Latest / Locatora Radio [A Radiophonic Novela] / Capitulo 89: How to WIN a Rigged Election, Latinas in Politics II

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Capitulo 89: How to WIN a Rigged Election, Latinas in Politics II · Locatora Radio [A Radiophonic Novela]

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Speaker 1: have lots in store for you today. We have a
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Speaker 1: full length interview for the second half of this episode,
3:36
Speaker 1: but before that, we of course want to talk about
3:39
Speaker 1: saving the USPS, the Postal Service, the post Office. We
3:45
Speaker 1: love USPS. So many small businesses use the post office,
3:52
Speaker 1: the Postal Service to send out their packages, their products,
3:57
Speaker 1: their creations, and the focus the past couple of weeks
4:02
Speaker 1: in relation to the USPS has been about the elections,
4:05
Speaker 1: but also keeping in mind senior citizens, folks with developmental disabilities,
4:10
Speaker 1: folks with pre existing conditions, use the postal service to
4:14
Speaker 1: also just pay their bills. Right, Maybe don't have access
4:17
Speaker 1: to a computer, maybe you don't have access to WiFi,
4:20
Speaker 1: so they still use good old snail mail. So the
4:24
Speaker 1: USPS is so important to so many people at so
4:27
Speaker 1: many different levels. But today we're gonna be talking about
4:29
Speaker 1: it in relation to the elections. Absolutely, uh, we have
4:35
Speaker 1: you know, we spent a lot of time online, so
4:38
Speaker 1: we've been reading articles. There's an article by Hartperd's Bazaar
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Speaker 1: talking about Donald Trump fought the equating mail in ballots
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Speaker 1: with voter fraud the way he's been talking about not
4:50
Speaker 1: wanting to allocate um a proposed dollars in funding to
4:56
Speaker 1: the USPS. They want three and a half billion dollars
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Speaker 1: for the mail in votes. Okay, universal mail in ballots
5:04
Speaker 1: three and after they want billion dollars billion for the
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Speaker 1: post office. Now they need that money in order to
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Speaker 1: have the post office work so it can take all
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Speaker 1: of these millions and millions and ballots. Now in the meantime,
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Speaker 1: they aren't getting there. By the way, those are just
5:21
Speaker 1: two items. But if they don't get those two items,
5:24
Speaker 1: that means you can't have universal mail in voting. And
5:27
Speaker 1: we've also seen photos being posted on Twitter from different states, Uh,
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Speaker 1: Oregon definitely now Los Angeles, California, but photos of what
5:40
Speaker 1: looks like big trusts going around and literally collecting and
5:45
Speaker 1: removing and driving off with blue USPS mail drop boxes. UM,
5:52
Speaker 1: and I saw a photo on Twitter that was posted
5:55
Speaker 1: about mail like delivery trucks being toad and taken away
6:02
Speaker 1: and in the dead of night, and it's just really terrifying.
6:06
Speaker 1: It's very scary. We're in a pandemic. We're supposed to
6:10
Speaker 1: be at home. We're supposed to stay inside if we can,
6:12
Speaker 1: if we're not essential workers and out in the field working.
6:16
Speaker 1: But to not provide the option to folks, to disallow
6:23
Speaker 1: the option of of of mail in ballots is just
6:26
Speaker 1: horrendous and either forcing people out of their homes in
6:29
Speaker 1: the middle of a pandemic or making it even more
6:33
Speaker 1: difficult for working folks for essential workers to vote right
6:37
Speaker 1: when folks are working. UM, folks rely on USPS for
6:42
Speaker 1: their medicine, you know, and so if the mail is
6:45
Speaker 1: not up and running, our community suffer. People suffer. So
6:50
Speaker 1: we are really excited to share with you all. Now
6:54
Speaker 1: we're gonna be interviewing a really incredible head on the
6:58
Speaker 1: second half of this at the So, the name is
7:00
Speaker 1: Mida Macias to the executive director of Latino Victory, and
7:05
Speaker 1: she's going to be talking to us about their new initiatives,
7:07
Speaker 1: the first Latinas Initiative. And we asked Myra about the
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Speaker 1: United States Postal Service, about mail and ballast, about elections,
7:14
Speaker 1: and about Latinos, right, So the first Latinas initiative that
7:18
Speaker 1: she's going to talk to us more about. It's a
7:20
Speaker 1: joint partnership with actress Eva Longoria and women's rights activist
7:24
Speaker 1: Cecil Richards designed to endorse and raise awareness of Latina
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Speaker 1: candidates running for offices that have never had a Latina
7:31
Speaker 1: representatives before. So, believe it or not, believe it, there
7:35
Speaker 1: are states, there are places where they have never had
7:39
Speaker 1: Latinas in public office, right or in specific roles and
7:43
Speaker 1: specific opposite positions. So we're gonna go ahead and tell
7:47
Speaker 1: you a little bit more about Myra. Also, do you
7:49
Speaker 1: want to like introduce a little bit more of Myra's
7:51
Speaker 1: bio for the listeners. Absolutely. My Mada mass is a
7:56
Speaker 1: highly sought after organizer, educator, and political operative. Mida was
8:00
Speaker 1: named one of the American Association of Political Consultants Top
8:04
Speaker 1: forty under forty nineteen. She grew up in Chicago's South
8:09
Speaker 1: Side in the working class family of Mexican immigrant parents,
8:13
Speaker 1: and went on to attend Yale University. After graduating, she
8:17
Speaker 1: moved to Miami to work for a teach for America
8:20
Speaker 1: and later she joined the Latino Victory Project in seventeen,
8:24
Speaker 1: serving as national political director and Vice president. Mada was
8:29
Speaker 1: an architect behind Latino Victory win rate in the cycle,
8:34
Speaker 1: playing a critical role in electing the most diverse congressional
8:38
Speaker 1: class in the US history. Super impressive. We're really honored
8:43
Speaker 1: to have Maya on the podcast to share her wisdom
8:45
Speaker 1: and her expertise with us and to give us a
8:48
Speaker 1: little bit more information about how we can involve and
8:50
Speaker 1: make sure that our votes are in and that they're counted.
8:54
Speaker 1: So a little bit more about Latino Victory. Mighta is
8:56
Speaker 1: the executive director of Latino Victory. The Latino Victory Fund
9:00
Speaker 1: is a progressive political action committee working to grow Latino
9:04
Speaker 1: political power by increasing Latino representation at every level of government. So, um,
9:11
Speaker 1: that's what you can expect to hear on the second
9:13
Speaker 1: half of this episode. As you know, we've covered Latinas
9:15
Speaker 1: in politics before. We interviewed um Ya Serrada when she
9:19
Speaker 1: ran for the Wittier City Council. And you know, it's
9:23
Speaker 1: an election year, a really wild election year. There's so
9:27
Speaker 1: much going on, and we're going to continue bringing the
9:30
Speaker 1: Latin X and politics programming and conversations information to you
9:34
Speaker 1: all out there so we can be informed, we know
9:37
Speaker 1: what's going on, um and we can support the candidates
9:41
Speaker 1: that represent our interests and that are running for offices
9:43
Speaker 1: where we have never been before. Yes. Absolutely, you know,
9:47
Speaker 1: I was just thinking last night, you know, not to
9:51
Speaker 1: get too heavy, but I was exiting the freeway and
9:55
Speaker 1: I saw a mural of Kobe Bryant and I thought, wow,
9:59
Speaker 1: like Kobe Bryant died in and that it seems like
10:03
Speaker 1: so long ago. And so we have that monumental death,
10:07
Speaker 1: you know, that really affected and was felt in Los Angeles.
10:11
Speaker 1: Added on compounded by the pandemic, and also it's an
10:16
Speaker 1: election year. It's a presidential election year. It's wild. I
10:20
Speaker 1: can't believe, is what it is. It's such a weird
10:24
Speaker 1: time and we're going to continue to bring you this
10:27
Speaker 1: really important coverage because it's crucial and you know, let
10:31
Speaker 1: latin X folks really have voting power, and we're going
10:34
Speaker 1: to talk about that in the second half of this interview.
10:37
Speaker 1: But you know, it's it's a wild time out here,
10:40
Speaker 1: but we are trying to bring you the best coverage
10:44
Speaker 1: at all times, even in the middle of a pandemic.
10:47
Speaker 1: Absolutely the hardest working podcasters alive. If you will, we're
10:55
Speaker 1: bringing you quarantine conference, pandemic coverage, election cover. We're talking
11:00
Speaker 1: about we're talking about spect to a health range. The range,
11:06
Speaker 1: the range, the range, the range. Yeah, you know, we're
11:10
Speaker 1: still out here. We're hustling. As as we were doing
11:14
Speaker 1: our little intra Mallah, I kept thinking like, is this
11:16
Speaker 1: really a mini series? Is Quarantine Confidential a mini series anymore?
11:21
Speaker 1: Or is it just a regular look at programming now?
11:25
Speaker 1: I know, right, yes, I mean basically this is yeah, yeah,
11:31
Speaker 1: maybe it it's a year long series. I hope it's
11:40
Speaker 1: only a year. Lord series is the year that won't quit?
11:49
Speaker 1: But neither neither do we. Alright, So we're gonna yes,
11:54
Speaker 1: take that, alright, y'all. So we're gonna go into a
11:58
Speaker 1: quick song break and we're and we're we're back. We're
12:00
Speaker 1: going to be speaking with Mida Massias of Latino Victory
12:06
Speaker 1: or Casa bell Ro and and and and and and
12:13
Speaker 1: and and and and and and and and and and
12:19
Speaker 1: and and and and and and Dell Rock Platins and
12:28
Speaker 1: and the Lack and and and and and and and
12:37
Speaker 1: um um from from m um um um um um
12:44
Speaker 1: from from from of it and little ship um um
12:51
Speaker 1: m I'll by Local Motive. So today on the podcast,
12:58
Speaker 1: we have a really a credible, impressive important guest, Mara Massias,
13:04
Speaker 1: who's here um as the executive director of Latino Victory,
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Speaker 1: the Latino Victory Project, and she's going to introduce us
13:13
Speaker 1: to a new initiative that was just introduced like three
13:15
Speaker 1: weeks ago. This is a brand new initiative through Latino
13:18
Speaker 1: Victory and this is called the first Latinas Program. So Myra,
13:23
Speaker 1: welcome to Local. Thank you so much for being here
13:26
Speaker 1: with us today. Can you say hello to our listeners
13:28
Speaker 1: so that they can they can get a sense of
13:30
Speaker 1: who you are and welcome you to the local community.
13:33
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Thank you the Osa and Mala
13:36
Speaker 1: and everyone listening to Local Radio. I love the name.
13:40
Speaker 1: I definitely can relate and just so excited to be here. Um.
13:44
Speaker 1: As you mentioned, my name is Mida mass I'm the
13:46
Speaker 1: executive director of Latino Victory and Latino Victory is a
13:50
Speaker 1: national organization dedicated to building Latino political power and what
13:55
Speaker 1: that means for us on a day to day basis
13:57
Speaker 1: is helping support Latino progressive candidates up and down the ballot,
14:02
Speaker 1: from school board all the way to the White House. UM.
14:06
Speaker 1: But just a little bit about me, since you asked,
14:08
Speaker 1: I'm originally from Chicago. I never thought I would be
14:12
Speaker 1: working in politics because, as you probably all know, politics
14:16
Speaker 1: runs deep in the waters of Chicago, and it was
14:19
Speaker 1: just something that never interested me. UM. But I actually,
14:24
Speaker 1: after college, UM, I did teach for America and was
14:28
Speaker 1: teaching middle school language arts in a school in Miami.
14:31
Speaker 1: UM and was really really frustrated as a teacher because
14:36
Speaker 1: you know, as a teacher, you're not just teaching UM students,
14:41
Speaker 1: you're also acting as a counselor as a family member
14:46
Speaker 1: at times, UM as a resource center. And I was
14:49
Speaker 1: just really frankly frustrated that my students, UM, who lived
14:56
Speaker 1: in Liberty City in Miami, We're dealing with a lot
14:58
Speaker 1: of adult issue that prevented them from just coming into
15:02
Speaker 1: the classroom and learning. You know, they lived in a
15:05
Speaker 1: community that is a food desert. Many of their parents
15:09
Speaker 1: had to work multiple shifts because we don't have enough
15:12
Speaker 1: jobs with living wages, and so many of my sixth
15:15
Speaker 1: grade students would come entired because they had to stay
15:18
Speaker 1: up waiting for their parents to come back from the
15:20
Speaker 1: night shift. And it was just really really frustrating as
15:24
Speaker 1: a teacher, UM to feel like you had no power
15:27
Speaker 1: to make sure that you were helping kids beyond the
15:30
Speaker 1: four walls of your classroom, UM to just learn. And
15:34
Speaker 1: that's when I decided to get involved in politics. I
15:37
Speaker 1: realized that for me, I had the privilege to not
15:41
Speaker 1: be involved. And that's a luxury because I knew that
15:44
Speaker 1: whether or not I was involved in politics, Uh, you know,
15:47
Speaker 1: the day to day impacts on my life weren't as
15:51
Speaker 1: dire as they were for you know, students who you know,
15:54
Speaker 1: can't even vote, right, so people like my students who
15:57
Speaker 1: are affected by whose elected to their local you know,
16:02
Speaker 1: school board, to their state legislature. And so I decided
16:06
Speaker 1: to get involved. And I thought I was just going
16:08
Speaker 1: to do a little summer stint, and I worked on
16:10
Speaker 1: the Obama campaign in and I fell in love with organizing.
16:15
Speaker 1: I realized very quickly, you know, just the direct impact
16:20
Speaker 1: that you, as one person can have in helping educate
16:24
Speaker 1: folks on how to be involved in the civic process,
16:27
Speaker 1: and I fell in love. Uh. And here we are
16:30
Speaker 1: years later, us still working in politics. And frankly, we
16:34
Speaker 1: need more folks in the Latino community involved in politics
16:39
Speaker 1: because the numbers are are dire. You know, we are
16:42
Speaker 1: eighteen percent of the population, but only one percent of
16:47
Speaker 1: elected officials are Latino. And if we don't have folks
16:53
Speaker 1: that look like us, that sound like us, that have
16:56
Speaker 1: our lived experiences, our issues are never to get the
17:00
Speaker 1: attention that they deserve. And so I'm excited to be
17:04
Speaker 1: here to chat a little bit about the amazing candidates
17:07
Speaker 1: that we are supporting, and many of them trailblazers running
17:10
Speaker 1: for the first time. Um. But definitely I did not
17:14
Speaker 1: think I would be working in this field. But I'm
17:17
Speaker 1: very grateful and honored to do this work every day. Amazing.
17:22
Speaker 1: Thank you for sharing that background information with us. I
17:26
Speaker 1: think it really um resonates, you know with a lot
17:28
Speaker 1: of our listeners. Uh, to hear you talk about working
17:33
Speaker 1: with youth, working with kids and seeing how much families struggle,
17:36
Speaker 1: and how much parents struggle, and just how much folks
17:39
Speaker 1: in our community work, but then we're not seeing we're
17:44
Speaker 1: doing all this labor and contributing as Latino people, as
17:48
Speaker 1: essential workers and in all facets of society and really
17:52
Speaker 1: contributing to the economy and keeping it going, but then
17:56
Speaker 1: not getting the representation in rich turn um. And I'd
18:02
Speaker 1: really like love to to kind of ask you about
18:05
Speaker 1: that and how how do we up our representation? The
18:11
Speaker 1: first Latina as initiative sounds incredible, and how did it
18:16
Speaker 1: come to be? Yes? So this is like the million
18:21
Speaker 1: dollar question mala where folks all over the country are
18:25
Speaker 1: asking organizations like Latino Victory or Latino Operatives, you know,
18:30
Speaker 1: how do we get more Latinos to be involved? And
18:33
Speaker 1: part of that is because this cycle, Latinos are the
18:36
Speaker 1: largest non white ethnic voting block. Um, so we have
18:41
Speaker 1: the numbers to determine elections at all levels of government.
18:45
Speaker 1: The path to the White House is going to run
18:47
Speaker 1: through that, through the Latin X vote. And yet time
18:51
Speaker 1: and time again, you know, we're constantly trying to figure
18:54
Speaker 1: out how to engage latin X voters. And the answer
18:58
Speaker 1: is a lot more simple than we think. It's really
19:01
Speaker 1: just talking to folks in our community and for far
19:04
Speaker 1: too long, campaigns have not done the proper work or
19:10
Speaker 1: invested the resources necessary to engage or community. You know,
19:14
Speaker 1: we can't be expected to vote for a candidate if
19:17
Speaker 1: they don't ask for our vote. And it's as simple
19:20
Speaker 1: as just making sure that you're asking folks in the
19:22
Speaker 1: Latino community to support you and and making sure that
19:25
Speaker 1: you're engaging them and you're talking about the issues that
19:28
Speaker 1: folks in our community care about, um and those go
19:31
Speaker 1: beyond immigration. You know, very often, uh, we are engaged
19:37
Speaker 1: just on the immigration front, which obviously is a very
19:39
Speaker 1: very important issue to our community. I'm the daughter of
19:43
Speaker 1: immigrants who came to this country and documented, but we
19:47
Speaker 1: also care about bread and butter issues that affect all Americans,
19:52
Speaker 1: things like healthcare, you know, things like access to good
19:55
Speaker 1: paying jobs, access to high quality education. And so at
20:00
Speaker 1: Latino Victory, you know, we're constantly sounding the alarm that
20:03
Speaker 1: folks need to talk to us, and when they do
20:06
Speaker 1: talk to us, it pays off. And part of what
20:10
Speaker 1: we have discovered and really is our theory of change,
20:14
Speaker 1: is that when Latinos are on the ballot, it increases
20:18
Speaker 1: Latino turnout. And that's not just because me as a voter.
20:22
Speaker 1: I'm looking at a ballot and I'm seeing, you know,
20:25
Speaker 1: a Spanish surname, and I feel compelled to vote for
20:28
Speaker 1: a person. That's because candidates that identify as Latino X
20:33
Speaker 1: will go out of their way and engage our community.
20:36
Speaker 1: They know where to find folks in our community. They
20:40
Speaker 1: know how to speak to them in a culturally competent manner.
20:43
Speaker 1: And that doesn't just mean translating things in a Spanish, right,
20:46
Speaker 1: that means knowing the things that that affect our community.
20:51
Speaker 1: Knowing um cultural relevant topics that can, you know, help
20:58
Speaker 1: open the door for folks like my Diaz and my
21:02
Speaker 1: three maths to begin listening to these elected officials or candidates.
21:07
Speaker 1: And so why we're really excited about first Latinas is
21:10
Speaker 1: because we've again, we've seen time and time again that
21:13
Speaker 1: when the Latin X candidate is on the ballot, it
21:15
Speaker 1: increases Latin X turnout, and not just for that candidate,
21:19
Speaker 1: but for the top of the ticket, right. And so
21:21
Speaker 1: we've had instances, for for example, in Virginia in two seventeen,
21:26
Speaker 1: we realize that there'd never been a Latina elected to
21:31
Speaker 1: the Virginia Assembly. In Virginia has the oldest governing legislative
21:37
Speaker 1: body in our country, and since the founding of that government,
21:42
Speaker 1: we have never had Latina representation. And so Latino Victory
21:47
Speaker 1: was supporting two candidates, Hala Ayala and Elizabeth Kuzman, and
21:52
Speaker 1: both of them, UM would would be making history if
21:56
Speaker 1: they got elected as the first latin As elected to
21:59
Speaker 1: again the oldest governing body in our country. And what
22:03
Speaker 1: we saw was that they were going out of their way.
22:06
Speaker 1: They were going to the community centers that campaigns often,
22:10
Speaker 1: you know, did not expend enough time. UM. They were
22:14
Speaker 1: speaking to voters about things they cared about. They were
22:16
Speaker 1: sharing their stories. Elizabeth Kuzman is an immigrant who was
22:20
Speaker 1: not involved in politics, but got involved in the twenty
22:24
Speaker 1: six team campaign supporting Bernie Sanders and since then was
22:28
Speaker 1: fighting to make sure that folks like her children felt represented.
22:32
Speaker 1: And so when people were hearing about Elizabeth and excited
22:36
Speaker 1: about making history, they also learned there's a huge race
22:40
Speaker 1: for governor that's also happening. So while I'm learning about Holland,
22:44
Speaker 1: while I'm learning about Elizabeth, and while they're the reason
22:48
Speaker 1: why I'm going to go out and vote, learning more
22:51
Speaker 1: about the top of the ticket also helps lift all boats.
22:55
Speaker 1: For the progressive community. And so First Latinas is an attempt,
23:00
Speaker 1: an initiative by Latino Victory to uplift these women that
23:04
Speaker 1: are trailblazing. You know, it is egregious that in the
23:07
Speaker 1: year we're still electing many First uh, it wasn't until
23:13
Speaker 1: frankly that we had elected any type of Latinos to
23:17
Speaker 1: Congress from the state of Texas. And when you think
23:20
Speaker 1: about Latino states, you think about national Latino representation and politics.
23:25
Speaker 1: We had Julean Castro running for President of the United States,
23:29
Speaker 1: a Latino from Texas, and to think that we have
23:33
Speaker 1: never before had Latinas in Congress from the state of
23:38
Speaker 1: Texas is honestly embarrassing and and and it's egregious that
23:43
Speaker 1: it's still happening. And so in we launched this program
23:47
Speaker 1: called Year of the Latino because we started noticing as
23:50
Speaker 1: a result of sen Um and Trump's election and really
23:54
Speaker 1: just the the vitriol that he was spewing about the
23:57
Speaker 1: Latino community, but also about women. We saw a lot
24:00
Speaker 1: of women reaching out to us UM asking for information
24:03
Speaker 1: on how to run, stepping up and seeing elected leadership
24:09
Speaker 1: as a viable option for them. And in part because
24:12
Speaker 1: again Trump showed us that you don't need to have
24:14
Speaker 1: experience in politics to just decided to run for office.
24:18
Speaker 1: And these women were running in part response to the
24:22
Speaker 1: Trump to Trump's election, but also to reiterate their vision
24:27
Speaker 1: for what this country means to them. We had candidates
24:30
Speaker 1: in Texas, as I mentioned, we we didn't have any
24:33
Speaker 1: representation before Latino. Victory recruited a woman named Veronica from
24:39
Speaker 1: El Basso, UH and we supported Sylvia Garcia running in Houston.
24:43
Speaker 1: Both of them got elected in But we also had
24:46
Speaker 1: women like searching Towards Small, who was a lawyer who
24:50
Speaker 1: decided to step up and run for Congress in New
24:53
Speaker 1: Mexico because she's a daughter the sorry the granddaughter of
24:57
Speaker 1: a Mexican immigrant, and when she was hearing Donald Trump
25:00
Speaker 1: talk about Latinos as rapists and criminals, she knew that
25:03
Speaker 1: she had to step up and help tell a different
25:07
Speaker 1: story about Latinos in this country and recreate or reimagine
25:12
Speaker 1: and really frankly retell the story of our community within
25:16
Speaker 1: this country. And because of that, UM we had an amazing,
25:22
Speaker 1: amazing slate of first time Latino candidates running for positions
25:27
Speaker 1: at all levels of government. UM in eighteen you know,
25:31
Speaker 1: we endorsed six over half of our candidates, so it
25:35
Speaker 1: was close to sixty some percent were latinas um and
25:39
Speaker 1: again a lot of them made history, and so going
25:42
Speaker 1: into we realized that there was still a lot of
25:46
Speaker 1: work to do. So in spite of all of these wins,
25:49
Speaker 1: you know, helped elect women again like Betonica Sylvia and
25:52
Speaker 1: Texas Social in New Mexico, Alexander Cortez in New York,
25:57
Speaker 1: Debbie mucrosol Power in Florida who became the first South
26:01
Speaker 1: American immigrant to Congress, and the first Latina Democrat from Florida,
26:06
Speaker 1: another huge Latino state. We never had a Latina Democrat
26:09
Speaker 1: from Florida. They helped inspire more a new generation and
26:14
Speaker 1: more women to step up and run. So fast forward
26:17
Speaker 1: to we have candidates running who would make history as
26:24
Speaker 1: as the first and so that initiative came out of
26:27
Speaker 1: continuing to help UH support trailblazing candidates and really helped
26:33
Speaker 1: tell their story because there's so many running all over
26:37
Speaker 1: this country that would make history. In California, we have
26:40
Speaker 1: a candidate named Georgia Gomez who's running in the San
26:43
Speaker 1: Diego area and if she when, she would be the
26:46
Speaker 1: first openly gay latin X candidate in Congress. In Texas,
26:52
Speaker 1: we have a candidate named Candice Valenzuela who has a compelling,
26:56
Speaker 1: amazing story. Um she was homeless as a little earl.
27:00
Speaker 1: She really she really commends her her educators and the
27:06
Speaker 1: public school system for her success. And she went on
27:10
Speaker 1: to become a school board member because that's how committed
27:12
Speaker 1: she is to making sure other people have an opportunity
27:15
Speaker 1: like she did. And now she's running to be the
27:17
Speaker 1: first Afro Latina in Congress. Amazing stories like this all
27:21
Speaker 1: over the country where Latinas would be the first to
27:24
Speaker 1: represent their districts, the first to represent their states, and
27:27
Speaker 1: in states that you wouldn't even think for Latino states.
27:30
Speaker 1: In Kansas in the Midwest, we have a candidate named
27:33
Speaker 1: Michelle La La who's currently the mayor of Topeka, Kansas.
27:38
Speaker 1: She made history in two seventeen became the first Latina
27:42
Speaker 1: elected to mayor of Topeka, Kansas, and in she's running
27:46
Speaker 1: for Congress to be the first Latina to represent that state.
27:50
Speaker 1: And we are just so inspired by all of these
27:53
Speaker 1: candidates and wanted to make sure that we're telling their
27:56
Speaker 1: stories because they are incredible candidates in and of their own,
28:00
Speaker 1: but that that um, that narrative about them making history
28:07
Speaker 1: as a as a collective is so powerful. And we
28:11
Speaker 1: know that there's a lot at stake in the selection cycle,
28:14
Speaker 1: and we know that folks are constantly talking about the
28:17
Speaker 1: presidential but we can't forget that down ballot candidates, whether
28:22
Speaker 1: it's at your local level or at the federal level,
28:25
Speaker 1: have such such a big impact on your everyday life.
28:29
Speaker 1: And it is so important for young black and brown
28:33
Speaker 1: girls to see women that look like them, you know,
28:37
Speaker 1: stepping up and running, because it makes it possible for
28:40
Speaker 1: us to believe that we deserve more from our government,
28:45
Speaker 1: and it helps inspire a new generation of young women
28:50
Speaker 1: who had never thought politics or government as a viable
28:53
Speaker 1: career and are seeing amazing women breaking barriers and telling
28:57
Speaker 1: them that they belong and that two can be part
29:01
Speaker 1: of this movement for change. All right, So we do
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Speaker 1: look for percent off Recon wireless earbuds. Thank you so
30:30
Speaker 1: much MITA for giving that content context and background about
30:35
Speaker 1: the different Latinas that are running for office. We had
30:38
Speaker 1: a young Latina that was running for a local district
30:42
Speaker 1: in Whittier in the City of Whittier a couple of
30:44
Speaker 1: months ago, and we talked about the importance of voting
30:48
Speaker 1: in local elections. It's really what will affect your day
30:51
Speaker 1: to day life the most. I know that this election
30:54
Speaker 1: cycle is so crucial UM at so many different levels,
30:57
Speaker 1: So thank you so much for bringing that background and
30:59
Speaker 1: that context. Is so important that our listeners hear this
31:03
Speaker 1: and and understand all the work that you're doing with
31:05
Speaker 1: Latino Victory. I wanted to ask, how is it that
31:09
Speaker 1: Eva Longoria and Cecil Richards became involved in Latino Victory
31:15
Speaker 1: and really pushing the pushing the importance of voting, especially
31:22
Speaker 1: at at all levels of the election cycle. First, thank
31:27
Speaker 1: you so much for using your platform to spotlight local candidates,
31:31
Speaker 1: because again, local candidates don't get enough of of the
31:37
Speaker 1: platform or spotlight or recognition that they deserve. And at
31:41
Speaker 1: the end of the day, there the people that have
31:44
Speaker 1: the most impact on our everyday life. UM from you know,
31:47
Speaker 1: helping with with potholes in the community, are helping build
31:51
Speaker 1: UM new infrastructure to service our our communities. They deserve
31:57
Speaker 1: more credit than than they tend to get, So thank
32:00
Speaker 1: you for that. UM. As far as Eva and cecil's involvement.
32:04
Speaker 1: Eva Longoria is actually the co founder of Latino Victory
32:08
Speaker 1: and we're we're pretty baby org um and and punch
32:13
Speaker 1: way above our weight level because we were just founded
32:15
Speaker 1: in UM as a result of many Latinos getting involved
32:20
Speaker 1: in the presidential re election for President Barack Obama and
32:27
Speaker 1: realizing that there are a lot of Latinos out there
32:31
Speaker 1: who were supporting President Barack Obama, who were helping build
32:37
Speaker 1: a community of Latino donors who were going to invest
32:40
Speaker 1: in building infrastructure with it within our community, and yet
32:43
Speaker 1: there's this huge lack of representation. And so Eva as
32:48
Speaker 1: well as Henry Munos, decided to continue to build on
32:52
Speaker 1: that work that they did for President Barack Obama's reelection
32:56
Speaker 1: and founded Latino Victory. And it's a it's a superpack UM,
33:01
Speaker 1: but it's also a a C four organization and a
33:04
Speaker 1: C three organization, and again, the goal really is to
33:07
Speaker 1: help ensure that we're supporting candidates all over the country
33:12
Speaker 1: UM that often struggle to get the attention and the
33:15
Speaker 1: resources that they deserve to be able to compete in
33:19
Speaker 1: in the districts are running UM. And so Eva, as
33:22
Speaker 1: as co founder, has been you know involved, very involved
33:25
Speaker 1: throughout the years on different initiatives, and she cares so
33:29
Speaker 1: much about electing more Latinas to office, and when the
33:35
Speaker 1: opportunity for her to help launch first Latinas came up,
33:38
Speaker 1: it was a no brainer. You know, she has build
33:42
Speaker 1: this organization, has has been there from the beginning. It's
33:46
Speaker 1: her vision that has helped ensure that we, you know,
33:50
Speaker 1: six years later, are still doing this critical work. Uh.
33:54
Speaker 1: And so we knew that she needed to help launch it.
33:59
Speaker 1: And Cecie, who is a fellow the Hannah as as
34:03
Speaker 1: Eva is UM Cecio Richards, who for a long time
34:07
Speaker 1: was at the helm of planned parenthood, has been fighting
34:11
Speaker 1: to ensure that there are more pro choice candidates and
34:16
Speaker 1: more women in an elected office who are going to
34:20
Speaker 1: be advocating for women's issues. UM. She recently launched an
34:23
Speaker 1: organization called Supermajority, and Supermajority was co founded with a
34:30
Speaker 1: group of women, very diverse women, including many many women
34:35
Speaker 1: of color, who are at the front lines of fighting
34:37
Speaker 1: for more inclusivity in our democratic and civic engagement processes.
34:43
Speaker 1: And so, because of her long history of working to
34:48
Speaker 1: ensure there is more equitable representation by women, we wanted
34:54
Speaker 1: to make sure that we when we launched this program,
34:57
Speaker 1: that we had someone like her also involved, who has
35:01
Speaker 1: so much institutional knowledge, was invested so much time in
35:04
Speaker 1: doing this work. And again, as a Texan Um, it
35:08
Speaker 1: wasn't it wasn't too hard to get them both involved
35:12
Speaker 1: because one of the biggest battleground states for the election
35:15
Speaker 1: cycle is Texas and we know that in order to
35:18
Speaker 1: flip that state, Latinos are going to be a key
35:22
Speaker 1: key piece to making sure that the state turns blue.
35:26
Speaker 1: And one of the top races in that state, and
35:29
Speaker 1: the only Latina Democratic Latina that's running to flip a
35:34
Speaker 1: Republican district is Candice Valenzuela, and as I mentioned, she
35:38
Speaker 1: has such a compelling story and she's also working to
35:42
Speaker 1: make sure that within the latinox community there's representation because
35:46
Speaker 1: right now there is no Latina in Congress Um that
35:50
Speaker 1: identifies as being after Latina or black Latina. And so
35:54
Speaker 1: that launch was, as you mentioned, not too long ago,
35:58
Speaker 1: and and we had Eva and Sacio really helped anchor everything.
36:01
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, it's our candidates
36:04
Speaker 1: that are making this initiative so successful and it's gotten
36:09
Speaker 1: so much attention because there really is a yearning for
36:12
Speaker 1: more representation even within our community. UM. And so we're again,
36:17
Speaker 1: we're super excited, and these candidates are amazing, and I
36:20
Speaker 1: could go on and on about how great they are.
36:21
Speaker 1: So I'm just gonna stop otherwise you won't uh hear
36:25
Speaker 1: the end of me talking about how great they are,
36:28
Speaker 1: though I love it. I mean, it's exciting to hear
36:31
Speaker 1: about all these different leftinas, especially because you know, we
36:35
Speaker 1: know of AOC on a very public scale. She's been
36:39
Speaker 1: very highly celebrated and in many ways embrace. She's also
36:43
Speaker 1: experience a lot of hate, a lot of pushback, vitriol.
36:48
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, she was verbally attacked by Rep.
36:50
Speaker 1: Head Yoho in a very public way, and you know,
36:54
Speaker 1: we heard her speech and we've seen the dialogue around that.
36:57
Speaker 1: And she's not the only woman of color are in
37:00
Speaker 1: public office that has experienced right like this type of
37:04
Speaker 1: of aggression and violence and pushed back once getting elected,
37:08
Speaker 1: right and then once on the job and trying to
37:10
Speaker 1: do the job that you know, the community has elected
37:14
Speaker 1: her to do. UM. And so I'm kind of wondering
37:17
Speaker 1: if UM for me, it sounds like there's a lot
37:20
Speaker 1: of aocs out there right, like if they're their groundbreaking there,
37:25
Speaker 1: they're entering into these spaces where we literally have never
37:28
Speaker 1: ever been before. What what kind of UM, I don't know.
37:34
Speaker 1: Can we expect that a lot of these Latina candidates
37:37
Speaker 1: will also enter into these um, you know offices and
37:41
Speaker 1: perhaps experienced a similar sort of pushback or vitriol or
37:46
Speaker 1: abuse the way that AOC and others have. Is this
37:49
Speaker 1: something that that that you know you see after you
37:54
Speaker 1: have elected latinas? And yes, the short answer is yes, definitely.
38:00
Speaker 1: And and what I love and appreciate about AOC is
38:04
Speaker 1: that she has helped shine a light on what has
38:08
Speaker 1: been happening for far too long to two women candidates,
38:13
Speaker 1: but particularly women of color. And before I answer your
38:18
Speaker 1: question a little more, I just wanted to share an anecdote.
38:21
Speaker 1: So my my goddaughter has staying with me for a
38:23
Speaker 1: couple of weeks this summer, and she frankly probably didn't
38:28
Speaker 1: really know what I did. She knows that I've worked
38:30
Speaker 1: in politics, UM, and we were watching the documentary Knocked
38:34
Speaker 1: Down the House, and it was the perfect explainer for her.
38:44
Speaker 1: UM to be able to see that that documentary and
38:48
Speaker 1: see the trajectory of candidates of color of women of
38:53
Speaker 1: color who frankly or fighting an uphill battle right. Fundraising
38:59
Speaker 1: is a keep part of running for office, and we
39:01
Speaker 1: know that it is especially hard for our candidates are
39:06
Speaker 1: Latino candidates, because many of us don't come from backgrounds
39:10
Speaker 1: that that are affluent or we don't have access to
39:14
Speaker 1: these networks of wealth. And so it has been so
39:18
Speaker 1: helpful and and inspiring to have someone just shine a
39:22
Speaker 1: light on these issues and be so transparent. Because these
39:26
Speaker 1: issues were happening before AOC, they will continue to happen
39:30
Speaker 1: after AOC. But what's been great, especially in this new
39:36
Speaker 1: reality of virtual and digital organizing, is our ability to
39:43
Speaker 1: just call it out. And what I what I value
39:46
Speaker 1: so much about having this slate of first Latinas is
39:49
Speaker 1: that it's really lonely running for office. I mean, you
39:52
Speaker 1: are constantly having to be on your constantly working. Right
39:58
Speaker 1: now during covid UM, there's a lot of you know,
40:02
Speaker 1: grappling with well do I ask people for money knowing
40:07
Speaker 1: that there are people who are whose livelihoods have completely
40:10
Speaker 1: been destroyed by this pandemic um, knowing that resources are scarce,
40:16
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, you know, without
40:18
Speaker 1: the resources to run for office, like, we can't change
40:21
Speaker 1: government if we don't have more Latinas, more black, more
40:26
Speaker 1: diverse candidates who are bringing up these perspectives and lived
40:30
Speaker 1: experiences that frankly have not been at the table. And
40:35
Speaker 1: so what has been great to see what our first
40:39
Speaker 1: Latina candidates is this community and the solidarity that they've
40:43
Speaker 1: been able to find, just knowing like, I'm not alone,
40:46
Speaker 1: There's someone else in Kansas who's fighting the same battle.
40:49
Speaker 1: And half the time that like affirmation is what you need,
40:55
Speaker 1: right because you said, these candidates are are beyond qualified,
40:59
Speaker 1: they have the skills and most of the battle that
41:03
Speaker 1: we face and that I've seen our candidates face as
41:06
Speaker 1: Latinas or these like I don't they are imagined but
41:11
Speaker 1: also very real obstacles that are that are in our
41:15
Speaker 1: head and that are um constantly perpetuated by society that
41:19
Speaker 1: we're not good enough, that we're not experienced enough, that
41:22
Speaker 1: we shouldn't be there yet, that we need to wait
41:25
Speaker 1: our turn before we decide to step up and run.
41:28
Speaker 1: And so having um first Latinas, having this group of
41:31
Speaker 1: women seeing themselves represented in their colleagues, being able to
41:35
Speaker 1: share best practices. You know, during our launch, we had
41:39
Speaker 1: the panel with Cecio, with Eva um and just hearing
41:43
Speaker 1: them like encourage each other was so so so inspirational.
41:49
Speaker 1: And it goes a long way because these these candidates
41:54
Speaker 1: have staff, you know that that basically laying out what
41:58
Speaker 1: they need to do. But the things that you can't
42:02
Speaker 1: teach right, the things that your campaign manager might not
42:04
Speaker 1: be able to fully instilling you is that sense of
42:09
Speaker 1: of self worth and belief that not only are you
42:12
Speaker 1: good enough, but that you're not alone. And that is
42:15
Speaker 1: why it's so important for us to be able to
42:17
Speaker 1: tell this story nationally because these candidates go through a
42:22
Speaker 1: lot and then when they get into elected position, as
42:25
Speaker 1: you pointed out with the AOC and and Ted Yoho example,
42:30
Speaker 1: they're they're fighting these battles day in and day out,
42:32
Speaker 1: fighting battles um you know, even internally within our own
42:37
Speaker 1: progressive community or own Democratic party. Uh. And so they
42:42
Speaker 1: that we need to have their backs. We need to
42:44
Speaker 1: be uplifting them, we need to be supporting them and
42:46
Speaker 1: reminding them that the work that they're doing is so
42:50
Speaker 1: invaluable for our communities. It's so important that little girls
42:54
Speaker 1: see themselves represented um and and making sure that they
42:58
Speaker 1: know that they're not alone in this work, that they're
43:00
Speaker 1: the face, and that they're the ones that are going
43:02
Speaker 1: to get the scrutiny and they're the ones that get
43:04
Speaker 1: the attacked the attacks, but that we have their backs
43:08
Speaker 1: and that the work that they're doing is making a
43:10
Speaker 1: difference in so many lives. Thank you so much, Mida.
43:14
Speaker 1: I can definitely hear your passion for this, and it's
43:17
Speaker 1: so amazing to hear and to speak with you today.
43:21
Speaker 1: You know, in the news, at least in the last
43:23
Speaker 1: twenty four hours, you know, I've seen photos of the
43:27
Speaker 1: USPS mailboxes being removed in some parts of the country.
43:31
Speaker 1: I've also heard that there have been removal of mail
43:35
Speaker 1: sorting machines, and so naturally the public is freaking out.
43:40
Speaker 1: There's there's somewhat of a panic, I would say, and
43:42
Speaker 1: there's definitely been this online movement folks organizing themselves to
43:47
Speaker 1: support the United States Postal Service. And so what is
43:51
Speaker 1: your take on what we're seeing and the threat? Is
43:56
Speaker 1: there a threat against the US Postal Service? And what
44:00
Speaker 1: can we do as individuals? So it is just ridiculous
44:06
Speaker 1: that something so essential like our postal services under attack
44:11
Speaker 1: under this administration, and what's really terrifying is that, you know,
44:17
Speaker 1: half the battle sometimes with this administration isn't necessarily that
44:22
Speaker 1: they're going to act on the things they say they
44:25
Speaker 1: are going to do, which we know that they do act,
44:28
Speaker 1: but half the time, like let's take the census question
44:31
Speaker 1: for instance, the fear that they inflicted on our community
44:38
Speaker 1: was enough to do damage then actually acting not having
44:43
Speaker 1: a census question on the senses right like we know
44:46
Speaker 1: there is no sorry, citizenship question, We know that there's
44:49
Speaker 1: no citizenship question on the census, but the fear they
44:53
Speaker 1: created is enough to impact whether or not undocumented communities,
45:00
Speaker 1: whether or not you know, mixed status families feel comfortable
45:04
Speaker 1: in filling out the census. And we know how important
45:06
Speaker 1: the census is not just for elected representation, but for
45:09
Speaker 1: resources that are vital to ensuring um, you know, our
45:13
Speaker 1: communities thrive. Things like public education, funding, funding for libraries,
45:19
Speaker 1: any type of social service, everything goes back to being
45:23
Speaker 1: counted in that census. And so why I think it's
45:27
Speaker 1: terrifying right now. And there's a lot, as you said,
45:29
Speaker 1: there's a lot of um just skepticism and and folks
45:34
Speaker 1: are trying to figure out what's happening. Is that you know,
45:37
Speaker 1: regardless of whether or not Trump UM undermines or defunds USPS,
45:45
Speaker 1: the damage is already being done. I'm getting text messages
45:48
Speaker 1: from my cousins who are in Chicago, in a blue city, UM,
45:53
Speaker 1: you know, in in a state that is that is
45:55
Speaker 1: not a battleground state, asking whether or not they should
45:59
Speaker 1: sign up to vote by mail because they're reading these stories,
46:02
Speaker 1: are seeing the news uh. And so a lot of
46:04
Speaker 1: the work that organizations like Latino Victory and folks that
46:07
Speaker 1: are doing UM work in the progressive space is just
46:11
Speaker 1: making sure that we're getting the right information. And that's
46:14
Speaker 1: hard because, as you mentioned, it's changing every day, UM.
46:17
Speaker 1: But there are still there's still so much work being
46:24
Speaker 1: done around voting by mail. And we know, especially with
46:26
Speaker 1: COVID being a real UM, a real harm and still
46:30
Speaker 1: a reality and it's going to be a reality in November,
46:35
Speaker 1: we have to remind communities that voting by mail is
46:38
Speaker 1: a safe option, right, and we have to ensure that
46:41
Speaker 1: we're working with in state groups and national groups to
46:45
Speaker 1: make sure that the information that is getting to our
46:48
Speaker 1: communities is accurate UM and that it is the most
46:52
Speaker 1: up to date. Because things are fluid and there are
46:54
Speaker 1: a ton of petitions and a ton of UM work
46:59
Speaker 1: being done in the coalition space to ensure that the
47:01
Speaker 1: USPS has the resources it needs to be able to
47:05
Speaker 1: function to make sure that people who are voting by mail, UM,
47:09
Speaker 1: you know, can can do so in a way that
47:11
Speaker 1: is timely and ensure that their vote is counted. But
47:14
Speaker 1: they're also already a lot of UM a lot of
47:18
Speaker 1: infrastructures in place in states to make sure that if
47:21
Speaker 1: you do vote by mail, that your vote is being counted.
47:24
Speaker 1: You know, in the state like Florida, there's a way
47:26
Speaker 1: to track your ballot so that you know once it
47:29
Speaker 1: gets to the Supervisor of Election. In a ton of states, UM,
47:33
Speaker 1: they're working to put drop drop off location so that
47:37
Speaker 1: when you get your vote by mail ballot, if you
47:40
Speaker 1: don't feel comfortable putting it back in the post office
47:42
Speaker 1: because you don't know putting it back in the mailbox,
47:45
Speaker 1: because you don't know if the post office is going
47:47
Speaker 1: to get it to the Supervisor of Elections and time,
47:49
Speaker 1: there are now drop off locations and what UM folks
47:53
Speaker 1: need to do first, you know, feel free to visit
47:56
Speaker 1: US at Latino Victory. US will have information on on
48:00
Speaker 1: the changing landscape but making sure that we're getting our
48:03
Speaker 1: information UM on a consistent basis, to be sure of
48:08
Speaker 1: what the different protocols are in our state. I don't
48:11
Speaker 1: want people to fully um right off voting by mail,
48:15
Speaker 1: because that's what this administration wants. Like we know that
48:18
Speaker 1: Donald Trump votes by mail in Florida, and if he
48:21
Speaker 1: really didn't trust in the process, he himself would not
48:25
Speaker 1: be doing this. But what they want is to create
48:28
Speaker 1: enough fear and enough doubt that people who may only
48:32
Speaker 1: vote by mail because they have a pre existing condition
48:36
Speaker 1: that makes them more vulnerable to COVID or because you know, frankly,
48:40
Speaker 1: people work and and don't have time to go vote
48:42
Speaker 1: on election day. UM. They want to instill that doubt
48:46
Speaker 1: so that people just say, you know, I'm not sure
48:48
Speaker 1: if my votes is even gonna get counted, why should
48:51
Speaker 1: I vote? And they just suppressed the vote in that way.
48:55
Speaker 1: And so thank you. They also thank you Mala for
48:58
Speaker 1: for shining a light on this. UM. We're part of
49:01
Speaker 1: a coalition that's actually sending a letter, and many groups
49:05
Speaker 1: are sending letters to make sure that we're not defuncting USPS.
49:09
Speaker 1: But I would say that the biggest thing that we
49:11
Speaker 1: can all do is talk to our families about the
49:14
Speaker 1: different ways of voting. If voting by mail UM is
49:18
Speaker 1: causing you pause, Like, there are a lot of different
49:21
Speaker 1: ways to vote. There's voting on election day, but there's
49:23
Speaker 1: also early voting, and it varies by state and by county.
49:28
Speaker 1: But in some places, UM there are almost two weeks
49:31
Speaker 1: of early voting before election day, and we know that
49:34
Speaker 1: because there's a longer period of time to early vote U,
49:38
Speaker 1: there aren't as many lines. You can vote at your
49:42
Speaker 1: leisure and you can go to a location that's close
49:45
Speaker 1: to your home or maybe close to UM your work,
49:49
Speaker 1: or close to a family's job, or et cetera. But
49:53
Speaker 1: it's just educating yourself on what the protocols are in
49:55
Speaker 1: your state, and you can always get this information from
49:58
Speaker 1: your local county Supervisor of Elections. So what I tell
50:01
Speaker 1: people do is google Supervisor of Elections, Google your your
50:05
Speaker 1: state or your county, and you will get the most
50:08
Speaker 1: up to date information there. Because again the goal of
50:11
Speaker 1: this administration is to suppress the vote, and they're going
50:14
Speaker 1: to do that through fear. They're going to do that
50:16
Speaker 1: through UM, you know, trying to challenge the legality of
50:20
Speaker 1: certain UH access to the ballot box, and what we
50:24
Speaker 1: need to do is make sure that we're pushing back
50:26
Speaker 1: by actually exercising our right to vote. Thank you so much,
50:31
Speaker 1: Mida for that really specific information about how exactly right
50:36
Speaker 1: our listeners and their families and communities can find out
50:40
Speaker 1: about early voting and their options in the places that
50:43
Speaker 1: they live. I think that a lot of times, you know,
50:46
Speaker 1: our election process can be extremely confusing and it's really
50:50
Speaker 1: not info that's sort of just all over the place.
50:54
Speaker 1: You got to go and sort of look for it.
50:56
Speaker 1: And I think that there's um, you know, people uh
51:00
Speaker 1: maybe get stressed out about about what the path and
51:05
Speaker 1: what are their true options and where do they get
51:06
Speaker 1: that info? So thank you for sharing that. Where can
51:10
Speaker 1: our listeners look up the Latinas running for office in
51:14
Speaker 1: where they live? So again, um, going back to your
51:17
Speaker 1: Supervisor of Elections office, like that is where you'll get
51:21
Speaker 1: the most information. But as far as First Latinas, if
51:24
Speaker 1: you go to our website, we have all of our
51:28
Speaker 1: candidates listed, and beyond having all of our candidates listed,
51:32
Speaker 1: our social media so find us on Twitter, Facebook, um, Instagram.
51:38
Speaker 1: We have a First Latinas update where every Friday we're
51:44
Speaker 1: doing First Latinas Friday, and we're profiling some of our candidates. UM.
51:48
Speaker 1: And the last thing I will say to get more
51:52
Speaker 1: information is that we are actually going to be launching
51:56
Speaker 1: an SMS program so that folks can text us and
52:01
Speaker 1: and get information not just about what where you're registered
52:04
Speaker 1: to vote, but how you can vote in your state.
52:08
Speaker 1: Because as I mentioned, there is early voting, but there's
52:11
Speaker 1: also voting by mail that is available, and and it
52:15
Speaker 1: starts early, so if folks do want to do it,
52:18
Speaker 1: they just have to make sure that they're submitting their
52:20
Speaker 1: ballot early. UM. And obviously election day and we know
52:23
Speaker 1: that things are fluid, so want to make sure that
52:26
Speaker 1: I get you all the number UM that you can
52:29
Speaker 1: text us. So it is text vote to five to
52:34
Speaker 1: eight eight six and that is v O T O.
52:38
Speaker 1: And we will be updating information about again where to
52:42
Speaker 1: go vote in your respective counting, your respective state, UM,
52:46
Speaker 1: and that will continue to be updated as we get
52:49
Speaker 1: closer to the election. You know, we are eighty some
52:53
Speaker 1: days away and every vote is gonna matter. So thank
52:56
Speaker 1: you mana thank yourself first China, a spotlight. I know
52:59
Speaker 1: I saw like a broken record, but it's so important
53:01
Speaker 1: that we're getting this information out and especially with COVID
53:05
Speaker 1: UM that candidates aren't able to UM to go door
53:09
Speaker 1: to door and go talk to our communities directly. It's
53:12
Speaker 1: so important that we're having these conversations and a lot
53:15
Speaker 1: of these campaigns are doing virtual events. And the one
53:19
Speaker 1: UM silver lining that I think is coming out of
53:22
Speaker 1: this COVID reality is that access to our elected officials,
53:27
Speaker 1: access to our candidates UM has been democratized. It with
53:32
Speaker 1: a caveat that if you have access to internet, right
53:35
Speaker 1: because there are candidates all over the country, you know,
53:37
Speaker 1: presidential candidates who are hosting virtual events that are accessible
53:41
Speaker 1: publicly to everyone if you're if you have access to
53:44
Speaker 1: internet or broadband and are able to visit their websites. UM.
53:49
Speaker 1: So I think that we're in in a in a
53:51
Speaker 1: very um critical juncture in our government, in our society
53:55
Speaker 1: where we have the opportunity because COVID has shined a
53:58
Speaker 1: light on all the charities that exist within our government,
54:03
Speaker 1: within our institutions, we really have an opportunity to reimagine
54:08
Speaker 1: what government looks like. Because I know people talk about
54:11
Speaker 1: going back to normal, but the reality is that there
54:14
Speaker 1: won't be a normal to go back to because things
54:17
Speaker 1: as we know it are changed. And the silver lining
54:21
Speaker 1: again is that we have the opportunity to elect leaders
54:26
Speaker 1: who are living in this reality, who can't deny that
54:30
Speaker 1: things are broken, that can't deny that there are institutions
54:33
Speaker 1: that are not serving and centering communities of color and
54:37
Speaker 1: the Latino community, and it is uncumbent upon us um
54:42
Speaker 1: to help get them elected, but once they're elected, to
54:45
Speaker 1: hold them accountable to make sure that the policy, the policies,
54:49
Speaker 1: and the promises being made right now are actually acted upon.
54:53
Speaker 1: And for my Latino Latin X voters, we are thirty
54:58
Speaker 1: two millions strong. We are the largest non white voting
55:02
Speaker 1: black this election cycle. We could literally determine all of
55:06
Speaker 1: the battleground states if all of us turn out to vote.
55:10
Speaker 1: And if you're not registered to vote now, um please
55:13
Speaker 1: do so, but also make sure that you talked at
55:16
Speaker 1: least three people in your community and your friends, families,
55:19
Speaker 1: Folks that have the ability to vote need to ensure
55:21
Speaker 1: that they're registered and they're making a plan early to
55:24
Speaker 1: go out and vote, because we will determine this election
55:29
Speaker 1: if as a community we turn out. So thank you
55:32
Speaker 1: the os MALA again for all of the work that
55:34
Speaker 1: you do and the more conversations we have like this,
55:37
Speaker 1: the better it is for UM electing diverse representation, but
55:41
Speaker 1: really reimagining and fixing our government so that it serves
55:45
Speaker 1: the people like it's supposed to. Thank you so much,
55:49
Speaker 1: Mida for joining us on another episode of Look at Radio.
55:53
Speaker 1: It has been such a treat having you. You are
55:56
Speaker 1: a wealth of knowledge and our listeners are so lucky
55:59
Speaker 1: that they are able to hear everything that you had
56:01
Speaker 1: to say today, So thank you once again for joining us.
56:04
Speaker 1: So to learn more about let Me Know Victory, you
56:06
Speaker 1: can head over to let me Know Victory dot us
56:09
Speaker 1: and we will link in the show notes all of
56:11
Speaker 1: the different US resources that might not mentioned today on
56:15
Speaker 1: the interview. So thank you again for tuning in and
56:18
Speaker 1: we'll catch you next time. Radio Radio Radio Commi's a
56:33
Speaker 1: Myth and Bullshit, a radio phonic novella Look at a
56:38
Speaker 1: Radio hosted by Man and