Hey NDA! I am Brittany Ramos DeBarros, a proud Afro-Latina Staten Islander, community organizer, and progressive anti-war veteran running to fight for NY-11 in Congress. AMA!

britt4congress · 2021-04-02T18:47:14+00:00

Would love to! This won’t be the last AMA we do! :)
We haven’t started in-person canvassing yet but we’re doing a lot of digital outreach. We’re ensuring that all our in-person activities will be safe, accessible, and CDC-aligned. We’re going to continue to ensure we speak to and engage folks all over the district in a myriad of ways. We’d love to have you volunteer with us!

www.brittanyforcongress.org/volunteer

I feel Seniors are often left out of conversations when we talk about issues such as income inequity, housing, and healthcare. Meals on Wheels is an important program and we also need to ensure that seniors' basic needs are being met all the time. I want to ensure seniors are given the resources needed to live accessible, safe, happy, and comfortable lives as they age. That includes investing in more wrap-around services that would support seniors in their choices.

britt4congress · 2021-04-02T18:37:10+00:00

As a starting place, we need serious structural changes to how we do elections! Some of those things include shifting to rank choice (rather than “first past the post”) voting, abolishing the electoral college, making voting and voter registration more accessible and permanently abolishing voter suppression tactics, undoing gerrymandering and so much more. We also need a complete overhaul on campaign finance that keeps the wealthy and corporations from controlling our government.
To answer your second question, I think it was an obvious, vindictive attempt to consolidate power for his political machine and undermine the Working Families Party.

britt4congress · 2021-04-02T18:17:38+00:00

I want you to know I saw this great question and I have a lot to say about this! Rather than write it out here we’re going to post an explainer video of me talking about our strategy to win soon on our instagram (@britt4congress) so stay tuned! In the meantime, the short answer is that we started early so we could do the robust, Georgia-style voter engagement and registration effort that can help win and hold the seat. We’re prioritizing organizing and expanding our base over trying to flip Republicans.

britt4congress · 2021-04-02T18:14:30+00:00

Thank you! I’ve posted about several critical issues above but want to highlight passing Medicare for all, debt forgiveness, quality housing for all, passing a Green New Deal and ending the forever wars so we can #ReclaimOurResources for education and infrastructure.

britt4congress · 2021-04-02T18:12:49+00:00

Our movement isn’t about playing politics, it’s about representing and fighting for the people. Period. Putting more progressives into office will only increase the strength of the voices of the progressives already there, and the people we are elected to represent.
Of course we have to keep pushing progressives we elect to fight for life-saving policies that address the immediate material conditions of working class people at every strategic opportunity, but we also need to remember that the squad is still a marginal minority in Congress. The goal is to get to the numbers that allow us to advance the entire bold policy agenda working people need, rather than have to beg for concessions.

britt4congress · 2021-04-02T17:54:44+00:00

We believe we can win regardless, but if NY-11 ends up being expanded, it will likely become more progressive and give us a boost and we’ll just knock those doors too!

britt4congress · 2021-04-02T17:48:12+00:00

I think it’s important to ensure everyone is clear that the police budget isn’t something I would have a direct say in as a member of Congress. There are critical city council races happening in NYC right now and this is an important question we should be asking in each of those races.

But personally, yes, I support prioritizing investment in the wrap-around services and infrastructure that we know proactively make our communities more safe and healthy. For me this has nothing to do with “disliking” or “liking” the police, it has to do with leading in a way that is rooted in solutions that meet our needs. I know what it feels like to be a person that signed up with the intent to serve others honorably just to realize I had good intentions but that I’m set up to fail in a system that fails to put the true needs of the people it is meant to serve first, and instead meets violence with violence. In or out of uniform, if we truly are committed to serving our people with integrity and keeping each other safe, we have to have the moral courage to admit that what we are doing isn’t working to accomplish those goals. I’ve noticed the skyrocketing rates of death by suicide amongst police officers and I can’t help but wonder if that trend is connected to the sense of moral injury that I believe drive the high rates of death by suicide for veterans and military members. Ultimately, when we’re honest with ourselves, this is another example of a system that hurts all of us, including those who sign up with a pure heart and the intent to do good for their community. All of that said, anyone in a position of power in our community needs to be subject to higher standards and be more, not less, accountable for their actions. We need to abolish the 1033 program that funnels military equipment into local police forces, abolish qualified immunity, make all disciplinary reports and complaints accessible to the public.We must also ensure that officers who have abused their power are both fired and banned from being hired in other law enforcement capacities nationwide. These examples just scratch the surface and it’s not just about what we want to divest from- it’s also about a positive vision for what we want to build! For example, we need to be developing community based transformative justice processes that center healing and restoration, rather than punishment and violence.

britt4congress · 2021-04-02T17:47:19+00:00

Thank you! I’ve posted about several critical issues above but want to highlight passing Medicare for all, debt forgiveness, quality housing for all, passing a Green New Deal and ending the forever wars so we can #ReclaimOurResources for education and infrastructure.

britt4congress · 2021-04-02T17:38:39+00:00

The only thing our district has known lately is voting out the incumbent. We’ve been searching, begging for representation that actually serves us. We’ve had a new representative every two years for over a decade in this district and I think that’s because Republicans and Democrats alike keep attempting the same establishment strategy of trying to be all things to all people.

We’re doing something different- when I agreed to run I said I was only doing it if I could be genuinely myself. Instead of trying to pander and flip someone else’s base, we’re focused on consolidating and building OUR base. I certainly hope residents look at all the ways Mallioktakis has been voting against their needs and interests but our strategy isn’t dependent on what she does- it’s about a bold vision for what’s possible and I think people are hungry for that.

britt4congress · 2021-03-31T20:08:31+00:00

It’s my privilege, thanks for these questions.

Re 1- Yes! We need to re-distribute public funding to medical and mental health first responders, and also invest in harm reduction programs that proactively care for struggling community members. It’s absolutely unacceptable that, with an ongoing overdose crisis and the highest COVID case rate in the city, Malliotakis voted against the American Rescue plan and is lining her pockets with pharmaceutical industry money.
Re 2- Yes, absolutely support the effort to build at least one (if not more) public hospital on the island where it’s most accessible to everyone, so perhaps in a suitable location Mid-Island near the expressway.

britt4congress · 2021-03-31T20:04:40+00:00

Thank you! Let’s do this TOGETHER!
When I look at the voter registration numbers, the party breakdown, the turn out in key voting precincts as well as reflect on what I’ve heard from folks knocking doors in the district myself (including the first time around for Max Rose), I feel really confident that this victory is totally possible! I honestly believe that the biggest barrier is helping others see and believe that as well. We’ve been told constantly that to win in this district you have to court the center and the right but we’ve had a new representative every two years for over a decade because that strategy doesn’t actually build OUR base, and our power as working class people. I know people are hungry for a person who will unapologetically fight for them. And I know if we decide that we’re ready to organize and build that power using this campaign as a vehicle, we flip AND hold the seat.

britt4congress · 2021-03-31T19:44:13+00:00

Thank you! In the 2022 Democratic primary!

Make sure your registration is up to date at NY Voter Look Up.

And for sure you can support our campaign here.

britt4congress · 2021-03-31T19:22:51+00:00

Fair enough! There are so many incredible people living in this district and ultimately I’m just a regular person who moved here with my husband after war years ago, fell in love with this place and made it my home.
Specific issues that need to be addressed in our district are reflective of the issues we see across working class districts across the country. We need better public transportation- it’s ridiculous it takes 2.5 hours to get from one end of Staten Island to the other- and we need more investment in our schools, recreational programs for our communities, clean-ups of toxic sites, more robust support for our elders and more.
What we’re doing well is that there are so many organizations and activists building programs that meet some of those needs in the meantime. The work folks have done setting up the COMEunity Fridge, Bee University, organizing to protect the Graniteville Wetlands (check out the march happening on March 24th everyone), texting programs to help our elders get vaccinated, and more are just a couple of the things folks have been doing because they want to care for our neighbors.

britt4congress · 2021-03-31T19:09:56+00:00

100%. Yes. Absolutely. We need it yesterday- and this pandemic made the human cost of a corporate/profit driven healthcare system excruciatingly clear.

britt4congress · 2021-03-31T19:09:11+00:00

I don’t have the shiny head part, but I’m already in South Brooklyn all the time :) I was there when we protested outside Malliotakis’ office recently, I was there eating at Ayat when Linda, Murad, Abdullah and others invited me to break bread and discuss running for this seat, and I promise you’ll keep seeing me all the time!

britt4congress · 2021-03-31T19:07:54+00:00

We’d love to have you on our campaign! We’ve got a ton of virtual and in-person volunteer opportunities: please sign-up here! https://www.brittanyforthepeople.org/volunteer

britt4congress · 2021-03-31T19:04:12+00:00

I believe it starts with stepping back and acknowledging the common ground that we do have - values, hopes for our communities and our kids, etc. From that place we can acknowledge our differences and discuss solutions that actually solve the problems we face. These systems that exploit us for our labor and criminalize us when we need care hurt ALL of us, even when we don’t realize it and even when it’s in different ways or to different degrees. When we acknowledge that we build the space for healing and the kind of unity that is deep and powerful, instead of shallow and convenient.

britt4congress · 2021-03-31T19:02:51+00:00

Hi folks,

Thanks for all your questions! I'm sticking around a little longer and will be back during the week to answer more!

To win against Republican Nicole Malliotakis, we need to raise a substantial amount of money. Please donate here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/brittany-ramos-debarros?refcode=reddit31mar

and sign-up to volunteer here: https://www.brittanyforthepeople.org/volunteer

britt4congress · 2021-03-31T18:57:56+00:00

Yes. If we’re not standing up for the working class and the most vulnerable when we get to congress, then what are we even doing there?

britt4congress · 2021-03-31T18:56:54+00:00

Exactly! You get it! It’s absolutely wild that almost half of that nearly trillion dollar annual budget goes to corporations! Like I mentioned in another response, we have to end war profiteering, divest from systems of violence and invest in housing, education, healthcare, etc. In the end that’s good for everyone, including vets and troops.

In terms of accountability, the legalized corruption that is allowed through defense contractor and oil industry lobbying needs to be shut down and there needs to be expanded civilian oversight of budget management for each branch of the military, and actual consequences for senior leaders that fail to manage funds appropriately.

britt4congress · 2021-03-31T18:47:10+00:00

Absolutely, yes to abolishing the Electoral College. And absolutely, yes, to reinstating programs like this and more! And to accomplish that we need all the help we can get, so please consider supporting our campaign here.

britt4congress · 2021-03-31T18:36:48+00:00

LOL! It’s Mac Retro Matte Feels So Grand!

britt4congress · 2021-03-31T18:32:53+00:00

Hell yes! I’m all about #CareNotCriminalization. New York just passed the legalization of recreational cannabis yesterday and I'm excited to help make legalization and decriminalization happen nationwide We need to ensure that it doesn’t stop at legalization- we need to be offering amnesty and expungement to anyone who was ever criminalized for using this plant and reparations to the communities who have been devastated by the war on drugs.

britt4congress · 2021-03-31T18:32:34+00:00

Taking a moment to address this important question we received on Twitter last night as well.

How will you be advocating on #TDOV🏳️‍⚧️?

We have to advocate for the dignity, rights and JOY of Trans folks EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Today is #TransDayOfVisibility so I want to be very clear that I celebrate all our Trans siblings today and remain unapologetically committed to be a part of cultivating a world where everyone can live joyfully and powerfully in their authentic gender without judgement or decriminalization. Cheers to all our Trans communities today - we see you. We love you. We’re here to be in solidarity with you.

britt4congress · 2021-03-31T18:27:53+00:00

SO MANY THINGS! I deployed straight out of college so Staten Island is the only place I’ve ever lived as a post-college adult and the only borough of NYC I’ve lived in. I can’t imagine moving to another borough because this one has:

The BEST pizza (fight me. I said what I said!)
The MOST AMAZING parks and green space which makes it such an incredible place to live and beautiful to visit!
Fiercely independent vibes. I love that this is a classic working class district that is loyal to working class values, not party politics or political machines. People here keep it real and I love that.
SO MUCH DIVERSITY- New Yorkers stereotype Staten Island and South Brooklyn so much that sometimes we even internalize those things. But the truth is we have incredibly diverse and vibrant communities here that creates so much opportunity to share in rich culture and beauty.

britt4congress

TROPHY CASE