The Narrative's 7053 Profile: Senator Holly J. Mitchell
Published 10/16/19
The progressive Senator of California’s 30th District, and candidate for 2020’s historic LA County Board of Supervisors election — tells us how she elevates dialogue and human connectivity in a Twitter, feed-scrolling world.
“It all started when a woman stopped me in church,” Senator Mitchell recounts as I asked her about how she plans to move Community forward. She’s in the midst of her 2020 Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors run; a campaign gaining considerable coverage with the possibility of the county being governed by an all female-board should she win. The board was once titled “little kings” as it was governed primarily by men. She continues, “To be honest with you, I was a little tired. But she stopped me and asked me how to reach out [Senator Mitchell’s office] after talking about a local issue. And it was the first time I began to see who I was representing, and that despite living in a digitally connected world, many people don’t know how to engage with their elected local officials.” I must admit, there’s a human frankness in her response as she starts her story about a simple Sunday morning where everyone is typically in relax mode; getting ready for the week, or dealing with the Sunday Scaries. What’s more profound is how Senator Mitchell sees a simple moment to stop and connect with another human being’s needs, as an opportunity to humanize politics with her creation of Coffee with Holly in order to elevate meaningful dialogue like this, with all of her constituents.
When Senator Mitchell speaks, you listen. She has the warmth to bring you in, and the ability to break complex issues down into layman’s terms where you’re not getting caught up in political speak, yet simply having a conversation — albeit, one where you’re actually being heard. It’s the right amount of sincerity you wouldn’t expect from a typical politician, yet whereas when many may ascribe the word ‘politics’ to fatigue in today’s polarized climate, Mitchell adds the missing element - being human. The warmth is palpable over the phone as every response seems to come from the heart, with a level of frank sincerity developed from years of simple connection and understanding us folk, given her track record.
A Democrat and State Senator for California’s 30th Senate District, Mitchell has been an effective advocate for the diverse communities she proudly represents. On top of her social justice work, she has mastered the intricacies of political theater given the prominent positions held throughout her robust career -- all while being an unapologetic Melanated (black) woman. She has passed nearly 80 bills in the legislature which includes passing the #EqualityandJustice package of 10 criminal justice reform bills, transitional housing placement for foster youth to help prevent youth homelessness, as well as extended access to mental health care services for California’s most vulnerable residents. Most recently she received international recognition for authoring the C.R.O.W.N. Act - which makes it illegal to discriminate against locks, twists and braids and fros in school and work. The CROWN Act aims to create a respectful and open world for natural hair.
In addition, Senator Mitchell is the first African-American to Chair the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee where she has seen the passage and adoption of now three consecutive state budgets (each totaling $200 billion dollars) for California, the fifth largest economy in the world. Now, in the midst of her 2020 campaign for Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, she is poised to be a part of history should she win. Yet, I’m merely having a conversation with Senator Mitchell — connecting.
“I represent some communities that do not have equitable access to the internet. How are people forming opinions about elected officials? Lack of transparency, etc. What do you base it on? How do you connect?” States Mitchell. It’s no wonder her aha moment with her constituent that day in Church, led her to identify and connect with people on her initiative [Coffee with Holly] by understanding their world and finding ways to bring her presence to it as a public servant. While technology touches nearly every part of our lives, there are some that do not have the tools to connect freely. Human connectivity (in physical spaces) proves to be far more advantageous in this scenario yet in the Twitter-hungry, feed-scrolling world we’ve grown accustomed to — also proves to be valuable for understanding who we are as a community. In her Coffee With Holly sessions, Senator Mitchell partners with leading non-profit community organizations, district senior leaders and or community leaders to connect with her constituents around various issues in her coffee meetups. There is no set agenda, yet simply a space for constituents to connect and talk with Senator Mitchell about their concerns, thoughts or ideas. Simply making a connection, albeit a human one, with their local officials. Yet getting the word out can still prove difficult, even with a ground-breaking Senator like Mitchell herself.
“We don’t have big mail budgets anymore. You have to go out and push out. Structurally with cost savings we expect people to find us,” states Senator Mitchell. Her team along with her get the word out through newsletters, church bulletins, leaflets, posters, or by any means necessary. Turnouts sometimes exceed 20-60 highly engaged constituents - some wanting to simply meet her while some voicing local issues. It’s this model that Senator Mitchell hopes to expand beyond her senate district (District 30 ) as she gears up for the highly talked about Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors election to represent the 2nd District in 2020.
In political theater, Roughly four-in-ten black adults (38%) said that working to get more black people elected to office would be a very effective tactic for groups striving to help blacks achieve equality[1]. And in the last 50 years, there has been an upward projection of Melanated individuals (blacks) in politics. Since the 2016 election, the importance of how politics shapes our day to day lives can be seen on full display. The level of transparency wrought in part by the advent technology, has exposed society to the machinations of American politics on a local, state and national level. Local and state politics serve as the first line of government, emboldening policy decision making and essentially shaping the national conversation and national politics. Yet, the most disempowered who play a critical role in this may not have all of the resources to connect with the local officials — insert Coffee with Holly.
Senator Mitchell has taken a simple tool and turned it into an effective one, relying on human connectivity to bring about the change constituents desire and/or want. In the process, she has shown that we are all virtually similar in our wants for a better community, state and country. However, despite living in a hyperconnected world, it’s our disconnection of human interaction that can get in the way of understanding our wants and who we are. “People are so generally disconnected yet our stories are so similar, and that is frustrating for me as a policy maker who came in this work to help people,” states Mitchell, “That’s how I see my role, to be impactful.”
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