Lani Habrock and Mauree Turner
Recorded
October 29, 2021
33:42 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
ddb002586
Description
Lani Habrock (36) interviews her state representative Mauree Turner [no age given] about their experiences as a Black, nonbinary, Muslim representative in the Oklahoma state legislature.Subject Log / Time Code
Lani (L) begins by asking Mauree (M) about growing up in Oklahoma. M also shares how they choose to honor their parents through community organizing and their Muslim faith.
M talks about decolonization, their nonbinary identity, and coming out to the Muslim community while running for office. They consider what it means to hold their nonbinary and Muslim identities while in public office, noting that these are identities that “people fear and hold in high regard.”
L asks M about their faith practice and M considers how community, self-care, and religion are all bound together. They also consider what it means to let your community care for you.
M reflects on a difficult time while they were at OSU and then how getting a community organizer position at the ACLU shifted things for them.
M remembers following along with their mother as she worked and served her community. They consider how that influenced them and made them want to work on addressing the school-to-prison pipeline and other incarceration-related work.
M considers how their personal experience with the incarceration system makes them better able to do this work. They discuss working on the death penalty during their time in office, the lift on Oklahoma’s stay of executions, and the execution of John Grant by the state of Oklahoma.
M shares why they ran for office despite being an introvert. They serve as a representative for Oklahoma’s House District #88 and do so because their community them to represent them.
L asks if M has experienced discrimination in the Oklahoma state capitol. M describes it as more subtle and micro-aggressive, saying that their colleagues don’t speak to them directly, but do put out inflammatory, racist, and transphobic press releases and work against the bills they present.
M considers how compartmentalization, therapy, setting boundaries, and stating their needs are part of how they are able to continue their work.
Participants
- Lani Habrock
- Mauree Turner