Welcome to the Valley Advocate Podcast, featuring interviews that take us deeper into the people and happenings on the local scene. For more podcasts and a closer look at what's going on in the valley, visit us at valleyadvocate.com. Hi, my name is Dave Eisenstader. I am the editor of the Valley Advocate, and this is the Valley Advocate Podcast, our collaboration with Amherst Media. I'm here with arts and culture editor Gina Bevers. And we are here with Springfield attorney Tahira Amatulwadud, who is running against Congressman Richard Neal in the upcoming primaries. Yes. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you both for having me. Oh, glad to have you. That's great to have you.  The people are the big deal. I just become the face of the people. You had something that just came out today about, that is kind of just like cuts to like the very heart of everything about this congressional race is that people, I think you had said that they had criticized, you know, whether if you got elected, they'd lose all that seniority from Congressman Neal being in place in place so long. But you said that that really wasn't a problem because... That's right. So in the camp during the campaign and on the trail, some of the more critical comments came from people who knew enough to realize that one, he was on the ways and means and that he was a member and that if the house turns blue and he is still in office, then he stands to be the chair of ways and means. So people who knew that and were able to frame it that way would ask me, how do you respond to that? So it was pretty simple to me, but I needed to convey it to the people, which is essentially that ways and means is very important, but that if the congressman becomes unavailable for any reason, unavailable, unwilling, doesn't get reelected, life goes on in the first instance, life goes on. But let's talk about ways and means and what the role does. It's responsible for allocating funds. He's been on the committee since 2017 and our community has yet to realize any benefit from his status on that committee. Additionally, he has taken lots and lots of money and funds from corporations and special interest groups, which, according to our research, cuts and undercuts the needs of the people and the constituents. So when you look at the level of non sort of sort of the lack of production that he's had for the people already in that seat and what that looks like. If he becomes the chair, it looks pretty grim. Additionally, our community really is suffering. We have the lowest median income of all of the nine congressional districts in the common wealth of Massachusetts. We have higher than average unemployment. We have higher than average number of citizens who are not covered on health insurance. If you are in that role as ways and means, you would expect that your district would meet these different benchmarks of success and prosperity that are failing. And I'm concerned that as chair, we would continue to suffer and continue to fail. Yeah. And that's the first congressional district. That's Springfield area and Berkshire County and then some of a few other counties, Hampshire and Franklin and Worcester County. You got it. It's all of Hamden County, all of Berkshire County, part of Hampshire, part of Franklin and a few towns in Worcester County. You got it. It's 3,000 square miles. And when you look at the map, it's kind of shaped like an L, neighboring congressional district two, which is of course a representative McGovern seat. Yeah. And I guess as like a new person coming in, do you see that as being an advantage too? I mean, you're losing one thing. You might lose some seniority. Like what can a new person bring to Congress that's kind of based, you know, based on seniority? Yeah. I would suggest that the seniority that if we really look at it, the seniority is inconsequential or could hurt us if the wrong person wields the power. So number one, if the congressman is not sitting and the house turns blue, who's going to come up next? Who's in line for succession? John Lewis, civil rights icon. Right. Okay. Lloyd dogged of Texas. So from a national perspective, the country and the Democratic Party stands to benefit from that sort of a leadership because we know what John Lewis does and what he stands for. In the first district, the community benefits from me at the helm serving the citizenry and putting their needs first. So what do we get in a new representative? We get somebody who listens. I'm already spending lots and lots of hours and time on the road listening to the constituents reading and amplifying the needs of this community. And I'm not getting a paycheck. That's what our community deserves. And that's what they'll see from me as their congresswoman in Washington. So when you talk to constituents, when you talk to the people in every day, what do you hear? Oh, I hear now that the race is on and it's vibrant and it's alive. I'm hearing lots of enthusiasm, lots of excitement, lots of collateral positive impact, lots of engagement with people feeling like I can do that too. I can help. I make a difference. It matters representation matters. These are the things that I'm hearing that you could not necessarily anticipate the impact of running would have on the community. So we're already winning in that people feel alive and excited about it. Because I wouldn't, I don't think anybody would argue that over the course of the last nine years in Congress there's been such stalemates, such people running, becoming establishment politicians, people who aren't invested in making so much of a change as just staying and depending and relying on people to keep them in that office.  It does. It does seem like a new day with all the social movement that's happening. People realizing that they're really tired. This is true. But I almost wonder kind of speaking like that, like why you would want to go into Washington after nine years, like you're talking about a deadlock and even before that kind of a lot of stuff that wasn't really great going on. Yeah, it's necessary. I have seven children, the youngest is four, the oldest is 24. My parents are hitting retirement age. And when I look at my parents' future and my children's longer futures, I realize that unless I roll up my sleeves and play an active role in how we shape it from a policy perspective, things look really dim for them. And if it looks dim for them, the children of a lawyer and my husband's a hard-working employee and a nonprofit, if things look dim for the future of my children, then they look even dimmer for the children of this district, unless they have representation that truly understands and values the people. So I look at this as an opportunity to serve our citizenry in a way that lets them know they have a champion with her finger on the pulse of the needs of this community. And coming in with a fresh face and a fresh start, hopefully we do have a blue wave and hopefully there is a new incoming class full of women with great progressive ideas that we can get to Washington D.C. and then we can impact change. We're not coming in beholden or saddled with debts that we owe or favors that we owe. We're able to really sit and talk about the issues and try to advance policies that matter. And that's what I'm looking to be a part of. I don't see myself sitting in that seat in 29 years. No, I have a job to do. My job is to shape policy, get our future where it needs to be, and then go to do something else, go back to practice and law. But this is not going to be a career. It is a commitment. It will be impactful. And then we'll hand the future over to the next generation that's ready to keep going. That's how I see things. I can honestly say I've never heard of politics. Anybody who's seeking a political office say that. It's ever. I think one of the real fights going on now in the Democratic Party, I wonder if you'd share your thoughts on is what's called the Bernie Sanders wing and then what's called the establishment wing. And there's a lot of talk about what that's going to mean for 2018 and 2020. And whether that means that Nancy Pelosi might have to step down as the speaker. And I just wonder kind of looking at that whole swirl of issues, what your thoughts are. There's so much to get bogged down in when you look at the Democratic Party. And what do I tell people? I was a kid when it started going downhill, when they failed to have a succession plan and bring in diverse people and ideas and fund students in high school and Democratic committees in high school and high end college like the Republicans did. The Republicans were really good about structuring the Republican Party and meanwhile the Democratic Party didn't do that. And that's why we've been sort of outplayed. And I can't take credit for that because I wasn't there. And I'm not establishment. That said, I feel it is a major strength in the Democratic Party, particularly when you look at the progressive candidates and elected officials that are coming in because those ideas tend to be more people focused and people centered. And I really don't like labels. Even in my practice of law when my clients come in and they say, I want full custody or I want this, tell me, let's move the label. Tell me really what the characteristics are that you want and let's try to achieve them. And I see the same thing even when we run for office and people want to say, are you more Bernie? Are you more Hillary? No, let's look at the policies and let's develop them for what they are. And let's not just jump on to language that just sounds easy and sexy and hashtaggy at the time. So I think we're going to see sort of a combination of policies, whether they're Bernie policies or Hillary policies. But I really believe that we're going to lead more so with the policies that serve people and put people first and label that the way you want. But that's where I see it going. And that's what I think the American people want, and particularly the people of the First Congressional District here in Massachusetts. And do you support Nancy Pelosi? I support a strong Democratic Party and whatever it takes to make it strong and to give it credibility, so long as Democratic Party recognizes and sees the need to improve, to bring in inclusivity and to advance ideas and policies that the people want. This is not the time to be tone deaf, but a turn of blind eye. And unless the Democratic Party does that, then we're going to keep losing. Yes, we're going to lose. Agreed, agreed. It's hard to determine who the Democratic Party is right now. That's right. Something the Republicans struggle with for such a period of time. And now the shoes on the other foot. That's true. Yeah, that's true. So you get out there and you align yourself with people whose ideas match yours and or whose ideas may not match yours, but feel like something you can get on the same page with and help to develop. And that's where I see us going 2018 onward. A lot, I mean, a lot of people kind of describe your candidacies kind of an uphill battle against an entrenched politician. How's it going? You know, you've been you've been at it for a few months now. You know, how do you feel like people are receiving you and kind of talk a little bit about that? Yeah. Yeah, we've been at it since December 19th and today is my birthday and we're already winning. And what does that mean? People like this race. People like talking about the year of the woman. You know, you just did a story on it. It's the current issue. It's the thing people are talking about nationally. So anytime I get a microphone where people want to say, well, what was the impact of Donald Trump's election into your decision to run?  Because it's the thing to talk about now. We get a lot of media attention around that. But I take the microphone and I don't want to talk about me. I know about me. I want to talk about us. I want to take the microphone and talk about the people of the first congressional district. I want to talk about their goals for having jobs, economic prosperity, access to affordable health care and internet, and the feeling of being involved in their government in a meaningful way. And so for the first time in forever, those issues are making news because I'm talking about them. So we're already winning. We're already amplifying the voice of many people who feel marginalized. And that feels great. It feels great. I guess what do you feel like really are the most important issues? I mean, you mentioned health care and internet and stuff like that. What are they communicating to you? What are the people who you are meeting communicating to you? The most applauded issue? Medicare for all. People love that. People want it. I was in a meeting recently with health care professionals. And one of the providers said, I don't want to be over-regulated. It'll tie me down in paperwork and bureaucracy. And I said to him, well, we're going that way. So now is your opportunity to get involved in helping to shape what that policy looks like. But this is what the people want. And it's going to come. It's going to come. It's not if it's about when. And when I talk about that, regardless of where I am in the district, people applaud. So we are going that way towards the Medicare for all option. That's what people like. Every family also, it resonates with every family, the idea of dealing with addiction. That is very important. No one has the answer. It's a devastating issue to talk about. It's often very private. But when I say this is something we need to deal with, I'm not just saying let's talk about addiction and let's throw money at it. I'm saying we have to talk about the disparity in addiction and how white folks handle addiction and are treated with addiction issues one way and black and brown people are treated with addiction issues another way. And that tends to be a more punitive way. But what we need to do is have a heart to heart talk about why there's the disparity. And that's that that comes from a racial and social economic divide. Deal with it that way. Then go towards a clinical and compassionate approach and move away from the punitive models. And that of course gets into the issues of criminal justice reform. And that's what we need to do. So this district is about 83% to 88% white. And so for me to go out into the community and say this is how we solve this problem is the first time a lot of people are hearing it addressed that way. But guess where it works? Because if we dealt with the crack addiction with a model the way I just framed it, then we wouldn't suffer from the opioid addiction the way it is. Or and we wouldn't suffer in the first instance. And if we were suffering, we'd have an answer. So we have to step back and deal with that. Additionally, to talk about the opioid crisis, I mean, we have issues around policy and why we're not benefiting from good from good policy around pharmaceutical use. But also my opponent takes lots of corporate donations and contributions from big pharmaceutical companies, which I would not do, which would leave me free to sit down and have a meaningful approach to crafting policy that deals with all aspects of how of how medications and drug use is dealt with, which is what our people need. Right. It's not a secret. It's what we need. Um, you're going to be, I think I'm not sure exactly what the deadline is, but I know you're going to be filing a report soon saying how much money you have. So I mean, you're not accepting money from that source. Do you have any money? I mean, do you have anything in the bank? We are raising money. My treasurer is still crunching the numbers. This is not a conventional campaign. Right. And the people who are funding it are the people. And when we look at the conditions of the people, we've already said we have the lowest median income, higher than average. So these are people who are donating $25 and it comes at sacrifice in their budget. And that's because they believe that I am the representative who will speak for them and help to change the course of things for them and their quality of life. So am I going to report that I'm making millions of dollars? Absolutely not. But we are raising enough to meet the needs that we have and to keep the campaign strong and vibrant and to bring in the staff and the talent that we need. And nothing about this is conventional, but conventional has failed us. So I apologize for nothing with respect to how we're doing from an economic standpoint because that's a measuring stick that does not apply to us or to the people. Oh, I'm sorry. No, no, no, nothing. Okay.  And I'm just wondering what kind of connections you're making with those women. I understand that you know a bunch of them already. I know all of them. I know all of them. And it's been wonderful to be a part of this movement. I don't know if we've ever had this before in Western Massachusetts, but it's wonderful for me to send them an email or a message or a post and say, you go, you keep going. I'm proud of you because what is it doing? It's giving the constituents options. It's letting people know what the issues are from the perspective of the Kennedy who seeks to serve them. And I'm excited at the idea of becoming the Congresswoman for the First Congressional District and the right choice that our constituents have and who represents them on the state side. Like it's the best of both worlds for me. It is. It is absolutely wonderful. You know, I just want to ask from a black female perspective. You said you gave a very interesting number. 83% of this district is white. And it's really flipped around in Springfield. It's that community, Holy Oak Springfield, where it's really flipped on its head.  Parts of Worcester County, not Spencer. Okay.  Like Shelburne Falls or something. Shelburne Falls in the district. And you're in Springfield where you live. What's that difference? What's it feel like? What is it that you, I would assume that your message never changes. But the perception of you changes. Yeah. How do you navigate that? It is interesting. That is a very interesting question. And it's real. How my message, first, my message does not change. Right. I deliver the same message and might share anecdotes a little differently depending on the audience so that it resonates with them in the appropriate way. What I always do is acknowledge that whether I'm in Shelburne Falls, or whether I'm in Holyoke or Springfield or Wilburham, we all have the same sort of goals and the same concerns. They manifest differently, but they're the same. And when I can deliver a message like that and draw the parallels about people's life throughout the district, I think that makes me much more an effective, incredible representative in my own campaign. As an African American woman, I've always navigated spaces that were predominantly white. That's not a secret. I've gone to law school. I've gone to private college. My children have gone to prep schools. And just so some of our worlds have been where we've been the only ones like us. So I think I have a really good handle on understanding such a diverse population from my own existence and birth to the places that I've been purposely placed in order to thrive, work, school, et cetera. And so I know how to connect. I know what the issues are. And I'm not afraid of difference and being different. And I'm not afraid of commonality and being the same and figuring out how to draw on those commonalities. Right. Yeah, Gina, you had a great editorial recently about kind of connecting with what was the wrinkle in time kind of through that new movie.  And I don't know. I mean, I kind of think that there might be some parallels to like a congressional candidate running, you know, people seeing differences and similar. I don't know. I agree with you wholeheartedly. It's about saying yourself through a different lens or being able to see yourself in particular places. And I think from that perspective, I'm glad that, you know, a person like you who's running in this in this district, in this predominantly white district, there are girls that will be looking to you and girls who might not have thought that I can be a political figure or that, you know, or even have the interest. But now young girls are so involved, too, in this whole and me, too. Also in March for Our Lives, this political groundswell, this grassroots groundswell that watching people like Emma Gonzalez, you know, be able to affect some kind of change in power that you've got. You're going to have girls who are going to really be looking and probably already do.  This is such a pretty phenomenal time for women. So that has happened to you? Oh, it already has. And as you know, the advocate had my picture on the front page. No. Were you an armor? I'm an armor. And other newspapers have had my picture on the front page. So what's starting to happen is there's a normalization of a woman seeking a position of authority and power. A Muslim woman.  And so it's already happening. I went to my son's school the other day. They go to school right over the border. But little fifth grade girl says to me, I saw you in the newspaper. Can you come to my lunch? Because you come to our school and talk to us at lunch. Because they feel like I represent them. I remember being a little girl and watching the Olympics. And they're very rarely being black athletes that were gymnasts or ice skaters. And being excited when they would come on. Because I felt like representation matters. So the world, the country is excited about the Olympics. And there's a sense of national pride. And I have someone who looks like me, whose hair might look like mine. The ponytail might have been difficult to manage and control. Just like mine. It matters. It impacts where you feel you belong in your society and in your country. And this race is doing that in ways also and in it. And it also speaks not just to black girls or to Muslim girls. But to all people. Everybody sees something in me or in my story that matters to them. And so when we talk about representation matters, you just never know what is going to do that thing that it does to your heart. When you see her on the front page of the paper. Have you experienced any Islamophobia through the campaign? Yeah, yeah. When strong women do strong work, there's always people that want to derail them. That happens. I need that t-shirt. When strong women do strong work. That's right. And you're like, expect derailment. That's right. Expect derailment. Yup. I told my team the other day, I said, what we need to do is we know what's going to happen. We know what people are going to say. We know what people are going to do. And we have to steal ourselves for that. Maybe we write it all out so that as it starts to happen, we don't feel like, oh my goodness, that really shook us. No, we turn to on April 1, 2018, we predicted this, this and that. What if people say things on the internet or they approach me or they do things that are just that feel weird or threatening. But that's okay, because it means that I'm doing something right. Right. Otherwise, nobody pay attention. Right. Right. Wasn't like, it wasn't a recently, I'm going to say this all wrong, but something like do harm to a Muslim day or something like that. Yeah, punish a Muslim day. Punish a Muslim day. Yeah. April 3. April, yeah. Insane. Yes. Yes. Yes. Flatly insane. It's real. It is real. It's real. Yeah. But it's okay, we're not going away. No, you're not. And through your law work, you actually helped to put somebody away for hate crimes. Yes. And you, I think I've done that multiple times, but there's one sort of high profile case maybe you could talk about. Yes. So some of my civil rights work that was some of the most fulfilling work that I've done was representing a community that had been the target of some pretty vile and violent threats. And while the Department of Justice had prosecuted the defendant who had made those threats to the Muslim community in New York, I represented along with a colleague of mine as interested victims, the community. So I got to be the liaison between the community and the Department of Justice, and that meant we observed the trial, we participated in the trial. And that was very interesting. And it ended up being a successful prosecution of the man. His name was Robert Dogger. And the trial took place in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. So we were traveling and we made sure that justice was served. And the premise of the case against him had to do with the fact that he had targeted a house of worship. And as the child born into a family of Christians, when my parents converted to Islam when I was young, it was very, very important to me to not only stand up for a house of worship that's a mosque, but to also speak out against the desecration of churches when my grandmother loved her church and the desecration of synagogues. And so from 2013 to 2015, particularly this country had noticed an uptake in all kind of anti-religious sentiment. And I was there among great people advocating for awareness and pressuring the Obama administration for a proper response. So that was some of the work that I was very honored to do.  And there's renewed talk, finally, about gun control. And I just wonder kind of where you see yourself in that debate and where you see Congress acting on that. I, when I listen to the voices of our youth and hear their cry for attention and for some sort of specific direction around gun control on a universal level. Because in Massachusetts, we have an attorney general who's been quite aggressive with respect to gun policy. My family, my husband, he owns firearms. I've trained to use a firearm because I was going to get my license to carry, which I haven't gotten yet. So I listened particularly critically around what policies we should have. In the first instance, I want to increase the age limit. We need universal background checks. You know what I do for a living as a family law attorney, I'm frequently dealing with cases that have aspects of domestic violence. So we need a registry that captures that people may, who have a history of violence need to be vetted properly. I'm less inclined to say, let's ban assault weapons without defining what an assault weapon is and what types of weapons present the danger that we're looking to save the kids and our families from. Sometimes you have accessories and characteristics of firearms that make them particularly dangerous, but they may not be called an assault weapon. So as a lawmaker and as a lawyer, I'm really careful to avoid the catchy phrases and to roll up my sleeves and look carefully at what type of policy achieves the goals that we are looking to achieve. Saving our kids and keeping them safe and more importantly, making them feel safe is our first and highest priority across all levels. And making sure that we do it in a way that is responsible is the most effective way. So we're still working on what that policy would look like, but it's almost like a homework assignment that you're really excited to be able to do because you know that you can just do the greatest job ever because you already know in your mind what needs to happen. You just have to do the research and continue the listening tours to fill it all in. So we'll be working on that and hopefully we'll be able to issue a more complete statement. But I think it's going to include a more holistic look at what's happening in our country it'll be much more than ban assault weapons because that just may not do the trick. Right. Yeah. So where's the party going to be on that? Right. I have an 11-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy who are already putting together the band. Oh, nice. Yes. They are going to perform violin, drum, guitar. So I don't know yet where. No, I'm dead serious. You know the music, you know what's happening. I already know. So I've handed over the entertainment to the kids. So what would your life look like if and when you win? What would your life look like? Yeah. It's going to change dramatically. It will change. But my children and I think about because when I think about that question, I think first about my kids and my family and where I'd be. And of course I'd be in DC for a significant part of it back in the district for another part of it. But my children are so good. They're so selfless that they saw their mother working full-time while going to law school, delivering a baby, breastfeeding a baby while in law school and working full-time because they knew that I was always working to provide them with a better life. And I have such a great support network. My husband's great. My parents are great. My brothers and sisters are great. And the children have learned how to rely on our family to help them. And they understand that this is important work and that once we win, they'll be able to hang out in DC and enjoy life that way. They'll be a part and they are part of this historic moment and movement. And I'm just not worried about it. I'm excited for them. I'm excited for them. Thank you. I'm excited for all of our kids. I really, I really am. Yeah. Well, to hear how much we'll do, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Our pleasure. Yeah. That was great. Thank you. Thanks for listening and don't forget to visit us at valleyadvocate.com.


The reason we want to sit down with you and just ask a few key questions is because there's these disasters, these wildfires that are burning. And there are a lot of questions now people are saying, oh, wait a minute, these are fast moving fires. What do folks with access and functional needs need to pay attention to that may be different from other folks that are more mobile or have greater, you know, evacuation ability? So this may sound like a stupid question, but why is it different for folks that are facing a disaster or evacuation and that type of thing for those that have access and functional needs? No, that's a great question, and I appreciate you asking that. So individuals with access and functional needs do have considerations to take in mind. And the plan for the able-bodied people don't. And some of those have to do with transportation. For example, if I'm going to be evacuated, I can't get into any vehicle. I have to have a specialized vehicle that's got a ramp and it's accessible for my wheelchair. I might have mobility devices. I might have a pet or a dog that provides services for me that has to evacuate with me. So the key here is planning. It's proper planning. Plan what would I do in an emergency situation and have that worked out before an emergency happens. So it's preparedness month. This is a perfect time to look at that. We've got fires burning. They're moving quickly. And if you don't know what you're going to do, chances are you're going to find yourself in a tough spot. So if I'm a relative or a friend that I know I have a friend like you or maybe an elderly grandparent that has a hard time getting around, is there anything I can do now to help with that? Like what can I do? Absolutely. And again, it's all going back to getting a plan in place and having a network. So if it's somebody you need to check in with, check in at regular intervals. If you know you might have to evacuate, put in a plan, how will we evacuate this individual? How will I get out? If I can't rely on my own transportation, what about a neighbor? What about a friend? What about a family member? What about any of the groups that I'm involved with, church or otherwise? And you need to go about four deep. That's what we tell people.  Give a couple examples of what are some of those challenges, like how much longer it takes or the vehicles, like that's interesting that you maybe not think of like I can't just drive over to your house and pick you up. That's exactly right. So you have to plan for what I call the good, the bad, and the ugly. The good is I've got my own vehicle. It's accessible. It's set up the way I need it to be. I can get in and out comfortably. I've got somebody that's going to be there with me that can get me out when I need to go. The bad is I'm relying on somebody that's maybe three or four deep on my plan. It's in a vehicle that isn't comfortable. I may have to leave my wheelchair behind. This is an emergency type of situation.  This is law enforcement, first responders. They're going to come. They're going to grab me, and it's just about survival, pulling me out, loading me up somewhere, and getting me out of the danger area. But under all three scenarios, the number one thing, life, protection of life. So now your office here at Tel Aviv has done some videos that are available online. Describe what those are. How are those helpful? Yeah. So we've got videos, and they're fully accessible videos, and what's great about them is we have, for example, earthquake videos that talk about preparation, and the principles that we use during one disaster are directly applicable in another disaster. They talk about things like what can I as an individual with an access to functional need do? What can you as somebody who knows, loves, cares about, or takes care of somebody with an access to functional need do? And what can we as a community do?  And these are real practical videos. It's not just saying this is a problem and you should plan, but it actually has steps you can follow. Oh, yeah. It's step by step. Listen, none of this is rocket science, and that's the great advantage that we have. We're not asking you to do something impossible, we're not even asking you to do something really hard. All we're saying is, get a plan in place. How would you plan to go to a movie? I'd still need an accessible ride. I'd still need to have somebody pick me up. I'd need a schedule, and I would have to either call, text, email, contact somebody to execute that plan. This is the same thing. The only difference is it's a movie that will save your life. Describe like when we're not in disasters, which in California it's kind of hard to describe that time, but what does your office do in non-emergency times? One of the things during non-emergency times that we do, we provide training for individuals that do disaster planning, and we also go out to localities. One of the things that we want to do is empower local governments to be truly inclusive and integrate individuals with accident functional needs into their planning process. So we're here to empower folks to make sure that anybody with an access and functional need is taken care of before, during, and after disaster. And that's probably the benefit of it is that it's not, you're just coming to check up on them, but it's, you're bringing that expertise and those resources that makes it easy for them to plan. That's right, and we're not there to tell them what they're doing wrong, and we're not there to criticize. What we're there to do is support and empower, and we have resources. They're available. They can be leveraged, and they're right here for you to use.  Just got to let us in the door. This really is a community approach. And our partners are the greatest resource that we have. Our partners are anybody in non-profit or private sector, government or otherwise, that want and care for the needs of anybody with an access or functional need. So I tell folks that we got to do it together, or it's not going to happen at all. I think we've had a big wake up call with these fires. We have to learn from this. Every time we learn. Anything I haven't asked you that you think is important to say? I think, again, let's just use what we're learning and what we're seeing on the news right now as a start reminder that we have to prepare and we have to do it now. It can't wait. It's too important. Think of the individuals in your life that have an access or functional need and make sure a plan's in place to take care of them. Just to say, some people think, well, you have to be in a wheelchair to be access and functional needs. It can be anybody that has something that limits their abilities. That's absolutely right. It can be anything from an injury to being transportation disadvantaged. And everything in between. So anything that's going to limit your ability to get out in a safe, timely, easy fashion is considered an access or functional need. There's a lot of people that fall under that umbrella. Well, thank you very much. This is very helpful. I appreciate it. Thank you.


Hi, my name is Jessica Carr. I chose Immaculata University for their online Associate's Degree in Business Management. This gives me the flexibility to pursue my degree and also spend time with my children.


In the last six lectures we discussed about the response of single degree of freedom and multi-degree of freedom system for a specified ground motion. Now this analysis is useful for checking the structures which have already been designed for earthquake and for cases where an earthquake is specified which is likely to occur in future. This is also used many a time for performing a non-linear analysis of the structures in time domain. However most of the structures are to be designed for future earthquake and since the future earthquake is not known therefore we try to model it or represent it in different ways. Two different forms of modeling or representing earthquake were discussed in the input. There we talked of the response spectrum of earthquake and the power spectral density function of earthquake. Response spectrum of earthquake has a particular shape and that has been verified from the past earthquakes and we propose that the future earthquakes that will take place that would have a similar kind of shape in so far as the response spectrum is concerned. And from that we developed what is known as the design response spectrum and this design response spectrum is widely used for designing the structures for earthquake. So that becomes a very good input for analyzing the structures for future earthquake and we will take up the response spectrum method of analysis of the structures subsequently. In this sequence of lecture we will discuss the other input that is the power spectral density function of earthquake that will be applying to structures for analyzing the structures considering earthquake as a random process. That is we assume that the future earthquake is a random process it is not known therefore it is quite rational to model it as a random process rather than a deterministic process. When we model the earthquake as a random process we discussed in connection with the input or earthquake inputs that we describe it in the form of the power spectral density function of the earthquake. And we also describe what is known as a coherence function this coherence function takes care of the phase lag or the time lag between the excitations that occur at different supports which are at specially long distance. So with the help of this coherence function and the power spectral density function one can analyze the structures for random ground motion rather we should say that the ground motions are modeled as a random process. And the technique by which we analyze the structure with the power spectral density function as input and the coherence function in support is known as the spectral analysis. Since the entire analysis is done in frequency domain it is better called a frequency domain spectral analysis. It is a very popular method for finding seismic response of structures for ground motions modeled as a random process. The analysis requires the knowledge of random vibration analysis which forms a special subject of its own and therefore we will not be able to cover this entire random vibration analysis over here. We will take up only a portion of the random vibration analysis which is known as the spectral analysis and using that spectral analysis we will try to obtain the response of the structures for future earthquake modeled as a random process. The spectral analysis is quite elegant simple to understand and provides us a very good estimate of the peak response and the root mean square response of the structure. However the spectral analysis when we are using we have to have some simple concepts before we explain the spectral analysis technique. The two most important concepts that are required for understanding the spectral analysis are the concept of the power spectral density function of earthquake or may be for any random process it may be the response x t of a structure it may be a bending moment of the structure it may be a shear force of the structure since the input is random process therefore they also would constitute a random process. So the concept of power spectral density function not only of the earthquake ground motion but also the power spectral density function of displacement power spectral density function of acceleration power spectral density function of bending moments they must be well understood then comes the coherence function whenever we have got two random processes for example if we have a displacement of a structure x 1 t at the say top of a frame and say x 3 t at the first floor level between these two random processes there will be a lack of correlation or there is a phase gap or a time lag. So because of this phase lag or the time lag or the lack of correlation we have a cross power spectral density function defined for these two random processes and these the concept of this cross power spectral density function with the help of a coherence function that also we introduced in discussing the seismic inputs. So let us say look at these concepts again starting with the definition of the power spectral density function and some other concepts that will be required somewhat in the rigor of the random vibration analysis. However we will not go through all the diggers of the random vibration analysis over here we will simplify our spectral analysis technique by assuming the earthquake process not only to be stationary but also ergodic that is ergodicity is assumed in order to simplify the solution process and in understanding the concepts that we are now will be talking of and you already have undergone the concept of the ergodicity in connection with the seismic input to structures. Now let us take a collection of records of the ground motion and they are available at a particular site which is prone to earthquake. So from the past records one can collect as many number of ground motion records as possible. Ideally if we wish to define a random process we must have infinite number of records and each record should be of infinite duration. However in reality we cannot have a infinite number of the records nor we can have a infinite duration of the ground motion or for that matter any other time history. So we have always a finite number of collection of the ground records and the duration of the earthquake is generally of the order of 30 seconds 40 seconds or so on. So whatever data we get with the help of that we try to look at a property of the random process. Now one important thing that I mentioned in connection with the seismic input is that whenever we are talking of a random process then we are not only interested in only one record but an ensemble of records and I also mentioned that anything irregular is not random. In order to describe a random process you must have a number of earthquake records or number of time histories of the particular variable. Also these kinds of variables are called a parameter random variable. For example xt over here is a parameter random variable t is the parameter and the meaning of the parameter random variable is that at any instant of time t xt itself is a random variable. So if we look at this figure we see that at time t 1 the xt 1 can assume different values and if we have a number of such records then xt 1 itself is a random variable which can assume any value depending upon the number of records that you have got and so these values we can get if I draw a line across this ensemble. Similarly xt 2 is a random variable and it can assume any value depending upon the number of records that we have and we can in the same fashion define xt 3, xt 4, xt 5 all of them will be the random variables and they are these random variables are connected by a function of time t therefore it is called a parameter random variable. Now if I consider the value of xt 1 over the ensemble then if I average them that means take an average of all the values that xt 1 can take across the ensemble then we will get an ensemble average at time t 1 similarly we can get an ensemble of average at time t 2, t 3, t 4 so on. Now if it is found that these ensemble averages are the same or more or less are the same then we can say that this ensemble average is independent of the time shift. Time shift means if we define t 2 by t 1 by tau designating the time shift then whatever be the time shift the ensemble average will remain the same that means the ensemble average that will work out at xt 1 and say at xt 5 both of them will have the same value. So we phrase it in this fashion that the ensemble average is independent of the time shift similarly one can obtain the variance. So these variance would be described as the xt 1 values across the ensemble and the average value of the ensemble at t 1. So we deduct this from xt 1 and take a square of that and expectation means the averaging of this quantity so this is called the variance that we have also discussed before. So if we find that the variance of the ensemble at t 1, at t 2, at t 3 and t 4 if all of them are more or less the same then we can call this also as a process having a variance as invariant of the time shift. Now for our analysis generally we define a process or a random process as a stationary process of order 2 or second order stationary process if we find that the mean ensemble mean and the ensemble variance they are independent of the time shift. And we generally for engineering purposes at least for structural engineering calculations we satisfy our self with the second order stationarity however if one has to really call a process to be a stationary process then it should be an nth order stationary process n being the order that means instead of sigma x square it should be sigma x cube sigma x 4 sigma x 5 higher the number higher would be the order of the stationarity. Then if we consider a single sample out of it then for that single sample we can work out a variance for the sample. So these variance of the sample will be simply the values at different time minus the average value and we take a square of that and one by t and just integrating the square of this quantity that gives the sample variance. In an energetic process we find that sigma x square that is the ensemble variance is equal to the variance of any sample time history. That means if I take out any sample time history from this ensemble this will also give is the same variance across time. Now if you have such an ideal process then that process is called an ergodic process. It is really hard to get an exactly an ergodic process in reality but for solving many problems in random vibration we assume the property of ergodicity because the assumption of ergodicity simplifies the analysis procedure. So in our case also we will assume that the process the earthquake process or the future earthquake is not only stationary but it is also ergodic. Now once we assume that then we will find that many of the concepts that will be subsequently describing they become simpler to define however those concepts can also be defined in the rigor of random vibration analysis. So however here we will not do that in order to understand in a simple manner we will assume the process to be an ergodic process. This Fourier series and Fourier integral we have discussed before in connection with again seismic input and there we have used that Fourier series for finding out the Fourier spectrum as well as defining the power spectral density function of a ground motion. And so therefore I will not be again repeating it in total but the salient features let me again reiterate over here so that you get a recapitulation. If I take a single time history then it can be broken up into a number of harmonics or in other words if we sum up of the number of harmonics then we get a time history and irregular time history x t and a k and b k they are obtained from this relationship if x t basically is a function which is integrable then one can get the values of a k and b k in the closed form if it is not an integrable function then we go for a numerical integration. In order to perform this numerical integration effectively we now use f f t that is first Fourier transform and in order to get back the time history of the signal or time history of ground motion in this case we can obtain this time history from the frequency components of the time history if we use i f f t. So, the pair of f f t and i f f t that we use for Fourier synthesizing a time history of ground motion now how one can obtain a Fourier integral from the Fourier series that is described over here if we simply substitute 1 by t in the previous equation that is in this equation this 1 by t if it is substituted over here then you will find that it becomes delta omega by pi here also you will get delta omega by pi and if we assume that t is tending to infinity then delta omega converts to d omega and the summation sign can be replaced by an integration sign. So, that is what is shown over here x t can be shown to be equal to this particular form 2 times omega is equal to 0 to alpha a omega cos omega t d omega plus b omega sin omega t d omega s like this now one can remove this 2 if we instead of integrating from 0 to infinity if we integrate from minus infinity to plus infinity.  So that is how the first part of the Fourier integral has is derived that is x omega is given by this integral the second part that is if we wish to find out x t given x omega that is a frequency contents of the ground motion then we use this i f f t that is inverse Fourier transform and it can be easily proved like this that if we take x omega e to the power i omega t d omega this integral if we wish to write down then we have a omega minus i b omega multiplied by cos omega t plus i b omega t that is e to the power i omega t is replaced by cos omega t plus i sin omega t and if and then we also keep d omega over here and when we multiply these two then we have this quantity this quantity that is b omega sin omega t a omega cos omega t and then also these two quantities that is i a omega sin omega t minus i b omega cos omega t d omega. Now this we keep as it is these two and these two in this if we substitute for a omega and b omega by the equation of a k and b k that I have shown you before if we substitute that then we will find that these two terms they cancel finally we have a omega sin omega t d omega plus b omega cos omega t d omega this is the these are the quantities that remain and this is nothing but equal to x t because we have defined these two terms this like this x t has been defined by equation 4.7 b as a omega cos omega t d omega plus b omega sin omega t d omega. So, we can prove that x t becomes equal to the i f f t of x omega and they form what is known as the Fourier integral pair. So, the Fourier integral pair that we use in Fourier synthesizing any particular time history that can be straight away derived from the Fourier series. Then when we try to use f f t and i f f t we perform that integration with the help of a summation sign or we numerically calculate this integration and that format is known as the discrete Fourier transform and inverse discrete Fourier transform and that is what is used in the computer programs for obtaining the Fourier components of any signal or of any time history. The Fourier amplitudes a k and the phase etcetera that has been discussed before. So, I am not going to again repeat that only one important thing that I wish to mention over here is that Fourier integral that we have shown you before that Fourier integral is valid only under this condition that is the absolute value of x t integrated over the entire duration must be less than infinity that means that quantity must be a finite quantity. And in reality with this particular condition is met because our time history records are not in finite they are all finite time history records. Therefore, if I wish to make it infinite that is if you wish to make the integration from minus infinity to plus infinity then we have to add on zeros to that and that way the in reality this particular condition is satisfied. Now, if we are using the discrete Fourier transform then the Fourier integral is expressed with the help of these summation signs and this has also been discussed before in connection with the seismic input. Also we discussed about the Perseval's theorem in order to find out the mean square value. So, mean square value of the process of or x x t a square integration of it from 0 to t divided by 1 by t that gives you the mean square value of a particular time history that can be shown to be equal to the some absolute square absolute value square of the complex quantities that we get after we obtain a f f t of a time history. So, and if they are added together then we get the same mean square value. So, that is what the Perseval's theorem is and how from that we use we obtain the power spectral density function that also we have discussed before that is if we use MATLAB then the whatever values we get as x omega that is the complex number a plus i b then we take n by 2 plus 1 values first n by 2 plus 1 values from that a plus i b quantities. And then we take the absolute square of these complex quantities and we have got n by 2 plus 1 such quantities that we plot against omega then divide each ordinate by d omega. And we get bars small bar diagrams and the small bar diagrams small bars will be again equal to n by 2 plus 1 in number then join the center of those bars in order to get the power spectral density function. So, all these things have been discussed before. So, I do not want to again repeat it only I wish to mention over here that we are able to define the power spectral density function of ground motion in this particular fashion because we assume the process to be an edgodic process. And therefore, we looked at only one single time history record and from there we are constructing its power spectral density function and that power spectral density function represents the entire stationary process because the area under the power spectral density curve is again equal to the mean square value that also we have discussed before. So, since a stationary process is characterized by a unique mean square value therefore, the power spectral density function constructed in this fashion provides a good estimate of the input that will go as an input for the random vibration analysis of the spectral analysis in particular over here spectral analysis of structures. Next we this also we mentioned before, but again let me reiterate it. If we have got a random variable x t 1 and then we define another random variable x t 2 t 2 defined as t 1 plus tau tau is the time shift between t 1 and t 2 then although there would be the expected value of x t 2 square and expected value of x t 1 square they are same, but they would differ in so far as the phase lag is concerned that is there will be a phase lag between these two time histories and in order to denote these phase lag we use what is known as the autocorrelation function. This autocorrelation function is a function of tau that is the separation time between x t 1 and x t 2 in the ensemble let me show you again in the figure what are those that is this t 1 and t 2 and tau is this distance. So, greater the value of tau more is the time lag between two random variables and autocorrelation between the random variables x t 1 and x t 2 they are a function of tau that is a time separation. So, we write down expected value of x t 1 multiplied by x t 2 in place of t 2 we write t 1 plus tau. So, this is the definition of the r x x tau. So, what we do in obtaining the r x x tau we take a particular time shift and describe two random variables in time multiply the ordinates of these two random variables over the ensemble and then take an average of that that is what is called the r x x tau that is the autocorrelation function and it depends upon the value of tau. If tau is equal to 0 then you can see that the r x x tau simply becomes is equal to r x x tau becomes equal to the expected value of x t square. So, r x x tau becomes equal to the mean of tau. In this fashion we can also define the cross correlation between two random processes say x is a random process and y is another random process then we call r x y tau as a cross correlation function between x and y over a time separation which is called tau. So, and one can define the r x y tau in the same fashion that we have done for r x x tau in this case we take at t 1 at time t 1 on the values of x and for the y process we take the values at t 1 plus tau. So, at that particular time we take the values of y and then multiply them over the ensemble and take an average. So, that is how we define r x y tau and it could be easily shown that r x y minus tau is equal to r y x tau. So, that is a property that can be easily proved. Figures 4.2 to 4.3 they show the plots of r x tau and r x y tau with tau. The figure 4.2 shows the variation of the auto correlation function r x tau with tau and it is seen that the value of the r x tau becomes maximum at tau is equal to 0 as it would be expected and the value of the r x tau at tau is equal to 0 is equal to sigma square plus m square where sigma square is the stand the variance of x and m square is the square of the mean value. For 0 mean process the value of the r x tau at tau is equal to 0 becomes equal to variance or is equal to the mean square value as we can see it from the definition of r x tau. The r x tau or the auto correlation function drastically falls down as tau increases and it is seen that after a value of tau the value of r x tau oscillates about the mean value m. For 0 mean process r x tau is equal to this oscillation takes place at the axis tau axis and this fluctuation is of very small order. So, as the tau increases then there is a lack of correlation between two random variables x t 1 and x t 2 and for large value of tau the correlation between two random variables may be negligible. Similarly, we can see the variation of r x y tau with tau in figure 4.3 unlike the case of the auto correlation function r x y tau does not become maximum at tau is equal to 0, but at some other value of tau that is tau is equal to tau 0 and the maximum value is equal to sigma x multiplied by sigma y plus m x into m y where sigma x is the standard deviation of the random process x and sigma y is the standard deviation for the random process y and m x and m y are the corresponding mean values. After the r x y tau reaches maximum then it again falls down drastically as tau increases and it fluctuates about the value of m x into m y and this fluctuation again is of very small order. So, thus we can see that for large value of tau the correlation between the process x or the stochastic process x and the stochastic process y can be ignored or we can say that that is very becomes very negligible. Now the correlation function and the cross power spectral density functions they form the Fourier transform pair. So, that is what basically we are going to use now what we would say that previously in the case of seismic input we said that the cross power spectral density function is equal to the power spectral density function of the ground motion multiplied by a coherence function. Now this particular thing define the cross power spectral density function between two excitation, but now we will define it slightly in a different way although the meaning remains the same that is the s x x tau can be shown to be equal to the inverse Fourier transform of s x x omega that is the inverse Fourier transform of the power spectral density function of the process and the power spectral density function of the process is the Fourier transform of or f f t of r x x tau. So, given r x x tau one can in principle compute the power spectral density function of the process similarly given the power spectral density function of a random process one can obtain its autocorrelation function. So, in this particular fashion one can also construct the power spectral density function from the ensemble of records. So, if you have an ensemble of records one can obtain the autocorrelation first and then take a Fourier transform of that f f t that will give us the definition or the power spectral density function. We need not then assume ergodicity and try to find out the power spectral density function from a single time history that we discussed before.  So, then we need not again define the cross power spectral density function by stating that cross power spectral density function between two support excitations is equal to the power spectral density function of the ground motion multiplied by the coherence function. So, we need not try we need not define in that fashion, but we can define it in this particular way through if we wish to define it through an ensemble that means then we are not no more again using what is known as the ergodicity property. So, the cross power spectral density function and the cross correlation functions and the power spectral density function and the autocorrelation function they form on the Fourier transform pair. So, that is used in many cases when we will be deriving the spectral analysis technique. Another important thing that I should mention over here is that s y x omega that means s x y omega is the cross power spectral density function between x and y. Similarly, one can have a cross power spectral density function defined between y and x. So, that is called s y x omega is nothing but complex conjugate of s x y omega. So, if we know s x y omega you can just take a complex conjugate of that and that would give you the value of s y x omega. This also can be proved and indirect proof to show that the power spectral density function and the autocorrelation function the cross power spectral density function and the cross correlation function they are they form the Fourier transform pair. We can use this indirect relationship that r x x at tau is equal to 0. We know that the value is equal to r x x square that is the mean square value of the process and if we substitute in this Fourier transform the value of tau to be equal to 0 or rather in this equation tau to be equal to 0 then this becomes simply is equal to s x x omega d omega and we know that the area under the power spectral density function curve is equal to the mean square value. So, this is an indirect proof of the Fourier transform pair that r x x and s x x they conform to. Similarly, r x y 0 would be the integration of s x y omega d omega and the integration of this s x y d omega will give you the expected value of x y. So, in this particular way one can indirectly proof that the cross power spectral density function and the power spectral density function they and the autocorrelation function and the cross correlation function form the Fourier transform pairs. Now, the p s d f the power spectral density function forms an ideal input for frequency domain analysis of structures for two reasons. These reasons are firstly a second order random process is you would know that the uniquely defined by its mean square value that is the definition of the second order stationarity which we assume to be sufficient and for our structure analysis. So, therefore, if we have the mean square value known or as a unique value known for the random process then the random process is defined to us. Next since we are wanting to find out carry out an analysis in frequency domain then it is better to have not only the knowledge of mean square value of the process, but how the mean square value is distributed over the frequency and that comes from the definition of the power spectral density function itself because we know that the area under the power spectral density function curve is equal to the mean square value. So, in other words we can say that the power spectral density function is a distribution of the mean square value with frequency. So, in a frequency domain analysis now we expect that at each frequency what is the contribution of the power spectral density function to the mean square value if that goes as an input then we can get an output in a similar fashion that is we can get a power spectral density function ordinate at a particular frequency contributing to the total mean square value of the response. So, with this particular concept in mind we develop the spectral analysis technique or frequency domain spectral analysis technique. How we obtain the power spectral density function curve that I define I described before. So, if you can have the FFTs of the time histories and plot the amplitude squares in close enough range and then divide it by d omega then these are the different bars and you will have n by 2 plus 1 number of bars over here and through the center of these bars if you draw a line that gives you the value of s omega denoting that the area under the curve is equal to the mean square value of the process. So, in this fashion you get the value of the or you can obtain the power spectral density function provided we assume the process to be a ergodic process. So, I am not going to again repeat the same thing that I had repeated discussed before. So, I am not only thing which again I wish to mention over here is that there is a physical meaning which is attached to the power spectral density function that is the area under the power spectral density function curve is equal to the mean square value or alternatively we can say that distribution of the mean square value with frequency is a power spectral density function. So, that gives a physical sense to the spectral analysis. However, we cannot give such a physical interpretation to a cross power spectral density function as we can give it for or the power spectral density function. So, but some idea about the physical significance of the power spectral density function would be clear from this figure if in this simply supported beam if we have got two loads dynamic loads with a phase difference of phi then as phi goes on changing the degree of correlation between p 1 and p 2 they would be changing and the moment this phi is changed you will find the bending moment at the center that goes on changing with the value of phi. So, thus the degree of correlation is very much related to the response of the system. So, that is the physical meaning that we can attach to the cross power spectral density function of two random processes. So, in that case p 1 will be a random process p 2 will be another random process, but having a phase lag and in these two random processes since they are not perfectly correlated they will have a distinct what to call contribution or influence on the response of the system. Therefore, these need to be considered along with the power spectral density function of the two processes of as an input for spectral analysis.