Mike De La Rocha is a man of many roles. As the author of “Sacred Lessons: Teaching My Father How To Love”, he has written a book that teaches men to unburden themselves from the weight of the patriarchy and accept vulnerability as a strength instead of a weakness. As a singer-songwriter, De La Rocha has transformed music into calls for action and anthems for social justice movements. As founder of Revolve Impact with a background in politics, he has been able to create an agency that embraces storytelling and creates campaigns that push for action. To learn more about Mike De La Rocha and the roles he’s played in pursuit of creating real change, read on.
Read MoreOne of the candidates running for the Democratic nomination is Deja Foxx (she/her), a Gen Z Democratic political activist. Raised by a single mother, Deja experienced homelessness as a child and relied on free school lunches, food stamps, Section 8 housing, and Medicaid. In 2017 she confronted her Senator, Jeff Flake, about plans to remove federal funding for Planned Parenthood at a town hall, and ever since then she has been involved in politics, including founding the El Rio Community Health Center's Reproductive Health Access Project in her native Tucson, and working on Kamala Harris’ 2020 and 2024 presidential elections. For her activism, Deja is a recipient of numerous awards, including the Planned Parenthood’s Catalyst for Change Award, the Global Citizen Prize, the Gloria Steinem's Woman of Vision Award, the Muhammed Ali Humanitarian Award, and the United Nations Global Impact Award. Deja is running for Congress to fight for reproductive freedom, economic justice, and a government that actually works for young people and working-class families.
Read MoreThe 2025 election season is now in full swing and primaries are happening now! Today we are profiling Adele McClure (she/her/hers) who recently won her primary for re-election to the Virginia House of Delegates. Adele is a queer millennial of Black and Filipino descent who was the first member of her family to attend college. Although a classically trained pianist, she is a My Chemical Romance superfan who loves punk, emo, and alt rock. The issues Adele is most passionate about include mental health, housing, and gun safety.
Read MoreFrom questions about discrimination and injustices, conservative legislation in not just the U.S. but around the world, and thoughts on fleeing the U.S., to advice, resources, and ways to support the queer community, transgender nurse Sam Lee speaks on the importance of transgender healthcare, rights, and what the future looks like for the community. To learn more about Sam Lee and her thoughts on these topics as a professional in the healthcare field and individual a part of the LGBTQIA+ community, read on.
Read MoreBlue states contribute a great deal to the U.S. government and economy. As of 2024, about 47 percent of the U.S.’ GDP is composed of contributions from blue states, with the total GDP being around 23.54 trillion and blue states contributing around 11.116 trillion of that total, California, New York, and Illinois being the top three contributing blue states.
While red states do make up more of the U.S.’ GDP, at about 50.5 percent/11.89 trillion with their top contributors being Texas, Florida, and Pennsylvania, it is important to note that there are 31 red states and only 19 blue states (red & blue states as defined by recent presidential election voting results). Even though there is a large number of red states compared to that of the blue states numbers, the blue states’ impact is almost on par with the red states' impact. This shows just how important and strong the blue states are to the U.S.’ economy.
Read More“Public service is for all of us.” These are the words of Audrey Denney (she/her), an agriculture teacher, consultant, international human rights volunteer and political activist. Raised from a young age with the belief in service to others, Audrey has spent her whole life advocating for those who need it — the hungry, the unhoused, immigrants, and farm laborers. And she has a thing or two to say about why the Democratic party keeps losing in rural America. Read on to learn more about Audrey Denney!
Read MoreHouse Republicans have just recently proposed a new healthcare bill that is supposedly the cost-saving centerpiece for Trump's “big, beautiful bill”. In reality, this legislation is anything but beautiful.
The expansion of Medicaid was one of the most impactful effects of the Affordable Care Act, helping eliminate cost barriers to care and allowing more individuals access to healthcare coverage. With this new healthcare bill being introduced, important parts of the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid will be affected and likely leave millions of Americans without access to healthcare coverage.
Read MoreOne thing that we at Jejune are pleased to see is the number of LGBTQ+ candidates who are running this year, and we have profiled quite a few of them! This week we are highlighting Dominique Johnson (she/they), who is the incumbent representative in District 143 in the Connecticut House of Representatives. Dominique is a genderqueer millennial who has gone from humble political beginnings as a community organizer to Assistant Majority Leader. A former professor and punk rock bassist, they are a published author with work appearing in works ranging from Teen Vogue to The Nation. Dominique is passionate advocate for educational equity, the health and well-being of youth, women and LGBTQ+ people, and sustainability.
Read MoreThis week we are profiling our second party leader this season, Luz Escamilla (she/her), the current minority leader of the Democratic Party in the Utah State Senate. Luz was born in Mexico to two college professors, and immigrated when she was 18 years old. Only one of six Democrats in the Utah State Senate, Luz leads her small caucus in promoting issues such as healthcare access and cost, food security, air quality, transportation access, high quality childcare, and home visiting services.
Read MoreAt the beginning of this election cycle we featured an Illinois State Senator running for reelection. Today we are featuring an Illinois State Representative, Barbara Hernandez (she/her), a millennial who has spent most of her adult life in politics. As the daughter of undocumented Mexican immigrants, Barbara was the first in her family to go to college, and was inspired to go into politics to reform our country’s broken immigration system. At age 24 she was elected to serve on the Kane County Board, and in 2019 she was appointed to finish the term of her former boss in the Illinois State House (she has been reelected twice since then). Barbara is passionate about period poverty, higher education accessibility, immigration, and fighting for restorative justice.
Read MoreGreta Neubauer (she/her/hers), is a millennial representative in the Wisconsin State Assembly, where she currently serves as the youngest minority leader in Wisconsin legislative history, a role she has served in since January 2022. Greta is also the first openly queer caucus leader. She is passionate about LGBTQ+ rights, addressing climate change, protecting democracy, and creating a state where everyone can thrive!
Read MoreOne such candidate is Alison Beale (she/her/hers), a millennial mom who was motivated to run because of a law passed by the Tennessee legislature and signed by the governor that went into effect on July 1, 2021, allowing citizens to openly or concealed carry handguns without a permit. This has led to a rise in mass shootings in Tennessee, including one at an elementary school in March 2023. But Alison has been a gun control advocate since before this law was passed. A former teacher, Alison taught a student who was the younger sibling of a victim of a mass shooting at a Nashville Waffle House in 2018, subsequently getting involved with a foundation named for this young man.
Read MoreThis week we are profiling Tanya Vyhovsky (she/they), the only member of the Vermont Senate from the Vermont Progressive Party, the 3rd-largest political party in Vermont (in 2022 we profiled Taylor Small, the leader of the Vermont Progressive Party in the Vermont House of Representatives). As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Tanya’s platform is about bringing working class, younger voices that have often been shut out of power into the statehouse. The issues Tanya cares most deeply about are; a sustainable and just economy, healthcare, mental health, climate, criminal legal change and democracy.
Read MoreThis week we are profiling Christina Khalil (she/her), the Green Party candidate for this fall’s U.S. Senate race in New Jersey. With the current embattled incumbent, Bob Menendez, indicted for bribery for accepting cash gifts from the Egyptian government in exchange for influence, the field is wide open to a wide range of party candidates, including Menendez himself, running as an independent. However, this millennial Green Party candidate, a first-generation Egyptian-American, has no such ties to foreign governments. As a formerly homeless teenager, Christina grew up in the foster care system and was emancipated at age 16. Today she is forced to work two jobs to make ends meet, both as a therapist and a drug and alcohol addiction counselor. Christina put herself through college twice, with both a Bachelor’s and Master’s from Ramapo College of New Jersey. Her lived experience makes Christina passionate about giving voice to the unheard, providing the tools for the poorest and least privileged Americans to work for a better life, and creating safety, freedom and prosperity for all New Jerseyans regardless of race, gender identity, sexuality, or immigration status.
Read MoreIn 2024, we have a large number of young people running for office to challenge the status quo upheld by older, long-entrenched representatives at all levels of government. Today we are highlighting one such person. Lexi Melton (she/her/hers), is a millennial wife and mom of two. In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lexi decided to go back to school to finish her degree and graduated with an A.A.S. degree in Nuclear Medicine Technology from Chattanooga State Community College! Lexi fiercely advocates for strong public schools and women’s rights, and believes in gun safety and equitable healthcare, especially in rural areas.
Read MoreThis week we are profiling Christina Haswood (she/her/hers) is a Diné (Navajo) millennial who is the only Native American serving in the Kansas state legislature. In her first year in office, she helped pass Kansas’ first Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) bill. A public health advocate, Christina is a champion of reproductive rights and the right to abortion. Christina also stands out for using social media more than her colleagues to inform her constituents with updates from the legislature. Though she currently represents District 10 in the Kansas House of Representatives, Christina is now running for the State Senate.
Read MoreAs we get further into election season, the races are starting to heat up! This week we are profiling Molly Cook (she/her), a millennial ER nurse who is the latest addition to the Texas State Senate. On May 4, Molly won a special election in District 15 to fill an open seat left by the departure of John Whitmire to take over the mayorship of Houston. While she is locked in for the remainder of the term (which ends on January 14, 2025), Molly is having another election on May 28 — this time the Democratic primary runoff for the general election (on November 5) of the next term of District 15, where she is facing the same candidate who she defeated in the special election.
Read MoreThis week we are profiling Katrina Fallick-Wang (she/her). No, you did not read that name wrong. According to her website, “My maiden name is pronounced phallic. Yes. Just like that. I married someone with the last name of Wang. We hyphenated our names to make it more funny.” Growing up on a commune, Katrina had her first child at age 15, and today works counseling teen mothers. Katrina is openly queer and polyamorous. In her personal life she is an avid hiker and kayaker, and she fosters kittens. She participates in art and alternative communities, and she mentors young women who are interested and involved in STEM disciplines. She is passionate about neurodiversity and disability activism. Although running as a Democrat, Katrina believes that a multi-party system would better serve the American people than a two-party system.
Read MoreThis week we are highlighting Lindsay Sabadosa (she/her), an activist who is a current representative in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Lindsay, a mother of one, has been a protest and community organizer since the age of nine. The issues that she champions are promoting women candidates, reproductive rights, Medicare for All, the rights of immigrants, and increasing the minimum wage. Sabadosa has been active with organizations such as the Women’s March on Washington, Planned Parenthood, the Pioneer Valley Resist Coalition, and is a board member of both the Abortion Rights Fund of Western Massachusetts and the Doula Association for Reproductive Loss and Abortion (DARLA).
Read MoreThis week we are profiling Jason Morgan (he/him/his), a gay millennial who has had an active career in Michigan politics. Despite being diagnosed with Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy as an adolescent, Jason is an active member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. Jason is passionate about issues such as eliminating economic inequality, investing in public transportation, and protecting LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights.
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