Kristina Fox, erstwhile of Ocean State Action and a champion for so many progressive causes, is the newly elected president of the Young Democrats of Rhode Island. I caught up with her on Facebook earlier today as she was waiting at TF Green to fly to the Young Democrats national conference in San Antonio, Texas.
Here’s most of our conversation:
Hi Kristina, and congrats on being elected president of the Young Democrats of Rhode Island!
Thank you, Bob! I’m quite excited and honored to be the new President of YDRI I’m excited for you and the Young Dems! Can you tell me a little bit about your organization? What do you do, and why? I’m happy to! YDRI is an organization made up of young folks (young defined as less than 36 yrs old) who work to improve and empower our RI community in keeping with the principles of the Democratic party: equality, diversity and inclusiveness. All of us became involved with YDRI because we care deeply about RI, and want to ensure that we get back on the path to success. As wonderful as our home is, there’s a lot of unjust things happening. We want to change that. So, why limit your group to those under 36 years old (says the 39-yr-old)? why do young Democrats caucus like this without us old folks? The age limit is set by the national YDA charter. Age is no barrier to being part of the movement though! As I’m fond of saying, we mean “young at heart” as well. So what do the YDRI do? Other than meet and talk politics… Right now our top priority is building building building up our membership! We want young dems from Woonsocket to Westerly involved in our work. To that effect, we’ll be having an event at the Galilee Beach Club in Narragansett on Monday August 19th. It kicks off at 6:30pm. I’m really looking forward to it Me too … I love Galilee! What a nice place for young Democrats to converge! Did I see there is a South County chapter now, too? We’re working on starting a SoCo chapter. This event at GBC is a kick off for that. A great group of women have been instrumental in organizing this: Abby Godino, Danielle Dirocco and Ann Little. Ann is also the YDRI Women’s Caucus Chair I look forward to meeting up with you liberal whippersnappers at the beach! How do you plan to make a difference politically? I’m glad that you’ll be joining us!Most importantly we want to empower and involve young folks in the political process. Unemployment, affordable housing, access to quality affordable health care, work supports, education, civil rights: these issues, and a whole host of others, deeply impact young Rhode Islanders. Yet, for the most part, we aren’t at the table when decisions are made. That needs to change. When we make our voices heard, we have a better RI.
Your group seems not only young but also pretty progressive? Young people overall tend to be more politically progressive. YDRI is proud to be a deep shade of blue Do you have many centrist Dems in your ranks? Or, let me propose this hypothetical: what if a 28-year-old Doc Corvese-type wanted to be a member of the YDRI … would he or she be welcome? Like the general Dem party, we’re a big tent. If a person identifies as a Democrat, that person is 100% welcome in YDRI. A twentysomething self-identified Democrat who doesn’t believe in marriage equality, a woman’s reproductive rights or tax equity? I’d love to have tea with this person and understand where they’re coming from..
Then she had to board her plane. Congrats Kristina and have fun in San Antonio … here’s hoping next year’s Young Democrats convention is held in Providence or Newport (or both).
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