1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: Lok at Our Radio is a radiophonic novela, which. 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:10,360 Speaker 2: Is just a very extra way of saying a podcast. 3 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: I'm fiosa fem. 4 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 2: And I am ma la munios. 5 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:18,240 Speaker 3: We're podcasting through another Trump election year. We've been podcasting 6 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:22,800 Speaker 3: through election years, a global pandemic, civic unrest, political controversies, 7 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 3: the Me Too movement, the rise of TikTok, and we 8 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:25,599 Speaker 3: are still here. 9 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 2: We're not done telling stories. 10 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:32,280 Speaker 1: We're still making podcasts. We're older, we're wiser, We're even 11 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:35,840 Speaker 1: podcasting through a new decade of our lives. 12 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 3: Since twenty sixteen, we've been making locat Our Radio independently 13 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:44,239 Speaker 3: until we joined iHeartMedia's Michael Dura Network in twenty twenty two. 14 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: From our lips to your ears, fall in love with 15 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 1: Locata Radio like you never have before. 16 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 3: Welcome to Season nine. Love that first listen. 17 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: Ola La Loka Motes. Welcome to Season nine of Loka 18 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 1: Dora Radio. 19 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:04,040 Speaker 3: I'm diosa and I am Mala. 20 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: Loka Tora Radio is a podcast dedicated to ourchiving our 21 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:11,760 Speaker 1: present and shifting the culture forward. You're tuning into Capitolo 22 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: Do two fourteen. 23 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:19,319 Speaker 3: Last time on Loca Tora Radio. We interviewed Priscadriguez about 24 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 3: her new book Bis and Primas, which explores the Latina 25 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 3: archetypes that we find in most of our families. 26 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 4: I think I write for Latina's I think it's more 27 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:33,960 Speaker 4: a millennial Latina for sure. Latinas who went to pwi's 28 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 4: Latinas were raised with really strict conservative Christian parents, like 29 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 4: who understand when I say speaking in tongues like that's 30 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 4: the Let's. 31 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 3: Tune in, leave a comment, subscribe and share with a friend. 32 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: Almost every election cycle here at Lokata Radio, we produce 33 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: a series called Latinas in Politics. On today's episode, we're 34 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: going to be talking to multi hyphenic creative Life Garcia. 35 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: You may also know her as Lose Warrior. She used 36 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: to host a podcast called Let There Be Loose. She 37 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: is also the author of the book titled Wealth Warrior. 38 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: She has been creating workshops about financial literacy and the 39 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: stock market, specifically for marginalized communities for the past several years, 40 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:25,960 Speaker 1: but now she's shifting into local politics in the state 41 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:26,640 Speaker 1: of Texas. 42 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 3: Linda Garcia, in this new chapter of her life, will 43 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:33,960 Speaker 3: be running uncontested in the upcoming November elections for the 44 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 3: office of Texas State Representative for District one oh seven, 45 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 3: and she is slated to be sworn into office in 46 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 3: January twenty twenty four. She had a very unconventional journey 47 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,359 Speaker 3: into elected politics. We're going to hear all about it 48 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,880 Speaker 3: and how a text message at a Christmas party led 49 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 3: to this new political position for her. 50 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:55,360 Speaker 5: Stick around. 51 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 3: It's a really good interview and you're going to want 52 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 3: to hear all of it. 53 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:06,919 Speaker 5: My name is Linda Garcia. I am calling from Dallas, Texas, 54 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 5: and I am currently also the Texas State Representative elect 55 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:15,800 Speaker 5: for the Democratic Party. 56 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 3: So Linda, tell us about your journey and how you 57 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 3: got into politics. What brought you to this place where 58 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 3: you decided to run for office. 59 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 5: You know, it's really interesting because in my early twenties, 60 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 5: which was about twenty five years ago, I did have 61 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 5: this intention of I want to be a politician one day, 62 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 5: and I had big aspirations. I thought one day I'll 63 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 5: be mayor of Dallas. I'm originally from California, but at 64 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 5: the time I was living in Dallas, and I started 65 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 5: working for the City of Dallas, and I got to 66 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 5: meet some city officials and just kind of get to 67 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 5: see some of the behind the scenes, and I decided, Okay, 68 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 5: absolutely not. I will not enter politics. It's for sure 69 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 5: not for me. So I moved away from the idea. 70 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 5: And then after graduating college, a few years later, I 71 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 5: met I had a friend that was a lobbyist, and 72 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,120 Speaker 5: he took me out to dinner. He's a Republican and 73 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:25,920 Speaker 5: he had mentioned that he thought I would be great 74 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:29,920 Speaker 5: to become a candidate one day and represent the Republican Party, 75 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:32,679 Speaker 5: which I thought was so wild, like wow, there's really 76 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:38,280 Speaker 5: people out here on the hunt looking for potential candidates. 77 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:41,280 Speaker 5: And I really was impressed with I mean, we're talking 78 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:46,160 Speaker 5: about twenty years ago, this idea that they understood where 79 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 5: Latinos were headed and that they should definitely start seeking 80 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,719 Speaker 5: viable candidates. So I thought that was really interesting and 81 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 5: I was like, no, I'm not doing that. So already 82 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 5: there were two instances in my life where the idea 83 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 5: of politics was around me, like the energy was around 84 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 5: And then this last time, I was asked by our 85 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:15,560 Speaker 5: current state representative, Representative Victoria yavik Riado, who is very 86 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:19,520 Speaker 5: well respected here in the state of Texas. She had 87 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:23,040 Speaker 5: a very serious inquiry and asked for me to strongly 88 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:29,480 Speaker 5: consider becoming a state representative and running for office, and honestly, 89 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,359 Speaker 5: I was flattered, but there was a big part of 90 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:35,160 Speaker 5: me that was terrified of the idea, and I was 91 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 5: I was kind of in limbo. She then started talking 92 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 5: to me more about it, and I'm like, oh, this 93 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 5: is the very serious inquiry. I asked her how much 94 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 5: does a state representative make, as you should ask when 95 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 5: anyone approaches you for a job. And when she told 96 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 5: me that a state representative in Texas makes seven thousand, 97 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 5: I was like a month and she said no, a year. 98 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:07,520 Speaker 5: I was in shock, and I started to do a 99 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:10,799 Speaker 5: lot of research. I started to research how much state 100 00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:15,600 Speaker 5: representatives get paid in other states, and there's like, the 101 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 5: comparison is crazy. And then to start to look at 102 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:24,159 Speaker 5: Republican states versus democratic states was even crazier. So I 103 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 5: saw immediately the system at play. And then on top 104 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 5: of that, I checked to see how much the per 105 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 5: capita income is in my district, the district that I 106 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 5: would be representing, which is about one hundred and ninety 107 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 5: five thousand Texans, And in my district the per capita 108 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 5: is twenty four thousand a year, and the Latino population 109 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:52,599 Speaker 5: is at sixty five percent, and so I really started 110 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:55,200 Speaker 5: to think, how are you going to find someone that 111 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 5: can afford to actually run for this position? And then 112 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,920 Speaker 5: and that was a no brainer for me. I did 113 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:06,679 Speaker 5: it because the position only paid seven thousand a year, 114 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 5: and I saw the system at play. I understood immediately 115 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 5: why I was losing all of my rights here in 116 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:16,800 Speaker 5: the state of Texas. And more importantly, I see the 117 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 5: Texas as a leading state in the sense that if 118 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:25,520 Speaker 5: Texas passes a law, then other Republican states follow, so 119 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 5: we are in a very important territory. And then the 120 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 5: setup of the situation was that I probably had a 121 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 5: ninety five percent chance of not having a candidate run 122 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,120 Speaker 5: against me, so it would be like a straight slam dunk. 123 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 5: It was like an episode on Scandal, honestly, if I 124 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 5: could describe it. And I was given about three hours 125 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 5: to make a decision. I came home, had a family meeting, 126 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 5: emergency family meeting with all of my family members, very 127 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 5: serious conversations on how our lives would change. My sister 128 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 5: in law, who is a she works in politics. She 129 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 5: works for Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and has for years. She's 130 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 5: also asked me to run for politics. She's also made 131 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 5: serious inquiries and thought that I would be a good candidate. 132 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 5: Of course, she was like, you have to do this. 133 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:28,920 Speaker 5: So I had the support of my family and I 134 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,200 Speaker 5: was terrified. And that's how it happened. That's how I 135 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:36,439 Speaker 5: went into the journey. It was literally an overnight decision. 136 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:41,160 Speaker 5: I was then thrown into registering for the position. Cameras 137 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:45,840 Speaker 5: are on me interviews. At that point, I hadn't really 138 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 5: established any policies or what I wanted to do for 139 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:53,199 Speaker 5: my district. It all happened so fast. 140 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:55,360 Speaker 1: Don't go anywhere, lookamotives. 141 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:56,559 Speaker 5: We'll be right. 142 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:15,479 Speaker 2: Back, and we're back with more of our episode. 143 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 3: So this article in D magazine talks about you at 144 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:24,440 Speaker 3: a Christmas party in December of last year when you 145 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:28,600 Speaker 3: got a text message from Victoria Criado at that time 146 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 3: the state rep for Texas House District one oh seven, 147 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:34,440 Speaker 3: and that she wanted you to replace her because she 148 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:36,880 Speaker 3: was running for a different seat. But she had never 149 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 3: met you or spoken to you, but she still wanted 150 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:42,640 Speaker 3: to reach out and ask you to take her seat. 151 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 3: Why do you think she had that confidence in you 152 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:48,960 Speaker 3: when she had never met or spoken to you before. 153 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:52,360 Speaker 3: What was it that led her to believe that you 154 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:53,200 Speaker 3: could do the job. 155 00:09:54,559 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 5: Sure. So it was actually a close contact of her 156 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:02,680 Speaker 5: that reached out first to builter out this idea. And 157 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 5: this contact of hers his name is Ramido. He has 158 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:09,360 Speaker 5: an organization out here called Solmost Dejas. I was on 159 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 5: the board for almost Dejas. 160 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:12,000 Speaker 4: And. 161 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:17,320 Speaker 5: Ramido had also been semi pushing me to run for office. 162 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 5: I mean, I guess this is like a repeated theme 163 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 5: now that I'm talking it through. This is definitely a 164 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 5: repeated theme in my life. And I feel like that 165 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:29,200 Speaker 5: was probably initially more his confidence because I was sitting 166 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 5: on the board and he was familiar with my work 167 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:35,160 Speaker 5: and he walked her through my work. When Victoria and 168 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:37,880 Speaker 5: I met the following day, one of the things I 169 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,720 Speaker 5: told her is like, I'm not changing anything about me 170 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:43,200 Speaker 5: because I don't know what this position in tells or 171 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:47,680 Speaker 5: what they're demanding or wanting from me. I don't understand 172 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:52,160 Speaker 5: the political process. I'm walking through it brand spanking new. 173 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:55,960 Speaker 5: So it was really important for me to communicate that 174 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:59,040 Speaker 5: I was going to maintain integrity on who I was. 175 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:02,880 Speaker 5: But one of the things that Victoria talks about is 176 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 5: that she could see that I had been doing the work, 177 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:09,440 Speaker 5: and so the work means that I had been taking 178 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:15,520 Speaker 5: steps to work with our community and shift current circumstances 179 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:18,280 Speaker 5: in our community. And so for a lot of people, 180 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:21,679 Speaker 5: that is what a public servant does. That is what 181 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:25,560 Speaker 5: someone in politics aims to do, hopefully, if their heart 182 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:29,040 Speaker 5: is in the right place, is take action and make changes. 183 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:33,160 Speaker 5: So I know that they went through my work and 184 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:36,319 Speaker 5: my you know, my socials and all of that, and 185 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:41,199 Speaker 5: she was fine with the way I am and said 186 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:44,640 Speaker 5: that's okay, I see, you know, I've seen your stuff. 187 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 5: We still would like to move forward and ask you 188 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:52,480 Speaker 5: to consider taking this role. She also, you know, is 189 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:56,680 Speaker 5: a strong politician here as I mentioned, and she has 190 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:02,520 Speaker 5: aspirations to move into bigger spaces to make a bigger impact. 191 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:05,320 Speaker 5: So I'm sure that was also a big part of 192 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:06,440 Speaker 5: the decision. 193 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:10,600 Speaker 1: Can you share with our listeners that maybe aren't familiar 194 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:14,080 Speaker 1: with what is a representative? 195 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:14,440 Speaker 4: Like? 196 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:17,160 Speaker 1: What does it mean to be a Texas State rep 197 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 1: Democratic nominee? What does it entail, what does a job 198 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 1: look like, and what does the district look like? 199 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:32,000 Speaker 5: Yeah, so basically, rights that we currently have here in Texas, 200 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 5: like the abortion ban, all of those are voted on 201 00:12:35,679 --> 00:12:40,720 Speaker 5: by an amount of representatives that represent the constituents or 202 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:44,920 Speaker 5: the folks that live in the representatives district. So you're 203 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 5: basically entrusting your voting rights on a state representative to 204 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 5: vote reflecting your personal beliefs, morals, values, et cetera. A 205 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:02,559 Speaker 5: state representative can also come up with bill ideas and 206 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 5: present those bill ideas, or carry someone else's bill idea 207 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:10,880 Speaker 5: and get those bill ideas past and then turn into law. 208 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:14,320 Speaker 5: So it is basically a body of folks that vote 209 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:18,839 Speaker 5: on specific bills that then become law, and either we're 210 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:21,720 Speaker 5: getting our rights taken away like we're witnessing here in 211 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:24,640 Speaker 5: Texas the majority of the time, especially as of late, 212 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:28,480 Speaker 5: or we're implementing additional laws. 213 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:32,200 Speaker 3: So while you were living in California, had you ever 214 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 3: considered running for office in California or is this something 215 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:39,040 Speaker 3: that was destined to happen in Texas? You mentioned becoming 216 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:42,400 Speaker 3: like the mayor of Dallas and being a politician in Dallas. 217 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:45,920 Speaker 3: Why Texas and why not California. 218 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:49,120 Speaker 5: That's so interesting you asked that question. That is such 219 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:54,480 Speaker 5: a good question. You know, places carry energy, there's just 220 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,720 Speaker 5: a completely different energy in California. I was born there. 221 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:02,320 Speaker 5: I lived there until twelve years old. At twelve, I 222 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:05,880 Speaker 5: moved to Dallas. At twenty seven, I moved back in 223 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:11,360 Speaker 5: pursuit of creativity. I used to write, produce, and direct 224 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 5: local TV commercials here in Dallas, Texas, and I left 225 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:20,080 Speaker 5: back to my home state to pursue film. I went 226 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 5: on to launch the first Latino movie studio called Bantaion Films. 227 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 5: I got to work on a lot of films via that. 228 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:32,120 Speaker 5: I then went into Netflix. And so for me, what 229 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:37,000 Speaker 5: California had was a lot of creativity, a lot of 230 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:41,080 Speaker 5: pushing back against the resistance that I was so familiar 231 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:46,200 Speaker 5: with here in Texas. Texas has very strong energy of assimilation. 232 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:51,680 Speaker 5: And it's almost like when I'm here in Texas, which 233 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:56,200 Speaker 5: I've spent both my entire life. I've spent time in 234 00:14:56,280 --> 00:15:00,200 Speaker 5: both places, and a lot of what I did deal 235 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 5: with here does feel a little bit more formal and 236 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:07,520 Speaker 5: more political, even just exploring the stock market and finance 237 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:12,120 Speaker 5: that just has much more of a Texas energy. And 238 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 5: then when I'm in California, I get to explore something 239 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 5: that is more spiritual and more creative. And it's these 240 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:23,760 Speaker 5: two aspects that live inside of me and I feel 241 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:27,359 Speaker 5: like it's because I've gotten to live in both places, 242 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:33,360 Speaker 5: and I feel like it's it's also I don't not 243 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 5: that the word fun is the correct word. But I'm 244 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:41,960 Speaker 5: exploring these two very distinct parts of my brain. A 245 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 5: part of me that gets to be an intellect and 246 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:49,160 Speaker 5: dive into data and numbers, and then this other part 247 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 5: of me in California that gets to be free spirited. 248 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:56,120 Speaker 5: And I'm just both both spaces. But when I'm in 249 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 5: California it pulls one side of me, and when I'm 250 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 5: in Texas it pulls another side of me. I don't 251 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 5: know if that makes sense. 252 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:05,800 Speaker 1: That does make sense, And I want to ask you 253 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: something because now you've shared, right, you've lived in both states, 254 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:12,880 Speaker 1: one blue, one red, and we hear and I don't 255 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:15,480 Speaker 1: know how true it is, but sometimes you know, to 256 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:17,840 Speaker 1: be a little bit of a masochist. I will read 257 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:23,160 Speaker 1: the comments on Instagram and people. I'll see comments that say, 258 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:26,160 Speaker 1: this is why I'm leaving California and moving to Texas, right, 259 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:29,080 Speaker 1: this is why I'm leaving a blue state and going 260 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:33,000 Speaker 1: to a red state. And so you know, we live here. 261 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 2: We think it's great, yes we do. 262 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 1: We don't live in a red state. But as someone 263 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 1: that's lived in both, you know, what has been your 264 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 1: experience of living in a red state during all of 265 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:49,920 Speaker 1: these huge crucial changes that have happened in Texas, like 266 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:52,120 Speaker 1: the abortion band and like so many others. 267 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 5: So let's talk about some of the positives first. Some 268 00:16:56,400 --> 00:17:00,480 Speaker 5: of the positives for me here in Texas is the 269 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 5: ability to build generational wealth. That does come so much 270 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:08,400 Speaker 5: more easier. You can purchase a home, it is much 271 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 5: more affordable. The quality of life increases, and when I'm 272 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:16,639 Speaker 5: talking about the quality of life, I'm specifically talking about 273 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:19,960 Speaker 5: a roof over head, roots and vegetables that I can 274 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,720 Speaker 5: now you know, afford much more comfortably that are organic, 275 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:26,840 Speaker 5: and that type of space. My son goes to a 276 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:30,480 Speaker 5: private school. Things that I can afford that I was 277 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,000 Speaker 5: never able to afford in California. That felt so much 278 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:38,800 Speaker 5: more difficult, right, So that is the biggest row. It 279 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:41,879 Speaker 5: was definitely a sacrifice in the sense of, you know, 280 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 5: the weather and my friends and the creative space that 281 00:17:46,119 --> 00:17:50,480 Speaker 5: I love so much, and the accessibility to creative spaces 282 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 5: at this stage in my life, at forty four years old, 283 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:56,639 Speaker 5: I just felt like it was the right move for me, 284 00:17:57,080 --> 00:18:01,679 Speaker 5: And yeah, there are definitely pros and cons, And again, 285 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:05,119 Speaker 5: I think something that is really interesting is just the 286 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:10,640 Speaker 5: difference of Mexican Americans here versus and I'm speaking from 287 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:14,720 Speaker 5: a Mexican American perspective as a child of immigrants versus 288 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:21,680 Speaker 5: Mexican Americans in California. So I guess navigating those two 289 00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:26,480 Speaker 5: energies and seeing the pros and the cons out here 290 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 5: in Texas, it's very behind in terms of progress and 291 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 5: the ability to freely express ourselves in comparison to the 292 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 5: beauty of California, continuously pushing against resistance and against a 293 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:45,520 Speaker 5: simulation coming up with, you know, our own culture in California, 294 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,480 Speaker 5: going all the way back to bachuco DA's and to 295 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:53,240 Speaker 5: low writer and Cholo movements where we were continuously pushing 296 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 5: against forms of assimilation and resisting. We're here. It was 297 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:00,800 Speaker 5: life was easier if you assimilated. 298 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:03,360 Speaker 1: We hope you're enjoying this interview. 299 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:19,479 Speaker 3: Stay tuned, We're back, and we hope you enjoy the 300 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:23,719 Speaker 3: rest of the interview. On the topic of assimilation, there 301 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:29,240 Speaker 3: are so many levels to assimilation and getting into politics, 302 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:33,840 Speaker 3: I feel probably has its own type of assimilation. And 303 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:38,920 Speaker 3: what you've already shared, what you said when you first considered, 304 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:42,000 Speaker 3: you know, entering office, was that you're not deleting anything 305 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:45,080 Speaker 3: off your Instagram. You're not changing who you are. Why 306 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:48,600 Speaker 3: was that so important to you and the Instagram specifically, 307 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:50,480 Speaker 3: because I feel like there are people out there who 308 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:53,919 Speaker 3: maybe are not on Instagram the way we are, Maybe 309 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 3: it doesn't hold a place in their lives the way 310 00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:58,560 Speaker 3: it does for us and for you, And so I'm 311 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:02,399 Speaker 3: curious why, specific the social media space you wanted to 312 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:05,640 Speaker 3: protect your archive and your identity and what that meant 313 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:07,359 Speaker 3: for you. 314 00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:11,760 Speaker 5: You know, we had just I mean, I was very 315 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:17,280 Speaker 5: outspoken after October seventh in terms of being pro Palestine, 316 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:20,280 Speaker 5: and so I think that when I was saying Instagram, 317 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:23,320 Speaker 5: what I was really saying is I'm not deleting my 318 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:27,880 Speaker 5: pro Palestine content that I have highlighted. That was really 319 00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 5: really important for me. And of course everything else comes 320 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:36,920 Speaker 5: second in terms of other things that I've spoken up 321 00:20:37,119 --> 00:20:40,439 Speaker 5: on and had been very vocal. But that was a 322 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:43,680 Speaker 5: way for me to protect that space, and I had 323 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:47,119 Speaker 5: just come off of speaking on it. I was also, 324 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:52,160 Speaker 5: in my sphere, the first one to speak up about it. 325 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:55,640 Speaker 5: I also received a lot of backlash for speaking up 326 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:59,040 Speaker 5: on it. But I also came from a background where 327 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 5: my sister in law had gone to the West Bank, 328 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:06,600 Speaker 5: you know, in twenty nineteen, and she had been educating 329 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:11,120 Speaker 5: us on Palestine for years on what was taking place. 330 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:15,360 Speaker 5: So when October seventh happened, I already had all of 331 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:20,239 Speaker 5: this context, and I just felt like this was it 332 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:23,280 Speaker 5: was going to be really important that I not waiver 333 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 5: and not be bullied or feared into a space where 334 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 5: I lose myself for the cause. So in other words, 335 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:35,760 Speaker 5: that I wasn't going to give up a part of 336 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:39,280 Speaker 5: myself so that I could be a politician and vote 337 00:21:39,359 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 5: for certain progressive things, but not be able to vote 338 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:48,160 Speaker 5: for all progressive things. That's really important to me, and 339 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:52,359 Speaker 5: that was what I was mostly. That's where my head 340 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:56,120 Speaker 5: was fresh off of that conversation and where we were 341 00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:56,960 Speaker 5: at the time. 342 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 1: I love that you mentioned being pro Palestine. There's this 343 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 1: pressure once you get into politics to lean a certain 344 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:09,400 Speaker 1: way or have certain views, And you know, that's so admirable, 345 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:14,600 Speaker 1: right because I think that pressure is intense. When you 346 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:18,399 Speaker 1: feel like there's that backlash can really affect It's a 347 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:21,480 Speaker 1: domino effect in our lives in some ways. But it's 348 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:24,160 Speaker 1: really about like, what do you really value and who 349 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:27,160 Speaker 1: do you really value? And how important are your values 350 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:32,040 Speaker 1: to you? And I feel like that is so aligned 351 00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: with who you are as a person and now running 352 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,639 Speaker 1: for an elected position. You've also had some photos be 353 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:43,160 Speaker 1: weaponized against you, So can you talk about that as 354 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,760 Speaker 1: well and tell us what the photos are. I know 355 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:48,800 Speaker 1: what they were for, but if you can just paint 356 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:50,840 Speaker 1: the picture for the listener, sure. 357 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:56,680 Speaker 5: So I am very inspired by black culture. I always 358 00:22:56,760 --> 00:23:00,520 Speaker 5: have been, growing up in southern California in and you know, 359 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:03,760 Speaker 5: the I was the nineteen I was born in nineteen eighties. 360 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:10,480 Speaker 5: So my first experience with something that wasn't like all 361 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:14,119 Speaker 5: like uh, like my mom for example, we grew up 362 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:18,399 Speaker 5: watching Spanish television and like Quen Senerra and delenovelas, and 363 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:20,919 Speaker 5: so the first time I got a taste of something 364 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:26,440 Speaker 5: that wasn't fully white was black culture like Yo, MTV 365 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:31,000 Speaker 5: raps and so n WA and just all of this 366 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:35,600 Speaker 5: rich culture where I felt I could look towards that 367 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:40,080 Speaker 5: didn't that felt more closer than me than watching telenovelas 368 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:42,879 Speaker 5: with my mom or wal Mercado or whatever it is 369 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 5: that she was watching at the time on Spanish television. 370 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:50,119 Speaker 5: And so I have embedded that in my book. I 371 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:53,360 Speaker 5: have rap lyrics at the beginning of every chapter, and 372 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:57,119 Speaker 5: I have pictures that I took in a Cugi sweater 373 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,919 Speaker 5: and in these pictures we were promo the book and 374 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:04,359 Speaker 5: just promoting the brand, and there's you know, holding a 375 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:07,440 Speaker 5: stack of money like a telephone. It was the funnest 376 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:10,680 Speaker 5: shoot I've ever done in my entire life that I love. 377 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:14,480 Speaker 5: I love that shoot, and I have to admit, though, 378 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:18,520 Speaker 5: there was this initial part of me, because I am human, 379 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:22,359 Speaker 5: coming into the space and this like desire to like 380 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,240 Speaker 5: I felt the desire in my head to like want 381 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,160 Speaker 5: to like wear long sleeves and cover up the tattoos 382 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:32,160 Speaker 5: that I have on my forearms. Like there was instantly 383 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:36,159 Speaker 5: this automatic like how should I do my makeup? And 384 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:40,480 Speaker 5: immediately I was like, Okay, I see, I am acknowledging 385 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 5: that you're afraid to walk into this space being authentically you. 386 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:48,000 Speaker 5: This is what we're pushing against. First is my own thoughts, 387 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:51,600 Speaker 5: my own limitations about how I like to show up 388 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:55,159 Speaker 5: as a person. And so I'm in the space, and 389 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:57,800 Speaker 5: there were there were moments where I would look at 390 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:00,840 Speaker 5: my stuff and I'm like, this isn't political, like, why 391 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:03,080 Speaker 5: am I in this space? I do not fit in. 392 00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:07,000 Speaker 5: I just felt like out of you know, the cool 393 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:13,760 Speaker 5: Latino elected click and sure enough, all of my everything 394 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:19,120 Speaker 5: I was feeling was projected. And d magazine did a 395 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:22,639 Speaker 5: really stupid little piece on me that was maybe like 396 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:27,840 Speaker 5: two paragraphs, and they made fun of me holding the 397 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:32,040 Speaker 5: money like a phone, stating that I believe that I 398 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:35,040 Speaker 5: could use the phone a stack of one hundred dollars 399 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:40,600 Speaker 5: bills for money. I'm a koujie swear a sweater wearing Latina. 400 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:46,040 Speaker 5: And then the rumor started amongst lobbyists and politicians throughout 401 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:50,080 Speaker 5: the entire state, and it was getting back to me 402 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:54,400 Speaker 5: from other lobbyists and from other politicians what other politicians 403 00:25:54,400 --> 00:26:00,040 Speaker 5: and other lobbyists were saying. I was so livid, and 404 00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:02,639 Speaker 5: I was at the same time hurt, you know. I 405 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:07,399 Speaker 5: sort of felt bullied and picked on and judged for pictures. 406 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:11,480 Speaker 5: And honestly, I'm not new to this. I'm used to this. 407 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,840 Speaker 5: I am a teen mom. I had my first child 408 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:18,560 Speaker 5: at fourteen years old. I've been in gangs. My family 409 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:21,119 Speaker 5: has stopped talking to me. My father still to this 410 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,359 Speaker 5: day doesn't talk to me. There's always been perceptions of 411 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:28,440 Speaker 5: who I am, and very rarely does someone actually get 412 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:32,560 Speaker 5: to know my intellect or what I believe. And so 413 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:36,479 Speaker 5: I just felt like, here's this thing showing up again, 414 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:42,040 Speaker 5: and I do what I feel I do best, and 415 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:45,560 Speaker 5: that is be very honest and use that thing that 416 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,760 Speaker 5: someone is using against me and just flip it, transmute it. 417 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 5: I'm an alchemist at the core, and I just took 418 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:55,000 Speaker 5: that energy and said, this is what's happening. I'm going 419 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:59,760 Speaker 5: to slap this picture. Instead of being shamed into a 420 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:03,760 Speaker 5: of what I might be, I'm going to just use 421 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:06,639 Speaker 5: this as a fundraiser and I'm going to amplify the 422 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:08,800 Speaker 5: picture as much as possible. I put it on a 423 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:12,080 Speaker 5: tote and I'm like, I'm going to fundraise from this. 424 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:16,320 Speaker 5: And so that is sort of what it's transpired in that. 425 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:18,159 Speaker 3: I love it. You took it and you turned it 426 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:19,440 Speaker 3: into merge. 427 00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:21,560 Speaker 1: I was going to say the branding. 428 00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:25,160 Speaker 3: The branding is on point and consistent at this stage 429 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:27,840 Speaker 3: of your life. Have you been inducted? Have you been 430 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:28,320 Speaker 3: sworn in? 431 00:27:28,359 --> 00:27:32,600 Speaker 5: I should say I get sworn in second Tuesday in January. 432 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:36,320 Speaker 3: Okay, amazing, So in twenty twenty five, and when you 433 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:39,840 Speaker 3: when you were first approached about entering political office. Earlier 434 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:42,239 Speaker 3: in the interview, you talked about not necessarily having like 435 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:45,120 Speaker 3: a platform, of course, because you weren't running for office. 436 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,679 Speaker 3: But now at this stage of your political journey, what 437 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:52,560 Speaker 3: is your platform, what are your your points and your goals, 438 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:55,919 Speaker 3: and how are you engaging the community that you're going 439 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:56,760 Speaker 3: to be representing. 440 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:01,080 Speaker 5: Yeah, so I wanted to make sure that I don't 441 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:05,280 Speaker 5: veer away from what I already know. And I have 442 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:10,600 Speaker 5: spent the last ten years really focusing on the stock market, 443 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 5: focusing on understanding investing, focusing on understanding money, and then 444 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:19,399 Speaker 5: focusing on economics. And one of the things that I 445 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:22,920 Speaker 5: had been so frustrated with in the last five years 446 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 5: is listening to the Democratic Party talk about economics, and 447 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:32,159 Speaker 5: it was just very apparent to me that they didn't 448 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:37,600 Speaker 5: understand the nuances of economics and how certain things work. 449 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:41,200 Speaker 5: And I get it. It's when you are in a 450 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:44,840 Speaker 5: space where you're a politician, you're expected to know everything 451 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:48,640 Speaker 5: about everything. One of the things that is going to 452 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:52,520 Speaker 5: make me unique on the Democratic side is that I'm 453 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:56,400 Speaker 5: going to be one of the only Democrats that understands 454 00:28:56,480 --> 00:29:00,320 Speaker 5: economics in the way that I understand economics. So my 455 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:04,080 Speaker 5: biggest frustration in the last five years is that I 456 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:08,320 Speaker 5: have been watching monetary policy on a federal level being 457 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:13,080 Speaker 5: written and marginalized community members and lower income community members, 458 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:16,880 Speaker 5: which is mostly made up of marginalized folks not being 459 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:20,400 Speaker 5: accounted for and not being advocated for when it comes 460 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:24,920 Speaker 5: to monetary policy. So that is going to be where 461 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:28,240 Speaker 5: I stay. I'm going to stay in my lane. I 462 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:32,640 Speaker 5: truly believe that at the core of every single social issue, 463 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:35,800 Speaker 5: which social issues is what the Democratic Party focuses on. 464 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:38,480 Speaker 5: At the core of every single social issue is an 465 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:42,360 Speaker 5: economic issue, and economic issues is usually what we lean 466 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:46,360 Speaker 5: on Republicans to run on, and I'm tired of that. 467 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:49,440 Speaker 5: I think it's very important for us to start looking 468 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:55,000 Speaker 5: at economic impact on social issues and mitigating and solving 469 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:59,880 Speaker 5: for those issues from an economics perspective. Otherwise we're going 470 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:02,960 Speaker 5: to continue to have the issues that we have as 471 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 5: we've been seeing, and they're only going to get worse 472 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:08,640 Speaker 5: and worse and worse because we're lacking more resources, we 473 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:11,760 Speaker 5: have less money, we're dealing with more inflation, we're watching 474 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:15,479 Speaker 5: the middle class go away, and so yeah, I feel 475 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:19,240 Speaker 5: like what I am going to be focus on is 476 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:22,680 Speaker 5: more of a bipartisan issue. Think that that's going to 477 00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:26,200 Speaker 5: be really beneficial because hopefully I will be able to 478 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:31,840 Speaker 5: demonstrate the economic issues to social issues. And I think 479 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:34,640 Speaker 5: that when it comes to speaking to Republicans, which is 480 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:38,640 Speaker 5: who I need support from if I'm going to pass 481 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:41,320 Speaker 5: any of my bills here in the State of Texas, 482 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:44,200 Speaker 5: that hopefully I can speak their language and they can 483 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:49,960 Speaker 5: understand the perspective and it's not so emotionally charged. So 484 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:51,800 Speaker 5: that is sort of the plan. 485 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:56,040 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for giving us that breakdown. Excited 486 00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:59,080 Speaker 1: to see the work that you're going to do to 487 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:01,360 Speaker 1: wrap up. You know you're going to be sworn in 488 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:05,480 Speaker 1: in January, but we still have elections coming up in November, 489 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:09,400 Speaker 1: both presidential local state level elections. 490 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:11,280 Speaker 3: So what would your. 491 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:16,000 Speaker 1: Advice be to someone that maybe knows someone that isn't 492 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:18,320 Speaker 1: going to vote or says my vote doesn't really matter, 493 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:19,880 Speaker 1: what would you say to them? 494 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:26,000 Speaker 5: Oh, my goodness, this is such a charged topic right most, 495 00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:31,800 Speaker 5: especially right now in the state of Texas because we 496 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:38,480 Speaker 5: currently have just recently gotten data that the Latin community 497 00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:42,240 Speaker 5: is the majority in the state of Texas. On top 498 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:47,720 Speaker 5: of that, Governor Abbott just purged over a million voter 499 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:52,160 Speaker 5: registration applications, which means that a lot of people are 500 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:57,760 Speaker 5: currently now suspended and unable to vote. So this is 501 00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:02,440 Speaker 5: what we are facing here is in Texas, and I'm 502 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:06,200 Speaker 5: telling you these men they get ideas from each other 503 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:11,920 Speaker 5: on how to suppress voters. And so while you might 504 00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,560 Speaker 5: be in California, or in New York, or in a 505 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:19,080 Speaker 5: space that is very safe pertaining to whatever it is 506 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:21,959 Speaker 5: you're going to vote for, I want to urge you 507 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:27,320 Speaker 5: to still vote because that we are closely watching what 508 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:33,240 Speaker 5: demographic is voting and what demographic isn't voting, and we 509 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:36,840 Speaker 5: fall so far behind when it comes to this demographic 510 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:40,280 Speaker 5: and whether we like it or not, whether we consider 511 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 5: ourselves the political people or not, politics is impacting our 512 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:49,760 Speaker 5: day to day life. It controls every decision we make 513 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:52,600 Speaker 5: when we get into a car, put on our seatbelt, drive, 514 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:56,680 Speaker 5: whatever it is. It is controlling so much of our lives, 515 00:32:56,720 --> 00:33:00,720 Speaker 5: and so it's important for us to start too, I think, 516 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:04,160 Speaker 5: wake up this giant that has been asleep for such 517 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:06,800 Speaker 5: a long time. It is crucial that we start to 518 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:11,080 Speaker 5: show up and demonstrate our power and the actual impact 519 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:11,800 Speaker 5: that we have. 520 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:16,760 Speaker 3: Linda Garcia she's done it all, folks, I mean, you 521 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:21,120 Speaker 3: have lived many lives. You are now shaking things up 522 00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:25,840 Speaker 3: in Texas politics and eventually like national politics, I imagine. 523 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:28,920 Speaker 3: So I thank you for coming on the show and 524 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:33,160 Speaker 3: sharing your journey with us. And how can folks keep 525 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:36,200 Speaker 3: up with you? Like where can they follow you? Not 526 00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:38,800 Speaker 3: just your personal work, but now the political work that 527 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:39,360 Speaker 3: you're doing. 528 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:42,320 Speaker 5: Yeah, thank you so much for asking. This reminds me 529 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:45,560 Speaker 5: of something that I think is really really important. One 530 00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:48,320 Speaker 5: of the other reasons that I'm doing this is because 531 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:52,080 Speaker 5: I want to see us reflected in different colors and 532 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:57,080 Speaker 5: different styles and different vibes. I want for women that 533 00:33:57,200 --> 00:34:01,320 Speaker 5: see themselves reflected in me, reflected in space like this one. 534 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:05,239 Speaker 5: And so it's really really important that we take a 535 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:11,200 Speaker 5: close look at our local politicians, most especially if it's 536 00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 5: someone that you can relate to, and strongly consider donating 537 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:18,239 Speaker 5: to their campaign because a lot of us don't come 538 00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:22,320 Speaker 5: from generational wealth. As I mentioned before, this position only 539 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:26,760 Speaker 5: pays seven thousand dollars, which means I am continuously working 540 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:31,719 Speaker 5: to fundraise, and so please, I urge you to pay 541 00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:35,480 Speaker 5: attention to your local politicians and fundraise. If there's someone 542 00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:40,640 Speaker 5: that you find alignment with You can find my political 543 00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:45,400 Speaker 5: instagram at Linda the Number four Texas. There's a link there. 544 00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:49,960 Speaker 5: If you feel called, five bucks to my Act Blue. 545 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:52,280 Speaker 5: It will take me a long way