Hey, Gritty Kitties! Welcome to another episode of "Catty Chats"

Today we are talking to Oye Owolewa who is running for a DC City Council at large seat.

He first came to my attention because he was doing a lot of work
protesting the new ICE headquarters that is slated to be constructed in the 8th Ward of Washington DC.

The people of DC has been going through a lot of their own special struggles
because they have fewer rights than other states, counties, or cities because they do not have voting representation in Congress which is connected to a myriad of other ways they are not allow to make their own decisions and control their own destiny.

Just one example: The President of the United Statesis the head of the National Guard of Washington DC and you can remember perhaps
how that is a problem when you have things that happen like say
January 6th.

We get into many of the nooks and crannies of how dangerous it is for ALL of us that the people of DC are singled out to have taxation without representation, despite states with smaller populations having at least one congressperson and two Senators - and that's the just the tip of the iceberg.

Learn more about this pharmacist turned first Nigerian American elected to Federal Office and fighter for DC sovereignty & safety at https://www.vote4oye.com/

CLAWS OUT!

Hey gritty kitties - welcome to Catty Chats. We talk to people working to make things suck less in new and interesting ways.

In this episode we're talking to Cori Herbig of Project Ninja and Morris County Rapid Response which are anti ice organizations in New Jersey. This episode was taped on Tuesday, June 2, 2026 - after the intense events of Memorial Day Weekend but before other developments.

She's been on the ground with those groups and as an individual regularly including against the would be detention center in Roxbury New Jersey, and also outside Delaney Hall for weeks and months before things sort of boiled over around Memorial Day weekend.

She has also worked closely with the immigrant rights organizations that are the core of the protest there including those who are working directly with the immigrant detainees. She brings a lot of behind the scenes knowledge and information from being on the ground outside Delaney at key moments even well before most of the people who were reporting on the situation there showed up.

We get into the "main characters" who stepped up, who was a great disappointment and debunk lies so you know what's really been happening on the ground and how this is still a developing story.

She's ALSO a pizza bagel Jersey girl cat lady like myself so she's also my new best friend whether she wants to be or not naturally

sorry not sorry.

There's heavy information in this episode but also I swear to god we laugh a lot it's really important to listen for both those reasons
key here is to follow and support with donations if you can the organizations that she talks about.regularly throughout this episode.

https://www.instagram.com/cosechanj
https://givebutter.com/commissaryfund
https://food4nj.org/
https://givebutter.com/GroceryCards
https://www.instagram.com/paxchristinj/

Welcome to Catty Chats LIVE! The monthly LIVE episode of Cat Ladies for America’s weekly podcast Catty Chats.

This month's Live panel of experts is talking all things voting rights in the wake of the gutting of the Voting Rights Act by the U.S. Supreme Court this spring. We discuss the practical on the ground ramifications, some long and shorter term strategies to reverse all the harm that's been done, and how Team Democracy can still WIN in these mid-terms by being on top of the changes and standing up to the tricks they may yet pull this year and beyond.

THEN as we'll will with all Catty Chats Live, everyone on the livestream takes a couple quick group actions based on the information and tips from the panelists we've heard from, and vow to take one more action from our "choose your own adventure" list and check in about it before the next CCLive on Sunday, June 28!

PANELISTS:
DAVANTE LEWIS is a Louisiana Public Service Commissioner - an elected state constitutional office that oversees the state’s independent regulatory agency which manages public utilities and motor carriers.

DARA JOHNSON is an Associate Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Maryland. She supports a range of efforts, including litigating against voting rights attacks, lead the organization’s push to enact the Maryland Voting Rights Act. She is also a verified cat lady.

KATE BARR is founder of CAN’T WIN VICTORY FUND, which runs real candidates in serious campaigns for races they’re supposed to lose - often due to extreme, intentional gerrymandering. When Democrats don’t show up, voters don’t engage, infrastructure disappears, and nothing changes.

Sign up for our Substack to get the notes, links and calls to action from the livestream: https://substack.com/@catladiesforamerica

Wanna start or join a chapter? Visit https://catladiesforamerica.com/how-to-get-involved

CHECK YOUR REGISTRATION RIGHT MEOW!

https://www.vote411.org OR https://www.rockthevote.org

Other Voting & Election Resources
https://www.ACLU-MD.ORG

https://www.CANTWINVICTORYFUND.COM

https://www.TINYURL.COM/YallVoteTheSouth
https://catladiesforamerica.com
https://www.aclu.org
https://www.aclu.org/affiliates
https://www.AllRoadsLeadtotheSouth.com
https://www.brennancenter.org
https://www.lwv.org
https://bvmcapacitybuilding.org
https://naacp.org