Episode 13: Creative Justice (feat. Quinn Killoy, Cynthia Mendes)

Speaker 1  00:00

Bell, welcome to from ideas to impact the show where students, professors and professionals seek to understand the overlap of creativity, innovation and a love ethic in various industries. I'm Jocelyn Bell, the professor of the human spark class at Bryant University, a class formerly known as the sociology of innovation and creativity, and we're in the segment of the podcast when we hear student reflections on and analyzes of the themes and ideas that emerged over the course of the class. Sometimes they used this final assignment as a chance to imagine what an episode of their own podcast would sound like. Other times they put the episode together as part of the larger story of the class. One thing that's consistent throughout this segment of the show is that each student invites you into their thoughts on the overlap of creativity, innovation and a love ethic. If you haven't been listening, I suggest that you go back and listen in on some of what students had to say about the visits from different guest professionals, and the ways in which their their understandings of what we learned in class together overlapped with what they heard from these guests to the class. And also, if you haven't had a chance, I strongly encourage you to take a moment and listen to at least one, at least one of the discussions from the guest professionals. In this final episode, we hear from Quinn, who interweaves different sociological scholars into his analysis, listening to understand their tie to Cynthia Mendes.

Speaker 2  02:28

Hey everyone and welcome to creative justice, the Podcast where we explore the often untapped power of love and creativity as vital tools for meaningful social transformation. I'm your host. Quinn killoy, in this series, we're not just talking about abstract ideas. We're highlighting the real world work of individuals who consciously bring a love ethic, a deep sense of care, empathy and commitment to justice into their professional lives across a diverse range of industries, from the vibrant world of art and the cutting edge of science to dynamic realm of business. And what we're really digging into today, the often complex world of politics, each episode of creative justice tries to answer three main questions from a sociology perspective. First, how does love, when actively put into practice, connect with creativity and new ideas? How does a foundation of care and connection spark fresh approaches and solutions? Second, what's the whole mix of relationships, social structures, established systems and broader cultural contexts that either supports and nurtures the creativity and innovation we highlight or, on the flip side, acts as a significant barriers? And third, what important lessons can this specific case teach us about the ultimate impact of that supporting or hindering the mix on direction of social change, whether it's about fostering positive progress, challenging negative norms, or even unintentionally slowing down movements for a better world or fueling harmful ones, these are some big questions for sure, and today, we're jumping right in By examining the impactful political leadership of Cynthia Mendez. Cynthia is a former state senator right here in Rhode Island, a dedicated advocate who continues to shape community centered politics and inspire action, even after her time in office, known for her strong advocacy in crucial areas like health care, affordable housing and social justice, Mendez shows us different ways of engaging in politics. Our main point for this episode is this by looking through the helpful lenses of intersectionality, which we'll explain shortly, drawing from the work of Kimberly Crenshaw, an institutional theory Cynthia Mendez, offers a compelling model of how a love ethic can operate not just as a guiding principle, but as a genuinely creative and even disruptive force within the often rigid structures of political institutions. Her career, from her early work in healthcare to being a state senator representing District 18, demonstrates how deeply rooted emotional understanding combined with a strong commitment to the real life experiences and values of her community the. Particularly working class families and often overlooked communities, can actively challenge traditional institutional norms and ultimately inspire broader and more inclusive social change, like we talked about in our class lecture, creativity love and justice. When creativity comes from a truly feeling for the other people and understanding their struggles, it can lead to significant and positive changes within established institutions. Cynthia Mendez journey and her approach to politics offer a particularly strong relevant case of this in action, showing how love for community can fuel innovation and justice driven political engagement.

Speaker 2  05:42

You Jocelyn. So who exactly is Cynthia Mendez, this individual whose political journey, we believe offers such a rich case study of sociological innovation, and perhaps more importantly, for our discussion today, why is her particular path and style of leadership so worth our attention when we're exploring the intersection of love, creativity and social change. Cynthia Mendez stepped into the formal political world when she was elected to represent district 18 in the Rhode Island State Senate back in 2020 however, to really understand the significance of her time in office, we need to look beyond just the title. Mendez story is interesting and sociologically important, not solely due to her specific political positions on key issues, but fundamentally because of the unique way she got there and the deeply human principles that consistently guided her choices as a leader. Mendez is a proud Rhode Islander living within the very community she would later serve. Her multicultural background. Being both Puerto Rican and Cape Verdean isn't just a biographical detail, it really shapes her worldview and how she approaches politics in important and subtle ways. When we think about the concept of intersectionality, first articulated by Kimberly Crenshaw, we see that individuals hold multiple social identities that can simultaneously create unique experience of both privilege and disadvantage. Mendez has lived experience as a woman of color from a working class background, likely provided her with unique perspective, fostering a deep understanding of the diverse challenges faced by her constituents. This real life understanding more than just an abstract political theory became a crucial foundation for her innovative approach to governance before she got into the often closed off world of electoral politics, Cynthia Mendez built a career grounded in direct service and community interaction. She worked hard as an orthodontic assistant and later became a manager at a health clinic. While that might seem like a big jump to politics, it actually is a key part of her story, years spent working within the healthcare system gave her a close and often Stark understanding of how systemic inequalities, especially concerning fair access to essential medical care, disproportionately harm working class communities, immigrant populations and people of color. These weren't just talking points or statistics for Mendez, they were tangible realities she encounters and dealt with every day, witnessing the human cost of policy failures and unfair systems. This firsthand exposure fueled a strong desire for change and her concern went beyond just healthcare. Mendez saw firsthand the struggles of families facing unstable housing, the disappointing gaps within the education system that left students behind and the frustrating reality of government systems that often seemed to fail the very individuals they were meant to support. Her decision to step into the often contentious world of politics wasn't driven by personal ambition or a thirst for power. Instead, it came from a strong mix of being frustrated with how things were in the truly loving her community. It was about wanting fairness, really believing that government could and should do better, and knowing that things could fundamentally be better for the people she knew and cared about during her time in office, Senator Mendez was actively involved in several important committees in the Rhode Island State Senate, including the Health and Human Services Committee and the environment and agriculture committee. These weren't random choices. They directly related to the issue she had encountered and championed through her prior professional and personal experiences. This allowed her to go directly work on policies to improve access to quality health care for all Rhode Islanders, and to fight for environmental justice, particularly in marginalized communities that often suffer the most from environmental harm. Her legislative priorities weren't shaped by abstract ideologies or the influence of wealthy donors, but were instead deeply rooted in her grassroots understanding of the needs and challenges faced by her constituents and her own lived experience. This reflects a commitment to what we might call people powered politics, something she talked about in her guest lecture, this deep connection to the real lives of her community gave Mendez a significant advantage in the political arena. Unlike many politicians who might learn about the struggles of working class families and marginalized communities through second hand accounts, statistical reports or carefully planned polls, Cynthia Mendez had to live the. Experiences, the authenticity and direct understanding not only gave her a special kind of trust and believability with her voters, but also helped her come up with really creative ways to solve problems and advocate for policies. Her solutions were often innovative precisely because they came from a deep place of empathy and a practical understanding of what was happening on the ground, rather than just being based on theories or political beliefs. But what does it really mean to say her work is creative, and how does this idea of love we've been talking about become a key part of all of this? Let's dig into those important questions in our next

Speaker 3  10:40

part. Were a couple of through lines that can help me, because I think the idea that controlling the trajectory of my life was not something that was always guaranteed. And there are a lot of people that think they can and or like go through an existential crisis when they realize they sometimes can't, because life will throw something at you. And so I learned early on to understand the way that my purpose and the way that I do good work could show them many different ways, and not to be completely attached to what it is, but how I am so how I will do I will do that with radical imagination. I will do it in community. I will do it with love and justice. And it opened up a suite of options, and then that also means that you're going to so for me, I was invigorated by that, and that meant opportunities that would show up, like being in the sudden, running for office could be, could be an option, but then after that, now I'm, like you said, I'm at Clean Water Action. If that was the ultimate goal, I don't know that. I don't know how that would have turned out, but for me to know, okay, I'm a person that really loves building teams and building systems and that in empowering people to organize in ways that create statewide change. Well, that ended me up there,

Speaker 2  12:11

that was Cynthia Mendez sharing her own thoughts on what drives her work in politics, whether she was talking about why love and fairness have to be at the heart of making laws or sharing what it's really like to get people organized in her community. You can hear her strong feelings and dedication. This personal view gives us important background as we look closer at the sociological ideas that help us understand her impact.

Speaker 2  12:40

Let's switch gears now and look at the two key sociology ideas that give us helpful ways to understand what Cynthia Mendez experience in the political world, intersectionality and institutional theory, like we touched on earlier, intersectionality, a really important idea, first explained clearly by legal expert Kimberly Crenshaw, helps us see how Different parts of who someone is in society and politics, like their race, gender, social class and other things can come together and create unique experience of unfairness and privilege for Cynthia Mendez, being a woman of color and someone who comes from a working class background aren't separate things. Instead, these different parts of her identity really shape how she sees the social problems she cares about and the specific kinds of challenges she inevitably faces in often pretty similar world of mainstream politics, the usual way things work in politics often favors people who have money and who have connections on the inside, Cynthia comes into the picture as someone who shapes things up, and because of that she faces a level of questioning and pushback that others don't this resistance can show up in different ways, from unfair news coverage to having trouble getting support from the usual political players. However, it's exactly these different parts of her identity that also gives Mendez a special and really valuable way of seeing things, the policies she supports and how she approaches government are naturally intersectional, because her own life is she doesn't look at problems like health care, housing or education as separate issues. Instead, she sees how they're all connected and how they unfairly affect certain communities. This broad view helps her come up with creative and new solutions that tackle the root causes of social problems instead of just dealing with the surface issues. Her policies show a deep understanding of how these different kinds of unfairness overlap and make things even harder for some people. At the same time, institutional theory, which we've learned about in our class, gives us another important way to understand Mendez impact this idea. Says that big social systems like government and law making bodies have built in ways of resisting big changes. These systems often develop strict rules, common practices and power structures that want to keep things stable in the way they've always been. But Cynthia Mendez strategically uses her position within these various systems. I. Not to just go along with the usual way of doing things, but to actively question and challenge those built in resistances. She actively tries to get the people most affected by a government decision involved in finding solutions, instead of just being people who watch from the sidelines or just told what's going to happen. This active involvement of the community directly goes against the usual top down power structures that are often a part of political institutions. To

Speaker 2  15:30

really show how Cynthia Mendez is caring approach leads to real creativity and new ideas in politics, let's look at some specific examples of what she did while she was in office and even beyond number one campaign finance, Mendez made a clear and ethical choice to not take any money from big business groups PACs for her campaigns. This wasn't just about sticking to her principles. It actually made her campaign team have to come up with new and creative ways to reach and get voters involved. By relying on small donations from regular people, her campaign really became about people power, which she meant directly talking to the community and making them feel like they had a real stake in what she was doing. This is very different from traditional campaigns that depend heavily on money from corporations, which can often lead to those corporations and stress being put first number two, direct action, Mendez understood that sometimes you need to do things that really grab people's attention to highlight important social problems. Strong example of this was when she helped organize a protest where she and other community members actually slept on the steps of the Rhode Island State House to protest the serious problem of homelessness. This act of showing solidarity and making the issue visible wasn't just a political stunt. It was a deeply caring, creative way to show the human side of the issue, get the media pay attention and directly point out how the system was failing people. This shows how love and a commitment to fairness can lead to creative and impactful ways of pushing for change outside of just the usual political channels. Number three, digital communication, knowing that the way we communicate is changing and that it's important to talk directly to people. Mendez used social media like Instagram and Twitter to connect with her voters in a real way. Her online messages weren't just boring policy announcements. Instead, she skillfully mixed personal stories important facts and clear calls to action. This helped build trust and showed what you might call relational governments, making people feel like she was really connecting with and representing them. By going around the traditional news outlets, she created a more direct and immediate conversation with her community, and number four, mentorship and movement building. Cynthia Mendez, way of leading is special because she really focuses in on helping others grow. She doesn't just try to keep all the power to herself. Instead, she actively works to lift up new voices, especially young people and women of color, and encourages them to get involved in the political process by intentionally building networks of support and guidance, she's helping create lasting change in a group of future leaders who can also care about the community values. This long term view shows that she understands that real social change needs a bigger movement that lasts longer than just one person's time in office, these different ways that Cynthia Mendez worked powerfully reflect what burns would call innovation legitimized through non traditional actors. In her case, the reason her creative political approaches were seen as valid and powerful didn't come from the usual political insiders or wealthy donors, but directly from the needs, experiences and combined power of the community she cares so much about.

Speaker 2  18:51

Cynthia Mendez way of doing politics teaches us a powerful and maybe surprising thing about how big social changes happen. They don't always have to start at the top, with people in power making changes that trickle down instead, her work really shows that deep and lasting change can and often does, starting with regular people, built on real relationships, driven by truly caring community and pushed forward by people working together from the ground up, her approach highlights how a movement powered by everyday people can have a big impact on the wider political scene. Looking at the ideas of burns, about how creativity develops, we're reminded that for new ideas, even in politics, to stick around, they need to be seen as legitimate or valid. This can happen if the usual powerful groups accept them, or like with Mendez, if groups of regular people and social movements keep growing in influence and power, while Cynthia Mendez might not have won a statewide election, the support she Bell, which was deeply connected to her community, believed in her values and actively participated in her vision, keeps growing in its cultural impact and in its ability to. Help new leaders who share these values grow. This suggests a long term plan of building power from the local level. What we're seeing by looking at Cynthia Mendez work is a slow but definitely real change in the usual ways of doing politics, this once fringe idea that politics should be really about relationships, being open and honest and putting the community first isn't seen as a weird fringe idea anymore, thanks to people like Mendez, it's becoming a more central part of how people think politics should work. Her work is helping to shift how we even understand what good political leadership is all about. You. To wrap things up, the journey and political style of Cynthia Mendez gives us a really strong and important real life example of how creativity, when it comes from a real love for community and a commitment to fairness, has the amazing power to reshape our political world. By using the sociological idea of intersectionality, we get a better understanding of both the many challenges she faced as a woman of color from a working class background and the unique richness and depth of what she hopes to achieve for a more fair and just society. And by looking at how institutions work, we can better understand the resistance she faced and the new ways she tried to navigate and sometimes directly challenges those long standing power structures. Ultimately, Cynthia Mendez work asks each of us to really think about what good and ethical leadership truly means. Her example makes us consider how our own actions, no matter what we do, could focus on caring for others, being truly open and having the courage to stand up for what's right in the pursuit of positive social change. Thanks for tuning into this episode of creative justice. I'm your host, Quinn killoy, and I really hope that today's look at Cynthia Mendez. Inspiring journey encourages you to bring creativity and love into whatever you do, no matter where you find yourself leading and contributing to the world you