 We kick off the new season of At Our Table in Los Angeles with Mayor Karen Bass, and she helps us start the new year with a bang. We talked about what happens when decisions are made far away from the people who have to live with them. We also discussed why Mayor Bass left Congress to come home and lead Los Angeles at a moment when the stakes could not be higher. One of the most powerful moments came when she talked about how early her understanding of injustice began:
That clarity about naming systems for what they are runs through everything she does. We also talked about how policy choices can quietly turn into pipelines of harm. Long before “mass incarceration” was part of our vocabulary, she and others saw where things were headed:
That insight shaped her decision to leave Washington and come home. She said it wasn’t easy, but it was necessary:
From there, we got into what leadership actually looks like when affordability becomes a moral issue, not just a talking point:
Mayor Bass didn’t just talk about the problem. She talked about fixing the rules that make people homeless by policy, including veterans denied housing because their benefits were counted as income, and foster youth pushed onto the streets the moment they age out of care. And then we talked about what’s happening right now—ICE raids, militarization, and fear being used as a weapon. She didn’t mince words:
This episode is about Los Angeles, but it’s really about the country. About who bears the cost of bad policy. About why cities and mayors are often the last line of defense. And about why courage sometimes means leaving the biggest stage to do the hardest work. I hope you’ll listen. And I hope you’ll sit with it. Because if there’s one thing this conversation reminded me of, it’s this: policy doesn’t end when the vote is over—and neither does our responsibility to the people living with the consequences. — Jaime You’re currently a free subscriber to Jaime’s Table. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
|
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass: Power, Fear, and Federal Overreach
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment