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Party Girls: Exploring Politics Across America - Episode 1 - #PartyGirls

In this introductory episode of the web series Party Girls: Exploring Politics Across America, we get to know four of the series' six impressive millennial women of color, all poised to vote for the first time in a Presidential election. From an African American Republican to a progressive Muslim American from Michigan, these young women meet up in Philadelphia, site of the 2016 Democratic National Convention. The other ladies include a laid-back daughter of a preacher, and a Democrat political science major at Howard University. They're invited to a "Colored Girls luncheon" celebrating prominent black women in politics, including Donna Brazile. Director: Michele Barnwell More information: https://itvs.org/films/party-girls

ITVS

7 years ago

- I really don't blame any one thing for where we are as a country right now. But I have to say that I'm fascinated by the fact that we don't talk to each other. And that we make a lot of assumptions about people that don't think the same exact way that we do. I feel like the conversations I can listen in on of young folk or younger folk, I feel like they are doing that. I feel like they are challenging themselves to understand what someone who doesn't believe what they believe, that they are tr
ying to make space for all of those voices. I wanted to listen in and I wanted us all to listen in on how they were forming their political views. Women are key to the American electorate, especially millennial women. We're hearing it everywhere but what we're not hearing is from them themselves. So I created a docu-series in hopes of letting a group of young women experience situations that will get them talking so we can understand them better. I went around the country interviewing young firs
t-time voters and in the end, I selected the six most impressive young women. Each of them is strong, independent thinker with a whole lot to say. - My name is Jessica and I'm from Albany, Georgia but I live in Atlanta, Georgia. I think, usually the whole Republican thing tends to throw people off. I know it did at school. It was four years of, she's a Republican. No! (laughs) - My name is Sarah Khan, I'm 22 years old and I'm from Ann Arbor, Michigan. I was ten years old when I first started wea
ring a hijab. I remember actively thinking that I'm Muslim and I'm proud and I don't wanna have to hide that. I think it's hard for people to understand that I can love my faith and my country because a lot of people see those as contradictions. - [Jessica] Hi! - Hi. - Yeah I'd like to get a feel for how people are before you go into politics. (laughs) Then we can get into some things that we might not like as much. - I've not been to Philly before, my first time. - Me either, it's my first time
. - Yeah. - I was on my plane and I got here, I was like, ♪ In West Philadelphia born an raised ♪ (laughs) (funky techno music) - My name is Kayla Williams. I'm 19 years old. I'm a daughter of a preacher and I'm a kid at heart. I'm a really chill person, like really laid back. So I might not talk a lot but once you warm up to me I'm really, really fun. - [Jessica] Hey. - [Sarah] Hi. - I hope the girls are accepting of that and we can have a good time. - [Jessica] Are you excited? - Yeah. - [Host
] A powerful DC insider invited us to her prestigious DNC week luncheon, celebrating the political voices of prominent black women. - I feel like it's gonna be like, look at how awesome the DNC is. (laughs) - Well I-- - Which is fine. But I'm just curious like about what they would talk about and yeah. - Yeah I'm just generally a bit cynical about the DNC in general. Maybe Hilary might show up. Has she done anything at the convention so far, other than give private interviews? I'm a Republican,
but I come from a long line of Democrats. When my parents first got married and they lived in DC, they both worked at the Pentagon. They moved to Albany right when Clinton was elected. And that's why I think they're probably secret Republicans. - I mean she's probably expected to speak at the last day. - Her acceptance speech. - [Sarah] Yeah. - Hopefully it will not be as long as Donald Trump's. That was the longest thing I've ever watched. - I like kinda flipping channels and I was just like, i
s he done? Nope. OK, we'll switch over. - I only have to defend the fact that I'm Republican when people know that I'm Republican. If we're talking about something political, or someone throws out a name, subconsciously I'll just make a face. You know, someone says Bernie Sanders, eurgh, yucky (laughs). I watched the whole thing of it. - I couldn't, I couldn't watch the whole thing. - It was little difficult to watch. - [Host] The Colored Girls Luncheon is hosted by a group of extremely powerful
black women in politics. Attending one of these luncheons is a rare opportunity. Just before we head upstairs, the fourth party girl arrives. - My name is Khala James, I'm from West Palm Beach, Florida and I'm 19 years old. I go to school at the illustrious Howard University and I'm a political science major. - Oh my gosh! - I'm a Democrat, a proud Democrat and I like Hilary Clinton. - Hi! - How are you? - Nice to meet you. - I think what makes Republicans so bad are things that I just see as d
iscrepancies, like being pro-life but then being pro-death penalty. Can't, no, not with it. - [Jessica] This is exciting! - The Colored Girls are comprised of Donna Brazile, Minyon Moore, Leah Daughtry, Yolanda Caraway and Tina Flournoy. Donna Brazile is someone I used to watch with my parents growing up on Sunday mornings. She's like the one of the political figures I wanted to be. You know, someone who had the kind of presence. (clapping and cheering) - That was really exciting to me. Donna Br
azile is just so lovely. The room is just like buzzing. - It was a really, really great energy to be around. Women of color who were empowering each other. - [Sarah] Hi, I'm Sarah. Yeah! - Wow, cool! - Hi, my name is Jessica. - Hi Jessica, I'm Yolanda. - [Jessica] Wonderful to meet you. - [Yolanda] And thanks for coming. - [Kayla] Kayla. - [Yolanda] Hi Kayla. - Oh my God look at these precious women. - Party Girls! - Oh my God, look at you. Let me give hugs. How are you? Oh my God-- - Hi. - Oh m
y goodness! Where's my Republican, I'm a-- - Sorry. - No baby, you get a real big hug. - I'm really surprised and also a little bit worried because in my experience, people of color who are Republican just I mean, it just doesn't make sense to me. - Black girls and brown girls, wow. Thank you. - [Khala] What is going on over here? It's like getting towards the evening and we come upon a protest and there's people that have climbed like light poles and are at the top of the light pole. Big Black
Lives Matter signs. There's pro-Palestine activist that are in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. - It seemed kinda like a disjointed protest, I'm not even sure everyone was protesting for the same reason. Protesting is not my thing. You know, it's kind of icky and you know, everyone looks like they've just rolled out of bed. I kind of feel like I can use my time in more impactful ways than standing there protesting. - I'm really happy to see that this protest was occurring. We're just visitors
. - Okay. I know how hard it is sometimes to be out there. Talking about Black Lives Matter and talking about pro-choice, Palestinian human rights, police brutality, immigration. These are all views that may not be popular or accepted by a large portion of this country but they're views that need to be heard. So as I'm walking away from the protest I feel kind of emotional and I don't really understand why. I think in that moment I realized the significance of me being a part of this project. It
was kind of like, Sarah, you have this platform, you have a camera pointing at you and you can talk about whatever issues that you care about and why wouldn't you? (theatrical music) The producer gets a phone call and all of a sudden things are moving pretty fast. We actually have the opportunity to go to the Democratic National Convention. I was absolutely excited. I knew even before I got there that it was going to be an amazing experience. - Freaked out a little bit, but okay, cool. - I wasn
't that amped about going. (sulks) - With no other DNC, I was gonna be at the DNC this year. - [Host] Our summer long slumber party... - [Jessica] Two more girls arrive. That's a long drive. (laughs) Oh Jesus Christ. (cheering) Breathe in. - Yeah. (screams) - Oh my gosh. - [Host] Gets political real quick. - Remember that you are half white. - Half white - I'm not white. - I mean there's parts of the country where there's no access to clean water. - Dadada is the year that women go the right to
vote. It's like, what women? - Why are we repeating the past and repeating hate? - You're saying Mexico, Mexico, Mexico, you want people to demonize Mexicans, it's just pure and simple. - Minorities are no longer safe in the United States. (rock music)

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