Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Overcomfort Podcast. I'm your host, Jenniica Lopez.
Speaker 1: Thank you guys so much for choosing to listen to
Speaker 1: this episode today. I know this is just an audio episode.
Speaker 1: If you're watching on YouTube, thank you guys so much.
Speaker 1: Let's act like we're having a homegirl FaceTime chat phone call.
Speaker 1: We're gonna be talking about the past couple weeks in La.
Speaker 1: I want to thank you guys so much for being
Speaker 1: so patient with me and also sending me your well wishes.
Speaker 1: If you guys do not know, or if you guys
Speaker 1: are not from LA, I don't know who would not know,
Speaker 1: but we have been in a crisis apocalypse. LA was
Speaker 1: burning down. Thank god that for our first responders and
Speaker 1: everybody in the front line helping to turn it off
Speaker 1: and their support. Luckily it has been contained. But if
Speaker 1: you guys didn't know, now you know. And I was also.
Speaker 1: I wasn't affected, but I did have two weeks without power.
Speaker 1: So my power company turns it off the power when
Speaker 1: winds are coming in and it could be a potential
Speaker 1: threat to the fires because you know La. But I
Speaker 1: cannot complain. I'm lucky and blessed enough to be able
Speaker 1: to live or know people that have you know, entered
Speaker 1: me into their home and the dog and everything, And
Speaker 1: for that reason, I wasn't able to record an episode,
Speaker 1: and I didn't think it was also the right timing
Speaker 1: due to the fact of everything that was going on.
Speaker 1: Not only did we have fires, but there was also
Speaker 1: ice raids in Bakersfield, Fresno. I want to say Riverside
Speaker 1: as well, but they're kind of going around everywhere, and
Speaker 1: I kind of want to talk about my sperience and
Speaker 1: share with you guys how these last two weeks have been.
Speaker 1: I have also been donating and volunteering my time and
Speaker 1: it is a very humbling experience to be able to
Speaker 1: see everything that is actually going on right in front
Speaker 1: of your face, and you can't just turn a blind eye. So,
Speaker 1: like I said, obviously there has been an insane amount
Speaker 1: of fires. There was like five at one point I
Speaker 1: believe in my house was like in the middle of it.
Speaker 1: It was honestly super scary. And again I'm not going
Speaker 1: to be one to complain if anything this, I want
Speaker 1: this episode, this podcast to just bring awareness. I'm also
Speaker 1: going to be sharing links with you guys that you
Speaker 1: can help and support the families that are displaced, that
Speaker 1: have lost their homes completely. You guys, there is some
Speaker 1: insensitivity going on in this world that it's beyond me.
Speaker 1: I can't believe. Maybe I'm just a person that loves
Speaker 1: everybody too much and that just wants to be able
Speaker 1: to help. But maybe that's a bad part on me.
Speaker 1: But I just see like people even hating on, you know,
Speaker 1: the people that are more fortunate to be able to
Speaker 1: rebuild and restart, and then there's some that aren't. I
Speaker 1: think either way, no matter who it is, we have
Speaker 1: to treat people with kindness and treat them the same way.
Speaker 1: At the end of the day, these people have lost
Speaker 1: their homes completely. They've lost it, could you could even
Speaker 1: say part of their identity. This is hard work and
Speaker 1: money that they have put into their whole lives to
Speaker 1: be able to buy this home or to be able
Speaker 1: to support their families and have nowhere to go. And
Speaker 1: a big f you to the people that started these fires.
Speaker 1: I if you guys are not on the sentence of
Speaker 1: app watch duty the reapp you guys, would, you guys
Speaker 1: need to get on there because I'm going to snitch
Speaker 1: these people out. There's people arseners, people that intentionally wanted
Speaker 1: to start these fires for what reason. I do not know.
Speaker 1: I do know that there's looters that took advantage of
Speaker 1: the fact that people evacuated their homes and went in
Speaker 1: and literally stole from these people. You know, I'm just
Speaker 1: gonna let God handle that, and you know, do my
Speaker 1: part as a human and support and be there for
Speaker 1: people the way that I can and show love and
Speaker 1: be kind. And then there's the ice raids. It is
Speaker 1: so sad, and I feel like it wasn't shed light
Speaker 1: as much, but I want to be able to bring
Speaker 1: it up right now. And I also want to shout
Speaker 1: out to all the creators and my fellow community. What's
Speaker 1: the word? What is the words? Colleagues, acquaintances that have
Speaker 1: also supported. There's also people doing protests. I saw Benji,
Speaker 1: I saw I saw everybody that's from the from I
Speaker 1: want to say, up north going against the raids. People
Speaker 1: were just knocking on doors. And if you guys don't know,
Speaker 1: Bakersfield is a prominently is a Latino dominant community. Especially
Speaker 1: our farm workers, the people that bring food to our
Speaker 1: table that helps apply our needs are just getting deportated
Speaker 1: and I don't know why, and it makes me so
Speaker 1: sad because not only do we have the LA fires
Speaker 1: and people losing their homes, but we also have families
Speaker 1: losing people that they love. I'm not for it. I'm
Speaker 1: definitely like we can't all just get along and just
Speaker 1: be here and love each other. But it is also
Speaker 1: affecting our Latino communities. I've had conversations even with people
Speaker 1: close to me, and I'm when it speaks prominently on
Speaker 1: our Latino community because this is where my heart is at.
Speaker 1: And you know, no, not anything to anybody else, but
Speaker 1: this is my personal experience. My cleaning lady is also
Speaker 1: losing jobs because all of the houses that she would
Speaker 1: work for and the Pacific palisades have burnt down. So
Speaker 1: I want you guys to put into perspective and to
Speaker 1: kind of understand, like, you know, it's not just also
Speaker 1: people that lost their homes or whatever. It's also people
Speaker 1: that are losing their jobs, and I think it is
Speaker 1: important to help and stand up as a community to
Speaker 1: help them provide. Once she told me that, I went
Speaker 1: ahead and shared her number like before I have. She
Speaker 1: even asked me, She's like, can you please do it again?
Speaker 1: Like I need I need work. Everybody you know has
Speaker 1: lost their homes and lost whatever. And I went and
Speaker 1: shared everything. I went and reposted what I could repost.
Speaker 1: I let everybody know that I that I knew that
Speaker 1: was in Bakersfield. Are people that I that I knew
Speaker 1: that new people were close, like, hey, this is what's
Speaker 1: going on. Riverside raids weren't that big of like talked
Speaker 1: about as much. But I made sure, like to anybody
Speaker 1: that knew, anybody, please please just be safe, stay home.
Speaker 1: During the last week, I also went to donate and
Speaker 1: volunteer time at the base camp in the Pacific Palisades.
Speaker 1: This is where everybody goes and eats. They go take
Speaker 1: their break and then they you know whatever, the food truck.
Speaker 1: Let's call it their food court. It was a very
Speaker 1: humbling experience. You just look at these firefighters and these
Speaker 1: cops and the National Guards and the people working in LEDWP.
Speaker 1: So Coyle Edison not me naming all the companies, no,
Speaker 1: but again big shout out to the Los Angeles Fire
Speaker 1: Department and our police department and our countries soldiers and army.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if I'm even saying you're right,
Speaker 1: but you guys know what I mean. We're very grateful.
Speaker 1: I'm very grateful. A lot of the rebuilding and the
Speaker 1: repopulating wouldn't have been done without obviously them. People are
Speaker 1: going back into their homes because of them. But once
Speaker 1: the moment that I got there, I could just see
Speaker 1: the tiredness of the devastation in their face, like they're
Speaker 1: ready to be home. And I'm sure, you know, like
Speaker 1: anybody else who has lost their home wants to be
Speaker 1: home as well. But these are people that have been there.
Speaker 1: Let's we're about to go on two weeks. They haven't
Speaker 1: been home in two weeks, and they're in the same clothes,
Speaker 1: sleeping in cold, ass tense fire engines. I believe the
Speaker 1: fire trucks, their cars. They're unable to, you know, leave
Speaker 1: because of the work that they're doing for our community. Again,
Speaker 1: so thank you guys. But you could just see their
Speaker 1: tiredness and their devastation on their face. And honestly, if
Speaker 1: I were them, I'd be tired of eating that same
Speaker 1: stuff too, that that's there. Because I was there for
Speaker 1: about two three days in a row. I did a
Speaker 1: breakfast run and then I did two dinner runs. But
Speaker 1: it is you could just tell and you know when
Speaker 1: they would say thank you, thank you so much for
Speaker 1: being out here, and I'm like, I'm not doing the
Speaker 1: hard work you guys are, and it is so honorable
Speaker 1: and admirable because you could just see their faces light up,
Speaker 1: like seeing fresh new faces. We were giving them. I
Speaker 1: was friscas, which is what they wanted, or they like
Speaker 1: Lesian falta, I'll go like fresh homemade like they needed.
Speaker 1: They were. You know, a lot of these places are
Speaker 1: donating trays of food, but they're unable to serve themselves.
Speaker 1: So it's like obviously burritos, handheld things that are quick
Speaker 1: and grabbed to go are that much better and faster.
Speaker 1: So if you guys are thinking of donating or yeah,
Speaker 1: donating food or whatever it may be, please donate things
Speaker 1: that are like grab and go and that can stay warm,
Speaker 1: because realistically they're not going to eat it anyways. The
Speaker 1: second day that I went, I made cookies and they
Speaker 1: were just oh my gosh, like this is amazing, like homemade,
Speaker 1: and you could just tell that they are just ready
Speaker 1: to be home and they would come all dirty and
Speaker 1: just tired, and it was very humbling because there's so
Speaker 1: many things that we can complain about in this world.
Speaker 1: We can complain about losing TikTok, which is another thing
Speaker 1: that is just the first world problem that I personally
Speaker 1: do not care about. There's so much bigger things to
Speaker 1: be worrying about, and it was so sad to see
Speaker 1: that much more attention was brought up about TikTok than
Speaker 1: about everything else that's going on anyways. But yes, being
Speaker 1: there was also just something that also brought healing to me,
Speaker 1: and I want to keep doing it, to do it again,
Speaker 1: but I also hope that they're able to go home.
Speaker 1: I had personal conversations with firefighters and police officers as
Speaker 1: I was serving them food. Shout out to go to Hibachi,
Speaker 1: Shout out to Lupita's Taco, Shout out to everybody that
Speaker 1: has been able to just donate their time and their
Speaker 1: selfless money, not even money for themselves, like this is
Speaker 1: coming out straight out of pocket to be able to
Speaker 1: support them. And they're the firefighters, and they're looking to
Speaker 1: be there for like a month or two to help
Speaker 1: rebuild the population and to bring back the community and
Speaker 1: make sure that there's no more fires. But I think
Speaker 1: more than anything, we're gonna want a quick break and
Speaker 1: we'll be right back. Welcome back you guys, I think
Speaker 1: more than anything, that stood out to me is also
Speaker 1: how the community came together faster than the government, and
Speaker 1: that is the sad reality of where our world is.
Speaker 1: I love that we were able to be there to
Speaker 1: support and the resilience and the solidarity within the Latino community,
Speaker 1: and how even in the face of displacement, fear, and uncertainty,
Speaker 1: we could come together to rise above everything. And I
Speaker 1: think that it's still super important. It wasn't just physical
Speaker 1: flames that our families feared. It was the devastation, the
Speaker 1: loss of homes, the difficulty in securing emergency assistance, the
Speaker 1: anxiety over their immigration status. People always living on edge
Speaker 1: without the resources to rebuild, and obviously with now that
Speaker 1: ICE is targeting undocumented individuals during this process, it's even
Speaker 1: more it's more anxious. It's it's just we're always on edge.
Speaker 1: So I love that Latinos we can come together and
Speaker 1: support each other. And I always say that I feel
Speaker 1: like we're a family no matter what you look at
Speaker 1: somebody who's Latino, and even with our whoever else. I
Speaker 1: don't want to just target this super to the Latinos.
Speaker 1: But if you guys can understand me and obviously not
Speaker 1: take it out of context. I do feel like unis
Speaker 1: mass as my sister says, and there is places to donate.
Speaker 1: I know that the Altadena location people are no longer
Speaker 1: taking clothes. They need more hygienic products. They need tooth
Speaker 1: based underwear, deorderant socks, things like that. Not so much
Speaker 1: clothes like actual like shirts and pants and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: I think I think they are overflooded. That is the word.
Speaker 1: They are overflooded with clothes, which is a good thing.
Speaker 1: I know that in the Pacific Palisades or wherever our
Speaker 1: firefighters the fire stations are at there. From what I seen,
Speaker 1: they have a lot of waters, a lot of gatorades,
Speaker 1: a lot of monsters. If you can provide hot food
Speaker 1: and something fresh, that is ten times better. They need
Speaker 1: sunscreen because they're in the sun all day, Chapstick. The
Speaker 1: winds have been insane. Me being out there for two
Speaker 1: to three days, my lips where the dryas that they
Speaker 1: have ever been. As far as supporting and bringing awareness
Speaker 1: to the ice raids, you guys just talk about it.
Speaker 1: Be there. If you know somebody that knows somebody, share
Speaker 1: the word. Obviously they have gotten worse, and I do
Speaker 1: feel like it has to do with a lot about politics,
Speaker 1: but we're not going to get into that. We're just
Speaker 1: here to support and to bring awareness to our families
Speaker 1: and who we know. Whether it's donating to organizations on
Speaker 1: the front lines, advocating for immigration rights, or simply showing
Speaker 1: up for those in need, we all have a role
Speaker 1: to play. So make sure you guys stand, stand with
Speaker 1: the Latino communities, stand with the families displaced by the
Speaker 1: fires and ice rates, and together we can build a
Speaker 1: world where no one has to face these battles alone.
Speaker 1: And I feel like when we are when we feel alone,
Speaker 1: like we feel we do, we fear for our lives.
Speaker 1: So let's let's not make people feel that we don't
Speaker 1: have a community. We cannot forget that these are human beings, mothers, fathers,
Speaker 1: children who has been unpended by the force of nature
Speaker 1: and man made their struggles. Their struggles are my struggles,
Speaker 1: their struggles are your struggles, and our resilience is a
Speaker 1: reminder of what it's meant to come together. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: leave links here on the description you guys, there's people
Speaker 1: that have lost their dogs. Also, if you guys have
Speaker 1: lost a dog or know somebody that lost a dog
Speaker 1: because of the fire. There's links that are lost dogs
Speaker 1: that are waiting to be claimed, animals in general, there's
Speaker 1: like ducks and bunnies. I saw on there again, hot
Speaker 1: food for the firefighters and the frontline workers, chapsticks, all that.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna share that information. And if you guys are
Speaker 1: affected by the fires or know somebody that is is
Speaker 1: in need of help and support, please please please do
Speaker 1: not hesitate to reach out to the Overcome for podcast
Speaker 1: on Instagram my personal instagram, Jenica Underscore Lopez, and remember
Speaker 1: to always be kind to one another. We do not
Speaker 1: know what one is going through and the struggles that
Speaker 1: they face, so always always always speak light and be
Speaker 1: kind and don't forget to just spread love today, you guys,
Speaker 1: spread love and yeah, shout oh and again, shout out
Speaker 1: to all the creators, you guys. Shout out to Lata,
Speaker 1: shout out to Leave It Lashes, Rebel Management, Louis Yowatzi,
Speaker 1: who else, Adam Ray, Candy Lover, everybody from the IE.
Speaker 1: I saw people doing donation centers. You guys, this is
Speaker 1: what it is about being community. Let's do it again.
Speaker 1: Let's do it for our people. And yeah, make sure
Speaker 1: you guys like, comment, subscribe, leave a review, and I
Speaker 1: will see you guys next week. Please stay safe and
Speaker 1: which what we see those by. Overcome For podcast is
Speaker 1: a production of IHEARTM podcast Network