobby, elitist person, like all of these other, you know, children do and all these other kids of prominent, you know, figures do. Or I could say, fuck that and use the privilege that I do have to create a space online for other people to use their voices as well.

 

And that’s always been super important to me. Uplifting, other people’s voices, recognize that what I say has an impact. And I believe that everybody else deserves that same impact. just because I have a mother who worked in the Trump administration and a father who.

 

now hates Trump and uses his platform to denounce all of Trump world. It doesn’t mean that I deserve a larger voice than Sallie Mae next door. So I’m a huge believer in that. I have privilege that even my white peers don’t have just because of the situation I’m in and the family that I was born into. So I’m super aware of that

 

Corryn G. Freeman (06:58)

I appreciate that because I think like being aware of our privilege and understanding our privilege isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but we need to know it exists. Otherwise, it’s like a backpack and we can swing it around and and we’re end up hurting people unintentionally, right? Completely unintentionally. But our our awareness of it is what allows us to make space for other people to shine the light that we have just been given one to them that they might not have had otherwise to lift them up so that they have

 

Claudia Conway (07:07)

Absolutely. Absolutely.

 

Absolutely.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (07:28)

have an equal representation.

 

Claudia Conway (07:29)

Absolutely.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (07:30)

able to do this so young to me is just absolutely amazing. And it’s really just to me a testament of like, I don’t know if it’s in the stars of Gen Z, but the self-awareness is so necessary. So at Future Coalition, we pride ourselves on being intergenerational. And I would love to know about like how you were able to approach conversations with your family members who are older that hold a different political opinion. How were you able

 

as you recognize your privilege to kind of confront some of that and how do how did those conversations go early on?

 

Claudia Conway (08:07)

100%. So I have, I was, my father is an Asian American and my mother is Italian. My mother’s side of the family is the family that I grew up with and her side of the family is super, super Italian, super Catholic, super conservative. My dad’s side of the family, Filipino immigrants, and I don’t know much about them. So I was always exposed to my mom’s side of the family and my mom’s a very big family person.

 

And growing up, around my family, the word conservative was never used, like around my extended family, but it was always implied. My family, they’re all working class people. They’d never ever had the privileges that I have now or will ever have the privileges that I will have in my future. And I got to grow up exposed to that. My mom was born in Camden, New Jersey.

 

Both my parents have just crazy stories of how they got successful and how they made themselves. So I developed an appreciation for all of that, but it always became politicized. I feel that within my family, I love them all to death, but.

 

There, was always, when Trump came onto the scene, was this phenomenon, you know, somebody who talked like them and who whatever used the same jargon as them. That’s a bit of a problem. You know what I mean? Because it’s like, well, uncle Joe, you know, you can’t be saying this stuff, you know, you can’t be saying this stuff about gay people, for example. but then we have leaders who are doing it anyway.

 

I have a brother who is a Trump supporter and I think very kind. He’s my twin brother. He’s yes, I have a twin brother. Yes. He’s a Trump supporter, know, goes to Trump rallies. I couldn’t tell you why, but that’s his decision. And it’s, it’s this weird, it’s this really weird phenomenon when you love people and you care about people for who they are. But.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (09:45)

Older or younger? A twin! I didn’t know you were a twin.

 

Claudia Conway (10:08)

on these ethical issues and these political issues and everything in between, you could not disagree more. It’s very, very difficult to have these conversations with family members, especially when everything is so emotionally charged.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (10:24)

Mm-hmm.

 

so when you were like 15, right? And it sounded like you went to TikTok before you went to your family, right? So you went to TikTok, somebody made an association with your mom and your dad. And like, from that point, like how did a conversation ensue? And was it that emotionally charged conversation or were you guys able to have an opportunity to listen back and forth to one another

 

Claudia Conway (10:52)

Early on, absolutely not. They’d known my views for a while because I was never scared of saying what I believed in when I was 13. I’m not sure why, but abortion rights and reproductive rights were super important to me. I don’t know why. And I would sit down at night with a notebook and write down facts, right? Like all the facts that I know about abortion healthcare and reproductive healthcare, I learned when I was 13 years old.

 

And obviously those statistics have changed, but I pull from that side of my brain because that young, I was so passionate about it. And my mother found that notebook and they knew all about it. And that I was looked down upon really for having a different opinion because it didn’t align with the church and it didn’t align with what I was taught. And so after the TikTok stuff happened, it was kind of like a free fall.

 

in my family. You know, everybody was upset with me. I kind of became the villain in their eyes for ever sharing an opinion. And things got crazy. My mother and I had a super tumultuous relationship. It’s different now, but it was really, really hard. I didn’t really know how to navigate having a good relationship with my family, yet disagreeing with them so publicly, while they’re publicly, you know, on a pedestal.

 

with people like Donald Trump and it’s very frustrating. It still is frustrating to be quite honest with you. But I have since learned since being 15 years old how to conduct and facilitate conversations where both parties can be listened to and appreciated and we can try to find common ground.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (12:32)

know that you did recently conduct an interview with your mom and dad following the DNC on Instagram Live. Can you share what some of those learnings were to be able to facilitate

 

a conversation that is meaningful, where they were able to present an opposing view, you were able to present yours, and everyone was respected.

 

Claudia Conway (12:55)

Yeah, I think that the Instagram Live is not the best example of it because I think things did get a little disrespectful towards the end of it. But my advice to parents whose children have different political views would be let them. Give your children an environment to grow and to learn where they know that their voice and their opinion matters. I always, I was always told

 

growing up, well you’re just a kid. You’re just a kid. The adults are speaking. You’re just a child. You don’t know anything yet. And let me just tell you, there is some truth to, know, obviously I didn’t have the world figured out at 15, I don’t have it figured out at 20, and I won’t have it figured out by 40. That’s probably the truth. But to tell children that their voice doesn’t matter just because they’re

 

under the age of 18 or they’re not adults yet or they haven’t been married yet or they haven’t had kids yet. It’s not right and it’s not true. I think that age has no correlation with knowledge. I think you can be knowledgeable at 80 years old. You can also be knowledgeable at 15 years old. My little sister’s 14 years old and let me tell you she’s smarter than most adults that I know. And I don’t see why we shouldn’t let

 

children have opinions like like 15 year old me I deserved an opinion and I deserved a voice and I deserved a say in my own beliefs and I deserve that same voice now five years later at 20 years old so those would be you know my words of advice let your kids believe what they want to believe let them do the research for themselves I

 

I always say encouraging education is so, important. And I don’t mean higher education and the likes. mean letting your children educate themselves on their own. Buying books that don’t force a certain agenda on your children. Buying books that open their brains and open their minds to other kinds of people. There’s so much talk about.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (14:54)

learning.

 

Claudia Conway (15:10)

banning books right now and it just makes me so angry about these books being banned about racial injustices, these books being banned about LGBTQ injustices or just LGBTQ rights in general. Fuck that, excuse my language, but fuck that. We need to be teaching our children that no, it hasn’t always been fair for John Doe and Sallie Mae. John Doe has had an advantage.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (15:28)

Say that girl. We do.

 

Claudia Conway (15:38)

His ancestors had an advantage 100 years ago and Sallie Mae is trying to catch up. know, equity is so important. Or Sallie Mae has two moms and John Doe has a mom and a dad and that’s okay. That’s what we should be teaching our children. So, back to my advice, let your children decide for themselves. Because I see it so much. I see it with my friends and my peers and you know, they have parents who definitely disagree with them. They always come to me, they’re like, Claudia.

 

How do I make it work? How do I, want to have this conversation with my mom because I think I could change her mind. And that’s the thing. I don’t think we should go into conversations looking to change other people’s minds. I think we should go into conversations looking to find common ground and to make our points eloquently and, cohesively without disparaging the person across the aisle.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (16:31)

I appreciate that so much. also as an inquisitive person, I’ve always been an inquisitive person my entire life. I’ve always asked why from the time that I could talk, I had questions about everything. And for me, conversations like you’re saying are much less about getting you to see like that I’m correct other than it is for me to one just like understand your frame of view and like how you got to where you got to and to have you be able to hear

 

hear me and understand my frame of reference and just understand like see it, it exists. It exists. there is a truth in the ether and so is yours. And they don’t have to align but to know that they both exist at the same point in time in two separate people to me like that in and of itself is power.

 

Claudia Conway (17:06)

Absolutely.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (17:22)

On the receiving end when I hear opposing points of view the way I receive it is of course sometimes it can feel like an attack if it’s something that you care a lot about about but I do my best to not

 

to not make it about me, but to really just make it about the other person and then ask questions about the entire frame of reference and a lot, just give it space and time because a lot, takes time. Well, one, when you’re like deconditioning, like when you’ve inherited a belief system, right? I grew up in the church, right? My dad was a pastor, right? So I grew up in the Baptist church and I don’t necessarily identify as a Christian anymore.

 

Claudia Conway (17:43)

Exactly.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (18:05)

but it’s because I asked so many questions, right? And it’s like I don’t fault anyone who identifies however they identify, right? But in my process of inquiry and asking questions, I was able to come to my own belief system. But being someone who was at the church three days a week, I like you, it was very difficult for me to actually come to the realization. Well, it sounds like it was more difficult for me than it was for you to come to the realization that

 

Claudia Conway (18:07)

Exactly, exactly.

 

Exactly.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (18:33)

actually this belief system does not serve the way that my spirit shows up in this body, right? And I had to, it took time for me to be able to do that. And I actually was never really able to have that conversation with my dad because he passed before I could really talk to him about it. Thanks. But I have been able to have it with my mom and my mom’s point of view around religion. She still identifies as a Christian is broadening and it’s changing. And I think that just

 

Claudia Conway (18:50)

I’m so sorry.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (19:03)

having the opportunity to exchange ideas and hear, to me it’s a little different when it comes at the expense of another person’s humanity.

 

Claudia Conway (19:12)

Absolutely.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (19:13)

It’s quite difficult for me to hear those opinions. yeah, to like have like learning how to have those respectful conversations requires a lot of deconditioning that our parents gave to us that their parents gave to them about a child’s place is to be seen and not heard. You’re here to follow instructions. You’re here to do what you’re told. And again, I’m a big astro girly. I believe that something in the star

 

Claudia Conway (19:15)

Absolutely, you got it 100 % right, absolutely.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (19:43)

has made it so, you know, as we are coming, new generations are coming, we are bringing in a new way of thinking, right? And we are all here to have a new perspective and to bring in a new order that is more aligned with nature, honestly. I think it’s like a decolonial wave, right, of thinking.

 

Claudia Conway (20:02)

Absolutely.

 

Absolutely. 100%. You hit the nail on the head when you said that. Because for me, I will give, you could put me in a room with 100 Trump supporters and I would sit there and have conversations with each and every one of them asking questions because asking questions is so important. Why? Because I just want to understand why people believe the things that they do. And that’s the same thing with me. I grew up in a church.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (20:30)

Yeah.

 

Claudia Conway (20:32)

And

 

I can appreciate other people’s point of views until it comes at the expense of somebody else’s rights or somebody else’s existence. I draw the line of hatred.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (20:42)

Mm-hmm.

 

Claudia Conway (20:44)

There is no space for hatred of anybody in politics and in life. So that’s where I draw the line. The second that you insult a group of people, you are racist, homophobic, transphobic, it’s done.

 

In my opinion, there will be no productive conversation with somebody who just wants to spew hatred, which is what we see, you know, a lot now, especially from one side of the aisle.

 

And so that’s where I draw the line. And we see it’s so weird because we’re in 2024 and you would think that things are moving forward, that we collectively as a society are moving forward, but we are moving backward. Like a hundred percent we are moving backward. Two days ago, Trump called Kamala Harris a mentally disabled person.

 

I mean, that’s the kind of rhetoric that we’re hearing from people who are, who could be our leaders and who was a leader. So that is what is so troubling to me. And that is why I think it’s so important. That’s why, you know, coming out of my hiatus on social media and whatever to talk about this stuff, because nobody should be questioning someone’s identity, calling someone mentally disabled as an insult or saying the things that

 

you know, Trump and his allies are saying. In my opinion, there’s only one word for it it’s disgusting. And you know, I went on Piers Morgan yesterday because I keep going, anybody asked me to go on something, I’m like, yes, I’ll do it fine. Even if it’s a conservative space, even if it’s whatever and people are gonna yell at me because I sit there and I hold my ground. But I mean, just the anger and the just…

 

praise that we see in political commentators and people on TV and whatever. Like it’s there. And like I said, we’re in 2024. We should have been pulling this back 20 years ago, but here we are.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (22:40)

And I wholeheartedly agree with you. And I think that we have so much of an opportunity with the rise of social media to tell our stories. There are no longer any gatekeepers in terms of knowledge and the flow of information online. And we have the opportunity to tell more and more about that. And so I just want to know a little bit about how has social media played a role in shaping your political views and your activism?

 

all because it sounds like you were hearing things and you had questions. How were you able to come to kind of the realizations that you were able to come to? Was online a factor in that?

 

Claudia Conway (23:20)

Absolutely, I always say that social media can be a blessing and it can be a curse, it depends on how you use it. You know, it’s kind of a weapon. And when I started using social media, wasn’t a quarter as knowledgeable of the things that I was talking about as I am now. And I think going into social media, I was connected to people who knew more about things that I wanted to talk about or I wanted to learn more about and

 

Through social media, I got to have a dialogue with people that I wouldn’t have a dialogue with otherwise. People from across the country, people from across the world.

 

A 16 year old girl living in Kansas who’s scared about her rights being taken away. Social media has allowed me to do so much of that and social media has allowed me to connect with so many people and to reach so many people with my message. And that’s something I’ll always be grateful for. But social media can also be a very dark place. It depends on how we use it. Are we spreading misinformation or are we spreading important information?

 

Are we attacking people online or are we telling our stories? You know, there’s this line that seems to be blurred nowadays between this multifaceted world of social media. But I’m forever grateful for the platform that I had and do still have in the way that I was able to reach people. In terms of today with social media and the election,

 

Corryn G. Freeman (24:38)

no, please continue.

 

Claudia Conway (24:41)

And the way my generation is using social media to garner attention towards the election. I mean, it is like something I’ve never seen before and the likes of which we’ve never, we have never seen before. You know, if Sally Mae is 18 and she’s voting in her first election and she doesn’t know much about it, but she sees that somebody is posting something on social media, she’s going to go to Google and look up, hey, how many abortions happen a day in the United States and which states ban abortion?

 

If I were living in Georgia, what reproductive health care could I get? And it’s like, it’s those kinds of things. It’s the causation of it all. What we’re posting on social media has an impact, whether it’s impacting hundreds of thousands of people or just one person. To me, it’s all in the same. If I can influence one person to go out there and educate themselves, that’s a win because that one person is then going to educate their family who’s going to talk about it with

 

their family and their friends and their friends and so on. It’s this ripple effect of information and education. And that’s why I’m so against misinformation on both sides because social media is can be, should be used as a tool, especially if you’re a creator or if you want to enter the space as an influencer, you know, using your platform for good is always so.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (26:04)

I agree, which is why we created the Future Coalition Creator Network, right? Like we created it because we understand that one, people are chronically online more than they ever have in history. More than 40 % of people under the age of 40 years old receive their news primarily through social media platforms, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, things of that nature. And the voices of the people that we follow

 

Claudia Conway (26:08)

Exactly.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (26:34)

mean more to us than some random celebrity or even newscasters, right? So at Future Coalition, we decided to create a space that provided creators and influencers with accurate, true, real information.

 

about the Harris Walls campaign, about voting, the election cycle, so that they could be armed and provide that information and create that ripple effect rooted in truth and fact for the sake of empowering people and not disempowering, dissuading people or turning them away. I would love to know, Claudia, like when do you think was a moment that you used your voice on socials or in press that really mattered and made a difference and how would you

 

someone who might want to use their voice but might be a little scared.

 

Claudia Conway (27:28)

I used to like fact check Donald Trump and fact check the things that he said and whether or not they pertained to policy or character, whatever. And I kind of started this Twitter storm unintentionally of people also doing the same thing and calling out leaders and criticizing our government. for me, and then I got so many messages and so many

 

texts and DMs and emails saying thank you so much for doing this because now I feel comfortable, you know, calling out what is wrong. And not even just in politics, but just in life. Because I’ve always said if something is wrong, if you believe something is wrong, you can either sit there and watch it be wrong or you can call it out and try to change what you can. And so my advice to those who are scared, you know, I’m scared all the time to share my opinion.

 

That’s natural. It is natural to be scared to share your opinion especially in the climate that we’re in politically and socially and you know ethically

 

Corryn G. Freeman (28:23)

more.

 

Claudia Conway (28:33)

You sharing your story and your voice will have so much more of an impact than if you didn’t. So my advice to other people is to always share your voice. Share your voice. you are passionate about something or if you have a story to tell that you think other people will resonate with or other people will receive,

 

Share it. So I encourage everyone to use their voices in whatever capacity they can.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (28:59)

Amen. You have to speak your truth even if your voice shakes, right? If it is in you and you feel it. I firmly believe in checking in with the body, right? for me, like I know that I have to say the thing when I feel it. And then I have like the hairs on my body start to raise even when I know the thing is uncomfortable. That is a truth that needs to be told. And I always say my tagline is I’m a powerful force for transformational change. And as a change agent and a change maker,

 

Claudia Conway (29:03)

Absolutely.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (29:29)

We have to know that our mere existence and our way of thinking is new and in that newness We are going to make people uncomfortable We are going to bring forth information that is not in alignment with the status quo But it is for us to usher in right when you are on the cutting edge of anything people laugh They make fun of you. They call you stupid until you’re a genius ten years down the line and and we have all

 

moved in that course of direction, right? So just knowing that like if you are a change maker and you view yourself as an agent for change that you there is potential for you really to not be well received, but you have to be so rooted in what you know as your truth, right? And know that there is value in it being spoken and in everything there is a delay. Very rarely do we like say something and boom, the change happens right there. It’s possible,

 

Claudia Conway (30:20)

Absolutely.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (30:28)

but it’s rare. Things happen over time and we have to get people to where we are. So thank you so much for that. I have just two more questions for you. Okay. So what are your thoughts on the importance of youth voting and civic one, how do you feel like young people are feeling this electoral cycle? And what are you saying to those who are on the fence or sitting this one out?

 

Claudia Conway (30:32)

Absolutely.

 

Go ahead.

 

So right now in the polls, Harris is leading with a 24 point lead amongst Gen Z voters. Trump is 24 points behind, but we have a large portion of Gen Z voters. I think it’s about 18 % who are undecided or don’t want to vote. There is a lot of Gen Z engagement with this election.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (31:05)

Come through facts! Come through facts!

 

Claudia Conway (31:26)

And I keep saying it’s a beautiful thing to see. You look at social media, you look at these rallies, you look at these events and these forums and half the crowd are, you know, Gen Z. that is so, in my opinion, that’s so important. 41 million Gen Z voters will be eligible to vote in November and will be voting. And there’s a lot going on in the world right now

 

that are making people not want to vote, especially Gen Z. You know, we look at the war in Gaza. We look at just the rhetoric from both sides and how apprehensive people have become to politics and I don’t think Kamala Harris is a perfect leader. I don’t think any of us are but let’s, when we weigh the two, I mean, let’s really think we have to think about our rights. We have to think about our neighbors. We have to think about

 

Corryn G. Freeman (31:52)

Mmm.

 

Claudia Conway (32:14)

the state of our democracy, our economy. We have to think about those who don’t have a voice, those who have been silenced. And I would tell any of my fellow Gen Zers to keep that in mind when you go to the polls or if you’re not going to the polls. And you know what? If you want to go to the polls and you just don’t want to vote president for some reason, I mean, I encourage you to. I think voting is a right that we have and it’s super important to utilize that right.

 

Look down ballot also because

 

There are so many other people running for office. You it’s not just Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. We have to look down ballot. And so I encourage my fellow Gen Zers to also look down ballot.

 

and see what changes could be made in your community, in your district, in your county, in your state. And when we look at everything that is given to us, mean, new things happen every day in these campaigns, know, information is thrown at us, rhetoric is thrown at us. And I would just encourage people to not take it at face value, to really do the work in educating yourself.

 

and your voice matters, your vote matters. Even if somebody tells you it doesn’t, it absolutely does. Everyone’s vote matters, everyone’s voice matters and it’s so important that we all get in on this collectively and like you said, start the change because it’s not going to happen overnight but we need to start that change because we’re going backwards. know, look at all the change makers and leaders we’ve had who have made waves and strides in all of these issues and

 

See how easily it’s being stripped from us, you know, by the Supreme Court, by people in office. We gotta get that back. We gotta get back on that horse and ride towards change, you know, instead of shying away from it or saying, you know, this is how it’s always gonna be and these people, it’ll always be corrupt. It doesn’t always have to be corrupt and it won’t always be corrupt. And I’m a firm believer that we can be the change.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (34:14)

you and civic engagement goes beyond voting. Voting is one tool in our civic engagement toolkit. And Dr. King said the moral arc of the universe is long and it bends towards justice. It bends that way because we push it. We pull it towards justice, right? We pull it with our vote. We pull it with our legislative advocacy. We pull it by using our voice. We pull it through organizing, right? When I think about things like my husband just bought a book about

 

Claudia Conway (34:19)

Absolutely.

 

Absolutely.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (34:44)

like the Haitian Revolution, right? So like the Haitian Revolution was a period where the enslaved people liberated themselves, right? From the French colonizer, which sparked one of the greatest landmass cells of all time, the Louisiana Purchase, because they needed money, right? Like, like, like that level of change is possible. Am I saying that we’re going to

 

Claudia Conway (34:54)

and

 

Exactly.

 

Absolutely.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (35:14)

spark the revolution by electing the Harris Walls campaign. No, but we are creating we are choosing our strategic opponent who we can engage in bending that moral arc towards justice. Right. So that we can further advance our causes. And I think it’s really important for young people to understand that like there is a pace with change and it is a process. And sometimes there are big moments and sometimes changes slow. But we must engage in the process.

 

Claudia Conway (35:25)

Absolutely,

 

Corryn G. Freeman (35:44)

we want the evolution that we want.

 

Claudia Conway (35:46)

Absolutely. We can’t just sit back and if something, you know, we can’t complain if things aren’t changing if we’re not working to change them. You know what mean? And what you just hit the nail on the head, you know, we need to, it’s not about, you know, Harris Walls, I don’t think it’s gonna spark a revolution or change everything overnight, but we’re bending towards the right direction. We’re bending towards what is right.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (35:54)

That’s right.

 

Claudia Conway (36:10)

and what is just and that is the first step to a long process, a long evolution and revolution and we all have to be along for the ride.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (36:22)

We do. And Claudia,

 

your voice is so strong and you are so clear. And to me, it looks like you stand in your convictions with so much confidence. Looking ahead, what are your goals for your advocacy work? And how do you plan to continue to use your platform for change? Or do you? Like, what are your goals for yourself?

 

Claudia Conway (36:41)

My goals for myself are to post what I feel is true to my beliefs and true to me. I don’t have a specific goal. don’t look at numbers. just want for right. I’m in my say yes era right now. I’ve been saying yes to everything. in terms of like saying yes to political engagements and civic engagements, because it is so important. I can’t say no to any of this right now. There’s no no.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (36:56)

Yes.

 

Claudia Conway (37:06)

The election is a month and a couple days away. goals for myself include, I want to start a podcast and invite people to share their stories and use their voices. I want to post more on social media about issues that pertain to all of us, about ballot initiatives. So hopefully I’ll be doing that in the next couple of weeks. Still trying to find my footing back on social media.

 

My goals are to really just stay true to myself and to continue what I’ve been doing and to encourage other people to also use their voice and their platforms.

 

Corryn G. Freeman (37:41)

And in saying that, Claudia was a phenomenal spokesperson for our creator network on our hype call. To all those who are listening, young or old, please fill out an application. It takes less than 10 minutes to be a part of the Future Coalition Creator Network. You don’t have to have 2 million followers. If you have 250 followers, 1,000 followers, and you want to use your voice, please complete the application.

 

We can provide you with an in-person training or a recorded training. You’ll get a network of people in a Slack community. We’ll also have other really cool Zoom conversations to talk about what works and what doesn’t so that we can use our voices for our collective liberation and to create the change that we want to see not just this November, but in the world that we want to build. Claudia, thank you so much for all that you do and for joining

 

Claudia Conway (38:36)

Thank you so much. You are

 

Corryn G. Freeman (38:39)

it’s a pleasure to have you and girl if you ever need me come holla at me I appreciate you

 

Claudia Conway (38:43)

So you as well. Thank you so much, Corryn.