Telling the Stories that Count: A Podcasting Partnership
Reflections on Asian Americans Advancing Justice and Power Station’s “Count On Your Census” podcast and how it told the stories of advocates working to get out the count in tumultuous times.
By Anne Pasmanick
When Michelle and I discovered our shared love of podcasts in the way-back world of 2019, we imagined what we might create together. I had just interviewed John C. Yang, President and Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice — AAJC, for Power Station, my podcast about power-building nonprofits. John spoke about the diversity of AAPIs, whose 50 subgroups experience starkly different levels of educational attainment, economic opportunity and social conditions. He explained how the model minority myth presents a false but persistent narrative that AAPIs are a monolith and are all doing equally well. John spoke to the profound importance of data disaggregation to create a complete and nuanced picture of AAPIs and all less than fully seen communities of color.
So, back to my conversation with Michelle Boykins, Senior Director of Strategic Communications at Advancing Justice — AAJC. In 2019, months after we first spoke about our love of podcasts, Michelle called with an unexpected proposal. Advancing Justice — AAJC was ready to produce a podcast about the 2020 Census and wanted to partner with Power Station to make it happen. I was in! We knew this story would not be easy to tell. After all, the origin story of the Census goes back to the crafting of the U.S. Constitution and includes a troubling history of who was counted at that time and how. We wanted listeners to connect to the importance of the Census, that it determines how federal dollars are allocated to meet the changing needs of communities, from health centers to schools and roads. And we needed to convey that the population data the Census generates is the blueprint for apportionment, the counting of how many seats in the U.S. House of Representatives belong to each state. Digging down even deeper, it influences how district lines within states are drawn.
For all of these reasons, we wanted Count On Your Census (we had a name!) to be a call to action for every social service provider, community group, librarian, teacher, local elected official and community advocate to use their influence to get as many people counted as possible. And there was every reason to be deeply concerned. Then-President Trump made the first in a series of efforts to undermine the Census count by adding a citizenship question to the Census. It took Advancing Justice — AAJC and civil rights partners, including the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) to thwart those attempts, but damage was done. Undocumented and people of color more broadly felt targeted and were wary of participation in this most American enterprise. We tell the story of how civil rights and other nonprofit leaders navigated these challenges in Count On Your Census Season One.
But we could not have foreseen what lay ahead: a global pandemic and its devastating impacts, from the loss of jobs and income to the loss of precious lives, predominantly in the very communities most at risk of exclusion from the Census. Enumerators could no longer collect data door-to-door. Households across the country were simply trying to survive, and Advancing Justice — AAJC, along with their civil rights partners, had to make a hard turn and adopt a new strategic direction.
Count On Your Census Season Two tells the story of pushing ahead through the most difficult of times to ensure a fair Census count. And it does so with help from an amazing lineup of guests. From the former director of the U.S. Census Bureau to an advocate for Burmese-Rohingya refugees in Wisconsin, SeasonTwo’s diverse array of guests present the realities of advocating for an inclusive Census in the most pressing of circumstances. Each guest told a tale of how perseverance, legal and organizing strategies energized a growing Census movement. Which brings us to this moment.
In the final episode, John returns to the podcast and looks back with gratitude and respect for the U.S. Census Bureau’s devoted civil servants and the many teachers, librarians, and on-the-ground nonprofits who worked hard, against all odds, to make sure their communities were counted.
Of course, the story isn’t really over. There are population counts to be delivered — late but hopefully accurate — leading to all-important redistricting campaigns, which John hopes, will engage a growing constellation of Census advocates in determining their futures.
As for me, I have learned so much through this process. I had been a policy advocate for many years, but being close to many talented Census champions has been next-level inspirational. I am certain that democracy is strongest when policy and cultural change align, and the Decennial Census is that moment.
In the course of producing Count On Your Census, my uncle discovered my grandfather’s Census form. He had traveled as a child by ship and alone, to escape the pogroms of Vilna, Lithuania in the early 1900s. His story is alive because of the Census.
The Census in any decade should tell everyone’s story. It is not only the key to money, power and democracy; it is the full accounting of who we are. Our fates are tied together, and I see that as a strength, not a weakness. Here’s to a fair and inclusive Census 2030.
Download and listen to all episodes of Count On Your Census here.
Anne Pasmanick is the host and creator of “Power Station.”
