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When I sat down with Representative Jasmine Crockett of Texas for At Our Table [ [link removed] ], the conversation unfolded the way real ones do: layered, candid, and grounded in lived experience.
Before Congress, she was a public defender—standing next to people who already understood the system wasn’t built with them in mind.
“I was representing people that did not believe in the system for a lot of reasons. Most people don’t think of public defenders and think that’s what I want, right? They think of less than good representation, and they don’t believe that they’ve got a shot with a public defender.”
But that perception shifted when she showed up.
“I became that public defender that literally people would come to jail and they’d be like, ‘Okay, can we get Jasmine?’”
That credibility came from being inside the system long enough to see how deep the problems really ran.
“You’re on the outside looking in and you’re like, ‘We got some things we need to change.’ And then you get inside and you’re like, ‘Lord… it’s more broken than I thought.’ And every time I hit a wall, I’m like, let me elevate my activism. Let me elevate my fight for the people.”
That same clarity carried into our conversation about the moment we’re in now and why she’s running for the U.S. Senate.
“I don’t know how long our democracy has. There is no perfect time, and I can’t say in good conscience that I’m serving on the federal level if I’m not in a position to actually change the trajectory of our country.”
She was just as direct about the political assumptions she thinks need to be challenged.
“There’s a whole bunch of people who just aren’t voting. Let’s look at who those people are. We don’t need to run the same races that we’ve always run, not if we want a different result.”
And when I asked what she wanted women—and Black women in particular—to hear right now, she didn’t soften her answer.
“We’ve always led, and we shouldn’t allow others to define us or our ability to lead. Don’t doubt yourself because of what others say. Anything that they say is really out of fear because they know your strength.”
That’s Jasmine Crockett. Clear-eyed about broken systems. Unapologetic about power. Focused on the work instead of the noise.
Leadership isn’t about finding the right moment. It’s about deciding the moment demands more of you.
Enjoy the episode.
—Jaime

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