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Activists Around the World: Kica Matos · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: And Samantha.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: And welcome to Stuff Mom Never Told You, a production
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio.
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  Speaker 2: And we are back with another episode of Activists Around
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: the World. And today, Annie, we are talking about the
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: works and advocacy of Kika Matos. So Matos identifies as Afro-Buriqua,
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: born in Puerto Rico and raised between Trinidad and Tobago
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  Speaker 2: and the Fiji Islands. So she has been around. As
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: in fact, she traveled part because of her upbringing as
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  Speaker 2: her father was an environmental activist and they traveled abroad often.
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  Speaker 2: And her activism actually grew as a part of all
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: of this. Really beginning, honestly, in her college era. So
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  Speaker 2: this is a bit from her interview with NPR and
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  Speaker 2: it's from ctpublic.org. You know how each state has their
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: own little network. It says, it was during her college
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  Speaker 2: years in New Zealand that Matos first really got involved
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  Speaker 2: in social justice. She noted it was fraught time for
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  Speaker 2: the predominantly white country with headlines about the national rugby
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  Speaker 2: team playing in peak apartheid South Africa and the bombing
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  Speaker 2: of Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland. So she talked
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  Speaker 2: about how that really kind of opened her eyes to
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  Speaker 2: seeing a lot of the injustices. But if we really
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: throw it back, she also talks about her own upbringing
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  Speaker 2: and the comparison of blackness in a culture that really
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  Speaker 2: wanted to talk about, oh, we're blind, we're colorblind, which
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  Speaker 2: we already know is a false flag in how we
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  Speaker 2: talk about racism. And she understood from a young age how, yes,
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  Speaker 2: it matters. And your proximity to whiteness really does affect
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: how you're treated. And she had said in her own
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: self that she saw this growing up and knew racism
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  Speaker 2: was a problem. And with that, her activism kind of
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  Speaker 2: just grew and it kind of opened her eyes when
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: she was in New Zealand during this really, really rough time.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: So she would then move on to Cornell Law School,
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  Speaker 2: where she got her jurisprudence doctorate. Her trajectory into social
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  Speaker 2: justice work was quick. She jumped into Amnesty International, and
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: there she became an advocate against the death penalty, saying
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  Speaker 2: it was the ultimate racial injustice. So this is also
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  Speaker 2: back to that NPR article. She says to them that
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  Speaker 2: they were working on the case of this young man
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  Speaker 2: who was 17 at the time that he committed the
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  Speaker 2: alleged crime. He had severe intellectual challenges and was African-American
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  Speaker 2: and was tried by an all-white jury. I said, okay,
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  Speaker 2: I'm going to dedicate the rest of my life to
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  Speaker 2: fighting for the abolition of the death penalty. And that
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  Speaker 2: is really what I thought I was going to do.
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  Speaker 2: Of course, she has since then kind of grown in
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: her work. She says, life has a way of challenging
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: you because even the best laid plans don't turn out.
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  Speaker 2: So here I am, 37 years later, doing something completely
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  Speaker 2: different and unexpected. And honestly, I wouldn't say that it
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: was completely different. That doesn't mean she's changed her activism
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: or her advocacy much, just kind of adds to her
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: many layers in her career. So in 2002, Matos became
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  Speaker 2: the first woman to be appointed executive director of Junta
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  Speaker 2: for Progressive Action, which is the oldest Latino advocacy organization
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  Speaker 2: in New Haven. And there, she was able to help
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  Speaker 2: with expansion of different types of programs, like after school
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  Speaker 2: and summer programs, legal assistance services, and other types of
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  Speaker 2: services for the immigrant communities. And Interestingly, later, she would
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: then be appointed as a deputy mayor to New Haven.
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  Speaker 2: So she kind of like jumped around where she changed
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  Speaker 2: the policies to help undocumented immigrants in getting government issued
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  Speaker 2: IDs and helped a lot of the undocumented immigrants just
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: be able to do a lot more in policy work.
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  Speaker 2: So we'd love to see that. She would then move
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  Speaker 2: on to work at the Vera Institute for Justice. And
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  Speaker 2: I found a really fun interview with her and another
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  Speaker 2: person who started the job. And they kind of asked
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  Speaker 2: them why. or who they are and their background. So
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  Speaker 2: it's from Vera.org. And she says this, I'm an Afro-Goriquian organizer.
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  Speaker 2: I'm convinced that I was born a feminist. I'm also
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  Speaker 2: a mother, a wife, and an active member of my
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  Speaker 2: New Haven community. I've always been involved in social justice
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  Speaker 2: in different ways. I've worked as a death penalty lawyer,
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  Speaker 2: a nonprofit executive director, a deputy mayor for community services,
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  Speaker 2: a foundation executive for Progressive Foundation, and an organizer. So
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  Speaker 2: she's talking about how she got to Vera. And essentially,
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  Speaker 2: this was kind of like the next natural steps. and
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  Speaker 2: how she became, becoming a leader, essentially. Matos has only
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  Speaker 2: gained more traction as she's continued her work. In 2023,
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  Speaker 2: she was named the president of the National Immigration Law Center,
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: or NILC, Immigration Justice Fund. From her interview in HaasJr.org,
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  Speaker 2: she says this, I was working on federal immigration reform
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  Speaker 2: at Community Change in Washington about a decade ago, and
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  Speaker 2: there was a bill that passed the Senate and got
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  Speaker 2: stuck in the House. NILC was part of the coalition
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  Speaker 2: working with us on that campaign. And we were all
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  Speaker 2: trying to figure out how to get the bill through
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  Speaker 2: the House. So we staged a massive civil disobedience event
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  Speaker 2: in D.C. and blocked several streets close to Congress. A
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  Speaker 2: lot of us got arrested that day. And I ended
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  Speaker 2: up in a massive room in a jail with the
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  Speaker 2: former NILC president and a lot of other leaders. They
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: had taken away our phones, so all we could do
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  Speaker 2: was talk to each other. And I remember we had
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  Speaker 2: deep conversations about everything, from the personal to the political.
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  Speaker 2: And from that day forward, I had such profound respect
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  Speaker 2: for NILC. Later, when I was working at the Vera
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  Speaker 2: Institute of Justice, NILC was hiring for an executive vice president.
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  Speaker 2: I applied and got the job. And then the president
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  Speaker 2: at the time was stepping down and I guess it
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  Speaker 2: was kismet. So I love that. I love that interaction.
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  Speaker 2: I love that during that civil disobedience, she found connections
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  Speaker 2: and kind of that bigger conversation because I oftentimes, not
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  Speaker 2: to make it about myself, but especially today, wonder what
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  Speaker 2: would happen if we do get, if we become a
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  Speaker 2: part of this, When we become, I guess we should
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: say it that way, when we become a part of
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  Speaker 2: this conversation, we'll be arrested. What's going to happen to us?
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  Speaker 2: And I kind of like that this was the result
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  Speaker 2: for her. And I'm like, that's right. We just grow together.
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  Speaker 2: And since then, her work has only grown. She's been
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  Speaker 2: recently named Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2026. So
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: this is from her feature in the Times. It says,
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  Speaker 2: Kiko Matos goes deep. She scuba dives, exploring the vast
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  Speaker 2: secrets of the ocean. Her pursuit allows her to delve
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  Speaker 2: far beyond what meets the eye, pushing past discomfort and
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  Speaker 2: into the unknown. In her work, too, Kika is unafraid
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  Speaker 2: of depth. She fights for the people, especially the most
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  Speaker 2: vulnerable and marginalized in our country. For decades, she has
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  Speaker 2: fought for and alongside people on death row, working-class families,
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  Speaker 2: and immigrants. As the president of National Immigration Law Center
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  Speaker 2: and Immigration Justice Fund, Kika faces pressure with steadiness rather
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: than retreat. Since she stepped into the role in 2023,
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  Speaker 2: racial justice, decriminalization, and immigrant rights have been at the
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  Speaker 2: forefront of her work. She has tirelessly challenged the Trump
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  Speaker 2: administration on topics ranging from ICE officers wearing face coverings
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  Speaker 2: to the rights of unaccompanied migrant children. As I think
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  Speaker 2: about Kika's impact on our country, I think about her diving.
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  Speaker 2: A fierce, brave explorer shining lights on parts of our
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  Speaker 2: world that often go unseen. But she also understands the
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: freedom in an infinite sea. I love that article. I
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: love that piece about her because I do love that
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  Speaker 2: we get a little glimpse about her, her passions, and
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  Speaker 2: it does seem to match how she works. Oh, Lord.
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  Speaker 2: I wondered what people would say about my passions compared
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  Speaker 2: to my works.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know if I like that. Anyway.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, dear.
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  Speaker 2: And before all this, she had other accolades, of course, including...
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  Speaker 2: given the New Frontier Award in 2005, as well as
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  Speaker 2: her John F. Kennedy Library Honorary Doctorate. She was a
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  Speaker 2: Puffin Prize for Creative Citizenship in 2024. I don't know
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  Speaker 2: what this is, but I'm jealous. I want a Puffin Prize.
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  Speaker 1: You can make it happen.
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  Speaker 2: I'm sure it has something to do with New Haven.
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  Speaker 2: New Haven, but I'm just saying, still, I want it.
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  Speaker 2: She's also Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame inductee in 2021.
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  Speaker 2: So obviously, she's done amazing works, and she continues to
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  Speaker 2: do amazing works. I'm sad that it took me to
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: find her on time before I knew about her works. But,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we try to highlight as much as we can.
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  Speaker 2: And we love being educated.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, we do. And we love hearing about the accomplishments
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  Speaker 1: that these activists are doing. So as always, if there's
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: someone you think we should highlight, please let us know.
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• 8:31
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• 8:39
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• 8:41
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  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 8:46
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• 8:48
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