 Hi everyone. Asalaamu alaikum. My name is Maury Turner. I am the representative for Oklahoma's 88th House District, and my pronouns are they and sometimes she. I think it's important to note that I am not a woman, but the good people of SOCAP have asked me to share a little bit about my journey with politics, and I think this is a wonderful space to be able to do that. The abridged version of why I got into politics and why now is that quite honestly my community was asking me to. I had the ground running, doing community organizing here in Oklahoma, and it was focused on the holistic kind of justice reform that we need, right? And it's not reform so much as reimagining it and rebuilding it. And so when I did that, I wanted people who looks like our communities to be able to represent us. And I saw that there was a lack of that at the Capitol. And so I started looking for people who had experienced the worst parts of the system, right? People that looks like me, people that had to navigate food stamps or housing insecurity. And there are so many hurdles outside of just the stipulations for being able to run for office that prevent people from running, right? It's not politically connected. If you don't come from money, it's really hard. And so the folks of House District 88 started to ask me when they could expect me to run for office, and I was at a place where financially I was just able to get a little financially stable. And quite honestly, if we didn't have those stimulus checks, then I probably wouldn't have been able to make it through. But the important thing about running for office was also that visibility, right? That is the underlying thing is that when we have experienced parts of the system, we are able to see things, we are able to navigate, we are able to reimagine and rebuild a system. And I think that's really important to note, especially when we're talking about how we are continuously creating new power structures for people to be able to show up fully as themselves, which is something that I think women, specifically women of color and specifically women of color, who are also a part of the LGBTQ plus community are really good at is creating a space where people can fully show up as themselves. And that is how we continuously create a new power structure, right? Continuously reimagine and rebuild a world that has a vision for everybody to be able to show up fully as themselves. I think one of the ways that we continuously empower women, right? And because this is specifically women's history month, I think it's important to note that a lot of the times I think on average a woman has to be asked at least seven times to run for office before they start to take themselves as seriously as their community is taking them, right? And that's because of I think electability politics. Sometimes people say, it's a great, she's a great candidate, right? But I don't think she's going to win. So I'm not going to work for her. I'm not going to make the phone calls. I'm not going to knock the doors. I'm not going to vote for her, right? And we have to unlearn that thought process all together. So in continuously educating and continuously empowering women, we have to unlearn some of the most difficult parts about the patriarchy that is ingrained in us, right? And I think that's so important as we are fostering a new generation that is politically inclined in a way that is so remarkable. In all this work, it gets really heavy, right? And so we also have to make sure that we are practicing self care in a real deep meaningful way. And for a lot of people, it looks very different, right? So for me personally, how I find joy, I've just started riding my bike again. I've just started painting again. And it's so cathartic and I love it. A little known fact about me is that every painting in my house is an original minus one. And that was a gift that someone gave to me. But I think it's so important to make sure that you're finding joy in the everyday life, right? And in resting, right? Because this work gets very, very heavy. And so we can't show up to do it if we aren't taking care of ourselves, right? And in last words, I think it's really, really important to note that we have to keep going. Rest is really beneficial, right? But understanding that our liberation is tied to one another, right? Whether we are women, we are non-binary folks, whether we are inside or outside of the binary, it's important to note that our liberation is tied together. We don't get to pick and choose who crosses that finish line with us. So I hope that you will join me on this work and I'm so excited for every place that we're going together. Okay. Bye-bye.