Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Angela Rye, Lynae Vanee And More Talk Politics And The People At ESSENCE Fest 2025

At the 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture, the Global Black Economic Forum stage closed out with a powerful political roundtable led by the hosts of theNative Land Podcast  hosts Angela Rye, Andrew Gillum and Tiffany Cross — who sparked a wide-ranging and candid conversation about the state of American democracy, health care, media narratives and the urgency of Black civic engagement.

The panel featured U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas; Malcolm Kenyatta, vice chair of the Democratic National Convention; Ashley Shelton, president of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice; and Lynae Vanee, host of “The People’s Brief” and a prominent social commentator.

​​Gillum, a former Tallahassee mayor, opened the discussion with a question for Crockett about the recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill,” a sweeping piece of legislation signed into law by Donald Trump. 

Crockett was direct in her assessment, warning that the bill would have devastating consequences for public health. “They cut $1 trillion worth of money to Medicaid,” she said, noting that even those with private insurance would feel the effects due to how much the cuts would destabilize the broader healthcare system. “There won’t be anybody there to take care of you. People are going to die.”

Cross pivoted the conversation to the role of media in shaping political narratives, calling out predominantly white-run newsrooms for perpetuating the idea that Black voters are blindly loyal to the Democratic Party. She noted a growing disconnect between voters and both political parties, fueled by disillusionment over the lack of progress on issues like abortion rights and LGBTQ+ protections.

“We got conquered because we allowed ourselves to be divided,” Crockett said, reflecting on the ideological splits within the Black community. She added, “If we expect perfection from our politicians and political parties, we will always be disappointed. They never have been perfect—and they never will be.”

Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta addressed this head-on, acknowledging the country’s complex and often painful relationship with Black citizens.

“All of us sitting here today, we know exactly what it means to live in a country and to engage with institutions that don’t always love us back,” he said.

As a gay Black man, Kenyatta said his political journey was fueled by the resources he had access to growing up in a low-income household in Philadelphia—resources made possible, he said, by Democratic policies on housing, education, and healthcare. He added that it’s a mistake to abandon institutions just because they are flawed.

“I ran because a part of the mistake that we made is believing that institutions will somehow disappear if we’re not there,” he said. “The reality is the Democratic Party is not what it should be because you’re not there.”

Kenyatta encouraged the audience to run for office, get involved and focus on local elections, where policy decisions often have the most immediate impact.

Shelton provided a vivid example of this impact, pointing to the work of her  organization, the Power Coalition in Louisiana, where voters recently defeated four constitutional amendments that would have expanded the list of crimes for which juveniles could be tried as adults, introduced new income tax caps, allowed earlier election dates for judicial vacancies and broadened the legislature’s power to restructure courts.

“Folks have questions, folks want to be engaged, they want to understand what’s happening,” said Shelton. “People are hungry. And we saw that—we fed that. Working across genres, across issues, we were able to come together and defeat these amendments and stop them from being put into our constitution.”

While civic interest is increasing, many people still feel alienated by political language and processes, said Vanee. She encouraged attendees to lean into their roles as trusted voices within their families and communities.

“Kendrick Lamar said it best—you gotta make it look sexy,” Vanee said. “I just prioritize meeting people where they are, using language that people understand.”

Before closing the panel, Vanee recommended platforms and organizations that are helping make politics more accessible and relevant to younger audiences, including The 19th News, Kahlil Greene, the Power Coalition, Native Land Podcast and all of the speakers on stage.

The post Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Angela Rye, Lynae Vanee And More Talk Politics And The People At ESSENCE Fest 2025 appeared first on Essence.