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CJP #49: Bri Woodson (GA-12) · Coconut Justice

• Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hey everybody, welcome back. So, Brie Woodson is here and before we started recording, Brie, you got into talking about how you are a content creator. Hey, what's good? Bri Woodson has a bachelor's of science in human resources and is wrapping up her master's in clinical mental health counseling. With that foundation in mental health and community care, she's worked across Georgia to ensure equity isn't just an idea, but an action. And now she's running to represent Georgia's 12th district. This is my conversation with Bri Woodson. Bri Woodson: Yes. ⁓ Yeah, it's so weird calling myself that content creator influencer, but I'm a human that has almost 200,000 followers across platforms. We'll phrase it like that. that is it's actually what threw me into a congressional race. ⁓ I did not mean to set out to be content creator or a political voice on the Internet. It was purely by accident. I went incredibly viral last January. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Before we get into it, remember to go to coconutjustice.com to get you some clothes that I think would look good on you. Let's go. Bri Woodson: for criticizing the current administration pretty harshly. I posted a video, like before I posted that video, I probably had, I don't know, 300, 400 followers on that page. Posted the video, three o'clock in the morning, because I couldn't sleep, fell asleep, woke up, and it had over a million plays, and I was like, what did I do? And so that was the end of January. In February, I had already wanted to make a Black History Month series. So I made at least two to three videos every single day that month. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Nice. Nice. Bri Woodson: for Black History and that series ended up going viral. And then next thing I know, I have a platform across TikTok and Instagram of almost 200,000 people that listen to me yap about history and politics. ⁓ when there was an issue, probably heard of her, name is Tori Branham. And yes, that is the issue. That is the issue, just that. She is a former Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): is her name. Bri Woodson: She's a former Marine firearms trainer and also running for Congress in the same district I am. She's very hardcore MAGA. She is the woman who called ice on the Hyundai plant out here in Georgia and got all those Korean nationals deported and caused serious issue with our relationship with Korea. Our governor actually had to fly to Korea three times to try to salvage relationships as best he could. ⁓ She's currently still running in the race. And at that time there was only one other person interested in running. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You Bri Woodson: for that seat on the Democratic side. So I was like, I'll put my name in, why not? And I got a lot of support online and I didn't think I'd get that support online, but you know, fast forward. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Was it like, was it more local support? Or was it like national support? Yeah. Bri Woodson: Both, both. But the national support has been very, very shocking. I did not think that I would get this much national support. I'm endorsed by Officer Mike Fanon, which is... I'm like, how did that happen? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Let's go. I just saw you on C-SPAN. What's going on? ⁓ Bri Woodson: I'm like, how did this happen? But you know, but we're here. ⁓ And I think there is some criticism on how much of a national race and presence that I do have. But I think one of the biggest reasons that the incumbent who is Rick Allen, who's been there for a decade, he's 74 this year. One of the reasons why I think that he's able to keep getting reelected is because he has a bigger name and it's because he has the more chest behind him, right? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Bri Woodson: so many of his competitors over the past decade haven't had ⁓ a presence to combat his presence, if that makes sense. So that's kind of how I've been going about it. It's been a lot of mix of, yes, in the district, but I'm also very present in DC. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): So when you first started creating content, you were just making like black history educational type of content. Yeah. Bri Woodson: And you know, ⁓ commenting on political happenings, updating people on what the current administration is up to and doing. Because you know, as far as loud as they are, they're also very sneaky. And so I've been really good at finding out the things that they're doing under people's noses and bringing them to light, which is another big part of my content creating. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, they make noise because they're sneaky, you know, they they say look here look here and then they're like robbing the bank over there Yeah and and and And I don't understand how people who like the person that you're gonna be running against I don't understand how They continue to trick people in into the silliness. That is Bri Woodson: Thank you. Correct, 100%. 100%. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): their belief system and they think that they're going to make things better for normal people. You know? Bri Woodson: It's, you know, it's, beyond me. ⁓ you know, the whole point of having a representative is for that person to represent you, right? But, know, Rick Allen is 74 years old, average age of constituent in the district is 38. I will be 32 in a couple of weeks. So that in and of itself is a huge difference. You know, it doesn't matter if he was a Democrat, doesn't matter Republican, Libertarian, Independent. If you have an average of about 40 years between yourself and the people you're supposed to represent. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Bri Woodson: Nine times out of ten, you're going to miss something important to the people that you're supposed to represent. It might be time. That's a whole lifetime. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): It might be time. Yeah, it might be time. I think it was Reed. ⁓ can't. I always have a hard time remembering Reed is running for Congress in Chicago. He said, Showalter. Thank you. Yeah, Reed Showalter. He said, Go play with your grandkids. ⁓ Bri Woodson: You read Showalter? Is that? Yeah. I say that all the time, like, Mr. Allen, don't you have like golf to go play? It's Augusta, y'all love golf? yo, that's where the Masters is. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You know, give me the opportunity to play in Augusta. See how crazy I get. Bri Woodson: golf, go hang out with the grandkids, know, go sit on the front porch and rock in a rocking chair like a southerner's love to do, do something other than sit in DC for another two years. You know, ⁓ it's also suspicious. He started a contracting business when he was young, but ⁓ when he got into politics at Transferred Ownership, not sold, Transferred Ownership, his wife is the owner, his son runs it, and it's a multi-million dollar company with locations across the southeast, ⁓ who also just Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Bri Woodson: recently signed a contracting deal for like $21 million for Hanger in the Augusta airport. And you you look at his voting history on things like defunding OSHA. I wonder why someone with a family owning a huge contracting business would benefit from defunding OSHA. Hmm. It's like, do they think that their voting history isn't public? They know it is, but they know people aren't paying attention. But how, how are you? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah Bri Woodson: I'm paying attention. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You know what, that's a really good point. ⁓ Or a really good point, whatever. ⁓ When people say checking their voting records and their voting records are public, how can people follow up on that? Bri Woodson: Yeah, there's a few different ways. There's tons of different websites. ⁓ I like congressfordummies.com, like, you know, like the For Dummies books, Congress For Dummies is a good one. ⁓ They do a lot of charts and a lot of simple ways to look at what your representative is doing and how they're moving. ⁓ One recently that I've found is freedomindex.us. ⁓ They are right leaning, however, the data is still decent. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Bri Woodson: They do a really, really good job of breaking down what your elected official has been voting on by category. So for example, if I pull up Rick Allen's profile on freedomindex.us, it'll tell me all the Congress he's been in. that like we're in the 119th. So, know, do the math, he's been there for 10 years, been in quite a few. So it'll show, you can pull down a list of each congressional year that he's voted in, the percentage of votes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Ahem. Yeah. Bri Woodson: where he's voted, the categories, things like ⁓ education, things like Medicaid, they all have it parsed out. So that's a really good resource as well. But I don't really like promoting Google because Google I think is compromised right now. ⁓ DuckDuckGo is a good resource. So look up your representative's name and look up the words roll call. So like Rick Allen, voter roll call, vote roll call. And it should pull up. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Hmm. Bri Woodson: the last votes that he's made. And there are resources on saying the lifetime voting history as well. So that is one of the major things that I think is really important. And freedomindex.us is also good about putting the actual dollar amount of how much it has cost or benefited the constituents. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): See, I think it's important for folks because we can't really trust the government. Bri Woodson: suspicious who did she say that? guess we're hanging out. Are you back? I can't hear you. I can't hear you. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Okay, sorry about that. My mic is old and... Bri Woodson: You're fine. You know, it's so suspicious. So suspicious as soon as you say you can't trust the government, shuts down. ⁓ Big Brother is always listening. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hahaha ⁓ I'm telling you, no, my mic is so old. This mic is like 20, 25 years old. And every once in a while when I move it, it unplugs. Bri Woodson: ⁓ no. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, that might've been it. I was like, oh, I can buy a new mic. And I'm like, no, this one, can stick with this one. And now I'm like, nah, we gotta get a new mic. can't, is not the first time. Bri Woodson: It might be time, It might be time. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): ⁓ I think it's important for just normal people to be able to take a look at facts and where they can find the facts because the government and certain administrations, one of them that is currently operating, is proving to us that we cannot take their word for it. Bri Woodson: ⁓ yeah, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And so we need the tools to be able to follow up with them and hold their feet to the fire. You said you were going to fix this. Why does your voting record continue to show that you are voting against it? Bri Woodson: Like if I see Cory Booker post one more video talking about, got to do something, sir, you are Congress. You have to do something. Like, you know, in hot cube Jeffries, you know, don't even get me started. You he loves going on the internet talking about, yeah, Trump's gotta go, screw that guy. But you vote for him to stay exactly where he is every chance you get. Like, so it's, we need to hold them accountable. And you're right, finding the right sources to do that. And you know, like I said, I don't. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, we gave you the keys. Don't get me started on him. Right. Bri Woodson: Trust Google like I used to, so duck.go. And look at international news sources. If you want actual ears on what's going on in Iran, suggest Al Jazeera. They do minute by minute updates. Don't rely on us. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. They have Al ⁓ Jazeera English on YouTube. Go and check it out. even if, because I know, I know, people are going to Al Jazeera, that's blah blah blah blah. Listen. Bri Woodson: Mm-hmm. Yep. you Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): When your enemies are talking about you behind your back, you want to know what the hell they're saying. Bri Woodson: Correct. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. And you know, like I said, they do provide minute by minute updates in a way that a lot of sources here are not doing. So again, if you want to actually know what's going on internationally, you have to look at international sources. We aren't getting the truth here. I always tell people Miss American Propaganda. Can I curse on here? Okay. Always tell people Miss American Propaganda is the hardest working bitch I know. She is the hardest working bitch I know. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): It doesn't get any harder than that. Mm hmm. Right. Mm-hmm. No days off. Bri Woodson: No days off, she works 25-8. She is always working. She is putting in overtime hours. My girl is putting in work. But, know, and that's by design. That's part of the reason that goes right back to the conversation about a lack of education. It's American propaganda. You have companies like the Daughters of the Confederacy who literally are responsible for pushing out the textbook that miseducated people like Trump and his parents. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Bri Woodson: And then you have the moms of Liberty who just took that torch and carried it on. Being miseducated and anti-intellectual is just as on brand as being American as apple pie. And that's so unfortunate, but that's the truth. And you you see attacks on history. ⁓ You see attacks on certain parts of museums, namely black history. Quote, history that makes America look bad. Well, news flash. The history y'all made it right. If the history that you're consuming is only fluffy, feel good history. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Y'all made America look bad. Bri Woodson: It ain't history. It's a fantasy movie. It's not real, right? It's just not real. And this whole idea is so dangerous about we can only consume things that make America look good when America needs to be held accountable just like any other place is how you get this crazy call to nationalism that you see there's a reason for this, which is also again, by design, American propaganda. This goes into Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right, right. Bri Woodson: endless loops and circles that all end up back to the same place, which is the miseducation of a population. I'm a direct descendant of Carter G. Woodson, who is the father of Black history. And his most popular work was the Miseducation of the Negro. And it is literally about how America on purpose miseducated the Negro into thinking that they were less than and to thinking that they could not compare to the white man and how that was used collectively on a group people to keep us stagnant. And you'd look at that, take that from the micro and put it to the macro of American society, that same kind of idea. And you look at it, a population that is uneducated is a population controlled. You see it in full effect right now. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right, right. They have a bunch of folks convinced that it's okay to be out here at a fifth and sixth grade reading level. And it's not, y'all, it is not. You have to like reading and learning about history and just learning about things in general is just so beneficial. Bri Woodson: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): and traveling and experiencing and get out from whatever weird little bubble you have going on. Bri Woodson: Say, baby, I need you to leave West Virginia. I need you to get out of the holler. Please. Please, you don't have to leave forever. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Please, please come hang out with me so I can show you that all brown kids are not bad. We're gonna have a great time. Bri Woodson: And that's right there. That is the difference between miseducation and education is tolerance. Tolerance breeds education because it's like education breeds tolerance and vice versa because what we see is rooted in fear. I'm a therapist in residency, so I talk a lot about things from a clinical perspective and ⁓ I do a lot of work from the neuroscience perspective. ⁓ So when we're talking about how the brain functions, the amygdala controls your fear outputs. And studies have actually shown conservative right-leaning people, MAGA, have an overactive amygdala because people like Fox News prey on their fears. And if they were actually educated and had experience and exposure, they would be more tolerant because they would understand that they have nothing to be scared of. So they are actively being honestly brainwashed with fear and their brains are overworking. always constantly in fear like ⁓ my gosh you're gonna you're taking over they're gonna hurt us and they're just like who told you that right right like like you know one of the most common things i hear is they're just walking all over talking spanish okay Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but hey, me break something down for you guys. I'm originally from Chicago. We speak English there. I have gone to the South. I don't know what you guys, I don't know what you guys speak. I don't understand whatever the hell it is that you guys are saying. So should we kick you out of the country? Bri Woodson: Are you okay? Why is that scary to you? We don't speak English. And you know, that's a great point because you look at especially places like Louisiana, there are people who were born in the swamps of Louisiana who speak Cajun Creole before they ever speak English. like, don't know what they, this, I know people that have never left Appalachia. They don't speak the same English as me and you, I promise you. I promise you. So this whole argument about who speaks English and I can't understand them is just nonsense. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah! Like what? Yeah. Bri Woodson: It's just, I wish that we were just more comfortable and further along as a society. Baby, if you want to just say you just don't like people of color, just say that. It's a lot less words. It's a lot less words. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Please. Yeah. Yeah. And listen, if you don't want me there, I don't want to be there. Bri Woodson: Right, right, exactly. Like I'm not. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): unless it's a place where I want to be and then you got to push. Yeah, get out of here with that. Bri Woodson: Right, exactly, and then you just have to deal with it. But it's this fragmenting of society based off of who is perceived as dangerous is again a propagandized tool. Because if we actually look at the FBI stats of who's dangerous, it's not anybody who looks like me or you, and I'll just leave it at that. I mean, look at the EAST files. Who's in there the most? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hello. Yeah, exactly. Bri Woodson: You Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hey, let's say like this, powerful people that do not have your best interest in mind. Bri Woodson: I don't know why, I hope no one takes offense at this, but if you do, maybe it'll wake you up. But you have six teeth, people with six teeth defending people with six yachts. It'll never make sense. It will just... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): 16th and four of them in there in the pocket. Bri Woodson: People just never make sense. And it's just a basic of logic. Even to our local congressmen, the average salary for congress is sitting at $174,000 a year. Our congressmen get paid $174,000. And that doesn't include any kind of bundlers they get. It doesn't include any of that. So it's like you add on my incumbent who has a multi-million dollar family contracting business on top of that. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hahahaha Bri Woodson: Do you think that man even knows how much eggs or milk costs in a grocery store, let alone the actual struggles of what you're going through? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): or even cares, even if he did, do you think he cares? Do you think he cares that you can afford it? Him and his family are getting their bags. Bri Woodson: Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. So it's like, you know, we need to do a better job of electing people that represent the actual community, the actual marginalized, because there are more marginalized and there are comfortable people in this country. And that is that it's obvious. And we need to stop voting for people that further that gap. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Right. And stop falling for that trickle down trick. It's a trick. That's the only thing it is. Bri Woodson: The only trickle-down effect that actually works is when we flip it and we take care of the most marginalized. So if the weakest of us, or the sickest of us, the poorest of us are taken care of, the rest of us will be. That's the only one that would actually work. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, that's how it works. ⁓ If you have a consumer-based economy, you need as many consumers as possible. And stop letting people tell you what you're allowed. Go get your bag. Demand your representatives, demand the people that are in charge to do what it takes to make you successful. Give you all the tools to become successful. Bri Woodson: Mm-hmm. One more time. Mm-hmm. Right, because, you know, Rick Allen recently voted to defund OSHA. But Georgia is still one of the lowest paying states in the country. If we did not have the federal rate of $7.25, Georgia's minimum wage is $5.15. We don't even have a state minimum wage. We still rely on $7.25 an hour as a baseline for minimum wage here. And if it weren't for that, people will be getting paid $5.15 an hour in this state. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Sweet baby Jesus. Bri Woodson: But we're defending OSHA. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Let's talk about your educational background. You said that you're, go ahead and give us the rundown of why you're so intelligent and well-spoken and you have way more than six teeth. Bri Woodson: Yeah, so. I read too much. I do, have all of mine actually. And they're all mine. I grew them myself. But so I have a bachelor's of science in human resources. I am wrapping up my master's in clinical mental health counseling. Only thing I have left to do is take my licensing exam for my associate license. So I work in substance use space. So yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You Bri Woodson: always been very education focused. My family put a lot of stock into making sure my sister and I were well educated. ⁓ I grew up in private schools, I grew up homeschooled, so. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Awesome. It makes a difference. It makes a difference. me, yeah, let me explain to folks that might be watching this video. I come from Chicago Public Schools. I can show you a video where there's a young lady talking about how probably, I think this video is from like right around the early 2000s, but. Bri Woodson: Yeah, it helps. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): The young lady was talking about how they didn't have enough money for a librarian. So they closed the library down in my old high school. Now through my career, one of the stops was at a high school in the rich kid neighborhood. They had computers in every class. They had these huge computer lab, five computer labs that I was supervising that night and all this stuff. You can't tell me. Bri Woodson: Hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): that the education system doesn't need help, especially if you're going to public schools. Bri Woodson: No, it's, I am so staunchly for pushing education and how education looks for each individual is different. Like I'm not one of those people just because I have eight letters behind my last name doesn't mean everybody else needs to. I would never just blindly push college across everyone because we saw how that happened. And it's not, it's not the thing, but, you know, opportunities for education should be pushed. Like we need more. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right, this is not for everybody. Bri Woodson: trade schools, need more internship opportunities, we need more paid internship opportunities, paid apprenticeship opportunities. You know, I am not one of those people who thinks that I don't have privilege. I know I might not have privilege in other aspects like hello, but I do have privilege when you talk about education. Oh yeah, 100 % that's not lost on me. It is not lost on me that I was exposed to things that very many people will... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Bri Woodson: never in their entire life as far as education goes and that's not loss. I mean that's a privilege and education is not something that should be only for a certain tax bracket only for a certain person a certain state like it should be everyone everyone should be accessible to education and so it it really really bothers me to see this attack on education because like you said there are schools that are shutting down schools that don't even have libraries and you know I was one of those kids, I was reading at a college level in the second grade, which is why I process the way I do now, but I have access to certain things. And if people don't have access to it, they will stay stagnant. We will remain grossly and largely uneducated. We have to do something about it. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. And the connection to the knowledge, I think, is a purposeful blockade. The powers that be block us from having all of this information that where we can learn because they can control the situation better. They might not be, in different situations, they might not be. directly affecting you and trying to control you, but they're definitely controlling your ability to get to information. You know? And if they can tell you, they can say America's the best, we're the smartest and the richest country, meanwhile we have so many homeless and so many hungry, so many sick, so many struggling. And you're seeing it with your, you're seeing it with your eyes. Bri Woodson: Exactly, exactly. Thank Mm-hmm. Yeah, I mean... ⁓ yeah, know, walking around DC. You know, I was just in DC this past weekend for an event and leaving a restaurant, man sleeping in the cold and the rain. it's like, we are supposed to be the greatest country on earth in my nation's capital. Why are people sleeping on the street hungry? You know, it's just, it makes zero sense. You know, we love talking about other third world countries and I'm like... Do you think we're not one? Just because we got some pretty roads? ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, we got a country. We got third world country like towns and cities around here. Areas. Bri Woodson: ⁓ yeah, I you look at that place, I think it's somewhere in PA, Kensington. Have you seen Kensington, PA? People are doing the Finney Lean on the street. You cannot walk down a street in Kensington, PA without seeing groups of people that are in active addiction. But you know, that's also something the administration cut to. Studies for substance use. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): See, but then they talk about San Francisco because this is a heavily blue area. And yeah, we have junkies and stuff like that, but at least I don't know if Kensington has robots that goes around cleaning up the streets after people doing whatever they're doing. I don't know if they have that in Kensington, but we have that in San Francisco, but then they're going to be talking trash about San Francisco. Right? Bri Woodson: Definitely not. Definitely not. Mm-hmm. Yeah, and you know, it's like... As a substance use therapist, I can see how much substance using is going on in the administration. I literally see it with my own eyes and it is, the stigma that is around that and offering this demographic of people in our country help. Meanwhile, if you have a certain tax bracket, it's acceptable because you can put your substance in a fancy gold container. It's the same substance. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hmm. Hmm. Yep, it's the same substance. Bri Woodson: I'm talking about you, HennyHegsF. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hehehehehe Bri Woodson: You Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): and all them Trump boys, especially the oldest one that man he is strung out. Bri Woodson: They rub their gums in interviews and like in public spaces. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, like boy, why are your teeth so itchy? Bri Woodson: Mr. Rubio, that's- that's- this one's for you too! Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): hahahaha Bri Woodson: I have an eight week substance use guy, hit me up sirs if you need me. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): For real. Yeah, it's time to send you to office. Cause yeah, we got some therapy to get to. Bri Woodson: We do. And that's another part of huge part of my campaign is mental health. We have the worst rates of mental health, some of the worst. Like it's insane. It's absolutely insane. But I will say it's one of the last things on the Hill that actually is bipartisan. It's something that both sides are seeing, which I'm thankful for. I wish we were more honest about the mental health needs of the current administration, but whatever. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): We... He's proof that we need the facilities back. Bri Woodson: Something is wrong. Something is so wrong. But you know, it's the cuts that we're seeing in these policies, in the budgets and the funding, they directly affect so many of our American people. And it just drives this whole entire narrative that the only people worthy of care are people who can pay for it and that's just horseshit. It was just horseshit. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I look at it like this. If I go into whatever town, whatever, and I see there's junkies there and I see that, ⁓ that it's just not flowing as properly, you know, like the, the, the, people that live there just aren't motivated, whatever the case, whatever. you have to take a look at. fixing the environment So when you go into those areas, it's not that bad right, I can take you to West Side, I can take you to West Side of Chicago and and show you some Wild things I can take you into San Francisco into some of the areas there but sitting and complaining about it and pointing your finger at the people it's obviously need help and if you want to make Bri Woodson: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Harm reduction. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): If you want to make things better, who was it? ⁓ Caitlyn Jenner was complaining about the homeless people when she was driving to the airport, but yet you don't want to fit, all you do is complain. Bri Woodson: You have enough money to fix it. Yeah. And it's just, I couldn't imagine, and I think our politics, so many of our elected politicians have this problem too, is looking at a certain demographic of people and looking at them as a problem instead of an opportunity to help. It's wild. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): All you do is complain. Right. Knowing that if you pick up that community, that community is only going to benefit ⁓ the ⁓ economy. Thank you. If you fix that area, they're going to help the economy. Anyone with a little bit extra money, they're going to want to open up a restaurant. They're going to want to open up a store. They're going to want to open up a grocery store. They're going to want to open up anything, but they just don't have the resources. And now you can't go into that. Now you can't go into that part of town because it's dangerous. Bri Woodson: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And that's... Right, exactly. that's part of, ⁓ you know, one of my concerns about my district is it's made up of a lot of rural areas and rural areas end up not getting the attention and support that they need because people leave them because opportunity is not being established there. Right. And that goes on into the conversation of what are we doing to help communities in need? How are we incentivizing small businesses to stay exactly where they are? How are we helping those immediate community needs? Because rural areas tend to have a Lots of substance use, lots of drinking, people are not well. Poverty is a direct pipeline to substance use. 100%. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): 100%. I don't want to live in this reality. It's hard. It sucks. I don't have any opportunities. I don't have a library. I don't have internet. I don't have a phone. I can't pay all these things. Of course I'm going to do drugs because why not? Bri Woodson: and Right. And the infamous words of Tupac, got money for wars, we can't feed the poor. It's insane. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): telling you. ⁓ What's so what's going on in Georgia 12? What are some of the big concerns that you want to address specifically for Georgia 12? Bri Woodson: Yeah, I just want to make sure the rural counties in the district are getting what they need. ⁓ It's interesting just driving through the district and the rural communities and just seeing how much actual space there is for opportunity and growth, but just a lack of attention, right? Food deserts are a personal interest of mine. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Bri Woodson: wellness overall human wellness is direct it's just as important as your mental your physical is what you consume and we are a country full of dyed food fried food fake food and then you have these pockets all over the district that can't even access good food you know i've lived in a food desert before i've lived in a place where it took me a 30 mile drive one way just to get to a grocery store and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yeah Bri Woodson: is a damage to the community. You know, have so many people who, what about our elderly who can't get there? What about the poor who can't even pay for the groceries once they do get there? And so a lot of the concern for me in the district is how are rural communities being supported because I look at things from the outside in, if we support those rural communities, obviously our bigger city is like Augusta, Richmond County, know, Statesboro where the colleges are. They have more support because of what they are, right? And so if we look at it from the inside in, I think there's so much focus on those bigger areas because they're the hubs that the smaller areas aren't being talked about enough. So that's my one of my main focuses. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yeah, rural folks. I love them because they are connected to nature. You know what I'm Yeah, yeah, me too. I live in rural California. I live in wine country. And these folks, it's farmers and ⁓ the folks that help the farmers. Bri Woodson: ⁓ yeah, I love living in rural Georgia. It's my favorite. Yes, we need them. There's such the backbone of America where we're often so, so. ⁓ They're forgotten. like, don't think, we don't talk about the farmers enough anymore and how we actually do need them. We are such a fast paced consumer society that we're generally not paying attention to the lines of where things come from, to how we get here. You know what I mean? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Right, right, right. And these are the folks that are doing important work. They're growing your food. And if it's not necessary, and I understand, ⁓ we grow soybeans here. Yes, I understand. But those soybeans go to market, they make money, we trade to get more food and all the things, right? Bri Woodson: Mm-hmm. Yes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And not just that, but farmers are helping us understand what we're doing to the climate as well and to our soil, depleting soil. Yes. Bri Woodson: Yeah, we need to listen to the farmers. Yes, listen to the farmers because if you actually look at how farmers vote, it's not how most people would assume. It's not. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, they're, they're more environmentalist than you think. Bri Woodson: It's just not. They have to be. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): They have to be, they are connected to nature. They are directly connected to nature. Bri Woodson: And you see the current administration is not helping our farmers. It's like they have zero respect for it, especially our beef farmers. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): No. Let's talk about that because this is fun. ⁓ Did you see how a lot of farmers are losing their farms in middle America and JD Vance, the vice president, JD Vance has stock or ownership in some one of these Airbnb for farmer things? Bri Woodson: Acre Trader, Acre Trader, is also also also ⁓ What is that man's name? Peter teal also has Has invested in acre trader and acre trader has been tracked to buying up a lot of these farms that we're seeing Bankrupted under this current administration. Why are we land grabbing so hard? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Mm-hmm. Bri Woodson: I'm curious to know why we land grabbing like this. No. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And this isn't new, because ⁓ boy, ⁓ Microsoft. ⁓ Yeah, in the e-files. He's been doing this too. He's been land grabbing too. He's just been secretive about Bri Woodson: Bill Gates. Mm-hmm. I used to live in Hawaii, lived on island of Kauai, and the amount of, it's so pretty, the amount of land Facebook boy has though. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): ⁓ I love koi. Right. Between him and Oprah, it's a wrap. Bri Woodson: Sucker bird. Like, he damned their own's all at North Shore. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Old dog. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Ha Bri Woodson: Teddy, come here. Get out of there. He's grumpy. He's 14. He's a grumpy boy. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Bri Woodson: He's just my grumpy boy. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, I got to. What kind of dog is your dog? Bri Woodson: I have an Australian Shepherd Blue Healer, I have a Rody Mix, and a Lab Chow. Yeah, big dogs. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Beautiful. Beautiful. Nice. Yeah. I have two Havanese. They're about 15 pounds a piece. I'll be walking in the neighborhood, my big ass and my two little dogs. People are like, ⁓ careful. They're going to come get you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They are. That's where I am in my life. I'm at the speed of a Havanese. Bri Woodson: They're so cute. I love abanese. No, I like my big dogs. Haventies are really cute though. Colleen. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I'm feisty, but it takes me a minute to get there. Bri Woodson: That's fair. That's very fair. That is very, very fair. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Was there one specific thing that ⁓ triggered your run for Congress? Bri Woodson: Yeah, yes and no, think just seeing what happened with Hyundai plant definitely was a catalyst, but beyond that, it's just a series of moments and just paying attention to what the administration was doing and just Congress is quiet, Congress is asleep, it seems. And it wasn't enough for me to just keep creating content. I needed something more tangible. I needed to get my boots on the ground, if you will. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Bri Woodson: So that was that was pretty much it. Just like this feeling like I can't of course, I'm going to keep making my videos and informing people, but it also just wasn't enough for me personally. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. So then once you get the seat and you're in there, like, what do you expect? Are you going to keep doing the social media stuff? What's your, like, what do you, what do you, what are you expecting to, to, to happen once you get into, into office? Bri Woodson: I don't know how that looks. I don't know how that looks. ⁓ I do think there would be some sort of expectation for me to continue on because transparency has been such a huge part of this. And I don't think there's ever been a member of Congress that creates content. But I think AOC and Crockett might be the closest ones. ⁓ So I'd be curious too to see how that looks. haven't. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): ALC might be the closest one. ⁓ yeah, Jasmine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bri Woodson: made a complete plan. It's not a yay or nay yet, but we'll see. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Cause I can see where that's beneficial. And I, I understand that you're going to be under, you know, different restrictions with your secret, whatever. so I know that you're not going to be able to come out here and be like, ⁓ my God. We gotta get ready because I ran is gonna blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I know you can't just come out running into the streets saying that stuff, but ⁓ I think it's helpful to maintain that relationship with folks, you know? Yeah. Bri Woodson: No, no, no. ⁓ yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I take it very seriously that so many people look to me as a resource and ask someone who is going to speak up and speak honestly about what's going on. So I don't take that lightly whatsoever. Whatsoever. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. What was it like growing up in Atlanta for you? Because I was telling you, I was telling you earlier, like I've gone on this run with interviews from people from Atlanta and it feels like there's a magic something that's happening there and it's not magic city. Bri Woodson: Well, actually... Well, Georgia is just different. mean, people don't realize you don't get to the White House without running through Georgia first. Like you just don't. There's no such reality. ⁓ But as far as growing up, actually grew up in Alpharetta, Georgia. ⁓ And that was actually Senator Ossoff's. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Bri Woodson: first position. He was my representative, one of the first people I ever voted for and I finally got to meet him a few weeks ago. He was my congressman. So I grew up in Alpharetta, Georgia, which is one of the wealthier suburbs just outside of Atlanta. And when I got older, I moved away to Colorado for a few years, moved to Hawaii for year. Then I moved to Atlanta for about a year and a half and then relocated to North Georgia-ish area. And I've been there, I've been around this area since. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Bri Woodson: I love growing up in Georgia in general. Just there is so much diversity, so much opportunity. ⁓ So many beautiful people and cultures just are celebrated here. It's a beautiful place to be. I love Georgia. I mean, I love Hawaii to come back to Georgia, so obviously. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I mean, I mean, I was going to tell you, was going to, this is what's funny. I was going to say, yeah, but the humidity there. And then you're like, and I lived in Hawaii. was like, ⁓ you know, you're fine. Bri Woodson: I mean... It's Ralph. ⁓ yeah. ⁓ yeah. ⁓ yeah. I'm used to really warm, humid weather. I'm not a stranger to it. Yeah. Like yesterday it was almost 80 degrees already and it's March. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): moist. How better than Yeah, here it was 74. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, the past couple of weeks here have been beautiful. But when we get our rainy season, man, it rains for like three months almost straight. Yeah, and you're just like, please, I just want to go for a walk. Bri Woodson: ⁓ that's nice, that's perfect weather. It's perfect. Oof, that's brutal. Let's watch some sunshine. ⁓ I bet. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): the Havanese started getting rowdy. I'm like, ⁓ you need exercise, please stop raining. Bri Woodson: I bet. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's cool though. ⁓ Atlanta. And then I know that Atlanta specifically, well no, Georgia made a big move on making movies and TV series and stuff like that. Your creativity out there has just like, it has made a positive ⁓ dent in the movie industry. Bri Woodson: Hmm. We lost Marvel. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): ⁓ well, there's that. Yeah. Bri Woodson: Yeah, Marvel left Georgia. Yeah, you know, we had Marvel, but because of the current administration's tariffs and changes and the economy, they got a better deal in the UK, so they packed up and left a few months ago. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Boi ⁓ Bri Woodson: Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And this is the guy that was running on being a businessman. Bri Woodson: America first, Yeah, America first. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): America first. And that's not just like, do you know that radio flyer, the wagons, they're not made here anymore? And that was an American company. Harley Davidson is made, I think in China somewhere now. Bri Woodson: Not Harley. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, Harley's Harley is not made in in Milwaukee anymore. If they do, they might make three of But yeah, what other kind of industry is out there besides peaches? know, Justin Bieber told me about that. Bri Woodson: We actually, Florida actually has more peaches than we do. It's just our fruit. They have more peaches. ⁓ Cotton's still big out here. Yeah. Like, you know, it's not king anymore like it was back in the day, but the cotton industry didn't go anywhere. We still have cotton fields all over the place. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. You guys picked up. Yeah. You know, it's wild. I was driving. I've driven around the entire United States two, three times over. ⁓ And driving through, I think it was Texas. I was driving through ⁓ cotton farms, the roads of a cotton farms. And it looks like a damn blizzard when the wind is blowing and all the cotton is running through the streets. Bri Woodson: ⁓ Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You're like, what in the hell is happening? Bri Woodson: Mm-hmm. Yeah, Connor's never left the cell. Never left the cell. It's still here. Just a lot more quiet, you know, it's a lot more quiet when people aren't picking you for you. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Do they have machines and stuff or do they still have like people running around? Yeah. Huh. See? Like, and that's another day. And I'm not even gonna joke around about that, but technology is taking jobs at rapid pace. And all these data centers that are going in everywhere, you guys, this AI thing is... ⁓ Bri Woodson: They use machines. ⁓ yeah. And the thing is, the thing is that people don't realize those data centers are, you know, I've heard some of the conservative right-wing argument be, ⁓ the data centers are gonna bring jobs. No, they don't. Like a million square foot data center facility will bring you like 20, 30 jobs. Per million square feet, you only get 20 jobs? That's crazy. That's not bringing jobs. Exactly, that's not bringing jobs anywhere. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): They don't. The three jobs that it's... Yeah. Right. And you're killing thousands of jobs. Yeah. And I wouldn't even care. This is a perfect situation to explain to people why you need to ⁓ invest in education and healthcare and all that stuff. Jobs are leaving, so you need healthcare because there are no jobs. The only reason I have healthcare is because I go to the VA. Bri Woodson: Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): So now you're gonna have, let's just say they figure out how to cool all of these processors down and they're not gonna use up all the fresh water. That's a thing. Let's say that they figure that out. Let's say that they figured everything out. All these jobs are still leaving. Bri Woodson: Exactly. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): So why wouldn't you expect your government to invest in education so you can learn a new trade or something new that you can do? Bri Woodson: need Exactly. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): But no, but no, there's so many people. According to the election, half the people think that you should pull yourself up by the bootstraps even though you don't have anything. Bri Woodson: And then the people who say that damn phrase the most don't even realize that historically it was meant to make fun of the people who say that because if you physically try to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, it's impossible. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You fall. Yeah. I mean, if you try really hard, you will fall. Otherwise you don't move. You don't move. It's physics impossibility. You know what I'm saying? So it's wild. And I have a cousin who is, believe it or not, I have a cousin who's like hardcore maga. My guy is Bri Woodson: You fall. That's the hole. You know what? You said physics, that requires school, so... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Cuban AF and he's MAGA. And he thinks that, he thinks that, you know, I've worked in Silicon Valley and now all these jobs are, all these jobs have been going overseas. So I hung in for as long as I could. And now he's sharing videos and links to things that say, ⁓ look at all these tech. Bri Woodson: Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): white collar people and blah blah blah and they don't they're losing their jobs meanwhile all us blue collar guys who are builders and doing all this stuff i said number one you don't think i can come take your job Because not only am I going to build porches and do dumb shit, but I'm also going to help your boss run his company. So I can come and take your job. Bri Woodson: I can indeed, yes. But people, I often get that threat too. They tell me, especially Maga comments on my video, ⁓ your job is easily had. You go out and get a clinical degree and you let me know how that goes for you. You let me know who's gonna replace me. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Secondly, Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Go to school. There's your first challenge is go to school. Bri Woodson: Let know how that master's works out for you. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And then the second thing I tell them is, know, in San Francisco, we have robots that clean the streets. We have robots that, that it's not Uber anymore. It's a robot. And I can show you where Elon and all these knuckleheads are, are working on machines that will build houses. So they're coming for your job too, smarty. Yeah. And the difference is. Bri Woodson: Yes. ⁓ yeah. Yeah. Yeah, 100%. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I love education. I love learning. And I'm going to continue to learn. You're going to complain. You're going to complain and you're going to bitch about all these people who are stealing your jobs. Bri Woodson: ⁓ yeah, I'm not done after this. I'm gonna go to law school. Yeah. Well, that's part of, know, when I go into live spaces and I talk to MAGA, one of the things that I often hear is that they're upset that someone's taking their job. But I'm like... I literally had someone tell me, I would rather just get brown people out because I'm not planning on working harder than I'm already working just because they are. It's like, ⁓ so you want to rest? So you want to rest in mediocrity instead of learning, educating, and getting better at your job. You want to kick people out so that you can be lazy. Got it. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Ha Yeah, because they're ruining your curve, your bell curve. Come on, son. Bri Woodson: Got it. You got it. Got it, got it, got it. Is that not wild? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): When I tell you people vote against their own self-interest, these are the things. Like, I love talking to you guys because I get to explain things and I get to ask you guys to explain things. And I make sure that certain people get certain clips. Because you guys need to learn. Bri Woodson: Hahaha Yeah, it's just the general lack of awareness that is pushed because of propaganda and miseducation and anti-intellectualism is something that we're going to actually spend years and years unraveling. Yeah, I mean, we're going to have to put in so much work to counteract this because it's just the basics of like, why do you take everything that your government says at face value? I was just at City Hall Monday night and, you know, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah, not to mention. Yeah. Bri Woodson: The Macca people showed up and we're talking about a potential detention facility here. ⁓ The majority of us don't want that here, but you know, the few people that did show up talked about how dangerous the streets were and they talked about how jobs and how Biden lit 30 million illegals in. like. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): you Bri Woodson: Who taught you how to research something? Did you just go on your Facebook news and then, like, and you took that as fact without, like, who told you that? Because it's categorically not true. It's just not, you know? And it's so hard even having these conversations with combating it, because when you do have these conversations, it's just a push back, ⁓ you just hate Trump, or you just hate MAGA. It's like, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): you Someone sent you a meme. Bri Woodson: I mean, yeah, but that's Masad's point. The information's not true. It's just not the truth. And so you have all these people developing wild opinions and political ideologies based off of entire lies and misinformation. And it's just, it's exhausting. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Yeah. Bri Woodson: It's exhausting. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And again, like going back to the point that you said was, I don't want to work harder than I need to. And that's like gathering information and dissecting all the bullshit that's coming out of Washington. Because let me tell you, this administration has installed PTSD into this country that we're not going to be able to shake anytime soon. Bri Woodson: Mm-hmm. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Cause I don't know about you, but I don't trust government right now. As a brown person watching people that look like me getting jacked up and then you guys are shooting nice white ladies in the middle of the street. Bri Woodson: ⁓ no, I mean, and to be honest, we should have. ⁓ yeah! Listen, I told people once, oh, we're shooting white people in the face now? We're in trouble. Like, we are in trouble, trouble. And people were like, huh? And I said, did you hear what I said? They're killing white people in the streets in front of everybody, like they would kill me or you. We're in trouble. We're in trouble. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): We in trouble trouble. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then again, I remind people I'm from Chicago. I grew up watching police beating up black and brown people. Bri Woodson: My husband is from Tinley Park, so... Yeah. Yup. Yup yup Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): ⁓ cool. Yeah. Awesome. That's a nice area. Yeah. And just the PTSD alone is We, again, we have to get past this. We have to get past this and remember how we felt after 9-11. Remember? Everyone was holding hands and everyone, people in New York were friendly as shit. Like. Bri Woodson: Thank Nice for once. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah. And like Americans had a little bit more grace and a little bit more patience for each other. Bri Woodson: Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And now you guys let this gorilla come in here and ruin all of it. Bri Woodson: You know, it's I watched a video of a man pretending to be he was just Maga pretending to be ice and walking to restaurant and Put a brown man in a choke hold talking about I'm arresting you He wasn't he wasn't law enforcement of any kind Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): He wasn't security guard, nothing. just, citizen's arrest. Like if you don't get your ass off me. Bri Woodson: Like, are we okay? Not badged of any kind. Citizen literal, like, just insanity. And this is what the administration has brought on. This is what people are thinking is normal and acceptable. Hello? And you know, it's the amount of, I'm gonna all the conservative, MAGA, right leaning people about these damn guns, right? Y'all will walk around Georgia with a gun on your damn hip. But as soon as words Alex Prady comes out as someone that, ⁓ he shouldn't have brought his gun. Which one is it? You believe in your 2A rights or do you not? Which one? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): right. Or did you see the video where it was Carlos Alvarez-Aranhos? He's a bit of a rabble-roser. He's been on the channel. Bri Woodson: Yeah, I'm aware. I'm familiar with curls. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, he's energetic. And he's walking with, I want to say Black Panther, but my guy had like a full machine gun and he had the magazines on the side walking next to Carlos, right? And then everybody had an issue that he was in an open carry state and he was open carrying. Bri Woodson: To say the least. Mm-hmm. Well, they want... This is only allowed to open, Carrie. I'm not... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): So if you have a little lago? Bri Woodson: But that's how it's always collectively been though. Even like the Black Panthers historically were some of the first people, one of the first groups to actually say, hey, no, we have 2A rights and we're going to express them. It has always been a problem when Black people have expressed their 2A rights and the Black Panthers proved it back then and they proved it. Because I did see that video. They proved it again. It's never about the 2A rights. It's about who has them. It's about who. And because, mean, honestly, who's been the most irresponsible with them? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): yet again. them. Yep. Yep. And that goes for Bri Woodson: in the history of this country. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And that goes for everything. Everyone can have a gun until black and brown people get it. Everyone can have an education until black and brown people get it. Everyone can have a house until black and brown people get it. Bri Woodson: I mean, you look at the history of ⁓ social networks and social services, social programs in this country, we had them. We had free education, we had free stuff, we had free all stuff. But up until the Civil Rights Act, when black and brown people could get access to stuff, that's when was like, ⁓ no, free nothing. Like they were willing to bite their own foot. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, well you guys are welfare queens. But wait, for hundreds of years you've been doing the same thing. Hundreds. Bri Woodson: And know, statistics show that the majority of people welfare are white women. ⁓ So... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): with baby daddies that probably have other kids over there. Bri Woodson: But, welfare queen. It's just, it's, that is the danger of propaganda, you know? That's the danger of propaganda. And that's why we see the same damn conversation in this country over and over and over and over and over and over. ⁓ black people are violent. Black, ⁓ black crime. Welfare queen. When it's like, the only reason those stereotypes exist is because the mirror was on y'all and you wanted to turn it around. That's the only reason why. Because crime happens, it doesn't happen in vacuum, but interpersonal crime happens in a vacuum. Race on race crime is all it is is community crime because black people live amongst black people, white people live amongst white people, brown people live amongst brown people, Asian folks live amongst Asian folks. So obviously the statistics are going to relay that. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): What's up? Yeah. Right. Right. Right. It's not going to be black on white. You guys don't let us into those neighborhoods. Bri Woodson: Exactly! it's just like the lack of the lack of ability for even our politicians because there are plenty of politicians who push these narratives too. For for people to be so collectively irresponsible with data and just genuinely not know is propaganda in the machine and it keeps collective marginalized groups down. When we can push stereotypes it keeps us down because uneducated politicians exist. I don't know how many times I've heard politicians talk about welfare queen and who is actually getting benefits. And it's like, why are you coming for us? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Meanwhile, yeah, meanwhile, the president, his head start program was a 10 million dollar loan from his dad or gift or whatever the hell it was. Bri Woodson: And you know, with Trump, I don't ever want to hear anything about it. mean, the man loves gold and light things. has several baby mothers. He lives in government housing. He's... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hahaha Bri Woodson: The man's ghetto, he's a hood rat. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You got me weak with that one. ⁓ boy. You just gave me a whole new bullet to put in the chamber. That was... Bri Woodson: I'm serious, he several baby mothers, loves golden late everything, he lives in government housing. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Bri Woodson: Sounds to me I know who the real welfare queen is. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): ⁓ Yeah. So I've learned talking to you guys, I've learned that part of the propaganda ⁓ is between different ⁓ candidates, right? And usually the candidate with the most money gets to talk the most shit about the other candidate, which is their own type of propaganda. So I'm building up to Citizens United. Bri Woodson: Mm-hmm. Okay. You Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): What are your thoughts on Citizens United? Bri Woodson: Citizens United is obviously a problem. Yeah, I think we in general have to be mindful of organizations like that, just in general, but Citizens United has shown over and over that they're a problem. And if I'm not mistaken, one of the organizations that I have signed on with, one of the endorsement questions was, would you vote to... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Bri Woodson: undo Citizens United and absolutely us. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): How many times can I mark that box? Circle circle star. Bri Woodson: It's just the money, money and politics conversation in general is just. It's I just, I just posted a check last week on the fourth $5,220 to put my name on the ballot. It's so the Southern States still have a lot of echoes of Jim Crow era blockers. Like, you know, I don't know, Harry Jaron. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Bri Woodson: where he's running, there's like 24 people in his primary because the ballot access is as it should be, is more streamlined. It's only a hundred bucks to put your name on a congressional ballot where he is. Where I'm at, it's $5,220. You look at Florida, it's $10,440. And so, you know, the South is known for ballot access issues. And so that's one of the things that we need to address in government too. And one of the reasons we have so many issues is because so much damn money is Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Bri Woodson: running around in politics and these PACs, these companies, these organizations, these corporates, they have the ability to back the candidate of their choosing and money absolutely is a barrier. We need to reinvent how all of this works. It's insane. My incumbent is sitting on a million dollar war test. And for grassroots candidates, that's like, ⁓ goodness, okay. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm. Mm-mm. And it's not even just the money, but from what I understand, from what I've learned is he also gets, ⁓ or she ⁓ also gets like access to different tools that makes their running a little easier. Bri Woodson: Yes, like for example, just getting software, just obtaining software that can break down a voter roll and develop canvassing door knocking routes can run up to $1,800 a month. Yeah, it's insane. Like NGP Van costs anywhere between 800 and $1,200 a month. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And that's part of like what you get by running, running under the democratic umbrella. Yeah. Bri Woodson: It's part of what you use. Yep, that's what you use, you get access to. Yes, but these tools aren't just given, you have to pay for them. It's rough. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. And that's something that and that's something that I've been trying to explain to the listeners is that like, there's a lot of you grassroots candidates that are running under the banner of the Democratic Party because you need access to things like this, the software and call banks and stuff like that. Bri Woodson: Yeah. I mean, honestly, if it weren't so many barriers, more than likely I'd be running as an independent. But because there are so many barriers in the cell, it's just not wise if I actually want to get in there and make a difference. ⁓ Because, you know, there are certain companies that won't even give you access to certain things if you are running as an independent. And so it just, we are... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Bri Woodson: We claim that we don't exist in a two-party system, but it's very clearly only a two-party system when you actually break it down into who has options and who has an actual voice. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. And it's hard to explain to people that we need to break away from the two party system. ⁓ because it, it seems like an insurmountable task. And these folks have carved out their markets and they've built the tools and they've for centuries, they've been getting their machine to this point. Bri Woodson: Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): So it would be really hard to have a third party building those same tools. It would be cool. It'd be cool to go in there and see what they have available and just start taking notes. like, all right, we need to do this, need to do that. And then just go and find some developers. Bri Woodson: Mm-hmm. Absolutely. ⁓ know several candidates who are starting the process of building out apps and websites because they see an immediate need. So I do think with this wave of candidate, ⁓ wave of voter block, I think we will start seeing more alternative options, ⁓ especially with so many progressive candidates in the cycle. So I do think there is hope for improvement, but as it stands right now, it's still very much a two-party system. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm. Yeah. Yeah, I talked to Victoria Broderick last night. She's so much fun. Bri Woodson: I love Victoria. She's so much fun. ⁓ My first ever protest in March was in DC and ⁓ we actually got to march together. She kept me laughing the entire time. She's great. I adore Victoria. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): She's hilarious. So she's running for Tennessee four. So if you need, ⁓ she's running in the district that has that where Jack Daniels has made. Bri Woodson: Yes. Mm-hmm. She is a whiskey girl. We talk about it all the time. I adore her. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): But she was telling me yesterday, she said something that that made me feel good. She said, yeah, you know, we have the tools that the Democratic Party has available for us. But we're also and it's not just that we're it's not just that we're trying to leverage the tools that they have, but we are coming in to try to change the party in general. Bri Woodson: ⁓ yeah, because make no mistake about it, know, Victoria is one of the candidates that ⁓ were both involved with Citizens Impeachment, we both signed on with Citizens Impeachment. And this, like I said, this wave of progressives, I'm pretty sure the majority of us, if we had an actual choice, we would not be running under Democratic ticket because the old establishment Democrats are just as much of problem as the establishment Republicans. Make no bones about it. Like, the ol- if- if- because how did we get here? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Bri Woodson: If they were doing their jobs, how the hell did we get here? Right? So it's, it's, they gotta go. If you're not doing anything with your seat, respectfully, get off of it. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yeah. Talking to you, Hakeem Jeffries. Here comes Vance Bostic, damn it. Vance is, he's a hoot. Bri Woodson: I've lost my guess. Vince, this past what, two weeks ago, two weekends ago, he stayed with me for March for Democracy. He's so funny. It was an adventure every day with Vince. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You I follow up with him often on Instagram and we talk on Instagram. trying to get him to come back on. I wanna do an episode where I talk to you guys about what it was like coming in as a grassroots candidate and then learning that both sides are fixed and like, what's that make you feel like? I wanna have like a round table and have you guys just vent. Bri Woodson: ⁓ yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, mean, because several of us Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): and just tell and just snitch on everything. Bri Woodson: Several of us have had ⁓ literal party members, groups from our party directly try to stop us from running. I've had that issue. The Democratic Party of Georgia has not contacted me. They have not supported me. They don't share my content. There have been posts made about who is running. I'm often left out of those posts. Yeah, it's a common thing. Yeah, it's a common thing because I'm the only one out of the group. They're pretty moderate. The Dems that are running are fairly moderate. No one has called to abolish ICE. No one's called for impeachment, but I am. and I'm not afraid to. So what's wrong with the Democratic Party? What is the issue? So if you don't think that there's an issue, if you don't feel like you need to take action right now, respectfully, it's time for you to go. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): time. Right. And I've been making this assertion. If you are, I'm going to be 54 next week. I've worked in advertising in Chicago. I've worked in the movie industry down in LA. And up here in Silicon Valley, I've done software design. I've done all the things. I can guarantee you if you are older than me, you don't have what it takes to take on this onslaught that is AI, that is techno, whatever the hell it is that's happening and where we're all these data centers and all that stuff. You don't have what it takes y'all. You don't, you don't work nearly as hard as the people in Silicon Valley do. Bri Woodson: 100%. And talk about understanding because this thing, these love, I love you, Mama Marcy. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You don't Maxine waters Maxine waters I love you girl I love you girl but at 80 something or other you don't know you don't know you can't fathom how fast this stuff is moving Bri Woodson: You know what was great though? She is so feisty and I so love her for that. I was at the Congressional Black Caucus in DC back in September. I went to the bathroom. I got invited to the Phoenix Awards. So was in the bathroom washing my hands and Maxine Waters just walked in the bathroom right up beside me at the scene. And she looks at me she goes, I hate coming to these things. I just want to my workshops. I just want to talk to voters. I don't want to do this. And I was like, I so feel you. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Uh-huh. That's it too. That's it too. I'm a man of the people. I love being around my people. Yeah, I love being around my people. I am awkward when I get invited to rich people stuff. I feel awkward. I feel awkward and it's not even and it's probably because I'm not rich people but Bri Woodson: She was like, I don't want to do this. The rich people things. Well, I mean, also you have to you have to think about like there is no ethical billionaires, right? So it's like when you're when you're around people of a certain tax bracket, you have that that once you're of a certain awareness, you have that itch in the back of your head. Like what did you do to get your money? Like, are you safe? Are you a good person to be around? You know? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. I'm glad you said that. I'm glad you said that. Because living in Chicago, living in LA and living here, I have been around money, people with money and people with generational wealth. Bri Woodson: Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Some of those kids are Some of those kids are real dumb and it just so happens that they got, it just so happens that they have money. Bri Woodson: Weird energy. And weird energy. Weird energy is just, like, I think there is kind of just a shift and I've seen it so much because I'm so present in online spaces, especially on TikTok. The way people are so turned off from influencers and those billionaire influencers on social media and people doing like huge hauls. They're like, we want to talk to people and hang out with people and support people who are like us. It's like, you know, there's that one billionaire. Becca Bloom on TikTok. She does all these ridiculous luxury hauls and it's like. Girl, this is not real life. And so it's hard to be in community with those people because they are so far removed from what the average person is dealing with and just experiencing, right? Their girls never clip to coupon a day in their life. So I think there's a tide is turning and people are saying that elitism is not where you want to be. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, it's not. It's not. Bri Woodson: Yes, just like. ⁓ you're right, 1230 didn't come fast. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, I told you. Is it time? Do we need to start wrapping up? Okay. Yeah. Okay. Um, Bri Woodson: Maybe like five or so. Someone's gotta go to get washed. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hehehehehe Bri Woodson: Trying to say that not too loud because we'll have to fight Bathing a 14 year old Lao Chow, he's very grumpy. He's not about it. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): All right. Holy. Yeah, I've been, I have to give mine a bath too. My, I put them in the sink in the garage. Yeah, I put them in the sink. It's easy. But my girl Rosie, my girl Rosie, she's feisty. She's a rescue. She's a rescue. And she ain't bought that life. It used to take me eight hours to cut her hair. Bri Woodson: See, at least they're small enough that you can like... No, I have to like take him somewhere. Who is she? ⁓ She's not a bad... ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Nobody else and the reason I did it was because nobody else saw that she wouldn't let anybody else on the planet touch her like that. Bri Woodson: Oh my gosh. See, he's the opposite. Like it used to be I could bathe him, know, fight with him a little bit, get him in the bath. But now he's like, don't touch me. Don't look at me. Don't click my clock. Don't. And I'm like, dude, you know what? You you're elderly, so you've earned the right to kind of be picky and what you want. So fine. And I like my fingers. I like my hands intact. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hahaha ⁓ Yeah, yeah, yeah. As you put in your time, I'll be patient. Bri Woodson: Dogs. Nothing more embarrassing in the world than kids and dogs. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Listen, I've been hanging out with, family members have been having kids and it's, this is the first time in my life where I have consistently been around three, four, five, six year olds. Bri Woodson: See? You're embarrassing. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Listen. We were at a restaurant and I was playing with my godson. He's four. And why, I don't know why he thought it was a good idea. He just straight up stuck his tongue dead in my ear. Bri Woodson: I know. Kids. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And I was like, what do I? I looked at his mom and she was smiling. I was like, I feel weird. Like, what do I do? I don't know what to do. Bri Woodson: Violin! Kids will do the wild, I used to be a nanny, kids will do the wildest thing. There's nothing more embarrassing than kids and dogs and God forbid you put them together. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): ⁓ yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's go ahead and start bringing this plane in for a landing. Bree Woodson, ⁓ let the people know, take a couple minutes, let them know why you're doing what you're doing, why you're doing it for them, and where they can follow up with you online. Bri Woodson: Okay. Yeah, absolutely. So I am running for Congress in Georgia's 12th district because I believe that we need better representation. And it's not just in my district, but it's someone that is willing to be a representative for every constituent that they're responsible for, every voter that they touch, every person that policies will affect. ⁓ I think we've seen way too much of our politicians genuinely not caring for their constituent base, genuinely not caring for the people who these policies directly affect the most. ⁓ And it's high time that we get somebody in the mental health field in office. Congresswoman Salinas, Congresswoman Salinas, Andrea Salinas does have a psychology degree, but I believe she's the only one. ⁓ But I think it's high time we get people in office that genuinely care about marginalized people and genuinely care about the future of where we're going, the future of our country. ⁓ And if you want to find more about me in particular, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): For real. Bri Woodson: Social media is a great way to do it. I've got a footprint from a year ago, so feel free to dig into it. You can find me on TikTok and Instagram, of course, under Bri Woodson for Congress. But if you want to find me as a content creator, you'll find me under the controversial blonde on TikTok, Instagram, and Substack and threads too. And of course, visit BriWoodsonForCongress.com to get involved, to donate. I do have an ActBlue. My ActBlue is actblue.com slash woodson-listen. So find me on all of the above spaces. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Awesome. And I'm going to go ahead and put all that stuff in the description of this video. And I feel sad because I haven't even been able to ask you about my boy Herschel Walker. Bri Woodson: Sounds good. What about Arshile Walker? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's what I'm asking. Last time I saw he was running for Congress out there in Georgia somewhere, and then he got caught up in Trumpism and now he's disappeared. Bri Woodson: What about it? We don't talk about Herschel Walker. ⁓ What about him? As a Georgia girlie, we just move on from Herschel. No, we don't. I don't claim Herschel Walker. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's the smartest thing you can do. ⁓ Herschel. Bri Woodson: Get somebody else to do it. That's not me. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): ⁓ Yeah, my boy ran for Congress and then it was crazy. He was a wild, wild boy. Bri Woodson: If that is a good question, like, you know, where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? Where in the world is Herschel Walker? What happened? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, I thought you were qualified candidate to run for Congress and now you're just missing? Where are at? Bri Woodson: Yeah, because I mean, like, I tell people all the time, even if I win or lose, I'm not going anywhere. This is just, this is just the tip of it. You know, people are asking like, well, what's next if you if you don't win it? There's plenty for me to do. Plenty. Plenty, plenty. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah, this is one. Right, right. If anything, your day is going to get a lot easier. Brie Woodson. ⁓ Brie Woodson, thank you so much for taking time. And it's it's it's I'm so happy that people like you exist. And I'm so happy that you care enough to to put yourself out there and make change. Bri Woodson: ⁓ yeah. It ain't no joke running for Congress. It's no joke. Thank you for having me. Thank you. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): We really do need way more people like you. And I agree, we need therapists in Congress. Yeah, intelligent enough. Boy, we need to get these dummies out of Congress. But that you care, that you can see the world with clear eyes. I'm so happy that you guys are making this move and this push. Anytime you need me, I'll come running. ⁓ Bri Woodson: Care enough, crazy enough. Thank you. you Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Cause yeah, we need this change. We need this change. This time, this time. Bri Woodson: We sure do. We sure do. It's integral to our survival. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): 100 % they got ice out here. Fuck ice. Bri Woodson: ⁓ she got a meat right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And she's bilingual y'all, come on, give it up, give it up. Bri Woodson: poquito poquito No, was very proud. I've been trying to dive back into it and pick up my words and phrases again. I was in an Uber two days ago and I was very proud of myself. I was able to point them to my place and it was like ultra building over there. It was great. So I need to get back into practicing, but I do speak a little. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Let me tell you my dilemma. I speak Spanish. I have to speak Spanish otherwise I cannot communicate with my father or my uncle, you know what I mean? But I live in a place where it's mostly Mexicans. The Mexicans won't speak Spanish to me because I speak a different kind of Spanish. Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican. Bri Woodson: Yeah. Yeah. Mmm. What kind of Spanish are you speaking? Like, listen, I used to have a Cuban boss and he would yell at me in Spanish and I just look at him and because he'd get upset because I could understand other Spanish spoken to me but I'm like, you speak at the speed of light. You're saying words I've never heard in ways I never heard them. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. You've heard them. You just haven't heard them pronounced like that. Bri Woodson: Cuban Spanish is different. I'm like, his name was Adelvis. I'm like Adelvis, what are you saying to me? And he said, you understand what other people say? like, what are you saying? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You Number one, you gotta slow down. Bri Woodson: Like, way down. And it's always like, so much hand action is going on. Cubans talk with their hands so much. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And we get excited. I'll be here telling stories. I'll be telling stories and people like, why are you mad? I'm like, I'm not mad. I'm out of breath, sweating and stuff. I'm not mad. I'm just telling a story. Bri Woodson: No, It's passion, man. ⁓ god, I love it. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Brie Woodson everybody, thank you so much again. I can't wait to bump into you again. Bri Woodson: Thank you so much Carlos. ⁓ it's definitely gonna happen. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Excellent. And with that everybody, we're out.