The sum of us is the name of her podcast.

The sum of us is the name of her book as well.

What racism costs everyone and how we can prosper together.

Heather, thank you for making the time to join us.

Can you just give the audience before we get started and before we send them to your

podcast, which you can get wherever it is you get your podcast again, the name of it

is the sum of us, your history before you get to the book writing and the podcast as

an organizer as somebody who is trying to work in her community to change America.

Can you just go through some of your biography on how we got to the book writing?

Yeah, I'd be happy to and thanks so much for having me on, Dan.

I grew up on the South Side of Chicago in the 1980s in a solidly working middle class

black neighborhood and I saw what began to happen as you know the jobs began to be shipped

overseas and the factories closed and it was really clear that some neighborhoods were

doing really well and having new parks and schools and everything was beautiful and shiny

and the parks and schools around us were falling into disrepair.

And I was just the kind of kid who asked why and it led me into a career eventually to

law school in public policy where I was using research and statistical analysis and organizing

and advocacy going on shows like Meet the Press, testifying and Congress, drafting legislation,

all focused on our economy.

It's a big question, right?

Why is it, it seems like we can't have nice things in America, right?

And by nice things, I don't mean like hover, craft, backpacks, like we were promised,

...