1
00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:04,200
Speaker 1: Previously on Weedian House.

2
00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:07,880
Speaker 2: Sweeping people off an area, it just means they go

3
00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:11,160
Speaker 2: to another area. People don't seem to understand that. So

4
00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,840
Speaker 2: the Grant's passage just a greater version of that. And

5
00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,160
Speaker 2: until we have enough places to put people, enough places

6
00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:21,919
Speaker 2: that can give them care, these kinds of rulings are

7
00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:23,200
Speaker 2: completely useless.

8
00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:26,239
Speaker 3: I think it's amazing that we have so many new

9
00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:29,560
Speaker 3: volunteers today. I don't know if any of them have

10
00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:31,600
Speaker 3: heard of Grant's pass So yeah, it's going to be

11
00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:34,160
Speaker 3: a lot of education on our end. With the goal

12
00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:37,880
Speaker 3: of that education that has to turn into okay services volunteers.

13
00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:40,239
Speaker 3: We need to start learning about this. We need to

14
00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,440
Speaker 3: start having these kinds of connections ready to go. We

15
00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:45,320
Speaker 3: need to have phone numbers of certain people, so we

16
00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:47,040
Speaker 3: just have to start figuring out what that's going to

17
00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:47,360
Speaker 3: look like.

18
00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:57,800
Speaker 4: Welcome back to Weedian House. I'm your host, Bio Henderson.

19
00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:01,800
Speaker 4: Thank you all for listening. In the year twenty twenty four,

20
00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:05,759
Speaker 4: I hope we have met in new pathways of understanding,

21
00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:09,360
Speaker 4: and it is my hope we meet in newer pathways

22
00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:18,319
Speaker 4: of understanding in twenty twenty five. Happy holidays, and without

23
00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:24,800
Speaker 4: further ado, here is on House News, our first story

24
00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:29,119
Speaker 4: is developing. Previously on Weeding House, we covered how life

25
00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:34,039
Speaker 4: events can make one on house. In western North Carolina,

26
00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,880
Speaker 4: Hurricane Helene's survivors are now using yurchs, which are tents

27
00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:44,320
Speaker 4: for shelter as the temperature drops into the tines. It

28
00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:48,920
Speaker 4: is important to note that all across the country, other

29
00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:53,960
Speaker 4: unhoused encampments are being swept, torn down, and criminalized. With

30
00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,360
Speaker 4: the survivors in North Carolina, they will now be more

31
00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:01,600
Speaker 4: susceptible to the same laws that other encampments are facing.

32
00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:04,720
Speaker 4: Like on House, people, they stay a few weeks in

33
00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:08,680
Speaker 4: a hotel paid for by FEMA. After those two weeks

34
00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,679
Speaker 4: are up, they are now staying in the yurts, which

35
00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:15,080
Speaker 4: are more solidly forty five tenths that allow for a

36
00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:19,480
Speaker 4: woodstove to keep them war. Bear in mind that many

37
00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:23,280
Speaker 4: of the residents that were affected have children and chronic

38
00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:29,760
Speaker 4: health conditions and now are at the mercy of the winds, rains,

39
00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:35,640
Speaker 4: and hurricanes of Heaven. Our next story takes us to

40
00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:40,840
Speaker 4: southern Los Angeles, where sixty eight unhoused residents and twenty

41
00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:45,880
Speaker 4: eight inoperable our vs were removed. Ellie County removed the

42
00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:49,440
Speaker 4: community with the aid of the county sheriff and fire departments.

43
00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:54,040
Speaker 4: From November twentieth through the twenty second, the community was

44
00:02:54,080 --> 00:03:00,200
Speaker 4: moved to temporary housing, similarly to Hurricane Lean residents. The

45
00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:05,200
Speaker 4: temporary housing program ends, it is unclear where the unhoused

46
00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:05,520
Speaker 4: will go.

47
00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:09,480
Speaker 1: Our next story.

48
00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:15,080
Speaker 4: San Francisco has cut the number of days of unhoused

49
00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:21,000
Speaker 4: family can stay in shelters. Never mind the idea that

50
00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,360
Speaker 4: it's difficult to navigate being unhoused as a single person

51
00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:28,600
Speaker 4: trying to find a job, save up money finding affordable

52
00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:32,280
Speaker 4: housing in a housing crisis, the unhoused families have to

53
00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:38,560
Speaker 4: contend with fat while trying to raise children. Nimbis point

54
00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,520
Speaker 4: to lack of personal responsibility and unhoused people choosing to

55
00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:46,960
Speaker 4: stay on housed. These tenants off a backbone of every

56
00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:51,839
Speaker 4: nimby's justification for the cruel laws and violence visited upon

57
00:03:52,200 --> 00:04:00,200
Speaker 4: unhoused community members. One hundred and eighty six days have

58
00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:06,240
Speaker 4: passed since the Grants pass ruling. A quick synopsis of

59
00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:10,640
Speaker 4: the Grant's past ruling. It is now not considered cruel

60
00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:16,960
Speaker 4: and unusual punishment to criminalize an unhoused person trying to survive.

61
00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,720
Speaker 4: West Berkeley City has drawn strength from this ruling. They

62
00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:25,160
Speaker 4: have targeted the unhoused community in Berkeley with no offer

63
00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:29,960
Speaker 4: of shelter. The city Council approved the new policy allowing

64
00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:34,839
Speaker 4: Berkeley's staff to remove unhoused encampments without making shelter offers.

65
00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,279
Speaker 4: Supporters of this policy argue Berkeley needs the flexibility to

66
00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:42,760
Speaker 4: act to remove encampments that are dangerous to house residents

67
00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:46,720
Speaker 4: and the neighborhoods around them. This is one of the

68
00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:51,520
Speaker 4: thorns that was similarly used to justify Jordan Neely's death

69
00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:57,839
Speaker 4: and now is used to justify violent removal of unhoused people.

70
00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:06,240
Speaker 4: Our last story takes us back to California. Other California

71
00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:10,159
Speaker 4: cities have begun to offer unhoused people a one way

72
00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:14,200
Speaker 4: bus ticket out of town instead of providing services and

73
00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:19,480
Speaker 4: housing for unhoused residents. Using the one way bus strategy.

74
00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:21,159
Speaker 1: Is cheap and easy.

75
00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:24,719
Speaker 4: This San Francisco strategy, also known as get Your Ads

76
00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:28,440
Speaker 4: out of Here program, has been around since twenty sixteen

77
00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:33,080
Speaker 4: and has been expanded by Mayor London Breed, who used

78
00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:38,120
Speaker 4: this as the driving force of her major encampment crackdown

79
00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:43,760
Speaker 4: this summer. Mayor London Breed enthusiastically supported the grants pass

80
00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:47,640
Speaker 4: ruling other states such as Texas bust their unhoused people

81
00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:52,000
Speaker 4: to California. History and statistics will tell the larger story

82
00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:57,560
Speaker 4: of the ineffectiveness of the strategy, and that's unhoused news.

83
00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:02,920
Speaker 4: When we come back, we'll speak with returning guests. Albert Corrado,

84
00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:11,280
Speaker 4: Welcome back to William Howes. To close out the year,

85
00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:15,480
Speaker 4: we have two totally different guests with equally important messages

86
00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:20,400
Speaker 4: for the listeners today. Both are returning guests and they're

87
00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:24,360
Speaker 4: going to provide status updates in their journeys. For those

88
00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,280
Speaker 4: that don't know who Albert Corrado is. Albert has been

89
00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:30,920
Speaker 4: consistently vocal about the murder of his sister, Meli Corrado

90
00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,640
Speaker 4: at the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department. Asy

91
00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:38,479
Speaker 4: is returning with an update on her fragile housing condition.

92
00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,760
Speaker 4: Previously she was on house and now she tells me

93
00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:44,320
Speaker 4: about the challenges to stay housed.

94
00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:46,880
Speaker 1: Let's see what Albert has to say.

95
00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,880
Speaker 4: To Albert Corrado was one of the people when I

96
00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:56,400
Speaker 4: first started doing my podcast that was so graciously enough

97
00:06:56,440 --> 00:06:59,920
Speaker 4: to be patient when I interviewed him on my phone.

98
00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:04,440
Speaker 4: And now it is almost like full circle. Moment now

99
00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:08,000
Speaker 4: that I'm in a professional studio with the guests, it's

100
00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:10,640
Speaker 4: the difference, and I guess the climb and the journey

101
00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:15,080
Speaker 4: is something to remark on and to look back with

102
00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:16,920
Speaker 4: some humbleness and some awe.

103
00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:17,800
Speaker 1: What do you think?

104
00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:20,120
Speaker 5: Yeah, thanks for having me. I mean, it's funny I

105
00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:22,120
Speaker 5: returned guests. I think the last time I was on

106
00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:24,400
Speaker 5: the show was like four years ago maybe, so it's

107
00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:27,240
Speaker 5: been a minute. When we first met, I was just

108
00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:30,640
Speaker 5: starting off in activism and organizing in Los Angeles, and

109
00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:32,640
Speaker 5: I think you were kind of just getting your podcast

110
00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,920
Speaker 5: off the ground. So I feel like, now you're on

111
00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:37,840
Speaker 5: the fourth floor of a cool building, you have a

112
00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:42,840
Speaker 5: professional setup, and my family finally won the lawsuit that

113
00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:44,680
Speaker 5: we were in the middle of when I first met.

114
00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:46,560
Speaker 4: You, and that was going I was going to lead

115
00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:49,080
Speaker 4: into because at the time when we met, because I

116
00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:53,200
Speaker 4: did an episode about Melick and for people that are

117
00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:57,360
Speaker 4: not no, I'm going to have Albert do a retro,

118
00:07:57,560 --> 00:07:59,680
Speaker 4: tell us a little bit about the story and take

119
00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:01,960
Speaker 4: us to was the journey because it just didn't happen

120
00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:04,720
Speaker 4: overnight with Mellie, just like I didn't just get this

121
00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:09,480
Speaker 4: podcast overnight. So tickets was the beginning, and then shepherd

122
00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:11,080
Speaker 4: us to what the finale is.

123
00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:14,520
Speaker 5: I mean, yeah, so, you know, I mean I I

124
00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,440
Speaker 5: grew up in Los Angeles, and in twenty eighteen I

125
00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:22,200
Speaker 5: moved to Minneapolis and was just looking for a new

126
00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:23,040
Speaker 5: start or whatever.

127
00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:24,960
Speaker 6: And then in July of that year, on.

128
00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,240
Speaker 5: The twenty first, got a call that something was going

129
00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:29,040
Speaker 5: on at the Trader Joe's that my sister worked at

130
00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,199
Speaker 5: over here in Silver Lake in Los Angeles. And then,

131
00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:34,199
Speaker 5: you know, as the day went on, we found out

132
00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:37,600
Speaker 5: that the police had been chasing someone into the Trader

133
00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:40,360
Speaker 5: Joe's and they fired eight rounds and one of them

134
00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:41,960
Speaker 5: ended up hitting my sister, killing her.

135
00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:44,160
Speaker 6: And I was, you know, two thousand miles away.

136
00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:47,480
Speaker 5: And the very next morning, I flew to Los Angeles,

137
00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:50,959
Speaker 5: and you know, I had packed enough clothes for like

138
00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:53,400
Speaker 5: a week because I wasn't really sure how everything was

139
00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:55,480
Speaker 5: going to play out. And as soon as I got home,

140
00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:58,160
Speaker 5: my dad said it was the police. The news is

141
00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:00,520
Speaker 5: saying that it was the person who was running away

142
00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:02,360
Speaker 5: from the police, but we know as a police we're

143
00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:04,880
Speaker 5: going to sue them. I said, let's do it, and

144
00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,240
Speaker 5: stayed in Los Angeles for the next six years, working

145
00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:12,439
Speaker 5: towards some sort of justice and started to get involved

146
00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:16,400
Speaker 5: in local organizing and activism. And so when we first met,

147
00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:18,160
Speaker 5: I think it was at Echo Park Lake, Yes, and

148
00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:20,600
Speaker 5: I'd heard about you. I'd heard about the show, and

149
00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:22,120
Speaker 5: I was like, oh, I got to meet this guy.

150
00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:22,959
Speaker 6: He seems cool.

151
00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:25,080
Speaker 5: And I think at the time I was just looking

152
00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:29,080
Speaker 5: for anybody to get advice from you, and I didn't

153
00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:32,120
Speaker 5: know how anything worked if I belonged in this movement.

154
00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:34,760
Speaker 5: I just had a story to tell, I had energy,

155
00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,559
Speaker 5: I had time, and so, yeah, it is a trip

156
00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:38,959
Speaker 5: to kind of be sitting in this room with you

157
00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,800
Speaker 5: where it's like, literally two weeks ago my family settled

158
00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:46,080
Speaker 5: with the city and it's the end of this weird

159
00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:49,079
Speaker 5: chapter of my life. But then, you know, I think

160
00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:50,920
Speaker 5: what's cool is like seeing people like you that I

161
00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:54,560
Speaker 5: met in the beginning have successes, and you know, we

162
00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:56,120
Speaker 5: don't always hang out, but it's like when I hear

163
00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:58,000
Speaker 5: about you, when I see you, I'm like, oh, man,

164
00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:00,679
Speaker 5: THEO is a cool dude, and I'm really happy for him,

165
00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:02,040
Speaker 5: and it's really wonderful.

166
00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,400
Speaker 4: So I were going to take a quick step back.

167
00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:07,680
Speaker 4: This is what I remember. I remember we met in

168
00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:10,640
Speaker 4: that co park I remember at the time, you know,

169
00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:15,480
Speaker 4: the conversation about the melee. You were responsible for bringing

170
00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:19,440
Speaker 4: in sharp relief on a local basis where I could

171
00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:23,200
Speaker 4: tangibly talk to about how the police were handling of

172
00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:26,680
Speaker 4: the whole affair, because you know, if we really honest

173
00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:30,040
Speaker 4: with ourselves, the police should never had did that chase anyway,

174
00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:33,040
Speaker 4: it would have never had any casualties and then opened

175
00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:38,160
Speaker 4: fire into an open area where innocence could be killed,

176
00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:41,080
Speaker 4: like the Burlington coat factory where the kid was shot

177
00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:45,839
Speaker 4: and killed. Those things should be explored and should be discontinued.

178
00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:50,240
Speaker 4: It wasn't to the point where he was jeopardizing anyone's life.

179
00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:51,640
Speaker 1: He was running away.

180
00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:55,480
Speaker 4: And when someone's running away, even from a civilian standpoint,

181
00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:58,040
Speaker 4: civilians can't just open fire on people when they run

182
00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:00,319
Speaker 4: away if they have done a crime or something like that,

183
00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:02,520
Speaker 4: and it should be if police are held to a

184
00:11:02,559 --> 00:11:05,240
Speaker 4: higher standard, that should have been the same thing. But

185
00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:07,840
Speaker 4: most importantly, what I did like which I would like

186
00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:11,280
Speaker 4: to point out, is that you definitely had orchestrated a

187
00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,120
Speaker 4: couple of memorials for Melick and it was one of

188
00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:16,640
Speaker 4: my episodes I did with Melie. I thought it was

189
00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:19,840
Speaker 4: really a very touching way you did it. Each year

190
00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:22,160
Speaker 4: that you did it, it was some other focus, some

191
00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:25,280
Speaker 4: kind of thing to remember her about, you know, or

192
00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:29,640
Speaker 4: to keep her memory alive in the cities consciousness, but

193
00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:32,120
Speaker 4: also to her friends and community and family.

194
00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:33,240
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean I think that.

195
00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:35,560
Speaker 5: You know, there was a moment where we had done

196
00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:37,679
Speaker 5: the one year anniversary and that was a very uh

197
00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:39,880
Speaker 5: you know, we had community come in, but I wasn't

198
00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:43,360
Speaker 5: fully involved in everything yet. I was kind of dipping

199
00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:46,760
Speaker 5: my toe into organizing. And I talked to my dad

200
00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:48,480
Speaker 5: and I said, you know, Mellie's name is in the

201
00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:52,160
Speaker 5: news again because it's the universary, but it will then

202
00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:55,480
Speaker 5: fade as as it often does, and we need to

203
00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,760
Speaker 5: continue to tell the narrative in the story of Mellie.

204
00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:00,480
Speaker 5: And I said, what can I do to kind of

205
00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:02,600
Speaker 5: continue that? What can I do to also like busy

206
00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:04,840
Speaker 5: myself because I was kind of at a you know,

207
00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:07,720
Speaker 5: I was a grieving brother, but I had no sort

208
00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:09,560
Speaker 5: of focus at the time. I was mostly just like, Okay,

209
00:12:09,559 --> 00:12:12,000
Speaker 5: I want to do this for Melli. And then as

210
00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:13,840
Speaker 5: time went on, it was like, well, I need to

211
00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:16,160
Speaker 5: become her advocate. I need to go out there and

212
00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:19,400
Speaker 5: get involved because I think what was important is talking

213
00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,080
Speaker 5: to people like you and other leaders in the community

214
00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,439
Speaker 5: and other organizers. I come to realize that, like, all

215
00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:28,320
Speaker 5: of this stuff is connected. So obviously your beat is

216
00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:31,640
Speaker 5: the unhoused community, and that is such a crucial thing

217
00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:34,480
Speaker 5: to pay attention to because then you realize, oh, well,

218
00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:37,240
Speaker 5: homelessness is not being funded the way it should be

219
00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:39,640
Speaker 5: because the LAPED is getting all this money because all

220
00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:42,560
Speaker 5: these other departments are taking this money. And so to me,

221
00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:45,240
Speaker 5: it was such a crucial thing to give back to

222
00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:48,439
Speaker 5: my community, to honor my sister. And yeah, you know,

223
00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:50,240
Speaker 5: I try to be intentional with this stuff. I don't

224
00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:52,400
Speaker 5: sit around and just be like, oh, hey, you know,

225
00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:54,240
Speaker 5: we're going to do a thing for Melli and we'll

226
00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:56,120
Speaker 5: make it up as we go along. It's like the

227
00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:58,600
Speaker 5: preparation that I do. You know, the last thing we

228
00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:01,840
Speaker 5: did was a rally back in twenty twenty three, and

229
00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:04,720
Speaker 5: you know, two or three months before, I'm already talking

230
00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:07,800
Speaker 5: to people, Hey can you speak at it. Hey, I'm

231
00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:10,200
Speaker 5: getting supplies, I'm getting tents and all that sort of stuff.

232
00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:12,440
Speaker 5: So for me, it's kind of a way to do

233
00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:15,520
Speaker 5: I like being you know, creative and coming up with

234
00:13:15,559 --> 00:13:19,040
Speaker 5: stuff and having community events, but it's also just to

235
00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:21,880
Speaker 5: give back to my sister and honor her and tell

236
00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:25,000
Speaker 5: people who she was. And you know, most of the

237
00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,920
Speaker 5: people that I've met in the last six years never

238
00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:30,840
Speaker 5: met Mellie and they don't know who she really was.

239
00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:33,199
Speaker 5: So it's my job to tell them, Hey, this is

240
00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:36,560
Speaker 5: who she was and give them the best sort of

241
00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:39,840
Speaker 5: most accurate picture I can of who who Melly was.

242
00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:42,720
Speaker 5: Because it is a sad thing to meet somebody and

243
00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,120
Speaker 5: talk about Mellie so much and be like, oh, I

244
00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:47,320
Speaker 5: wish you could have shared space with her. I wish

245
00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:49,400
Speaker 5: you could have hugged her and been around her and

246
00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:52,000
Speaker 5: hear her laugh. And I'll be real too, I'm also

247
00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:55,480
Speaker 5: like a very I'm driven by vengeance and anger it

248
00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:57,240
Speaker 5: so you know, when it comes to the police, so

249
00:13:57,280 --> 00:13:59,400
Speaker 5: I'm always looking for ways to undermine them. And so

250
00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:01,679
Speaker 5: it was always is like, Okay, we're doing a rally,

251
00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:03,920
Speaker 5: but how can I send the message to the police

252
00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:07,280
Speaker 5: that like, hey, we're coming after you. And that's kind

253
00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:09,960
Speaker 5: of been my focus for six years. And again, it's

254
00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:13,080
Speaker 5: cool to see people continue the fight in different ways

255
00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:16,199
Speaker 5: because I think the keenness observers that are in this

256
00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:19,120
Speaker 5: movement know that all of this stuff is connected. Homelessness

257
00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:22,440
Speaker 5: is not a single issue, It is five issues at once.

258
00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:25,600
Speaker 5: You know, the police budget is not a single issue.

259
00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:27,680
Speaker 5: It is many, many at once. And I think the

260
00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:30,400
Speaker 5: more we talk about it, I think the more people

261
00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:32,880
Speaker 5: are going to understand, especially at a local level, that hey,

262
00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,200
Speaker 5: what you do, the way you vote, the people who

263
00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:38,760
Speaker 5: are on your city council, on your neighborhood councils, that

264
00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:42,040
Speaker 5: stuff matters kind of more than federal. I mean, federal

265
00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:43,880
Speaker 5: is something we need to pay attention to. But the

266
00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:46,520
Speaker 5: reason your neighborhood looks the way it looks, the reason

267
00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:50,240
Speaker 5: why they put bike lanes in or start charging for

268
00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:53,360
Speaker 5: parking or whatever it is, is done at a city level.

269
00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:56,280
Speaker 5: And if your loved one is killed by the police,

270
00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:00,240
Speaker 5: or the police haussele you or patrol your neighborhood make

271
00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:03,600
Speaker 5: it less safe, that is done at a local level.

272
00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:07,160
Speaker 5: And that's kind of been me. You have to throw

273
00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:09,480
Speaker 5: all that stuff in the same pile and kind of

274
00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:11,680
Speaker 5: work with it. So that's what we're trying to do here, you.

275
00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:15,360
Speaker 4: Know, succinctly put I was going to say, the interconnectedness

276
00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:19,800
Speaker 4: of it is because the police has been successfully orchestrating

277
00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:23,520
Speaker 4: all of the kind of violent and carcio type of

278
00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:27,800
Speaker 4: solutions and every facet of government. Case in point, how

279
00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:31,760
Speaker 4: they treated the conversation about Melli Corrado's passing, and then

280
00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:34,200
Speaker 4: also how they are always to fly and the soup

281
00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:36,800
Speaker 4: when they're talking about house business. They are always trying

282
00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:40,560
Speaker 4: to get their cut, but also keeping the negative framework

283
00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:44,000
Speaker 4: going in order for them to continue to demonize and

284
00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:46,920
Speaker 4: criminalize on house people. We've witnessed it recently with the

285
00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:49,840
Speaker 4: brand's past ruling that didn't just happen out of tandem,

286
00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:53,640
Speaker 4: that had a very concentrated, a very focused kind of

287
00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:58,120
Speaker 4: message to bring. And if you're watching the Daniel Penny

288
00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:04,080
Speaker 4: trial and how they're framing Jordan Neely, it's not accident.

289
00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:07,720
Speaker 4: And the way of the recent case where there was

290
00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:11,400
Speaker 4: a person that had stabbed three people who unfortunately were

291
00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:14,440
Speaker 4: on housed and had mental challenges, and how the mayor

292
00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:19,000
Speaker 4: is focusing on involuntary incarceration of people that have mental

293
00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:22,640
Speaker 4: health issues. So these kind of conversations are pertinent and

294
00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:25,920
Speaker 4: it's germane to the larger discussion is how do we

295
00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:29,240
Speaker 4: want to create care in our communities? Do we want

296
00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:33,680
Speaker 4: to rally the incarceration andcarceral solutions, or do we want

297
00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:37,280
Speaker 4: to be able to stop before it gets to incarceration,

298
00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:39,760
Speaker 4: or are we having to get a police officer to

299
00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:42,800
Speaker 4: get someone that is having a mental challenge. We work

300
00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:45,000
Speaker 4: together to make sure that they are not a harm

301
00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:48,360
Speaker 4: to themselves and other people. But that's an uncomfortable conversation,

302
00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:51,880
Speaker 4: but I salute you for trying to keep it in

303
00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:54,720
Speaker 4: the forefront of people's consciousness. You even took it a

304
00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:57,160
Speaker 4: step further and started to run for city council.

305
00:16:57,400 --> 00:16:59,800
Speaker 5: So yeah, I mean that that was I mean that

306
00:16:59,920 --> 00:17:02,600
Speaker 5: was you know, it was one of those things as

307
00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:04,439
Speaker 5: soon as I it all clicked to me of like, oh,

308
00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:07,560
Speaker 5: city council has all this power and all these these

309
00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:10,679
Speaker 5: decisions that affect people's lives are made at that level.

310
00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:12,960
Speaker 6: I'm gonna run. I knew nothing about it.

311
00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:17,159
Speaker 5: I had gotten some advice actually from current city Controller

312
00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:19,560
Speaker 5: Kenneth Mehia, because he'd run a couple of times and

313
00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:22,560
Speaker 5: I kind of knew him through some organizing circles and

314
00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:24,719
Speaker 5: I was like, hey, can you give me advice? I

315
00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:27,240
Speaker 5: know you've run before, And he sat there and kind

316
00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,480
Speaker 5: of walked me through how to file and this and that,

317
00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:31,879
Speaker 5: but the rest of it was kind of up to me,

318
00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:34,440
Speaker 5: and I think, you know, I wanted to be as

319
00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:36,720
Speaker 5: honest as possible, and I think that people saw that

320
00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:38,760
Speaker 5: when I first started running, of like, oh, well.

321
00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:41,320
Speaker 6: You know, you're not running to win, You're running because

322
00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:42,280
Speaker 6: you want to send a message.

323
00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:43,439
Speaker 5: And I was like, I'm kind of trying to do

324
00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:48,240
Speaker 5: both because I think that the time of the politicians

325
00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:51,560
Speaker 5: and the candidates lying, you know, kind of talking a

326
00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,840
Speaker 5: big game, and then when they get into office kind

327
00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:56,560
Speaker 5: of not living up to that. I think that that

328
00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:58,320
Speaker 5: should be done. It's not a way a good way

329
00:17:58,359 --> 00:17:59,959
Speaker 5: to do it. We've even seen it with some progress

330
00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:02,520
Speaker 5: of council members in the last few years. But I

331
00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:05,040
Speaker 5: wanted to run because to me, it made sense. If

332
00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:09,040
Speaker 5: I want to actually affect change and do something big,

333
00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:12,600
Speaker 5: I think a seat of power, like a city council seat,

334
00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:15,960
Speaker 5: is an important thing to have. And if someone like me,

335
00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:19,240
Speaker 5: who was a victim of police violence, who is a

336
00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:22,320
Speaker 5: person of color, who grew up here, who has been

337
00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:24,280
Speaker 5: through all of it, who's been hassled by the cops,

338
00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:27,080
Speaker 5: who's been affected by budget cuts to schools and all

339
00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:29,280
Speaker 5: that stuff, then I think I should be one of

340
00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,439
Speaker 5: the people on there, and you know, I mean, it

341
00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:33,200
Speaker 5: didn't work out. But I think what we were able

342
00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:37,040
Speaker 5: to accomplish is that we kind of crafted the conversation.

343
00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:40,400
Speaker 5: We said twenty twenty two is going to be about policing,

344
00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:43,920
Speaker 5: because it feeds into everything, and everyone who joined the

345
00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:47,640
Speaker 5: race after us had to then speak to that and say, oh, okay, well,

346
00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:50,760
Speaker 5: if Albert Carrado, this person who is known and we

347
00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:53,119
Speaker 5: know his story, if he's talking about this stuff in

348
00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:56,960
Speaker 5: this way and it seems mostly reasonable, then where do

349
00:18:57,040 --> 00:19:00,639
Speaker 5: you stand on it? And I've always I did myself

350
00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,680
Speaker 5: in looking at, you know, a thing and being able

351
00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:05,840
Speaker 5: to figure it out. And for me, what I figured

352
00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:09,359
Speaker 5: out was if we don't reign in the police, nothing

353
00:19:09,359 --> 00:19:11,640
Speaker 5: will get fixed. And I say that as a as

354
00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:13,399
Speaker 5: a brother of Melie, you know, a person who was

355
00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:15,359
Speaker 5: killed by the police. I say that as a as

356
00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,120
Speaker 5: a friend of a lot of unhoused people who I've

357
00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:22,800
Speaker 5: seen struggle, as someone who has done outreach to unhouse people,

358
00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:26,080
Speaker 5: who who you know, knows and loves a lot of

359
00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:29,360
Speaker 5: trans people, right like all these people who are marginalized.

360
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,840
Speaker 5: And so I try to lead with that and say, hey,

361
00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:35,000
Speaker 5: it may seem radical to some people, but it's actually

362
00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:37,280
Speaker 5: pretty reasonable. And I think to me that was a

363
00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:40,840
Speaker 5: logical progression of where I was headed. I was getting

364
00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:43,120
Speaker 5: involved in organizing. I started this group called People's City

365
00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:46,400
Speaker 5: Council with my friends, and to me it just said,

366
00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:49,200
Speaker 5: you know, I said, there are many avenues to get

367
00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:51,919
Speaker 5: what we want done done, and so one of them

368
00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,080
Speaker 5: is running for city council. And that was to me

369
00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:57,520
Speaker 5: the I didn't wake up when I was five years

370
00:19:57,560 --> 00:19:58,960
Speaker 5: old and say hey, I'm going to be a city

371
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:00,720
Speaker 5: council member. I'm going to be a politician. I didn't

372
00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:03,359
Speaker 5: want to do that, but I saw it as a

373
00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:06,960
Speaker 5: in one of many avenues to get to be able

374
00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:10,000
Speaker 5: to affect change, right, to get some power and use

375
00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:13,800
Speaker 5: it for good. And you know it it ended up

376
00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:15,960
Speaker 5: not not working out, But to me it was like, well,

377
00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,280
Speaker 5: the day after we lost or whatever didn't make it

378
00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:22,000
Speaker 5: to the general said okay, what's the next project?

379
00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:25,520
Speaker 6: How do we keep working? And that's kind of been

380
00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:26,680
Speaker 6: the way to do it.

381
00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:28,760
Speaker 5: Is like I didn't put all of my hopes and

382
00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,000
Speaker 5: dreams on one thing and say, well it didn't work out,

383
00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:33,320
Speaker 5: so time to walk away, because here's the thing I'm

384
00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:35,560
Speaker 5: going to be grieving Melly for the rest of my life.

385
00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:37,480
Speaker 5: She is going to be gone for the rest of

386
00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:39,520
Speaker 5: my life, so there I need to find a way

387
00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:42,639
Speaker 5: to continue to honor her memory and to continue to

388
00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:46,280
Speaker 5: honestly remind people of like, Hey, this happened in your city,

389
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:49,320
Speaker 5: in your backyard, and nothing was done about it.

390
00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:50,400
Speaker 6: And if we don't.

391
00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:52,680
Speaker 5: Get people on the city council who care about that

392
00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:54,040
Speaker 5: kind of thing, then we're going to be living in

393
00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:56,119
Speaker 5: a city that is going to be run by a

394
00:20:56,119 --> 00:20:58,680
Speaker 5: bunch of ghouls and people who love the police, and

395
00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:03,160
Speaker 5: you know whatever. It was a fun thing I did.

396
00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:05,360
Speaker 5: It was a very important thing. I wish I had won,

397
00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:09,760
Speaker 5: but you know, that's how it goes well.

398
00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:13,359
Speaker 4: Even though you were working towards election as a council member,

399
00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:17,560
Speaker 4: you also created other avenues for other organizations to shine,

400
00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:20,040
Speaker 4: like the Robinson Space or that. Could you talk a

401
00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:22,280
Speaker 4: little bit about what that was about and what you

402
00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:25,240
Speaker 4: see for the future for other activist comings.

403
00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:27,800
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean so, I started People's City Council with

404
00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:30,480
Speaker 5: a bunch of friends in twenty twenty as a response

405
00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:35,040
Speaker 5: to city council's kind of lack of preparedness and care

406
00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,719
Speaker 5: in the face of a coming pandemic right, they voted poorly,

407
00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:41,520
Speaker 5: they weren't protecting people. A lot of us were angry.

408
00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,440
Speaker 5: My friend Nicole Darnanian Blandon, who I'm sure you know,

409
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,640
Speaker 5: I had known her through again organizing circles, and she

410
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,160
Speaker 5: sends out an email someday She's like, I'm really mad.

411
00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:54,040
Speaker 5: We need to go and protest outside of these people's houses.

412
00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,120
Speaker 5: And it was the time of COVID kind of starting.

413
00:21:57,400 --> 00:21:59,400
Speaker 5: So we got into our cars and we made signs,

414
00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:01,600
Speaker 5: and we hunt and put the signs out and then

415
00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,160
Speaker 5: we got out of our cars and we're socially distant

416
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:05,919
Speaker 5: and you know, being safe and all that, but it

417
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:07,760
Speaker 5: was like we were angry, and we're like, we're going

418
00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:10,120
Speaker 5: to Garcetti's house, the mayor at the time, We're going

419
00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:13,160
Speaker 5: to Nurry Martinez's house in Mitchell Ferrell and we're gonna

420
00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:16,040
Speaker 5: like make noise. And from that came People City Council.

421
00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:20,040
Speaker 5: After George Floyd was murdered, we started a fundraiser that

422
00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:22,760
Speaker 5: was just kind of mostly a bail fund and hey,

423
00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:25,960
Speaker 5: well maybe buy some supplies for protesters whatever. We raised

424
00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:28,160
Speaker 5: two million dollars. We gave a lot of that money

425
00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:31,600
Speaker 5: away and at the middle of twenty twenty one, we said, well,

426
00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:35,439
Speaker 5: we have given over a million and a half dollars

427
00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:39,880
Speaker 5: away to local organizations, like we've done an immeasurable amount

428
00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:40,280
Speaker 5: of good.

429
00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:41,760
Speaker 6: What is our next step?

430
00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:43,840
Speaker 5: And to us, it didn't make sense to continue to

431
00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:46,840
Speaker 5: just send money, because you know that's still something that

432
00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:49,440
Speaker 5: was needed. But we said, well, we need to have

433
00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:51,400
Speaker 5: a lasting impact. We need to have a place where

434
00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:55,280
Speaker 5: people can meet and feel safe, that is free from police,

435
00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:57,960
Speaker 5: that is free from the state kind of having any

436
00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:02,280
Speaker 5: say in it, that's free from surveillance. And Nicole and

437
00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:05,679
Speaker 5: a few people who kind of organized around town and

438
00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:08,480
Speaker 5: people City Council, we were on the lookout for a

439
00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:11,960
Speaker 5: physical space and the original Robinson Space, which was in

440
00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,479
Speaker 5: Filipino Town, was beautiful and awesome when we found it,

441
00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:17,920
Speaker 5: and we were there for about a year and a

442
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:21,760
Speaker 5: half and we had fundraisers and book clubs and concerts

443
00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:24,800
Speaker 5: and all these amazing things. And to us, the main

444
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,560
Speaker 5: thing was like, we don't charge for it. If you

445
00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:29,320
Speaker 5: are part of the movement that you have a thing,

446
00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:30,720
Speaker 5: a meeting you want to do, if you want to

447
00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:33,840
Speaker 5: have a safe space to organize to talk about stuff

448
00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:35,720
Speaker 5: that you don't want to talk about in front of

449
00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:38,560
Speaker 5: the general public. This is the place to be. We

450
00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,600
Speaker 5: ended up getting kicked out because of some terrible neighbors

451
00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,399
Speaker 5: and Nimby's and all that stuff, and then the police

452
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:45,119
Speaker 5: were surveilling us.

453
00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:46,439
Speaker 6: It was kind of a big open space.

454
00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:50,560
Speaker 5: We ended up finding a really beautiful space in Virgil Village,

455
00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:52,520
Speaker 5: not far from where we were and not far from

456
00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:54,960
Speaker 5: where like a lot of us live. And that's been

457
00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:57,080
Speaker 5: a place that we've been at for almost two years now.

458
00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:00,600
Speaker 5: And the same sort of ethos goes into where it's like,

459
00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:03,159
Speaker 5: it's free. We don't charge for people.

460
00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:03,440
Speaker 6: Now.

461
00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:05,800
Speaker 5: If an organization comes and says, hey, we have a

462
00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,240
Speaker 5: bit of a budget, can we donate, of course we're

463
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:11,240
Speaker 5: always looking for donations because it is very expensive to

464
00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:13,040
Speaker 5: pay the rent for the space and to run it.

465
00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:15,000
Speaker 5: We have people who do admin stuff who we like

466
00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:16,919
Speaker 5: to pay, so there is a level to which we

467
00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:18,679
Speaker 5: want to make some money, but it is not the

468
00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:22,040
Speaker 5: driving force at all. It's like whenever we tell people, hey,

469
00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:24,520
Speaker 5: it is free, here's a donation link if you want to,

470
00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:27,199
Speaker 5: but please do not feel any pressure. Like we have

471
00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 5: people who are barely whose organizations are barely chugging along,

472
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,000
Speaker 5: who come and do things there, and we're like, hey,

473
00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:35,760
Speaker 5: we don't care, like, we don't owe us anything. Tell

474
00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,120
Speaker 5: your friends about it. Tell them it's free. And that's

475
00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:42,520
Speaker 5: always been our thing because to exist in public nowadays

476
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:45,399
Speaker 5: is very hard. It is increasingly harder to be a

477
00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,600
Speaker 5: person living in public. Everything is criminalized. You can't sit down,

478
00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:51,280
Speaker 5: as we talk about right grants pass in forty one eighteen.

479
00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:54,240
Speaker 5: You can't sit, you can't lie down, you can't pitch ten,

480
00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:54,840
Speaker 5: you can't do.

481
00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:56,200
Speaker 1: You can't really be a human being.

482
00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:58,720
Speaker 5: You can't relax. You can't even relax in your own city.

483
00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,040
Speaker 5: And so we say, hey, we have tables and chairs

484
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:04,720
Speaker 5: and couches if you want to come and do something there,

485
00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:07,680
Speaker 5: as long as you're with it. You know, we vet people,

486
00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:10,480
Speaker 5: We vet organizations. There's been organizations who've reached out to

487
00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:13,720
Speaker 5: us who are like working in tandem with like people

488
00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:16,480
Speaker 5: who we consider to be the oppressors, and we say, hey,

489
00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:19,960
Speaker 5: straight up, we don't mess with them. We appreciate you

490
00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:23,960
Speaker 5: reaching out. If that relationship with that organization or those

491
00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:26,639
Speaker 5: people ends, will consider it. But now that you're working

492
00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:28,520
Speaker 5: with them, we're going to say no. And we're very

493
00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:31,639
Speaker 5: upfront about that. But everybody who uses the space is

494
00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,840
Speaker 5: somehow vetted. We don't have you know, we don't do surveillance,

495
00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,000
Speaker 5: we don't do all the things that you would normally

496
00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:39,560
Speaker 5: see at a regular like a we work or something.

497
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:40,000
Speaker 6: None of it.

498
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:42,120
Speaker 5: Like we're doing this out of the kindness of our hearts.

499
00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:44,680
Speaker 5: And again we don't charge people. We have two podcasting

500
00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:48,040
Speaker 5: rooms because for us, it's like every everything that you

501
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:51,119
Speaker 5: can do helps every part of it, whether it's a

502
00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:54,159
Speaker 5: podcast or a reading club or an organization that you're running,

503
00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:56,240
Speaker 5: that is giving back to the movement, and for us,

504
00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:59,879
Speaker 5: the longevity of the movement is important to us. The

505
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:01,960
Speaker 5: reason we have Robinson Space and the reason it's free

506
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:04,720
Speaker 5: is because we know that this is where the ideas

507
00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:06,320
Speaker 5: that are going to get get us free are going.

508
00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:06,800
Speaker 6: To be born.

509
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:08,640
Speaker 5: Right like there is going to be a book club,

510
00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,080
Speaker 5: there is going to be a meeting for your organization.

511
00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:13,480
Speaker 5: Somebody's gonna come to a meeting of a thing and

512
00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:16,600
Speaker 5: get inspired. And that's sort of how the movement kind

513
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:18,880
Speaker 5: of keeps itself going, is we bring new people in,

514
00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,720
Speaker 5: they are radicalized, or they show up radicalized and radicalize

515
00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:25,040
Speaker 5: other people, and we keep going in. The Robinson Space

516
00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:27,760
Speaker 5: to me is you know, giving money to all those

517
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:30,040
Speaker 5: organizations was wonderful, But I think that is the most

518
00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:32,040
Speaker 5: important thing that we've that I've been able to be

519
00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:34,960
Speaker 5: a part of, is that space and offering it to

520
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:39,480
Speaker 5: people who I mean, we have done everything from you know,

521
00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:42,800
Speaker 5: book clubs to seminars, to teach ins to you know,

522
00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:46,680
Speaker 5: indigenous dance classes. We have you know, all these things

523
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:49,080
Speaker 5: that are just like they they wouldn't have any place

524
00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:51,680
Speaker 5: to do it that wasn't expensive, and we're just saying, hey,

525
00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:53,800
Speaker 5: this is how you do this, this is the how

526
00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:56,280
Speaker 5: you get in the building, this is how you care.

527
00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:56,800
Speaker 6: For the space.

528
00:26:57,480 --> 00:26:59,360
Speaker 5: And then they go and they tell their friends and

529
00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:01,960
Speaker 5: we have been and basically fully booked for like the

530
00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:06,199
Speaker 5: last year. Okay, wow, we are constantly getting requests for

531
00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:08,360
Speaker 5: people to come and do stuff there because they heard, hey,

532
00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:10,760
Speaker 5: not only are you with it, not only is it free,

533
00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:13,639
Speaker 5: but like we feel welcome there. We feel you know,

534
00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:16,159
Speaker 5: we and we make sure that we have things. You

535
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:18,560
Speaker 5: show up and it's like, hey, if you need microphones,

536
00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:20,240
Speaker 5: we got it. If you need speakers, if you need this,

537
00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:22,960
Speaker 5: if you need that, we kind of have everything you

538
00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,760
Speaker 5: would need to do a seminar or whatever you're trying

539
00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:27,359
Speaker 5: to do and for us that is important too. It's

540
00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:32,040
Speaker 5: like the democratization of something like pods resources. Right, It's like,

541
00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:33,760
Speaker 5: if you have an idea for a podcast, and hey,

542
00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:36,320
Speaker 5: you don't have the four hundred dollars it's going to

543
00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:38,560
Speaker 5: cost to buy a recorder and Mike's and all that

544
00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:42,840
Speaker 5: literally come to our space. We have two podcasts rooms.

545
00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:45,000
Speaker 5: You can use one of them. We have all the stuff,

546
00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:48,440
Speaker 5: we have all the recorders. We don't have any ownership

547
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:50,480
Speaker 5: of that. You record whatever the hell you want and

548
00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:54,160
Speaker 5: it's yours. And for us, it's like we're removing a barrier, right,

549
00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,719
Speaker 5: We're removing a barrier that is allowing someone with an

550
00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:00,920
Speaker 5: idea who is broke to make idea reality.

551
00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:03,399
Speaker 6: We're going to take a break and we will be

552
00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:04,160
Speaker 6: right back.

553
00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:10,040
Speaker 1: We're back.

554
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:13,440
Speaker 4: I'm thinking about how when you're saying, you know, keeping

555
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:16,120
Speaker 4: the legacy going because I knew, like for example, which

556
00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:19,000
Speaker 4: why is so important with the Wian House is to

557
00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:23,280
Speaker 4: keep it in keep it in the forefront of people's consciousness,

558
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:26,000
Speaker 4: but to keep it also on the tongues of people

559
00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:28,760
Speaker 4: that had heard it, and to spread it even farther,

560
00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,879
Speaker 4: even not just locally, but just you know, internationally because

561
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:36,040
Speaker 4: of what I found recently with even with the show,

562
00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:42,880
Speaker 4: the people are dealing with these issues internationally too. Netherlands, yeh, London,

563
00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:48,080
Speaker 4: you know, other displaced communities across over our seas. It's

564
00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:51,520
Speaker 4: it's a conversation that's necessary to have, and it's a

565
00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:54,560
Speaker 4: conversation that we have to have the medium and space

566
00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:58,920
Speaker 4: internationally internally as well externally for people to be able

567
00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:02,320
Speaker 4: to express the issues that are Germaine and very necessary.

568
00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:04,600
Speaker 5: Yeah, and I think that what I think is important

569
00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:08,360
Speaker 5: to note here is that like I found myself and

570
00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:11,480
Speaker 5: again I look at you as a kindred spirit because

571
00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:17,080
Speaker 5: I was a very sad, angry, depressed boy after my

572
00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:19,760
Speaker 5: sister was killed, right as anybody would be you lost

573
00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:20,320
Speaker 5: your siblings.

574
00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:22,240
Speaker 6: And it was like.

575
00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:26,200
Speaker 5: I was so desperate to find meaning and connection and

576
00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:28,800
Speaker 5: tell the story. So I showed up to every meeting

577
00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:32,239
Speaker 5: I could, and I had time and energy, and I

578
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:37,320
Speaker 5: was getting involved and doing every day of my life

579
00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:40,480
Speaker 5: beginning in like mid twenty nineteen, was just like I'm

580
00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:43,200
Speaker 5: involved somehow, I'm doing outreach, I'm doing this, I'm doing that.

581
00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:47,000
Speaker 5: Because I was so desperate to make those connections and

582
00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:50,600
Speaker 5: tell people and be heard and hear other people just

583
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:54,280
Speaker 5: as you are so like desperate to get your voice

584
00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:55,840
Speaker 5: out that you're like, I'm just gonna do it on

585
00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:58,160
Speaker 5: my phone because that's all I have. It is the

586
00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:00,480
Speaker 5: only avenue I have. And to me, that is the

587
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,920
Speaker 5: beautiful spirit of like something lives in you that needs

588
00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:05,880
Speaker 5: to get out. And you say, I don't care how

589
00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:07,800
Speaker 5: I'm gonna do it, whether it's on a rinky dingk

590
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:11,560
Speaker 5: tape recorder or an old phone. And I remember just

591
00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:14,520
Speaker 5: listening to this stuff and being like, this is the

592
00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:18,040
Speaker 5: rawest sound you're gonna have. You're reporting live from an

593
00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:23,080
Speaker 5: encampments right with the phone, and it's like people just

594
00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:24,920
Speaker 5: wouldn't think to do that. They like, there are people

595
00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:26,239
Speaker 5: who would get in their heads and say, oh, well

596
00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:28,560
Speaker 5: I need to actually buy a bunch of equipment and

597
00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:30,040
Speaker 5: do this, and they would prepare and all that. You

598
00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:32,280
Speaker 5: were just like, it needs to be heard, even if

599
00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:35,640
Speaker 5: if there's a car driving by whatever, Like you're gonna

600
00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:39,040
Speaker 5: do it. And I think that when you find yourself

601
00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:41,320
Speaker 5: in a position where you're going through something, whether it's

602
00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:44,880
Speaker 5: in your sibling, you're on house, whatever it is, you

603
00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:47,200
Speaker 5: find yourself wanting to connect. And I think that is

604
00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:50,680
Speaker 5: what separates some people where it's like other people let

605
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:52,960
Speaker 5: that bog them down and say I'll never do anything.

606
00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,200
Speaker 5: I don't belong in this world, I don't whatever, And

607
00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:57,560
Speaker 5: then other people just say, I'm gonna find my way.

608
00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:00,920
Speaker 5: And now, I mean, you're on iHeartRadio. Listen, they have

609
00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:03,600
Speaker 5: a lot of ads whatever. But but you know, but

610
00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:07,640
Speaker 5: you're now being heard. Somebody can stumble upon this thing

611
00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:11,600
Speaker 5: and your your voice will carry them. And you know,

612
00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:13,640
Speaker 5: I really love the way you end your show with

613
00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:15,840
Speaker 5: the meeting in the in the light of what is

614
00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:18,640
Speaker 5: it understanding? Yeah, And it's just like, you know, I mean,

615
00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:21,160
Speaker 5: someone's gonna hear that and be like that's cool. I'm

616
00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:24,000
Speaker 5: gonna take that and I'm gonna like make something of that,

617
00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:25,760
Speaker 5: and it's and it's cool. And I think that, you know,

618
00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:29,920
Speaker 5: finding yourself at at a at a crossroads is kind

619
00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:32,200
Speaker 5: of an important thing and and and choosing what to

620
00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:34,920
Speaker 5: do with that, to me is really what defines you

621
00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:35,360
Speaker 5: as a person.

622
00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:37,440
Speaker 6: If I hadn't, if I had just sat around.

623
00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:39,440
Speaker 5: And done nothing in the name of my sister, no

624
00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:41,239
Speaker 5: one would blame me, right, because everyone will say, oh,

625
00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:44,320
Speaker 5: you're sad. It's an awful thing to go through and

626
00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:45,880
Speaker 5: and and I don't And I don't blame people who

627
00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:48,600
Speaker 5: find themselves in my position who don't do what I do.

628
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:49,280
Speaker 6: That's fine.

629
00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:51,480
Speaker 5: But for me, I was like, I can't feel good

630
00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:54,320
Speaker 5: about myself if I don't go do something because I

631
00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:57,280
Speaker 5: was put on this earth to do something. I don't

632
00:31:57,320 --> 00:31:59,280
Speaker 5: know exactly what it is, but maybe it's what I'm

633
00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:00,840
Speaker 5: doing now. And you were put on this world to

634
00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:04,560
Speaker 5: like share your story and give I think the fact

635
00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:08,720
Speaker 5: that you give people who normally wouldn't get the time

636
00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:11,320
Speaker 5: of day from people on the street, you're giving them

637
00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:13,479
Speaker 5: a voice. I mean, it's not to just be like, oh,

638
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:16,000
Speaker 5: I'm here to worship THEO, but I really appreciate.

639
00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:16,040
Speaker 6: What you do.

640
00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:17,920
Speaker 5: But I do see you as a kindred spirit because

641
00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:20,960
Speaker 5: I think you found yourself. You just have this natural talent.

642
00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:23,560
Speaker 5: People feel calm around you, They want to tell you

643
00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:26,320
Speaker 5: their life story. So you use that as a way

644
00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:28,440
Speaker 5: to give back to to your community. And I think

645
00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:30,560
Speaker 5: that's a wonderful thing. And I think that everybody needs

646
00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:32,360
Speaker 5: to kind of try to live in that spirit of

647
00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:33,440
Speaker 5: just say, hey, what can I offer?

648
00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:34,720
Speaker 6: Like what can I offer?

649
00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:36,840
Speaker 5: And not expect anything in return, because right we have

650
00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:39,360
Speaker 5: to help people out even if they're not going to

651
00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:40,880
Speaker 5: help us out, and that I think it has to

652
00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:43,360
Speaker 5: be the basis of doing this kind of stuff is

653
00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:46,000
Speaker 5: like I'm giving you something and I don't expect anything

654
00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:48,200
Speaker 5: in return, And that's kind of how you have to

655
00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:50,120
Speaker 5: deal with sort of things like this.

656
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:53,320
Speaker 4: You know, absolutely services the rent that we pay on Earth,

657
00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:56,760
Speaker 4: and I believed trying to find every facet, did the

658
00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:59,160
Speaker 4: best of my ability to do that, and this was

659
00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:01,440
Speaker 4: one of the one of the mediums that I feel

660
00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:04,240
Speaker 4: that I had an opportunity a chance to do which

661
00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:06,920
Speaker 4: I would have never And I was always telling people

662
00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:08,760
Speaker 4: when I when they asked about how did I just

663
00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:11,800
Speaker 4: start in podcasting, I'm from a different generation. We are

664
00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:15,360
Speaker 4: from the magazines, newspapers, books kind of generation.

665
00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,480
Speaker 1: And nowhere was it mentioned about a podcast.

666
00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:20,680
Speaker 4: I wouldn't even been able because I when I was

667
00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:22,520
Speaker 4: in college, I wouldn't have been able to tell you

668
00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:24,880
Speaker 4: what the heck of a podcast was. And it's so

669
00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:27,840
Speaker 4: interesting how the world has changed in such a way

670
00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:32,120
Speaker 4: that most people don't do magazines and books and the like,

671
00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:35,440
Speaker 4: but they don't what podcasting is. And we're still able

672
00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:38,160
Speaker 4: to get out the information, but we're doing it in

673
00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:40,880
Speaker 4: the creative and novel ways. It also lends a conversation

674
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:43,800
Speaker 4: is what will be the next medium where people will

675
00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:46,080
Speaker 4: be able to do the same thing, and which brings

676
00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:50,080
Speaker 4: up another question, is that what's next for you? You know,

677
00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:53,120
Speaker 4: what's what's the future hold? Now that's the big question.

678
00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:53,680
Speaker 7: Yeah.

679
00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:56,800
Speaker 5: So, I mean, as I mentioned, we see the city,

680
00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:02,520
Speaker 5: and through this entire horrible six year process, we finally

681
00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:06,479
Speaker 5: settled with them. Everything was officially officially done about two

682
00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:10,520
Speaker 5: weeks ago and we're done, so no trial, we settled,

683
00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:13,120
Speaker 5: we got our money, all that stuff. And so now

684
00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:16,520
Speaker 5: I'm kind of like it's weird because like this thing existed.

685
00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:18,799
Speaker 5: We fouled the lawsuit four months after Melly was killed,

686
00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:22,440
Speaker 5: and we knew that this was gonna take a long time.

687
00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:25,920
Speaker 5: They said, these trials take forever. They're gonna like string

688
00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:28,600
Speaker 5: it out, they're gonna make it so you're gonna want

689
00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:31,799
Speaker 5: to give up. And it didn't help that COVID hit

690
00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:34,840
Speaker 5: March twenty twenty, so that really offset everything, and so

691
00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:37,320
Speaker 5: I could see that, Okay, well, if I want to

692
00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:39,080
Speaker 5: do something in the name of Meloy, like the lawsuit's

693
00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:41,040
Speaker 5: one thing, but that's gonna take too long. I'm not

694
00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:43,439
Speaker 5: gonna sit around and just wait for this lawsuit to happen,

695
00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:45,359
Speaker 5: because again, I don't know when it's gonna be because

696
00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:48,040
Speaker 5: we got trial dates that were in twenty twenty, twenty

697
00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:48,400
Speaker 5: twenty one.

698
00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:49,800
Speaker 6: Like it was a mess.

699
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:52,279
Speaker 5: So that's why I got involved and was able to

700
00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:55,080
Speaker 5: be effective and even knowing, hey, this trial will come soon,

701
00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:56,759
Speaker 5: but I need to go and do stuff in the

702
00:34:56,840 --> 00:34:59,160
Speaker 5: name of Melley while I wait, because I can't put

703
00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:00,359
Speaker 5: everything I have that.

704
00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:02,160
Speaker 6: Possible trial we settled.

705
00:35:02,239 --> 00:35:04,719
Speaker 5: It's like the highest out of court settlement in the

706
00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:05,760
Speaker 5: history of Los Angeles.

707
00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:06,520
Speaker 6: So that was great.

708
00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:09,359
Speaker 5: They paid us money and that was the only thing

709
00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:11,719
Speaker 5: they ever did to say, hey, we did something wrong.

710
00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:15,160
Speaker 5: It's not a victory necessarily, but it's a way for

711
00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:16,719
Speaker 5: us to move on. It's a way for me to

712
00:35:16,719 --> 00:35:18,880
Speaker 5: buy my data house, you know, ultimately. But I mean,

713
00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:21,000
Speaker 5: here's the thing is, like I always saw this as

714
00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:24,240
Speaker 5: a you know, this thing will be, this will close

715
00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:27,319
Speaker 5: that first initial chapter because like we did the one year,

716
00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:30,080
Speaker 5: the two year anniversary, we've done marches and rallies and

717
00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:32,840
Speaker 5: so we've moved on to a different level of grief

718
00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:35,759
Speaker 5: at a different stage, right, But like this trial was

719
00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:38,759
Speaker 5: this looming trial was still kind of holding us back

720
00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:40,640
Speaker 5: in twenty eighteen, like, oh, this is the thing that

721
00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:42,680
Speaker 5: we did. It was the only thing that we could

722
00:35:42,719 --> 00:35:45,239
Speaker 5: do at the time to keep Mellie's name out there

723
00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:47,480
Speaker 5: is to like sue them and talk about it and

724
00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:50,680
Speaker 5: do press conferences or whatever. So now I think I'm

725
00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:52,799
Speaker 5: going to rest for a little bit. My Dad's gonna

726
00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:56,160
Speaker 5: rest for a little bit. We're gonna chill I'm looking

727
00:35:56,200 --> 00:36:00,120
Speaker 5: at this sort of windfall of money as a a

728
00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:01,239
Speaker 5: blessing rather than a curse.

729
00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:01,480
Speaker 6: Right.

730
00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:03,400
Speaker 5: Some people look at and like, ah, you gotta like

731
00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:05,880
Speaker 5: invest it, you gotta do Everyone's telling me what to do,

732
00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:08,399
Speaker 5: and I'm like, hey, like I will take care of it,

733
00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:11,560
Speaker 5: but I gotta chill out for a bit. That doesn't

734
00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:13,040
Speaker 5: mean I'm not going to be involved in people's city

735
00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:16,000
Speaker 5: council or Robinson space. I'm gonna just kind of dial

736
00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:18,239
Speaker 5: back a little bit. And then when I feel like

737
00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:21,160
Speaker 5: I've gotten to a place of like kind of reckoning

738
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:23,319
Speaker 5: with what's happening, honestly, like now I'm just a person

739
00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:27,680
Speaker 5: who like there's no trial looming. I've made a mark

740
00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:29,799
Speaker 5: in Los Angeles. You know, people know who I am.

741
00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:33,000
Speaker 5: They have an opinion of me one way or the other. Right,

742
00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:35,160
Speaker 5: Like some people, I walk into the room at a

743
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:36,960
Speaker 5: place and I'm like, oh, these people do not like

744
00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:39,920
Speaker 5: me because I said something bad about their favorite politician

745
00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:42,640
Speaker 5: or whatever it is. And then other times like, oh Albert, dude,

746
00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:45,319
Speaker 5: we love your whatever. That's great. But I'm just kind

747
00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:47,480
Speaker 5: of like, I don't know exactly what the next step is.

748
00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:51,239
Speaker 5: But I know that if the LAPD thinks that I'm

749
00:36:51,239 --> 00:36:55,120
Speaker 5: going to go away, they're wrong because now I have resources,

750
00:36:55,160 --> 00:36:57,759
Speaker 5: now I have time. I'm going to stay involved and

751
00:36:57,840 --> 00:36:59,680
Speaker 5: do things in a way that I want to do them.

752
00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:01,920
Speaker 5: I'm going to hold their feed to the fire, you know.

753
00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:04,680
Speaker 5: I mean, I've had dozens of people asking me if

754
00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:05,959
Speaker 5: I'm going to run for office again.

755
00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:07,879
Speaker 6: I'm considering it. I am.

756
00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:10,120
Speaker 5: I don't know what office I would run for, but

757
00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:12,160
Speaker 5: I would. I think I want to do it again

758
00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:15,560
Speaker 5: because the first time was messy, it was sloppy.

759
00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:16,879
Speaker 6: It was you know, you.

760
00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:18,879
Speaker 5: Can get advice from people, but no one can really

761
00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:20,240
Speaker 5: tell you how to be the candidate.

762
00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:20,480
Speaker 1: Right.

763
00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:22,320
Speaker 5: I was dealing with a lot of stuff. I was

764
00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:25,239
Speaker 5: also a grieving person. I was in a relationship, like

765
00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:28,040
Speaker 5: all these things like just kind of went crazy. So

766
00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:31,319
Speaker 5: now that I'm more mature, that I've been through that

767
00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:35,200
Speaker 5: sort of rigamarole the first time and I've learned from it,

768
00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:38,399
Speaker 5: I do have this temptation to be like, you know what, man,

769
00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:40,880
Speaker 5: if I got a team that I want to put together,

770
00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:43,640
Speaker 5: let's do it, Let's do it this way, Let's kind

771
00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:46,000
Speaker 5: of tighten everything up and make it a little bit

772
00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:48,400
Speaker 5: more focused and all that stuff. So there is a

773
00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:50,279
Speaker 5: desire to do that. I just don't know what I

774
00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:51,640
Speaker 5: want to do. And I'm not going to sit here

775
00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:53,560
Speaker 5: and like announce, Oh I'm going to you know, people

776
00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:56,000
Speaker 5: are like, oh, you should run against Ugo because he.

777
00:37:56,040 --> 00:37:58,759
Speaker 6: Ended up winning the election that I ran in. Yeah,

778
00:37:58,760 --> 00:37:59,840
Speaker 6: and he's the king of sweeps.

779
00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:02,840
Speaker 5: He's lost a lot of his the goodwill, and people

780
00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:05,040
Speaker 5: don't like him as much anymore. And I'm kind of like,

781
00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:07,319
Speaker 5: you know, maybe, I mean, there is a part of

782
00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:08,680
Speaker 5: me that wants to take him out. I'm not gonna

783
00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:10,960
Speaker 5: lie that that would love to run against him and

784
00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:14,040
Speaker 5: put him out of a job because of the way

785
00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:16,279
Speaker 5: that he has turned his back on the people. And

786
00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:18,440
Speaker 5: I'm sure you know this because you talk to unhouse people.

787
00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:22,360
Speaker 5: In CD thirteen, I have La Street Care, Chris rel like,

788
00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:24,239
Speaker 5: they're one of my they're one of my homies in

789
00:38:24,280 --> 00:38:27,400
Speaker 5: the movement, and I see all the stuff they post

790
00:38:27,440 --> 00:38:30,160
Speaker 5: and it's just like, there is a lot of horrible

791
00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:30,839
Speaker 5: stuff going on.

792
00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:34,160
Speaker 4: Yes, so that's a consideration, but you know it's also

793
00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:37,600
Speaker 4: odd too, is that the nimbies don't think he's doing

794
00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:40,320
Speaker 4: anything and he's but I'm like, they're literally he's literally

795
00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:43,000
Speaker 4: doing what you're asking him to do. And that just

796
00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:45,080
Speaker 4: goes to show you that the nimbus will.

797
00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:47,799
Speaker 5: Never be satisfied because I think they still look at

798
00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:49,000
Speaker 5: him as some sort of radical.

799
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:50,000
Speaker 6: Yeah you know what.

800
00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:52,880
Speaker 5: Yeah, he had DSA's backing and some of his messaging

801
00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:54,719
Speaker 5: was a little bit to the left, but like as

802
00:38:54,719 --> 00:38:56,640
Speaker 5: soon as he got into office, he's really kind of

803
00:38:56,680 --> 00:39:01,719
Speaker 5: been more pro police, pro homeless sweeps and all that.

804
00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:04,000
Speaker 5: So you know, there is a part of me that's like, Okay,

805
00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:06,879
Speaker 5: I'm gonna rise from the ashes and take him out.

806
00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:09,040
Speaker 5: But you know again, I want to be intentional and

807
00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:11,759
Speaker 5: I want to be smart about it, and listen, I

808
00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:14,640
Speaker 5: don't pretend to know all the answers. I have people

809
00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:18,640
Speaker 5: around me who I trust, whose opinions I value. I

810
00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:20,319
Speaker 5: mean Ultimately, I'm going to do what I feel like

811
00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:22,759
Speaker 5: is right because I got to listen to myself. But

812
00:39:22,840 --> 00:39:25,120
Speaker 5: getting advice from other people, I think is very important

813
00:39:25,239 --> 00:39:28,920
Speaker 5: and seeing their perspective because I can't see things as

814
00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:31,960
Speaker 5: everyone else does, right like they I'm reading the landscape

815
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:34,600
Speaker 5: the best I can. Other people might read it a

816
00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:36,600
Speaker 5: different way. So I got to figure that out. But

817
00:39:36,640 --> 00:39:40,440
Speaker 5: I think I'm like my life's work was shown to

818
00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:43,000
Speaker 5: me the day that Mellie was killed. It's like, you

819
00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:45,160
Speaker 5: are going to go and try to get justice for

820
00:39:45,239 --> 00:39:47,880
Speaker 5: your sister in some way. You're going to try to

821
00:39:48,719 --> 00:39:53,120
Speaker 5: fight the systems and the people and the organizations that

822
00:39:53,239 --> 00:39:56,440
Speaker 5: killed your sister and then have killed many people afterward.

823
00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:58,640
Speaker 5: I mean when Valentino was killed in twenty twenty one

824
00:39:58,640 --> 00:40:02,520
Speaker 5: at Burlington Code Fact right right, Like I was called

825
00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:04,880
Speaker 5: by all this media because they were like, oh, it's

826
00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:07,360
Speaker 5: kind of like your sister, And it was like reliving

827
00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:10,840
Speaker 5: the nightmar Aga. And every time I see somebody be

828
00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:12,560
Speaker 5: killed by the police, like you know, the news report

829
00:40:12,640 --> 00:40:14,879
Speaker 5: or whatever, and I meet their family, it's like I

830
00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:17,560
Speaker 5: was there. I was I was where you are. I

831
00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:20,320
Speaker 5: was going through what you're going through. The news media

832
00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:23,120
Speaker 5: tried to steal the narrative and and take the police's

833
00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:26,520
Speaker 5: words as the gospel. And so I think it's like

834
00:40:26,680 --> 00:40:29,319
Speaker 5: I have to do a few things, one of them

835
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:32,720
Speaker 5: being holding the police accountable and getting in their face

836
00:40:32,800 --> 00:40:35,359
Speaker 5: and making sure that people you know, when the when

837
00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:37,520
Speaker 5: the Dodger celebration was going on, do you remember that, Yeah?

838
00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:39,000
Speaker 6: Yeah, and the bus was set on fire.

839
00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:39,839
Speaker 1: Yeah.

840
00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:42,480
Speaker 5: I was walking around with my friend Tracy and we

841
00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:45,560
Speaker 5: were hanging out and the police were like get you know,

842
00:40:45,719 --> 00:40:47,320
Speaker 5: kind of with the riot gear and people, you know,

843
00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:49,759
Speaker 5: people were having fun and the police were like, you know,

844
00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:52,080
Speaker 5: with the riot gear and they were like approaching people

845
00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:54,520
Speaker 5: and setting off the less than lethals or whatever, and

846
00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:56,319
Speaker 5: they would calm down, and all these people were be like, man,

847
00:40:56,360 --> 00:40:58,200
Speaker 5: this is messed up, and like people who I could

848
00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:01,200
Speaker 5: tell were not politically involved. And I'd be walking around

849
00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:03,560
Speaker 5: being like, hey, you know how they're trying to ruin

850
00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:04,680
Speaker 5: your good time right now?

851
00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:05,600
Speaker 6: Think about this.

852
00:41:05,640 --> 00:41:07,560
Speaker 5: They're trying to ruin your good time all the time.

853
00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:11,040
Speaker 5: The police are trying to like take stuff from your community.

854
00:41:11,040 --> 00:41:12,680
Speaker 5: They're taking the money. I'm like, if you think this

855
00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:15,600
Speaker 5: is bad, They're they're trying to beat on some people

856
00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:18,680
Speaker 5: who are celebrating the Dodgers winning the World series, think

857
00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:20,560
Speaker 5: about what they do to people who are actually standing

858
00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:24,799
Speaker 5: up for black people right or unhouse people, whatever it is.

859
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:26,720
Speaker 6: It is doubly vicious.

860
00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:29,120
Speaker 5: And so I was like sitting there being like, yeah,

861
00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:31,799
Speaker 5: this is a time to try to radicalize these people

862
00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:33,920
Speaker 5: who are here for a certain thing, who.

863
00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:34,759
Speaker 6: Are maybe not thinking all that.

864
00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:36,359
Speaker 5: Oh the cops suck, And I'm like yeah, yeah, but

865
00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:38,480
Speaker 5: it's not just because they're doing something right now. It's

866
00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:41,520
Speaker 5: because this, this and this, And I would be like, hey, man,

867
00:41:41,560 --> 00:41:43,279
Speaker 5: this is your city budget at work. Can you believe

868
00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:45,759
Speaker 5: they're giving these guys a nextra two hundred and fifty

869
00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:47,920
Speaker 5: million dollars in the next you know, four years or whatever.

870
00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:51,120
Speaker 5: So to me, that's my duty is like telling people, hey,

871
00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:53,440
Speaker 5: I'm giving you this information. What you choose to do

872
00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:56,560
Speaker 5: with it is up to you, but you can't claim

873
00:41:56,560 --> 00:42:00,400
Speaker 5: ignorance anymore. And the other is making sure that Elly's

874
00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:04,160
Speaker 5: name stays out there, that her her death was not

875
00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:07,399
Speaker 5: in vain, that it means something. It was a very

876
00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:11,400
Speaker 5: senseless thing, but I want people to remember that. Like

877
00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:16,120
Speaker 5: July twentieth, the day before Melle was killed, my family

878
00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:18,560
Speaker 5: had no idea that we were going to become a

879
00:42:18,600 --> 00:42:19,800
Speaker 5: family of someone killed.

880
00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:22,759
Speaker 6: By the LAPD. And there are families out there who

881
00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:24,560
Speaker 6: don't know that right now who will become that.

882
00:42:25,480 --> 00:42:26,839
Speaker 5: We don't know who they are, we don't know how

883
00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:29,080
Speaker 5: it's going to happen, but we know that the LAPD

884
00:42:29,160 --> 00:42:34,239
Speaker 5: does what they do. And Valentina's parents took her to

885
00:42:34,280 --> 00:42:37,000
Speaker 5: the Burlington co Factory thinking we're going to buy our

886
00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:39,320
Speaker 5: daughter address, not knowing that they were going to be

887
00:42:39,360 --> 00:42:41,759
Speaker 5: burying their daughter like a week later. And to me,

888
00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:44,040
Speaker 5: that is a very scary world to live in, where

889
00:42:44,520 --> 00:42:46,840
Speaker 5: we are living our lives and we're at work like

890
00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:50,000
Speaker 5: Melly was, we're at the store like Valentina was, where

891
00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:52,640
Speaker 5: walking in our neighborhood like all these people were, and

892
00:42:52,680 --> 00:42:54,640
Speaker 5: that we may be gunned down and nothing will be

893
00:42:54,640 --> 00:42:55,160
Speaker 5: done about it.

894
00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:57,560
Speaker 6: And to me, that is the biggest injustice. You know.

895
00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:00,480
Speaker 5: It's like it's like there are people living in apartments

896
00:43:00,520 --> 00:43:03,520
Speaker 5: right now who are going to come to hardship. We're

897
00:43:03,560 --> 00:43:05,320
Speaker 5: going to be evicted, We're going to end up on

898
00:43:05,320 --> 00:43:07,600
Speaker 5: the street, and they don't know that, and then to

899
00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:10,000
Speaker 5: be met with like, oh, by the way, you're on

900
00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:10,680
Speaker 5: the street now.

901
00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:11,080
Speaker 6: We don't.

902
00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:13,000
Speaker 5: We're not going to help you, and you better go

903
00:43:13,239 --> 00:43:15,520
Speaker 5: and you know, get out of here or we're going

904
00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:18,799
Speaker 5: to arrest you. So it's kind of letting people know, like, hey,

905
00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:22,719
Speaker 5: you are closer to this than anything else. Like you

906
00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:27,200
Speaker 5: are not immune from becoming unhoused. You are not immune

907
00:43:27,560 --> 00:43:29,279
Speaker 5: from being killed by the police just because you think,

908
00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:31,200
Speaker 5: you know, you might be a person who's never broken

909
00:43:31,200 --> 00:43:33,640
Speaker 5: a law like Melly, and you are going to be

910
00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:35,799
Speaker 5: at work minding your business and they're going to kill you.

911
00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:39,040
Speaker 5: And to me, that's like that is the ultimate alarm bell,

912
00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:41,200
Speaker 5: is like, hey, just because it's not affecting you, and

913
00:43:41,239 --> 00:43:43,400
Speaker 5: just because your life is good right now does not

914
00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:44,880
Speaker 5: mean it's going to stay that way. And trust me,

915
00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:47,399
Speaker 5: there are people in power right now who are doing

916
00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:49,880
Speaker 5: their best to make it so your life becomes harder.

917
00:43:53,239 --> 00:43:56,400
Speaker 4: Thanks so much to Albert Carrado. To learn more about

918
00:43:56,400 --> 00:43:58,359
Speaker 4: his work, you can follow him at the links into

919
00:43:58,400 --> 00:44:01,480
Speaker 4: description and when we come we'll hear more from a

920
00:44:01,560 --> 00:44:10,920
Speaker 4: stay with us. Welcome back. This is Theo Henderson with

921
00:44:10,960 --> 00:44:14,400
Speaker 4: Weedian House. Our final interview of the year is with

922
00:44:14,560 --> 00:44:18,919
Speaker 4: returning guests, as let's hear how she's been faring since

923
00:44:18,960 --> 00:44:19,800
Speaker 4: our last interview.

924
00:44:22,320 --> 00:44:25,720
Speaker 7: Hi, I go by Asie. I don't want to dox myself,

925
00:44:26,080 --> 00:44:28,239
Speaker 7: so I don't want to go and you know, go

926
00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:31,520
Speaker 7: into specifically about my name or anything. But yeah, I'm Assie.

927
00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:35,200
Speaker 7: I used to be the unhoused representative for the area

928
00:44:35,200 --> 00:44:38,600
Speaker 7: of Highland Park and then Double four two, maybe about

929
00:44:38,600 --> 00:44:40,919
Speaker 7: four or five years ago when I was unhoused, when

930
00:44:40,920 --> 00:44:43,120
Speaker 7: I was on the street and you know, Highland Park,

931
00:44:43,760 --> 00:44:47,200
Speaker 7: and I did some representative work for the area. I

932
00:44:47,239 --> 00:44:49,840
Speaker 7: try to do some organizing, some community work as an

933
00:44:49,920 --> 00:44:55,120
Speaker 7: unhoused person, to basically try to decriminalize the way that

934
00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:58,600
Speaker 7: people saw unhouse people, not just in that area but

935
00:44:58,800 --> 00:45:03,000
Speaker 7: throughout Los Angeles. Due to a very violent thing that

936
00:45:03,080 --> 00:45:06,719
Speaker 7: happened to me, my tent was set on fire when

937
00:45:06,719 --> 00:45:09,959
Speaker 7: I was living in the park, so I was put

938
00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:14,399
Speaker 7: for my safety in a women's shelter in MacArthur Park.

939
00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:18,120
Speaker 7: I was on Third and Bonnie Bray, and the experience

940
00:45:18,160 --> 00:45:20,520
Speaker 7: wasn't that great either. I was there for three years.

941
00:45:20,560 --> 00:45:23,840
Speaker 7: I finally got housed about a year and a half ago,

942
00:45:23,960 --> 00:45:27,480
Speaker 7: but that's not going as well either. The requirements are

943
00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:29,440
Speaker 7: that I need to be employed, I need to be

944
00:45:29,480 --> 00:45:33,359
Speaker 7: paying some percentage of the rent because I am an

945
00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:38,799
Speaker 7: undocumented immigrant, and so they are requiring me to pay

946
00:45:38,800 --> 00:45:42,480
Speaker 7: a certain amount by a certain time, and I'm only

947
00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:45,439
Speaker 7: there for another six to seven months, and then from there,

948
00:45:45,520 --> 00:45:46,520
Speaker 7: I don't know where I'll be.

949
00:45:47,160 --> 00:45:51,160
Speaker 4: In light of the recent presidency and the rhetoric about immigrants,

950
00:45:51,280 --> 00:45:54,719
Speaker 4: as well as Grant's past ruling, do you have any

951
00:45:54,840 --> 00:45:57,319
Speaker 4: kind of concerns in light of that?

952
00:45:57,680 --> 00:46:00,640
Speaker 7: Of course, I mean anybody who's on document is in fear,

953
00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:03,520
Speaker 7: even people who are considered dreamers, even people who are

954
00:46:04,120 --> 00:46:07,000
Speaker 7: getting their paperwork together and are trying to find any

955
00:46:07,040 --> 00:46:11,080
Speaker 7: kind of legal residency or legal documentation, They're going to

956
00:46:11,160 --> 00:46:13,759
Speaker 7: have a hard time because they don't know how far

957
00:46:13,840 --> 00:46:16,399
Speaker 7: this goes. And it doesn't just go as far as

958
00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:19,040
Speaker 7: undocumented immigrants. I think it has to do with the

959
00:46:19,040 --> 00:46:23,000
Speaker 7: whole Latino population, because when it comes to people such

960
00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:28,080
Speaker 7: as the President elect, he tends to go on rants

961
00:46:28,120 --> 00:46:32,399
Speaker 7: in which he is very biased and considers a lot

962
00:46:32,440 --> 00:46:36,879
Speaker 7: of brown people straight out Mexicans, and whether you're documented

963
00:46:36,960 --> 00:46:39,680
Speaker 7: or whether you're a citizen of the US, you will

964
00:46:39,719 --> 00:46:42,240
Speaker 7: be in danger. As we know, there was an operation

965
00:46:42,360 --> 00:46:46,040
Speaker 7: in the nineteen thirties called Operation Right Back, and if

966
00:46:46,040 --> 00:46:48,680
Speaker 7: you know anything about that was where they rounded up

967
00:46:48,719 --> 00:46:51,399
Speaker 7: as many Mexican and brown people and whether they were

968
00:46:51,520 --> 00:46:55,200
Speaker 7: documented or not, and they were basically shipping them off

969
00:46:55,200 --> 00:46:58,880
Speaker 7: to Mexico. And from what I know, because of what

970
00:46:59,040 --> 00:47:02,040
Speaker 7: I know and what we've all researched, and if you're

971
00:47:02,080 --> 00:47:04,080
Speaker 7: you know, in the loop or anything like that, if

972
00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:07,480
Speaker 7: you're any kind of activist or any kind of you know,

973
00:47:07,640 --> 00:47:11,080
Speaker 7: community work on organizing, you're gonna know that he's not

974
00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:15,000
Speaker 7: just planning to round up undocumented people. He's planning on

975
00:47:15,120 --> 00:47:18,839
Speaker 7: running up Mexicans, whether they're citizens are not. And that's

976
00:47:18,840 --> 00:47:22,320
Speaker 7: gonna affect a huge amount of the population. It's gonna

977
00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:24,719
Speaker 7: affect the food chain, believe it or not. We have

978
00:47:24,800 --> 00:47:27,400
Speaker 7: a lot of laborers who are working hard in the

979
00:47:27,480 --> 00:47:30,640
Speaker 7: fields to get our produce ready, get our fruits and

980
00:47:30,719 --> 00:47:35,080
Speaker 7: vegetables to the table. These people are underpaid and it

981
00:47:35,200 --> 00:47:38,600
Speaker 7: ever worked and overworked, and it's gonna affect If you're

982
00:47:38,680 --> 00:47:43,080
Speaker 7: shipping all these people out who you deem unworthy, you're

983
00:47:43,080 --> 00:47:46,200
Speaker 7: just gonna ship all of them out equally. You're gonna

984
00:47:46,360 --> 00:47:49,840
Speaker 7: cause a huge disruption to the system, you know, to

985
00:47:49,880 --> 00:47:52,239
Speaker 7: the system as a whole. So I think it's very

986
00:47:52,360 --> 00:47:56,640
Speaker 7: detrimental to the cause that he's trying to you know, instill.

987
00:47:57,080 --> 00:48:00,160
Speaker 4: Well, I'm moving onto that in that conversation because we

988
00:48:00,640 --> 00:48:04,640
Speaker 4: are receiving produce, vegetables, and we're utilizing a lot of

989
00:48:04,680 --> 00:48:09,560
Speaker 4: things cooked by undocumented or unhoused residents that are living

990
00:48:09,600 --> 00:48:13,120
Speaker 4: out on those fields picking this stuff, and we benefit

991
00:48:13,160 --> 00:48:16,839
Speaker 4: from their hard labor. And let's be clear, they are

992
00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:21,120
Speaker 4: not taking the jobs. Those jobs. Many people, and many

993
00:48:21,160 --> 00:48:24,400
Speaker 4: of those uneducated populists are not working those jobs, have

994
00:48:24,480 --> 00:48:27,239
Speaker 4: no inclination to work those jobs, and will not work

995
00:48:27,280 --> 00:48:31,200
Speaker 4: those jobs. It's just the reason to hate, like one

996
00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:34,400
Speaker 4: of the things that we're swiftly approaching the holidays, and

997
00:48:34,480 --> 00:48:37,920
Speaker 4: hopefully this will be airing during the holiday season. We

998
00:48:38,360 --> 00:48:42,560
Speaker 4: have had this conversation too long about we can agree

999
00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:45,759
Speaker 4: to disagree, but while we're at a precipice, we're not

1000
00:48:45,880 --> 00:48:49,560
Speaker 4: agreeing to disagree. We are having a moral issue where

1001
00:48:49,600 --> 00:48:53,560
Speaker 4: you're trying to justify extermination and violence of vulnerable people.

1002
00:48:53,920 --> 00:48:56,280
Speaker 4: So we are not having that. You know, we're agreed

1003
00:48:56,360 --> 00:48:58,760
Speaker 4: that you know, red is the better colored than blue.

1004
00:48:58,920 --> 00:49:03,080
Speaker 4: These are life altering decisions. These are things that put

1005
00:49:03,120 --> 00:49:06,640
Speaker 4: people in harm's way. So if you're voting or you

1006
00:49:06,800 --> 00:49:11,280
Speaker 4: have these viewpoints. You know, don't expect us to be

1007
00:49:11,760 --> 00:49:15,440
Speaker 4: roasting marshmallows with you or singing kumbayak, because some chances

1008
00:49:15,440 --> 00:49:18,560
Speaker 4: are it might end up with a fisticuff. But that's

1009
00:49:19,000 --> 00:49:21,800
Speaker 4: one of the realities that has been gas lit into

1010
00:49:21,880 --> 00:49:25,719
Speaker 4: people that have been watching the recent election and or

1011
00:49:25,960 --> 00:49:28,960
Speaker 4: other circles trying to make it sound like you know,

1012
00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:32,480
Speaker 4: now people are concerned. People have always been concerned about

1013
00:49:32,640 --> 00:49:35,960
Speaker 4: displacement and other things. It's been they've been had to compartmentalize.

1014
00:49:36,120 --> 00:49:39,120
Speaker 4: We're living in a system that we have to compartmentize

1015
00:49:39,239 --> 00:49:42,799
Speaker 4: or disassociate, if you will, in order to maintain our

1016
00:49:42,960 --> 00:49:47,680
Speaker 4: sanity or maintain our fragile well being, if you will. So,

1017
00:49:48,200 --> 00:49:51,080
Speaker 4: what are the challenges that you find as an undocumented

1018
00:49:51,120 --> 00:49:55,080
Speaker 4: person trying to be able to maintain your residents.

1019
00:49:54,600 --> 00:49:58,400
Speaker 7: It's very difficult. My journey has not been easy. A

1020
00:49:58,400 --> 00:50:01,160
Speaker 7: lot of people who have fallen me on social media

1021
00:50:01,239 --> 00:50:04,680
Speaker 7: will know that it has not been a very easy journey.

1022
00:50:05,120 --> 00:50:08,520
Speaker 7: As I said, me struggling as a non housed person

1023
00:50:08,680 --> 00:50:11,680
Speaker 7: has already been bad. We get put into shelters where

1024
00:50:11,960 --> 00:50:14,080
Speaker 7: if you speak about it, you speak out about any

1025
00:50:14,120 --> 00:50:17,520
Speaker 7: injustice and the shelter. They will punish you. You understand,

1026
00:50:17,800 --> 00:50:21,879
Speaker 7: these people run by these strict rules and they hold

1027
00:50:21,880 --> 00:50:23,759
Speaker 7: you back. They'll say things like, oh, you can only

1028
00:50:23,800 --> 00:50:26,880
Speaker 7: have a minimum of two bags, and then you'll have

1029
00:50:26,920 --> 00:50:29,600
Speaker 7: a program that will donate stuff to you, and she's

1030
00:50:30,000 --> 00:50:32,840
Speaker 7: cutting back, and it was just a lot of hassle.

1031
00:50:32,960 --> 00:50:36,000
Speaker 7: Being undocumented prevents you from doing a lot of things

1032
00:50:36,000 --> 00:50:39,080
Speaker 7: that you want to do. Not to mention, people will

1033
00:50:39,160 --> 00:50:42,239
Speaker 7: label you people are just being on house. People hear

1034
00:50:42,280 --> 00:50:45,240
Speaker 7: that you're on house, and their immediate thought is always

1035
00:50:45,320 --> 00:50:49,920
Speaker 7: substance use. And no hate to any self medicators out there,

1036
00:50:50,000 --> 00:50:52,440
Speaker 7: nothing but love and power. You know, wish them all

1037
00:50:52,520 --> 00:50:55,319
Speaker 7: luck and you know, nothing but love. But there are

1038
00:50:55,360 --> 00:50:58,480
Speaker 7: people on the streets who are not substance users, who

1039
00:50:58,520 --> 00:51:01,239
Speaker 7: are not self medicators. You will be put in this

1040
00:51:01,320 --> 00:51:04,480
Speaker 7: category of cannot be trusted, and it makes getting a

1041
00:51:04,560 --> 00:51:07,360
Speaker 7: job harder. You understand. So even if you're looking for

1042
00:51:07,400 --> 00:51:09,480
Speaker 7: a little cashier job, you go and you look for it.

1043
00:51:09,880 --> 00:51:12,520
Speaker 7: They'd rather hire the twenty five year old girl who's

1044
00:51:12,560 --> 00:51:14,680
Speaker 7: been living in the US for two weeks than hire

1045
00:51:14,719 --> 00:51:17,840
Speaker 7: somebody who's, say, like me, forty two years old, who

1046
00:51:17,840 --> 00:51:20,319
Speaker 7: you know, who's been here for a while, who's you know,

1047
00:51:20,320 --> 00:51:24,680
Speaker 7: on college education level. They'd rather hire somebody who they

1048
00:51:24,719 --> 00:51:28,200
Speaker 7: can exploit, somebody they could you know, give like fifty

1049
00:51:28,239 --> 00:51:30,279
Speaker 7: dollars for a day, you know that kind of thing.

1050
00:51:30,880 --> 00:51:32,880
Speaker 7: So it's a lot of challenges.

1051
00:51:33,680 --> 00:51:36,200
Speaker 4: What do you think could be a way to help

1052
00:51:36,320 --> 00:51:38,600
Speaker 4: find a way to help you, because you know, how

1053
00:51:38,719 --> 00:51:42,040
Speaker 4: can our society help you in a way to overcome

1054
00:51:42,080 --> 00:51:43,439
Speaker 4: these obstacles.

1055
00:51:43,080 --> 00:51:46,280
Speaker 7: As a society. I don't know. I just think honestly,

1056
00:51:46,960 --> 00:51:48,960
Speaker 7: I had an experience in which a friend of mine,

1057
00:51:49,160 --> 00:51:50,840
Speaker 7: I don't want to say his name, but a friend

1058
00:51:50,840 --> 00:51:53,520
Speaker 7: of mine had gotten me in contact with a person.

1059
00:51:54,000 --> 00:51:57,120
Speaker 7: And this was going on through some of the marches

1060
00:51:57,160 --> 00:51:59,560
Speaker 7: and rallies that have been going on because of Palestine.

1061
00:51:59,719 --> 00:52:02,520
Speaker 7: This had just happened. It had been around January February

1062
00:52:02,560 --> 00:52:05,480
Speaker 7: of last year. Now he hooked me up with this person,

1063
00:52:05,800 --> 00:52:08,200
Speaker 7: So I guess she does at pop up Aarista thing

1064
00:52:08,680 --> 00:52:11,759
Speaker 7: over at Water Village. So he hooked me up with

1065
00:52:11,800 --> 00:52:13,759
Speaker 7: her numbers so that I could get to talk to her.

1066
00:52:14,239 --> 00:52:16,239
Speaker 7: And I'm talking to her and she's like, oh, I'm

1067
00:52:16,280 --> 00:52:18,040
Speaker 7: gonna be at this rally. We can meet there, lah

1068
00:52:18,080 --> 00:52:20,280
Speaker 7: lah lah. We went back and forth and I was like, okay,

1069
00:52:20,800 --> 00:52:23,200
Speaker 7: I'm willing to you know, like it's just a weekend job.

1070
00:52:23,239 --> 00:52:25,520
Speaker 7: I can do this. So I got in touch with her.

1071
00:52:25,560 --> 00:52:27,680
Speaker 7: We were supposed to meet, and then she dropped the

1072
00:52:27,719 --> 00:52:29,920
Speaker 7: ball and the didn't get in touch with me, so

1073
00:52:30,239 --> 00:52:32,360
Speaker 7: I don't know, it was very hard for me to

1074
00:52:32,480 --> 00:52:35,800
Speaker 7: look for her afterward, when I was putting the effort

1075
00:52:35,840 --> 00:52:39,400
Speaker 7: into trying to work, and yet people are like always

1076
00:52:39,400 --> 00:52:41,920
Speaker 7: putting obstacles like, oh, I need to see if this

1077
00:52:41,960 --> 00:52:45,040
Speaker 7: person's reliable, so I'm gonna go and do this and

1078
00:52:45,080 --> 00:52:48,120
Speaker 7: do that, and then they don't go through, and then

1079
00:52:48,160 --> 00:52:50,319
Speaker 7: you don't have an employee, and I'm still stuck with

1080
00:52:50,400 --> 00:52:52,520
Speaker 7: hunger in my belly with no food in my fridge,

1081
00:52:52,520 --> 00:52:55,200
Speaker 7: and I'm stuck looking for work again. So I think

1082
00:52:55,200 --> 00:52:57,600
Speaker 7: people need to start giving people like me a chance.

1083
00:52:58,239 --> 00:53:00,400
Speaker 7: That's a huge thing that they could do somebody like me.

1084
00:53:00,480 --> 00:53:03,400
Speaker 7: I'm looking for work right now. I'm struggling to you know,

1085
00:53:03,480 --> 00:53:06,440
Speaker 7: even pay rent. My ex husband's helping me, and the

1086
00:53:06,440 --> 00:53:08,600
Speaker 7: only reason why he's helping me is because we had

1087
00:53:08,760 --> 00:53:12,879
Speaker 7: not reached the divorce agreement until last year and then

1088
00:53:12,920 --> 00:53:15,280
Speaker 7: finally this year he said he's gonna help me because

1089
00:53:15,320 --> 00:53:18,319
Speaker 7: I am not asking for alimony. We're trying to do

1090
00:53:18,360 --> 00:53:20,920
Speaker 7: this as e'mically as possible. So he's giving me one

1091
00:53:20,960 --> 00:53:23,000
Speaker 7: hundred and one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars

1092
00:53:23,040 --> 00:53:25,520
Speaker 7: a month, which, if you know, is not a lot,

1093
00:53:25,800 --> 00:53:29,200
Speaker 7: and with the cost of living, it's getting worse. Factor

1094
00:53:29,320 --> 00:53:32,359
Speaker 7: the rent that is increasing. They're increasing my rent every

1095
00:53:32,400 --> 00:53:35,040
Speaker 7: month at the place where I was, you know, put in,

1096
00:53:35,719 --> 00:53:39,279
Speaker 7: which is more or less a glorified closet, and it

1097
00:53:39,320 --> 00:53:42,440
Speaker 7: becomes very difficult to make ends meet. One hundred dollars

1098
00:53:42,480 --> 00:53:44,759
Speaker 7: doesn't seem that bad, but when you have to go wash,

1099
00:53:44,920 --> 00:53:47,480
Speaker 7: you have feminine products to buy, you have food to

1100
00:53:47,520 --> 00:53:49,680
Speaker 7: put on your table, you have you know, cookine to do.

1101
00:53:50,120 --> 00:53:52,719
Speaker 7: One hundred and fifty doesn't go that far anymore as

1102
00:53:52,719 --> 00:53:55,520
Speaker 7: far as groceries, as far as needs, as far as necessity.

1103
00:53:55,560 --> 00:53:57,439
Speaker 7: And this is per month, This is not per week.

1104
00:53:57,560 --> 00:54:00,799
Speaker 7: This is per month. So in order for somebody like

1105
00:54:00,840 --> 00:54:03,440
Speaker 7: me to get ahead, I would need to get something

1106
00:54:03,520 --> 00:54:08,440
Speaker 7: under the table, and I would need to be trusted,

1107
00:54:09,000 --> 00:54:12,400
Speaker 7: because I know who I am. I'm a trustworthy, hard working,

1108
00:54:12,480 --> 00:54:15,919
Speaker 7: honest person who doesn't steal, who doesn't lie, and who

1109
00:54:15,920 --> 00:54:18,520
Speaker 7: doesn't pick fights. I don't go out of my way

1110
00:54:18,600 --> 00:54:22,000
Speaker 7: to pick fights with customers. I'm very fun I'm funny,

1111
00:54:22,040 --> 00:54:24,520
Speaker 7: and I'm nice. I try to be I have good

1112
00:54:24,640 --> 00:54:29,200
Speaker 7: customer service, you know. So for people to want to

1113
00:54:29,400 --> 00:54:31,759
Speaker 7: make you go through all these hoops and or for

1114
00:54:31,800 --> 00:54:34,600
Speaker 7: you to get a job in the first place, that's hard,

1115
00:54:34,719 --> 00:54:38,200
Speaker 7: especially people who understand that this system runs on capitalism

1116
00:54:38,239 --> 00:54:41,839
Speaker 7: and imperialism and understand these the people like me are

1117
00:54:41,840 --> 00:54:44,520
Speaker 7: already having a hard time even looking for work. For

1118
00:54:44,520 --> 00:54:47,000
Speaker 7: people to be like, well, do this and meet me here,

1119
00:54:47,040 --> 00:54:49,040
Speaker 7: and then oh, you have to keep reaching out to me,

1120
00:54:49,120 --> 00:54:52,439
Speaker 7: have to keep reaching out to me. Why it's hard

1121
00:54:52,560 --> 00:54:54,719
Speaker 7: enough for me to look for you already and then

1122
00:54:54,800 --> 00:54:56,239
Speaker 7: I find you, and then you go in and you

1123
00:54:56,320 --> 00:54:59,319
Speaker 7: pull all these blocks. You can't claim yourself to be

1124
00:54:59,320 --> 00:55:01,880
Speaker 7: an ally if you're not willing to take a chance,

1125
00:55:01,960 --> 00:55:05,880
Speaker 7: if you're not willing to give unhoused, undocumented people chances

1126
00:55:06,440 --> 00:55:10,000
Speaker 7: based on what you think that they can or can't do.

1127
00:55:10,719 --> 00:55:14,879
Speaker 7: You have to try to put the best forward, give

1128
00:55:15,000 --> 00:55:17,360
Speaker 7: people a chance. And how do you say it be

1129
00:55:17,400 --> 00:55:20,359
Speaker 7: able to trust them? You understand I know what I am,

1130
00:55:20,680 --> 00:55:22,000
Speaker 7: and I know what I have and don't know what

1131
00:55:22,080 --> 00:55:24,719
Speaker 7: I haven't done so for people to just base, oh,

1132
00:55:24,760 --> 00:55:27,120
Speaker 7: she's on housed, or she has a past or she's

1133
00:55:27,160 --> 00:55:28,960
Speaker 7: been in a shelter, and for people to be like, yeah,

1134
00:55:29,080 --> 00:55:33,200
Speaker 7: just denominate me as a villain. Villainize you, criminalize you.

1135
00:55:33,320 --> 00:55:37,120
Speaker 7: That's not okay. I'm speaking on behalf of anybody who

1136
00:55:37,200 --> 00:55:40,279
Speaker 7: might be in a similar situation, not just myself, but

1137
00:55:40,360 --> 00:55:43,640
Speaker 7: anybody who might be like me or in a similar situation.

1138
00:55:43,880 --> 00:55:46,520
Speaker 7: I hear you when I understand exactly what you're going

1139
00:55:46,560 --> 00:55:49,080
Speaker 7: through because I'm going through it. There's days when I

1140
00:55:49,120 --> 00:55:52,880
Speaker 7: don't eat. There's days when I'm asking my friends online

1141
00:55:52,920 --> 00:55:55,440
Speaker 7: and there's not so much a They ignore me, but

1142
00:55:55,520 --> 00:55:58,560
Speaker 7: I understand that a lot of allies have already helped me.

1143
00:55:58,920 --> 00:56:00,680
Speaker 7: And I don't reach out for help all the time.

1144
00:56:00,680 --> 00:56:02,239
Speaker 7: I don't reach out for help all the time, but

1145
00:56:02,320 --> 00:56:05,319
Speaker 7: sometimes I'll be so hungry I'll just ask be on Instagram, hey,

1146
00:56:05,320 --> 00:56:08,080
Speaker 7: can anybody please help me with a burrito? And it

1147
00:56:08,200 --> 00:56:11,520
Speaker 7: sucks to have maybe six seven allies watch it and

1148
00:56:11,560 --> 00:56:15,080
Speaker 7: everybody ignore you. And I understand because I've struggled with

1149
00:56:15,719 --> 00:56:18,520
Speaker 7: unemployment for such a long time. It makes me feel

1150
00:56:18,520 --> 00:56:20,560
Speaker 7: like a loser. It makes me feel like a reject

1151
00:56:20,600 --> 00:56:22,719
Speaker 7: It makes me feel like I'm not an adult. I'm

1152
00:56:22,719 --> 00:56:24,919
Speaker 7: a forty two year old mother of three, and I'm

1153
00:56:24,960 --> 00:56:28,040
Speaker 7: not doing anything or get myself up. But even when

1154
00:56:28,080 --> 00:56:30,960
Speaker 7: I go out. I live in downtown, I go down

1155
00:56:31,040 --> 00:56:33,319
Speaker 7: to Los Angeles Street, I look for work right there

1156
00:56:33,320 --> 00:56:36,279
Speaker 7: with the vendors. Oh no, we don't want somebody right now.

1157
00:56:36,320 --> 00:56:38,080
Speaker 7: Oh no, we don't need anybody right now.

1158
00:56:38,360 --> 00:56:40,440
Speaker 1: You understand, definitely understand.

1159
00:56:40,480 --> 00:56:44,080
Speaker 4: And I thank you for hacking the courage to tell

1160
00:56:44,280 --> 00:56:48,080
Speaker 4: the truth and the realities of the situation. Many people

1161
00:56:48,160 --> 00:56:51,640
Speaker 4: don't contemplate the things that you are going through and

1162
00:56:51,680 --> 00:56:53,680
Speaker 4: with many on house people going through. And it's one

1163
00:56:53,680 --> 00:56:55,839
Speaker 4: of the reasons why I created the show, because I

1164
00:56:55,880 --> 00:56:59,799
Speaker 4: got frustrated because people would make snap judges about me.

1165
00:57:00,400 --> 00:57:02,480
Speaker 4: You look like your able body. Why can't you just

1166
00:57:02,520 --> 00:57:05,080
Speaker 4: get a job? You had a college degree, but not

1167
00:57:05,239 --> 00:57:07,799
Speaker 4: understanding the other background issues that were going on with

1168
00:57:07,840 --> 00:57:10,359
Speaker 4: my health and the other issues that were going on

1169
00:57:10,440 --> 00:57:13,400
Speaker 4: in my life at the time, And it was very frustrating.

1170
00:57:13,440 --> 00:57:16,560
Speaker 4: And it gets frustrating trying to always have to defend

1171
00:57:16,600 --> 00:57:20,160
Speaker 4: yourself before you can even get the modicum of people's

1172
00:57:20,160 --> 00:57:23,600
Speaker 4: sympathy or help or you know, assistance that you need,

1173
00:57:23,680 --> 00:57:27,280
Speaker 4: and in sometimes assistance is you know, half measured or

1174
00:57:27,320 --> 00:57:31,480
Speaker 4: half asked, and it's a lot. And I tapped my

1175
00:57:31,480 --> 00:57:33,600
Speaker 4: hat off to you for you know, having the courage

1176
00:57:33,640 --> 00:57:36,240
Speaker 4: to speak to us. And this is necessary. These are

1177
00:57:36,280 --> 00:57:39,080
Speaker 4: conversations that we need to hear as a society, as

1178
00:57:39,120 --> 00:57:40,680
Speaker 4: our communities that are listening to it.

1179
00:57:41,320 --> 00:57:43,800
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's very necessary because there is a lot of

1180
00:57:43,880 --> 00:57:47,840
Speaker 7: underlying ignorance when it comes to the subject of immigration.

1181
00:57:47,880 --> 00:57:50,680
Speaker 7: AND's just gonna say it out loud, because honestly, when

1182
00:57:50,720 --> 00:57:53,760
Speaker 7: you look back at it, people who are of Latino,

1183
00:57:53,800 --> 00:57:57,640
Speaker 7: the Mexican one, among people from Honduras, people from Salvador.

1184
00:57:58,000 --> 00:58:00,960
Speaker 7: We're indigenous to this continent. We were born in this

1185
00:58:01,080 --> 00:58:03,840
Speaker 7: continent and we did not immigrate anywhere. How are we

1186
00:58:04,000 --> 00:58:10,760
Speaker 7: illegal immigrants when it's the Caucasian colonizing and slaving racist

1187
00:58:11,080 --> 00:58:13,800
Speaker 7: who came here in the Mayflower that works, that people

1188
00:58:13,800 --> 00:58:16,680
Speaker 7: are going to celebrate on Thursday, this holiday of them

1189
00:58:16,720 --> 00:58:19,440
Speaker 7: coming and taking our land calling it theirs, And now

1190
00:58:19,440 --> 00:58:23,000
Speaker 7: they're kicking us out by saying we're illegal immigrants. And

1191
00:58:23,040 --> 00:58:25,160
Speaker 7: I don't believe in that. I don't believe that we're illegal.

1192
00:58:25,200 --> 00:58:27,840
Speaker 7: No human being can never be illegal. And I do

1193
00:58:27,920 --> 00:58:30,920
Speaker 7: believe that this is a huge problem in the race

1194
00:58:31,000 --> 00:58:33,680
Speaker 7: war and in a class war, because they're going up

1195
00:58:33,720 --> 00:58:37,160
Speaker 7: against us, trying to dehumanize us when we're not doing

1196
00:58:37,200 --> 00:58:41,800
Speaker 7: anything wrong. Existing people will say, Oh, all this money

1197
00:58:41,840 --> 00:58:45,120
Speaker 7: is going to all these undocumented people. I'm sorry, Where

1198
00:58:45,720 --> 00:58:47,520
Speaker 7: would you like to come in my apartment and see

1199
00:58:47,520 --> 00:58:49,480
Speaker 7: how little money I have, how much clothes I have

1200
00:58:49,560 --> 00:58:51,800
Speaker 7: piled up, how many dishes I have to watch, how

1201
00:58:51,800 --> 00:58:54,080
Speaker 7: when I get depressive episodes, there's nobody to help me

1202
00:58:54,120 --> 00:58:56,160
Speaker 7: with the chores. And despite the fact that I'm living

1203
00:58:56,200 --> 00:58:58,360
Speaker 7: in a tiny space, how hard it is to clean

1204
00:58:58,720 --> 00:59:00,880
Speaker 7: when you're in a depressive state, when you haven't been

1205
00:59:00,920 --> 00:59:02,360
Speaker 7: able to get a job for a while, and you

1206
00:59:02,360 --> 00:59:04,040
Speaker 7: feel like a loser and you feel like a drain

1207
00:59:04,120 --> 00:59:06,400
Speaker 7: on society. You really want to talk to me like that?

1208
00:59:06,640 --> 00:59:08,080
Speaker 7: You really want to tell me that all this money

1209
00:59:08,120 --> 00:59:10,680
Speaker 7: is being spent on me, maybe in my housing. I

1210
00:59:10,680 --> 00:59:13,120
Speaker 7: will not deny that they are paid, but again, I'm

1211
00:59:13,160 --> 00:59:15,720
Speaker 7: paying a fraction for it as well. I'm paying for

1212
00:59:15,800 --> 00:59:20,000
Speaker 7: some of the rent. Everything that I buy myself with cash,

1213
00:59:20,440 --> 00:59:22,840
Speaker 7: I'm not buying with cashop. I'm so broken, I'm so

1214
00:59:22,920 --> 00:59:26,520
Speaker 7: poor and it's messed up in my documentation. People will

1215
00:59:26,520 --> 00:59:28,720
Speaker 7: tell me go to the gr go and get gr.

1216
00:59:29,120 --> 00:59:31,840
Speaker 7: You cannot apply for gr when you are on documents,

1217
00:59:32,440 --> 00:59:35,240
Speaker 7: and if you do, you have to have at least

1218
00:59:35,280 --> 00:59:38,640
Speaker 7: seven years consecutively working within the United States to be

1219
00:59:38,640 --> 00:59:41,840
Speaker 7: able to apply for seventy dollars worth of food stems.

1220
00:59:42,320 --> 00:59:44,560
Speaker 7: Seventy dollars is not enough. The phone that I have

1221
00:59:44,680 --> 00:59:46,720
Speaker 7: right now was given to me by my ex and

1222
00:59:46,760 --> 00:59:48,440
Speaker 7: he was able to procure it to me through his

1223
00:59:48,480 --> 00:59:51,480
Speaker 7: EVT because he is a legal resident. You understand, he

1224
00:59:51,560 --> 00:59:54,520
Speaker 7: was able to procure my phone. And unfortunately, my Obama

1225
00:59:54,560 --> 00:59:58,320
Speaker 7: phone is not compatible with cash Shop, so I can't

1226
00:59:58,400 --> 01:00:01,360
Speaker 7: even ask friends for you know, fifteen dollars or twenty

1227
01:00:01,400 --> 01:00:03,919
Speaker 7: dollars if I'm hungry. I can't even say, hey, look,

1228
01:00:04,080 --> 01:00:05,880
Speaker 7: I just want to buy myself a pizza or you know,

1229
01:00:05,920 --> 01:00:08,960
Speaker 7: a burger somewhere. I can't even do that with my phone.

1230
01:00:09,040 --> 01:00:11,720
Speaker 7: There's a lot of limitations that people are not aware of,

1231
01:00:12,040 --> 01:00:14,480
Speaker 7: that they need to be aware of, and they need

1232
01:00:14,520 --> 01:00:17,160
Speaker 7: to stop. How do you say having this idea that

1233
01:00:17,240 --> 01:00:21,520
Speaker 7: all these undocumented people from Latin America and all these

1234
01:00:21,760 --> 01:00:25,080
Speaker 7: Mexicans and again Latinos that were taking your money? How

1235
01:00:25,120 --> 01:00:28,040
Speaker 7: are we taking your money? If anything, we're getting screwed

1236
01:00:28,080 --> 01:00:31,000
Speaker 7: because again, some of us are not eating, and we're

1237
01:00:31,040 --> 01:00:33,800
Speaker 7: still trying to go out there and marchin rally for Palestine,

1238
01:00:33,840 --> 01:00:36,040
Speaker 7: and we're still trying to fight for on house rights,

1239
01:00:36,040 --> 01:00:37,880
Speaker 7: and we're still trying to fight for you, and we're

1240
01:00:37,880 --> 01:00:40,800
Speaker 7: still trying to fight for LGBTQ rights. So what stops

1241
01:00:40,840 --> 01:00:44,040
Speaker 7: you guys from doing the same for us? I would

1242
01:00:44,080 --> 01:00:47,800
Speaker 7: feel bad. I would feel horribly bad if somebody hearing

1243
01:00:47,840 --> 01:00:49,800
Speaker 7: this would say, hey, let's get a gofund me and

1244
01:00:50,080 --> 01:00:52,720
Speaker 7: let's make five thousand. I don't need five thousand dollars

1245
01:00:52,720 --> 01:00:54,560
Speaker 7: in cash. I don't need you guys to go out

1246
01:00:54,560 --> 01:00:57,560
Speaker 7: there and feel sorry. I need you guys to feel empathy.

1247
01:00:57,560 --> 01:00:59,840
Speaker 7: I need you guys to anybody who's out there listening

1248
01:00:59,840 --> 01:01:02,560
Speaker 7: to say, hey, look, she might need a job. I

1249
01:01:02,600 --> 01:01:04,480
Speaker 7: know where I could get her one. I might be

1250
01:01:04,520 --> 01:01:06,880
Speaker 7: able to help her out. That's something that I need

1251
01:01:06,920 --> 01:01:09,680
Speaker 7: so that I could feel proud of myself for basically

1252
01:01:09,720 --> 01:01:12,120
Speaker 7: standing up on my own. You get me. I want

1253
01:01:12,120 --> 01:01:14,000
Speaker 7: that feeling of pride. I want to be able to

1254
01:01:14,040 --> 01:01:16,600
Speaker 7: help myself. I don't just want to depend on the

1255
01:01:16,600 --> 01:01:19,960
Speaker 7: goodness of people. But as a human I also recognize

1256
01:01:20,000 --> 01:01:21,960
Speaker 7: that once in a while, you have to reach out

1257
01:01:22,000 --> 01:01:24,040
Speaker 7: to the community. You have to reach out and get

1258
01:01:24,040 --> 01:01:27,040
Speaker 7: what you can, and I do, but even times when

1259
01:01:27,040 --> 01:01:29,720
Speaker 7: I do, I don't get the response that I want.

1260
01:01:29,800 --> 01:01:32,640
Speaker 7: I don't get the things that I need. It's very,

1261
01:01:32,760 --> 01:01:38,040
Speaker 7: very depressing, you get me. So there's these horritorics that

1262
01:01:38,080 --> 01:01:42,600
Speaker 7: people have to think about before they start judging people

1263
01:01:42,960 --> 01:01:46,479
Speaker 7: because there are just like me. I wonder how many

1264
01:01:46,520 --> 01:01:48,760
Speaker 7: more people that are out there. And the worst part

1265
01:01:48,840 --> 01:01:51,040
Speaker 7: is a lot of us, A lot of unhoused people

1266
01:01:51,080 --> 01:01:53,560
Speaker 7: on the street of Los Angeles and whatever state they

1267
01:01:53,560 --> 01:01:56,680
Speaker 7: may be, they don't have family. I grew up with

1268
01:01:56,760 --> 01:02:01,240
Speaker 7: a very toxic father, so his side of a family

1269
01:02:02,160 --> 01:02:05,400
Speaker 7: is still in Utah. But I don't talk to them

1270
01:02:05,440 --> 01:02:09,640
Speaker 7: because they're abusive, they're manipulative, they're gas lighters. They're just

1271
01:02:10,160 --> 01:02:12,360
Speaker 7: bad people who I don't want to associate and I

1272
01:02:12,400 --> 01:02:15,400
Speaker 7: want to go no contact with, including my own abusive, toxic,

1273
01:02:15,520 --> 01:02:18,200
Speaker 7: narcissistic father, who I have gone no contact with for

1274
01:02:18,240 --> 01:02:22,120
Speaker 7: more than seven eight ten years. So what family do

1275
01:02:22,240 --> 01:02:26,240
Speaker 7: I have When my mom my mom's in Mexico, my

1276
01:02:26,320 --> 01:02:30,240
Speaker 7: brother's in Mexico. Who do I have? I have nothing

1277
01:02:30,360 --> 01:02:33,040
Speaker 7: and no one but the friends in the community that

1278
01:02:33,040 --> 01:02:36,960
Speaker 7: I have, And when they're not much help or they

1279
01:02:37,000 --> 01:02:40,040
Speaker 7: cannot help because they're going through their own struggles, which

1280
01:02:40,120 --> 01:02:43,640
Speaker 7: I understand. Who can I rely on other than me?

1281
01:02:44,720 --> 01:02:47,080
Speaker 7: And when what you're doing is not enough? Who do

1282
01:02:47,080 --> 01:02:47,760
Speaker 7: you rely on?

1283
01:02:48,520 --> 01:02:49,120
Speaker 6: What do you do?

1284
01:02:49,760 --> 01:02:51,840
Speaker 7: The Rent's the last thing I need. If somebody were

1285
01:02:51,840 --> 01:02:55,160
Speaker 7: to give me five hundred dollars right now and say here,

1286
01:02:55,440 --> 01:02:58,200
Speaker 7: get yourself one of those horble printers, you could go

1287
01:02:58,240 --> 01:03:00,520
Speaker 7: and make up portraits and souvenirs and sell them in

1288
01:03:00,640 --> 01:03:03,480
Speaker 7: universal studios and all that stuff like people do. I'm

1289
01:03:03,480 --> 01:03:05,800
Speaker 7: not going to be focusing on buying that. I got

1290
01:03:05,880 --> 01:03:08,680
Speaker 7: needs right now. I got close to wash, I got

1291
01:03:08,680 --> 01:03:11,120
Speaker 7: food to buy. I got no food in my fridge

1292
01:03:11,160 --> 01:03:13,960
Speaker 7: right now. Literally, So how am I going to do?

1293
01:03:14,040 --> 01:03:15,280
Speaker 7: What am I? How am I going to do that?

1294
01:03:15,400 --> 01:03:18,000
Speaker 7: How am I going to focus on trying to get

1295
01:03:18,000 --> 01:03:21,200
Speaker 7: back up my feet when I'm going through these problems

1296
01:03:21,240 --> 01:03:24,480
Speaker 7: where I'm hungry every day, where I'm losing weight, where

1297
01:03:24,520 --> 01:03:27,200
Speaker 7: I'm becoming a kneemic. It's not okay.

1298
01:03:28,360 --> 01:03:34,400
Speaker 1: Your story is so moving and so engrossing to the nuances.

1299
01:03:35,000 --> 01:03:38,400
Speaker 4: What you're saying, you're literally giving a one on one

1300
01:03:38,480 --> 01:03:41,840
Speaker 4: class on basically the realities that you're facing. But many

1301
01:03:41,880 --> 01:03:46,840
Speaker 4: on House community are facing. This crashes down Karen Bass's,

1302
01:03:46,920 --> 01:03:51,040
Speaker 4: you know, public relations nonsense about inside starving that she's

1303
01:03:51,280 --> 01:03:53,280
Speaker 4: getting people off on the streets and things like that.

1304
01:03:53,560 --> 01:03:55,760
Speaker 4: There are people that are in House that are off

1305
01:03:55,760 --> 01:03:58,960
Speaker 4: the streets, but there still are going through hardships. The

1306
01:03:59,000 --> 01:04:01,600
Speaker 4: only difference is you don't see the young house because

1307
01:04:01,640 --> 01:04:05,200
Speaker 4: they want to erase the poverty in your face. You

1308
01:04:05,560 --> 01:04:08,920
Speaker 4: don't see the invisible poverty. We need people like you

1309
01:04:08,960 --> 01:04:10,919
Speaker 4: to continue to tell the story or ring the bell

1310
01:04:11,400 --> 01:04:13,040
Speaker 4: so people too know what's going on.

1311
01:04:13,880 --> 01:04:15,000
Speaker 1: Thank you very much.

1312
01:04:19,440 --> 01:04:22,920
Speaker 4: Thanks so much to Asy for her time and we

1313
01:04:23,040 --> 01:04:26,880
Speaker 4: hope to check in with her again soon. Now I

1314
01:04:27,000 --> 01:04:31,960
Speaker 4: must thank you for listening. Be safe, be marry, and

1315
01:04:32,160 --> 01:04:35,600
Speaker 4: use your heart to love somebody, and if your heart

1316
01:04:35,640 --> 01:04:39,320
Speaker 4: is big enough, use it to love everybody.

1317
01:04:39,680 --> 01:04:41,120
Speaker 1: Happy holidays.

1318
01:04:43,160 --> 01:04:46,080
Speaker 4: And as always, please like and subscribe, and if you'd

1319
01:04:46,080 --> 01:04:48,480
Speaker 4: like to share your story on Wedian House, please reach

1320
01:04:48,520 --> 01:04:51,160
Speaker 4: out to me at Weedian House on Instagram or email

1321
01:04:51,200 --> 01:04:55,920
Speaker 4: me at wedian House at gmail dot com. Weedian House

1322
01:04:56,040 --> 01:04:59,760
Speaker 4: is a production of iHeartRadio. It is written, post it

1323
01:05:00,080 --> 01:05:04,680
Speaker 4: and created by me Theo Henderson, our producers Jbie Loftus

1324
01:05:05,080 --> 01:05:09,880
Speaker 4: Daily Fager, Katie Fischer and Lyra Smith. Our editor is

1325
01:05:09,920 --> 01:05:13,760
Speaker 4: Adam Wand and our local art is also by Katie Ficial.

1326
01:05:14,320 --> 01:05:15,080
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening.