WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.439 Before we get into this interview, I just wanted 00:00:02.439 --> 00:00:04.480 to make note that this week's interview is just 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:07.459 between myself and Representative Pierce. My 00:00:07.459 --> 00:00:10.060 co -host Adrian, I believe, got lost on his way 00:00:10.060 --> 00:00:12.599 back from Philly, where he was attending the 00:00:12.599 --> 00:00:15.619 Young Democrats of America conference. Adrian, 00:00:15.800 --> 00:00:23.260 I told you to use a damn GPS. Anyway... This 00:00:23.260 --> 00:00:26.679 week on Left Hold North, we have an interview 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:29.640 that I feel is a long time coming. This week 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:31.660 we are talking with North Carolina State House 00:00:31.660 --> 00:00:34.740 Representative Rodney D. Pierce. Representative 00:00:34.740 --> 00:00:37.079 Pierce represents North Carolina District 27, 00:00:37.340 --> 00:00:39.920 so that's Northampton, Halifax, and Warren Counties, 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:43.020 in the northeastern part of the state, right 00:00:43.020 --> 00:00:45.759 along the North Carolina -Virginia line. He is 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:47.880 a native of Halifax County and grew up in Roanoke 00:00:47.880 --> 00:00:50.899 Rapids. And this is actually his first term after 00:00:50.899 --> 00:00:53.960 defeating 20 -year incumbent Michael Ray. Representative 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:55.979 Pierce is an award -winning educator and has 00:00:55.979 --> 00:00:58.539 taught many a social studies student. and has 00:00:58.539 --> 00:01:00.420 served on the North Carolina Governor's Teacher 00:01:00.420 --> 00:01:04.879 Advisory Committee. A strong advocate for affordable 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:07.359 health care, affordable housing, fully funded 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:10.900 education, and class mobility, Rodney Pierce 00:01:10.900 --> 00:01:13.079 has become a strong advocate and representative 00:01:13.079 --> 00:01:15.019 of the people of North Carolina District 27. 00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:18.180 He currently sits on the Appropriations, General 00:01:18.180 --> 00:01:20.439 Government Appropriations, Homeland Security, 00:01:20.700 --> 00:01:22.840 Military Affairs, and Insurance Committees in 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:25.079 the General Assembly. Representative Pierce, 00:01:25.299 --> 00:01:27.950 welcome to the show. Thank you for having me, 00:01:27.989 --> 00:01:30.730 sir. Glad to be here. Glad to have you on. Now, 00:01:30.989 --> 00:01:34.569 we, you know, just I guess in full transparency, 00:01:34.609 --> 00:01:38.049 you and I know each other already. This isn't 00:01:38.049 --> 00:01:41.790 one of those interviews where the person just 00:01:41.790 --> 00:01:43.730 kind of got dropped in and we just start asking 00:01:43.730 --> 00:01:48.209 them questions. Yeah, we have history. Yeah, 00:01:48.209 --> 00:01:55.599 so I guess for the listeners at home, I... beginning 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:59.959 part of last year so 2024 i saw a like little 00:01:59.959 --> 00:02:02.780 job posting saying hey we're looking for a campaign 00:02:02.780 --> 00:02:07.760 manager to uh manage a state house primary i'm 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:10.680 like oh that could be cool i've never managed 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:13.300 a race before that that might be fun we'll see 00:02:13.300 --> 00:02:16.919 what happens well what do you know um joined 00:02:16.919 --> 00:02:21.879 uh the team pierce campaign and the rest is history 00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:25.400 right yeah that's right That's right, man. I 00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:28.439 tell people all the time, I said, there's no 00:02:28.439 --> 00:02:33.500 way to describe being hugged up with CJ jumping 00:02:33.500 --> 00:02:38.460 up and down. When that last precinct, when those 00:02:38.460 --> 00:02:41.860 last numbers came in right before midnight. And 00:02:41.860 --> 00:02:43.840 I said, we were just sitting there jumping up 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:48.039 and down. We won. We won. We won. There's something 00:02:48.039 --> 00:02:49.900 I cherish for the rest of my life, man. And I 00:02:49.900 --> 00:02:53.259 so appreciate you. and your work on my campaign, 00:02:53.460 --> 00:02:58.740 man. I know I'm not a day at the beach. But like 00:02:58.740 --> 00:03:02.599 I tell you all the time, man, I really appreciated 00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:04.219 your patience in working with me because there 00:03:04.219 --> 00:03:08.020 were so many things that I didn't know going 00:03:08.020 --> 00:03:10.860 into this that you were more well -versed in. 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:14.099 And I just think we were a perfect combination 00:03:14.099 --> 00:03:17.680 because the things that you were strong in. I 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:19.560 let you be strong again. Then the things that 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:21.699 I was strong in, you let me be strong. Yeah. 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:25.020 So again, I appreciate you again. Appreciate 00:03:25.020 --> 00:03:27.960 you having me on today as well. Of course. No, 00:03:28.020 --> 00:03:31.939 we're, I mean, I'm happy to have you on. You 00:03:31.939 --> 00:03:35.159 know, it's a, this is a long time coming. I will 00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:39.659 say it's a, I agree. You know, working on campaigns 00:03:39.659 --> 00:03:44.159 is not easy to say the least, but it's, it's 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:48.300 always really nice to, you know, we'll get the 00:03:48.300 --> 00:03:51.719 desired outcome. And then to then get to watch 00:03:51.719 --> 00:03:54.919 the person that you're working for, working with 00:03:54.919 --> 00:04:00.340 to see them go on and, you know, do great stuff 00:04:00.340 --> 00:04:05.180 in whatever office it is. It's a very rewarding 00:04:05.180 --> 00:04:09.060 thing to see. And I'm very lucky, very fortunate 00:04:09.060 --> 00:04:11.240 to have been a part of it. I guess, however, 00:04:11.300 --> 00:04:13.800 we should kind of give folks a little bit of 00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:18.680 a little bit of background on you. So you, before 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:22.259 you started to run, before you got elected, you 00:04:22.259 --> 00:04:26.180 were a teacher, middle school, social studies. 00:04:26.420 --> 00:04:31.420 So I guess, just tell us a little bit about what 00:04:31.420 --> 00:04:34.839 that was like and also just kind of how you ended 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:38.839 up going or deciding, hey, I'm no longer going 00:04:38.839 --> 00:04:41.019 to teach social studies. I'm going to go live 00:04:41.019 --> 00:04:45.209 it, essentially. Yes, sir. Well, I started teaching 00:04:45.209 --> 00:04:50.290 in 2015, November of 2015, as a middle school 00:04:50.290 --> 00:04:52.310 social studies teacher in Halifax County Schools. 00:04:52.470 --> 00:04:54.769 That's the district that I actually graduated 00:04:54.769 --> 00:04:57.649 from, as well as the district all three of my 00:04:57.649 --> 00:05:01.310 children attend. And, you know, the first year, 00:05:01.470 --> 00:05:04.269 which really wasn't a full school year, you know, 00:05:04.269 --> 00:05:07.610 I came on in the latter part of the fall. The 00:05:07.610 --> 00:05:10.079 first year, you're just trying to survive. That's 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:11.740 what I was always told. You know, you're just 00:05:11.740 --> 00:05:13.800 trying to survive, trying to keep your head above 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:18.060 water. And then the second year, you know, you 00:05:18.060 --> 00:05:19.779 get a little bit more comfortable. So the second 00:05:19.779 --> 00:05:23.399 year that I was teaching, I started trying to 00:05:23.399 --> 00:05:26.139 learn more about the profession, learn more in 00:05:26.139 --> 00:05:28.759 terms of how to be a better teacher, look up 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:31.360 statistics, look at data. You know, and I'm a 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:32.980 social studies teacher, so that's what I need 00:05:32.980 --> 00:05:36.139 to be doing anyway. And so I learned about the 00:05:36.139 --> 00:05:38.300 underfunding of public education, particularly. 00:05:38.829 --> 00:05:41.790 in the northeastern part of the state, learned 00:05:41.790 --> 00:05:44.610 about some of the state policies that, you know, 00:05:44.610 --> 00:05:47.410 weren't necessarily equitable, you know, they 00:05:47.410 --> 00:05:51.850 were inequitable in terms of how many kids were 00:05:51.850 --> 00:05:54.610 getting referred to, you know, academically and 00:05:54.610 --> 00:05:57.069 intellectually gifted services or advanced placement 00:05:57.069 --> 00:06:01.689 courses, the disciplinary issues in terms of 00:06:01.689 --> 00:06:05.329 how those situations were handled, academic performance. 00:06:06.209 --> 00:06:08.550 As the father of a black son, how black boys 00:06:08.550 --> 00:06:10.350 were treated, because I used to have a lot of 00:06:10.350 --> 00:06:12.730 young men come to my class, you know, when they 00:06:12.730 --> 00:06:14.829 would get into it with another teacher and go 00:06:14.829 --> 00:06:17.889 to Mr. Pierce's room, you know. So I just started 00:06:17.889 --> 00:06:21.009 learning all of that stuff. And it made me more 00:06:21.009 --> 00:06:23.290 politically aware because I said to myself, well, 00:06:23.389 --> 00:06:27.930 who's in charge of these policies, these rules? 00:06:28.170 --> 00:06:31.290 And so you go to your board of education, right? 00:06:31.350 --> 00:06:32.889 You look at that and then you go a little higher. 00:06:33.629 --> 00:06:36.410 And you go to your state level representatives 00:06:36.410 --> 00:06:39.029 and you go to your federal. And what I learned 00:06:39.029 --> 00:06:41.569 was that the state has more to do with public 00:06:41.569 --> 00:06:45.449 education, namely funding public education in 00:06:45.449 --> 00:06:47.389 North Carolina than the federal government does. 00:06:47.610 --> 00:06:49.850 So that's when I really started paying more attention 00:06:49.850 --> 00:06:53.750 to who are the people making these laws as a 00:06:53.750 --> 00:06:55.569 pertaining education, who's sitting on the education 00:06:55.569 --> 00:06:58.529 K -12 committee, who's sitting on the appropriations 00:06:58.529 --> 00:07:01.449 committee, who are the chairs, you know, what 00:07:01.449 --> 00:07:03.750 bills have been introduced. Things like that. 00:07:04.069 --> 00:07:10.329 And it was last year. Namely, actually, no, it 00:07:10.329 --> 00:07:13.870 was late 2023. I have been watching the state 00:07:13.870 --> 00:07:18.569 representative for District 27 for a while. And 00:07:18.569 --> 00:07:21.850 the reason that I jumped into the phrase, so 00:07:21.850 --> 00:07:26.689 to speak, was because this guy was saying that 00:07:26.689 --> 00:07:29.870 he was a Democrat, but was voting with Republicans, 00:07:30.129 --> 00:07:32.879 you know, damn near 90 percent of the time. sometimes 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:35.279 more than members of their own party. And what 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:38.079 really got me incensed was that he was voting 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:41.459 to defund public education and send millions 00:07:41.459 --> 00:07:44.139 and billions of dollars to private schools for 00:07:44.139 --> 00:07:48.300 unaccountable, you know, vouchers. And, you know, 00:07:48.300 --> 00:07:50.379 Halifax County Schools is a Leandro district. 00:07:50.579 --> 00:07:52.439 We are one of the original plaintiffs. I was 00:07:52.439 --> 00:07:54.540 a high school sophomore when that lawsuit was 00:07:54.540 --> 00:07:58.079 filed. So, you know, that just kind of made it, 00:07:58.100 --> 00:08:02.069 you know, even worse. I actually first ran for 00:08:02.069 --> 00:08:04.629 public office in 2022, ran for the Halifax County 00:08:04.629 --> 00:08:09.129 Schools Board of Education. Lost that by 34 votes, 00:08:09.250 --> 00:08:11.850 finished fourth in the field of seven. Top three 00:08:11.850 --> 00:08:14.149 vote getters were the winners. Excuse me, lost 00:08:14.149 --> 00:08:18.649 by 33 votes. And as you know, decided to run 00:08:18.649 --> 00:08:22.129 for the state house, won about 34 votes. As we 00:08:22.129 --> 00:08:26.509 say, lucky God. Yeah, honestly, though, I will 00:08:26.509 --> 00:08:32.320 say you mentioned. the Leandro case a second 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:36.240 ago. I know some folks might not necessarily 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:39.200 know what exactly the Leandro case is, but I 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:41.460 feel like it is, at least in my opinion, one 00:08:41.460 --> 00:08:45.940 of the most important court cases in recent state 00:08:45.940 --> 00:08:48.299 history, and it's still going on. So would you 00:08:48.299 --> 00:08:50.840 mind just kind of layman's terms real quick to 00:08:50.840 --> 00:08:54.519 explain that? Yes, sir. Well, in 1994, you had 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:57.070 five public school systems in. North Carolina, 00:08:57.230 --> 00:08:59.029 Halifax County Schools, Hope County Schools, 00:08:59.389 --> 00:09:02.090 Cumberland, Vance, Robinson County. They sued 00:09:02.090 --> 00:09:05.129 the state of North Carolina for inequitable funding 00:09:05.129 --> 00:09:07.889 for their school systems. They were, from what 00:09:07.889 --> 00:09:10.230 I understand, they had to tax their residents 00:09:10.230 --> 00:09:13.710 at a higher than average rate to make up for 00:09:13.710 --> 00:09:16.090 the funding shortfall from the state. So they 00:09:16.090 --> 00:09:20.629 sued the state in 1994. I believe the first decision 00:09:20.629 --> 00:09:24.669 was in 1997. And they were basically saying, 00:09:24.769 --> 00:09:27.029 hey. We find in favor of the plaintiffs. The 00:09:27.029 --> 00:09:29.049 courts are basically saying we find in favor 00:09:29.049 --> 00:09:32.470 of the plaintiffs. You know, there is a, you 00:09:32.470 --> 00:09:35.149 know, the state constitution says this is a students 00:09:35.149 --> 00:09:37.350 in North Carolina have the right to a sound basic 00:09:37.350 --> 00:09:39.929 education, highly qualified teachers, highly 00:09:39.929 --> 00:09:42.509 qualified administrators, thus and so, thus and 00:09:42.509 --> 00:09:45.730 so. It actually was filed in Halifax County Superior 00:09:45.730 --> 00:09:49.669 Court originally back in 1994. So I always tell 00:09:49.669 --> 00:09:52.590 people, you know, Leandro is associated with 00:09:52.590 --> 00:09:54.549 Hope because that's where Robert Leandro was 00:09:54.549 --> 00:09:57.350 from. But I always associated more with Halifax 00:09:57.350 --> 00:09:59.470 because that's where it was actually filed. And 00:09:59.470 --> 00:10:02.750 we are an original plaintiff. But I think the 00:10:02.750 --> 00:10:06.590 next decision may have been in 2002 or 2004. 00:10:06.909 --> 00:10:10.389 It was in the 2000s, if I remember correctly. 00:10:10.629 --> 00:10:12.710 And it basically was an affirmation of the earlier 00:10:12.710 --> 00:10:19.289 ruling. Then there was another ruling when that 00:10:19.289 --> 00:10:25.159 was in 2022. If I'm not mistaken, and it was 00:10:25.159 --> 00:10:27.460 another affirmation of the original ruling, you 00:10:27.460 --> 00:10:30.259 know, Governor Cooper put together a sound basic 00:10:30.259 --> 00:10:33.940 for excuse me, sound basic education for every 00:10:33.940 --> 00:10:36.399 child, basically a Leandro committee at the state 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:40.860 level. West Ed was paid to put together a Leandro 00:10:40.860 --> 00:10:43.899 plan. And there have been just bits and pieces 00:10:43.899 --> 00:10:46.279 of that that have been enacted over the past 00:10:46.279 --> 00:10:48.539 several years by the G .A. has never been fully 00:10:48.539 --> 00:10:51.480 funded. And in one of the town halls that I had 00:10:51.480 --> 00:10:54.220 earlier this year, my district. We had Larry 00:10:54.220 --> 00:10:56.419 Armstrong, who was the Halifax County Schools 00:10:56.419 --> 00:11:00.419 Board of Education attorney in 1994, and is still 00:11:00.419 --> 00:11:04.840 the board attorney now in 2025. And he said the 00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:07.320 money that has been spent towards private school 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:10.019 vouchers in North Carolina could have fully funded 00:11:10.019 --> 00:11:14.500 the Leandro plan by now. Jeez. So that is the 00:11:14.500 --> 00:11:18.320 Leandro case in a nutshell. It started off as 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:23.039 a low wealth funding issue. for those counties 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:25.059 that have low -wealth education funding issue, 00:11:25.220 --> 00:11:27.519 and now it's become more of a civil rights issue 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:30.159 because North Carolina is the only state in the 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:32.539 country where our Declaration of Rights and our 00:11:32.539 --> 00:11:35.659 state constitution gives you the right to a free 00:11:35.659 --> 00:11:37.980 and uniform system of public schools, and it's 00:11:37.980 --> 00:11:39.639 the duty of the state to maintain that right. 00:11:40.759 --> 00:11:45.879 So essentially, they had the initial court case, 00:11:45.899 --> 00:11:48.259 the initial ruling, really, in the mid-'90s. 00:11:48.970 --> 00:11:51.309 And then at least twice it's been reaffirmed 00:11:51.309 --> 00:11:55.830 saying, hey, this is still the case. These kids 00:11:55.830 --> 00:11:59.830 are still entitled to this good education. And 00:11:59.830 --> 00:12:04.210 yet nothing has happened, unfortunately. At least 00:12:04.210 --> 00:12:08.830 not really. It seems like it's one of those things 00:12:08.830 --> 00:12:11.909 where just more and more money is being sent 00:12:11.909 --> 00:12:14.490 to school vouchers instead of public education. 00:12:15.129 --> 00:12:19.059 Yeah. Now, I will say one thing that you mentioned 00:12:19.059 --> 00:12:21.840 before on the campaign trail, and I should know 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:26.139 I was there, is, you know, you've talked about 00:12:26.139 --> 00:12:28.659 your area of the state and just kind of that 00:12:28.659 --> 00:12:31.379 whole general area. You know, you call it like 00:12:31.379 --> 00:12:34.659 the you call it the neglected northeast. So, 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:39.639 like, why? Why is that a particular moniker? 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:42.500 Well, if you look, you know, I'm a historian, 00:12:42.700 --> 00:12:45.850 CJ, so I got to take it back. So Northeastern 00:12:45.850 --> 00:12:48.429 North Carolina, we're talking Halifax, Northampton, 00:12:48.490 --> 00:12:52.769 Warren, Gertie, Hertford, Edgecombe. You know, 00:12:52.769 --> 00:12:55.429 these were counties that had some of the highest 00:12:55.429 --> 00:12:59.549 enslaved populations percentage wise in the state, 00:12:59.570 --> 00:13:02.070 you know, right at the cusp of the Civil War. 00:13:02.110 --> 00:13:05.110 When you go to the 1860 census, some of the wealthiest 00:13:05.110 --> 00:13:06.950 counties in North Carolina, Warren County was 00:13:06.950 --> 00:13:10.450 the wealthiest county in North Carolina in 1860. 00:13:10.490 --> 00:13:14.019 Yes. Now, today is one of the poorest, you know, 00:13:14.039 --> 00:13:16.799 it's a tier one county. And then when you look 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:20.759 at emancipation, then you go through, you know, 00:13:20.759 --> 00:13:25.580 late 19th century, early 20th century, you know, 00:13:25.580 --> 00:13:28.919 you see black people in these counties literally 00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:31.960 having to fight for their rights, fight for the 00:13:31.960 --> 00:13:33.980 rights they were supposed to be given. You know, 00:13:33.980 --> 00:13:37.899 when they acquired citizenship, you see a bevy 00:13:37.899 --> 00:13:41.340 of court cases in the mid to late. 20th century 00:13:41.340 --> 00:13:44.100 being filed in this area, you know, education 00:13:44.100 --> 00:13:49.059 rights, voting rights, property rights. I mean, 00:13:49.100 --> 00:13:51.200 all of these things you see these, you know, 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:53.840 black folks who still make up a majority in most 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:56.080 of the counties or at least 40 some percent of 00:13:56.080 --> 00:14:00.559 the population still fighting for, you know, 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:03.159 these rights, still fighting for equity. And 00:14:03.159 --> 00:14:07.500 at the same time, you're seeing the economies 00:14:07.500 --> 00:14:10.029 of these places decline. Over the past several 00:14:10.029 --> 00:14:15.129 decades, manufacturing jobs are leaving. You 00:14:15.129 --> 00:14:17.990 see a lot of fast food places coming in, but 00:14:17.990 --> 00:14:20.429 you don't really see industry like that. Industry 00:14:20.429 --> 00:14:22.350 that will be transformative, let me put it that 00:14:22.350 --> 00:14:25.429 way. You have an aging population, and this is 00:14:25.429 --> 00:14:28.190 no affront to seniors, but you have an aging 00:14:28.190 --> 00:14:32.830 population. Your population is declining. For 00:14:32.830 --> 00:14:36.529 the last 20 years, our population has been declining. 00:14:37.070 --> 00:14:38.830 All three of the counties, most of the counties 00:14:38.830 --> 00:14:41.350 are tier one. Some of them are persistent poverty, 00:14:41.590 --> 00:14:44.110 meaning they've been, you know, in an economically 00:14:44.110 --> 00:14:47.350 destitute state for several decades, at least 00:14:47.350 --> 00:14:51.830 30 years. And so, you know, as someone who lived 00:14:51.830 --> 00:14:54.090 here and literally watched this transformation 00:14:54.090 --> 00:14:58.169 happen over time, I call it a neglected Northeast 00:14:58.169 --> 00:15:00.809 of North Carolina because it felt like, well, 00:15:00.970 --> 00:15:03.830 we're just like the redheaded stepchild out of 00:15:03.830 --> 00:15:06.919 the state, you know? It's like... It'll be okay. 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:10.299 They'll figure it out. And just throw them a 00:15:10.299 --> 00:15:11.899 bone or toss them a little something every now 00:15:11.899 --> 00:15:14.840 and then. You know, not anything to really transform 00:15:14.840 --> 00:15:17.059 their life or upgrade their quality of life, 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:19.799 but something to just hold them to the next funding 00:15:19.799 --> 00:15:22.700 cycle. Then we'll toss them something else. I 00:15:22.700 --> 00:15:25.980 say neglect because it feels like the times both 00:15:25.980 --> 00:15:29.779 parties have been, you know, have neglected this 00:15:29.779 --> 00:15:32.500 part of the state and taken it for granted. You 00:15:32.500 --> 00:15:35.409 got all this history here. Halifax, you know, 00:15:35.409 --> 00:15:37.450 Warren County, birthplace of environmental justice. 00:15:38.509 --> 00:15:40.450 Halifax, you know, where the resolves were adopted. 00:15:40.529 --> 00:15:43.210 We love to call ourselves person freedom. So, 00:15:43.330 --> 00:15:47.029 you know, it's like us to be such an important 00:15:47.029 --> 00:15:49.570 part of the history of this state and the country, 00:15:49.629 --> 00:15:51.590 for that matter. You would think we'd get a little 00:15:51.590 --> 00:15:52.950 bit more love and a little bit more attention. 00:15:53.370 --> 00:15:56.500 Do you think that... that blame for, you know, 00:15:56.500 --> 00:15:59.919 the kind of neglected status lies more on like 00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:02.779 the state level, federal level, or maybe just 00:16:02.779 --> 00:16:05.720 like a mix? I think it's a mix. I think it's 00:16:05.720 --> 00:16:07.940 local as well. I'm not excluding us because, 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:09.759 you know, sometimes you can get in your own way. 00:16:10.740 --> 00:16:14.159 You know, the elected leadership that we've had 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:17.580 has not always, and I'm not saying all of them, 00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:19.740 but the elected leadership that we've had on 00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:22.960 local, state, and federal levels throughout. 00:16:23.639 --> 00:16:25.980 past several decades has not always had the best 00:16:25.980 --> 00:16:30.860 interest of this part of the state in mind. You 00:16:30.860 --> 00:16:32.419 know, whether you look at their voting record, 00:16:32.580 --> 00:16:34.559 whether you look at how hard they've advocated 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:37.320 for this part of the state, they didn't always 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:41.820 have our best interest in mind or at heart. And 00:16:41.820 --> 00:16:44.039 now, you know, you've got, you know, over the 00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:46.679 past couple of few years, now this area of the 00:16:46.679 --> 00:16:49.039 state is becoming, you know, in my opinion, racially 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:51.879 gerrymandered. You know, so you're taking away 00:16:51.879 --> 00:16:53.799 the ability of people in this part of the state 00:16:53.799 --> 00:16:56.360 to elect the leaders and the leadership that 00:16:56.360 --> 00:16:58.279 they want to represent them at different levels 00:16:58.279 --> 00:17:00.480 of government when it comes to state and federal. 00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:03.340 And then sometimes you have people at local levels 00:17:03.340 --> 00:17:08.220 who may be more concerned with lining their own 00:17:08.220 --> 00:17:10.019 pockets and keeping their position of authority 00:17:10.019 --> 00:17:13.500 than actually mentoring younger people and letting 00:17:13.500 --> 00:17:16.119 them assume the post and the mantle to move us 00:17:16.119 --> 00:17:19.039 forward into the future. And I know that's not 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:22.069 just... you know, this part of the state. I know 00:17:22.069 --> 00:17:24.049 that's, you know, throughout the state and throughout 00:17:24.049 --> 00:17:26.670 the country, namely. You know, you see that divide. 00:17:27.069 --> 00:17:28.970 There's not so much, you know, black and white. 00:17:29.490 --> 00:17:32.529 You know, it's sometimes young and old. It's 00:17:32.529 --> 00:17:35.569 sometimes a class struggle. So you have all of 00:17:35.569 --> 00:17:37.609 those things to go along with it as well. And 00:17:37.609 --> 00:17:41.450 I mean, I agree. It's something we've talked 00:17:41.450 --> 00:17:45.589 about on the show before is just, you know, maybe 00:17:45.589 --> 00:17:49.930 some of the older generation, folks have been 00:17:49.930 --> 00:17:52.890 there for a while not making way for the younger 00:17:52.890 --> 00:17:57.089 folks who might have you know new fresher approaches 00:17:57.089 --> 00:18:00.869 or just you know let's say ideas that are a little 00:18:00.869 --> 00:18:03.910 bit more in line with how society is currently 00:18:03.910 --> 00:18:05.789 i will say one thing that i've always thought 00:18:05.789 --> 00:18:08.849 was kind of interesting and i say this as someone 00:18:08.849 --> 00:18:12.529 who grew up in western north carolina is demographically 00:18:12.529 --> 00:18:15.490 you know the demographics are kind of different 00:18:15.490 --> 00:18:22.690 but You think? A tad. But one thing they both 00:18:22.690 --> 00:18:24.910 have in common is these are two areas of the 00:18:24.910 --> 00:18:28.450 state that have been historically neglected and 00:18:28.450 --> 00:18:31.589 taken advantage of by, you know, both sides of 00:18:31.589 --> 00:18:35.970 the aisle and at all levels. And I think it's, 00:18:35.970 --> 00:18:43.430 I think the fact that it is this kind of behavior, 00:18:43.589 --> 00:18:47.009 so to say, from, you know, all levels of government 00:18:47.009 --> 00:18:53.269 the fact that that is going on is just more justification 00:18:53.269 --> 00:18:57.029 for why we need you know fresh uh leadership 00:18:57.029 --> 00:18:59.970 and you know younger leadership like say you 00:18:59.970 --> 00:19:03.349 know a middle school social studies teacher um 00:19:03.349 --> 00:19:09.349 but right that's right yeah um now you know this 00:19:09.349 --> 00:19:12.359 is your first term and everything and Sessions 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:14.859 started back in July. Or not July. It is July. 00:19:15.220 --> 00:19:17.619 Sessions started back in January. There you go. 00:19:18.220 --> 00:19:20.680 And so you've had a little over half a year at 00:19:20.680 --> 00:19:22.660 this point to kind of start to get your bearings 00:19:22.660 --> 00:19:29.500 and kind of see what's what. So what's been something 00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:33.720 you've learned or seen over the past little bit 00:19:33.720 --> 00:19:37.460 that's kind of surprised you? Everybody's very 00:19:37.460 --> 00:19:40.859 cordial. Yeah. Everybody's very cordial, very 00:19:40.859 --> 00:19:45.700 nice. Yeah, we have some very, very heated disagreements 00:19:45.700 --> 00:19:48.859 at times. But most of the time, what I've seen 00:19:48.859 --> 00:19:51.779 so far, everybody's, even when we disagree, people 00:19:51.779 --> 00:19:57.259 try to be cordial, you know. And maybe some things 00:19:57.259 --> 00:20:01.160 said in private, but not publicly. You know, 00:20:01.160 --> 00:20:04.140 publicly, we give each other little slick jabs. 00:20:04.180 --> 00:20:06.299 You know, we're talking about, you know, something 00:20:06.299 --> 00:20:08.640 you said or some type of bill you're trying to 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:12.119 introduce and get passed. And another thing that 00:20:12.119 --> 00:20:14.440 I learned that kind of surprised me was that, 00:20:14.500 --> 00:20:20.460 well, was the number of bills that we pass unanimously. 00:20:21.559 --> 00:20:24.240 Right. Or did you have an overwhelming number 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:27.019 of people vote on? You know, there have been 00:20:27.019 --> 00:20:32.480 a lot of 100 plus to zero votes, you know, that 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:36.720 I've seen. And that's something that was surprising. 00:20:36.839 --> 00:20:40.539 You know, the consternation, the lack of consternation. 00:20:40.809 --> 00:20:43.529 You know, I think that's kind of surprised me. 00:20:44.630 --> 00:20:48.170 And that depends on the bill. Yeah. It depends 00:20:48.170 --> 00:20:50.710 on what bill is being debated. And it'll get 00:20:50.710 --> 00:20:53.250 heated or then it might get it might veer a little 00:20:53.250 --> 00:20:57.809 bit to, you know, into a more combative area. 00:20:58.009 --> 00:21:00.730 You know, I've seen people get cut off. You know 00:21:00.730 --> 00:21:03.210 what I mean? In terms of I can't remember what 00:21:03.210 --> 00:21:08.519 it's called, but, you know, the. Someone on the 00:21:08.519 --> 00:21:12.500 other side will stand and say, I'm sorry, I can't 00:21:12.500 --> 00:21:14.619 think of it right now. I don't know if it's point 00:21:14.619 --> 00:21:20.519 of order. And the speaker will recognize that 00:21:20.519 --> 00:21:23.859 person and they'll say something. And the speaker 00:21:23.859 --> 00:21:25.960 will basically, whoever is the Democrat who's 00:21:25.960 --> 00:21:28.019 talking here, basically, you know, they basically 00:21:28.019 --> 00:21:31.220 have to sit down and shut up and stop making 00:21:31.220 --> 00:21:33.720 their point. You know, it's all done very nice, 00:21:33.720 --> 00:21:35.960 though. Very professional, very cordial. But, 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:40.980 you know. You know, it basically is time for 00:21:40.980 --> 00:21:43.599 you to sit down and chill. So those are some 00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:45.140 of the things I've been surprised by because 00:21:45.140 --> 00:21:47.819 you feel like, you know, let the person finish 00:21:47.819 --> 00:21:51.380 their point. Now, if they're not on track with 00:21:51.380 --> 00:21:53.720 their original thought and they start veering 00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:56.460 somewhere else, yeah, bring them back in. You 00:21:56.460 --> 00:21:58.319 know, but let the person finish their original 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:03.299 point. And I've never seen maybe once on the 00:22:03.299 --> 00:22:04.980 other side of the aisle someone being called 00:22:04.980 --> 00:22:07.400 out for that. you know, by a member of their 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:10.420 own party, definitely not from our side and having 00:22:10.420 --> 00:22:16.880 to sit down and not talk anymore. I mean, that's 00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:19.039 fair. I will say as someone who is a bit of a 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:22.099 nerd and does watch a lot of the, a lot of the 00:22:22.099 --> 00:22:26.140 sessions, it is interesting to see just how aggressive, 00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:29.710 but polite it can be at times. Let's say. Yeah. 00:22:30.789 --> 00:22:33.089 That's a great way to put it. Yeah. A great way 00:22:33.089 --> 00:22:37.329 to put it. Aggressive politeness. Yeah. Going 00:22:37.329 --> 00:22:39.750 back to the whole teaching thing, I guess in 00:22:39.750 --> 00:22:41.890 a little, in a way, you know, you, you taught 00:22:41.890 --> 00:22:44.670 social studies a couple of different grades, 00:22:44.670 --> 00:22:47.710 if I'm not mistaken, I think fourth and 11th. 00:22:48.309 --> 00:22:50.910 Yeah. No, everything was middle school. Middle 00:22:50.910 --> 00:22:53.890 school. Okay. Yeah. Six through eight. Six through 00:22:53.890 --> 00:22:56.589 eight. That's right. A couple of high school 00:22:56.589 --> 00:22:59.380 classes. I taught. I didn't teach high school 00:22:59.380 --> 00:23:01.759 students, but they allow eighth graders to take 00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:04.079 those courses to get high school credit. So I 00:23:04.079 --> 00:23:07.400 taught civics and economics. Gotcha. And I taught 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:12.500 world history. So, you know, that said, what's 00:23:12.500 --> 00:23:15.160 it like going from, you know, teaching the stuff 00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:18.839 to living it? Man, that's a great question. It's 00:23:18.839 --> 00:23:23.759 surreal. It's surreal. I'm very proud to be a 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:24.960 member of the State House of Representatives, 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:27.019 particularly coming from the classroom to the 00:23:27.019 --> 00:23:30.599 Capitol. so to speak. What I love about it more 00:23:30.599 --> 00:23:33.559 than anything is that my kids that I've taught, 00:23:33.700 --> 00:23:35.759 even though I saw, I saw, I went to an event 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:38.940 locally and a couple of kids I taught at the 00:23:38.940 --> 00:23:40.759 first school I taught at, they're having a child, 00:23:40.859 --> 00:23:44.220 you know, and I'm sitting there like, wow, you 00:23:44.220 --> 00:23:45.799 know, they're that old, you know what I mean? 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:47.660 They're like in their early twenties, late teens. 00:23:47.940 --> 00:23:51.380 For me to be where I'm at and for them to be 00:23:51.380 --> 00:23:54.599 able to witness that and to hopefully and prayerfully 00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:58.509 be encouraged by it means everything. Yeah. It 00:23:58.509 --> 00:24:03.490 means everything. And to be in the same room 00:24:03.490 --> 00:24:07.230 or to go by the office of people that, you know, 00:24:07.250 --> 00:24:09.769 I may have admired for years because of their 00:24:09.769 --> 00:24:13.170 advocacy, because of their stature in the GA, 00:24:13.450 --> 00:24:17.430 that, like I said, it's surreal sometimes to 00:24:17.430 --> 00:24:19.690 meet these people in person and to know you're 00:24:19.690 --> 00:24:22.289 not just there as a constituent. Now you're there 00:24:22.289 --> 00:24:25.150 as a colleague. Right. And they have to respect 00:24:25.150 --> 00:24:28.329 you as such. You know, and most of the time they 00:24:28.329 --> 00:24:29.869 do. You know what I mean? Because at the end 00:24:29.869 --> 00:24:32.609 of the day, hey, you are their colleague. You 00:24:32.609 --> 00:24:34.890 are a duly elected member and you represent the 00:24:34.890 --> 00:24:37.069 people of your district just like they represent 00:24:37.069 --> 00:24:40.829 the people of theirs. So it's surreal, man. It 00:24:40.829 --> 00:24:44.710 can be discouraging at times. It can be discouraging 00:24:44.710 --> 00:24:47.549 at times. And then it can be a whole lot of fun 00:24:47.549 --> 00:24:51.369 as well. Yeah. Sometimes what I mean by discouraging 00:24:51.369 --> 00:24:53.130 is, you know, some, you know, the process of 00:24:53.130 --> 00:24:55.400 getting legislation passed. things like that. 00:24:55.460 --> 00:24:57.779 And then people, I think sometimes people try 00:24:57.779 --> 00:25:02.460 to remind you, you know, that, you know, well, 00:25:02.539 --> 00:25:04.920 I've been here longer than you, you know what 00:25:04.920 --> 00:25:07.799 I mean? Uh, this and that, this and that. And 00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:09.779 it goes back into what you were saying in terms 00:25:09.779 --> 00:25:15.000 of, you know, people, um, I'm not going to say 00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:16.940 hanging around too long, but people who have 00:25:16.940 --> 00:25:20.759 that veteran status in their multiple term, you're 00:25:20.759 --> 00:25:23.800 not, not necessarily being open -minded. And 00:25:23.800 --> 00:25:27.039 listening to a younger point of view. Right. 00:25:27.299 --> 00:25:29.559 You know, stuff like that. Folks are just kind 00:25:29.559 --> 00:25:33.079 of set in their ways, really. Yeah. Yeah, we 00:25:33.079 --> 00:25:34.859 all are. We're all guilty of that. You know, 00:25:34.900 --> 00:25:36.880 I was like that when I was teaching. Yeah. You 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:39.980 know, but, you know, this is policy. This is 00:25:39.980 --> 00:25:42.779 literally dealing with people's lives. You know, 00:25:42.779 --> 00:25:45.539 this is a totally different wheelhouse. So, you 00:25:45.539 --> 00:25:47.940 know, you just hope that people will be a little 00:25:47.940 --> 00:25:50.799 bit more open -minded at times to listening to 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:53.490 different points of view. and a lot of times 00:25:53.490 --> 00:25:55.789 we don't get that now keep in mind this might 00:25:55.789 --> 00:25:59.130 be uh the most controversial one uh might get 00:25:59.130 --> 00:26:02.450 you canceled not really but uh what is your go 00:26:02.450 --> 00:26:08.509 -to cookout order cookout yeah oh man you know 00:26:08.509 --> 00:26:10.529 we got one like five to seven minutes from my 00:26:10.529 --> 00:26:13.430 house now you're gonna make me want to go there 00:26:13.430 --> 00:26:16.390 when i get off with you man oh man okay okay 00:26:16.390 --> 00:26:21.539 hold on hold on all right look out tree Cookout 00:26:21.539 --> 00:26:25.259 burger. Ketchup, mustard, and coleslaw. With 00:26:25.259 --> 00:26:28.740 fries. Sometimes I get the fries and the nuggets. 00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:38.519 With Oreo shake. Nice. I like that. That's good. 00:26:39.779 --> 00:26:45.859 Solid tray. My stomach doesn't always like it 00:26:45.859 --> 00:26:51.950 later. That's fair. Well, so, you know, know 00:26:51.950 --> 00:26:58.269 that you are running for re -election. You are 00:26:58.269 --> 00:27:01.069 going to be running in the primary against Michael 00:27:01.069 --> 00:27:03.450 Ray. I know you're going to be out on the campaign 00:27:03.450 --> 00:27:06.109 trail, but in the meantime, where can people, 00:27:06.210 --> 00:27:09.009 you know, find you? How can they keep up with 00:27:09.009 --> 00:27:10.450 your campaign, with what you're doing in the 00:27:10.450 --> 00:27:13.049 statehouse, all that good stuff? Well, I post 00:27:13.049 --> 00:27:17.880 on all of my social media, pretty much. You know, 00:27:17.880 --> 00:27:19.859 if I post on one platform, I pretty much post 00:27:19.859 --> 00:27:22.799 on all of them. And most of my posts are public 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:26.200 in terms of Facebook because I'm a public figure 00:27:26.200 --> 00:27:30.299 now. So Rodney D. Pierce, P -I -E -R -C -E. You 00:27:30.299 --> 00:27:33.480 can follow me on my personal Facebook page. Pierce 00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:38.140 for NC House District 27 is my campaign page. 00:27:38.759 --> 00:27:42.819 That's also on Facebook. At Pierce for NC House 00:27:42.819 --> 00:27:49.940 is my Twitter. or x and peers for nc house 27 00:27:49.940 --> 00:27:54.880 is what i am on ig so you can follow me on those 00:27:54.880 --> 00:27:57.980 platforms nice and keep up with my campaign or 00:27:57.980 --> 00:28:01.079 what i do uh day to day the one thing i'm the 00:28:01.079 --> 00:28:04.640 most proud of cj that i've heard from my constituents 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:08.759 is that they are well informed now good you always 00:28:08.759 --> 00:28:11.380 tell me how how well informed i keep them and 00:28:11.380 --> 00:28:16.240 that goes back to the classroom you know um The 00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:18.539 Bible says my people perish for a lack of knowledge. 00:28:19.299 --> 00:28:22.460 You know, I don't want my people to perish. So 00:28:22.460 --> 00:28:24.779 I do my best to keep them knowledgeable and informed 00:28:24.779 --> 00:28:27.119 of what's going on. And once you get the information, 00:28:27.420 --> 00:28:31.839 you do what you want with it, you know. But being 00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:35.059 in this position when things happen, I can now, 00:28:35.180 --> 00:28:38.720 you know, use that legislative muscle to ask 00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:40.819 people directly, tell me what this is going to 00:28:40.819 --> 00:28:42.720 do. How is this going to impact House District 00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:47.339 27? And I can get that information. And then 00:28:47.339 --> 00:28:49.859 I share it with the people. That's what it's 00:28:49.859 --> 00:28:52.299 about, giving them the information so that they 00:28:52.299 --> 00:28:54.859 can make informed decisions and not uninformed 00:28:54.859 --> 00:28:59.700 or misinformed. Last thing, Pierce4NC .com. That 00:28:59.700 --> 00:29:03.160 is my website. There we go. All right. Awesome. 00:29:04.819 --> 00:29:08.339 Pierce4NC .com. Representative Rodney Pierce, 00:29:08.539 --> 00:29:12.319 ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for coming 00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:17.000 on the show. And, yeah, everyone check out all 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:20.180 of his social media pages, his website. And, 00:29:20.279 --> 00:29:22.680 you know, if you feel so fine, I'm sure you wouldn't 00:29:22.680 --> 00:29:25.960 mind a donation or two. Oh, yes, definitely wouldn't 00:29:25.960 --> 00:29:28.160 mind that. And thank you again for having me 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:30.420 on the show today. I appreciate it. Of course.