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Welcome to Why I'm Voting, a production

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of I Heart Radio. Listen.

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You already know this, but it's an election year.

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You might already be tired of hearing about it.

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But here's the thing. Democracy

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doesn't work without you. I'm

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Holly Frying, and I'm sitting down with

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many of my fellow podcasters, from Will

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Ferrell to Stephanie Rule, as well as

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other luminaries, to find out about

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their relationships with the ballot box and

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ultimately just to find out why they

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vote. I hope you're

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exercising your right to vote, and if

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you're not, I hope that their stories inspire

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you. Today

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on Why I'm Voting, I have the extraordinary

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pleasure of being joined by the absolutely

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spectacular Michelle Williams. You know her

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as a singer from Destiny's Child. As well

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as a solo performer, She's also a songwriter.

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She is also an actress of stage

1:00

and screen. It's a little bit overwhelming how

1:02

much talent can come out of one person. But

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more importantly, she is also

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a voter, and I absolutely

1:09

am delighted because she is someone whose

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work I have admired for a long time. She

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has one of the most luscious voices you could

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ever ever hope to hear. And Michelle,

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thank you so much for sitting down with me today.

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Thank you so much. Holly.

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I'm like, now, I don't plan on dying

1:25

for about eighty years, right, so

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that means you have to be around because I was

1:30

like that was a good like she could eulogize

1:32

me with that. My

1:36

directive is just to be around long enough

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to make sure and I hope that I'm like a hundred

1:40

and fifty daughtering up

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ready to do it. Yes, ma'am,

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yes, yes, yes, So what's going on today?

1:47

Girl? Well? I wanted to ask you first

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if you remember when you learned

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about what voting was, that it was something

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you were going to have to do one day, and

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like how you came to that knowledge. Well,

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I learned a about voting officially,

2:01

I think like in high school when you you

2:03

take government, you know, junior

2:05

senior year of high school. But

2:08

I had the pleasure beforehand seeing

2:11

my mom or my grandparents

2:13

vote. You know, we'd have to sit in the car, but

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I remember we'd always drive up to the

2:18

VFW or the Elks

2:20

Lodges or some type of Bingo community

2:23

center where one of the polling places was

2:25

set up and they'd go in and they would

2:27

vote. I can't recall

2:30

if I ever went into the polling

2:32

place with my grandmother, they

2:34

might have allowed us in there. I can't recall,

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but I just remember older

2:38

ladies always greeting you

2:40

at the door. They were

2:43

just very nice, very sweet, And

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I said, they usually make sloppy Joe's or

2:47

potato saddle it or something because they

2:49

always have to be at the polling place all those

2:52

hours to eat, so they'd always

2:54

be talking about, you know, something fresh

2:56

that they made. And so I was like,

2:58

man, when I get older, I want to go vote just

3:00

so I can go get a sloppy Joe. Then when

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you get older, you're like, all voting

3:05

is not so you can go get a sloppy

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Joe. And the sloppy Joe's were not for the

3:09

voters. They were for the volunteers

3:12

that work at the polling place.

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So that's where I kind of had my first experience

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of seeing people voting.

3:20

How long the lines would be. I

3:22

think the first time I voted, it had

3:24

to be by absentee ballot. Because Destiny's

3:27

Child we were on the road working

3:29

promoting albums and touring, and

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I remember that vote what had

3:34

to be by absentee ballot, and

3:36

so that was cool. And

3:38

then I just remember being able to walk into

3:40

a polling place myself

3:42

back um in the Illinois area where

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I was born and raised, and knowing

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what people sacrificed to

3:50

do so that black people could

3:52

vote, so that even women could vote, you

3:55

know what I mean. And so, Holly, you

3:57

and I have talked before about the life

3:59

of John Louis Right and

4:01

how he gave us marching orders

4:04

before he passed away in that amazing

4:07

essay he had the New York

4:09

Times to publish even on his deathbed,

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he was concerned about what the

4:14

folks left behind we're going to be doing.

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And so I was like, I owe it to

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John Lewis. I owe it to my

4:21

grandmother who I was

4:24

had the pleasure, you know, seeing

4:26

her go vote. So I I

4:28

have a duty to let my voice be

4:30

heard. And if people feel like, Okay,

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well my voice isn't

4:35

big enough, my platform isn't big enough,

4:37

your vote is big enough. How about that? Yeah,

4:39

John Lewis, as you know, I believe in Atlanta,

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so he is a hometown hero. I had

4:43

to read that New York Times piece one paragraph

4:46

at a time, because I kept getting completely

4:48

overcome and having to walk away from it to collect

4:50

myself. Because he's amazing. He even

4:52

said something similar to Martin Luther

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King Jr. Said I might not

4:57

get there with you. I

5:00

I was blown away, and then, to be honest

5:02

with you, a part of me got nervous

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when John Lewis passed away. I know this podcast

5:07

isn't about Representative Lewis. It

5:09

is about voting, but he's

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a part of why we vote um

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and how we can vote. I got

5:16

nervous when he passed away because he's

5:18

a general and I'm like, oh

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my gosh, all of our elders

5:23

in the area of just social

5:25

justice and equality, they're

5:27

leaving us. And it's

5:30

like, Okay, don't be nervous,

5:32

step up. I love that you described

5:34

that essay as marching orders because it is. It's

5:36

so inspiring. So that knowing that we

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will not have this amazing voice in

5:41

present time, we will still have all of his work

5:43

and the things that he wrote and said, but it is

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a good thing, like we're the next people that have

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to carry on his work because

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he was a representative. You know, we talked

5:53

a lot on the show about local elections

5:55

and those senatorial elections, but even way

5:57

down the ballot, you know people who

5:59

are like your county commissioner and your

6:02

local mayor, etcetera. Those are all

6:04

really important local races. I

6:07

know you vote in those races. So

6:09

I wanted to know how you

6:12

do your research so that you make sure when

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it is time to mail in that vote or to

6:16

cast that ballot at a voting place, that

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you know that you're selecting the people that best

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represent your ideals. Well, I'm a cornball.

6:23

So the other day I happened

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to be driving around in

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the Atlanta area and

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Holly, oh, I was

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going to get donup, and I

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see these signs, these

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yard signs, and they're telling

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people who to vote for, you

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know, vote for so and so for comptroller,

6:45

for county circuit clerk, for

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sheriffs and all this and all that.

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And how many years have we just

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drove past those yard signs? And

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a lot of people do not vote

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in those locally elections. Right then,

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when you have something massive

7:01

or tragic that happens in your

7:03

city, you don't have nobody fighting

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for you that probably looks like you, that

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probably cares about the same things you care about

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because you overlooked that local election.

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Because when I was growing up, the

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mayoral election and the presidential

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elections were the real, highly

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publicized type elections.

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Your local elections, you see yard

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signs and you might see a few commercials,

7:27

but you just don't think it matters. You

7:30

know, where you don't know the

7:33

sheriff and the mayor. All of those

7:35

people are appointed, and those

7:37

are the people that nine times out of

7:40

ten right now in this era, that's who

7:42

we're mad at right now. So it's

7:44

kind of like, we're mad, but did

7:47

we vote? And so it's almost googling those

7:49

people, you know, take screenshots

7:51

of those signs. Park your card on

7:53

a safe place, you know, because there's sometimes

7:56

they're along the side of the road in the Atlanta

7:58

area, and also to when you get to the holding

8:00

place, there are the

8:02

descriptions of every person

8:05

listed. But I'd rather have

8:07

a idea of who's already

8:09

listened, so I don't get to the polling place and be like,

8:11

oh, well they seem cool, let me check

8:13

there, you know, but really

8:16

get their history. I love the idea of

8:18

stopping and taking a picture of a road

8:20

sign. It's not gonna stick in my brain

8:22

if I try to remember their name, but that way

8:25

got a record easy to look up later. It

8:27

you do have to know, you know what's

8:30

going on, because like right now, in

8:32

my hometown of Rockford, Illinois, they're

8:34

mad at the police chief. They are mad

8:37

at him right now. So it's like, whenever

8:39

this next election comes around,

8:42

you know, if I'm not mistaken, I think

8:44

the mayor selects who the police

8:46

chief is gonna be. I remember

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working with my local state representative

8:52

UM in my hometown and he was so

8:54

cool. I would do habitat

8:57

for Humanity House renovating

8:59

with him. So it's kind of like who's

9:01

out in your community, you

9:03

know what I mean, And so I just wanted us

9:05

to know who we should be mad

9:07

at. I

9:11

love it though. It's a good civics lesson because

9:13

it's easy to forget how that hierarchy works.

9:15

Not only is it easy to forget how

9:18

many people were today years old

9:20

when you found out that the mayor

9:23

or another local government official usually

9:26

appoints the chief of police.

9:28

Y'all just think that the police

9:31

chief got promoted by

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the highest ranking police officer

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in that department. No, they're

9:38

elected by mayor government officials.

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So I just want us to know that

9:42

those local county elections

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are very important almost,

9:47

I mean, before you even start talking about

9:50

national elections or whatever, it's

9:52

important to vote in the local because it's like, Okay,

9:54

these are the people that keep our house in order,

9:57

our city in order. The results of those

9:59

elections we feel a lot more than people really

10:01

give them credit for. There is always this

10:04

issue where some people feel like an election result

10:07

is a foregone conclusion, like I know how this is going to

10:09

turn out, so I'm not even gonna bother to vote. I'm

10:11

sleeping in or like I'm not gonna take off

10:13

a work early. What are your thoughts on not

10:15

voting in an election where you think it's already

10:18

a done dealis bro, let's

10:20

not have that attitude this time around, Like,

10:24

let's not have that attitude this

10:27

time around. I

10:29

take pride, Okay, I want

10:31

my sticker that says I voted,

10:34

and I also want to talk to those

10:37

little ladies. But

10:39

do not sit at home,

10:41

because if you sit at home and I'm

10:43

in conversation with you and you start

10:46

fussing about what's going on, I'm gonna

10:48

ask you did you vote? And

10:50

if you say no, I'm

10:53

smacking you in your throat.

10:59

I'm non vite it. But

11:01

that's called that's a good throat. What

11:04

they call it a throat, chop, a throat. I

11:06

don't know, but you know what I'm saying, I

11:09

don't want to hear it. It's kind of like

11:11

if I'm venting to someone and

11:13

they were like, did you talk to them yet?

11:16

And I say no, They're gonna be like, well, shut

11:18

up, you know what I mean. So it's

11:21

like, let's show up. Let's

11:23

show up. I'm admiring

11:25

those who are fearless,

11:28

who are on the front lines, who

11:30

are protesting those on

11:32

the front line. Let's make our voices be

11:35

heard at the polling places

11:37

as well. Or if you feel like you can't

11:39

get out physically protesting

11:42

and making your voice her, please, I'm

11:44

telling you go vote. And people say, well they're

11:46

gonna rig the process

11:48

that blah blah blah blah blah. I

11:51

don't know what they're gonna do with my vote. I

11:53

just know that I'm gonna vote, you

11:55

know what I mean? And I know a min

11:57

Atlanta, you know, Holly, you

12:00

know living there. How the last

12:02

election of the primary election, a

12:04

few places, the pling

12:06

machines weren't working well,

12:09

or it was all kind of excuses because

12:11

there are some people who are really afraid

12:14

of what this generation of voters

12:16

can really do, you know, And so

12:19

there are some people who

12:21

are going to try to make sure half the

12:23

machines don't work. But don't

12:25

let that keep you home. Don't

12:27

make that because you're it does matter, your

12:30

your your voice does matter. So come election

12:32

day, what is that day

12:34

gonna look like for you? Are you gonna watch the returns

12:37

all day long? Or are you gonna take me time

12:39

away from the news and maybe check in later,

12:42

or do you just go get a delicious

12:44

sloppy choe and potato salad and reminiscence

12:47

of all those old school poll workers.

12:49

It's called donut dollis,

12:52

So yeah, I know, I like my doughnuts. I

12:54

don't know. You get the news apps that

12:56

are always sending the alerts to your phone,

12:58

so it's not like I'm not gonna know you

13:01

know what's going on, So I do want to

13:03

know. Trust me, I think this will probably be

13:06

one of the most highly televised

13:09

nights in election history.

13:11

I want to speak to those that are

13:13

discouraged feeling like no

13:16

one wants to listen to what I

13:18

have to say, or

13:20

I'm just gonna stay home because they don't

13:22

care about black people. I'm not gonna vote,

13:25

they don't care about me. People

13:27

feeling like, you know, you're

13:29

overlooked because you're in a low income

13:31

area when you look on the news and you see

13:34

everything going on every day. I get it.

13:36

It does seem discouraging, and but

13:38

I do feel like what we don't do now,

13:41

we will feel it five or teen years from

13:43

now. You know. So while we sit at home and say we don't

13:45

vote, they know what population

13:48

in which part of town who's not voting.

13:51

There are certain people who are up for election.

13:53

They won't even go on certain sides of town

13:55

because they say, these folks in this

13:58

side of town, they don't vote anyway. So we're not

14:00

going to waste our sweat to

14:02

even go on that side of town because they

14:04

don't vote anyway. So your side

14:06

of town probably won't get things

14:09

that you need. Yeah, I want to just thank

14:11

you from the bottom of my heart. It is such a delight

14:13

to talk to you. Let's do this again. Since

14:16

we live in the same area, We're gonna go to donut

14:18

dollars together. Now listen. I'm

14:20

not advocating high blood sugar.

14:23

Please consult your local physicians.

14:29

Hey, are you not registered to vote yet?

14:31

But you think it's something you want to do. You

14:33

may still have time. Voter registration

14:36

deadlines vary by state, so to find

14:38

out the scoop for where you are, check out

14:40

a nonpartisan registration voting

14:42

site like head count dot org or fair

14:45

vote dot org. Why I'm Voting

14:47

is an I Heart Radio production. For more

14:49

podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit

14:51

the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

14:54

or wherever it is you listen to your favorite shows.