1
00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:04,840
Speaker 1: I'm still like getting used to seeing people in person

2
00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:08,520
Speaker 1: without a mask, especially inside. Yeah, I don't know if

3
00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:10,080
Speaker 1: you feel this a bit like I always feel like

4
00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:13,280
Speaker 1: I'm doing something like wrong, I know, and I'm like,

5
00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:17,320
Speaker 1: oh my god, I'm going to get caught. But it's fine.

6
00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:25,680
Speaker 2: From Futuro Media, it's Latino USA. I'm Maria in Josa. Today,

7
00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:30,920
Speaker 2: Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, the congresswoman from New York, opens up

8
00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:36,080
Speaker 2: about the past year in a personal one on one interview.

9
00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:42,479
Speaker 2: The last in person interview I did for Latino USA

10
00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:46,680
Speaker 2: was in March of twenty twenty. We all know what

11
00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:53,160
Speaker 2: happened next. A global shutdown because of a pandemic fast.

12
00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:56,960
Speaker 3: Breaking developments in the coronavirus emergency in the US and around.

13
00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:00,720
Speaker 2: The world, followed by a massive economic mcdownturn.

14
00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:04,480
Speaker 3: Many working class Americans don't have the option to work

15
00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:06,959
Speaker 3: from home, and the jobs they were counting on in

16
00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,640
Speaker 3: a bar, or restaurant or a retail store may not

17
00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:13,000
Speaker 3: be coming back as soon as they'd hope.

18
00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:18,240
Speaker 2: An uprising of national Black Lives Matter protests, we.

19
00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:21,280
Speaker 1: Out here because we need to be heard. Our voices

20
00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:23,360
Speaker 1: need to be heard, our faces need to be heard.

21
00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:25,720
Speaker 1: That people need to hear us, that we stay quiet.

22
00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:31,720
Speaker 2: Nothing happened, a presidential election, an attempted coup, and a

23
00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:36,760
Speaker 2: new but unsurprising border crisis, and the administration wants to

24
00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:39,440
Speaker 2: get kids out, but they're dealing with so many of

25
00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:43,760
Speaker 2: them right now, they're just frankly overwhelmed. Considering all of that,

26
00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:49,760
Speaker 2: it seemed just right that my first in person interview

27
00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,120
Speaker 2: after fifteen months would be with the leader of the

28
00:01:53,200 --> 00:02:05,520
Speaker 2: United States political future, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. AOC represents

29
00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:09,120
Speaker 2: parts of Queens and the Bronx, which are home to

30
00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,840
Speaker 2: large working class, black and immigrant communities in New York City.

31
00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:17,680
Speaker 2: Since the start of the COVID nineteen pandemic, Ocasio Cortez's

32
00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:23,239
Speaker 2: priority has been helping people on the ground. Literally last spring,

33
00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:28,080
Speaker 2: as the coronavirus raged through New York City, AOC would

34
00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:32,840
Speaker 2: often go out herself to provide food and supplies to

35
00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:34,639
Speaker 2: her neighbors and constituents.

36
00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:39,680
Speaker 1: This morning, we are heading into the most heavy impacted

37
00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:44,480
Speaker 1: neighborhood in the country, in our backyard, Coroma and Queens.

38
00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,400
Speaker 2: She's also responded to the many other defining events of

39
00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:52,440
Speaker 2: the past year. Amid black Lives Matter protests. Last summer,

40
00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:57,320
Speaker 2: AOC joined calls to defund police forces across the country.

41
00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:01,120
Speaker 1: You have an entire city budget and half of that

42
00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:02,960
Speaker 1: budget goes to policing.

43
00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:08,760
Speaker 2: We have a problem. Mass unemployment resulted in economic insecurity

44
00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:13,520
Speaker 2: for millions of Americans. Ocacio Cortez led the charge for

45
00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:18,520
Speaker 2: strong stimulus packages for individuals and small businesses, holding both

46
00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:21,760
Speaker 2: the Trump and Biden administrations accountable.

47
00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:27,120
Speaker 1: We passed unprecedented huge amounts of money to relief and

48
00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:28,160
Speaker 1: who did it go to?

49
00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:29,639
Speaker 4: Who did it go to?

50
00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:34,880
Speaker 2: Then the election happened, and soon after there was the

51
00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:40,280
Speaker 2: Capitol riot on January sixth. In the weeks following that

52
00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:45,120
Speaker 2: attempted coup, Alexandri Casio Grtez opened up about her experience

53
00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,720
Speaker 2: on her own terms during an Instagram live.

54
00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,800
Speaker 1: These folks who tell us to move on, that it's

55
00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:55,480
Speaker 1: not a big deal, that we should forget what's happened,

56
00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:01,240
Speaker 1: or even telling us to apologize, these are the same

57
00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:03,760
Speaker 1: tactics of abusers.

58
00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:07,480
Speaker 2: The congresswomen and I, both fully vaccinated by now, met

59
00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,640
Speaker 2: at her campaign office in her district in the Northern

60
00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:14,320
Speaker 2: Bronx and from the moment our mics were on, we

61
00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,800
Speaker 2: got right into it. She spoke about the pandemic and

62
00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:22,600
Speaker 2: the Capitol Riot, as well as immigration, American history, and

63
00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:26,960
Speaker 2: her personal thoughts about being a young, influential Latina navigating

64
00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:39,960
Speaker 2: the American political system. How are you, I'm like, am

65
00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:44,440
Speaker 2: I actually sitting here? We're five feet apart? Yes, so

66
00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:49,680
Speaker 2: not six. Yeah, we're both fully vaccinated. So we took

67
00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:53,640
Speaker 2: off our masks. By the way, I was sick with

68
00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:54,679
Speaker 2: COVID at the beginning.

69
00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:55,479
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh.

70
00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,359
Speaker 2: And so then when I would see you getting on

71
00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:04,760
Speaker 2: the train, I was like, damn aoc because you put

72
00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:11,520
Speaker 2: your body out there, you got the vans, you got

73
00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:15,480
Speaker 2: the groceries, you were knocking on people's doors. Again, I

74
00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:20,160
Speaker 2: was like, oh my god, you you haven't stopped.

75
00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:22,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, no, I mean the thing is too, is

76
00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:28,800
Speaker 1: that because our city, but also my district was the

77
00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,680
Speaker 1: hardest hit congressional district in the country at the outbreak

78
00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:36,600
Speaker 1: of COVID when we didn't know anything about the disease.

79
00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:39,600
Speaker 1: You know, we were still wiping down our packages because

80
00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,520
Speaker 1: we didn't know about surface transmission or anything like that.

81
00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:48,120
Speaker 1: But the thing is is that, you know, it's it's

82
00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,159
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to make it seem like this big deal,

83
00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:56,360
Speaker 1: but that is what leadership is supposed to be.

84
00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:58,479
Speaker 2: I have to say I was really proud of you

85
00:05:58,480 --> 00:05:59,960
Speaker 2: because I was like, this says what it looks like.

86
00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:02,159
Speaker 1: And I feel like I learned a lot of this

87
00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:08,640
Speaker 1: too from what happened with Maria, because when a disaster strikes,

88
00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:12,960
Speaker 1: one of the most demoralizing and also where things can

89
00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,839
Speaker 1: really start falling apart is when people start to perceive

90
00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:21,880
Speaker 1: that leadership is not on the front line. You know,

91
00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:26,159
Speaker 1: that they are putting themselves first in terms of comfort

92
00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:30,000
Speaker 1: and safety, when it's supposed to be the opposite, you know,

93
00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:35,000
Speaker 1: And I think we deserve better. We deserve to expect

94
00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:38,880
Speaker 1: more from our elected officials, especially on a federal level.

95
00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:42,839
Speaker 1: I don't think that it's acceptable for us to watch

96
00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:47,040
Speaker 1: other people make sacrifices without meeting them there and doing

97
00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,320
Speaker 1: everything that we can. And it was a very difficult

98
00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:54,560
Speaker 1: time because you know, our federal government did fail in

99
00:06:54,600 --> 00:07:00,919
Speaker 1: that response big time, and it was really frustrating for

100
00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:05,040
Speaker 1: me that the thing that I felt that I could

101
00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:09,279
Speaker 1: do best was get vans and get groceries so that

102
00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:13,600
Speaker 1: families could be fed, and source our own ppe at

103
00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:19,000
Speaker 1: the time to fundraise and get it to hospitals. You know,

104
00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:24,440
Speaker 1: that's shameful. That's shameful for any elected official to be

105
00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:26,800
Speaker 1: in that position and that be the main way that

106
00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:31,840
Speaker 1: they could help instead of actually providing the structural changes

107
00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:32,720
Speaker 1: that we need.

108
00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:37,679
Speaker 2: So, just so you know, the last in person interview

109
00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:41,640
Speaker 2: I did in March of twenty twenty, katvon d Oh,

110
00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:48,400
Speaker 2: there you go, okay, Lex Lex Lex in her house

111
00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:53,920
Speaker 2: like amazing, and then you are the first in person interview.

112
00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:57,840
Speaker 1: I think this might be my first in person press

113
00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:03,880
Speaker 1: interview as well. It's been like all zooms. I think, yeah, so,

114
00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:07,320
Speaker 1: how are you doing? No last year was overwhelming for everyone,

115
00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:09,960
Speaker 1: but I do feel like it was especially overwhelming for

116
00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:14,360
Speaker 1: our community. We were hardest hit. We had to discover

117
00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:17,200
Speaker 1: all this stuff before the rest of the country had

118
00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:20,679
Speaker 1: to discover it. And whether it was bagging groceries here

119
00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:24,720
Speaker 1: or fighting with our own party last year as to

120
00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:29,640
Speaker 1: why mixed status families and iten payers deserved stimulus checks.

121
00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:30,880
Speaker 2: You know, it was.

122
00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:36,280
Speaker 1: Exhausting, and you had that with the layer of just

123
00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:41,800
Speaker 1: this fascistic Trump administration on top of it, with the intense,

124
00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:48,840
Speaker 1: intense stress and high stakes that the presidential election was,

125
00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:55,160
Speaker 1: and then you have this transition period of escalating violence,

126
00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:59,640
Speaker 1: which really culminated on the six for which you know,

127
00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:04,320
Speaker 1: was an extraordinarily traumatizing event that's not really being discussed.

128
00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:08,840
Speaker 1: It's politically sensitive. You know, no one wants to say,

129
00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:12,760
Speaker 1: oh boohoo, but there are members of Congress that served

130
00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:17,480
Speaker 1: in war, and not just that but also staff. You know,

131
00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:21,240
Speaker 1: there's this woman whose smile I love, and she's just

132
00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:24,160
Speaker 1: so incredible, and she's a food service worker and her

133
00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:29,640
Speaker 1: name's Veronica, and she works in the basement of the Capital.

134
00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:32,320
Speaker 1: They have coffee places, things like that, and all I

135
00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:34,920
Speaker 1: could think of that day is how they like, you

136
00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:37,600
Speaker 1: have these people that are storming the Capitol and there's

137
00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:41,040
Speaker 1: no place for our food service workers to go. Where

138
00:09:41,040 --> 00:10:00,320
Speaker 1: our custodial staff went. The cycle has just been moved dawn,

139
00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:06,480
Speaker 1: but it has deeply, deeply affected lawmaking, policy making. It

140
00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:10,400
Speaker 1: has impacted the actual legislative process, the aftermath of it,

141
00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:13,320
Speaker 1: and it's very quiet. It's not spoken about. I think

142
00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:19,240
Speaker 1: after the sixth I took some time, and it was

143
00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:22,320
Speaker 1: really Iona Pressley when I explained to her what had happened

144
00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:24,040
Speaker 1: to me, like the day of, because I ran to

145
00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:28,079
Speaker 1: her office and she was like, you need to recognize

146
00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:32,320
Speaker 1: trauma and that this is something that you went through,

147
00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:36,560
Speaker 1: but we're all going through and it's really important to

148
00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:41,600
Speaker 1: pause after that because that's how you process it. And

149
00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:44,679
Speaker 1: I feel like I learned this the hard way after

150
00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:46,800
Speaker 1: my father had passed away when I was a teenager,

151
00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:51,320
Speaker 1: because I was like, you know, first born, only daughter

152
00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:54,200
Speaker 1: of a Latina family. You know how that dynamic is

153
00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:58,280
Speaker 1: and you need to like do everything. So that happened

154
00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:00,520
Speaker 1: to me at a young age, and I suck it away

155
00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:04,959
Speaker 1: and I had to live with that for years, and

156
00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:08,160
Speaker 1: so I learned my lesson then and now I feel

157
00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:10,480
Speaker 1: like I've kind of taken I've had to take a beat.

158
00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:15,120
Speaker 1: If I take a couple months now and just be

159
00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:18,960
Speaker 1: really good, then I don't have to live with this

160
00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:22,200
Speaker 1: thing festering and lingering with me like a roommate in

161
00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:28,840
Speaker 1: my apartment for years. So you're doing therapy, Yeah, oh yeah,

162
00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:35,000
Speaker 1: I'm doing therapy. But also I've just slowed down. I

163
00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:37,520
Speaker 1: think the Trump administration had a lot of us, especially

164
00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:43,200
Speaker 1: Latino communities, in a very reactive mode, and so I've

165
00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:48,400
Speaker 1: been putting myself in a more proactive space and I've

166
00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:49,000
Speaker 1: what do you.

167
00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:50,480
Speaker 2: Mean, a more proactive space.

168
00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:54,760
Speaker 1: Like you know, there was this thing where you have

169
00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:59,200
Speaker 1: to like scroll Twitter all the time because the administration

170
00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,640
Speaker 1: was announcing horrifying change that it was like, how do

171
00:12:02,679 --> 00:12:04,720
Speaker 1: we protect people now? How do we protect people now?

172
00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:05,600
Speaker 1: How do I mean?

173
00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:08,920
Speaker 2: Literally it felt like every day it was.

174
00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:11,640
Speaker 1: It was like three cycles. It was just an assault.

175
00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:17,560
Speaker 1: And for a community that's fifty percent immigrant, that has

176
00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:22,560
Speaker 1: really high concentration of essential workers, where we have mixed

177
00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:27,680
Speaker 1: status families, you know, these federal policies that even Democrats

178
00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:31,520
Speaker 1: champion don't help us were excluded from them due to

179
00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:37,839
Speaker 1: just political convenience and narratives, and so, you know, moving

180
00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:43,120
Speaker 1: to a place where while we have political differences with

181
00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:46,920
Speaker 1: the Biden administration, at the very least, it's not this

182
00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:51,280
Speaker 1: all out constant assault. And now we can move to

183
00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:55,960
Speaker 1: a place where we're making the argument on pushing on

184
00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,360
Speaker 1: certain issues. You know, this crisis of what's happening at

185
00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:02,720
Speaker 1: the border is a manifestation of just our political environment

186
00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:10,320
Speaker 1: and attitudes towards immigrants for decades senture essentially too, yeah,

187
00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,320
Speaker 1: I mean, and then even longer because it's there's a

188
00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:19,480
Speaker 1: direct through line through imperialism and the attitudes and power

189
00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:25,920
Speaker 1: structures there, to anti Asian violence, to what's happening at

190
00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:30,880
Speaker 1: the border, to anti black racism, all of it. And

191
00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:34,720
Speaker 1: there's a through line there and our lack of acknowledgment

192
00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:37,360
Speaker 1: of that, and it goes into our foreign policy and

193
00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:40,560
Speaker 1: all of it. You know, people want to think that

194
00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:43,320
Speaker 1: this stuff is disconnected because they want to believe in

195
00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:49,880
Speaker 1: this mythology of America or the United States that we

196
00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:51,160
Speaker 1: were fed as children.

197
00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:55,640
Speaker 2: I think, you know, twenty twenty was a culmination of

198
00:13:55,679 --> 00:14:01,240
Speaker 2: confronting a lot of mythologies about this country. Democracy, representation. Okay,

199
00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:04,040
Speaker 2: but I want to just stay with this for a

200
00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:09,319
Speaker 2: moment because I having been through trauma myself, I can

201
00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:13,280
Speaker 2: see that this is not a done deal. January sixth

202
00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:16,440
Speaker 2: This was an attempted coup.

203
00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:20,080
Speaker 1: Yes, And it's almost like we refuse to acknowledge it

204
00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,680
Speaker 1: because we don't want to believe that it happened, and

205
00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:28,520
Speaker 1: people think that it's some sort of exaggeration. This was

206
00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:33,760
Speaker 1: an all out attempted coup. Mike Pence was taken out

207
00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:37,840
Speaker 1: of the Senate Chamber something like sixty seconds before these

208
00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:43,240
Speaker 1: terrorists insurrectionists got into the Senate chamber sixty seconds and

209
00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,800
Speaker 1: Mike Pence was the one person arguably that had one

210
00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:50,880
Speaker 1: of the most important roles in making sure that procedurally

211
00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:57,240
Speaker 1: the electoral College counts went on as proceeded. Sixty seconds

212
00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:03,800
Speaker 1: could have meant potential the difference between what we have

213
00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:07,000
Speaker 1: right now in a martial state, and we don't want

214
00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:09,320
Speaker 1: to acknowledge it. That's how close we got, But that

215
00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:12,840
Speaker 1: is how close we got. We think of kus as

216
00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:16,720
Speaker 1: something that happens in quote unquote Banana republics or in

217
00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:20,680
Speaker 1: the developing or quote unquote third world, and it happened here.

218
00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:24,680
Speaker 1: When I talked about how dangerous it was, and there

219
00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:29,000
Speaker 1: was this intense attack back on the right, it was

220
00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:30,520
Speaker 1: a protection of mythology.

221
00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:35,680
Speaker 3: I think the question here is is Alexandria Ocsio Cortez

222
00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:38,720
Speaker 3: somebody who is credible or somebody who has a history

223
00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:39,120
Speaker 3: of lye.

224
00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:44,000
Speaker 5: She even accused the cop who came in to assist

225
00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:47,920
Speaker 5: of wanting to hurt her. She said he looked hostile

226
00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,560
Speaker 5: and had a look in his eyes. So really, I mean,

227
00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:52,480
Speaker 5: it is just crazy stuff.

228
00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:55,880
Speaker 2: People will believe this crap. Some already do.

229
00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:58,640
Speaker 1: And that's what a lot of I think the attacks

230
00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:02,200
Speaker 1: on the right are about. Out There are certain mythologies

231
00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:07,280
Speaker 1: that are really important to this idea of American exceptionalism.

232
00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:10,400
Speaker 1: But there's also certain mythologies that are very important to

233
00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:13,160
Speaker 1: maintaining white supremacy. White supremacy in and of itself is

234
00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:17,080
Speaker 1: a mythology, and you have to protect it in order

235
00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:20,400
Speaker 1: to protect that political power, which has now become a

236
00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:24,440
Speaker 1: very important base in the Republican Party. And that's why

237
00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:30,560
Speaker 1: that response was so vociferous to make it seem that

238
00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:33,800
Speaker 1: it wasn't as bad as it was, and it was bad.

239
00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:41,240
Speaker 1: They constructed gallows, functional gallows with nooses, and they put

240
00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:43,200
Speaker 1: it in front of the Capitol, and they were looking

241
00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:49,000
Speaker 1: for us, and we were not protected. There are things

242
00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:54,560
Speaker 1: that happened that day that if sixty seconds went differently,

243
00:16:55,080 --> 00:17:00,360
Speaker 1: if a different door was opened, if a chair wasn't

244
00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:03,960
Speaker 1: barricaded in a certain way, we could have a completely

245
00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:05,080
Speaker 1: different reality right.

246
00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:07,960
Speaker 2: Now, Okay, we don't want to spend the whole time.

247
00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:11,320
Speaker 2: We don't want to know because because we could. Yeah,

248
00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:14,320
Speaker 2: and I think it's and I think it's super necessary. Yeah,

249
00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:16,600
Speaker 2: because I think that's the thing about this country that

250
00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:19,480
Speaker 2: freaks us out the most is the capacity just kind

251
00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:22,720
Speaker 2: of we'll move on. Yeah, So you brought up the

252
00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:27,639
Speaker 2: Biden administration the virtual town hall that you held, you

253
00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:31,800
Speaker 2: said that the Biden administration has been exceeding progressive expectations.

254
00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:35,640
Speaker 1: One thing that I will say is that I do

255
00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:42,160
Speaker 1: think that the Biden administration and President Biden has definitely

256
00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:47,040
Speaker 1: exceeded expectations that progressives had. You know, I'll be frayed.

257
00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:49,240
Speaker 1: I think a lot of us expected a much more

258
00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:50,360
Speaker 1: conservative administration.

259
00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:51,960
Speaker 2: So help us to understand.

260
00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:56,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I so the second sentence after I said

261
00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:59,800
Speaker 1: that was because we expected a much more conservative administration.

262
00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:05,480
Speaker 1: It doesn't mean that he exceeded progressive standards. Doesn't make

263
00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:10,399
Speaker 1: him a progressive president. But I do think that, you know,

264
00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,680
Speaker 1: if I'm going to be very frank I think that

265
00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:20,200
Speaker 1: their outreach and collaboration with House progressives, while I wasn't

266
00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:22,359
Speaker 1: there at the time, from what I'm hearing from my colleagues,

267
00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:26,160
Speaker 1: is less contentious than it was with even the Obama administration.

268
00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:31,120
Speaker 1: And so when it comes to that perspective, I think

269
00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:36,120
Speaker 1: the administration has acknowledged that there are very strong parts

270
00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:39,240
Speaker 1: of the progressive movement that frankly like save the party's

271
00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:42,639
Speaker 1: ass in November, and they recognize it.

272
00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:44,880
Speaker 2: Oh, so you feel like they are recognizing.

273
00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:47,920
Speaker 1: I think they know that. I think they know progressives

274
00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:54,040
Speaker 1: delivered Philly, which helped deliver Pennsylvania, that it was immigration

275
00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:58,560
Speaker 1: organizers in arisona that helped save that state and that

276
00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:01,320
Speaker 1: is helping turn the tide and the rest of the Southwest.

277
00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,520
Speaker 1: And I think they recognize that politically, because we sent

278
00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:09,399
Speaker 1: a strong message that you ice out young people, you

279
00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:12,439
Speaker 1: ice out people of color, you ice out progressive policies

280
00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:18,040
Speaker 1: in a way that there's no give and is very condescending.

281
00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:20,440
Speaker 1: We lose the House, we lose the Senate, we lose

282
00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:24,960
Speaker 1: the presidency. I think they do recognize that. Now that

283
00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:29,960
Speaker 1: being said, we are still part of a larger party

284
00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:36,800
Speaker 1: that has elements that are still clinging on to i

285
00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:42,560
Speaker 1: think problematic neoliberal thinking that the Biden administration has made

286
00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:49,280
Speaker 1: appointments that aren't great in that vein. I like, the

287
00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:52,040
Speaker 1: president is the president, he has a very long history.

288
00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:56,960
Speaker 1: I was expecting you know, I guess it's the it's

289
00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,760
Speaker 1: the lowest, Yeah, exactly. I had very low expectations of

290
00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:02,520
Speaker 1: this administration.

291
00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:07,040
Speaker 2: And so anything that is you know, ingen tours is like, Okay,

292
00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:07,919
Speaker 2: let's applaud that.

293
00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:13,560
Speaker 1: But yeah, for sure, I mean it exceeded my expectations

294
00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:16,840
Speaker 1: when they actually decided to have a conversation with us.

295
00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:18,840
Speaker 1: So I think that's the thing, is that people made

296
00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:23,399
Speaker 1: this whole like hullabaloo, But the asterisk is that my

297
00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:27,760
Speaker 1: expectations were not high. And I think it's also part

298
00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:31,440
Speaker 1: of a thing on race and gender, because we don't

299
00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:36,280
Speaker 1: have the same high expectations of white men and politics

300
00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:39,359
Speaker 1: that we do of people of color and women. And

301
00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:41,840
Speaker 1: I mean that's just straight up like for me as

302
00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:46,840
Speaker 1: a first term freshman, I could not mess up once.

303
00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:49,959
Speaker 1: I could not have a hair out of place, I

304
00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:53,919
Speaker 1: could not say and instead of butt, and it was

305
00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:59,440
Speaker 1: front page news. You know, for better or worse. Joe

306
00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:01,639
Speaker 1: Biden can do that, he can have that day and

307
00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:05,520
Speaker 1: it doesn't even make page sixteen of the New York Times.

308
00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,359
Speaker 1: Like we have to acknowledge that it worked for Trump

309
00:21:08,359 --> 00:21:11,400
Speaker 1: and it also worked for Joe Biden in that if

310
00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:15,720
Speaker 1: you mess up, all is forgiven. And that is a

311
00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:19,320
Speaker 1: structural advantage that men have in politics. They have the

312
00:21:19,359 --> 00:21:21,520
Speaker 1: advantage of low expectations.

313
00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:29,240
Speaker 2: Seriously, So after Joe Biden's speech to Congress, I tweeted

314
00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:36,920
Speaker 2: out something like, obviously it's totally different than the Trump administration. True,

315
00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:41,040
Speaker 2: but please don't be upset if I'm asking for more.

316
00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:45,240
Speaker 2: It's not that I'm ungrateful, but specifically for me, as

317
00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:49,760
Speaker 2: an older Latina, I don't have a lot of time exactly,

318
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:56,000
Speaker 2: so on the issue of immigration in particular, I am

319
00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:03,480
Speaker 2: honestly flabbergasted, I guess because it's so easy in some

320
00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,919
Speaker 2: ways to make a massive, dramatic shift and change the

321
00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:12,160
Speaker 2: entire narrative and secure support for the Democratic Party it is,

322
00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:15,840
Speaker 2: and yet you are hearing the same things coming out

323
00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:19,800
Speaker 2: of the mouth of his spokesperson, which is to refugees.

324
00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:26,000
Speaker 2: Can you just wait and come back later talk to

325
00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:28,119
Speaker 2: me about where you're at on the issue of immigration

326
00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:30,399
Speaker 2: and your patience level or not.

327
00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:35,159
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I don't have a patience level. The

328
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:40,040
Speaker 1: patience is gone, and I think that there's very slim

329
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:44,359
Speaker 1: window where it's like, okay, it's literally thirty days after

330
00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:49,959
Speaker 1: the Trump administration, but now it's done. There are some

331
00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,080
Speaker 1: things that are unacceptable. The reason I take issue with

332
00:22:53,119 --> 00:22:56,240
Speaker 1: this term surge and all of these things at the border,

333
00:22:56,359 --> 00:22:59,640
Speaker 1: and just even if forget whatever you want to call it,

334
00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:03,359
Speaker 1: the situation in general is unacceptable because people want to

335
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:04,800
Speaker 1: act brand new every.

336
00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:06,399
Speaker 2: Time, like it's never happened.

337
00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:10,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, before Biden administration, we couldn't anticipate this. The Trump administration,

338
00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:14,040
Speaker 1: we couldn't anticipate this, The Obomba administration, we couldn't anticipate.

339
00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:17,080
Speaker 2: It's like it's like Latinos and Latinas, and of course

340
00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:20,800
Speaker 2: not all immigrants and refugees are, but it's like weird

341
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:21,800
Speaker 2: and people.

342
00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:26,800
Speaker 1: Act as though this as though migration patterns haven't existed period,

343
00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:29,320
Speaker 1: and that they haven't existed in this way, and that

344
00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:33,199
Speaker 1: this problem is brand new when it's just not. But

345
00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:35,800
Speaker 1: the thing that I think is the toughest nut to

346
00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:40,160
Speaker 1: crack is that this is about our foreign policy, and

347
00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:44,879
Speaker 1: this is about both parties engagement in foreign policy, particularly

348
00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:49,600
Speaker 1: neoliberal foreign policy. A lot of the conversations I hear,

349
00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:52,959
Speaker 1: even with my colleagues in Congress, around the Northern Triangle

350
00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:54,800
Speaker 1: and around all of these things have to do with, oh,

351
00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:59,639
Speaker 1: we need to send aid. And aid is important, sure,

352
00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:02,840
Speaker 1: depending on the type of it, because sometimes it's very

353
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:07,479
Speaker 1: problematic aid that gets sent out. But what good is

354
00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:14,480
Speaker 1: aid when we are helping to create the problem.

355
00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:18,479
Speaker 2: Coming up on Latino USA, New York Congresswoman Alexandri Gacio

356
00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:24,359
Speaker 2: Cortez keeps our conversation personal, talking about her Latina identity

357
00:24:24,800 --> 00:25:18,800
Speaker 2: and how she advocates for her community. Stay with us, Yes, Hey,

358
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:23,400
Speaker 2: we're back. I've been having a conversation with New York

359
00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:29,400
Speaker 2: Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, and it's not lost on her

360
00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:32,080
Speaker 2: that those of us still here, those of us who

361
00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:36,600
Speaker 2: are still healthy and alive, that we've made it through

362
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:41,520
Speaker 2: a year with historic implications. Through it all, aoc has

363
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,639
Speaker 2: been reflecting on the need to learn about our own

364
00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:49,480
Speaker 2: identities and personal histories. In her view, that's the first

365
00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:54,080
Speaker 2: step in challenging the status quo and actually in creating

366
00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:58,119
Speaker 2: a better future for all of us. It's not often

367
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:00,399
Speaker 2: that you get a chance, I guess, to talk a

368
00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:03,600
Speaker 2: little bit about the issue of who we are. And

369
00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,240
Speaker 2: I was thinking about you and this question. I was

370
00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:12,760
Speaker 2: thinking about my students now at Barnard, many of whom

371
00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:17,879
Speaker 2: are still struggling with the essential question, Am I Latina enough?

372
00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,680
Speaker 2: Am I Latino enough? Where do I fit in? Yeah?

373
00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:25,360
Speaker 2: And if we've been so targeted in the past, do

374
00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:27,520
Speaker 2: I want to be Latina and Latino?

375
00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:31,719
Speaker 1: I think a huge part of life is us just

376
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:36,960
Speaker 1: figuring out who we are and just continuing to grow

377
00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:40,399
Speaker 1: into who we are. And there is this question of

378
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:43,720
Speaker 1: you know, am I Latina enough? Am I Latino enough?

379
00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,119
Speaker 1: Like there's some ways where you can answer no, you

380
00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:51,679
Speaker 1: know in that we should know where we come from.

381
00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:57,560
Speaker 1: And we grow up in a colonizing educational system that

382
00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,440
Speaker 1: does not tell us who we are, and it tells

383
00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:05,000
Speaker 1: white people who they are. Right, you started this country,

384
00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:09,879
Speaker 1: you are pioneers, you are explorers. And if you study

385
00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:13,240
Speaker 1: world history, at least my experience in a public school system,

386
00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:17,560
Speaker 1: world history is primarily just European history with a couple

387
00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:22,680
Speaker 1: of you know, side adventures in South Asia and Latin America,

388
00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:27,960
Speaker 1: But the vast majority of world history quote unquote is

389
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:34,560
Speaker 1: European history. Right now, our educational system largely teaches white

390
00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:39,920
Speaker 1: people who they are and everyone else is a supporting character.

391
00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:46,200
Speaker 1: And so if we really want to embrace who we are,

392
00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:49,879
Speaker 1: it's kind of at tax in a way, because it

393
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:53,120
Speaker 1: wasn't given to us. We have to give that to ourselves.

394
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:56,920
Speaker 1: I think there's kind of this las fare like you're Latina,

395
00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:59,560
Speaker 1: you're Latina, Like that's enough, And in some ways it

396
00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:06,560
Speaker 1: is like you're born enough. But also it's really important

397
00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:09,520
Speaker 1: for us to know who we are because it will

398
00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:10,800
Speaker 1: help us make a.

399
00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:14,080
Speaker 2: Better world, to do the work, To do the work.

400
00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:17,959
Speaker 1: I think it makes us better parents, it makes us

401
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:23,360
Speaker 1: better neighbors to understand that. And I have this older neighbor.

402
00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:26,359
Speaker 1: He's from Puerto Rico, and he sits on this bench

403
00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,360
Speaker 1: all the time. Every day. I'll walk past and it's

404
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:31,320
Speaker 1: just a little back and forth, but maybe he like

405
00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:34,440
Speaker 1: drops a little story that I've actually learned a lot

406
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:40,640
Speaker 1: about Puerto Rican history and people's movements and the histories

407
00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:45,760
Speaker 1: that aren't told through him, like resistance movements on the island.

408
00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:49,240
Speaker 1: Those are stories that are not told, that are inconvenient

409
00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:53,920
Speaker 1: to be told. And I think that that kind of

410
00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:57,920
Speaker 1: work is important to us and for us. I think

411
00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:03,080
Speaker 1: it's also part of this vague your political treatment of Latinos.

412
00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:07,440
Speaker 1: It kind of balloons up into that because if there

413
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:11,000
Speaker 1: isn't a concrete sense of identity, and it's not to

414
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:13,680
Speaker 1: lump us all in as Latinos, you know, we're Mexicanos

415
00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:16,360
Speaker 1: or Bourriguas. We're all of this, and we are also

416
00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:20,640
Speaker 1: our collective identity. But we have to know who we

417
00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:23,680
Speaker 1: are and where we come from in order to see

418
00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:26,760
Speaker 1: what stuff that's happening today is like pretty messed up.

419
00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:29,560
Speaker 2: Okay. So I'm going to tell you this weird thing

420
00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:33,200
Speaker 2: that happened to me recently. It was very surprising. It

421
00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:36,520
Speaker 2: involves you. So I was on you know, yet another

422
00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:39,920
Speaker 2: zoom in another city talking about the book or something,

423
00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:44,880
Speaker 2: you know, and I've been quite frustrated because of the

424
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:49,040
Speaker 2: narrative around immigration and we can't this cannot continue to

425
00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:53,120
Speaker 2: go on. And somebody asked me a question something about

426
00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:56,840
Speaker 2: the future and when will things change, and I said, well,

427
00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:03,280
Speaker 2: you know what, things on the issue of Latino's Latina's immigration,

428
00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:07,160
Speaker 2: It's going to change when alexandri Ocasio Cortez is elected

429
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:10,959
Speaker 2: president and she goes down to the border and she

430
00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:14,320
Speaker 2: stands on the wall and she says, we are going

431
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:19,440
Speaker 2: to tear this down, okay. And it freaked me out

432
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:22,200
Speaker 2: that I had such a specific image, and I'm a

433
00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:25,440
Speaker 2: little bit like, why did that happen? Also because I knew,

434
00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:28,400
Speaker 2: you know, you're a politician. I have faith in politicians,

435
00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:32,680
Speaker 2: but you know, yeah, critical, yeah, but I was very surprised.

436
00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:35,560
Speaker 2: And this is even hard for me to say because

437
00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:39,640
Speaker 2: I was like, the way I'm feeling now is that

438
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:43,440
Speaker 2: it is going to have to be a Latina or

439
00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:46,280
Speaker 2: Latino who makes that happen.

440
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:51,560
Speaker 1: My visceral reaction to that is things will change when

441
00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:57,960
Speaker 1: we change, because you can have a person march down

442
00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:01,800
Speaker 1: and make an announcement, but none of that will ever

443
00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:09,160
Speaker 1: be sustainable until we understand why that's important. And there's

444
00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:11,320
Speaker 1: a lot of just reckoning we need to do with

445
00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,800
Speaker 1: our country's history. And you know, there's this idea of

446
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:19,080
Speaker 1: American exceptionalism, but people don't. I don't think we've really

447
00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:23,760
Speaker 1: internalized how much of that has been created through the

448
00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:30,240
Speaker 1: subjugation of other people. There's this one myth that has

449
00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:35,040
Speaker 1: all happened because we're smarter and performed better and ingenuity

450
00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:38,560
Speaker 1: and all of those things, and all of that brilliance

451
00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:45,120
Speaker 1: has a space in the story. But there's also turning

452
00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:50,520
Speaker 1: a blind eye to union organizers in Latin America being

453
00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:56,800
Speaker 1: murdered to protect American companies to protect their bottom line,

454
00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:03,120
Speaker 1: or Domino Sugar and the colonization of Hawaii. This quote

455
00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:10,120
Speaker 1: unquote exceptionalism is very deeply rooted in colonialism and imperialism.

456
00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:13,400
Speaker 1: And so you know, when we talk about this wall

457
00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:16,720
Speaker 1: and this idea of a wall, it's like we want

458
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:20,320
Speaker 1: to keep all these riches in here, but people don't

459
00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:22,200
Speaker 1: want to know where a lot of them came from.

460
00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:28,160
Speaker 1: Even now, when we block people or set up all

461
00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:32,400
Speaker 1: these impediments to people coming into the country, and then oh,

462
00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:34,720
Speaker 1: you can create a visa where people can come in

463
00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:40,280
Speaker 1: under very specific employment conditions, sometimes just inhumane ones, because

464
00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:43,360
Speaker 1: we like both cheap food, but we also don't want

465
00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:47,040
Speaker 1: to pay a living wage. Something's got to give. And

466
00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:48,520
Speaker 1: that's why I think it's important for us to know

467
00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:53,520
Speaker 1: who we are, because what I fear too is that

468
00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:56,760
Speaker 1: the more we get disconnected from who we are, our

469
00:32:56,800 --> 00:33:01,640
Speaker 1: family histories, you know, where we come from. It's very

470
00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:06,520
Speaker 1: easy to just elect a Hispanic person or a Latino person.

471
00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:08,360
Speaker 1: I don't even like using the word Hispanic, but in

472
00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:11,560
Speaker 1: a way, it's like it's a good word because politically

473
00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:18,360
Speaker 1: that's what gets elected, right Hispanics, Like, that's the that's

474
00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:23,240
Speaker 1: the political landscape. Yeah, exactly, I would like a Hispanic

475
00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:31,640
Speaker 1: and it really is like very tokenizing. But also you

476
00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:34,480
Speaker 1: can elect a Latino who doesn't know who they are

477
00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:40,239
Speaker 1: and they advance really problematic policies and it happens all

478
00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:41,800
Speaker 1: the time. In fact, it's one of the big reasons

479
00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:45,320
Speaker 1: why I ran for office because I come from the Bronx,

480
00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:48,520
Speaker 1: and it's not like I grew up with the Bronx

481
00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:52,840
Speaker 1: having all white elected officials. We had a lot of

482
00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:58,240
Speaker 1: Latinos and black and brown elected officials, and they advanced

483
00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:04,840
Speaker 1: the causes of corporate interests. That was almost even worse

484
00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:08,680
Speaker 1: in some ways because it hid what was actually going on.

485
00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:13,400
Speaker 1: That's why it's important for us to understand what's real,

486
00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:19,560
Speaker 1: because any corporation can hire a Latino lobbyist and then

487
00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:20,879
Speaker 1: have it scene woke.

488
00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:24,360
Speaker 2: So you're saying, do the work.

489
00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:25,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, for us individual?

490
00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:32,120
Speaker 2: Right, for us individually? So so because we all follow you, right,

491
00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:37,400
Speaker 2: So we know about your gardening. I'm a succulentologist. Oh wonderful,

492
00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:41,000
Speaker 2: I only do succulents. We know about your dog.

493
00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:41,840
Speaker 1: Yeah.

494
00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:44,480
Speaker 2: The disconnecting that I'm going, you know, I'm going to

495
00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:47,000
Speaker 2: pull back, I'm going to slow down. I'm gonna What

496
00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:49,600
Speaker 2: is that looking like for Alexandria in twenty twenty one?

497
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:53,799
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I kind of literally after the sixth I

498
00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,880
Speaker 1: just I don't know what came over me, but I

499
00:34:56,960 --> 00:34:58,520
Speaker 1: decided that I wanted to go camping.

500
00:34:58,960 --> 00:34:59,880
Speaker 2: Oh right, I've seen that.

501
00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:06,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've never camped before, like I was in Girl Scouts,

502
00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:09,120
Speaker 1: but we went on like one camping trip once. My

503
00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:16,120
Speaker 1: Girl Scout leaders were you know, urban, more urban, and

504
00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:19,440
Speaker 1: so one thing that I think the way I really

505
00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:23,960
Speaker 1: internalized what happened on the sixth was like I wanted

506
00:35:24,560 --> 00:35:27,719
Speaker 1: a sense of not just control but also self reliance,

507
00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:32,120
Speaker 1: Like just an idea that I could be dropped in

508
00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:38,839
Speaker 1: the woods and be good. I don't know what it is, but.

509
00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:42,320
Speaker 2: Well, if you can survive in the South Bronx, yeah,

510
00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:44,640
Speaker 2: and you being dropped in the woods.

511
00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:46,759
Speaker 1: It's weird, but that's just kind of I think where

512
00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:49,200
Speaker 1: my mind went. And so I started with just really

513
00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:52,920
Speaker 1: basic like not like bear Girls or anything out here,

514
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:54,640
Speaker 1: but I just started like car camp, Like I got

515
00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:58,960
Speaker 1: a little Coleman grill, you know whatever. And it was

516
00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:03,480
Speaker 1: really cold because I did it almost right after I

517
00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:06,320
Speaker 1: did it, like in late January early February.

518
00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:07,160
Speaker 2: That's freezing.

519
00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:10,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was freezing, but you know, I just felt

520
00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:15,320
Speaker 1: like I needed to be away from all these people

521
00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:19,319
Speaker 1: and all of this like you know, busyness, and so

522
00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:23,080
Speaker 1: I was like, you know what, I'm just going to

523
00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:28,720
Speaker 1: go backpacking. I just started doing these like baby backpacking trips.

524
00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:30,759
Speaker 1: You know I'm not going out too crazy enough that

525
00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:33,040
Speaker 1: I could hike out, but if anything goes wrong, I

526
00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:37,400
Speaker 1: could hike back like two three miles. And it's been

527
00:36:37,719 --> 00:36:44,160
Speaker 1: so therapeutic and so healthy, and I feel like it's

528
00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:49,040
Speaker 1: been one of the most helpful things for me in

529
00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:54,040
Speaker 1: resetting than almost anything else that I've done. Hey, everyone

530
00:36:55,160 --> 00:36:58,600
Speaker 1: hiking again this Sunday. We're going to ask you what

531
00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:05,919
Speaker 1: if I told you that this is the Bronx Pellantry Park.

532
00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:10,439
Speaker 1: And I think that it just goes to show too,

533
00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:14,960
Speaker 1: going back to issues of inequity, is that these are

534
00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:17,880
Speaker 1: things that are actually very difficult for our community structurally

535
00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:22,719
Speaker 1: to be able to access and green space. We know

536
00:37:23,280 --> 00:37:28,200
Speaker 1: in so many different ways, from actual medical studies to

537
00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:35,600
Speaker 1: public health and policy outcomes, that your proximity to land

538
00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:39,320
Speaker 1: and that connection is really really important for people's mental

539
00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:42,640
Speaker 1: health and personal health. I think also in kind of

540
00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:45,640
Speaker 1: talking about who we are, I felt this way when

541
00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:49,360
Speaker 1: I went to Standing Rock, to connecting with indigeneity and

542
00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:55,920
Speaker 1: the indigenity of our identity and connection to nature is

543
00:37:55,960 --> 00:38:00,440
Speaker 1: such an important element to that indigenity. My great grandfather

544
00:38:00,480 --> 00:38:03,879
Speaker 1: in Puerto Rico was a medicine man and very connected

545
00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:08,080
Speaker 1: in the mountains in Utuado, and so much of that

546
00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:11,760
Speaker 1: history is oral and so even though I'm out here

547
00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:17,560
Speaker 1: in the sticks of New York, yeah exactly, but I

548
00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:21,400
Speaker 1: do think that that connection to nature is really to me.

549
00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:25,480
Speaker 1: It really taps into a lot of the indigenous experience.

550
00:38:26,239 --> 00:38:33,960
Speaker 1: And it's really hard, especially as a Borriqua, because our

551
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:42,160
Speaker 1: people experience total genocide. And I'm almost like jealous of

552
00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:45,520
Speaker 1: our primos and our primas and a Mexicano or you know,

553
00:38:45,600 --> 00:38:51,400
Speaker 1: our Peruvian fam and cousins, because there's more of a connectedness.

554
00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:56,560
Speaker 1: And even though all of this was subject to violent colonization,

555
00:38:57,200 --> 00:39:01,279
Speaker 1: there's much more documented history and on standing and identity

556
00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:06,760
Speaker 1: and even language being preserved. And to be Puerto Rican

557
00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:11,480
Speaker 1: is like, you know, you're something. But the history that

558
00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:16,920
Speaker 1: we've been through has done a really strong number on

559
00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:20,840
Speaker 1: connecting us to who we are. It's like how in

560
00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:22,920
Speaker 1: the United States there's a lot of tribes that are

561
00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:26,120
Speaker 1: not recognized by the federal government, and so you don't

562
00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:33,080
Speaker 1: get federal recognition, protection, acknowledgment, And it makes you wonder,

563
00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:39,200
Speaker 1: am I even is this just a story? And it's

564
00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:42,640
Speaker 1: really important because it also cuts to a basic philosophy

565
00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:46,000
Speaker 1: of philosophical shift that I think we need to have

566
00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:48,040
Speaker 1: in this time right now, because we are in a

567
00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:51,120
Speaker 1: time that is challenging not just imperialism and colonialism, but

568
00:39:51,239 --> 00:39:54,600
Speaker 1: challenging capitalism, which in many ways is also a colonial

569
00:39:54,640 --> 00:39:56,920
Speaker 1: and imperialist economic structure.

570
00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:04,799
Speaker 2: That was Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, the congresswoman who represents New

571
00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:08,720
Speaker 2: York's fourteenth district. She spoke to me from her campaign

572
00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:36,840
Speaker 2: office in the Bronx. This episode was produced by Alejandra

573
00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:41,080
Speaker 2: Sarrassad and Nigel Massias and edited by Andrea Lopez Russado,

574
00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:44,880
Speaker 2: with help in fact checking from our intern Oscardeleon. The

575
00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:50,160
Speaker 2: Latino USA team includes Marta Martinez, Mike Sargent, Julia Ta Martinelli,

576
00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:54,920
Speaker 2: Victoria Estrada, Gini Montalgo Rinaldo, Leanos Junior, and Julia Rocha,

577
00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:58,480
Speaker 2: with help from Raoul Prees. Our engineers are Stephanie Labaud,

578
00:40:58,719 --> 00:41:03,000
Speaker 2: Julia Caruso, and Lia Shaw. Our digital editor is Luis Luna.

579
00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:07,360
Speaker 2: Our New York Women's Foundation Ignite fellow is Maria es Kinka.

580
00:41:07,719 --> 00:41:10,640
Speaker 2: Our thew music was composed by sanjelro Renos. If you

581
00:41:10,719 --> 00:41:12,880
Speaker 2: like the music you heard on this episode, stop by

582
00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:16,680
Speaker 2: latinousa dot org. Check out our weekly Spotify playlist. I'm

583
00:41:16,719 --> 00:41:20,680
Speaker 2: your host and executive producer Marie Jojosa. Join us again

584
00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:23,520
Speaker 2: on our next episode, and in the meantime, look for

585
00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:27,439
Speaker 2: us on social media. Epuis ai loos, veo joao.

586
00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:34,080
Speaker 4: Latino USA is made possible in part by W. K.

587
00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:39,600
Speaker 4: Kellogg Foundation, a partner with Communities where Children Come First,

588
00:41:39,880 --> 00:41:44,440
Speaker 4: the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the

589
00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:48,200
Speaker 4: Ford Foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of

590
00:41:48,280 --> 00:41:52,040
Speaker 4: social change worldwide.

591
00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:55,719
Speaker 2: Check out at She's taking your job.

592
00:41:56,200 --> 00:42:01,279
Speaker 1: I'm a PA. Now I need a credit? Thank you.

593
00:42:03,719 --> 00:42:07,400
Speaker 2: I'm Maria no Hoosa. Next Time on Latino USA, artist

594
00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:12,040
Speaker 2: and singer Kaliuchis tells the stories behind her genre defined sound.

595
00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:23,440
Speaker 2: That's next time on Latino USA. If I don't you

596
00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:28,319
Speaker 2: bob with yours your bally lebon meya ba, maybe I'm

597
00:42:28,480 --> 00:42:29,600
Speaker 2: just trying your way to