Rep Tarra Simmons and India Walton with the Stand Up Community / Episode 353
Release Date: 05/17/2021
Stand Up! with Pete Dominick
Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. This show is Ad free and fully supported by listeners like you! and gain access to a community of over 700 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls is an organization dedicated to saving lives from gun violence. Led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, we inspire the courage of people from all walks of life to make America safer. became the executive director of GIFFORDS in January 2024, where she oversees the organization’s work to save lives from gun...
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Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. This show is Ad free and fully supported by listeners like you! and gain access to a community of over 700 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Listen to Supreme Myths Podcast Eric Segall teaches federal courts and constitutional law I and II. He is the author of the book Supreme Myths: Why the Supreme Court is not a Court and its Justices are not Judges. He has served on the Executive Committee of the AALS section on federal courts, and has given...
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Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. This show is Ad free and fully supported by listeners like you! and gain access to a community of over 700 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Dr Greer recently appeared with Dr Jason Johnson on Culture Jeopary, more importantly she has published a new book that we talk about. It's called is a Black history trivia game show. Join Dr. Christina Greer as she quizzes some of your favorite entertainers, history makers, and celebrities while engaging...
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My conversation with Jarvis begins at about 40 mins Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. This show is Ad free and fully supported by listeners like you! and gain access to a community of over 700 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Get Jeff's new book is a national leader in the development of online news, blogging, the investigation of new business models for news, and the teaching of entrepreneurial journalism. He writes an influential media blog, . He is author of...
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My conversation with David begins at about 36 mins Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. This show is Ad free and fully supported by listeners like you! and gain access to a community of over 700 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Subscribe to Rothkopf's new Substack David Rothkopf is CEO of , a media company that produces podcasts including Deep State Radio, hosted by Rothkopf. TRG also produces custom podcasts for clients including the United Arab Emirates. He is...
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My conversation with Waj starts at 30 mins Stand Up is a daily podcast that I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. and gain access to a community of over 750 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Check out to learn more Subscribe to Waj Substack Channel Check out his new show on youtube is a Daily Beast columnist, public speaker, recovering attorney, and tired dad of three cute kids. Get his book which will be published in January 2022 by Norton. He believes in sharing stories that are by...
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Hi! I don't have a guest as I almost always do because nobody knows anything! Actually lots of people know lots of things regarding war, Iran, the Middle East and the rest but I wanted to do my best to recap it all and include as many voices as possible. I hope you like it and thanks for listening Stand Up is a daily podcast that I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. and gain access to a community of over 750 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Check out to learn more Join us Monday's and Thursday's at 8EST for...
info_outlineStand Up! with Pete Dominick
Hi! I don't have a guest as I almost always do because nobody knows anything! Actually lots of people know lots of things regarding war, Iran, the Middle East and the rest but I wanted to do my best to recap it all and include as many voices as possible. I hope you like it and thanks for listening Stand Up is a daily podcast that I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. and gain access to a community of over 750 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Check out to learn more Join us Monday's and Thursday's at 8EST for...
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My Conversation with JL begins at about 50 mins Stand Up is a daily podcast that I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. and gain access to a community of over 750 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Check out to learn more SUBSCRIBE TO JL CAUVIN NEW PODCAST is the best Trump impersonator in the world. He is also a very talented Stand Up Comic with who I have known for a long time. JL has recorded 6 stand up albums! J-L’s act is incredibly diverse and has led to six stand up albums: 2006′s...
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Stand Up is a daily podcast that I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. and gain access to a community of over 750 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Check out to learn more Subscribe to Wes Siler Substack columnist, and adventure travel writer Wes Siler teaches a new generation of enthusiasts how to lead more exciting lives outdoors. Wes has contributed to magazines like Wired, Newsweek, Popular Mechanics, Outdoor Life, GQ, Road&Track, and Playboy, websites like Jalopnik and Gizmodo, and founded the...
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Overcoming obstacles is a persistent theme in Tarra Simmons’ life. Raised in Bremerton, Tarra had a difficult upbringing. Surrounded by trauma and violence at home, she dropped out of middle school at the age of 13 and was pregnant by 14. Despite giving birth to a son when she was 15 years old, Tarra managed to find her way back to school and became the first person in her family to graduate from high school. By 21 she had graduated from Pacific Lutheran University with a degree in nursing and embarked on a career as a registered nurse. However – as is often the case for people with adverse childhood experiences – Tarra suffered with behavioral health issues including substance use disorder. Rock bottom came in 2011 when she was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Upon leaving prison, Tarra found herself facing the challenges of re-entering society after incarceration. Despite her nursing degree, she was only able to find a job at Burger King. With her wages still being garnished to pay for court fees, she faced economic insecurity, housing instability, and a lack of employment options, all while trying to rebuild her relationship with her children. Despite these challenges, Tarra continued on her path to recovery and applied to law school so that she could impact change at a higher level. Having experienced the lows of opioid use disorder and been through a justice system that does everything it can to hold people down, she knew that the changes that she needed to make were systemic.
After graduating from Seattle University with honors she received the prestigious Skadden fellowship, which supports talented lawyers in pursuing public interest law. Tarra focused her efforts on providing legal counsel to formerly incarcerated people so they could end their involvement with the criminal justice system. However, when the Washington State Bar refused to admit her because of her past, Tarra took a stand for everyone who has been incarcerated. She challenged the Bar all the way to the State Supreme Court, where she won a unanimous, same-day decision.
Since then Tarra has continued working to help formerly incarcerated people re-integrate into society. She is the co-founder and director of the Civil Survival Project, a program housed under the Public Defender Association that provides legal services and advocacy for formerly incarcerated people. Gov. Jay Inslee appointed her to the Washington State Reentry Council where she served as co-chair for four years, as well as the Public Defense Advisory Board. She also serves as an advisory board member to the Washington Supreme Court Gender and Justice Commission and is on the board of the Economic Opportunity Institute.
Tarra will fight for everyone in our community, because she knows that each and every one of us has immense potential. Having survived poverty, violence, trauma, substance use disorder and incarceration, Tarra knows that sometimes all it takes is a helping hand and a second chance for someone to flourish. She also knows all too well the pitfalls of a criminal justice system that merely punishes people instead of working to uplift and support them. Tarra will fight, as so many people in her community did for her, to build fairer and more equitable criminal justice and education systems. She understands how the law impacts low-income people on a daily basis because she has lived it. As a member of the Public Safety, Civil Rights & Judiciary, and Healthcare & Wellness committees, Tarra brings that lived experience to Olympia where she fights to reduce incarceration, increase access to behavioral and mental health, and ease re-entry of formerly incarcerated people back into society.
Tarra still lives in Bremerton with her partner, Eric, their three children (Dévon, Dominic, and Madyson), and the family dog, Anna.
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Born and raised on Buffalo’s East Side as one of six children, India Walton became a full-time working mother at the age of just 14. She earned her GED while pregnant with twins who were born prematurely, an experience that inspired her to become a nurse in the same NICU where her boys’ lives were saved.
As a healthcare worker, India became a representative in the 1199 SEIU union, standing up for both workers and patients from picket lines in Buffalo to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, where she was invited to speak at a national women’s rights rally in 2014.
Continuing to serve as a nurse in Buffalo Public Schools, India witnessed the health disparities among our most vulnerable citizens and became determined to change the systems that cause these injustices.
India’s commitment to systemic change called her to become a community organizer for Open Buffalo, establishing herself as a thought leader on a wide range of issues including criminal justice reform and fair housing.
Her work on the latter led her to be named the founding executive director of the Fruit Belt Community Land Trust, for which she worked with longtime residents to develop permanently affordable housing.
Having proven her passion for caring for people from infants to elders, India is real, resilient, and ready to be the next Mayor of Buffalo.