Cory Booker

Senator Cory Booker joins us for a conversation about our dire chronic health crisis, the corrosive effects of corporate money in our politics, the power of making healthy food affordable, and our taxpayer-subsidized systems that fuel our chronic disease epidemic. These are issues he's been sounding the alarm on for years. Today, the New Jersey Democrat has a new message for his own party: rather than resist the supporters of MAHA, it's time to stand with them. Long before MAHA, Booker was raising the very concerns now at the heart of the movement. But while much of his party has greeted MAHA with suspicion and hostility, Booker is making a different argument: Democrats should find common ground wherever possible. So where, exactly, does he see common ground with MAHA? Can Democrats work with the movement while fiercely disagreeing on vaccines and other critical issues? And how does he answer critics in his own party who see MAHA not as a health movement but as an extension of MAGA? Today, as he pitches a new coalition: why should MAHA trust him? And why should his own party? Hosts: Brinda Adhikari Tom Johnson Maggie Bartlett (producer) Dr. Mark Abdelmalek Guest: Senator Cory Booker, D-NJ New to us? Check out these three episodes to get a taste! Inside A Rare Conversation Between MAHA Grassroots and Public Health Leaders https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-should-i-trust-you/id1788335471?i=1000706783000 The Hepatitis B Birth Dose Vaccine: Do We Need It? An Honest Conversation w Dr. Paul Offit & Dr. Michael Mina https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-should-i-trust-you/id1788335471?i=1000727322530 A Conversation with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya: On the NIH, CDC, Funding, DEI & His Vision For Doing Science https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-should-i-trust-you/id1788335471?i=1000751774699 Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Education Is Elevation is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. May 8, 2024: The Day the Cory Booker Beef Got Personal I want to take y’all back. All the way back. Because folks be acting like my critique of Cory Booker started yesterday, started when he climbed up on the Senate floor for 25 hours, started when the AIPAC numbers dropped, started when he was the lone Democrat to confirm Charles Kushner. Nah. My beef with Cory Booker has a birthday. May 8, 2024. Washington, D.C. A content creator and influencer summit where over a hundred of us got flown in to talk about advocacy and education in the current climate. That’s the day. That’s the room. That’s where it stopped being a policy disagreement and became personal. Let me explain why, and let me walk y’all through every step of the two years that followed, because Research over MeSearch is the standard and the receipts have been receipt-ing this whole time. Picture the scene. A senator who is a sitting United States senator, a man who has run for president once already and is clearly running again, gets invited to address a room full of content creators — the same content creators his caucus wants to mobilize, the same ones his administration’s pollsters told him he needs, the same ones who have been documenting genocide on a phone faster than the New York Times can edit a headline. And what does he do? He jumps up on a table. Tom Cruise on Oprah, you feel me. A whole ass move. Theatrical. Performative. The body language of a man who thinks he’s about to give a TED Talk to an audience that already knows the punchline. He starts talking about the significance of new media. He starts talking about how he was born and raised on grassroots movement organizing. He starts talking about how he comes from a background of social justice. The man who voted to ban TikTok stood on a table at a content creator conference and lectured us about new media. Let that marinate. The man who has taken over $700,000 from AIPAC stood in a room full of Black and Brown content creators who had spent the previous seven months documenting white phosphorus from Alabama raining on the children of Rafa, and he tried to tell us where new media came from. Shidd. We knew where new media came from. We were new media. The whole room was new media. We were what he was supposed to be listening to, and instead he was pissing on us telling us it was raining. Then came the questions. And this is where it got personal for me. Because the question that got asked — by a Black woman content creator who had read the bill, who had quoted the bill, who had named the specific provisions — was simple. Are you willing to call for a ceasefire? That was the question. Not a gotcha. Not a setup. A direct, material question about the position of a sitting United States senator on a sitting genocide. And what did Cory Booker do? He pulled out the tired playbook. He shucked and jobbed. He said, “I’m sorry you don’t understand the bill.” I’m sorry you don’t understand. To a Black woman. Who had read the bill. Who had cited the bill. Who knew more about the supplemental appropriation than half the senators on his committee. That right there is misogynoir wearing a Senate pin. That right there is what Moya Bailey told us this was going to look like in the era of Black women asking questions in rooms full of cameras. That right there is what Patricia Hill Collins called controlling images deployed as political technology. That right there is what Combahee told us in 1977 — that the convergence of race, gender, and class violence does not require a hood and a rope, that it shows up in a Senate office, that it shows up in a paternalistic dismissal at a content creator summit on May 8, 2024. And let me tell you, Indigenous and Black feminist thought reads that move the same way. White feminism has histori

Education Is Elevation is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. I need y’all to hear me on this one. I don’t say things to be provocative. I say things because the data demands it. Right now, Senator Cory Booker is out here on a nationwide book tour, sitting on Meet the Press telling Kristen Welker he’s “definitely not ruling out” a presidential run in 2028. I’m not here to bash him and yes we disagree on alot, however I hope this video and piece written by me is something he and his team can sit on. Process and digest. Let’s start where everybody wants to start. The speech. On March 31, 2025, Cory Booker took to the Senate floor and spoke for 25 hours and 5 minutes. He didn’t eat. He didn’t sit. He didn’t use the restroom. His staff removed his chair so he wouldn’t be tempted to sit down. And when he was done, Democrats gave him a standing ovation, Chuck Schumer shed a tear, and the internet lost its collective mind. It was a cool moment, though I remained critical. He broke the record previously held by Strom Thurmond—the segregationist senator from South Carolina who filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1957 for 24 hours and 18 minutes trying to stop Black people like Booker from ever sitting in the United States Senate. Now, the symbolism of a Black senator breaking the record of a white supremacist senator? I see the power in that. I’m not going to negate the historical symbolism of what he did. On my PawPaw grave here’s where I need y’all to think deeper than the optics. What did the speech actually accomplish? Zero bills passed. Zero votes stopped. Zero policy changes. Let me say that again for the people in the back who confuse applause with legislation: zero . Stated simply, Conscious Lee will not substitute my cultural pride for political accountability. Yes we can celebrate that cultural moment in history while also not separating it from political accountability and critique. As a Public Educater and Edutaining Content Creator, I’m critiqued best in this very framework nonetheless I’m no policy maker. See, I know political theater when I see it. And just like Strom Thurmond’s historical act didn’t stop the Civil Rights Act from passing the very next day by a vote of 60–15, Booker’s speech didn’t stop a single thing either. Matthew Whitaker—a man with no significant foreign policy experience who served briefly as Trump’s acting attorney general—was confirmed as the U.S. Ambassador to NATO by a vote of 52–45 the same evening Booker stopped talking . The Senate literally waited for him to sit down and then proceeded with business as usual. Feel me? Pay attention and read closely. Here’s what nobody wants to talk about. What Booker did after the speech. The Receipts Receipt number one. The very next month after his marathon performance, Booker voted to confirm David Perdue—Trump’s pick for U.S. Ambassador to China—joining 15 other Democrats in handing Trump a 67–29 victory. This is during an active trade war that Trump started with his reckless 145 percent tariffs on Chinese imports. You just stood on your feet for 25 hours telling America how dangerous this administration is, and then you handed them a confirmation vote on a critical diplomatic post in the middle of an economic confrontation? Make that make sense. Receipt number two. In May 2025, Cory Booker was the only Democrat—the only one—to vote to confirm Charles Kushner as the United States Ambassador to France. Who is Charles Kushner? He’s Jared Kushner’s father, Ivanka Trump’s father-in-law, a convicted felon who pled guilty to tax evasion, illegal campaign donations, and—this is the part that should disqualify any senator’s vote—witness tampering. The man hired a sex worker to seduce his own brother-in-law, had it filmed, and s

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker said this weekend that Democrats have “failed to meet this moment” and that his party needed “generational renewal.” The comments come a year after the Democrat set a Senate record, holding the floor for 25 hours and five minutes as he offered thundering criticism of the Trump administration. Now, in his new book, ‘Stand,’ Booker urges the country to rise to this moment. To make his point, he highlights the stories of ten Americans, some famous and others less well-known, who also met moments of crisis with steadfastness, strength and optimism. “Our democracy is not a spectator sport,” writes Booker. “It demands participation.” Guests: Cory Booker, U.S. Senator from New Jersey; he was previously the Mayor of Newark from 2006-2013; his new book is "Stand" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on The Montclair Pod , we bring you one of our most important episodes yet. We tackle a deeply emotional and urgent issue: street safety. NPR's David Folkenflik joins us to share the heartbreaking story of losing his mother to a preventable traffic collision right outside his Upper Montclair home, followed by a conversation with Montclair’s new Complete Streets Director, Jacob Nieman. Then we sit down with Senator Cory Booker to discuss his new legislation, independent media, and his time under a state monitor in Newark. Plus, we break down the district-wide school lockdown, the results of the massive school referendum (and the lawsuit trying to stop it), and Mike shares a brilliant YMCA membership hack. The Tragic Reality of Street Safety We sit down with NPR media reporter and longtime resident David Folkenflik , who experienced the unthinkable in October 2023 when his mother was killed crossing the street outside his house. He shares his warnings about Montclair's dangerous intersections, the aggressive driving culture plaguing our residential neighborhoods, and the frustration of warning the town before tragedy struck. We follow this up with a discussion featuring Jacob Nieman , Montclair’s new Complete Streets Director, about how the town plans to fix a broken system. We Booked Booker! Senator Cory Booker joins the pod! In Part 1 of our interview, we talk about the power of independent local media, his new bill to raise the standard deduction to $75,000 for families, and his experience dealing with a state educational monitor back when he was Mayor of Newark. Local Beat: Lockdowns, Lawsuits & The YMCA Hack It was a chaotic week in Montclair schools. We cover the terrifying district-wide lockdown sparked by a threat to the high school. We also dive into the results of the long-awaited school referendum—which might be on hold thanks to a new lawsuit by David Herron alleging electioneering by district principals. Plus, we talk about the search for a new, permanent Business Administrator, and Mike reveals the ultimate "money coach" hack for joining the Montclair YMCA. Links & Resources Watch the Show: Subscribe to The Montclair Pod on YouTube Subscribe to our weekly newsletter ( no spam, just the good stuff.) Guest: Follow David Folkenflik's reporting at NPR . Guest: Learn more about Senator Cory Booker’s Keep Your Pay Act . Street Safety: Learn more about Montclair's Complete Streets Department . School Lawsuit: Read Matt Kadosh's coverage on the principals and the electioneering allegations . YMCA: Learn about the Montclair YMCA . Party @ Lackawanna: <a href="https://soniashnyk.com/" rel="noopene

U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey joins us for a wide-ranging conversation recorded in one sitting for both podcasts Senator Booker first rose to national prominence as the mayor of Newark, where he built a reputation for hands-on leadership and bold policy ideas. He has now served more than a decade in the U.S. Senate, becoming one of the most prominent voices in the Democratic Party. He’s also entering a new chapter personally: Booker recently married and is expecting his first child—something that clearly shapes how he thinks about issues like childcare, family economics, and investing in America’s future. Our conversation comes as Senator Booker unveils a new proposal called the Keep Your Pay Act —a plan that would eliminate federal income taxes on the first $75,000 of income, a move he says could dramatically increase take-home pay for many middle-class families. In this conversation, we discuss: • The Keep Your Pay Act and how it could affect American households • Why Senator Booker believes the tax system is “rigged” against working families • The rising cost of childcare and early education in America • Immigration reform and the climate of fear many immigrant families feel today • The growing power of big media companies and why independent creators matter • The economic implications of the war in Iran, including rising energy costs • Whether Booker sees a presidential run in his future Calculate how much Booker's proposed tax act could save your household. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who? Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) — Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Senate Judiciary Committee Ask a Pol asks: Is there still a bipartisan path to getting crypto regulation done — or did the Trump family derail it? Key Booker: “I think there’s still a very good bipartisan pathway to get something done,” Sen. Cory Booker exclusively tells Ask a Pol Crypto . Caught our ear: “The wild west basically on regulating it invites all kind of not just corruption, but also really dark, sinister activities that we have a chance to curtail and stop,” Booker tells us. TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Cory Booker SCENE: (NEED! — Matt Laslo will fill in from his notes) Matt Laslo: “What did you do to crypto?” Sen. Cory Booker: “I swear I didn’t break it.” Laslo: “I hear you all derailed it.” CB: “No.” Laslo: “Am I getting talking to too many Republicans over here?” CB: “I think there’s still a very good bipartisan pathway to get something done.” Laslo: “Did what derailed it at the end? Was it the Trump family?” CB: “I wouldn’t say it’s derailed. I mean, clearly there’s going to have to be ethics rules there. I think the Wall Street Journal’s story about the crypto chic is an obvious example of why — it is so unethical not to have any kind of ethics. But I hear from the other side that they’re willing to work with us on that. So I still think this has a bipartisan pathway to getting done and I’m going to be relentless in working to get it done.” Laslo: “Are you guys hearing more from like the Coinbases of the world or the regulators themselves?” CB: “I hear from every interested party. From the regulators to consumer advocates, to industry, to consumers themselves. This is obviously something that there’s a chorus of people that want it done and done right. And so that’s one of the reasons why it takes a lot of my time and energy, folks.” [Every bit helps! Pity us — Venmo | PayPal | Cash App — or just buy us a beer!] Laslo: “So you don’t think any of these entities are now like, we’re better off if we wait till after the election?” CB: “I think the wild west basically on regulating it invites all kind of not just corruption, but also really dark, sinister activities that we have a chance to curtail and stop. There’s a lot of illicit activity in this space that we should be working really hard for national security purposes to stop. In addition to that, for me, the consumer protections are urgent. But I wanted to work in this space because of the democratizing forces of blockchain. We really are seeing a lot of opportunities being created for people that have been screwed over by the large finance industries in the first place.” Ask a Pol AI Disclosure: Ask a Pol’s playing around with as many new AI tools as we can, so this small, unfunded startup can compete in today’s new media landscape. (generative) AI isn’t tomorrow’s tech — it’s yesterday’s… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.askapolcrypto.com/subscr

🎙️ EP#382 | DSD | Gavin Newsom, Cory Booker, Tucker, TikTok, Building 7 & Women on the Moon What starts as a behind-the-scenes peek into how this podcast gets made quickly pivots into a firestorm of political commentary and media critique. In this episode, the DSD host gets transparent about production workflows, title and cover art creation, and even how ChatGPT helps shape each drop. But don’t get too comfortable—because things heat up fast as the conversation dives into the murky waters of political hypocrisy, media ownership, and digital censorship. The spotlight then turns to APAC and the tangled relationship between American politicians and pro-Israel lobbying. From Gavin Newsom’s bizarre “interesting” interview to Cory Booker’s evasions, and Jeff Duncan’s moral gymnastics, this episode breaks down how media-savvy hosts are holding political feet to the fire. Shoutout to the "I've Had It" podcast for leading some of these hard-hitting conversations—this one is for listeners who crave accountability. Rounding out the episode is a stark warning about the power of media manipulation. With TikTok’s future potentially being reshaped by Oracle’s acquisition and the Ellison dynasty expanding control over CBS and Paramount, what does this mean for narrative control, especially around Gaza and Israel? Add a dash of 9/11 conspiracy, a jab at Building 7, and a savage "First Woman on the Moon" sketch, and you’ve got one of the most blistering, multi-layered episodes yet. Buckle up. 🔥 Top 7 Key Points 🎧 Podcast 101: Behind the Mic 🪧 Gavin Newsom’s APAC Dodge 🎯 Cory Booker vs. Real Questions 🎙️ Jennifer Welch Brings Heat 📱 TikTok Censorship Incoming 📡 Ellison Family Media Empire 🌕 First Woman on the Moon: Savage Skit 🔑 Keywords & Themes Podcasting workflow, audio production, Alphonic, Spotify for Creators, cover art creation, ChatGPT in podcasting, APAC, Israel-Palestine conflict, political lobbying, Gavin Newsom, Cory Booker, Jennifer Welch, I've Had It Podcast, Jeff Duncan, TikTok algorithm, digital censorship, Larry Ellison, Oracle acquisition, CBS, Paramount, South Park, Muslim immigrants in Europe, Islam vs. Christianity, media narrative control, 9/11 Building 7, thermitic material, Tucker Carlson, Zipix, podcast transparency, Gaza, American politics, bipartisan critique ⏳ Chapters & Timestamps 00:00 – Behind the Scenes: Making the Podcast 03:00 – Podcast 101: Editing, Hosting, Tools 06:00 – APAC & Political Hypocrisy Intro 07:20 – Gavin Newsom’s “Interesting” Interview 09:00 – Cory Booker Gets Called Out 13:00 – Jeff Duncan & AIPAC Dodging 16:00 – TikTok, Oracle & Media Control 18:45 – Israel’s Messaging Strategy via CBS/TikTok 20:30 – Christianity vs. Islam Narrative Warning 21:45 – 9/11, Building 7 & Tucker’s New Series 23:00 – Skit: First Woman on the Moon 23:30 – Zipix Sponsor + Wrap-up 📢 Follow & Engage with DSD Stay updated and share your thoughts with us on social! 📌 Facebook 📌 Instagram 📌 TikTok 📌 YouTube 📌 Twitter 📌 Threads

Democrat Senator Cory Booker unleashed a jaw-dropping tirade on the Senate floor, lashing out at his own party in what can only be described as a political meltdown. What began as a procedural vote turned into a full-scale Democrat civil war, exposing deep fractures within a party collapsing under its own progressive absurdities. From Booker’s rant to Klobuchar’s brutal clapback, this is a front-row seat to the implosion that could hand the GOP a historic midterm landslide. – If you wanna take advantage of this ECONOMIC BOOM Click on the link https://neoscdg.org/zero-to-trading-online-bootcamp-turley *The content presented by sponsors may contain affiliate links. When you click and shop the links, Turley Talks may receive a small commission.* Think America Awakened told the whole story? Not even close. Join my LIVE Masterclass to hear what I’d add—raw, real, and unfiltered. Click now to grab your seat. https://turley.pub/TheGreatShift Highlights: “Senator Cory Booker’s emotional outburst during a bipartisan police funding debate.” “Amy Klobuchar publicly calling out Booker’s grandstanding.” “The Democrat Party’s internal collapse after losing power in 2024.” “Voter rejection of progressive policies in favor of America First leadership.” Timestamps: [00:20] Democratic Senator takes to the Senate floor, explodes on his own party and tells them they deserve to lose. [02:22] Melt down occurred when the senate was trying to pass and amend some bipartisan police funding bills. [04:09] Booker’s temper tantrum on the senate floor was called out. [08:37] Democratic Party that's completely LOST and doesn't know how to function. [09:43] The latest Quinnipiac polling, again, just days ago, it found that Congressional Democrats had reached an all-time low approval rating. – Thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and/or leave a review. FOLLOW me on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/DrTurleyTalks Sign up for the 'New Conservative Age Rising' Email Alerts to get lots of articles on conservative trends: https://turleytalks.com/subscribe-to-our-newsletter **The use of any copyrighted material in this podcast is done so for educational and informational purposes only including parody, commentary, and criticism. See Hosseinzadeh v. Klein, 276 F.Supp.3d 34 (S.D.N.Y. 2017); Equals Three, LLC v. Jukin Media, Inc., 139 F. Supp. 3d 1094 (C.D. Cal. 2015). It is believed that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Ep. 96 What would you speak about for 25 hours straight? That question hit me hard. In this episode of High Vibe Table Talks , I reflect on Senator Cory Booker’s record-breaking 25-hour speech—and what it teaches us about relentless action . Whether you're navigating the ups and downs of entrepreneurship or finding your voice in a noisy world, this is your sign to push past perfectionism and step fully into your power. 📣 I break down how Booker's boldness, persistence, and community-driven spirit can fuel your own mission. Because here’s the truth: if your message matters, discomfort is part of the process. But you don’t have to do it alone. Key Takeaways: Embrace "Relentless Action": Translate Cory Booker's courageous speech into actionable lessons by pushing through discomfort to achieve entrepreneurial dreams. Community Power: Building a strong support network is crucial for achieving personal and professional goals. Persistence Pays Off: Consistent effort and learning from past lessons can lead to significant breakthroughs and accomplishments. Find Your 'Why': Know what drives you deeply enough that you'd be willing to dedicate hours to speaking passionately about it. Overcoming Perfectionism: Embrace imperfection; progress in business and politics comes through action, not waiting for perfect conditions. Let’s talk about how to stay aligned, speak your truth, and show up—even when it’s hard. Because your voice, your story, and your why are more powerful than you think. 💬 Join the Conversation on Threads @‌HighVibeCowork 💻 Virtual Co-Working for Creators – http://highvibecowork.com/virtual **Sales Prospecting Simplified: The Course ** Register Now Chapters: 0:00 Cory Booker's Historic Speech Inspires Entrepreneurial Lessons 4:45 Embracing Discomfort to Create Positive Ripple Effects 6:52 Persistence and Courage in Achieving Success 9:27 Power of Community in Achieving Success 11:48 Sales Skills for Building Resilient Businesses 14:22 Community and Prospecting #HighVibeTableTalks #EntrepreneurMindset #RelentlessAction #CoryBooker #PurposeDrivenBusiness #CommunitySupport #DiscomfortIsGrowth #WomenInBusiness #POVHostMerchon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Senator Cory Booker stood in the Senate for 25 relentless hours , he did more than break records—he broke the silence. His words rang out, not as partisan rhetoric, but as a call to conscience: "This is not right or left; it is right or wrong. This is not a partisan moment. It is a moral moment. Where do you stand?" His question is not rhetorical. It demands an answer from every one of us. It demands action. Booker reminds us that we cannot wait for heroes to save us— we are the heroes we've been waiting for. In this moment of crisis, where Trump, Musk, and their enablers are dismantling the very foundations of our democracy, we must rise. The time to rise is now. The longer we hesitate, the stronger these forces of chaos become. As Booker said, "We're senators with all of this power, but in this democracy, the power of people is greater than the people in power." History has always proven this truth. Throughout his historic speech, Booker drew from our nation's painful yet powerful history—the civil rights movement, the struggle for women's suffrage, the generations who got into what Congressman John Lewis called "good trouble, necessary trouble." Booker echoed Lewis: "Help redeem the soul of America." We honor that legacy by standing up today, not shrinking back. Booker's voice, hoarse after hours of speaking, still declared, "My voice is inadequate… My efforts today are inadequate to stop what they're trying to do. But we, the people, are powerful." Yes, we are. But only if we choose to act. This moment is not about political parties—it is about people. Booker said it plainly: "Let's stop worrying about the politics and get more focused on the people." Because people—our neighbors, families, and communities—are under attack. Republicans are slashing healthcare, gutting Medicaid, attacking Social Security, and dismantling public education. They are pushing a mass deportation agenda and abandoning our allies while emboldening our adversaries. They are working every day to make life harder for working families while shoveling tax cuts to the wealthiest and to corporations. The danger is clear. But so is our path forward. "A gathering like this can't be the end of our activism," Booker warned. "This has got to be a moment in America where all of us begin to say, what more can I do?" Cory Booker Calls Us to Rise Now So what more can we do? We can show up. We can speak out. We can build people power and organize in every city, every state, and every community. We must build power to replace the corrupt politicians who sell out our future. Fascism thrives when people believe "it can't happen here"—but history teaches otherwise. Silence is surrender. Action is power. We must rise together. Because when we fight together, we win together. This is not the time for despair. It is the time for determination. Booker's courage reminds us that unity is our greatest weapon. Unity tears down the walls of fear and division that Trump and his allies build to keep us apart. And together, we are unstoppable. Let us redeem the dream, as Booker challenged us to do. Let us be bold. Let us become the messengers this moment demands, the leaders our communities need, the fighters our democracy requires. Remember: we are the heroes we've been waiting for. The question is before us, as clear and urgent as ever. Cory Booker has asked it. History has asked it. Our children, our future, are asking it: Where do you stand? Let's answer with our actions. Let's answer with our courage. <em

Today, I gave a quick lesson to my students about Senator Cory Booker’s history-making moment yesterday. I highlighted the striking contrast between Senator Booker and Senator Strom Thurmond, focusing on how Booker broke Thurmond’s infamous record for the longest single filibuster in U.S. Senate history. Thurmond, a staunch segregationist, famously filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1957 to block progress toward racial equality, using Senate rules to entrench segregation and maintain the status quo. (Throughout American history, filibusters were often used by segregationists to block civil rights legislation.) Fast forward to Booker, who surpassed Thurmond's record with a 25-hour+ filibuster that addressed not only voting rights but also the broader moral crisis facing our country. Booker highlighted harmful job cuts and attacks on education and social programs under the Trump administration, with Elon Musk’s influence pushing policies to defund schools and undermine job security. He framed this as part of a larger battle to defend democracy from forces eroding its foundations. Watch to learn more about other significant civil rights events that occurred in 1957. Quick Reflection: As I watched Senator Cory Booker break Strom Thurmond’s record for the longest speech on the Senate floor, I was deeply moved—as an American and as a United States history teacher. Thurmond used his time to stand in the way of progress. Booker used his to stand for it. This was a powerful moment. This is the America we’re fighting for. This is our moral moment—and we must all answer the call. Get full access to Yo, Miss! at saribethrosenberg.substack.com/subscribe